Doing the best that I can, at writing, running and living
What do two women in their fifties who are steadily grinding their way through the ten-mile training run on a Sunday morning talk about? Needing to find a suitable spot for another wild wee (naturally); the orange dictator (invariably); Lord Lever’s philanthropic concerns (we were in that locality); whether we’ve got enough suncream on (it… Continue reading HM Training – Week 7 of 9
I attempted a handicap run with the club last night for the first time in ages. The run is supposed to work like this: based on previous attempts or your own knowledge of your pace, you work out how long it will take you to run the five or seven-mile handicap routes. the slower runners… Continue reading HM Training – Weeks 5 and 6 of 9
I know I shouldn’t, what with the crumbs and all, but I’m eating a pain au chocolat on the bed with a glass of red to wash it down. It’s a moment of decadence that I can enjoy while we relax, before watching our second play in two nights. And luckily, it’s not my bed. … Continue reading RSC: Hamlet – Back in Stratford
Every four weeks or so in any training plan, there should be a cut-back week. Perhaps not quite as cut back as I had this week, but it’s supposed to help your body consolidate all the training it has had in the previous few weeks, so you can go again the following week. I’m writing… Continue reading HM Training – Week 4 of 9
Clean before the race Every time I pull the laces tight, I wonder how I’m going to run in these shoes. The thin leather has just five millimetres of cushioning around the back heel, and there is even less between the rest of my foot and the muddy ground. I’d bought them, secondhand from ebay,… Continue reading HM Training – Week 3 of 9
I’m fifty-one years old and I have just finished Yellowface. My age is critical here: one, because the book was bought for me in 2023, and it’s only now that I’ve got to the end. two, because my age might have something to do with not liking any of the characters. It hasn’t taken all… Continue reading Rebecca F. Kuang – Yellowface
A late blog for week two. That doesn’t bode well. At least I, kind of, managed all my planned sessions during that week. I’m only on Tuesday of week three and I feel like I’m in a bit of a tizz already about fitting everything in this week. And breathe. I managed that breath by… Continue reading HM Training – Week 2 of 9
Good things I managed just over twenty-seven miles this week, and as I haven’t done that since the second week of November last year, I’m quite pleased. By virtue of two races – alright Parkrun isn’t a race, but you know what I mean – I managed two quite decent threshold runs. There was an… Continue reading HM Training – Week 1 of 9
Coming back home a week after the new year began has slightly discombobulated me. Of course, as the Gregorian calendar has been adopted by/forced upon the whole world, the new year happened at the same time in Mumbai, give or take a few hours. But I couldn’t just begin a new regime in the middle… Continue reading A Late New Year
My brother-in-law, Bhupendra, said he really didn’t want to do it. He wore a grimace on his face that seemed to be reliving a past trauma, and I began having second thoughts about pushing the subject. The concierge at the hotel, however, suggested that if we were in the 12-4pm sweet spot, we might just… Continue reading India: Days 11 and 12 – The Last Days
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