Self-deluding 40 year old with dopey grin before
Disbelieving 40 year old with dopey grin after
|W|P|110175406860366466|W|P|What not to wear this winter|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.comIt's 23.10 and I'm over the moon as I'm back home after the Nike Go Nocturnal Run London which was my first ever 10k race.
According to my watch (official times will not be posted for a couple of days), I completed the course in 53.43mins. I am stunned as I thought that my target of 60 minutes was optimistic. Having said that, I have trained hard and put in (most of) the preparation and cut out (most of) the beer. My race plan (to run steady 6 m/ks) went out the window early on when I was a minute up a 1km, 2 minutes up at 2km and 4 mins up by 4km. Though I was worried for the rest of the race that I'd done too much too early, I decided to go with my gut feeling. I pushed hard on over Tower Bridge and back and was 6 minutes up on my schedule turning for home. Still feeling OK by the time I ran through the 8km water station, I upped the pace again and was breathing hard through 9km. I only really faltered when I mistook the footbridge over the last section in the park for the finish and gave a last kick too early as a result, making the last 400m the longest I have ever run. However, nothing could stop the smiles when I dared to look at my watch. A personal best of 53.43mins. As you can probably tell, I well and truly chuffed.
Many thanks to Doctor Stu and son Luke who braved the elements to hold my kitbag, cheer me on and take photos.
First news report of the event here.
|W|P|110168541179951927|W|P|I ran London|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.comI have been fending off a cold/cough type thing for two weeks now but it continues to linger and take the edge off what are otherwise good days. This is particularly annoying as I am trying to up my training schedule for the Run London 10km race at the end of the month and each training run is proving to be a battle at the moment. I have enlisted the help of a marathon-running friend Stuart and he has been upping the ante with longer runs and hill work to build my meagre levels of stamina.
We did one such run yesterday morning and having warmed up by plodding through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, we circumnavigated Greenwich Park - the whole route (including the under-the-river bit is shown above. The combination of cornflower blue skies, golden brown leaves and crisp sharp air in the lungs was superb and there seemed to be no better way to start the the weekend.
There's something very cinematic about running through piles of russet leaves in a beautiful sun-bathed park. Striding down the avenues of trees, I could see every filmic cliche one could think of including the old lady with a miniature dog in a tartan jacket and obligatory Harrods carrier bag; the divorced Dad cramming a week's worth of love and attention into a Saturday morning kick-about; the loving couple rubbing noses, swapping meaningful glances and hand squeezes and the baseball capped tourists snapping megapixels worth of shots to show the folks back home.
Sadly, time pressures meant that I was unable to take up my friend's offer of a post-training relaxation session in his newly installed outdoor hot tub. The thrill of a treadmill session at the gym this morning failed to lure me and my sore throat from my pit so I decide to blog instead and think about going later. Maybe.
my lo-fi ears are listening to Love Of Strings/Moby
|W|P|110043537227724018|W|P|A run in the park|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.comInspired by the 'What's in my bag' group over at Flickr, I turfed out the contents of the front pannier of my folding Brompton bicycle to see how my haul compares. If you think this is bad, I should tell you that I didn't empty all the pockets of the notebook case or the CaseLogic audio bag!
|W|P|109983622404597959|W|P|What's in my bag|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.comAs I mentioned in my Dublin post, I was the beneficiary of a stranger's kindness recently. I like to try and ensure that I 'repay' such kindness by assisting someone else if a similar fashion and, this week, a few flashes of serendipity have allowed me to do so.[1]
Earlier in the week, whilst transferring from one train to another at Baker Street, I came across a blind chap standing by a set of platform gates, which were closed due to over-running engineering works. It transpired that this unexpected barrier had thrown his memorised journey to work into confusion because he usually just changed trains here each day (via a 20ft tunnel connecting the platforms), so he had no mental map of the rest of the station. I once worked with and assisted a deaf/blind chap who had memorised numerous tube journeys, with its own set of remembered door positions (to be in line with exits), so I had a fair idea of this chap's predicament. I offered him an elbow and we made our way to the ticket hall, with me calling out steps and corners whilst trying not to whack him with my folding bike. Once there, I was able to enlist the help of a station assistant who took over and made arrangements for the chap to get to work.
