Doing the best that I can, at writing, running and living
The second Borders race of the season and for some reason I was put in charge. Perhaps the grey hairs coming through give me an air of authority, but it meant that I had to act like the grown up and scan everybody’s barcodes. I knew that most of them would have to wait for… Continue reading Borders League – Tattenhall
Cross country. It causes a bit of a marmite reaction. The hatred usually comes from some teenage trauma, when a P.E. lesson in the winter rain has forced you to shiver in your vest and shorts on some grubby mound at the far corner of the school grounds. With memories like that it’s hard to… Continue reading Clarke Gardens XC Race Again
It was a day that didn’t quite all go to plan. We hadn’t been to Stratford-upon-Avon in a while with one thing or another. So, we were looking forward to rocking up to our usual stay at the Premier Inn in town for a new performance of Othello at the RSC theatre. The hotel had… Continue reading Stratford-Upon-Avon: Othello
I immediately wondered if I was ingesting a gazillion microbes alongside the ancient waters pouring out of the lion’s mouth at St Ann’s Well because it was peculiarly warm. But it tasted pleasant, and I stored some in my water bottle for later hoping the reported healing properties might do a little something for my… Continue reading Buxton: Dr Louise Newson
There is a saying which goes along the lines of: if you keep doing the same thing, you’ll end up with the same results. That is, I think, why I haven’t got any faster at the marathon this year. It’s okay because they weren’t really my A races. That was the 50K in July, and… Continue reading Chester Marathon – I Beat The Bear
It’s a weird feeling that I have going into tomorrow's marathon in Chester. It’s the first marathon I’ve done, where I feel pretty confident that I’ll complete it, for one thing. That’s a big thing to say, especially at the speed I go (hopefully that statement has not jinxed me). Even though I fell apart… Continue reading One Sleep ‘Til Chester
This has happened to me before. This slump. This complete plummet in energy. The fatigue. The lethargy. I know exactly what will fix it, but I think I need one more day in my sloth cocoon before I, in the words of the indomitable Ms. Swift, ‘shake it off’. Last night I had several dream… Continue reading Taper Blues
My sandals send echoes down the empty hallway. The white, sterile walls and the muzak pressing into my ears, make me feel like I’m walking into that George A. Romero zombie movie, ‘Dawn of the Dead’. I’m not. I’ve just stepped out of the lift into the Pyramids Shopping Centre in Birkenhead. We just don’t… Continue reading Walking Boots
I’m looking at the five tiny bumps in an almost neat line still just about visible across my forehead. They, and the fifteen other small bumps on my person, are the remnants of midge bites from our trip, almost all of them picked up during the marathon. The rest of the group had to deal… Continue reading Dingle Peninsula – Part Two
[I wrote this on Tuesday but the wifi was pants] On a shelf, in the house we’re staying at in Ireland, is a book called ‘I Never Knew That About The Irish’ by Christopher Winn. Millan, my nephew who flew over with his mum for a long weekend, dug it out from beneath the assorted Lee Childs… Continue reading Dingle Peninsula – Part One
