Doing the best that I can, at writing, running and living
It was like an unintended rock-paper-scissors game. Nick put his arm out and I raised my palm to shake his … fist bump. Then he opened up his hand, and I closed mine. A complete failure of communication on my part. But I hope he forgave me, as I was desperately trying to squeeze some… Continue reading Wirral Summer Trail Series
I think all long runs would benefit by being carved up by a cup of tea and a chat. Having been introduced to this most civilised of practises by John, my occasional running buddy, I’ve found the long run, especially the first long run in a few weeks, less daunting by making this addition. I… Continue reading Back In The Game – With A Tea Break
Sometimes, just sometimes, being bad at mental arithmetic can be a good thing. I was approaching the board bearing the number ‘11’ in large enough font for even the severely myopic, and I glanced down at my watch – 1:58, or something like that, as my eyes were a tad blurry from the salty beads… Continue reading Liverpool Half Marathon
I think I definitely put in some effort this morning because now I’m struggling to raise myself from my position of repose this afternoon. Race five in the Borders League series, was in sunny Capenhurst, in Cheshire. When I searched for the village on Google maps, it put a red boundary line around what looks… Continue reading HM Training – Week 8 of 9 (Borders Race)
Note to self: don’t eat a big plate of pasta two and a half hours before my track session. It had been a while since I’d done any track work, so I’d forgotten that there is a big difference in the stomach, between pootling along and pumping my arms and legs. Next time, I’ll try… Continue reading Track Training
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
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
In preparing for this trip, I looked for the nearest Parkrun, naturally. But surprisingly there are none in India, which is a shame. For a place like Mumbai, the starting time would have to be 6am, but there are a lot of possible locations to hold it, and certainly a lot of runners. I didn’t… Continue reading India: Day Six – Bombay Running
All the neighbourhood Parkruns are cancelled. Anne and I are hunkered down in our living room and I’m watching the rowan tree outside wave its arms around like Kate Bush in Wuthering Heights. There’s no moorland here but it is certainly wild, and I can hear the gusts groaning inside the chimney as Storm Darragh… Continue reading HRV and Club Christmas Dos
Apparently, Storm Bert brought snow, wind and rain, and cut the power to parts of the UK and Ireland. Someone asked our team captain Rob whether the race would be called off. He just laughed. The only times I’ve known a cross-country race be called off was when there was not enough parking space due… Continue reading BA Cross Challenge – Sefton Park
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