Month: November 2005

How typical. After getting round the Brighton 10K as comfortably as I could have hoped, I then spend 9 days focussing on nothing but work and pie consumption. Tomorrow the news will be better.… READ MORE.... …

I’ve taken part in 34 races now, managing to write reports on all of them apart from the Brighton 10K in 2003. For some reason I never identified, that one slipped past. My second Brighton 10K happened yesterday, and I think I might have to keep quiet about that one too. I just can’t think of too much to say about the race.… READ MORE.... …

Im shocked. I’ve been sexually assaulted. Plodding along the village high street this evening in sub-zero conditions, I glanced up at the moonlit church, ready for 40 minutes of contemplative exercise. As I did so, I came across a group of 4 or 5 teenage girls, aged about 13 or 14 years old, walking towards me. As I went past them, one of them suddenly said “Ere, fancy a shag then?”,… READ MORE.... …

Another ungainly, breathy gallop round the lanes this afternoon beneath a canopy of strong winter sunshine. A fantastic day for running. Just over four miles. It was just tough enough to know for sure that I will struggle on Sunday in Brighton. But if I can plod 4 miles and survive, I can plod 6 and survive. Forgive me father for I have sinned.… READ MORE.... …

Worked from home today, and able to feast on a rare treat — a midweek run in the daylight. Got out at lunchtime for the standard 3.5 miles round the block. It’s getting easier. Then I tempted fate by doing some more race planning. Definites (insofar as I’ve entered them) are the Brighton 10K this Sunday and the Cliveden post-Christmas 6 miler.… READ MORE.... …

I have 6 days to reinvent myself. Six days to switch identities yet again. The beer-guzzling, midnight chow mein and cheddar eater must die once more. It’s like that movie – Cape Fear. The one where you keep thinking the baddie has been finally exterminated. But he just keeps coming back to set the cinema screaming yet again. (Robert Mitchum’s 1961 version is probably better than De Niro’s remake in the 90s, but the latter’s baddie picture is badder.)… READ MORE.... …

Too busy or too drunk to write anything this week. I’m not often moved to go into work on a Sunday, and it’s not often that I’m sitting at my office desk at a quarter to midnight, but I’ve had both experiences this week. “Too drunk” is an exaggeration, but there’s something pleasing about the phrase. As it happens, I did absorb my full weekly allowance of ale last Saturday, but it was for medicinal purposes only.… READ MORE.... …

The Paris Marathon, or to give it its full, foreign name, the Marathon de Paris…. is full. Oh. So I have to think of another race, preferably round the same date, 9 April. It looks like a choice between the David Davis of marathons, Rotterdam, and the David Cameron-like Zurich. They are both pretty flat, but the mountain-fringed lakeside route of Zurich offers something fresher and cleaner than the workmanlike Rotterdam.… READ MORE.... …

Ventured out this evening for 44 minutes encouraging minutes. After my patchy late summer/autumn, a fourth run in 4 days was always going to be testing, and yes, it was a struggle towards the end. I even walked briefly once or twice. But overall, I was happy: for the first half of the run, I could feel some strength returning. Have I ever talked about “bounce”?… READ MORE.... …

It’s been a day of firsts. The first day of November, and with it, this morning, the first hint of frost — a gentle reminder of what’s to come. Despite the mild autumn, they say it will be a long, harsh winter. The coldest for 40 years, according to some reports. The thought of winter might be daunting, but there’s excitement there too.… READ MORE.... …