RunningCommentary

Mixed Mode Capacity

Just heard about the crash landing at Heathrow. One of those odd pieces of jargon they threw into the report was that Heathrow (as a result of the crash) was working on "mixed mode capacity". Which rather strangely is perhaps an apt description of my running this fine, antipodean summer. I have a whole new fitness regime now, of which running is just one part. And I have to say I'm enjoying it a whole lot more because of that. My only goal now is to finally, definitely, undeniably lose the flab that haunts my belly region, and to improve my upper body strength.

Sorry, my only two goals now are to finally, definitely etc. lose flab, and gain upper body strength. And I should add I guess, to run another half marathon at some stage this year... OK, OK, that's five goals ... (three Sire!) ... three goals, yes. Three goals.

(Deep breath). So, here we go again. Another wonderful Australian summer, and another crack at the old belly fat. I've never really had that much of it, and most people scoff when I even mention it, but it's a reality, and I'm sick of it. I'm not running enough to keep the weight off, but I'm enjoying my current levels of running, so I've added a heap of hill walking and weight training, which is mostly done in front of the telly, where I keep my remote control thumb fit by flicking between the cricket (India currently touring Oz) and the Australian Open tennis (why don't I just get two TVs?)... honestly, I love this time of year. It makes the treadmill seem like my best investment ever. Especially given the weather of late. I've just returned from 4 weeks in Adelaide, where it was hot enough to boil a monkey's bum. At one point we had 5 consecutive days over 40 degrees, including one day of 45 C (113 F). Noodles to say, no running done then, except to the beer fridge of course. I do love the hot weather, but after a few days of those extremes one develops a kind of death wish... anyway I'm back down south now where it's rarely ever really hot, so the running/walking/gym work routine is rather more regular.

Speaking of mixed mode capacity, I'm still perplexed as to the continued co-existence of this blogging thing and the other older forum thingy. It seems I have to read both to catch up with everyone's news, and figure out which one is best to post to...? I guess if no-one replies here, I'll post it on the other one. Life's confusing enough as it is being on the upside down part of the planet (what with all that blood rushing to our heads all the time)...?!?

That's enough for now. All the best to you Almeria runners ... can't wait (dare I say it?) to see the video.

Despedida mis amigos.

Christmas Massage

The new Mid Life Crisis Man sends greetings to hightly steamed viewers around this globular planetoid object we call home.

Much has happened of late, but largely it is has been boringly inconsequential stuff of little interest to those not directly related to me. Others of you however will be at least gratified to know I continue to run, and am substantially injury-free and enjoying my plods. Not only that, but I have liberated myself of stopwatch and spreadsheet and now run without a watch and no longer record my efforts in the computer. To say it has freed me up would be an understatement. In conjunction with this, my son and a friend have finally persuaded me to don the metphorical lycra and enter the precincts of a gym which has much scary looking equipment to entrap myself in and many heavy blunt objects to flog myself with. Truth to tell, it is all quite addictive, and I even have functioning triceps again... or perhaps I should say, at last.

Currently I am spending a month back in my second home town of Adelaide, and doing much of the festive thing, drinking too much wine and exotic beer, and eating many very splendid things. Oddly enough however, the warm climate seems to bring out the active athlete in me and despite the food and grog I am reducing the flab and getting nicely tanned and decently toned. So all is pretty much hunky dory in the life of MLCM at the mo.

As for races, well there are none on the horizon, and my only goal is to keep on enjoying my running. Given the lack of deadlines and logbooks, this is actually easier than before, because I am not forcing myself to run when I don't want to, and I run where I want and at the pace I want, and if I stop for a breather, I do so without one eye on the watch and a concern for split times and average pace per kilometre etc etc. 

So there's a new lease of life in the old bod, and it's good.

I should give my son some credit for this I think. He probably saw the increasing size of my belly and figured the old running lark wasn't sufficient motivation for me anymore, and so he dragged me to the gym and beat me severely about the head with some enormous dumbbells until i saw sense. Well, in fact what happened was that I was so impressed with his motivation and level of fitness that I decided to give it a go myself. And by mixing up the routines, it is not as boring as I had feared.

But I don't think it's a substitute for hitting the roads at that perfect time of day when everything is glorious and you seemingly have the planet to yourself and you feel that you could run forever. I'm not saying I'm converted to being a morning person yet, but when I do get up for those early morning runs, it astonishes me just how glorious the world can seem at those times. Running is still the thing for me.

So, health and sanity is good. I must try and get back here more often. I've been missing you guys.

Have a safe and happy Christmas everyone, and I'll see you all in the New Year.

MLCM.

"Seminal" moment.

I guess you know what I mean by "seminal". One of those rare occasions that are so momentous that you remember where you are and what you were doing when you heard the news... the usual one bandied about is "when you heard that JFK was shot." Well I'm a bit young for that one, but I'll get back to that...

"Seminal" is actually the wrong word and often misused. But I had one of those moments this evening, and two people mentioned it to me as being "seminal" so I guess I'll stick with it, but I know it's wrong, and I don't really want another shellacking from the RC grammar/syntax police, and so... well, anyway. This isn't really flowing very well is it?

