(Written Sunday 1 July 2007) There’s nothing quite like a rainy race to wash down the first fifty years. The Oxford 10K last month broke a long sequence of races run in filthy conditions, but the Dorney Dash 10K got us back on track. The steady drizzle leading up to the start suddenly became a hefty deluge just as the hooter went.… READ MORE.... …
Month: June 2007
If a marathon is the top of my distance scale, the lowest is the humble 3-miler. It was my first ever target, back in 2001, and as I’ve mentioned more than once, it took me 8 months to reach it. It’s also the shortest run in the Hal Higdon training plans. His Novice schedule begins with a midweek of 3 x 3 milers, and an initial ‘long run’ of 6 miles.… READ MORE.... …
Something old, something new. This evening I took to the hills. Or to the hill. One hill, but consumed, sicked up and re-eaten four times. Dublin and Boston are not flat races, so I have to get used to the undulant way. Besides which, hill training will, they say, transform me into a herculean athlete at long last. It’s a good thing to do, regardless of hilly races to come.… READ MORE.... …
And they’re off… A 4.62 mile outing with the local running club this evening gets the invisible schedule underway. A strangely gentle affair. A couple of runners were coming back from injury, so we ran slowly to ensure their smooth transition from one sort of pain to another. The pace gave me a rare chance to enjoy the run, instead of being yanked from my comfort zone and cudgelled to the ground.… READ MORE.... …
How do you get to Dublin? Well I wouldn’t start from here, as the old joke goes. But too bad. It’s where I am. I’ve mentioned several times that this week marks the beginning of the traditional 4½ month marathon schedule. And yet… what schedule? You see, I don’t yet have one. Perhaps I’ll never have one. It’s one of the things that changes as you accumulate marathons.… READ MORE.... …
Here’s a new one. Today, a kilometre into my afternoon jaunt, as I ran past a new gypsy encampment, four dogs ran out and surrounded me, barking angrily. I tried walking slowly away, and one of them, a pathetic Jack Russell, took the opportunity to sink its teeth into my ankle. First time I’ve had dog trouble since we moved here in 2002.… READ MORE.... …
It’s good to be back in the groove. Worked from home today, so had the chance to get out his afternoon for 6.44 miles in the rain. I left home with no idea where I was headed, or how long I was going to be. I needed some sort of boundary, so before I left, I trapped a huge potato and manhandled it into the oven.… READ MORE.... …
No running on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Overdid the cheeky nebbiolo on the first evenings. Naughty I know, but be reasonable — I needed something to wash down the Himalayan plates of cheese, nuts and olives. High-fat Heaven. I chomped and glugged for England, and wondered whether to blame or thank my scarlet toe. Then yesterday came, as it always must, and it was time to act.… READ MORE.... …
From the previous entry: Sometimes you get away with it, but usually you don’t. This time, I seem to have got away with it. I spoke too soon. I wasn’t the victim of an immediate collapse in resolve, more a victim of the Curse of Niguel. A couple of days after writing the above, I met up with the celebrated Nigel of this parish.… READ MORE.... …