Increasing sociability

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Aliveandrunning April 20 2014

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Excellent day at Cambridge 5k parkrun yesterday. My youngest son Nick,16, did his first parkrun. He had a clear choice as a rite of passage. Either do parkrun or be dropped by helicopter onto an uninhabited island just off Iceland to fend for himself for two weeks. He wisely chose the latter and did well. Without training or ever having run outside of minimal PE at school and with a history of developing a stitch after a hundred metres, he successfully completed it, nonchalantly, in just over 27 minutes and is now motivated to run again. Great!

 Four out of five children were running yesterday. Shanti got a PB at Valentines parkrun, East London, Isobelle got the same time as Nick at Cambridge and Sophie beat me by ONE second having improved her PB by around 3 minutes. One second is nothing, of course, and barely qualifies as a tie. In fact, if I had thrown myself forward like the 100 metre sprinters at the line, I could have triumphed with a two second winning margin. So am I still top dog, at least in Cambridge? Technically no. I fully concede her victory Almost. Did Sophie take a banned stimulant? We’ll never know for certain because, inexplicably, there is no compulsory drug testing facilities at parkrun. Did I instinctively slow down at one point in response to the beauty of a nightingale’s song drifting through the trees? Quite probably. Anyway, rest assured I’ll be working on that second in the coming weeks. Not that it matters to me because parkrun is not a race. We are all winners. Particularly Lorna whose Achilles tendonopathy seems to be successfully resolving. She’s back running consistently and carefully, this week being her third parkrun since her serious injury.

Afterwards, the children went off together and we had a lovely cup of coffee with friends at the park cafe. I chatted about yurts and planned to get several following a win in the evening lottery draw (we were given 3 tickets at a wedding reception a few days before and expectations were high). Unbelievably, we didn’t win anything, not even the cost of  an entry to the next race.

This disappointment was not yet a reality after returning home from parkrun and I was able to enjoy my bowl of porridge. I like to eat around the edges and create a steep sided mound. Or alternatively I’m carving out a yurt like shape. Or is it mammary shaped? One thing’s for certain, it’s not just porridge, Dr Freud.

Another significant disappointment are the condition and taste of Tesco Brussels sprouts at the moment. I guess it’s the end of the season but Tesco must have abused these innocent vegetables in some way to produce such a weird taste. I’m thinking of setting up a Tesco sprout support group for therapy and lobbying purposes. On the other hand, broccoli quality seems to be holding up well so there’s a silver lining in the cloud.

Just back from Sweatshop Cambridge where I bought a nice angled bottle belt to  prevent dehydration on longer runs in the summer. It’s really an own goal when you become dehydrated when running and then require medical attention if it’s available at a race like the Cambridge half. I don’t understand how people an do this. They must have porridge for brains.<c

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Aliveandrunning April 6 2014

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Cambourne 10k, near Cambridge, today, with a field of 960 and I came in at 51 minutes 28 seconds, 32 seconds slower than last year. Not quite so windy as last year and probably the best temperature for running (for me) around 14c although I don’t mind it up to 23-24c. I am such a sensible person and therefore it was in keeping with my sensible nature that I drank at the half way water station and managed to stave off dehydration that cruelly beset me at the recent Cambridge half marathon. My two arch rivals, Mike and Kerry, beat me by about two and a half minutes, a margin which I found acceptable so we will remain friends (until the margin becomes a yawning chasm and then I will review the situation).

I noticed the Greek God Hermes sitting on a cloud watching my progress and smiling wryly but declining to assist me to run faster. At one point he swung his winged and sandalled feet back and forth to taunt me. So, no help from Mount Olympus today then.

Next weekend, we’ll be watching the London marathon in the docklands area with family and friends. This worked very well last year and we saw a lot of people running that we knew from Cambridge. We also caught the  the elite runners but if you blink at the wrong moment you’ve missed them. They are running machines like the the new improved cyborg T-1000 in Terminator 2 : Judgement Day. I wouldn’t want to accidentally stumble into their path. They’d use my body as a springboard and leave a sympathetic god to scoop me up.

