Grim days. Before Christmas, the snow arrived like some unexpected, enchanting dinner party guest. But as she has lingered, and got ruder and more domineering, the novelty and appeal has faded. Lovely to begin with, now a damn nuisance. Go away. Another six inches of fluffy ice has descended overnight. This would have spoilt my running plans, if I’d had any.… READ MORE.... …
Blog Posts
This morning was so cold, there was barely enough blood in my fingers to capture Kumudith Guruge. Ethereal voice: Who? Kumudith Guruge. Last entry: I’m in a much better position than this time last year. The weight is about the same, but it was on Boxing Day 2008 that I yanked my calf muscle for the first of three times in quick succession.… READ MORE.... …
Things are trying to get back to normal. The old normal. The post-mid-September normal. The new enemy has been the skies. Most runners like a bit of rough in the weather department. Rain is to running what vinegar is to chips: greater than the sum of the parts. We can even embrace the stage or two beyond mere rain, but there’s a limit to this pain-pleasure principle.… READ MORE.... …
It had to happen. After 13 exemplary weeks, along comes Christmas. In terms of training and healthy eating, a very bad week to report. Six days of alcohol and fine dining. And not so fine dining: pizza, curry, ice cream, cheese, chocolate… the old enemies have breached the defences. And later today, we’re off to a wedding reception, so there is no immediate sign of rescue from all this pleasure.… READ MORE.... …
Hangovers are rare beasts around these parts, but one has come a-prowling today. Not a desperately savage example, but enough to keep me subdued. It’s prompted the usual self-interrogation, and taken me through the drinker’s faulty arithmetic in which two parts of pleasure somehow have to be shown to equal the three parts of pain that follow. The proposition never quite works out.… READ MORE.... …
At last, after many weeks of trudging through a dense jungle of commitments, the weary traveller reached a small clearing. He marvelled at the sudden sense of light, and clarity. “I have been unable to see, and thus I have been invisible”, he mused. It’s been an eventful few weeks, with so much to write about that I’ve not had the time to log it.… READ MORE.... …
Well done M. I usually moan at her for wasting time entering competitions (“It’s just a marketing scam”), but occasionally I’m glad she ignores my advice. She’s managed to nab a 2-night stay in a suite at Ragdale Hall, a ‘health hydro’ in Leicestershire. Melton Mowbray in fact, so if the weight of healthy living becomes too burdensome, I can escape to the local town and seek solace in one of their famous pork pies.… READ MORE.... …
Nothing wrong with a spot of mild iconoclasm. From time to time, we need to take our prejudices off the shelf, blow the dust off them, and give them a good examination. Are they still fit for purpose? Or are they just being kept for sentimental reasons? Recently, I’ve been ambushed by two long-standing prejudices. One delivered an unexpected kiss; the other, a painful bruise.… READ MORE.... …
It seems to have been quite a lucky day. How does this happen? I set off after lunch, intending to zip round the block for 4 miles, but ended up banking 10.25 of the slippery buggers. The day was a beaut; mid-November, but it was actually warm out there this afternoon. Perhaps this persuaded me to eke out another mile. Then another.… READ MORE.... …
Running is hard work. So why make it even harder for myself? This was my line of questioning as I entered the 3rd kilometre of the Brighton 10K. It was the point where I found myself struggling, or even floundering, at the realisation that I’d started too quickly. Pre-race saw the usual eye-bulging dash from the in-laws in Crawley to Brighton, followed by the Bullitt-style driving round the town, trying to find a parking place.… READ MORE.... …