For weeks now, I’ve been clinging by my fingertips to the Dublin marathon fantasy, but I think I’ve finally faced up to the reality of the situation. I could enter, and I could jog half of it and hobble the rest. But I don’t want to do that. Even if the recent good progress is sustained, I’m just not going to get through anything like enough long runs before mid-October.… READ MORE.... …
Month: August 2003
Today I worked from home, but popped out at 6 for a run, to try to wipe all traces of XSL-FO from my mind. If those initials mean nothing to you, fall to your knees now and praise the Lord for your good fortune. And on no account be tempted to go to Google and do a search. That’s how we all started.… READ MORE.... …
Yesterday I managed another three miles before breakfast, and found them more comfortable than Friday’s. Then this afternoon I did another five, though it became very tough towards the end, and I had to take a couple of breaks. Lack of fitness was certainly a problem, but it was the early afternoon heat that really did me in. The highlight of my canal-side jaunt was spotting a morose angler wearing a T-shirt shamelessly proclaiming: Born To Fish.… READ MORE.... …
Let’s face it, this year is fast becoming a wash-out as far as running goes. It was all going fairly swimmimgly up till mid-March, with two half marathons and a couple of 10Ks under my ever-loosening belt. Then came the right calf injury which scuppered the Bath Half and the next 4 or 5 weeks of training. But eventually I got going again, confident enough to announce that I’d started serious preparation for the Dublin marathon.… READ MORE.... …
It’s been a tough few days. Monday was the emotional tragedy of the Brighton defeat. Tuesday I was forced to visit The Ivy to hobnob with… with everyone else hoping to be hob-nobbing with the rich and famous but who had to make do with me and M and Kevin and Louise. For the record, the meal was great, and even the bill wasn’t quite the sledgehammer-to-the-kidneys moment that I was expecting it to be.… READ MORE.... …
I looked out of my bedroom window this morning and saw someone stealing my garden gate. I was going to remonstrate with the little bugger but I was worried that he might take offence. I should really have run today but… but I didn’t. It must be nerves. The big match — Brighton v QPR — starts in half an hour and I need to get over to the pub to watch it on Sky TV.… READ MORE.... …
Five and a half pounds lost this week, and five and half miles run this morning, my longest since the 9 miler that crippled me 5 weeks ago. The last couple of miles weren’t easy, and I even had a walk break at one point, but I made it through. It was good to have a change of scene too. A sunny Saturday morning run along the canal is a real pleasure.… READ MORE.... …
The train is a great opportunity for innocent eavesdropping. Yesterday morning I overheard two chaps in their mid-sixties discussing job opportunities. One was flourishing an application form for a position with VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). He looked exasperated. In true Victor Meldrew mode he said: “Six pages. Six bloody pages! And they want a list of seventeen core competencies. Core competencies!… READ MORE.... …
Life is sweet. Sometimes. After my epoch-marking run last Tuesday morning, the heat forced me to lapse into extended sloth. Just in case you are reading this on the International Space Station, I should mention that we’ve been undergoing a collective ooze here on Earth, in the severest heatwave since Stonehenge was winning its appeal for planning permission. Don’t we just love to martyr ourselves like this?… READ MORE.... …
The circus is back in town. This morning, 5:45am, waking to welcome home an old friend – the morning run. It wasn’t a great run – slow, clumsy, flapping and panting, but it was a run nevertheless. And in the current heatwave (up to 34C, 93F in London later today), it gave me something withheld from most people – the experience of a cool, slightly misty atmosphere.… READ MORE.... …
Let’s get down to fundamentals. What actually IS “a run”…? Interpreting the word generously then Crikey!. Not one but TWO runs to report. Neither was the kind of heroic 12 mile sprint along the towpath of which I sometimes dream idly. The first, yesterday afternoon, came during a walk along the Thames Path with M and her extended family. We reached a point where most of the party were flagging seriously, and decided to turn back.… READ MORE.... …