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Aliveandrunning February 21 2014

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Yesterday evening was particularly spooky as the terrifyingly atmospheric image attests. To distract myself from the raw fear of the unusually odd noises outside, I made myself a date and raisin cake. You can imagine the shock, and a sizable amount of horror, I experienced when I climbed the ancient stairs in our home and opened the door to the master bedroom.

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Spock, on my side of the bed and indisputable evidence of having consumed three quarters of my cake before it had cooled down. I remonstrated with him and demanded he beam up without delay. The sadness caused by the loss of my cake was assuaged by the decision to nip off to a 24 hour Tesco and buy new ingredients with a view to immediately bringing a new cake into the world. The journey turned out to be quite a trek. It was late at night. There was life in the store but not as I knew it. I gingerly negotiated the aisles and weird nocturnal shoppers, paid up and returned home.

On the running front, I ran 13.2 miles plus a 5k parkrun last weekend and this went well. In two weeks it’s the Cambridge Half Marathon. Lorna will be giving good support and four of my children will be running as well as loads of friends. I’ll probably go for a further two long runs before the Half. I don’t carefully taper down before a long race. I just listen to my body, man; it’s in continual/continuous dialogue with me.

Tomorrow is Cambridge parkrun. A running acquaintance in the 65-69 age range had a heart attack during a half marathon two weeks ago and apparently he will be starting the race with Peter who is in his mid 80’s and still runs. Well done, Terry. Get back to running fitness as soon as you can.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 28

Day 28. It’s Tuesday and that means Cambridge and Coleridge running club night. We did a paalauf after an 800 metre jog around the track, warm up exercises and a 1k jog to where we run from. In a paalauf, you pair up with another runner. One of you runs a loop while the other recovers. We did this in two groups of 3 loops each, 5 minutes rest and then another 3 loops each with our paalauf partner. You run faster than 5k pace. It’s enjoyable and reasonably demanding. It’s like a group relay with handover to the same person. When I took over from my incoming partner, it’s really great to be able to spring off and at least sprint for a short way before settling down to a good pace (whatever your good pace is). The total distance covered with running, jogging and exercises was only around 7k but it’s a satisfying 7k.

 

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 25

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Day 25. We got up around 6 am with the intention of leaving at 7 am, whizzing down the M11, picking up two children at my mother’s house and driving to Walthamstow parkrun (East London) in good time for the 9 am start. That was our dream and it came true! We successfully participated in another (distant) mud fest and my trail shoes again proved essential. The conditions were very conducive to the slowest of times and everyone got completely splattered. It was Walthamstow’s first anniversary and we had coffee and cake to celebrate.

We met up with three old friends who have taken up serious running since they retired. The three in the middle of this picture are Lorna, Dan and Isobelle and I’m wearing the red/black jacket. I recorded one of my least fastest runs since I had my heart attack four years ago and came in at 34th place. Dan came in 7th place, just slightly ahead of me. A very young boy, no higher than my knees came in 10 places in front of me. I’m sure it’s not been long since he learned to walk let alone run!  Isobelle ran a good race but is no lover of mud. She and Dan are running a 10K in Brixton tomorrow and somehow have to dry their shoes. The number of runners was relatively small (88) compared with Cambridge (347) but Walthamstow are a friendly crowd and we may return (when the ground is dry).

Lorna took a load of pictures and gave good support. It will be at least 4-5 months before she can start running again and it’s vexing for her to remain in a spectator role while everyone gets covered with mud. Nevertheless it was very enjoyable morning. This swamp running is causing me to spend a great deal of time washing out mud caked socks and tracksters. I’m thinking of buying a new type of running shoe guaranteed to enable the wearer to lightly skip over boggy terrain. They’re available from makeyourfantasiescometrue.con

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Didn’t have Brussels sprouts today because I didn’t cook the meal. I’ll make up for it tomorrow morning and have six sprouts with my porridge and my usual dozen with the evening meal.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 12