Thursday was a long day for me and I was eager to be on my way home when I jumped on my bike and pedalled out of my office car park heading for the train station. Joining the main road, I was greet by the sight of three caped crusaders on fully-laden bicycles heading in the same direction so I fell in belong side them and said hello. The two women and the chap all introduced themselves as being from Ontario and Oregon (Katrina's name I remember but I can't recall the others) so, after reciprocating, I asked the obvious question: what on earth are two Americans and a Canadian doing cycling around a London suburb in superhero capes. It turns out that they are one of many groups worldwide who cycle around from community to community simply volunteering to assist charities and community programmes.[2] With night drawing in, they were looking for somewhere to camp overnight but, being just yards from London Heathrow's north runway, they were having trouble finding any where to do so. After considering the ploughed fields alongside the M4 motorway, I suggested they follow me to the local churchyard where there was sheltering trees and grass on which they could pitch a tent. After a chat and exchanging email addresses, I left them to chase up the church warden for permission to camp and headed for the station. I guess the church warden was amiable enough because, as I cycled past the next morning on the way to work, I could see tents and bicycles through the trees in the church yard. The last I heard was that they were heading for the West Country and Wales.
[1] For those not familiar with the concept of Pay It Forward, it is based on an idea for a school assignment that occurs to the young protaganist in Catherine Ryan Hyde's book of the same name. Following the book's screen adaptation and the resulting movie, the idea of paying it forward instead of paying folks back gathered momentum and there are a number of web sites and organisations that are using the concept in various ways.
[2] I tried to find mention of such activities and the 'Haul Of Fame' reference they suggested I looked for but sadly I can find no reference on the web.
my lo-fi ears are listening to National Express/The Divine Comedy
|W|P|109977272495336253|W|P|Paying It Forward|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.comHalloween in Temple Bar
"The public museums are closed on a Monday. All of Dublin's museums are public. Except for the private ones. Which are often open on Mondays".
"On the left, you will see the main entrance of Dublin's Trinity College, which was established under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth the Second. No, that's not right, it wasn't; it was Queen Elizabeth the First. Ah well, no matter, they were both from the same family."
"Would those who have just boarded please stop talking? I am the only one who should be talking - otherwise, others cannot hear me!"
And who, in their right mind, would want to miss such a tour bus commentary? The characterful and impassioned bon mots of Ursula, our truly unique tour guide had me folded double, gasping for air at the back of the open-topped double-decker bus for a good part of an hour and a half. I hadn't laughed this much since I saw Eddie Izzard at the Albury. The idea had been simple - take advantage of Ryanair's £9 flights to take the sprogs on their first airplane trip and have a couple of days and a night to explore the delights of Dublin.
Cheers of the trip included:
Tears of the trip included:
The trip was great fun even if it did drain the bank account at an alarming rate (there is no such thing as a cheap weekend break with four kids!) and the folks we met on our travels, from cabbies to passers-by, were very friendly. Talking of friendly folks, I must make special mention of one person. As I stood by the Bank Of Ireland cash point that had swallowed my card, not wanting to move in case it spat it out again, I became aware of someone beside me. I turned to face a strikingly lovely woman with pale skin and cascades of red hair. "Would you be after me watching the machine while you pop round and ring on the bank's bell? They'll still be there if you're quick." Before I could draw breath, she went on. "Why would you? Leaving a complete stranger to grab your card. I'll pop round, explain and have someone come out to you." With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared round the corner, re-emerging five minutes later with a smile and a "I've told them what's what and they be with you shortly. I'll be on my way now - have a smashing time - bye now." Blurting a 'Thank you so much', I waited for the chap that eventually returned my bank card whilst watching her walk away, slowly merge into the evening crowd. This beautiful and utterly charming woman was in my life for about 45 seconds but saved me from hours of hassle with one kind act. Don't tell SWMBO but I think I'm in love with my very own Dublin angel.
my lo-fi ears are listening to Life For Rent/Dido
|W|P|109975392542869931|W|P|Dublin|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.comAll credit to Apple and UPS who have returned my new/replaced/refurbished iPod in a tad over a week. Apart from a few worrying moments during the charge it up > upgrade iTunes > upgrade iPod > reload songs process, all seems to be fine and the iPod is nice and shiny again.
I'm off to listen to The Sophtware Slump...wierd but utterly wonderful.
my lo-fi ears are listening to Forever More/Moloko
|W|P|109951519216962202|W|P| iUpdate #3: The return|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com