August 2013

[Sweder]

The turning wheel reeks of the whale and the whaler
But that's the way we all go
Cardiacs, A Little Man And A House

And so the shoulder turns to the wheel.
The wheel turns and the Earth spins, bringing Hobart ever closer and with it That Bloody Mountain.

Sixteen weeks to go before Point to Pinnacle. I trained for it in 2011 but had no idea what I was getting tangled up with. I do now. Along with plans to map out a Lewes Marathon (to be run in late winter/ early Spring 2014) I have all manner of incentives to get out there. So far this month it's all been short, sharp shocks. Off the beer, off the stodge, lots of green leaves and protein, an awful lot of sweat.

This morning saw another set of hill sprints, thirty seconds bursts of arm pumping, leg thrashing fury followed by the same period of wheezing, sweating and stumbling. On the last (downhill) dash I glanced at the Garmin to see 5' 16" pace. That's fast! And yet, several decades ago, Roger Bannister ran roughly thirty percent faster for just under four minutes. I held that pace for around fifteen seconds, or until just before I barfed up a lung.

   

It's all relative. If I were to set off up Mount Wellington now it would take half a day and almost kill me. The result will be similar in November, I'd just like to shorten the period of suffering.

On, on.

[El Gordo]

I've entered as a walker, with my main target to "beat the Bishop" as it were. By which of course, I mean to improve on the time of that substantial athlete, SP.

MLCMM reckons the great man puffed his way to the top in around 3:40. No idea what sort of challenge that is over 21 hilly kms but I'll soon find out, with my early morning miles starting to include some of the steeper stretches of the town.

I can't imagine running uphill for that distance, so kudos to you brave souls taking on that challenge. I've no doubt the great Sweder will moan like hell all the way to Hobart about his lack of training, excess baggage in the midriff region and throbbing hamstrings -- and then astound himself (but no one else) by producing yet another barnstorming rush to the top.

Sounds to me like one of the toughest things is dealing with the change in temperature as one ascends. Not such a problem for walkers -- I can see myself taking a small backpack containing an ermine gillet and centrally-heated mittens, but no idea what you minimalistic hares will do. Best hope might be to pray for a spot more global warming in time for mid-November.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I've entered as a walker, with my main target to "beat the Bishop" as it were. By which of course, I mean to improve on the time of that substantial athlete, SP.

MLCMM reckons the great man puffed his way to the top in around 3:40. No idea what sort of challenge that is over 21 hilly kms but I'll soon find out, with my early morning miles starting to include some of the steeper stretches of the town.

Give yourself an extra couple of minutes EG - I just checked back and the big fella's time was 3:44.

As for Sweder, of course he'll sprint up the mountain like he was born for it... he always does, doesn't he?

My aim, as always, is simple: a PB will do me. Simple, yes, but still requiring an awful lot of work.

[marathondan]

This morning saw another set of hill sprints, thirty seconds bursts of arm pumping, leg thrashing fury followed by the same period of wheezing, sweating and stumbling. On the last (downhill) dash I glanced at the Garmin to see 5' 16" pace. That's fast! And yet, several decades ago, Roger Bannister ran roughly thirty percent faster for just under four minutes. I held that pace for around fifteen seconds, or until just before I barfed up a lung.

Nice work, sir. Glad to see you getting stuck into some serious sessions, no mincing around getting acclimatised and so on. Great to see you on a mission once more.

[Sweder]

@ElGordo: 'hilly'

[Seafront Plodder]

I've entered as a walker, with my main target to "beat the Bishop" as it were. By which of course, I mean to improve on the time of that substantial athlete, SP.

MLCMM reckons the great man puffed his way to the top in around 3:40.

I sincerely hope you do beat my time EG, although it appears you'll be cheating by actually training for it.

Of course if you are successful, we will have to find another race to do together so honour can be properly restored.

[Sweder]

Update. There has been running. There have been late night workouts. There has been abstinence. There has been food control (sort of; a trip to Paris involved an x-rated interlude with a honey-baked Camembert) and, dear reader, there has been a soupçon of weight loss.

