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.