Cambridge

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100th parkrun celebration. Runners not dressing down!

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Lorna’s and Michelle’s joint 100th parkrun (Lorna in red and Michelle in multi colour tutu. Various wings were worn and a lot of talking undertaken during the run. Coffee, tea and cake in the cafe afterwards. All very enjoyable. I was surrounded by running ladeeees and had to watch my P and Qs (an English expression meaning “mind your manners”, “mind your language”, “be on your best behaviour”. It’s not easy, I can tell you! I have to suppress the urge to be ridiculous at the best of times. It’s an ongoing battle since most of the time I think that’s a legitimate response.

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Cambridge parkrun was attended by a rhinoceros seen here menacing two fairies who have become detached from the magical community. No clever comment offered here. See how grown up I am?

Parkrun was a bit of a no score draw for me. I’m still 90 seconds down on my usual times and yesterday I felt tired. Today I went for a nine mile run and felt much better. I borrowed Lorna’s Garmin and clocked exactly 9 minutes a mile as an average. I wasn’t pushing hard and I felt quite relaxed. The problem running with heart disease is the medication (bisoprolol and Ramipril) acts as limiter on the amount of effort the heart can undertake. In practice the difference between running comfortably and running to capacity is rather small ie I don’t run much faster when I put in maximum effort.

The attack by a knife wielding man at Leytonstone Underground station yesterday who apparently shouted “This is for Syria” as he stabbed and assaulted a random person (presumably) and threatened others before he was Tasered and subdued by police, was a disturbing and frightening incident. The police are regarding it as a terrorist act, provisionally, but I note that BBC reporters included the possibility of his behaviour resulting from mental ill health. His physical movements and manner certainly gave that impression.

Since a high percentage of people regard themselves as citizen reporters and can easily video scenarios played out before them and share via social media, we can all enjoy the unfolding drama with detachment and  the safety of distance. Over and over again as with this incident. We can also see how bystanders, or people passing, act. This ranges from running off in terror to standing gawping or even walking over closer as if the danger was occurring on a screen. If news isn’t accompanied by explicit film or images, it loses its impact compared with news that is.Video can be repeated endlessly and shamelessly, as it was with 9/11.

A large proportion of of news presentation, these days, is devoted entirely to exploiting our emotions. It’s cheap, voyeuristic and cynical. The police themselves are complicit in this approach and freely make available video of subsequently convicted suspects being questioned. They also permit the making of sycophantic TV programmes following traffic cops and docile fly on the wall documentaries about themselves. News has been receiving a substantial make over for several years. There’s less news, it’s dumbed down and it’s more likely to be presented as emotive entertainment. We can all feel sorrowful and pretend we care.

Must leave you now. Going to watch that emotionally uplifting Nordic noir TV crime prog, The Bridge.

 

 

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It’s me..me..me!

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I’m half way through an adult education course. It’s called Learn to Run with Your Mouth Shut for Beginners. Cambridge parkrun was my homework for this week. I reckon C minus!

Cold and wet last Saturday but the sun did did emerge. No-one I knew did a fast time. The gloopy mud prevented a nice springy step and I also felt constrained by the extra clothing. If I don’t over compensate with various layers, I get disproportionately cold around 2-3c and below. There were plenty of people running in shorts and singlet or short sleeved top, however and I remember more than several crazy people similarly under dressed  a couple of years ago when temperatures were down to minus 10 and 11.

I had an ultra sound on my thigh this week, two months after my fall at the Wimpole half marathon. I picked up an injury to my vastus intermedius which has resulted in some degree of calcification. Not sure of the possible consequences. I presume it might cause my quads to work less efficiently although be he calcification may resolve by itself. I’m now referred to the orthopaedic clinic for an opinion. Happily, I’m running okay except for a drop in fitness over the last two months and a five pound weight gain. That’s no problem because our digital scales give a different reading each time so with a bit of patience it eventually comes up with an acceptable weight.

I went running with the club a couple of nights ago after an absence of 9-10 weeks. We did a fartlek around Cambridge occasionally weaving in out between those funny people who choose to walk. I found it harder work than usual and I was lucky they didn’t expel me for bringing the the club into disrepute.

