Personal Best

Yesterday (Sunday) I competed in my second race of the year, a 10k at Bourton-on-the-Water, a picturesque village in the Cotswolds.

I did well to get a place - this is a popular event. The main reason for this is that it is a very flat, fast course, so a lot of athletes take part in order to get a personal best at that distance.

For this reason I had mixed emotions about the race. I was looking forward to it, but at the same time felt under some pressure to get a PB, and ideally get under 55 minutes for the first time. I had a pretty good build up to it - I had a good session with Anthony on the Thursday (speed and hills, but for the first time he was making me jog between sets instead of getting full recovery). On the Friday he cancelled our session - his reason being he felt there was no point me risking an injury in the cold, and I'd be better off running on the treadmill in the warm. Or maybe he just couldn't face another 45 minutes of listening to my bad jokes..Anyway I just did 8k at a nice steady pace. Easy peasy.

Sometimes the Saturday before a race is quite tedious. I can't train because I have to rest and conserve energy. Alcohol is obviously a no-no (really I should abstain for about a week beforehand but I find if I drink plenty of water the day before I don't suffer from dehydration). Usually it's a case of pottering round the house, doing a bit of shopping and maybe a trip to the cinema.

This Saturday was actually a pretty good day. I finally bought myself an MP3 player (Nike 260 PSA run) and it arrived with the post. I need to go through the manual to learn all the functions but I managed to load a few CDs on to it so I could use it in the race. Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Joss Stone and Hilary Duff were the ones I chose. Noticing a trend here??

I also had a Willy Wonka moment - I received my tickets for the cricket at Lords. I got the tickets I wanted - a one-day international in June and a day at the test match in July. Not as thrilled as I was when I got my tickets for the Ashes, but still pretty chuffed.

In the early evening I finally got round to seeing Walk The Line with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. What a treat that was! I don't really know much about Johnny Cash (contrary to popular belief I'm not old enough to remember him) and was only interested in seeing it because the reviews I had read were so good. I loved it - it was essentially a love story, a tale of how a good woman saved a man from destroying himself with drugs and alcohol and wasting his talent.

It was interesting to read in the credits that Johnny Cash passed away 4 months after his wife's death. It could have been for other reasons, but I'm a great believer that some people really do die of a broken heart.

And so home to a big pasta meal, washed down with a sports drink (not a patch on a nice glass of Wolf Blass!) and an early night.

When I woke up I asked myself why I keep putting myself through such hell on a Sunday morning but anyone who knows me understands how much I am getting out of this running malarkey.

It was a nice drive up to Bourton - I hadn't been up the Fosse Way for some time and had forgotten how lovely the scenery is up there. I found the race no problem - bit annoyed at having to pay £2 to park in a pay and display mind you! I soon found some friendly faces from the running club, which was nice - I've been to a few races where I know no one, and don't speak to anyone, and it's never the same.

As we lined up we certainly weren't enjoying the most propitious of weather - it was actually snowing!! I switched on my MP3, tuned into Girls Aloud and told myself to just enjoy the run. At the end of the day you can only do your best, no point beating yourself up about the time.

I did, however, push myself hard. I knew I had trained hard and it was time to make it count. Fortunately the weather improved quickly - after about 20 minutes it stopped snowing and the sun actually came out. I made a conscious effort not to look at my watch, as I didn't want to worry about my time, instead I just focussed on pushing myself round. For the first time I never stopped at any point. I was careful not to drink too much water before the race so I wouldn't need the toilet. Also there was no water station half way. Funnily enough I didn't actually notice.

The race did seem to go quickly and to be honest the end couldn't come soon enough. Normally I try to pick up the pace for the last 2-3km but I was too exhausted. I only just managed to sprint over the finish line. When I did look at my watch I was elated to see I had finished in less than 55 minutes for the first time. Girls Aloud must have had the right effect! I saw a few of the ladies from running club cross the line and one, Amy, timed herself at 54:58 and I reckoned I had finished a good minute or two before her. I could well have got round in 53 or even 52 mins, a big improvement on my previous best of 56.

I duly headed home, stopped at Sainsburys for my paper and something for lunch, plus nibbles and more beer for the afternoon. This was a good result for me and I was going to celebrate. Luckily there was cricket on the telly when I got in so I probably celebrated a bit too much..but hey, it's not every day you knock a few minutes off your personal best.

On a different note entirely I had another good experience today (Monday). My friend Susie Emery, who had last year gone to start a new life in Spain, is back in Swindon and today started her new job with her old employer (and my current one!). I met up with her in the canteen and we had lunch and a brief catch up. You don't make many friends like Susie and whilst I'm very sorry things didn't work out as planned for her in Spain it is lovely to have her back.

Copyright Jonathan Weedon, February 2006

A Grand Day Out

No not the one Wallace and Gromit had.

I myself had a fantastic day out in London yesterday. I go up there a lot - when I was on shifts I used to go up there quite a bit on my days off because very often I was bored - I mean what is there to do in Swindon on a Tuesday?

