Comfort and inspiration

This time Sunday I will hopefully have finished the Berlin marathon!  I've been taking it easy this week in terms of exercise (wish I could say the same on work front, seem to have to work equivalent of 5 extra days to take 3 days out).

A few odds and ends to tidy up today, but I was keen to get out to see the Hiroshi Sugamoto exhibition at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art before it closes on Sunday.  I went to the main building first, only to discover that the Sugimoto exhibition was over the road at what used to be called the Dean Gallery.  Still, was interested to look at the Tony Cragg exhibition that was on at the main site. (I've got an annual 'Friend membership' so get free entry into all the exhibitions).  As it turns out, I probably enjoyed this one more.  And a good warm up for the trip to Germany as Tony Cragg is Director at a Dusseldorf modern art gallery and has been working out of Germany for 30-40 years.

I know modern art isn't for everyone, but I find as I get older I like it more and more.  There was something about the smoothness of his sculptures, and the way they blend man-made and natural form in a very fluid way that's just very pleasing and easy on the eye.  The pictures don't do it justice, you really should go and take a look if you like sculpture or modern art.

After a bite of lunch in the superb cafe (I had a mug of sweet potato, coconut and chickpea soup together with a ham, cheddar, cherry tomato, rocket and caramelised onion ciabatta sandwich. Yum. But no cake on this occasion... Unusual...), I went over the road to the old Dean to look at the Sugimoto.

Loved his Lightning Fields pictures too.  Again that intriguing blend of natural forms and shapes with scientific, man-made materials.  Very nice to look at and very evocative.  Obviously not as obvious and prescriptive as your older art, but equally beautiful to look at.  As Sugimoto puts it in the notes at the exhibition, "Both art and science sprang from observing the natural world."

It was pretty sunny as I headed back to pick up my car and I wandered about the landform for 5 or 10 minutes, which has been joined on the lawn by some of the Cragg sculptures.  Several groups out enjoying the art and the sunshine, nice to see.  The shapely weeds in the water of the landform could easily have been taken out of either the Tony Cragg or the Hiroshi Sugimoto shows.

Sadly lots of things still to do and I came home and headed out for a gentle 20-minute run.  Last one before I line up at the start line for Berlin marathon on Sunday...  Not 100% peak fitness but chiropractor seems to have successfully sorted me so I'll be able to run without pain - at the start line anyway!  I take comfort in the fact that I'm lucky to be able to do it, I'm getting to go to Berlin and I can just enjoy the experience! I also take comfort in any useful positive messages that I might see around about me - like this one from the modern art gallery earlier today...

   

Join our club

Club training tonight. For those of you who don't already know, I'm a member of Portobello Running Club ; the finest, funnest running club in this part of the world.

Tonight's training session was only the 2nd one I've made this year (haven't been fit enough most of the time) and it was pretty brutal! We did 8 lots of 5 minutes fast, 3 minutes slow.  Because it was built around time rather than distance, each person will have covered a different total distance within the time. I covered a little over 8 miles. The rain meant some of the ground was pretty boggy and there was one slightly uphill and very wet section that really sapped the legs each time.  There's something quite exhilirating and cathartic about flogging your guts out like that in a hard session in the rain, and it's definitely one of the things I missed most while I was injured.  (Club training, not the rain. No opportunity to miss the rain in Scotland...)

Anyway, here's a few things I've been reminded of since returning to running club training:

1. It's amazing how much you can still do in terms of speedwork when your legs are already tired from the rest of your training.
2. It's amazing how much sweat you can produce in a one-hour session. Basically right to the bottom hem of your t-shirt. Eeeuuggh.
3. You can push yourself much harder in group training than you do on your own.
4. It's *much* more enjoyable to do speedwork and long runs with other people.
5. There's a huge amount of experience and knowledge to be shared between runners. You'll be surprised who else has been through similar injuries, or has similar aspirations or challenges.
6. Club runners are warm and supportive people who will always tell you you look strong and are running well even when it's not true! 
7. It's nice to be congratulated by colleagues at the end of a tough session whether you were really doing well or not...

If you've been running for a bit and you're not sure whether or not joining a club is a good thing, DO IT. It'll help you improve as a runner, and you'll enjoy it too.

Nice race, shame about the body

The same time will mean different things to different people.  So 58 minutes, for example, could be reason for elation as someone's first 10K under the one-hour-mark, or as a new half-marathon world record for the likes of Zersenay Tadesse.

