Vale of Pewsey Half Marathon

Yesterday I competed in the Pewsey Half Marathon, my final race at that distance before the New Forest Marathon in September.

I had been looking forward to it for some time - the last half I did was the Gloucester half marathon at the end of July, and since then have been doing mainly long runs on my own (Andy and I did the Swindon half marathon route as a training run last weekend, which made a nice change) and to be fair, these can get pretty boring, and lonely. So it was nice to be in a race environment again.

I may have overdone it on the carb-loading the day before. As well as my customary pre-race dinner of pasta bolognaise and garlic bread, I managed to polish off a bag of popcorn and a whole bag of jelly babies in the cinema. The film this time was "Severance", a horror comedy which, while not in the same league as "Shaun of The Dead", certainly had its moments. I also went to see "Harsh Times" in the week, which I thought was excellent.

So despite being rather full I slept well and woke up early feeling unusually alert. I had my scrambled eggs on toast and headed to the gym to meet Andy, who is becoming my race buddy, which is quite cool. Always good to have some company, especially on the journey there and back.

We got to Pewsey in time and sorted out our race numbers. Andy was entering on the day and I had entered online which meant (unusually) that I had to pick up my race number on the day. Putting my race number on my vest is something I always do the night before, so not too happy about having to mess around with safety pins before the race.

Time for a quick warm-up, then we headed for the start line, where we met my brother-in-law Rich, who was competing in his first half-marathon. I advised him just to go out and enjoy it, and not worry about the time. It was great to see Mick & Phil (see my article on the Gloucester half marathon) again at the start, and later during the race.

Andy ran with me for the first mile to warm up. During this stage of the race a good-looking young marshal (female, I hasten to add) caught my eye, smiled and said "Well done". No one says well done to you that early on, only later when you look like you're flagging, so that gave me a lift. The weight loss is paying huge dividends already.

Andy pressed on soon enough, and rightly so - you've got to run your own race really, and he wanted to get a PB. I focused on just enjoying the race, and the lovely scenery.

It's difficult to think of any particular memories as the time went very quickly. I managed to maintain a good pace and at no point did I feel especially tired. In fact, for the first time it didn't feel like a half marathon, I felt good and in control all the way round. Normally I would start to tire at around the 10 or 11-mile marker but not this time. In fact I managed to accelerate if anything, realising that I stood to knock a good chunk of time off my previous best of 1 hour 57 minutes.

There was a bit of an unfortunate incident around the 11-mile marker. Another runner made a habit of running literally a few inches behind me and no matter how many times I stared at the position of his feet, he didn't get the message and would not either overtake or back off. In the end I stepped out to my right and stopped abruptly so that he went straight into me - and judging by the size of him I'd say it hurt him a lot more than it did me. It was an odious thing to do really, but hopefully he will have learnt from it and will think twice about making other runners feel uncomfortable in future.

Anyway, I wasn't going to dwell on that and was very, very happy to finish in 1 hour 51 minutes 40 seconds - knocking a whopping six minutes off my personal best. More importantly, I still felt strong, which has given me a massive and very timely confidence boost - the next time I pass the 10 mile marker, there won't be 3 miles to go, there'll be 16..

Andy was pleasantly surprised not to be waiting as long as he had anticipated for me, and he too had knocked 7 minutes off his PB. We set off walking to meet Rich, who finished his first half marathon in a highly creditable 2 hours 30 minutes. He felt he could have finished in a better time, but as I told him, there'll be plenty of opportunities to improve his time.

And so home - before we went I was cheeky enough to ask for an extra t-shirt! Not unreasonably I felt - if I carry on losing the weight a medium will fit me nicely before long. In fact it fits quite well. If anything the large is hanging off me..which should give a few clues why my time improved so much..

I managed another run in the evening - only 7 miles instead of the planned 10 or 12 miles - I had an upset stomach which flared up all of a sudden. I've been practically teetotal these last few weeks, but seeing as it was the bank holiday weekend decided to celebrate the new PB with a few glasses of wine.

