SUBSTITUTES

This was my view during my run this evening. Gym wall. I wonder if I’ve got the colour quite right? A sort of off-green magnolia idea. I forgot about not going to the gym in the evenings and MY treadmill – the last non-wall treadmill left when I arrived – was snatched right in front of me by a nimble young person who did not need to be anywhere near a treadmill. Anyway, the wall seemed to focus the mind and I did 5.5 km comfortably.

My replacement Nike+ iPod sensor arrived this morning and I await the device that will attach it firmly to my shoe with quite astonishing excitement. I need it for Saturday.

Stats

Dulwich Park fun run training. Distance: 5.5 km. Run pace: 6.8 km/h. Time: About 48 mins.

THE SHUNNING RUNNING LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

After the debacle in the park on Friday, I feel rather nervous about running outside and my prospects at the Dulwich Park run on Saturday. All that wind and real ground and unavailability of stats. So I went to the gym and did a distance of 5.5 kilometres quite comfortably all in one go. There is great scope for humiliation as the Dulwich run is a lap thing and family and friends have promised mockery and jeering and they will presumably have the chance of mocking and jeering on several separate occasions as I go round and round.

To boost confidence I am reading this:

John Bingham started running at 43 when he was 35 kgs overweight, a smoker, a drinker and a complete couch potato so this sounds like the kind of starting-from-minus-53-zillion that I can identify with. He spent the first year faffing about, but is now a dedicated runner and an advocate of taking it slow, but steady and changing acitivity levels for good. I dropped my pace a little today – 6.8 km/h seems to be ‘my’ speed. It seems the most effortless, comfortable and non-blister-inducing. Anyway, I was slightly put off by this book at first when it dropped through the door as I dipped into it and found the immortal advice: “If you’re going to run, you need a pair of running shoes” – but now that I’ve started to read it properly, the book seems to contain sensible advice from a down-to-earth kinda guy. For one thing, it discusses ‘sock technology’ which is a very good thing as are his checklists and little ‘Lessons Learnt’ case study bubbles with quotes from real or imaginary ‘mature’ novice runners. It also has a 12-week walk/run programme similar to the charade I’ve done – only even sissier. Not doing more than the programme says – even if you are tempted – is excellent advice and, I think, what made me get through the tough first few weeks (going into months).

Stats

Distance: 5.5 km. Run pace: 6.8 km/h.

GRASSY KNOLLS

Attended the London Marathon at the 8-mile stage and saw the supposed male winner as he ran past. I say ‘supposed’ as it was only when I got home and caught the bit on the telly where they tell you that some guy – without the aid of transport – ran the course in 2 hours and 5 minutes and you get your calculator out that the penny drops. 42 kilometres. 2 hours and 5 minutes. This means that Samuel Wanjiru had to be running at around 20 km an hour ALL THE WAY. FOR 42 KILOMETRES. Yes, that’s 20 KILOMETRES AN HOUR. That’s what we’re all being asked to believe. The whole thing stinks. It reeks of Apollo 11, faked moon landings, Loch Ness monsters, the Warren Commission, Elvis – the most famous and monstrous stagings in history. Funny, is it not that the supposed winner happens to be a twin? And knows Fidel Castro? And is it a coincidence that the anagram of the ‘winner’ of this race is ‘run alumie jaws’? I think you can probably see what I’m getting at here.

Still reeling from the London Marathon, I went to the gym again yesterday and upped my speed. I decided to stick with the distance approach and did another 5 km in one go – in under 43 minutes. Everything went swimmingly. I was aiming for 5.5 km, but decided to stop – rather annoyingly – as right foot went into blister mode. This because I couldn’t find my padded socks anywhere. Yet another bloody conspiracy.

Stats

Distance session. Distance: 5 km. Run pace: 7.0 km/h. Time: Just under 43 mins.

BAGGING THE ELEPHANT

Trucked up at the gym at lunchtime without much ambition and no specific session in mind so decided to change tactic and go not for time, but for distance – for the first time since I started this whole charade. Went for five kilometres as that is what I’ve usually achieved in a session, but not all in one go. But today was the day! Today there were no walk breaks, no water pit stops, no faffing about with the iPod. I got my favourite spot on the treadmill under the air con and just did it. Ha! There is something about the time up to the halfway mark that is immensely inert and sluggish – and this was not made easier today by the main numbers on the screen not being minutes and seconds, but kilometres which change much much much muuuuuuch slower than the clock. I wouldn’t say the session was dead easy, but it was completely do-able.

The conclusion is that the guilt-ridden holiday did nothing to dent my ‘form’. On the contrary, blisters disappeared and feet are fully recovered. By this logic, I could have confidently gone away for six months and returned to do a full marathon. I just don’t get it. Anyway, onwards and upwards. Maybe I’ll stick to this distance lark as there is now precisely a month until Boston and I need to build up slowly towards that particular concrete slog.

Stats

Post-holiday back-on-track session. Distance: 5 km. Run pace: 6.8 km/h. Time: Just under 45 mins.