Spring is the best time of year for running. Early this morning it was bright and sunny, but cool. The damp streets almost deserted. I kept to the small back lanes and the deer park, where no cars could trouble me. I now know that, at 6:10 am, the entire population of the world numbers four: there’s me, the postman, and a couple of pensive dog walkers.… READ MORE.... …
Month: April 2003
Something odd to report: a run. The good news is that I ran just over three miles without the slightest twinge in my calf. It was a comfortable jog, and no more, but after six frustrating weeks of injury, that was all I was hoping for. The evening seemed bright and fine when I left the house, but my cherished GPS distance monitor watch was showing just 1.4 miles when the rain began.… READ MORE.... …
It’s cold and it’s raining. I’m sleepy, and suddenly starving. The house is warm, and the smell of M’s lunchtime toast won’t let me leave the house again now. I’m deferring my return to running till tomorrow. No, this isn’t a cop-out. I’ve had a successful first week of pre-training. Eating sensibly, stretching, deciding on running goals, planning to join the local running club, doing some reading.… READ MORE.... …
I’ve spent most of the day in front of a computer, so have little to report. However, I did want to wish Nigel Platt and Ian Painter good runs in the Stratford marathon tomorrow. Nigel ran the Chicago marathon last year too, although we’ve never met. Apart from the normal anxieties of the marathon, he is also a West Ham supporter, and tomorrow, while the race is underway, his team will be literally fighting for their Premiership lives at Manchester City.… READ MORE.... …
In this great ocean of temptation, my nostrils remain just above the surface, while my feet are a blurred tumult of frantic paddling. Eh? Nothing to do with a weakening of my resolve. I’m more certain now than I was at the start of the week that this is the time to start recovering the lost ground of the last several weeks.… READ MORE.... …
How interesting are other people’s slimming statistics? Here’s a test: on Monday I needed to lose 0.41 pounds per day to reach my May 18 target, and by today it’s down to 0.35 pounds per day. [distant sound of gentle snoring] I see. Still marginally less dull than traffic jam stories I’d say, but I get the message. Award For Best Thread Title on the Runners World Forum Today: I’ve had enough of selling Pizza and want to open a running shop.… READ MORE.... …
Tomorrow’s arrived, and with it, the start of the Dublin Marathon 2003 campaign. Not the official start of the training, but the nine-week preparation for the training. I didn’t run today, and didn’t plan to. Perhaps I’ll not run this week at all. After five weeks of inactivity and over-eating, I’m about ten pounds heavier than I was for the Reading Half, and I need to get rid of this ballast before I do anything else.… READ MORE.... …
Great news. We’re expecting carrots. Loyal readers without a drink problem may recall that some months ago, when the Running Commentary garden was carpeted in two inches of snow, I mentioned my plan to become vegetably self-sufficient by the summer. Crunching through the January snow, it seemed like a good line. Struck the right balance between impressiveness and unaccountability, I thought.… READ MORE.... …
The sun beats down on my inertia. What a great position to be in. Saturated fats and alcohol continue to slither down my gullet, and I get plumper by the minute. But all the while, I’m allowed to feel holy because, you see, I have this plan. Monday. The revolution begins on Monday. On Monday I start my meta-training. Training for training.… READ MORE.... …
Crikey. Two entries in two days. I must be getting serious about the possibility of considering getting serious. I’ve even found myself drifting in and out of the running forums in the last couple of days. Watching the London marathon on TV on Sunday morning must have helped to shake me up a bit. It was another magnificent run from that woman whose surname we have all now forgotten.… READ MORE.... …
If I owned a running hat with Give Peace A Chance on it, then…. then it wouldn’t have been much use in the past few weeks. What a hilariously miserable month it’s been. Since the Reading Half – five weeks ago yesterday – I’ve barely had a run. What started out as a period of recuperation and recovery from a calf injury has turned into a full-scale beer and chocolate extravaganza.… READ MORE.... …