February 2008

[Sweder]

Savage winds screamed in off violent seas as we gathered for our 9am departure from Brighton Marina. I'd gone for shorts and vest, horrified to see myself alone amongst forty souls clad for an Antarctic expedition. Two and a half hours and fifteen brutally hilly, windswept miles later my frozen fingers were wrapped around a steaming mug of Mac's coffee in a scene reminiscent of Ice Cold In Alex.

The newbies were keen to add some mileage, having, in the words of Nathan, a youthful bundle of sinew, lithe limbs and boundless energy, 'murdered' the Snake last week. We added North Face and Yellow Brick Road to our thirteen route, and by the time we'd scaled the serpent every man jack of us was pretty much spent. The expected sprint though East Brighton Park turned out to be a wheezy, arthritic lumber. Addressing pale, weary faces I assured them all they'd done good work and, in a few short weeks, would be adding the top of the Big W, Castle Hill and Death Valley to complete a corking seventeen miler. The goodbyes were mumbled, farewell Shearers lettace-limp, but they'll bounce back soon enough. This is a good batch.

Whether I'll be taking them on that wondrous journey remains to be seen.
I've no long races booked. For now I'm more than happy to plod along on Sundays to meet up with old friends and for the banter. As work and travel intervenes I'll struggle to keep the required mileage up, liable to fall off the pace and left far behind. For once it's nice just to let the chips fall as they may (around my middle mostly). There's a lot to be said for running free.

News from Almerían PBer Steve; another 21k PB today - 1:53! Details to follow as and when received. For now, nice one mate!
Calls for a celebration surely . . . (sound of Guinness Draughtflow [SIZE="1"]TM[/SIZE] can opening)