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February 2012

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:44:52 +0000

Week 7 of 18
Lunar phase: waxing gibbous, first quarter Monday

A good start to the month.

Wednesday - 4 miles intervals along the canal at lunchtime. I increased the distance by a mile and kept the intervals at 100 sec with 90 sec rest. I much prefer these timed sessions to the old fartlek - there's no question of just hanging on to the recovery for a few more paces; the time comes up and you just have to go. The temperature was on the way down and there was quite some wind chill. Impressively, there were patches of ice on the water in the more stagnant and shaded areas, even at midday. But I braved t-shirt and shorts with no gloves and hat. The first 10 minutes were less than comfortable, but I didn't really notice after that.

Friday - still not sure where this performance came from. 7 miles tempo run was the prescription. So I dropped Emma at preschool and then jogged up to the field. The overnight temperature had been around -4C but it was a bright and clear morning. Warmup layer shed, spare bottle stowed in hedgerow, and upbeat sounds plugged into ears, I kicked off hard.

My previous lap times for the tempo session around the green have been around 12 minutes - since I got my new watch I've only once dipped under that figure, equal to around 8:20 miling. So I was a bit surprised when the first lap split came up at 10:32, suspecting something wrong with the watch. But the next three came in at 10:40, 10:42 and 10:46.

Later number-crunching showed these to work out at around 7:20 to 7:30 miling, which is about as good as it gets for me, basically very decent 10K race pace. Well, it was certainly hard work, but as hard as I would run a 10K? I don't really know, I didn't intend to run that fast, so it's mystifing as to why it happened. Certainly the ground was much, much harder then the previous week, which would have helped a lot. And I felt pretty exhausted for the rest of the day, as I have done in the past... after a balls-out 10K race.

It'll be interesting to see which mojo turns up for the same session next week.

TdJ - impossible to choose between...

1. Led Zep - Communication Breakdown. I always hope for a corking track somewhere in the last lap, and this came up trumps. Nothing more to add.

2. The Trammps - Disco Inferno, crematorial elegy to the late great Brian Blackburn, inspiration behind last year's Brighton rock epic - friend, lover (no, not mine, despite the allegations - come to think of it, not my wife's, despite the more serious allegations - not as sinister as it sounds - I think that's enough subordinate clauses), father, godfather, rocker... suddenly I noticed the sun was out, the grass was in rude health for February, the sky was flawless, and I was taken back to Northumberland coastal dog walks and cosy pubs some 20 years ago.

Up above my head I hear music in the air
That makes me know there's a party somewhere

Sunday night calls for 14 miles. The snow is currently falling; I think the temperature will be around zero, so not too cold to cry off. Will I take to the field, or (as I had been considering anyway) go urban? A moonlit snowfield might be hard to resist... but the forecast is for fog.

Feb-bluary 2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:13:24 +0000

I kicked off a new month with a hilly four miler in a bone-chilling wind tearing in across icy, scoured hills. After a slow start my legs responded, pushing me along at a decent clip. The best part of running a road race is getting back to the downs. The gentle embrace of crisp yet yielding turf feels like a loved one's warm embrace, welcome and welcoming at once.

This is a building month. January produced some decent long runs, a fair effort in Almeria and a temporary plunge off the high, rickety wagon. With limited travel plans and the prospect of some fabulous cold mornings it's all about steady mileage, tougher long runs and controlled shedding of unsightly fat.

Track du jour the incomporable, original ACDC, Down Payment Blues.
Turn it UP.

February 2012 - Base Camp

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:44:19 +0000

I feel so extraordinary
Something's got a hold of me
I get this feeling I'm in motion
A sudden sense of liberty.

"True Faith" - New Order

Wow - a great run today, not because it was fast or in any way particularly brilliant, but because I felt really and truly stuffed and buggered after five long hard days at work and desperately wanting to not do this run. However, I'm on a roll now and I wasn't about to let a fabulous January of running go to waste, so run I did.

And somewhere along the way - toward the end when I'd already conquered a small mountain of "let's call it quits, that's enough" thoughts and "gosh my knee hurts, perhaps that really IS enough" false alarms and had basically run out of excuses, I suddenly found myself in that exalted place of realisation that says, "Hey! This is actually not that hard, and gee, it feels really, really good and boy, you're actually running at quite a decent pace!" And it wasn't just the endorphins - I really did find a whole new level of enjoyment in pushing myself to new running heights.

I dunno, it just felt brilliant for some reason.

There was a whole heap of other stuff I was going to yabber about, but it doesn't seem to matter much by comparison. I had a great run today, and that's the important thing.

Roll on February!

