Heavy traffic on the Thames

[marathondan]

Time for a run this evening. My girls have for 6 years been going to a gymnastics club a stone's throw from the Thames and Dorney Lake, but I never noticed that they're only a short jog away. So with the girls deposited in their classes, I toddled off for my first miles in a couple of months. 

It looked quite straightforward on the map. Head down Monkey Island Lane, and keep going till you find a footbridge. The well-to-do chap at the gated entrance to the marina confirmed as much. But it seemed to be taking a while. I expected the marina was pretty much adjacent to the river, and I'd left it behind some minutes ago. Ah but what's this? The road ahead rising in a most bridge-like manner. That must be it. 

But hold on - there's a distinct rising noise of traffic. That doesn't sound right. No, please don't say that's the... Yes, it was. What I thought was the River Thames was in fact the M4. How embarrassing. 

Naomi is having a go at orienteering tomorrow. Hopefully she hasn't inherited my sense of direction. 

I backtracked and eventually found the very long, winding watery thing and even the quite long, very straight watery thing. Last time I was there was for the Olympic rowing; RCers have also bagged a few 10Ks there. I ended up banking 4.5 miles at what would be a decent marathon training pace - more than I bargained for, and a good innings after a long layoff.

Anyway, I'm back in the game for a while. My main teaching placement is done, I just have another couple of weeks (and an assignment that's likely to cause me a few sleepless nights) and my course will be finished. After that I'm going back into school to start preparing for next year, but the pressure will be off and I'll be able to devote a bit of time to some aerobic exercise. Maidenhead Half Marathon is in early September - I really ought to commit some readies to an entry. That would set me up with a nice target, and with enough time to make decent go of it.

Here's to a summer of running!

[Sweder]

Hurrah! Welcome back, Dan. Needless to say I'll be in absentia in early September.
But I wish you well in your quest. Almeria 2017 is my next scheduled race.
Or will be when the buggers set a date and open for entries.

[Charliecat5]

Wayhay... you're back... and running.  The earth tilts back onto its axis.

I love those runs when you spend the whole time wondering where you actually are.

Apparently my next scheduled race (my first scheduled race) is also the Almeria 2017.  Are you joining us?

[marathondan]

Apparently my next scheduled race (my first scheduled race) is also the Almeria 2017.  Are you joining us?

No, fraid not. A family-free overseas social weekend was always a bit of a big ask for me. But now, a weekend away in term time just won't be possible.

I did wonder about trying to fit a marathon in this summer. I mourned a little on VLM day this year. But 3 months would be tight for preparation from a low base, and they do take it out of me, physically and mentally. Come September I really need to be focused on work.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Yay! Great to see you back in the running kit, Dan. Welcome home, son!

[Antonio247]

I'm glad you're training again and you seem to be quite motivated, Dan. It's a pity you can't come to Almería next year. Apparently there will be a lot of RC members, some of them newbies here as Charliecat5, coming to take part at Almería half or the 9 K race. Best of luck!


Saludos desde Almería Greetings from Almería

[El Gordo]

Hey Dan, great to hear from you. Or is it me who's been away? i can't keep track.

Yes, as you say, Dorney is a name that lives in RC infamy. Crikey, it's almost 9 years since we gathered there to mark a significant birthday I was having.

http://runningcommentary.net/?p=1002637

Hmm, I see that Flickr link no longer works for the pictures. Has Flickr they been buggering about with new owners again?

[marathondan]

Hey EG, that's a little gem of a race report there. So many quotable lines, I don't know where to start. But of course, the very last line is the most striking.

It is indeed amazing that it was 9 years ago. Despite the race being on my doorstep, I didn't make it, surrounded as I was at the time by babies and toddlers. I do remember the race being reported in several parallel threads. Also remarkable (to me) is that you'd only been running for 6 years at the time.

Had a quick look through your Flickr stream but I don't see any Dorney pics in there.

[El Gordo]

Hey EG, that's a little gem of a race report there. So many quotable lines, I don't know where to start. But of course, the very last line is the most striking. 

To be honest Dan, I didn't re-read it until you said that. That final line gave me rather mixed emotions: 

"I’d like to think that 10 years from now I’ll be writing an entry describing the race (and PB) I did to mark my sixtieth, and I hope that some of the good friends I’ve made through this site will still be around too."

Not just because I'm so far off that mark (with no prospect whatever of any PBs) but I was reminded by the report that Moyleman did me the honour of attending. It was the first time we met, and I remember this sinewy hill runner being rather disgusted by how pathetic this desolate plod around a pancake-flat man-made lake was, and in particular, how pathetic it was that I had no greater ambition than to run 10K in an hour.

