Hi everyone. Have only just come across the website and am dead impressed so thought I'd join up. It's a beautiful day here so better go and make the most of it and go for a "plod" - not sure when (if ever) I'll be promoted to being a "runner"!!
Where am I now? God knows, just got back from a 4 mile steady run (as husband calls it) - I call it more a sprint!! So just about to collapse. Done a few half marathons but never managed to get under 2 hours 5. Got a 10k at Harrogate on Sunday - apparently its quite hilly so it definitely won't be a fast one. Joined the local running club recently so seem to be getting a little tiny bit faster.
Don't pay too much attention to those soft, wimpy southern-types YP. Doubtless a robust half-marathon-running Yorkshirewoman such as yourself is more than capable of holding your own against a little mild forthrightness from abroad.
I only listen to Andy at all because he's run three more marathons than I have (for now, at least).
Hmm, now Yorkshire, Yorkshire... I remember going to a beer tasting event a while back and being impressed by something called Monkman's Slaughter... that's one of yours isn't it?
MLC Man.
P.S. Here's a photo taken from the hills near where I live, overlooking the northern part of the city of Adelaide.
Hmm. Monkman's Slaughter is a new one on me, but a quick search shows that it's a hefty 6%-er from a place called Cropton in North Yorkshire.
Here in Huddersfield I've resisted the temptation to call in at the The Sair for a pot or two of Enoch's Hammer, brewed on the premises, and named after Enoch Taylor, the local foundryman who made the hammers used by the Luddites to smash the looms. "Enoch makes 'em, Enoch breaks 'em".
According to one internet survivor, "The beer's strength is a mystery but no living man has ever had more than 4 pints and walked home...."
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Thanks for all being so welcoming! Think I might be in the wrong forum though - not a beer drinker. Will ask P (husband) about it, should think he'll have tried it. How many marathons has everyone done. I've never (yet) really fancied a full marathon, but I'm sure the time will come one day! A - you certainly wouldn't be running home after a couple of pints of Enoch's hammer by the sound of it - you never know though it could make you faster! - could be worth a try
No, I'm in an abstemious phase at the moment I'm afraid, YP. Once again I can only reflect on Oscar Wilde's famous words, that "work is the curse of the drinking classes".
It's taken me 30 years to face the fact that midweek boozing is not a good idea. More to the point perhaps, I never want to get up and run early in the morning if I've had a bit of a sesh the night before.
If you imbibe wine or gin or rum or whisky or anything with any alcohol in it, don't worry, you're in. We'll even accept a taste for those liquer chocolates. Or just the chocolate.
Marathons? I've struggled round 3 and may do another in the autumn. Most of the regulars have done a few. The champs are probably the Americans though. Rick "Iceman" Neal is embarrassingly good at them, as is Ed Brickell. But Ed made only one appearance here before some Australian bloke came along and said something rather tactless to frighten him off.
There's no reason to feel you have to do one. A lot of people seem to regard them as a badge of honour, and OK, perhaps I do myself sometimes. But in reality, I think half marathons are a much better option. You don't have to do a load of special training, but they are long enough to be able to feel that you've done something out of the ordinary. And you can still walk afterwards. But I can't guarantee what would happen if you stopped off for a few Enoch's Hammers on the way home, mind you.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Sorry to disappoint - completely alcohol free. Nothing against it at all, but (according to friends) apparently I'm daft enough on a night out without!! As for the chocolate, crisps (and anything else I shouldn't be eating) well that's a completely different matter!!
On the subject of marathons - a friend just asked if I'd picked up a form for the London, said it was about time I did one. Still not sure, maybe the year after!! I'll probably stick with the halves (marathons that is!) for another year
Any type of running is good running. Slow running, long running, winter running, summer running - you name it, we can handle it. Except perhaps when it's too hot, like it was this lunchtime here in Sussex.
Consumption is one of the things that sometimes gets in the way of running, but then life can't continue entirely without it. Running is something we do whilst looking for the next large meal, unwise snack or risky beverage. It's food (and drink) for thought which occupies a lot of us around here (he says, guilty, pointing to his middle).
That's a great picture from Adelaide, MLC Man. I think it deserves a place in your eloquent training diary.
Hello YP, how was Harrogate?? as the weather has just improved this side of the Penines I have been reminding myself how thirsty running in the sun makes you - must get my husband to buy me a pint (or 2?) I earned it running this lunchtime!!
My next half marathon is supposed to be next week. I don't know if I'll manage it. All was going well until Friday when I started a 3 day binge.
Looks like tomorrow I'll have to start being sensible again. MLCM's Sisyphus reference comes to mind. It's not a good way of training.
Anyway, I'll see how I feel next week. After that, I had Warsaw or Budapest pencilled in for September but we're having trouble getting a cheap flight, so that's on hold. Then maybe Dublin.
In other words, I've no firm plans for anything apart from leaving work in a minute and catching up on some sleep.
Cheerio
Andy
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
A half under 2:05 is bordering on Olympic qualifying by the standards of many here.