16.32 km, 1h39m, moderate.

YTD: 217.5km (ave: 15.5km per run)

The Spanish Swindle...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:16:35 +0000

Yesterday within a bar
I met a man who wasn’t thar (sic)
He wasn’t thar (sic again) again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away

….with apologies to Hughes Mearns

It’s been a while since I’ve written a race report, longer than it’s been since I’ve done a race.

I did write something about my exploits in Hobart, but never finished it as…well I didn’t know how to finish it. And seeing as no one has ever asked for it, it remains a dotdoc on my desktop.

But this is different. Almeria is different. It’s the annual Andalucian pilgrimage, a RC institution if ya will, that makes me want to write something.

I went to some lengths to ensure El G wasn’t aware I was going. I chuckled to myself whenever he posted about his lack of preperation, his calf or whatever the latest ailment was because I know (although not injured) my preperation had been non-existent, and I also know that over a lemonade or two the evening before the race I could convince the old bugger to run/walk the course with me, helping each other to a dramatic Stadium finish.

And so it was. Around 10.30 on the night before the race LR and Cam wisely decided to call it a night and had gone to bed, Sweder stayed with us on the water for a while before slipping off, which left El G and I with the perfect opportunity to fine tune tactics.

I cannot remember who it was who decided to order the second bottle of Rioja, or the third….but by 2 am we were well and truly hammered, but extremely happy that we had had (see what I did there Antonio?) ample opportunity to catch up socially, discuss race strategy and generally convince each other that neither would blast for the line from 20 metres out to claim the spoils……..and that was pretty much the last anyone ever saw of him, during the hours of daylight anyway.

I telephoned his room 5 minutes before the off, but he wasn’t there. Some old duffer answered who sounded like he had just come around from a very large anesthetic, mumbling something about not being able to find the door.

I was not exactly in fine form either. When you prime objective for the race is to make sure your head doesn’t explode, you can be pretty sure you won’t be the first through the tape.

Sweder, Antonio and I started race together. It was certainly larger than previous years and we didn’t see the Girls, but they were there. We were off and pretty soon my running partners left me to plod on alone at the back.

The 9K 'run' and the Half share the same route for most of the 9K as it loops out then back to the stadium. The Half runners come tantalisingly close to the stadium before they swing off out to the town, leaving us 9K’ers to run down the slope and into the Stadium.

Well when I say us 9 K’ers, perhaps I ought to explain something.

Another manifestation of my previous evening’s pre-race Rioja-fest with El G, was that I had left my shoe chip back at the hotel. Hell I couldn’t even pin my number to my vest (thanks LR). My name would not be adorning the race stats. It was hot, I cursed my lack of any sort of training, and I was concentrating on just keeping my breakfast down….So when at about 3.5K out Sweder spotted me heading down to the seafront as he was heading back, I err…

Ok I turned round and ran with him.

Wow that feels better! I was jeered in Spanish from those who saw what I had done but instantly I felt better. Only 3.5K to go and suddenly I was in amongst a group of far skinnier competitors – athletes of both distances, runners I suppose would best describe them…and me. Ploddey run/walk me.

It was an instant decision and one that I had a small pangette of regret over immediately afterwards, but it was done, and it would have been worse to turn round again.

I reckon I covered about 7 or so K and crossed the line in 51 minutes something. I collected my tee shirt and set about scarpering as quickly as possible before some zealous official strode over to wrench the luminous orange finishers shirt from my grasp.

I waited in the car park for the others to come in. LR, Cam, Sweder in that order, and a while later Antonio. He'd pulled a hamstring at 5K and had hobbled to the finish. I really do feel for the guy. His home race where he knows so many fellow runners, and he gets injured.

We drove back to the hotel to get changed and don our erm.. finishers tee shirts before having a couple on Mollys (El G was still nowhere to be seen). He did finally appear from somewhere and we met up with a few of Antonio’s friends for a most excellent meal of around six courses complete with..well you can guess.

The next day I don’t think anyone saw “That Ex-Pat Chap” as he was by then being referred to. He was undoubtedly extremely relieved that he missed our swim in the cold Med. Thankfully I personally have no photographic evidence of this bright-green mankini that Sweder wore, but the girls didn’t know where to look and a couple of locals out for a shoreline stroll collapsed with laughter at the sight of a lilywhite arse. So wrong on many levels.

I was reminded of the above poem when we did finally see “T E-P C” later on in the day. We had planned a return to El Quinto Torro for some tapas and beer, but when we stumbled upon a wonderful tapas bar just around the corner from our Hotel…well we didn’t leave.

…….another late night followed.

