A rest is as good as a change

Both the whites and the light blues let me down badly that weekend. The whites had an awful game against Pompey. Only one change from the team that BEAT CHELSEA but they just looked like they couldn’t be bothered. So much is dependent on how ‘up for it’ a team is regardless of skill which is how we were able to beat a team of Chelsea’s ability in the first place.

Cambridge were poor as well. Never mind, always next year.

On the Monday I did the usual circuits class which was tough. Not sure why but whilst I found it rewarding it was very hard work. I did the usual 3 mile run on the Tuesday which was good although carrying a bit of a sore hip for some reason. Finished it in quite a good time so I was reasonably happy. That run and the 3 previous ones were all within a 6 second band so I think it was fair to say I had found my level. I’ve since heard from various sources that your speed doesn’t get faster but your recovery time gets quicker. Played football at work on the Wednesday lunchtime and not only contributed next to nothing but felt very, very achy afterwards. Back, hip and knees were all letting me know that I was carrying too many years and pounds.

Luckily I had already cancelled my usual Thursday night football so I had plenty of time to recover until my next run which I planned to run ‘sometime that weekend’. Saturday night was a busy night so I decided to run on Sunday morning which would be the first time I’d run in the morning rather than under cover of darkness.

It was a disaster

I went out at 10 am. There were far too many people ‘out and about’. I was completely and totally lacking in energy. I thought that was because I hadn’t eaten anything that morning but apparently the really early morning runners don’t eat anything pre-run. Quite apart from lacking in any energy I was aching all over with the old favourites of back, hip and knees being the main culprits although I couldn’t rule out some sort of additional groin pain providing the icing on the cake ailments-wise.

Ok so not really a disaster on a global scale. No deaths occurred.

At that stage I decided to have a week off any and all forms of exercise from circuits and work football to running and my usual Thursday night indoor football. A quiet week followed apart from my enquiries to Becky about whether they do hip replacement operations on 40 year-olds. Her response was to remind me that it’s probably not unusual to run with a bit of pain and I probably won’t notice it after a while.

My ‘barren’ week wasn’t wasted as I had time to go out in the car and measure out a 4 mile run as I’d already done 5 3 mile runs and felt that I needed to move up sooner rather than later. For info the new 4 mile run takes me past the chip shop, Ask Pizza, Barnes station, Rosslyn Park, down the Upper Richmond Road for what seemed like bloody miles and back along St Leonard’s road past Jessie’s nursery finishing at Mortlake bus garage.

I was debating when to do my ‘comeback’ run and putting off the date from Saturday to Sunday and then from Sunday to Monday. Physically I was ok, or not too bad, but mentally I was dreading going out after my last experience. Finally I donned the appropriate attire on Monday evening and set out unsure as to whether I was going to run 3 or 4 miles. I bit the bullet and did 4. It was hard work but the feeling I got at the end was amazing and better than anything I’d experienced before in this short running ‘adventure’. No pain at any stage apart from my upper legs feeling very tight 36 hours after the event. My plan for the future is to do 2 4 mile runs a week until further notice but as the evenings get lighter I may well head for the towpath and abandon any fixed length runs in favour of running for 40 or 50 minutes.

I know 2 people who are doing the marathon this weekend – Kate, a good friend of Becky’s and Sam, our next door neighbour - and I wish them both luck

I’ve decided that I’m now a beginner and not an absolute novice which puts me in a good position to offer more titbits of advice/observations to absolute novices

- Run don’t walk. Whilst this may be the absolute opposite of what you’ve heard in swimming baths and school corridors I’ve got a friend who has just taken up running for similar reasons to me except without the run date at the end. He has been doing better times than me because his ‘run’ consists of run/walk/run/walk/run/walk/run. Is that defeating the object? Apart from my two aborted runs I’ve run every single inch of the way. Does that make me a better person? Is incorporating a walk defeating the object? Discuss

- My running has a goal. The 10k on 11th June. This gives me something to aim for and in turn increases my motivation. Simple.

- Posture. A combination of ‘pumping my arms’ and leaning slightly forward whilst running makes the run that little bit easier. Possibly. Breathing efficiently helps as well.

- Fast food outlets and restaurants. Try not to run past (or indeed into) too many of these. Not a good idea especially when hungry.

- Boombastic, Mambo no 5 and Ooh ah (just a little bit) are surprisingly uplifting running songs. Possibly not the best three songs in the world and the boombastic lyrics are interesting to say the least but very good for running to. IMHO.

- People walking on the pavement are annoying. Don’t they realise what the pavement is for? Fools!

