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.
Not The Inverness 5k
by Russell Turner - 17:33 on 08 March 2026
The Inverness Half Marathon and 5k was held today, blessed by sun and light wind; I wasn’t there. I’d signed up for the 5k months ago because I knew I could attend even if a gig dropped the night before – the 11.45am start was a bonus – but last weekend’s Middlesbrough HM, and a very late finish (1.45am) at Foxes on Friday left me disinclined to attempt a sub-30min 5k today. Jogging around to claim the medal seemed more trouble than it was worth, so I wrote off another entry fee (only £18 this time) and ran an easyish 5k at home: my final run before the next training block.
For I’ve signed up for another HM, around Loch Leven, near Kinross, on May 10, which means the nine-week training programme begins on Tuesday. I’m a glutton for punishment. And because one of the 10-mile long runs falls on the same day as the Dunbarton 10 Mile, and I’m guaranteed a free weekend because City Limits singer Keith is holidaying, I’ve signed up for that too, as has Squirrel James who lives within walking distance of the start, which means I’ve a handy bed the night before as well.
Whether James makes it to the start remains to be seen. His running mojo has yet to return; a run today was abandoned after two miles because he “ran out of steam”. Hopefully he’ll be back in action soon.
Along the road to Loch Leven I’ll return to my home town for my first run there since grudging ones at school, almost 50 years ago. The Wakefield 10k is followed two weeks later by the Abba 10k in Glasgow, then Dunbarton, then two weeks after that the final pre-race long run: the Virtual London Marathon. That may seem to be not a wise move, just two weeks before the HM, but as I’ll be running it in easy chunks I think I’ll get away with it. It might even prove perfect preparation. Who knows?
For a long time I had the Callander 10k, next Sunday, in my diary but held back from signing up and booking accommodation, just in case. This proved sensible when an afternoon Mother’s Day gig at a local hotel was offered to the band. This could be a great gig or a disaster, afternoons being an odd time for a gig attended by, presumably, mums and their grown-up offspring.
Even odder was that my face was used in the hotel’s Facebook promotion rather than the more photogenic Keith or the whole band. Very strange.
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