[marathondan]

Meanwhile in running news... planned a thrash at Parkrun on Saturday - but the girls decided they wanted to come too. I happily gave up my session for that. Sadly No. 1 struggled with a stitch all the way round, and finished slower than the last time she ran one - 3 years ago. No. 2, my baby, dropped us at half way and finished 3 mins ahead. She might have potential.

I've just added the final full stop to my dissertation, so am beginning to feel VERY relaxed at last. Got out for the replacement 5K thrash this morning, around the field. The grasses are high but the dog walkers have carved a path for me. TdJ: Def Leppard, You Got Me Runnin'. Always on the lookout for decent songs that mention running.

[marathondan]

I'm glad you're training again and  you seem to be quite motivated, Dan. It's a pity you can't come to Almería next year. Apparently there will be a lot of RC members, some of them newbies here  as Charliecat5, coming to take part at Almería half or the 9 K race. Best of luck!

Thanks Antonio! I have a great opportunity to get in 3 months of good running, so I hope to make the most of it. I've really been missing my running, and I feel very unfit - even though I spend a lot of my working day on my feet now.

[marathondan]

Not just because I'm so far off that mark (with no prospect whatever of any PBs) but I was reminded by the report that Moyleman did me the honour of attending. It was the first time we met, and I remember this sinewy hill runner being rather disgusted by how pathetic this desolate plod around a pancake-flat man-made lake was, and in particular, how pathetic it was that I had no greater ambition than to run 10K in an hour.

Yes, that name leapt off the page for me, as well.

I'm always skeptical when book blurbs claim that you'll be unable to avoid laughing out loud. But I did chuckle audibly at this: "I started to feel sorry for Ash and Nigel, running so far below their instinctive pace, they must have been considering taking a nap." I imagine Chris would have been in that number, too.

[marathondan]

Logged a tidy ten miles last week to kick off the slow rebuild. Tried some intervals tonight for what must be the first time in a year or so. Garmin charger is currently AWOL, so I'm running naked. Which is no bad thing. For the interval session, I had to count steps. Not sure which felt tighter, my lungs or my VLM-2012-vintage singlet.

[marathondan]

Barely had I started, I fell into a slump with embarrassing ease.

I played some staff football after school a couple of weeks ago - probably the first time I've kicked a ball without children present in 10 years. Made a fool of myself a few times, but I was among friends so not to worry. But of course the ensuing aches and pains lasted for 3-4 days, which set the running back. And then this and that, and suddenly 10 days had passed without a run. Of course there's football to watch in the evenings as well - also some blokes in white chasing a ball, which is barely worthy of the name.

A full day off for me today though, so after the school run I set out for a modest lap of the field at easy pace. It was already too warm to be really pleasant, but I ground it out without too much problem and was rewarded with a tasty glow through the day. Back on the road... yet again.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

There's a theme developing among these pages... the aches and pains of ageing occasional runners. You're definitely among friends!

[marathondan]

Took advantage of my newly relaxed lifestyle and bagged 6 miles this morning. It was a little on the warm side and my, it felt hard work. A few times my head dropped and I wondered why I was putting myself through this. A year off takes a lot of recovering from. But I remembered from doing this many times that it's all about slowly, slowly banking miles, and the fitness gradually, but magically, appearing. In the final third my spirits lifted and I finished strongly - and was rewarded with an inner glow for the rest of the day.

But it feels like a long way from a slow 6 miles to a lively 13.1.

[marathondan]

Not for the first time, things haven't panned out quite as planned. I decided against the half in September as it will be the first weekend of school. I'll probably be panicking, and can do without an activity that will take up Sunday morning and then take me out for the afternoon.

So I'm picking off the odd 3 miles here, 5 miles there, a couple of times a week. No sessions, all what the consistent runner would call junk miles. Once again, I'm called to question why I run. Or, more appropriately these days, why I ran. Again it seems clear that for years I've been running to escape boredom and lack of challenge in my everyday life. There's little sign of those these days, so the running mojo is having an existential crisis.

But late-night lesson planning sessions, fuelled by cheese and biscuits or bowls of sugary cereal, are making their mark on my waistline. There won't be much chance during term-time, but I need to get back into some good running habits for the health benefits, if nothing else. That's the reason I originally took up the sport.

Running is still the answer. Perhaps the question has changed.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Keeping fit for whatever life throws at you is reason enough, I think. As we get older, life seems to chuck ever more stuff at us, so remaining healthy is pretty important.

Sigh ... I'd better change into the running kit I guess.

[marathondan]

Sigh ... I'd better change into the running kit I guess.

That's the spirit!

[Charliecat5]

Sigh ... I'd better change into the running kit I guess.

That's the spirit!

Don't we run simply because we enjoy it?