I did sixteen miles Or should I say They did for me.… …
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A quiet, non-running day. I’ve pushed my long run back to tomorrow to allow a bit more recovery time after Friday’s race. Not that I feel I need any more. Nothing aches except my stomach straining against my belt as it tries to cope with today’s onslaught of easter eggs. I feel grimly unhealthy, but nothing that a 16 mile run tomorrow won’t cure. ——————- I wrote the above at about 6 o’clock. Just as I was about to upload it, M came in and said: “Why don’t you go for a run while it’s still light?” Two minutes later I was cruising up the road on my staple 3½ miler. It’s an unusual time of day for me to … …
Good Friday – eventually. I rose from the dead at 6:30am (it’s OK, I’m a card-carrying atheist, I’m safe), not really in the mood to run 10 miles. I stood at the kitchen window, munching on dry toast and swilling severe, black coffee. A 10 mile race or a gardenful of torture? And how had I managed to put on 3 pounds yesterday? The pedantic voice of reason recited the list of hot cross buns, easter eggs, crisps, biscuits and gratuitous sandwiches I’d shovelled in. That’s how. It was time to cheer up. Yes, I was conscious of the ache in my left foot, my swollen stomach and my tiredness, but at least Wednesday’s thigh aches had receded. And let’s … …
OK, another confession. That picture of the koala further up the page… I didn’t really snap that along the Kennet & Avon Canal. It was taken on a run though, but not one of mine. Step forward, Graham H-M, otherwise known as Midlife-Crisis-Man. Graham is a suspiciously lucid Australian who has gone a bit quiet recently. Maybe a truckload of Boags went off the road behind his house. It would take some digging to conceal it properly. He’s given me a lot of good things to think about (like beer recommendations) over the last couple of months, not least of which was to lead me, quite unintentionally, to the discovery of the true secret of the meaning of life. But … …
The Maidenhead Easter 10. This is a race in Maidenhead, 10 miles long, that takes place at Easter. No surprise there. I entered it today, partly because I wanted to enter a race with a sensible name. Much better than the Air Products 10K, or the Massey-Ferguson 5, happening the same weekend. Much as I like running at the seaside, there’s something unappealing about the idea of taking part in the Fitness First Bournemouth Bay Half-Marathon. Though I grudgingly acknowledge that having Fitness First as a sponsor is better than some. Far worse: the Epsom National Counties Building Society 10K, the Afford Rent-A-Car Potteries Marathon, the Lipton Ice Tea Marathon Challenge and (this is … …
Being drunk for three consecutive days doesn’t, after all, appear in the Hal Higdon marathon training programme. Damn, I must have misread it. After a strangely hollow, monochrome day at work, when I was tempted to wonder if running had given up on me, I finished early, came home, and went out to run 9½ miles in a fantastic range of weather: a turbulent twenty-minute tempest sandwiched between two slabs of warm sunshine. Wonderful. I don’t know why or how I did this run. It just… happened. Quite unplanned. But this was a vitally important run, yanking me back on track just as I was drifting away. I’m feeling suitably realigned. A few weeks back, I said that we … …
As April Fools go, it wasn’t what you’d call a whizzo stonker, but I was still taken aback to get four emails asking me to reconsider what I wrote in the last entry, as well as a few messages on the forum. What began as a joke ended up making me feel like a rotten cad. No, I’m not planning on giving up just yet, though I am getting anxious about the schedule. The calendar’s running out of squares, and I’ve still not run more than 13 miles. Yesterday was supposed to be 15, but I was able to squeeze in just 11, before having to head back to keep an appointment. I’m looking for a man. Not just any … …
Is there any point continuing with this running stuff? As I went out for my stuttering 5 mile run along the canal this morning, I found myself thinking about last night, when I’d paid my first visit to the running club. I did enjoy it at the time, and felt quite excited that I’d made this big step, but I was slightly horrified at this sight of a hundred people plodding miserably round the track. It reminded me of that scene in Midnight Express when all the asylum prisoners are shuffling round and round in a small circle, and our hero has to force himself to walk in the opposite direction to stay sane. Or a hamster on a treadmill, … …
Busy times, busy times. I’ve been getting my running in again this week, but don’t seem to have enough time to write about it. Yesterday in particular was a stupendous morning for running. Bright sunshine, even warmish. One of those mornings that whoop at you, and remind you why you do this stuff. Four fantastic miles. And this evening, at long last. At long last. I’ve been talking about it for months. For years, even. Tonight I finally made it along to the local running club to have a sociable potter round the track and get a feel for this new adventure. And there’s more. Apart from joining a running club, another new year resolution was to marshal at a … …
Oh dear. I’ve not been too well recently. At least I think I haven’t. I’ve been exhausted. Too exhausted to do a long run yesterday (though I did force myself out for a brief loosener in the early evening). This is two consecutive weekends without a longie. Oh God, my universe is imploding, and everything I ever held dear has vanished in the blink of an eye. All my dreams are dust. Every yearning, reaching…… Aw shaddup. It’s true, my plans have taken an unexpected kick in the goolies recently, but I’m a calm fellow, and I’ll not be deflected or disheartened. Depression demands too much energy, so I’m taking the lazy option, and sticking to happiness. Yes, Copenhagen is … …