I am finally reminded of the Rock Bar we frequented on the last night. Last year the RC troop spent some time there and Sweder, Julie and Cam were all keen to return, all in-ya face loud rock on vinyl was promised.

Thanks to our local guide Minolo we wove our way through side streets to find this onimous black doorway. Not much was going on in the tiny interior and we seven doubled the clientele, but there were hundreds of vinyl albums on display and the place was all posters and spirit bottles. It was (by Rock afficionados’ standards) early so we settled in to further Anglo-Spanish relations.

At some point later in the evening Cam and I discussed Meatloaf. His early stuff, musicals, the godawful Bat out of Hell 2, his foray into classical, right up to his recent comeback tour. All this talk whetted her appitite for The Big Man. The barman understood enough and proceeded to flip through the albums for some Meatloaf, which he then played at around 15 decibels.

I leaned over the bar at him….excuse me old chap would you mind cranking this right up? "We cannot signor, there is a little old lady living in the flat upstairs and she will complain". Priceless…

As per usual we did not see T E-P C on the morning of our flight so no goodbyes were possible, but as we four piled into a taxi and headed for the airport we all once again raised a virtual glass to Andy, without whom (well frankly pretty much without him at all this time), none of us would grab a slice of winter sunshine in this wonderful Spanish town.

L - R: Antonio, Julie LR, Sante, Sweder, SP, Cam, That Ex-Pat Chap.

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Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:20:42 +0000

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New ultra running telemovie.

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:55:13 +0000

Now here's some good news - a telemovie being made about Cliff Young, Australia's most famous ultra-runner.

http://myabc/News-2/2011-2/Media-Release...-ABC1.aspx

Going out for a run.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:00:09 +0000

About time too.

Ben Greenfield - worth a listen

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:26:00 +0000

I like this guy's podcasts - Ben Greenfield. (Ignore the iPhone app one, unless... you want an iPhone app.)

The podcasts have pretty sensationalist attention-grabbing titles ("Episode #169: Can You Get A Better Workout By Chomping Down On A Leather Strap Like An Ancient Viking Warrior?") but in fact they typically cover a wide range of Q & A topics that are generally treated with intelligence and seriousness. Most are well over an hour, so suitable for a 10K race (self-deprecatory joke), or decent gym session.

He's a triathlete and ex-body builder. Talks a lot about nutrition, exercise, and pretty much everything fitness-related. There are a lot of charlatans in this game but this bloke really knows his stuff, and has quite an engaging, professional style. He has his opinions alright but tends to present different sides of an argument, and he explains his sources in detail. But best of all is the variety. You never quite know what's coming next.

He runs a commercial operation but doesn't lay on the send-me-money-now thing half as thickly as most of them.

Worth a listen, IMO.

Server overload

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:57:38 +0000

Most days I find I am locked out of RC forums due to "server overload" (see below) and have to perservere before I can get in. Is anyone else seeing this or is it just me?

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2012

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:02:44 +0000

new year plan started yesterday with a solitary 3.5 mile plod through horrid lashing rain and high winds. Sorry for lack of activity here. I will explain after my run out this afternoon!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:54:36 +0000

Go see it. Brilliant.

January 2012

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:54:16 +0000

Kicked off the new year's running tonight with 9.4 miles, five and a half laps around the green. I can see it's gonna get soul destroying when I'm knocking out 10 or more of those. A lonely half moon kept safe watch over me, and the conditions underfoot were greasy to say the least, which I'm sure added a mile or so to the equivalent effort. Marathon Talk podcast included the first half of an interview with the legendary Steve Jones, still holder of the British marathon record after a couple of decades.

PS - kept track of which lap I was on by changing water bottle every other lap. Overdid the hydration and had to stop for a couple of comfort breaks. The good thing about running at night in an unlit field is that you don't have to bother to find a bush. Very liberating.

January 2012 - Here We Go Again

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:34:23 +0000

When I was in high school, our sadistic Physical Education teacher would begin each session with a 5km run around the local streets. Over the course of the year my times improved fairly dramatically, but there was one nasty, brutish little hill in Bowden Street that always defeated me. I never did manage to climb that hill without having to walk and it bugged me then and curiously, still bugs me now.

I was reminded of that hill on New Year’s morning on my first outing for 2012. I was exploring a new 5km addition to my usual 10km street circuit, and boy was it brutal. I thought it might be hilly, but it was far worse than I had envisaged and some of those climbs were not fun at all. And then there was that one bastard hill that took me back all those years to high school and the dreaded Bowden Street. Almost identical in that with an immense effort I could just get to the top but would then have to stop and walk – particularly horrid because just when I’m thinking I have it licked, it of course has the last laugh. A short, but genuine lung-buster. Wretched.