I returned home in time for the parliamentary vote on bombing Isis/Daesh in Syria. I find it impossible to believe anything the Tories have to say on a majority of issues and particularly military intervention and terrorism. American and British foreign policy has been disastrous for the Middle East and I think contributing to the bombing campaign is wrong. We are getting involved for political advantage, long term economic gain and probably to give our military an opportunity to test out their hardware and IT systems. The male drive to act with hostility and aggression is transparent even when it’s dressed up with glib justifications citing the need to combat evil and protect our hard working citizens.

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I’m a runner again!

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Rupert posing among the golden autumn leaves. He’s not a dog given to deep thought but he does like to look as if he is grappling with weighty issues. When we returned home he confided that dog biscuits were uppermost in his mind at this point. Aren’t appearances deceptive?

Today marked my return from the gloomy misery of the Underworld, where the injured are forced to remain still, to the fair Elysian Fields of running. Oh happy days! I last ran almost five weeks ago, apart from a a two mile test run two days ago but today I came back to Cambridge parkrun. I’m not fully recovered and I’ve lost some fitness. I also took it easier than I intended because new twinges appeared to be emerging as I warmed up. However, the run went well. My good friend Becky did a great job pacing  me and a few running buddies complained as I cruised past them because they thought I was still injured. I had the new experience of being lapped by the winner which is a little deflating but he is such as nice chappy, I didn’t mind. I was thankful that my much faster running pals deigned to chat to me after the race despite my reduced status as a running god. My daughter Isobelle and her boyfriend Joe also ran at Cambridge today which was a real bonus. We all had coffee and hot chocolate in the cafe and very enjoyable it was too!

Next Saturday will be my 250th parkrun and hopefully my fitness will continue to improve. I started doing parkrun in Cambridge at their 6th run, following my heart attack in 2009. My time time today at 27 minutes 32 seconds was slower than my first run at Cambridge. It’ll get better!

 

 

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Great North Run 2015 : Part 2

Abject apologies to the entire blogging world. I accidentally pressed “publish” instead of “save draft” yesterday. I failed to notice this until Jeremy Corbyn, the new Labour leader’s media team contacted me and said Jeremy had commented that he was sure I wanted to say a bit more in this blog. He was right! Thanks Jeremy.

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The Great North Run in Newcastle last weekend. 47,000 runners gathered on a closed motorway and ran to South Shields on the coast 13.1 miles away. I wasn’t running but I was there as a spectator and supported Joe, my daughter’s boyfriend and a family friend, Sue and her friend Abi. Also spectating were Ms Alive and Running (Lorna) and Mike, Sue’s husband, previously an arch rival but now so fast even Mo would tremble at the mention of his name. A great race and a great atmosphere but not such a great transport system. We had huge difficulties getting back to Newcastle and my daughter Isobelle missed her connections back to London. Nevertheless it was a good running day, the weather could not have been better and the previous day we had a great meal with Joe’s lovely family who live in Newcastle.

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We stayed in Durham, a short distance from the magnificent Cathedral which dates from the eleventh century. A hauntingly beautiful building, a monument to religious worship and complete indifference for the human condition as lived at the time.

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We climbed to the top of the Tower which called for a great deal of effort. I didn’t feel any closer to God despite the spectacular views. A wonderful, spiritual building and a reflection of man’s hubris and vanity all in one. It’s full of male commemoration and eternal respect for the great and good but I didn’t see many  women represented. Am I being unfair, casting a twenty first century cultural eye over a medieval society? No, I’m not that kind of guy. Perhaps I over think these things. No, you don’t!  Yes, you do!

Out running with the club yesterday. We went over to the American Cemetery to do some hill work (you really have to seek out the hills around Cambridge). It was completely dark by the time we returned to the University athletics track. Some of us were wearing head torches which are very helpful if the beam is strong enough. I’m considering getting one. It will only be worthwhile if I start running in the evenings, of course, because if you wear them during daylight, people are not greatly impressed.

I’m happier with the club at the moment. They are trying very hard to introduce new training runs and are seeking feedback and runners’ views. This is good. I also feel they are considering slower runners’ needs which can be a difficult balance, on the road, when there is such a disparity of speeds.