Momentous "moments". Yes I had one this evening. Just a little while ago... I guess it's still happening. On a global level, the earliest one I remember is Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon. Other biggies seem to revolve around death - Elvis Presley dying, John Lennon's assassination and Princess Diana's death. But there was also the outbreak of Gulf War I (I still the have the email  I received at work [yes, we did have email way back then] telling me to switch to "war mode") - which I guess also concerns death, and of course the World Trade Centre attacks, which had a helluva lot to do with death.

On a more local level here we certainly have to include 1974 when a phosphate ship rammed the local bridge and divided the city; while a little earlier there were the 1967 bush fires that killed 64 people, and more recently, the Martin Bryant shooting of 72 people (killing 35 of them) at Port Arthur in 1996... and, well that's about it really, until tonight. Hobart is Australia's second oldest city, and yet still only has a population of 200,000. Perhaps because of that it has managed to retain much of its heritage, and has a lot of character. Much of it is centred in the CBD, which as I type, is ablaze. This is quite something. The very heart of the city is burning, and here I am fiddling with the keyboard. But there you go - that's life in the 21st century.

But to get back to that "moment". It was just all rather weird. I had spent the day helping a mate move house, and we had heard the news that the city was on fire early in the afternoon. I had to drive through the city this evening to get home, which of course was impossible as the roads were blocked, so I thought "bugger it" - I'd park the car and walk over and have a look at what was going on. I know authorities always issue warnings telling people to keep away from such scenes, but I thought (again) "bugger it" - this is my childhood going up in flames, I bloody well want to see what is going on. And so I did.

The odd thing was, that there were in fact very few people milling around - apparently relatively few people thought "bugger it" like I did, and actually kept away. So I was able to get within half a block of the blaze - nearly enough to feel the heat, and certainly close enough to see the "action", and had I been more determined (and not to mention foolish), could easily have got a lot closer. Instead, I jumped on the mobile phone and described the scene to a few people I thought would appreciate it. And whilst doing so, wandered into the closest pub to the fire - little more than half a block away, and enjoyed the very convivial, and it has to be said (given the circumstances), incredibly surreal atmosphere of the relatively small crowd there. It was like nothing was happening unusual at all. Inside, a few dozen people were drinking beer and listening to a Celtic band playing away in the corner, while outside the street was full of fire engines, police, smoke and heat. The only concession the pub seemed to make to the "seminal" moment was that the usual roaring log fire that toasted the punters sitting near the Guinness and  Caffrey's taps had been extinguished.

And that was my "moment". I shall never forget sitting in the front bar of that pub, sipping on a Boags English Ale, while just outside the front window, the city burned, and remains burning, as I type.

I suppose it doesn't really rank alongside John Lennon or the WTC, except that I was there for this one, and so it does.

Life's weird like that.

If I can find a photo, I'll post it a little later.  Here's an early media pic  --->

I feel the need for Pink Floyd ....

And some video for the pyromaniacs out there... Myer Fire Vid

Home again!

Finally back in Hobart and hopefully a return to some routine. Brisbane (pic below) is behind me, and the prospect of moving to tropical Darwin for a few months has faded with an expected "sorry we can't release you" from the boss. Which is only because of bad management rather than me being especially irreplaceable.

So here I sit, surrounded by the detritus of the Brisbane trip and pondering the rapidly shortening span of time between now and race day, and the disaster area that a few weeks ago resembled a reasonable training plan. How I get back on track is something I'm not even going to consider until tomorrow at the earliest. I'm not ashamed to say that the first thing I did when I got back was to hit the pub for a couple of pints of decent beer, when I should have been hitting the treadmill or the beach for a gentle leg loosener.

Oh well. Such is life. Tomorrow the enthusiasm will return.

Probably.

Cricket question.

Managed to catch the end of the England innings in yesterday's game ... amazing! Some of the best batting I've seen from England for ages. Thought I was watching the Aussies bat in blue clothing there for a bit.

My question is: where did these new guys Owais Shah, Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas (five consecutive sixes!) in your lower middle order spring from? They were sensational! I had to get some sleep after the England innings, and was astonished to see India won the game with two balls to spaer - it must have been one helluva match. How SP could be negative about the game after a match like that beggars belief.

This is all very, very good for the game. Well done England and India.

And it bodes well for the 20/20 tournament (although I'm yet to be convinced about the format).

Struth

It has taken me four days and numerous attempts, but here I am. Call me thick if you like, but I just don't understand this new RC blogware. And I definitely don't like it. Far too messy for my liking. But I am slowly sorting it out, so maybe once I get going I will soften to it.

No running of late. First due to sickness and more recently due to work. Have relocated to Brisbane for a few weeks, and this necessitates starting work even earlier, at 4:30 a.m., and I am not a morning person, not by any stretch. So very disrupted sleep patterns have made running too difficult to contemplate, with the result that my training program has gone bye byes. Which is a pity, as the Brisbane weather is perfect for running, with overnight lows of around 15C and a maximum of about 25C. Lovely! Oh well. Soon baby, soon.

That's enough for post #1. We'll see how things sort themselves from here.