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Running and the seven year itch

Marilyn Monroe and Tim Ewell in "The Seven Year Itch" (1955) They say that, no matter whether you take up running at 35, 45 or even older, you get between 5 and 8 years when you see improvement almost every time you run and race. Having taken up running again in 2007, about 20 years after leaving it behind at school, and initially targetting a local 10k, I can vouch for that. Within 3 years I'd dropped my time from 47:11 to a 'personal best' of 39:05, matched the following year on a tougher course - and I might have beaten it if I hadn't been knocked sideways rounding a bend on the final 100m by a corner-cutter! My weight fell by nearly 2.5 stone, and I completed several marathons, with my two best in 2010 and 2012. There's no doubt that between 4 and 6 years after starting, I hit my 'sweet spot'. And then it all just got harder. My first real lay off came from running two races on consecutive snowy, cold January Sundays, kicking off a ches
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30 Weeks to the Brighton Marathon

Two events have encouraged me to start my running blog again. One was meeting my dearest friend Jason, who, having emigrated to Melbourne, has really embraced the 'running life', and is inspiring me with his glorious 10k morning runs in wonderful places. Here's a recent photo from his trip to Paris, before coming across to the UK, and a morning run... Secondly, the realisation that I have 30 weeks to the Brighton marathon, and the scales are tipping towards 172 lbs...about 10lbs over my fighting weight if I am going to do well. My running for the past months has been a bit sporadic - sufficient to keep a bit of fitness, but not in any sense 'training'. So...here we turn over a new leaf - I am going to allow 4 weeks of running as I fancy, and then start a 26-week lead-in to Brighton. Key to this is making running more fun, and re-capturing some running 'social', which I have really missed in my London jaunt. Also, making it less of a grind. With th

A run, a shoe and a wine..

October 2013 27.9 miles Rain and hail Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench’d our steeples, drown’d the cocks! subtle shoes MASI Campofiorin Intense, deep, dark ruby red colour; very viscous with purple edges. Strong and attractive cherry aromas on the nose with a pleasing spiciness. Great power and balance on the palate, with aromas of ripe fruit, cherries in spirit and blackcurrants. Soft and well balanced tannins benefitting from good acidity; long aftertaste with hints of vanilla and cocoa, just like an Amarone. Semi-dried grapes were added to the young wine and a second fermentation started to produce a double-ferment lasting 15 days. This enriches the colour, flavour and body of the wine, which is then aged in oak barrels for 18 months. Campofiorin is built to last and has the potential to age for a further fifteen to twenty years, but can certainly be enjoyed now too £12

Gin and Tonic..

Bank Holiday weekend... 7 miles this morning, 3 miles at tempo pace, through the woods.. Belgian GP qualifying.. Papers.. 6pm... Beefeater (all we had in..) Fever Tree Lemon Ice Aaaahh!!

A beautiful wine experience, and my first run in weeks!

Greetings all. It's fair to say that the last 3 weeks have knocked me for six, with the horrible week of the chest infection (and no wine), and a couple of weeks of steadily getting better. So, it was with some trepidation that I stepped outside of the front door today for my first Sunday run in a while. Before I talk about that, Saturday brought an altogether nicer experience, in the form of a lunch with Janet at Hotel Terravina in the New Forest (well, edge of..Netley Marsh). For those who don't know, this is the recent venture of Gerard Basset (formerly of Hotel du Vin fame, now a Master of Wine, a Master Sommelier and winner of numerous worldwine prizes for generally being a great and super-knowledgeable chap in the world of vino). I have written on Terravina before. Its real draw for a wine-lover is that food and wine get equal billing and importance in the experience. So, you have lovely food (tasty, not huge portions) and a really great time with the wine list, includi

A 10k and a pint

The snowy weather has put many things off course in the past few days..but we runners are a hardy bunch, and need only the glimmer of a possibility of a run to declare that all is well. And so it was with the Stubbington 10k, a well-known course for local speedsters, with only 100m of climb during the race (limited to 2 sharp inclines) and a mostly traffic free, pretty and well marshalled course. As well as excellent facilities, plenty of portaloos and lovely home basked cakes afterwards at a staggeringly good value 30p, you could hardly ask for more. A really great event...which, in the dark days of last week, we whispered 'might it be cancelled?' We waited patiently... However the good news rang out at 1pm yesterday, and so, this morning, slightly trepidatious about the journey down to Lee on Solent, I sallied forth into the cold and quiet morning on the M27, hardly a soul to be seen. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the commencement of the falling of the powde