So Jeremy Corbyn is the newly elected Labour Party leader. Despite all the media scorn and high level of spite from his own colleagues, despite the vicious condemnation from the political pundits and various stupid people, he won the contest overwhelmingly. There will be spin and compromise and economies with the stark truth but nothing like the degree of falsity and degradation of values under previous Labour regimes. It’s widely predicted Labour will be unelectable at the 2020 election. I don’t believe this.

Coming next on the blog………pictures of a bookshop (actually inside the bookshop as well) and old wooden doors. It’s that exciting.

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RUN, DON’T QUESTION!

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Wimpole Estate parkrun nearly two weeks ago. This shows the courtyard tower and below ye old spinning lady creating yarn and ye old knitted items to buy. National trust, so guaranteed to be an interesting parkland course, very middle class, frightening to aficionados of modern architecture and to have plenty of sprightly elderly  volunteers who enthusiastically inform you of the history of the stately home and its grand rooms. I think the vast majority of runners will feel grateful to have the opportunity to run in such an environment (as long as they don’t dwell to deeply on issues like social equality, class experiences, the have and the have nots etc. Come to think about it, weren’t many of our most proud cities built on the proceeds of slavery and exploitation?) It’s just that kind of thinking that can be very distracting and slow down your parkrun time. So my advice is to forget the past. It’s literally dead in the water. Thinking too much can raise all sorts of awkward questions. You start to question everything and then things can really go awry. Look at all those people hell bent on supporting Jeremy Corbyn’s bid to lead the Labour Party. The Loony Left (as defined by most of the Labour Party and the entire evil Tory Party) clearly think too much, question too much and as a result will cause the Labour movement to implode. So, the lesson to be learned is be socially aware and compassionate up to a point, listen to moderation, don’t be seduced by attractive but totally unrealistic policies and accept the banks and poorly governanced capitalism are sometimes not run in the best interests of everyone but ultimately and mysteriously create maximum wealth for society as a whole. Does it really matter if the Tories fool most of the people most of the time? They seem to have a handle on most things. And they’re absolutely brilliant at evil.

Anyway back to running. Recent parkrun controversy. Complaints were made concerning a fast runner or runners (unknown) pushing aside a slower runner as they lapped them on the narrow woodland course. This happens only occasionally and is entirely unacceptable. If identified, the culprit should be returned to evil Tory Party Head Office and re-programmed. No-one was identified, there was a lot of condemnation of the egregious behaviour and a lot of emphasis on parkrun being a run not a race. In fact it’s a time trial! Of course this would carry greater weight if the results weren’t organised from the fastest time to the slowest in a clear hierarchy (as in a race). Luckily, we all know it’s a run (except the ones who persist in believing it’s a race). I must acknowledge the run director handled the issue very adeptly and very fairly. It’s not easy managing to please 400 plus people charging around a narrow two circuit course.

I went running over the South Downs around Brighton in Sussex this week Lovely, undulating trails which allowed me to do a bit of hill work denied to me in Cambridge.

Warning : this blog contains irony and litotes. Reading is undertaken at your own risk!!!!

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Running, punting, yakking, gasping, digging, reading, gardening and other -ings

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Ms Alive and Running and I ran Gorleston parkrun, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk recently. It was a fine, warm, sunny day and the course comprised of two simple laps of a lower and upper sea promenade with only one steep zig zag path connecting the two levels ie we only had to ascend it once because we started at the top and finished at the bottom.

 

 

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We stayed in this little hobbit house overlooking the sand dunes in Winterton -on-Sea. I went for a lovely run to an adjacent seaside town by way of the dunes. I struggle to make an appropriate comparison but suffice it to say that one was a WI stronghold and the other a magnet for fast food and candy floss lovers. The latter was undeniably colourful in every sense and I found my senses being overwhelmed. Winterton, I suspect, is a Tory and UKIP kind of place but I might have found evidence to the contrary when I fell into conversation with Peter Chapman who was painting images onto his camper van. It transpired he is the uncle of the Chapman Brothers, Jake and Dinos, nationally and internationally known visual artists with a controversial portfolio. He is also an artist and sculptor and gave me a tour of his studio and garden.This was very generous of him. I can confirm that he is not exactly a typical resident of Winterton.

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Thanks, Peter!

