RunningCommentary

Yesterday, and last Friday, I did what I should perhaps have been doing for some months — went for a lunchtime run from the office. Bracknell, a town of roundabouts that funnel traffic towards yet more roundabouts, doesn’t have a great reputation as a picturesque location. A place to work rather than to live. And yet I’ve recently found that around this fallow, futuristic core, are fringes of civilisation — and even quaintness.… READ MORE.... …

This year, I reach my gritty half century. When considering long races for this most significant of years, I wondered about doing something around the end of June to mark the great day. It may seem paradoxical to celebrate my unscheduled longevity with an attempt to kill myself in public, but that’s a discussion for another time. Anyway, my researches threw up this: that Finland is a cornucopia of bizarre, midsummer races.… READ MORE.... …

In this fast-paced, ever-changing world in which we live, it’s important to choose an opening sentence devoid of nugatory cliché. Seventeen more RC Tip of the Day opportunities left till the Almeria Half. On the evidence of my 4 miler this evening, the pain of the post-Christmas, post-ankle recovery effort is becoming more bearable. The church bells were clattering over the village as I left.… READ MORE.... …

On New Year’s Day I was generous enough to treat my nephew to a trip to Vicarage Road for the Watford – Wigan match. It was of course a treat for me rather than him. Just before the game, he confided in me, admitting something that must be every parent/guardian’s nightmare: It seems he’s tired of supporting Liverpool and Arsenal now, and has become…[you know what I’m going to say]… a Chelsea fan.… READ MORE.... …

New Year resolutions? One of mine is to read more. I visited a bookshop in Windsor just before Christmas where I bought myself two armfuls of reading matter. These were then given to my wife so that she could solemnly hand them all back to me on Christmas morning. It’s how middle-aged bah-humbuggers like me do things. I forgot to buy any Mark Twain though, as intended.… READ MORE.... …

It’s January 1st really, but I’ve been meaning to write something here for so long that it seems better to pretend that it’s still 2006, so that I can say cheerio to it properly. How was it for you? By my usual steady-as-she-goes standards, it was almost tumultuous. That 5 hour marathon demon got its come-uppance at last, yet I managed to rouse a few dormant ones I’d long forgotten about.… READ MORE.... …

Someone mailed me today and mentioned Monday’s “gloomy” entry. Gloomy? I reread it, and I see what they mean. But it wasn’t supposed to sound like that. The intention was to be faintly whimsical, not pessimistic. Perhaps I should be pessimistic, but I’m not feeling too down about my running at present. It’s true that the last two weekends have contained long hangovers in the slots normally reserved for long runs, but hey, it’s Christmas.… READ MORE.... …

There it is again: that muffled clacking from the other side of the window…. Ah wait, it’s just the limping Ghost of Christmas Past. Five years ago today, I did the first 3 mile leg of my first marathon. You can read it here. I read it myself now and then, trying to gauge the great improvement I must have experienced.… READ MORE.... …

Confessional. Forgive me further, for I have sinned. Again. Time of year is an easy excuse, so let’s grab it while it’s still available. A long-planned festive pub get-together last Thursday, corporate Christmas bash on Saturday evening, lunch with some mates today. Several days of wine and dozes on one side of the scales, with just a semi-run for an hour on Saturday morning, and a mundane 4 miles in the middle of last week, on the other.… READ MORE.... …