Harlow Running Club

Week 8 (22/2 - 28/2)

Weight : 11st 13.75lb

Booze : 7

Miles : 30

Todays joke is written with a Scottish dialect, and should be read as such :-

A wee Glesga man came home drunk at four in the morning, and his wife was all over him,

yelling at him, greetin because she thought he was wae anither wuman.

"No, honey, I swear, A wiz at this bar, and it was so fancy that even the urinals were made of

gold."

She said she didnae believe him so she called the bar. "Hello," she said, "I just want tae ask

ye wan question. Ma man claims tae have spent the night at your bar ; are your urinals

covered in gold?"

To which she heard the bartender say, "Heh, Shug, I think we found the guy who pished in yir

saxophone."

Tuesday : Tonight was another session of 1600's - and this time I listened to the instructions

to know it was only 3, and not 5, reps.. Once again, my thoughts of an easy time were

dashed when Roy motioned to me and said "let's go". I couldn't stay with him for the first two,

but managed to pass him on the last one - only to find out his lace had come loose and he

had to back off a bit - and he wasn't winding me up, it was true.. Once again it was peein'

down and we all got soaked

Thursday : Gentle 5 miler or so with the group in advance of Sunday's race.. Hey, guess what

?? Yep, it was raining again !!

Sunday : The Meon Valley Plod (MVP) down Hampshire way.. It's a 20 point something miler,

mostly off-road, organised by Pompey Joggers (my old club, of which I'm still a member). I've

done this race three times before, and there's always a good turn out for the event - a lot of

runners use it as a tough training event in prep for London / Brighton. Now, given the weather

we've had in February, it's no surprise to know the organisers stated (at the start) that the

course was it's heaviest / worst condition in over 20 years. Now, for some reason, I struggled

the entire race.. I don't know why, but I just felt like I was knackered the whole time - I just

had nothing in the legs.. Even in the closing stages, I was going backwards, when I thought I

should be strong, given the long (3hr +) runs I'd done recently - this was mentally very hard to

take - although I managed not to cry until I got home.. My time was 3:22, which was only 12

minutes slower than my previous time, on a day when everyone was a lot slower than previous

(even the winner was 12 mins slower than last year). So, time wise, it was pretty good, but

mentally / physically it drained me.. I even managed to fall at one point in the race, straight

into a wet muddy patch - not surprising given 90% of the course was in this condition - it

knocked the stuffing out of me for a few minutes, but nothing more serious than that. I had my

new Salomon's on, but it was a surprise to see many folks with road running shoes on - this

was not a course for road running shoes - I'm sure I wasn't the only one to take a dive.

As usual, the race gets a great write up on the Runners World website.. It is well organised,

well marshalled, and well stocked with food / drink etc during and at the end of the race.. For

anyone wanting a tough "pre London" run, I would recommend it, but only if you are ok with

off-road events.

Summary : A tough finish to the week, and no surprise to see the weight come down after

Sundays run (it's Tuesday now, and I'm slowly getting over the mental scars from Sundays

race, looking at the positive aspects - my time was bloody good in those conditions). I have,

however, decided to have an attempt at eating a more balanced / healthy diet (no, this doesn't

mean I need a chip on both shoulders !!). More fruit and less chocolate biscuits - well, that's

after I consume my current stock levels, which may take some weeks.. I'm trying to rid myself

of the pot belly and man boobs that I am now the custodian of - whether my new regime

extends itself to curtailing my alcohol intake remains to be seen..

The answer to the quiz was "MONTY" - well done to anyone who got the answer, but didn't

have the pair required or sizeable enough to place an answer on the HRC Forum.

I've yet to decide on next method to keep you entertained..

dg