- Spitting is disgusting. I’ve hated it for 40 years now. Sadly I have to do it about twice a mile. Just thought you’d like to know

Just two more things to report.

Celebrity spot this week was Michael Ball (singer) in a bookshop in Barnes and Dad. Thought I’d add Dad as he’s been in ALL THREE episodes of Green Wing so far. Most impressive.

Finally if anyone wants to do a 10,000 word Maths project on Magic Squares then can they contact me immediately.

Please.

Fresh air, dirty trainers

Before I start I’ve taken Becky’s link off this page as she now says she’s got enough money (needed £100, received to date £237.95) and thank you all very much for your overwhelming generosity.

Went on my usual 3 mile run the Tuesday before last (10/11 days ago), felt like very hard work but bizarrely finished it in LESS THAN A SECOND slower than my previous one. It’s fair to say I may have found my pace although I’m confident the roar of the crowd will drag my time the right side of the hour mark. That and another 10 weeks training.

One slightly worrying thing is my pace (or lack of it). I was going past Barnes Bridge station whilst people were getting off the train and it took me longer than I’d like to catch up and even overtake them. This will improve. I hope.

I need to generally review my fitness routine/diet. On the fitness side of things I’m aiming for either 2 or 3 runs per week added to my circuits class and a maximum of 2 football games. If I miss a footy game and/or circuits class then I’ll try and make it 3 runs etc. Don’t want to overdo it at my age! Also need to go on a diet – been drinking too much these last few weeks and made no effort to lose weight which would obviously make the whole running thing a lot easier.

Due to go on a run last Saturday but was so shattered that I was in bed at 7.30 and was even read a bedtime story by Rosie (5 next month) rather than the other way round. Also got very, very, very slight hip(!) and knee soreness so trying to take it a bit easy for the time being. As far as the run goes, I’ve got time on my side.

STOP PRESS: Becky’s moonwalk is on the same night as the Eurovision Song Contest – what should I/we do. At this point half of you are shouting ‘Saddos’ at your screens and the other half are truly feeling my pain.



From Monday to Wednesday I went, with 30 of my work colleagues, to a hotel in Ascot for some ‘team-building’. Better than I thought, best bit: Scalextric evening, worst bit: Horse whispering. There were offers from Garry of an early morning run but these were politely declined for the following reasons:

Early morning (I do very well for early mornings at home, looking forward to 8 o’clock lie-ins when away)

Garry is probably at least 4 times as fast as me and whilst at the beginning the general consensus was that it’s good to run with other people I think I definitely prefer running on my own – especially at this still early stage.

On the Tuesday evening we had an hour before dinner so I donned my magic pants (and other assorted clothing, obviously) and went for a quick run outside the hotel gates. Not my best run for the following reasons:

Hilly – or possibly slightly undulating – but hillier than Barnes/Mortlake
Limited pavement - had to keep crossing road to find more pavement. This was an unrestricted road where cars felt free to travel at speeds in excess of 250 miles per hour. Or so it seemed.
No pavement – just one of those muddy patches of grass (or grassy patches of mud) with the aforementioned road on one side and a ditch on the other.
Smells – animal excrement I’d wager. And mud of course.
If I got lost/broke my ankle – how would I get back
Lack of landmarks – in the leafy suburbs of SW13/14 I know that if I go past the chip shop (go PAST the chip shop – that’s right) I’m either 4 or 26 minutes from home and if I see the Red Lion I’m just past halfway and should be back in the warm in about 15 minutes etc. etc.
MY SHOES GOT MUDDY

Enough said

The last couple of Thursdays (5 a side football in Brentford) have been good and definitely feel I’m getting more out of the games now although first touch, shooting etc. still need a lot of work.

Despite feeling exhausted I went on another 3 mile run last night (Friday). It was fairly easy/comfortable in some places but very tough in others. A bit of light rain at the beginning was welcomed unlike a couple of the Oxbridge ‘types’ here for the boat race on Sunday who seemed to relish trying to block my path. Running around here you get cars and pedestrians who treat you as if you’re invisible and think ‘Why should I have to move for him’ but luckily there are slightly more people who make a conscious effort to get out of your way/stop their car to let you cross. Timewise the run was about 6 seconds faster than the most recent two so that's good. Thinking about moving up to 4 or 4.5 miles in mid April. Possibly.

One last point: I got sent the following link from an old friend of mine, Damian, and also saw it on the BBC website. It’s called http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/ – have a look at it. I found it very interesting.

That’s all for now

Saturday – Come on you Whites
Sunday – Come on you Light Blues