Day 12. A nice helping of sunshine this morning so why did I leave going out for a run until it had clouded over and the light was grey? It was cold as well; Cambridgeshire is very flat and possesses the least amount of trees of (?) all the English counties. So when the winds whoosh off the flat fields you certainly know it. It’s hardly Tornado Alley but the winds can be cutting to a sensitive soul like myself. So, as I prance like a prawn down the road, with open fields on one side, the cruel wind delights in buffeting me and chilling my spindly legs, clad only in manly Ron Hill tights. Any grey, dull drab weather seems to drain the life out of me. On the other hand, the sun immediately makes me feel good and motivated. I’m probably a mild SAD case. I’ve thought about getting a light lamp and never actually got around to it. Perhaps I should get around to it. I’ll wait for the next sunny day and sort it out but then I’ll feel better and won’t need one. And so I go round in circles! Probably easiest to move to California.

It’s a great shame that many people never take up running.They perhaps don’t see themselves as runners or  they may  refuse to acknowledge the benefits to their health and mental well being that running and other forms of exercise can bring. Even loss of energy and vitality may be accommodated without challenge. So many people beyond 50 want to rush into an older age and embrace poor dietary regimes and minimal physical activity. And so many of these will experience loneliness, isolation and a sense of physical decline. I know a number of people who are running into their 70’s and 80’s. They may be runners of long experience but interestingly I know many men and woman who have come late to running in their 50’s and 60’s and taken it up very successfully (and socially).Two of my running pals are approaching their mid 60’s and only took it up 1-2 years ago. Shockingly, they can both out run me (at the moment). If this state of affairs continues, they’ll be ex pals and I’ll be looking around for some slower mates.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 8

Day 8. When I opt for a short run, two miles say, I don’t seem to get out until it’s dark and having eaten two meals. This means that initially I feel a bit heavy and bloated. I feel much brighter and alert in the morning, particularly if the sun is shining and it’s not too cold. In fact I’m a Spring and Summer kind of guy. Today’s run was uneventful and unremarkable. I didn’t pass anyone or have anyone coming towards me. No bird flew beside me, no tree gave me the thumbs up, no clouds formed themselves into a kindly, benign face as I passed below. But running always improves my mood and that, in itself, is enough to run consistently.

Current research demonstrates a causal link between running and exercise and improved mood. I’m sure that depression, anxiety and some phobias could be part treated, with the appropriate management, service and financial commitment, by instituting a running/exercise regime. You may able to get an Exercise on Prescription from your GP (possibly just a small discount from normal gym rates) but this is generally for people who are overweight or have specific physical problems. The good news is that you can learn to be a runner. It doesn’t need to be competitive. It doesn’t rule your life. It helps you feel in control. It gives you a genuine sense of achievement. You get butterflies and dragonflies accompanying you. You meet some lovely people. It should be a no brainer.

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Aliveandrunning Janathon January 6

Day 6. The weather in Cambridge today was almost Spring-like. Periods of sun in a hazy blue sky alternated with heavy downpours and the temperature was a mild 10C. I feel so much better running when the sun’s out as I’m sure most people do but it’s the degree of enjoyment compared to a cold, drizzly, overcast day that always surprises me. After yesterday’s debacle (see blog dated Jan 5) I ran over to the next village, avoiding their roadblocks and vigilante patrols (they have their own issues in this community) and used their recreation ground to do a few strides/sprints. I felt very happy to be able to sprint for short distances at full speed. I may not be fast but it feels fast and I recover quickly. I had a heart attack four years ago and I was able to recover my full fitness subsequently. I feel extremely lucky to be running at a reasonable level and now be part of a running community. I started doing Cambridge parkrun on their fifth event in February 2010 and now I’ve completed 159. I also joined a running club after 30 years of running alone and found it conducive to my exacting requirements of a good balance between sociability and just running without frills.

The Guardian ran an article on a research findings  link between cancer and inactivity today http://bit.ly/KxhjW2 giving shocking figures concerning cases that (theoretically) could have been prevented  if people were more physically active. Apathy and a closed mindset can be lethal.