In fact the whole run was pretty awful. I guess I was due for a bad outing and this was it. Although I could have slugged it out for the intended 15km, I really wasn’t enjoying it, and decided to pull out for a relatively dignified 10km. If I’d pushed on it would have made it all the more difficult to get out for the next one.

I finished the run thinking “never again”, but now I’m inclined to give it another go. If I could handle those hills and see out the 15km it would be a fabulously useful training route – a reasonable distance and with about two-thirds of that distance being hills. Or maybe I’m just a masochist. A reluctant one, though.

Ah, to hell with it. I’ll just see how I feel about it next time.

10km, 64 minutes. Tough.

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January 2012

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 09:10:41 +0000

Welcome, 2012.
New years resolutions go in one year and out the other. Generally I'll try to run a little more (wisely) and eat & drink a little less.

Here's to a great running year for all.

Prometheus

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 01:11:29 +0000

I know I've banged on about this for a while now and the damned film won't be released until June 8th BUT Sir Ridley and his pals at Fox have teased us with this trailer just before Christmas.
I for one am beyond excited. I'll shut up now. For a bit, anyhow *presses FastForward on Time Machine*

An apology...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:04:05 +0000

... to Sweder, The Great SP, and MLCM, er, and everyone else, but particularly those chaps.

I still haven't caught up with the Oz/Tas adventures.

Thursday - day after tomorrow - is a holiday here in Switzerland. Apart from a leisurely stroll down the hill and a brief train ride to the scene of tomorrow night's work's Christmas party, to collect my car, I have deliberately made no plans. On my to-do list is an update on the NaNoWriMo thing, and a grinning hour or so of forum catch-up.

Was supposed to happen tonight, but I've been exasperating myself with techie forum stuff instead. Apologies.

December 2011

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:50:45 +0000

No running to report sadly as knee deep in the World Diabetes Congress in hot and sunny Dubai. I can however report on a wonderful initiative launched by my football club, Lewes FC. More details here. There's simply not enough of this sort of thing in football in my view.

There is a 5K race at here in Za'Abeel Park at 07:15 on Thursday. I plan on taking part, not least because all finishers will get a commemorative shirt and also because my burgeoning Guinness reservoir is adding unightly girth to my contenance. It'll be warm but hopefully not 81 degrees as it has been every day so far. I'll shut up about the weather now

December - the road to London

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:46:40 +0000

December 2011...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:44:05 +0000

If you're here looking for my P2P race report, you'll find it here.

But, onwards. Already, it's December. Funny, but I still pinch myself in disbelief that it's actually 2011 ... it still seems to me like the new century has only just begun, yet it's nearly 2012 already.

Anyhow. Down here it's getting a bit too hot now for lunch-time runs so on work days I've taken to running in the pre-dawn. To be honest I'm completely surprised that I'm up for it. After the P2P I was inclined to take a couple of weeks off, but I became so inspired by Sweder and Seafront Plodder travelling literally half-way around the planet to take part, and two of my sons also racing that I couldn't let it go. Also, having trained so well it seemed a shame to let that go to waste, especially after my back injury didn't allow me to run the kind of race or the time I had intended and trained for.

Heck, all I really know is that I want to keep running and build on the good work I've done so far this year, and continue that through 2012. And so for two mornings in a row I've been up at 04:30 and pounding the streets, picking the hilliest, most undulating streets I can find around the manor.

And ... it's been good! I'm loving it, I feel strong and fit, and raring to build it into something ... significant.

So, let's see where this all leads. But first, back to the physio to get the last niggles ironed out of my back.

Diary Update.

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:58:54 +0000

Summer. Kept it going through July and August with lots of short runs in between brief flurries of splashing about.

Took part in 2 very similar offroad races, up and down affairs, both with about 300m ascent.
Villanueva de Valdueza 11k.
Morla (again) 9k
Both were hard work in the afternoon heat.

Then in September, ran the second leg of a curious relay race along the St James’ Way.

All 3 races deserve a decent write-up, alas, so much to say, so little time. Wish I possessed some of Sweder’s machine gun prose.

Then there was my annual trip to Riazor Blue’s shop. For the first time in 3 or 4 years I went to buy some road shoes. RB sorted me out as usual and I only had to nod my head.

Perhaps the most significant development on the running front has come as a result of improved access to the Monte Pajariel trails. 2 years have passed since the tragic morning when Rafael the cobbler fell in the river. It’s a shame that it took a fatal accident to produce the smart new bridge.