After all, I intend to celebrate in style in 3 weeks time, so probably not a bad idea to have a quick rehearsal.

Copyright © Jonathan Weedon August 2006

Goodbye Old Me, Hello New Me..

Yesterday a very small but important (to me at least) thing happened during my day.

When I competed in the Downton half marathon last year (my second time at that distance) I was rather disappointed that the only T-shirts left were in a Medium. I took one, thinking I might as well give it to a mate, there was no way I was ever going to fit into something that small.

But I kept it in the end, and have tried it on every few months, always with the same result. It fitted me about as well as it would fit the incredible hulk, or at best made me look like a bouncer wearing a too-tight shirt to show off his size.

Yesterday, however, I tried it on and couldn't believe what was happening. It fits just fine. Ok, it's a bit tight around the chest, but everywhere else it's a bit loose if anything. I don't weigh myself (too tight-fisted to buy a set of scales) but you don't need a machine to tell you you've lost weight when something like that happens.

Clearly everything is paying off - the training, the improved diet, the vastly reduced intake of alcohol. Most of it is down to small changes, for example I always used to have a lump of cheese in the fridge in case I fancied cheese on toast as a late night snack. I can't remember the last time I bought cheese. I even stopped having it on pasta bolognaise.

So it's clear that during the rest of this year I am going to have to start binning all my size XL clothes and buying stuff in a medium. It's going to hurt - financially that is - but I guarantee to everyone this is a permanent change. No going back. And as soon as I get down to a size 32" waist I'm going to invest a lot of money in some expensive suits, which I'm going to look great in, to give myself extra incentive to stay that shape.

I doubt it'll be hard. I'm enjoying running so much I can only see myself getting more and more into it, and who knows, when I've got a few marathons under my belt maybe I'll move onto triathlons or fell-running? Nothing's impossible.

I love half-marathons and 10k races and when you're burning off this many calories you can have those little treats, such as a pizza or a bottle or two of wine every now and then. (Between you and me I can't wait until I can have a few beers after a race again).

Another nice thing - or maybe rather sad, depending on how you look at it - is that I've noticed the way people speak to me has changed. By that I don't mean my friends or people I work with. I mean people I have fleeting interactions with in day-to-day situations. For example, when I was doing my shopping in Sainsburys this morning, the girl on the till, who has never before said much more than a perfunctory hello or goodbye, suddenly became much more friendly, chatty and flirty. It could be that the way I behave has changed, but I doubt it. Just a shame I'm old enough to be her Dad by now..

Anyway, on the subject of young ladies, I was lucky enough to see Jennifer Ellison in Chicago before she finished her stint in the show, and managed to get an autograph after the show. Unfortunately I didn't get to chat to her as long as I would have liked, mainly because on this occasion the paparazzi descended on her like vultures and I could tell she just wanted to get home. In fairness she had done two performances that day and must have been dead on her feet. But before she was whisked away I did give her a copy of what I had written about her on these pages, which she was quite happy to take away. I hope she enjoyed reading what I had to say, and who knows, maybe she'll be a regular visitor to this site. If so, I hope she enjoys it as much as everyone else seems to.

Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, August 2006

Panesar really is the full Monty

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I was delighted with England's performance in the second test match against Pakistan, and not just because of the margin of victory. To win by an innings and 120 runs represents a thumping in anyone's book, the kind of win you might expect over Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, but to do it against the team that had usurped England's position as the second best test team in the world (a position England will regain if they go on to win the series) must have been especially sweet.

England's performance was ruthless and clinical. The batting was outstanding, especially from the young guns competing for regular places in the team, namely Alastair Cook and Ian Bell. The former has taken to test cricket like a duck to water and the latter looks nothing like the man who struggled against the class of the Australian's last summer, a much more positive, fluent and feisty character all round.

And of course, there was Steve Harmison's first ever 10-wicket haul in a test match, and two consecutive five-fers, his first since the first Ashes test 12 months ago. He looked simply unplayable, and the key moment to me was the last ball of the match when Strauss indicated he had one over left before he made a bowling change. Harmison decided he only needed one ball to get his fifth wicket of the innings, and wrap up an outstanding victory. He knows how good he is, and I hope he can go on to become an all time great.