Nice session this morning. One mile warm-up, 1k steady uphill, 1k full-on sprint (slightly downhill). I see a solid fortnight of running and workouts ahead, then a testing two weeks in Melbourne, Sydney and Wrong Kong. A chance to revisit the Wanchai Hash beckons, too, though heaven knows what they'd do to a teatotaller *shudder*

Track du jour: Knights Of Cydonia, Muse.
What a riff.

[El Gordo]

I've entered as a walker, with my main target to "beat the Bishop" as it were. By which of course, I mean to improve on the time of that substantial athlete, SP.

MLCMM reckons the great man puffed his way to the top in around 3:40.

I sincerely hope you do beat my time EG, although it appears you'll be cheating by actually training for it.

Of course if you are successful, we will have to find another race to do together so honour can be properly restored.

Yo, SP. Thanks for taking the bait. Hope all is well.

Well, if I could just get to a start line it would be something. I won;t deny that I've dabbled in something you might call "training", but it's not going well. I went out for a fairly strenuous hour's walk last night, just around the town, and now I have a swollen foot too painful to walk on. Lawd knows why, but it's all very annoying. Maybe my physiology is trying to tell me something. Perhaps weekend hiking really is my niche.

I'll persist for a bit and see what happens. I was bragging to MLCMM that I secretly hoped to do the Berlin Marathon in a few weeks as a run-walker but I can't see that happening if I can't even walk for an hour without being crippled.

Best longer term hope is probably more blubber burnt off. I've shed about 20 lbs over the past couple of months which is a start but perhaps if I got it down another 20, well past the point where I've always failed, something miraculous might occur. Perhaps I have to meet my body halfway.

But anyway, in principle I would be delighted to accept your challenge. The Brighton 10K is on the same day as the P2P unfortunately. The annual Hyde Park 10K on New Year's Day would be a good one to aim for but I suspect you'd not be keen to have an early night on New Year's Eve.

We will have to come up with something. Hurrah!

[@sweder -- apologies for hijacking your thread.]

[Sweder]

[@sweder -- apologies for hijacking your thread.][/i][/b]

Never a problem. You know, you could always meet up for a private mano y mano** walk/ race on a section of the newest, most exciting marathon course in the Northern Hemisphere ... (see p.91)

**
I've just conjured the most heinous image with that phrase.
Remember Oliver Reed and Alan Bates in Women In Love?

   

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Never a problem. You know, you could always meet up for a private mano y mano walk/ race on a section of the newest, most exciting marathon course in the Northern Hemisphere ... (see p.91)

Hmm, interesting. Are you saying there's a more exciting marathon in the southern hemisphere?

Care to name it?

[Sweder]

Hmm, interesting. Are you saying there's a more exciting marathon in the southern hemisphere?
Care to name it?

Probably in all the known world. I was going for a little humility but after the events of last evening perhaps I shouldn't bother. Rather enjoyed reading the Australian sports leader in the wee small hours ...

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Rather enjoyed reading the Australian sports leader in the wee small hours ...

Oh shut up.

[Sweder]

Happy days in the gently reducing, girth-wise, World of Sweder.

As life continues to flash past at an ever-increasing rate, a moment comes along to shut the window and cut out the dreadful windrush. Tomorrow I shall take my seat at the Kensington Oval for day one of the 5th 2013 Ashes Test. It'll be my first visit to a test match of any colour, never mind one dyed in such illustrious hues as brilliant white, verdant green and shining gold.

Enough Aussie-bating. They're all feigning disinterest, anyway. Spoilsports.
Running continues. I managed to map a small section of the Lewes Marathon course on Sunday night, stopped only by the arrival of darkness as I traversed the South Downs Way from the tips of the W to Rodmell via the Yellow Brick Road. It's the first time I've run down the YBR. What a joy it was, the wheat shimmering under an almost-full moon, the caps of Firle Beacon and Mount Caburn skulking in the half-light, like shoulders hunched against the dark.

