Right, that’s it. In four years of running, this has been my worst period for inactivity, pessimism and lack of motivation. There are one or two flimsy excuses to snatch at, but even if I can persuade others to buy into them, it’s almost impossible to convince myself that they offer much justification for my lazy summer and stuttering autumn. Today offered yet another new beginning, and I’m trying to grab it before it drifts past again.… READ MORE.... …
Blog Posts
If an evening with a Norwegian jazz trio was good endurance training, a couple of hours with a magician and illusionist would surely be good preparation for helping me set my targets for next spring’s races. So we went to see Geoffrey Durham perform in Maidenhead last night, and were well entertained. More mature readers may remember him as The Great Soprendo of our youth.… READ MORE.... …
Emotional training for next spring’s long races has begun in earnest, with last night’s concert by an avant garde Norwegian jazz trio in Basingstoke. Long before the end I was losing the will to go on, but knew I had somehow to dig deep, drawing on resources I didn’t know existed within, to see me through to the end. Bursting through the doors at the end, gulping lungfuls of fresh, rainwashed Hampshire air, was as big a relief, surely, as tottering over any marathon finish line.… READ MORE.... …
The heel is healing, but still annoyingly sore — sore enough not to risk running over the weekend, but not quite bad enough, mercifully, to prevent me wandering up the road to the Chinese takeaway and the off-licence last night. Plans for the coming months continue to simmer. The Reading and Silverstone Halfs on March 5 and 19 seem compulsory. Or did do, until 5 minutes ago.… READ MORE.... …
A day of hobbling round the office, cursing those famous slings and arrows. Frustrating. After a lethargic summer, I finally manage to heave myself off my backside and into my trainers, only to pick up some sort of injury, or at best, a painful, temporary shackle. No point in thinking about a run today, and it might even be next week or beyond when I get out again.… READ MORE.... …
When is a pain an injury? I went for another mild run through the Berkshire twilight this evening, intent on blasting a path through a headful of Visual Basic cul de sacs. That part of the outing went pretty well. I won’t know till tomorrow if I’ve solved anything, but I’ve come up with some new angles from which to attack the fiends in my code.… READ MORE.... …
It’s that time of year… There’s something about autumn that makes runners turn their thoughts to the racing year ahead. As I said recently, I want to stop treating races as running’s raison d’être, but it’s undeniable that for most of us, they add meaning and structure to what otherwise might sometimes seem to be a curiously pointless activity. And a useful foil for the puzzled derision of non-runners.… READ MORE.... …
Three runs in three successive days. Crikey. Here I am, gulping lungfuls of air. This could be it, boys. Perhaps I’ve finally broken through the ice. On Thursday morning I got up early and checked my mail. Ah, a message from Graham in Australia, or Mid Life Crisis Man, as forum-users will know him. I shouldn’t betray confidences, but equally, I shouldn’t fail to acknowledge what a decent geezer this man is.… READ MORE.... …
A couple of stately homes to report. Cliveden on Sunday. I’ve talked about this place before. I did a race here last Christmas. Loved the race, and hope to do it again this year; but Sunday’s trip wasn’t great. We waited ages to be allowed in to see the interior, and once inside, found that they couldn’t wait to shunt us out again, through the back door.… READ MORE.... …
Headaches are a pain – and if you think that’s self-evident, wait till you hear this. I’ve had one all day. I’ve also not drunk coffee in the last 48 hours, and seemed to remember hearing that a sudden lack of caffeine could induce headaches for a while. Thought I’d research it, so scanned t’Internet for “caffeine withdrawal headache”. Eventually I came across a link to a page which promised to tell me what I wanted to know.… READ MORE.... …