Back to Cambridge. I like to watch and take pics of the punts, particularly from Garret Hostel Bridge or King’s College Bridge. Today I went to Queens’ College and went onto the Mathematical Bridge.DSC_0973

 

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My Druid book finally arrived, by Amazon (non-drone) rather than Guardian bookshop who said it was out of print. Naughty Guardian bookshop! My spiritual and magical renaissance is still on hold because I’m reading Gut : the Inside Story of our Body’s Most Under-Rated Organ. Very readable, very interesting, a complete education in intestinal health, ill health and poo related facts. Warning : sitting on a Western style toilet seat is not good for gut health. Squatting is much better.

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Lastly, I’ve been doing plenty of digging and planting donated plants. My therapeutic gardening project continues to progress at a glacial pace for various reasons but is set to take a leap forward when I cover the constructed skeleton of the polytunnel with its plastic cover in the next fortnight. I’ve visited another gardening project, Gardening with Grace, in Bedford and they’ve visited me. It’s been very helpful and given me a different perspective on how to go about what I want to achieve.

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Alive and Running May 9 2015

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This man has got the beard I’m not allowed to have! Clearly a hipster but possibly he’s gone too far.

Having recovered from spectating at the London Marathon (it took 4 days) I did  5 days of hard running in a six day period – a 5k club race, 5k parkrun followed by a 7k race, a 10k race, a five miler on the Bank Holiday Monday  and then a club night. Rested for 3 days and parkrun today. Tomorrow I’ll go to Eye in Cambridgeshire for a 10k race. Unbelievedly, It’s called the Eye !0k.

I find that when I’m running consistently, I feel better all round, the quality of the tiredness is higher (leading to higher quality sleep) and my times are a bit faster. My last 3 Cambridge parkruns have all been within 9 seconds of each other and under 24 minutes. Overall I’m happy with this and no longer grinding my teeth over my two arch rivals who are older than me and running over 2 minutes faster. Here’s me, looking like a banana, at the 7k, with rivals and chums.

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Controversy has developed at Wimpole Estate parkrun, a lovely National Trust course over extensive parkland. Unlike Cambridge which is run through narrow woodland paths, Wimpole is over wide grass land and has just over half the number of runners. As a result, this parkrun attracts around 20 runners with dogs and this has now become an issue. The run director has now ruled that runners with dogs should start 5 minutes after the official start time and deduct 5 minutes from their individual results. Today was the first delayed start for the dog runners and was deemed to have been a success overall but clearly some are not happy with this new arrangement. A lively discussion has ensued on Facebook revealing sensible and less sensible comments on both sides. I think the run director  has shown great responsibility and fairness as have a number of dog runners.

The UK General Election! What can I say? The Tories mimicked Labour values and Labour failed to spell out how nasty and self serving the Nasty Party are. A substantial percentage of the British electorate swallowed the Tories’ toxic promises of fairness and warnings of the dire consequences of Socialist government. It still surprises, and disappoints, how credulous people can be.

This will be the last blog for several months (probably). I may rise again, like the Phoenix, in the summer.

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Alive and Running March 26 2015

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The Bridge of Sighs, St. John’s College, Cambridge. I had to follow the Tourist Route through the College which doesn’t allow plebs over the bridge but at other times access is granted. Possibly St. John’s has the biggest grounds of all the Cambridge colleges. It’s undeniably impressive and the Bridge of Sighs is a beautiful structure. Must go for a punt soon!

The Naked Rambler, Stephen Gough, who for years has been fighting for the right to walk about naked in public, has been refused permission to appeal against an earlier decision by the European Court of Human Rights that his repeated arrest, prosecution, conviction and imprisonment for public nudity did not breach his human rights. He is currently serving a two and a half year sentence after he walked out of prison only wearing boots and socks following a previous prison term. I presume this extreme punishment is a result of repeated contempt of court. What a sad and ridiculous situation. I don’t think this eccentric man is regarded as a threat in any shape or form other than his willful determination to walk around unclothed. Possibly the authorities feel it could start a trend, or worse, a fashion. Surely, as a caring and compassionate society, we can accommodate a few naked people walking around and not feel so disturbed by it we are compelled to lock them up. Who wants to break a butterfly on a wheel?

I remain only an intermittent runner at present. Last weekend I ran the Swavesey 5 miler although I could have taken part in the Swavesey Half Marathon. I ran it 2 minutes faster than last year which pleased me until I read in my little running log I was getting over an injury at that time. Still, I did enjoy it and the weather was kind.