But there was one performance that made the match for me, and that was that of Monty Panesar.

I've been saying to people all summer, I would really like to see Monty come in and do really well, and on the basis of this performance you would have to say he can look forward to a long and glittering career with England. And if Duncan Fletcher isn't convinced of this, well I'm sorry but the rest of the country, certainly every sportswriter I know of, seems to be.

I don't know what it is about him I like so much. Maybe it's the novelty value - the first Sikh to play for England and all that. Maybe it's because he seems like such a likeable young man. Or maybe it's the underdog aspect. Most likely it's a combination of all three, but I think it's because with every match he has proved his credentials as the best spinner in the country. It seems we have finally found the match-winning spinner we've been looking for for so long.

But it seems England, and the coach in particular, may be about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Fletcher is not convinced Monty cannot offer the "full package", and is too much a one-dimensional player. Not to take Monty to Australia, or to overlook him if, as and when Giles comes back, would be a grave mistake I fear, and here's why:

First of all, is his batting all that bad, and even if it is, is it that important? He has only played a few matches so far, and people seem to have forgotten that he got 20-odd against a rampant Murali in a losing cause against Sri Lanka. So he must be able to bat a bit, and you can't expect him to come out and start scoring half centuries straight away (something I'm sure he will manage sooner or later).

No one seems to expect Hoggard or Harmison to score runs, so why the double standard? It isn't the job of the lower order to get runs (sure, it's a bonus if they do), but what you should expect them to do is hold up an end so the last specialist batsman can build an innings. This is exactly what the tail did at Old Trafford, enabling Bell to score his most fluent hundred to date, and allowing England to declare at 9 wickets down - always a psychological blow to the opposition.

Secondly, even if he is "one-dimensional", Phil Tuffnell he sure as hell ain't. No one will work harder to improve his all-round game than Monty, and sooner or later that hard work has to pay dividends. It just has to. Tuffers would be more likely to be having a few cans of lager and a cigarette than spending time in the nets after a match.

Thirdly, Monty keeps the opposition quiet and gives his captain control. He has started his career against Asian sides who are supposed to be good players of spin, and has only gone for 2.5 runs per over. If he can be that economical in one-day cricket (and it can only be a matter of time before he gets his chance) he should be a regular fixture in that form of the game as well.

But most importantly, Monty is already a proven match winner! Here we have found a spinner who is capable of bowling even the best sides out. He doesn't improve his match figures by mopping up the tail, he gets the top order players out - 3 out of the top 5, in Pakistan's second innings at Old Trafford. He doesn't even just get good players out, he gets great players out as well. I remember thinking when he celebrated his first test wicket, that of a certain Sachin Tendulkar, that had to be a good omen for the rest of his career.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Ashley Giles, but he was never going to be one of England's best ever spinners. Panesar has given every indication that he can be that and more. And he has age on his side as well. It just needs the selectors to give him an extra confidence boost by promising a run in the team, Giles or no Giles.

As regards the rest of the side, I'm not surprised that Geraint Jones has been dropped in favour of Chris Read. At first I thought Jones could be a worthy successor to Alec Stewart, but his form with the bat of late has made me think otherwise, and with Read having improved so much in that department, it was only a matter of time until he was given another chance. Someone commented at work that you shouldn't change a winning side, but if you're going to make changes, far better to do so in a position of strength. And besides, with Harmison and Panesar looking so devastating, it's paramount that they have the best keeper to hold on to every chance offered.

On a final note, I have also read that Michael Vaughan has conceded he may never play again, such is the extent of his knee injury. I guess we can only wait and see how his rehabilitation goes. I hope to God it's a success and he is able to resume his career in the New Year. We might not be missing his batting that much - Alastair Cook is seeing to that - but it would be a travesty if such a fine batsman and captain had to end his career like this. He deserves to go on to play 100 tests (if he wants to of course) and bow out in a manner that befits the man who brought the Ashes home in 2005. Please God, not like this.

Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, August 2006