Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
A Bling Bonanza
by Russell Turner - 16:25 on 23 July 2023
Two weeks since the Race to the Stones; two weeks until the York 10k, by when I’ll be 65. Preparation has begun.
My cunning plan for speeding up from ultra pace has been some easy 5ks with one or two fast kilometres thrown in to remind me what quicker running feels like. So far, the plan is working. Next week I’ll put more fast bits in the 5ks.
Today, however, has been a day of sloth. Yesterday, after a Friday gig, I was up early to taxi Matchgirl to the airport, then ran 10k at a modest pace, uphill for most of the first half: it wasn’t a punishing incline but enough to test mental resolve. The evening featured another gig and a late finish so I’ve earned some down time.
To amuse myself, I assembled race medals that usually hang on the back of the bedroom door so I could take a boastful photo. Some of them are virtual, but only ones that mark PBs or other notable achievements; several cumulative medals from lockdown didn’t make the cut.
That leaves a grand total of 37 real and virtual medals amassed in five-and-a-bit years between the 2018 London Marathon and this month’s Race to the Stones. If all goes to plan, by the end of the year there’ll be two, possibly three, 10ks to add to that plus a 10-miler and a half marathon.
It’s best not to think about how much I’ve spent on shoes, other kit, nutrition, races, travel and accommodation, or how much of that was wasted because I didn’t make the start line or the kit and nutrition didn’t work. Whoever said running’s a cheap sport only runs round the block twice a week.
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