Club night two nights ago. We ran 6 x 700 metres at varying paces with a recovery jog back to the start. I was the second slowest runner in a group of around 20 but we broke into small similar speed groups and it all seems to work for everyone.

I ventured into the Cambridge University Press bookshop in the Market Square, Central Cambridge this week and cast my eyes over some beautiful books with eye watering prices (available on Amazon but at no reduction in price). No purchase made but it was a close run thing. I might return naked. I suspect they wouldn’t bat an eyelid!

Finally, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, was speaking about her career and the development of the teenage brain on The Life Scientific on Radio 4. Well worth listening to via podcast or Radio 4 Listen Again.

 

 

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Alive and Running March 15 2015

WP_20150313_005 The gilded youth of Cambridge University last week. Friday, last day of term. Several hundred students generated a lot of fun by throwing large amounts of powder paint at each other. I was prowling the mean streets of Cambridge intent on compiling an extensive and meaningful portfolio of top quality images but I fell at the first hurdle. I forgot to put the SD card back into the camera so the number of pictures taken was zero. The card on my mobile was also full and I could only delete a few pics to enable me to take a few more. These students asked me to take a few shots of them with their own mobile and I took this one with mine.

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Using my over developed skill in assessing the size of parkrun attendees, I guessed there were at least 400 students having a great laugh but cruelly caning their lungs by inhaling all the colours of the rainbow.

I saw many wondrous sites in Cambridge. Parents smoking in front of their young children, three men smoking a joint walking down the street, two lads acting stupidly, showing off and being intimidating, people queuing up to get into a Jamie Oliver restaurant, a unicorn being ridden by a Norse god, a shaman reversing the flow of the river Cam. I had a little chat with an immaculately dressed  Trinity College porter in the Trinity grounds and walked around Peterhouse. I can confirm the buildings and accommodation were not of the affordable, social housing type.

Parkrun on Saturday went surprisingly well and I did my best time this year. Somehow I beat both of my ex running rivals (well, this is explicable. Neither were running so that’s a win in my book) Several people greeted me by name as they cruised past me, provoking mild existential angst or something like that. Still, it was a good run, due in part to a much firmer course. The Cambridge country park is prone to very muddy paths and giant puddles when there’s been rain but the conditions currently are

much drier. I felt like I was tip toeing over the course rather than negotiating a swamp. No time for coffee after, though. We took our chariot down to East Londinium and met up with my sister in law for her birthday celebration. And very nice,too.

Running with the club has been more demanding recently. A new coach has a new approach and the training is harder. Hitherto, the training has managed to meet the needs of both the fastest and slowest road runners but the pendulum seems to be swinging in favour of youth and speed. I had a chat with the coach afterwards and found her to be constructive and wanting feedback. I think she’s still finding her feet and, at the same time, wanting to bring in new ideas and different training regimes. All completely understandable and I hope I can still be a part of it.

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Alive and Running March 9 2015 Cambridge half marathon

DSC_0285 Cambridge half marathon completed! Five halves and one relay leg of seven miles in perfect long distance running weather. Not too warm, not too cold, occasionally windy but always sunny.

Apparently the organisers increased the field from 4000 to 4,500. Unfortunately this made a difference in terms of congestion. The streets of Cambridge aren’t designed to accommodate that number of runners (oddly Cambridge University and the city planners over several centuries failed to predict mass participation running). This resulted in a lot of boxing in and unwanted change of pace. I was forced to trip up people, push them aside or deliver a karate chop to pass them. It was justified carnage. I know what pace I need to maintain and if they don’t automatically clear a space for me to glide effortlessly by,well, they pay the penalty.

Possibly foolishly, I put too much effort into parkrun the day before and felt a little tired. Nevertheless, I was only 1 min 42  seconds outside last years Cambridge half and I was happy with that. In fact we all ran well despite a general lack of consistent training among some of us (I couldn’t use this excuse).

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Shanti ran a much faster time than last year, improving by around 20 minutes. Boyfriend Ben is drinking a non alcoholic beer that we all received in our goodie bags.

I drank around 400 mls during the race, sufficient after finishing and regularly for the rest of the day. As a result of my responsible behaviour, I avoided dehydration and also excruciating cramp during the night. How clever am I!