It’s a curious thing. You’d think that the longer the run, the more there would be to write about, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. A 15 mile slog up the canal today, but I’m struggling to find anything interesting to say about it. The most notable aspect was probably the debut of my new portable DAB radio. I’ve tried running and radio-listening a couple of times, but the hissy signal is frustrating.… READ MORE.... …
Blog Posts
“Walcott is a virgin, Walcott is a virgin, L’la la la, L’la la la” Not the wittiest effort I’ve heard from the Loftus Road faithful, but it will stick in my memory if Theo Walcott really does fulfill the potential that Arsenal, apparently, value at £15 million. I saw the 16 year old play today in what might have been his last match for Southampton.… READ MORE.... …
When the subject of early morning running crops up, I enthuse. Best time of the day, I say. Makes you feel great. Sets you up for the day. Gets it out of the way. All this is true, but the shameful fact is that I don’t drink my own Kool-Aid, as our American cousins like to say. It’s months since I slid out of bed before 7:30 to trot around the block.… READ MORE.... …
The forum comes and goes. Just recently there’s been a buzz around the place. After a few lean months, several of us are now gearing up for races and/or midway through a marathon campaign. By contrast, one of our most loyal parishioners, Seafront Plodder, has just renounced marathons. Understandable. As I said in my reply, it’s all about motivation. When that sense of marathon wonder seeps away, the motivation soon follows it, and when that’s gone, it becomes a very tough obstacle.… READ MORE.... …
14 miles today, on a dismal, rain-swept afternoon. To add an extra layer of featurelessness, I chose to do 4 laps of my usual round-the-block-route. The prospect was so uninviting that I did a rare thing — took a radio with me. Here are some words I never thought I’d hear myself say: Thank god for TalkSport. This radio station annoys the hell out of me, but today they just about kept me sane.… READ MORE.... …
It’s a long time since I’ve thought of UK politics as primarily a legislative lever for social change. Since ‘studying’ it at university, 25 years ago, I’ve learnt to regard it first and foremost as a spectator sport. Most of the players themselves would have it no other way. I put “studying” in quotes because it wasn’t easy to find the time to attend lectures and tutorials.… READ MORE.... …
2005 ended with a 12½ mile bang, closely followed by the cork popping on a bottle of Sainsbury’s Vintage Champagne. It was intended to be a toast to usher in a new year of glowing good health, even if yes, there’s something mildly ironic about celebrating abstemiousness by glugging a bottle of bubbly. And true enough, the gesture came back to bite me on the arse yesterday, when my visit to Loftus Road was enhanced, or otherwise, by visiting a few of the local inns to check that all was in order.… READ MORE.... …
New Year’s Day tomorrow, when a million new runners will be born. Like frog spawn, most won’t survive into February’s tadpole stage, and fewer still will ever know what is to leap between April’s muddy puddles, with the promise of summer to reward their persistence. Runners who fall by the wayside before the end of January will moan about the pain, the hassle, the weather, the effort it takes, the lack of an instant reward and the hurdle of motivation.… READ MORE.... …
There’s a nasty bite to the weather as end of the year approaches, but even the wind and rain couldn’t hold me back this afternoon. It’s one of the great benefits of working close to home. An early lunch break, nip home, get changed and out for a 3½ mile dash round the block. Back home, quick shower, and back at my desk barely an hour after leaving it, glowing like a beacon and vibrating with feelings of “wellness”, as we have to say now.… READ MORE.... …
A frost so severe this morning that just stepping through the back door was to feel your dangly bits withering and dying on the vine. Standing there, quivering, in my leggings and three T-shirts, apprehensive sweat freezing on my temples, the temptation was to give up. But I need stuff to write about, and if I don’t run then this blog is buggered.… READ MORE.... …