A couple of weeks ago I received an offer to see a play called "Honour" starring Diana Rigg (who I remember most fondly for being the Bond girl in my favourite Bond film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), Martin Jarvis and the lovely Natasha McElhone. £25 is cheap for a ticket to see a West End play on a Saturday so I thought, why not.

My train ticket was also good value - just £19 for an apex return! I can think of a lot worse ways to spend £44. A night out in Swindon is one!!

The day had a slightly sad feel to it in the morning. Alex Garrett, a freelance instructor who teaches Body Pump and an excellent spinning class was teaching there for the last time on a Saturday. He leaves this week to take up a position as a manager at a health club in Newbury. I've attended his classes for a couple of years now but recently have been going less frequently to concentrate on my running.

It was at least fitting that I got to sit next to my friend Nicole during spinning and catch up. We used to go to Alex’s daytime classes when I was on shifts and she was at college. Despite the age gap (she is 19) we seem to get on very well and these friendships are something I’ve gained from Alex’s classes.

We are all very sad to lose him but I'm sure everyone understands he has to think of his long-term future. Knowing him as I do I know he has been thinking about this for some time, and I am delighted that he is moving on to bigger and better things and am sure he will excel in his new role.

Anyway, refreshed after 2 hours of exercise I grabbed a sandwich and headed for the station. I decided to go first class (on a weekend you can upgrade for £10 each way and occasionally I like to treat myself). On the way up no one came to check my ticket so the upgrade was free! Result!

First port of call on any other day would have been a public house to quench my thirst. Yesterday it was the Nike store on Oxford circus to buy some running gear. How times have changed. I got myself a couple of tops, running socks, some new trainers and went on a gait analysis machine. More good news: it transpires I am a "neutral" runner i.e. I don't over- or under pronate, which apparently is quite rare, and means I can wear any trainers I like.

I also got some stuff for Anthony who, true to form, gave me some advice over the phone on picking my trainers. There can be very few personal trainers who take such a keen interest in their clients. I just hope word doesn't spread at the gym that I've been doing his shopping or people will start to think I'm his bitch!! :)

That over with, I was glad to repair to one of my favourite haunts, "The Lord Moon of The Mall", a Wetherspoons pub on Whitehall. Not the most salubrious of places perhaps, and not somewhere I would take Jessica Alba for a drink, but I like it. I sat down with a beer and read my book, "Tales From A Long Room" by Peter Tinniswood. (Anyone think I might be planning to write a book about cricket??!!).

When I'm in London on my own it's always a bonus when I get chatting to someone. Yesterday I met a nice German couple who briefly shared a table with me. It was a welcome opportunity to practise some German. I'm starting to forget my German and must make some efforts to practise more often.

It was then time for a bite to eat so I headed to another of my favourite places, Wong Kei on Wardour Street. Wong Kei is basically a Chinese version of Macdonalds. Again, not somewhere I would take a girl on a date but excellent portions, very tasty and cheap to boot.

I then had time for a glass of wine before the play so went to another Wetherspoons pub on Leicester Square, The Moon Under Water. I like to think it says a lot that I manage to befriend some of the staff in these places and yesterday got to know one of the barmaids working there, even though it was very busy. It always makes my day when a pretty girl flirts with me - you could say she is just doing her job, but I didn't see her paying the same attention to anyone else in a pub full of blokes on a Saturday night. Hopefully I'll see her again, but if that was just a one-off, so be it.

I like to think that now I'm a runner, I'm a lot happier and more positive than I used to be, and give off better vibes, which people respond to. I don't know. Maybe I'm thinking too deeply, as usual.

The play was excellent. I love dramas that make me think. This was about a middle-aged man leaving his wife (the eponymous Honour, played by Rigg) for a younger woman (McElhone). The performances were flawless (no less than I expected) and the dialogue was cracking. As a writer, I learn from these plays.

The play was 1hr 40mins with no interval so I had time for another drink and to see my girlfriend before heading to Paddington.

It was a bus service from Reading and I duly fell asleep but managed to stagger up the hill before collapsing in bed. It had been a long day, but one I'll remember for some time yet.

And in case you're wondering, yes I did do my long run today (3-4 miles outside, 5k on the treadmill, another 3-4 miles outside) and yes I did suffer, being slightly tired and dehydrated from the day before. But I think it was worth it.

Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, February 2006.

Thirst for Life - 40 jours sans l'alcool

http://www.thirstforlife.org/

First of all I have absolutely no idea what caused me to break into French just now.

Yes, believe it or not I have signed up for the above and I urge as many people as possible to do the same.

Having said that, there is bugger-all chance of me going 40 days completely drink free. In the period concerned (1st March to 9thApril), I have 4 races and a trip to Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Fifteen. So I will add 5 dry nights to the end to make up for it.

Ok, you ask, but what have my races got to do with it?

It has become de rigueur now that I partake of beer and wine after a race. It’s all part of the event - going to Sainsburys the week before, choosing some tasty beers for after the race, putting them in the fridge before I set off and, when it gets tough during the race, thinking how much I will enjoy it later.

My Sunday afternoon after a race usually consists of lying in a radox bath with a few bottles of Beck's before relaxing in front of the TV with the Sunday Times and more beer. I enjoy it all the more because I know I've earned it.

