Walk Of Shame

Out the door at 7.45 this morning, ran 5 miles. Just me and a whole bunch of people going home after a Saturday night out.

I'm running 9 min miles at the moment.

I Had That Tiger Woods...

In my ear yesterday afternoon. He said to me "Congratulations. You've just done your fastest ever mile."

And I managed to fall off my bike. 

And today I walked into town to buy Jamie's new football boots. On the way I saw Rachel and mark with her children from another life following on behind, their mum and new dad arm in arm in grim silence. 

And the photo that I took of the two girls in Allsport. 

9/11

I wrote a long post earlier today. I've deleted it to replace it with this.

I found myself standing in the queue in Greggs waiting to buy a pasty and a sausage roll. When it dawned on me that, seven years ago to the day, I returned from buying a sandwich in Goodge St to the offices of the Travel Channel. And saw the plane fly in to the second World Trade Center tower.

A lot's changed since then. Both in the world and in my life.

Back On Track

Two runs today. 

The main one, 10 miles, 9min miles all the way round. 

And earlier I couldnt' wait to get out of bed. So I did the three that I was supposed to have done last Friday.

Why Are You Doing This?

Before the Bath tri, Margo asked me one evening "Why are you doing all of this?"

That's a slightly difficult question to answer. But it's part of the feedback that I've received a great deal.

After I'd finished one long run, I had a shower and then went to the pub to meet some people. When I arrived, the first thing that happened was the people asked me if I'd just been for a run. The feedback was pretty unanimous. "utter madness" said one. "So how far can you run now?" said another with a sick look on her face. "How fast are the Africans at running the whole thing?" said a third in a "well you're not very good, are you?" sort of way.

This kind of reaction is no different from that that I've had from pretty much every quarter this year. The only person who has consistently and genuinely seemed happy at what I'm doing is my pal Paul Beddoe.

And to lots of other people's reaction, I'm tempted to say "What's it like being unfit?" but that might hurt people's feelings, mightn't it?

Awesome

That was the description use by the guy standing next to me. And he was right.

I spent yesterday afternoon at Sherborne, watching a chunk of Ironman UK. 2.4mile swim, then 112mile bike ride. Topped off with a full marathon. And nearly 1200 people finished it within the 17 hours from the 6 o’clock in the morning swim to the cutoff point.



Anyone uninspired or unmoved by just how long people keep going and their effort on the day and the knowledge of how much training must have gone in just to get people there has got a hole where their heart should be. And they’d have also missed the humour of it – like the guy who arrived at a feeding station and asked if there was any cheese on toast to be had.


By the time I took this photo, the competitors are running by floodlight. And that’s not the odd straggler. Of the 1196 that finished, nearly 500 people finished in more than 13hrs 30. In other words in the dark.

A number of people have asked me if I went along because I was planning to attempt it. Well, when I once asked my great friend John Tomnay whether he’d ever do anything longer than an Olympic distance, he said “No…I like to be able to hold my beer steady at the end!” I reckon that, not only would I be unable to hold my beer steady. I’d be unable to see it.

Back On The Air

One of my September resolutions was to keep to the training schedule. Another was to write about it every day. 

So much for both of them. Weds I was supposed to run 8 miles. And...well, I drank too much the night before with a friend of mine who came round for supper and really didn't feel like it. Thursday, Jamie and Eleanor were with me so that precludes any training. And Friday it rained so much that I had no appetite whatsoever to get out on the road. 

So that brought me to Saturday already two runs behind at the end of the first week of my training. 

I filled in a lot of the deficit with 8 and a half miles yesterday. And I'm just back in from another five this morning along the canal towpath past the George pub (which I've now measured at exactly two miles from my front door). 

So that puts me three miles behind where I'm supposed to be at this point.