I say this because other people I know will no doubt say my time today was respectable enough.  But for me, today's 51 minutes 54 seconds is my slowest *ever* time for a 10K race.  By several minutes.  So in that regard, I'm not exactly where I want to be.  My first ever 10K (after about 10-15 years of fairly consistent abuse to my body, including heavy smoking... and then resulting weight gain after giving up the smokes..!) took about 49 or 50 minutes in 2005. By Spring 2010 I was running 10Ks in nearer 42 minutes.  But obviously injury and age have combined and damn it is tough to come back!!

However.... in the interests of balance, a few further considerations.  First, for most of the past year I couldn't have done a 10K race at all - at times I couldn't even have walked it comfortably.  Plus, this was a tough course, lots of climbing and uneven trails, and most definitely not a PB course.

It was also a VERY nice course.  Lovely forest trails and spectacular views across the valley to the hills on the other side.  And great to take part in my first club championship race of the year!  Great atmosphere, good turnout and some excellent results for fellow club members, lots of tasty cake and sandwiches at the post-race spread.  Add to that a whisky glass and a miniature Macallan 10 year old in the goody bag (which, to be honest, would be enough to get me back to this race on their own) and the fact I've lost nearly half a stone over the past 2 months since I was able to pick up my training properly again, and you pretty much have *all* the many reasons why I love running.  So from that point of view, I'm exactly where I want to be.  More of the same, please.

The race winner missed the course record by 5 seconds - bet he's a lot more disappointed than me!

Peter was second male vet

Shery first female vet

Willie 2nd male super vet

The spoils of 'war'

Races in 2010

OK, I know we've got plenty of time before 2010 comes round, and I've still got a marathon to get out the way next weekend (and at least one more race after that in 2009 so I've done enough races to be eligible for my club 'grand prix')... But I can't help trying to plan ahead and decide which races to do next year.

Most of them will inevitably be within an hour or two of Edinburgh, featuring a mixture of favourite races I've run before, ones I've always wanted to do or have been recommended by others, and ones that are just easy and obvious. Plus I'll try to fit in a couple that are a bit further afield so I can coincide with visiting friends and family. Anywhere, heres what I've got to so far:

1 January - Portobello Promathon - my local race, have never managed to do it because of my wife's work, but looks like I might be able to this year

7 February - Watford half-marathon - would have been my local race when I was growing up. So know the area and have wanted to do for a while.

28 February - KB5 - Never managed this race before either. KB stands for Kings Buildings, a campus of Edinburgh University where I used to have a lot of my lectures some years ago...

7 March (tbc) - Lasswade 10 - A favourite local race, one I've done 3 times before. It's hilly and tough but beautiful country lanes and a fantastic post-race feed...

end March - Either the Deerstalker or the Alloa Half - I think these might both end up being on same weekend... I've did the Alloa half last year, and enjoyed it. Deerstalker is down in the Borders, takes place partly in the dark, includes scrambling over bales of hay, and people dress up in tweed. I think I'm edging towards the Deerstalker...!

early April - Dunbar 10K or Kingston breakfast run (16 m) - Dunbar is another beautiful local race which I've only done once before. Kingston would be if I wanted to coordinate with a trip to London to visit friends...

18 April - Edinburgh half-marathon - local and easy. Past experience says it's the worst organised race anywhere. Usually a total shambles. But feel obliged to do it every year anyway in the hope that one year they'll finally get it right!

late May - Balerno Rigg race - usually a Monday night, uphill for 3 miles then downhill for 3 miles. Very nice race I did for first time last year

late May - Black Rock 5 - over in Fife on a Friday evening, you run along sand to a tidal island near Kinghorn. Free pint for all race finishers!

20 June - Seven Hills of Edinburgh - total killer, but everyone raves about this race. I've yet to do it. As you'd guess from the title, you go up each of the seven hills of Edinburgh, including castle hill, calton hill, corstorphine, blackford, arthur's seat, etc. Just short of 20 miles, with hills. Nice!

23 June? - Red Moss Revolution - midweek trail race in Pentland hills near Edinburgh. Total midge-fest but another local favourite...

end July - whatever local race they have on in Stromness shopping week - I'll be in Stromness, Orkney, on holiday anyway and there's usually a town race on that I'll want to do

Random summer hill races - most of the Borders towns have a local town or hill race as part of their annual festival week. They're always cheap, fun, community races.

early August - Haddington half - keep meaning to do this one

late September - Linlithgow 10K - another local(ish) race that I've never managed to do. Will try harder next year!

24 October - Jedburgh half-marathon - down in the Borders, another one that people seem to like that I've never managed to make it to. Gonna try and rectify that next year!

There's bound to be a couple of others, from cross-country schedules that haven't yet been publicised, or from whichever races the club decides on for its championship schedule.

And there will probably be a marathon in there at some point in the year too... more on that in my next post!