Far From Flabby February

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Adrenaline under pressure.

So it transpires that I have no less than five pairs of Brooks Adrenaline runners under my bed. Two of the older pairs have each completed a marathon and still get used for a bit of walking about here and there, but it has to be said are not in their greatest shape. Given they have carried me through my marathon campaigns though, I find it difficult to toss them out, ratty and battered as they are. The oldest pair is not fit to be seen at all and has therefore been relegated to gardening duty. The two newest pairs are still very good running shoes although they are perhaps not in the most sparkling of condition. They have, however, on advice from the vet podiatrist been retired from running duty and will see out their days doing light walking jobs only. In their place is the swanky new young punk about town, the Asics 1000, which yesterday took over the role of MLCMM running shoe with a nice little 8km tempo run on the equally new treadmill which, for the moment is going by the name Thunder Road, at least until someone thinks of something slightly better.

The run went pretty well, or should I say well enough when one considers just how little running I have undertaken in the last twelve months or so. The last kilometre was even a satisfying semi-sprint at something approaching race pace. As a test for new shoes, new orthotics and of course the new treadmill, it all went very well indeed, and suggests a solid year of running ahead.

Or at least it should have. The arrival in town of an old friend last night required the consumption of rather too many drinks for today's scheduled run to be attempted, despite my oft-repeated insistence that running with a hangover is no bad thing. Today it just couldn't be faced, but tomorrow, well that will be a different story.

Yesterday's initial treadmill run was at times quite testing, and so the Track du Jour really chose itself. The Queen/David Bowie collaboration Under Pressure is of course appropriate for a couple of reasons, and a song that has been welcome many times before as it pops up on random play during a run, usually and not a little freakishly at appropriately tough points in the run. Just at the moment however it has of course a rather melancholy tinge to it.

Vale David Bowie.

And it's astonishing to think that it will be 25 years this year since the passing of the equally great Freddie Mercury.

Both of those gentlemen's contributions to the world of music have helped myself and many others I'm sure with our running, and will continue to do so. There will be no more new music from them, but their legacy will remain as powerful as the day it was created.

Run on, friends.