It is a symbiotic relationship - sport and alcohol, do go together like cheese and biscuits after a big dinner. Almost all the runners I know enjoy their booze. Even Anthony, an elite athlete, makes no secret of his predilection for a nice bottle of red wine or a night out on the beer. He drinks infrequently though, and being the consummate professional he is, he never drinks when he is running the next day, even if it is just a jog round the park with me.

The wallpaper on my monitor is a picture of the England cricket team celebrating the Ashes win. Andrew Strauss is pouring a bottle of budweiser over Michael Vaughan as he raises the urn. The team got completely slaughtered that night, and the next day as they enjoyed their open top bus tour through London and a visit to No 10. And we all know what state Andrew Flintoff was in by the time the team arrived at our prime minister's abode. But then, if ever a man deserved to party all night, it was the big man.

There is a dark side to all this however. Binge drinking causes many social problems, from minor arguments over trivial matters to brawls and accidents, which keep our A&E departments busy on Saturday nights.

Many people forget that alcohol is a depressant. It may make you feel good at the time, but I soon notice after a heavy weekend of drinking I feel nervous and anxious for no apparent reason. After a few days on the wagon, I am much happier and more positive again.

And there is also the spectre of alcoholism. I don't know much about the man, but George Best is a great example of a sportsman who liked a tipple but went down a slippery slope, which is all too easy to go down.

I have read a lot about some established writers and it appears many suffer from alcohol and drug-related problems. Stephen King, for example, cannot remember writing Cujo - he was off his face the whole time. He talks candidly about this in his excellent autobiography On Writing (a must-read for any aspiring novelist).

As an aspiring writer myself, I worry about this. I am concerned I have the makings of an alcoholic, and if I ever write full time (my goal) I could easily become one. The thought terrifies me. Which is why my running will become increasingly important the more I write, to keep me on the straight and narrow. I also like to think I have enough friends around me to look after me if ever there’s a problem.

So having a few well-earned beers after a race is fine, but it's time for a de-tox. My liver will thank me for it, and my credit card bill will be a lot lighter at the end of it. And with any luck, so will I.

Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, February 2006

Longleat 10k - first race of the year

This morning I competed in my first race of 2006 - a 10k at Longleat, nr Westbury, Wiltshire.

I had been looking forward to the event for some time, having not run in a race since last December, the Bromham 10k pudding run. That was not a good experience - I had been out the night before, for Maxine's birthday party, and ended up getting completely slaughtered. Hence I ran the race the next day with the grand-daddy of all hangovers, which was not pleasant - I tell you, you won't catch me in a nightclub the night before a race ever again, unless Jessica Alba is giving free lap dances somewhere in Swindon..

So anyway, my running seemed to be coming on in leaps and bounds since then and I was hoping to get a PB and go less than 55 minutes for the first time. I didn't have the greatest of rest days on Saturday - I had to move a load of stuff upstairs from the breakfast room ready for the decorators to arrive Monday to fix the damage caused by a bust pipe before Christmas.

Still, I did get to bed early (I tried watching Catwoman on sky movies to see if it was as bad as the critics had made out and the answer was a resounding "yes"). So I woke up early and refreshed and met my brother-in-law, Rich, at his house in Melksham and travelled the rest of the journey in his car.

There were a lot of people at Longleat (about 1500 runners at a rough guess) and we soon lined up at the start line and were off.

It was a tough race - very hilly, and the number of competitors made me realise early on that a personal best was out of the question. I'm not making excuses - I gave it my all and by the time I finished was sweating profusely - but having to zigzag past people to overtake them did not help.

One thing I love about these races is the cross-section of people you get. At Bromham I saw I guy who must have been in his eightieth decade cross the finishing line. Today I saw a deaf and blind man running round with his trainer. For the most part, he was ahead of me (not that I'm that fast my any means, but I'm not that bad either) - I only managed to overtake him at the 9km marker.

Things like this make me feel very humble. I just think, when I see people achieving things like running a 10k race despite such massive obstacles, it makes me realise what a total fuck-up I am. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on myself but I mean, come on, for someone with my abilities, what have I really achieved in my 37 years on this planet? Not a lot.

And it makes you thankful. I spent some time with my sister Fiona (Rich's wife) and her family and visited my Dad as well. As I was driving back to Swindon the sun shone and I started thinking about the days in the summer I can enjoy, at cricket matches at Lords, soaking up the sights, sounds and atmosphere. Can the man I referred to earlier say the same? No. As Dad said, we don't know we're born at times.

Oh well. A good day all in all and I shall enjoy a few more beers and probably a pizza before I'm done. A good start to the year - I have a few races to look forward to over the next couple of months, including the Bath and Reading half marathons.

After that it's marathon training here I come - I've got my place for the New Forest marathon in September. Quite how I'll cope running four times the distance I ran today I've no idea but we will see..

Oh and there won't be too many updates on here for a while as I have finally started on my first novel. I'm in the early planning stages but at least it's a start. But let's face it, if a deaf and blind man can run 10k, running a marathon and writing a book should be a piece of cake for me.

No excuses. Maybe I should make that my motto for 2006.