I Drink, therefore I Run

A short post this week, as I am sitting here with a bit of a cold, feeling sorry for myself! Of course this should really form part of next week's blog, but there you are. A couple of runs, nothing spectacular. A difficult week to get in mid-week exercise, with 3 days out up and down the country. Sunday Long Run was on my own, and as such I put in a good time - 15 miles at my proposed marathon pace - and not too wiped out on my return. So, all good. (hence disappointing to be 'grounded' tonight!). The solitary mile was, as always, the quick dash into Romsey on Saturday for a forgotten ingredient, as we prepared foods etc for next weekend's guests. Wine of the week was a delight - from a mixed case of villages 2007 Rhone wines. It was Coudoulet de Beaucastel 2007 (about £15-£17 a bottle, at Berry Bros.), the second wine of the esteemed estate Chateau Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Papes. It is on land that is just outside the boundary of the famous wine (in fact it is the...

The week of the Hursley 10k arrives! Two short but fast runs in the week, then a couple of days resting, before toeing the line. It was another glorious day, a little windy, but nothing to worry about. As ever the carnival atmosphere made this a very special race, over the IBM Hursley estate. That only adds to the sense of something a bit secret - 500+ people all gathering, as if by some unknown force, to run over the oh-so-confidential hub of IBMs development home, across tracks and fields, with not a single step on a public road! As if to add to the air of peculiarity the photo of the START actually reads FINISH - the more astute amongst you will realise that we return and end the race under this banner going the other way. Surely the techno boffins at Hursley could scrub out the words with photoshop? Or indeed is this still within the spirit of 1950's Cold War counter-intel, putting the enemy spy off the scent? Oh, I am transported back to the world of Grahame Greene already...B...

I mark a milestone this week with a return to (a bit) of hard training. Clearly the imminence of the Hursley 10k has impressed itself on my mind. So, I tried out 5 x 1km fast, with a 90 second float. Actually I was not that bad at all. I even think I could have gone faster. So, a really good start, though one training session does not a Gebrselassie make...anyway I really enjoyed that feeling of pushing again, that sense of making yourself work hard. There is a phrase, 'being in flow', that seems to sum up good training so well. The sense of flow comes best when you have a challenge that matches your skills, you know why you are running, the feedback is unambiguous (hitting a target time for an interval sure is unambiguous!) and you can focus only on the present. When you get this going, even tough tasks feel good. I am reminded of the excellent books from the 'runner's philosopher', George Sheehan, who just seems to sum up so well why we run. Out on Sunday with Sou...

A new running determination has come back to me this week, as I stare at two inevitabilities. 1) I am entered for the Hursley 10k in 2 weeks, and, much as I may like to think that I have all my fitness still in my legs, I really don't when it comes to going faster. I am still able to knock out 15 miles at a fair old lick, but faster work - well, I probably haven't run as fast as a 10k requires since about early April and 2) I am also starting to slip just a bit through a lack of a goal. I have determined that I intend to run London next April if I get a place, or a club place (I will not take a charity place as I cannot be bothered with the fundraising - sorry - done it twice now!) and so I will need to get used to hard work again. So, only two runs, but both good ones this week. I went out for a cycle on Wednesday evening as I just fancied it - it was raining yet again so I was not bold enough to cycle in to work; however, by the evening it had all improved dramatically. There...

You may initially be impressed by the mileage, and think that it is nipping back up again. Alas I must explain that this is an 8-day period, and thus contains two long run. I see this as entirely fair, largely because I had to postpone my Sunday long run to the Monday. Janet and I took a 5-day break, and packed a lot of room painting into it - so, I decided to run on Monday so as to get a few coats on. Unintentionally it turned into a chunky 15-miler at a fair old pace. On my return I weighed back into eggshelling galore - foolish boy! - so by Monday night I was cream crackered and glad to get back to work for a rest! The one, solitary bike mile is because it was tipping it down on Wednesday so I didn't ride into work. I was determined to have at least one ride a week, so this is a measly cycle into Waitrose! Winewise, we drank pretty well to compensate for the hard work, including a silky-smooth Volnay vielles vignes (old vines) by Potel from the 2005 vintage (not widely availabl...

Technically three runs this week - though one of them was a feeble effort after cycling back the longer way from work. Not having taken part in a triathlon before, I have not appreciated the learning curve when you do what is called a 'brick' session ie leaping straight off the bike and going for a run. The legs just do not work! I felt like I was starting to get back into the swing of things, though my Sunday run was not up to par. Perhaps it was just 'one of those weeks'. Delighted to have booked my first race since the Marathon - the Hursley 10k. I ran this a couple of years ago, as a preparation for the Clarendon half. It is a treat of an event. The atmosphere is great, as it is organised as fundraiser for the village school in Hursley. The course is trail/woodland/track, taking in parts of the IBM Hursley estate , which is off limits other than this one day a year. The great thing about running on trails is that you get a bit less worried about exact times and PB ...

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." (Mark Twain). So, here I am commencing my first week of my 40th year with a bicycle - a present from Janet, and what I really wanted. I last owned a bike in my 2nd year at University, which was of course a "Brideshead Revisited' type bike (did you expect anything else?) with wicker front basket and 3 Sturmey-Archer gears. It satisfied a need to throw coursebooks in the basket, don the cycle clips on my tweed suit (yes I did sometimes used to wear a 3-piece green tweed suit and tie at Uni...oh help me someone...) and then afterwards partake of a glass or two of Shepherd Neame's finest on the way back home. I seem to recall that I sold it to my landlady for £15 when I moved out. Since then I have eschewed the 2-wheeled form...though I have always been keen to get back in the saddle. My, how bikes have moved on! So, this 'city hybrid' model, as they call it, is made of oh so light aluminium, 21 gears wit...