The Poisoned Baton

On Saturday we don’t Parkrun as L is still feeling injured although she does go to Pilates. I go to the match in the afternoon.

We stay in later because I have the Notts Christmas multi-looped Half Marathon at Holme Pierrepont on Sunday. Shoot me now. It’s as dull as ditch water but necessary dullness training-wise. L was booked into do it too but she has now passed that particular poisoned baton over to Daughter.

Daughter seems keen (perhaps not quite the right word) to do it, but she says she'll be crap but then she does say that about a lot of things. Instead L runs there, which is a decent stretch. I offered her the Lad’s services but she declined.

The race doesn’t start until 11:30, and I would normally be a fan of such leisurely starts but I’ve got to get a move on afterwards before the dog club’s AGM at 3pm.

The race goes astonishingly well for me in a 'I didn’t know I could do that any more' sort of way. I start off way too fast and then get faster. I start off doing 7:50 miles before accelerating to almost 7:30 miles. This is largely the fault of the two girls who overtake me early on, chatting away as they pass as if it was no effort at all. Naturally I undertake to catch and then pass them again. I am egged on in this venture by my new friend who I shall called ‘Steve’ because that is what it says on the front of his number. This may not be his name because Daughter is running with L's number and therefore under her name. 

‘Steve’ is also trying to catch the girls, most probably for different reasons to me as they are all in their 20s unlike the old codger that is me. Anyhow we pass them and then hope to drop them, well I do but I suspect Steve would like to run with them, but as it turns out dropping them seems impossible anyway as they're just too damn fast.

So aided by a flat course, the novelty of no wind at Holme Pierrepont, lots of nagging from ‘Steve’ and the two ‘passed but not dropped ’ girls constantly breathing down our necks we sprint over the line in 1:41:42. Extraordinary. I ran 1:47:47 here last year. It’s my fastest time since a 1:40:38 at Peterborough in October 2017.

The two girls finish about 30 seconds back and Steve goes off to chat them up while I collapse in an uncivilised heap.

Meanwhile Daughter who got injured the last time she ran at Holme Pierrepont repeats the trick again with her knee stopping her completing it. At least it all means that I’m in plenty of time for my AGM, which goes very well.

L and I head into town later and after four pints in Drafthouse Victoria we go to the Noor Jahan for a curry. We’ve not been here for a while and they’ve done away with the cheap three course menu they used to have. So it’s not as cheap as it was but it’s still a decently priced meal and with an excellent starter’s platter.

(Sunday 1^st December)

Robin Hood Half Marathon

Today I am doing my seventh Robin Hood Half Marathon, L is doing her ninth while Daughter and L’s sister are doing their first.

L also did the Marathon back in 2003 but sadly there is no Marathon at all this year. Yet they are still promoting the races as 'Marathon Events'...

The organisers have admitted that runners found the Marathon route boring and that there were not enough spectators around to cheer them on. Of course this sort of feedback from competitors was meant to spur the organisers on into organising a better Marathon, probably as a standalone event, but instead they have thrown the towel in. So no Marathon this year which must leave Nottingham in the embarrassing situation of being the largest UK city not to have a Marathon. Hopefully it will be back soon.

What Nottingham does have is a pretty decent half marathon course with a few challenging hills packed into the first three miles followed by the rewarding descent of Derby Road leading on to the remainder of the course which is predominantly flat-ish.

I have to be pleased with my time of 1:44:22 which is thirty seconds up on last year and my second quickest on this course behind a 1:43 in 2016. My fastest ever Nottingham was an insane 1:36 back in 2010 but that was on a very different course.

L and her sister run together but they are both trailing in Daughter’s wake who runs 2:23 at her first attempt. What’s more she even seems to enjoy it.

I could potentially have been even quicker had it not been for a game of hunt the Father. My Dad was supposed to be watching from Crown Island but could I or anyone else find him? Nope. I did briefly lose contact with the 1:45 pacer while I scoured the bushes for him but I did manage to get back on.

The post-run celebratory pint has to wait a short while as the Lad has his training at 4:30pm.

(Sunday 30th September)

Less Eventful

On the bus today and thankfully a much less eventful trip into work.

Someone has put their first half marathon t-shirt from 2005 on Facebook and L immediately dismisses him as a lightweight. Hers was the Robin Hood Half in 1998 although I don’t think it was even known as the Robin Hood back then and not that she has a t-shirt for it because they’ve only just started giving them out.

I’m more interested in whether he still wears it. I still wear my first half marathon t-shirt which was from Sleaford in 2010.

Tonight I’m out with my old school friends in Derby, hence the bus. After a few drinks in the Brunswick, we head to steak night at the Babington Arms. Only really because the Brunswick doesn’t do food on a Tuesday.

Back home, I am greeted by the dogs complete with flecks of white paint in Doggo’s case. L must have restarted the decorating project. Then I join her in a couple of whiskies which I assume are for medicinal purposes not that my dentist would approve.

