I Drink, therefore I Run

It's Bank Holiday Monday, and I am now all set up in my running gear (always important to buy a new set at the marathon expo, so you have something to look forward to when you go for the first run after the big day!). Nice stuff from Gore as well... 8 days since I last pulled on a running shoe...long enough to miss it and want it again.. ..still disappointed (a bit) over my London performance, but getting over it...3:38 still a great time, and I know I throttled back in the second half anyway as I knew I wasn't on for  PB or qualification time. I reckon that's why I am not so knackered now. ..have had a week of good food and wine, nothing spectacular, just some pleasing bottles - sitting here now I can remember: Volnay Vielles Vignes Nicolas Potel 2005 , silky yet with a bit of tannic bite Vigna Flaminia Rosato by Vallone, from Brindisi, a lovely dry and rich wine, made from Montepulciano and Negroamaro grapes, perfect with tuna steaks Hannibal 2004 by Bouchard ...

Portaloos... Playing to the Crowd... A quick reviving hug THE MEDAL

With three weeks to go to the marathon, there can be only one thought, and that thought is TAPER! The hardest part of any marathon training is sometimes having to stop, and let your body rest and recover before the race. You suddenly find yourself with these strange things called 'evenings' back again! With the clocks having gone forward, and your runs dropping to 4 or 5 miles, you are back and showered by 8pm - and with an hour of daylight still in hand. A good friend who is running the marathon for the first time said to me 'you warned me about this - and last night I had just that sensation, I suddenly didn't have a run to do, and I didn't know what I should be doing!' Ah well, only a few weeks to go.. There is still training to be done, of course, with 4 runs and 24 miles during the week. You run the same number of times, and still run the fast sessions, you just drop the volume. In the final week there will be some runs where it takes longer to get change...

Hello dear Reader. Once again my frequency has fallen. - so let me endeavour at least to engage you with quality! Well, what a week! Runningwise I was aiming for steady, and this week was the week with the plan for the Longest Run, an important part of any marathon Schedule. I was pushing for 25 miles at just shy of marathon pace. Did I manage it? Well, to be honest, no. I will explain.... This week was also the week of the Wine Tasting. My first paid engagement for a private client rather than a bigger corporate 'do'. A lovely lady who attended my December tasting in Windsor called me out of the blue a few weeks before, and wanted me to run a tasting in her house for 8 people, as a birthday present for her husband. How delighted was I! What a great, great opportunity. So, we planned in secret, and managed to keep it quiet from her husband. It was a real success, and once again reminded me how much I love doing this kind of thing, and indeed how good I am at it, if I may be...