   

The run from home to the top of the W was almost as long as the section (just under 3.5 miles). I'd like to get at least Firle mapped on Saturday morning. It'll have to be an early start as I'm boarding the vintage bus for Maidstone with the Rooks Faithful at 11.30. The new season is under way. Optimism flows like cheap ale amongst the Faithful. 7 points from our first three games is a fair return. Tonight I'm off to Rookery Hill, the home of East Thurrock, to see if we can stoke the fires under hope and expectation.
Stop press: excellent 2-0 away win gives Lewes FC ten points from four games #COYR

I pushed myself around a four mile loop this morning, dropping in a series of lung-burning sprints for good measure. A sprint, by my dodgy measure, is anything sustained under 7 min/ mile pace on the flat or downhill, under 8m/m on the rise.

Sad to learn this afternoon of the passing of Elmore Leonard. He started out writing Westerns, but it's for his snappy dialogue and Noirish thrillers tinged with dark humour that he'll be remembered. Against the reception of the critics of the time I rather enjoyed the big screen adaptation of Get Shorty. I never read Rum Punch, later made by Tarantino into Jackie Brown. Both flicks are worth a look on a dark and stormy night.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoTEFOPwH9s&sns=em [/video]

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

's funny but I read that as "7 pints from our first three games is fair return..." even when I re-read a second and third time. I was thinking that you were remarkably restrained in your celebrations when I remembered that you are actually on the wagon. A fourth reading revealed the word to be "points".

But then I haven't had a drink for a couple of days either.

This teetotalism is madness. Thankfully my brief excursion on said wagon ends tomorrow.

[Sweder]

This teetotalism is madness. Thankfully my brief excursion on said wagon ends tomorrow.

Mine ends on 17 November, sometime just after midday.
Brief interlude 1st week of November. On tour with Girlschool in Japan that week.
Christ.

[El Gordo]

Regarding abstinence, for me it's 10 weeks and counting, with no immediate desire to jump back onto the Hades Express.

The big test was always going to be the visit from Herr und Frau MLCMM, but I shocked myself by buying some wine and beer for them but not feeling the pang to join them in their revelries. Once I'd got past the first night Champagne test, I was home and dry.

How long will it last? Who knows. The only mild urge I've had so far has come at the end of each of my 4 weekend walks, where the idea of a beer seems entirely... the right thing to do. But I've resisted.

If I survive as far as Australia / Tasmania, this will be a whole new challenge. It's not just the thought of missing out on the celebrations to mark blasting SP's effort out of the water, but the chance to visit a couple of vineyards. That was always the main lure of a trip Down Under.

Sweder's signature seems appropriate here. Let's see how we get on, shall we?

[Antonio247]

Congratulations on that alcohol abstinence, S. and EG. I really admire that big effort. I understand how hard it must be because I coudn't be such long time without having some cakes, chocolate, churros or whatever sweet thing. The ideal thing would be to drink in a moderate way but it is often easier not to drink a drop of alcohol than drinking a little occasionally.

Best of luck!

[Sweder]

Well said, Antonio. I was out with SP and some other reprobates last week. We ended up in a pub serving a delicious range of regional beers, Long Man Ale and Dark Star Revelation to name but two. I stood with my glass of water, sniffing the hops, a forlorn soul in an imbibing sea of striped bellies. Just one would have been nice, but it's a slippery slope ...

We went for a curry afterwards. I joined in, eating in moderation, remaining on good old H2O as the team demolished a case of Cobra. I quite enjoyed it, to be honest, but I do miss the satisfying smack of a good ale.

[marathondan]

A sprint, by my dodgy measure, is anything sustained under 7 min/ mile pace on the flat or downhill, under 8m/m on the rise.

Handy that you verbalised these figures. My own 90 sec sprints tend to hover around the 7mm mark, some a little better, some a little worse. It's probably a good benchmark for me to aim at, too.

[Antonio247]

Well said, Antonio. I was out with SP and some other reprobates last week. We ended up in a pub serving a delicious range of regional beers, Long Man Ale and Dark Star Revelation to name but two. I stood with my glass of water, sniffing the hops, a forlorn soul in an imbibing sea of striped bellies. Just one would have been nice, but it's a slippery slope ...

We went for a curry afterwards. I joined in, eating in moderation, remaining on good old H2O as the team demolished a case of Cobra. I quite enjoyed it, to be honest, but I do miss the satisfying smack of a good ale.

I take my hat off to you, Ash. It must have been a really great effort not to drink a drop of alcohol with SP. Congratulations! I wish I were so determined with sweet things. You're an example to follow.