(Tuesday 26^th September)

Finally Doing The Turkey Trot

It’s a relaxed 10:30am start for today’s Turkey Trot Half Marathon. L thinks I’m probably a little too relaxed.

The only problem with the 10:30am start is that it means I’ve had to choose between the run and Derby v Forest which kicks off at noon. Obviously it didn’t kick off at noon when I booked the race but that’s Sky TV for you. The run wins though, as I’ve been waiting for years to get an entry in to this sold out race.

The start is at the South Wolds School in Keyworth where they have t-shirts for sale with everyone’s name on the back. Which is a cunning ploy and obviously I have to have one. I assume that means there isn’t one at the finish but apparently they have different mementos each year.

The course is a big loop through what I believe is known as the South Nottinghamshire Wolds taking in the villages of Wysall, Willoughby-on-the-Wolds and Widmerpool with a few undulations on the way.

The biggest undulation is the one at three miles just before Wysall, the rest is pleasantly teasing and I enjoy the terrain. Obviously it’s not going to be a fast course but I’m still a little disappointed with my time of 1:46 but then I haven’t done any training other than a few parkruns. I'm probably more annoyed with it because the race seems to have pulled a very fast field.

This year’s memento turns out to be a medal, trust me to pick this year. Then it’s mince pies and a cuppa before being reunited with my loyal supporters, L and the boys.

My brother enjoys my match ticket as Derby defeat Forest 3-0.

In the evening we were due to visit Son in Leamington but he’s in bed ill so we decide to do a film and a pint instead. I’m picking the film though. Even L seems fed up with her own choices although they have all been talking points. So after some food a Broadway and two pints of Centurion it’s Snowden.

Snowden tells the story of the events that led Edward Snowden to becoming one of the most wanted men in the world.

Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was a computer expert who got his dream job with the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). As a strong believer in his country it was the perfect job for him, helping to track the spies and terrorists that wish to cause damage to this country.

The film tracks his rise through the ranks of the intelligence community from his military service, his stationing in Geneva and Japan, then finally his employment with the NSA (National Security Agency) in Hawaii. Where they have a facility that is right out of any James Bond film.

At first he loves he job but then his conscience started bothering him when he discovers that besides spying on other countries and terrorist organizations around the world, the government also has a massive espionage network in place in the USA itself. In fact twice as much data is being taken from the USA as it is from Russia.

What's mind-blowing is the sheer scope of everything the surveillance program comprised. How the NSA can link up computer to computer and therefore person to person using all their available technological devices. If you believe it, and this film is telling you believe it, then it is chilling. So do what Snowden does and always put a sticking plaster over your laptop’s webcam when you’re having sex with your girlfriend.

 

His girlfriend is Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley) and she is alongside him all the way, being shunted all around the world, yet she has little idea what he is up to most of the time and naturally he can’t tell her.

She stays impressively by his side throughout even he downloads evidence of the surveillance program and flies to Hong Kong with it. It is from a hotel there that much of the story is told in flashbacks as he reveals all to documentary filmmaker Laura Poitros (Melissa Leo) and journalists Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewan MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) of The Guardian.

When they publish his revelations he has to go on the run and winds up at Moscow International Airport, where he becomes a fugitive charged under the Espionage Act for revealing classified information. The government and the media initially portrayed him as a spy but as everyone took in the information he had revealed public opinion generally swung behind him but the government’s stance remains the same and he remains in Russia, although not at the airport, to this day.

It’s a very well made film, informative and riveting which keeps you engaged and more importantly gets you thinking. It’s also well acted and well directed by Oliver Stone, a man well known for his critiques of the American government. Consequently the film perhaps does try a little too hard to paint Snowden as a hero but then, perhaps he was.

We dissect the film afterwards in the Lord Roberts.

(Sunday 11^th December)

A Dodgy Crystal Ball

Great Run email me to tell me that they want to see me on the Great Manchester Half Marathon start line next May. They say that no crystal ball is needed and, based on my 10k time, they have calculated that my predicted half marathon finishing time could be 01:33:12. Lol. That's some dodgy crystal ball they have.

I mean, how the hell have they worked that out? My most recent 10k time was Sheffield and that was 44:55, not that quick and it wasn’t a Great Run race anyway. So how would they know? They may be harping back to my Manchester 10k time of 41:37 but that was in 2011. I don’t think I’ve done a Great Run 10k since.

Dog training is cold, foggy and icy but great fun. If you're a dog.

L says that if she hasn't done any painting when I get home then I am to refuse all rights to the fresh crusty loaf. That's not a problem.

Although I am somewhat surprised to find that she has painted the wrong room. This is just my opinion obviously but I didn’t think there was much wrong with the front bedroom unlike the back bedroom which is in dire need of attention. 

However, L does like setting herself a tight deadline and this is to spruce the room up for our guest over the festive season. Although this is only Daughter...

(Monday 5^th December)