If you want to know what it feels like to be 90 odd year old and struggling to get up a flight of stairs then just run for 3 hours non-stop.
That's right. Three hours plus of solid running with another hour at least to add on for the actual marathon. Next week is the last "long run" week. I'll be running with a few others from Middlesbrough to Hartlepool (approx 14 miles) to then join a 5.5 mile road race. After that I'll be winding down the mileage in preparation for the Manchester Marathon which is less than a month away.
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Today was tough. I felt in reasonable health and didn't go too crazy with the wine last night, although the night before was a bit of a session around a running friend's house for his 50th. I ended up singing and playing guitar for the throng for a good while whilst being plied with more beer to encourage me. It worked. I postponed my usual Sunday run until today because of this.
The first four miles were torture. I had decided to try running in a new pair of trainers (despite all advice to the contrary). I had, originally, planned to run an 8 mile loop in them and then switching back to my old ones. After 2.5 miles I was ready to give up and go home. My left shin was aching and wouldn't run out. It felt like my left leg was hitting the ground twice as hard as my right. I had been having some trouble with my right foot but had bought some corrective insoles to try and resolve it. My right foot, ironically, felt fine. I had to draw on a great deal of will power to keep going, telling myself it would sort it self out once warmed up. It took four or so miles to do so and the pace was very slow, hence not a brilliant overall time. I had seriously considered taking the new trainers and insoles back but after the four miles they felt as good as my old ones so I decided to do the full 19 miles in them.
David Bowie has been all over the place recently, like a lightning-bolt shaped rash. His new album "The Next Day" has become instantly iconic with its post-modern sleeve and post-punkish musical leanings. I decided to go with a bit of a Bowie theme for the run today. First off was Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars. A gentle start you see? The first four or so tracks are pretty interchangeable in terms of tempo and feel which kind of works for the dynamic of the album if not for a varied, distracting listen. Still great stuff though and the rockier moments came just at the point when I needed a bit of drive to take my mind off the left foot situation. After that I tried starting a genius mix from closing track "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" but the iPod was playing up and wouldn't play many of the tracks. It managed the sublime Cosmic Dancer by T-Rex and some Morrissey (who, incidentally, used to cover the song live). Joy Division and other, reasonably predictable related artists came on and by this point the shin had stopped aching.
I need to start creating my actual playlist soon. It'll be like doing a mixtape for myself. I'll keep you posted.
Oh, I did stumble across a live, BBC session by my old band Amsterdam Film Company from 2003. Might post a few bits at some point. Not too bad...some of it ;)
