On the eve of my 12th wedding anniversary I've decided to go all 'non running' on you and tell you a bit about how Lisa and I ended up together. No idea why you'd be interested in any of this but we were reminiscing a bit today and i thought it would be quite amusing to put some of our story into the blogosphere. So if you want a Twilight recap (I came a strong but distant 2nd behind Compton in 16:09) ignore the rest of this post and go elsewhere!
On Friday March 12th 1998 I had finished another week at the PricewaterhouseCoopers mill and headed out for the usual night on the town with my flatmates- a few pre-game beers and some pints and clubbing in Chelsea. Staggered home about 4am, grabbed an hour's sleep, quick shower and out across London hungover on the Tube to Stansted Airport to meet up with some work colleagues for a 'bonding' trip to Dublin.
I had only decided to go right at the last minute. I couldn't really afford it but a previous girlfriend I had dated while I was on my year abroad in College and who I was completely besotted with lived in Dublin and we had arranged to meet up if I came over. Sure, she was going to be with her boyfriend but screw it I wanted to see her!
A quick flight to Dublin, drop our bags off at the Youth Hostel we were staying at and straight to the nearest bar in Temple Bar. Man U were playing Arsenal in a championship decider at Old Trafford so the Guinness was soon being thrown back. A late winner by Marc Overmars for Arsenal made me thoroughly depressed and more Guinness seemed the appropriate response. My friends all disappeared off to do a bit of sightseeing, I stayed at the Bar and spent the afternoon with the 'love of my life' and her boyfriend who was an annoyingly good bloke.
Fast forward a few hours and I was in another pub, back with my mates now. I got another round from the bar and stumbled and spilt the lot on the way back to our table. Apparently an American girl called Lisa had watched all this ridiculous scene and thought I was cute (she must have had a thing for embarrassingly drunk Englishmen). Two hours later we happened to be in the same Night Club and her buddy came over to chat me up. As I was unable to converse at this point she soon gave up on me but somehow her friend (Lisa) managed to engage me in conversation, telling me about how much she loved the Verve and Radiohead. Finding something in common must have sobered me up a bit and we got chatting. I thought she looked like the lead singer from Republica, cute!
By the end of the evening I had ascertained that Lisa was also on a weekend jaunt with friends and that she currently lived in London working as a Nanny for a rich American family in Kensington. Numbers were swapped and we said we'd meet up the following weekend. By the time I'd got back to London of course I'd lost the piece of paper with the number on. Oh well, that's a shame, she'd seemed really nice but plenty more fish in the sea, etc. etc. Much to my surprise I got a phone call on Wednesday night (an English girl would NEVER call!) and we arranged to meet in a pub at the end of her road on Saturday night.
She only lived a couple of miles away (so I thought) so I decided I'd walk. Of course I'd misjudged the distance and ended up having to run for about a mile to make it in time. This was pre 'running days' so I was gassed when I got to the pub but at least I was 5 minutes early. Lisa had apparently been watching for me from her house so her first post Dublin sighting of me was me bent double outside the pub trying to get my breath back. I went into the pub praying she'd be a little late as I couldn't really remember what she looked like so I wanted to find a table near the door where I could sit and watch people as they came in. Five minutes later Lisa walked in and I vaguely recognised her! We had a good laugh that night, went to watch 'Good Will Hunting' together the next day and that was that!
Within 6 months I'd moved out of my bachelor pad and we'd moved in together in a dingy flat in Battersea. In January 1999, romantic as ever, I popped the question kneeling in front of her in our kitchen, slipped my $500 Argos (think Sears) solitaire ring on her finger and May 15th we got hitched at Wandsworth Registry Office! We had booked our honeymoon to Turkey but Lisa's passport didn't get sorted on time so we had to cancel that and ended up honeymooning on Jersey, a small British island situated just off the North coast of France. Twelve years later and here we are, two beautiful daughters and a new life in Charlotte. What a lucky chap I am!!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Another weekend, another 5k race
It's that time of year again! This week it is the turn of the Twilight 5k, third race in the RFYL Grand Prix series, with the twist of it being held on a Friday evening rather than Saturday morning.
I'm excited to race, there's always an extra buzz for the GP races and the fact that it's held on a Friday night uptown adds to the occasion too. The course itself is tough and that combined with the usually oppressive heat and humidity means that people generally run 10-20 seconds slower here than they do at Skyline which we ran two weeks ago. The first two miles are flat and potentially fast but then you start climbing with about a mile to go and there's no real let up until the finish. For some reason the wind always seems to pick up around the football stadium too so the last mile becomes one hard slog to the finish. If you are going to get photographed in this race make sure it is during the first two miles!
I have a mixed relationship with this race. The first time I ran it I had a storming race in 16:02 which was actually faster than I had run at Skyline the previous week. Since then my times have progressively gotten slower though, culminating in last year's chastening 16:43 during which I honestly thought I was walking towards the end. On the plus side, however, I do have fond memories of the 2008 race, when I ran 16:20 and garnered my one and only Grand Prix race victory to date.
I won't reveal my tacics for this year's race in this forum but suffice to say I don't plan to go through two miles in 10:34 like I did last year!
I'm actually coming off the back of a pretty awful workout the other night when I did some 200s on the track but the heat and humidity was getting to me and I felt very sluggish. That heat and humidity isn't going to go anywhere so I'd best man up and get on with it, starting tomorrow night hopefully!
Good luck to any readers who will be out there tomorrow night and I'll see you after the race!
I'm excited to race, there's always an extra buzz for the GP races and the fact that it's held on a Friday night uptown adds to the occasion too. The course itself is tough and that combined with the usually oppressive heat and humidity means that people generally run 10-20 seconds slower here than they do at Skyline which we ran two weeks ago. The first two miles are flat and potentially fast but then you start climbing with about a mile to go and there's no real let up until the finish. For some reason the wind always seems to pick up around the football stadium too so the last mile becomes one hard slog to the finish. If you are going to get photographed in this race make sure it is during the first two miles!
I have a mixed relationship with this race. The first time I ran it I had a storming race in 16:02 which was actually faster than I had run at Skyline the previous week. Since then my times have progressively gotten slower though, culminating in last year's chastening 16:43 during which I honestly thought I was walking towards the end. On the plus side, however, I do have fond memories of the 2008 race, when I ran 16:20 and garnered my one and only Grand Prix race victory to date.
I won't reveal my tacics for this year's race in this forum but suffice to say I don't plan to go through two miles in 10:34 like I did last year!
I'm actually coming off the back of a pretty awful workout the other night when I did some 200s on the track but the heat and humidity was getting to me and I felt very sluggish. That heat and humidity isn't going to go anywhere so I'd best man up and get on with it, starting tomorrow night hopefully!
Good luck to any readers who will be out there tomorrow night and I'll see you after the race!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Week in review
M- 5 easy
T- 7 easy am/11 including 800/1000s on track pm
W- 5 easy
T- 6 easy
F- 13 including 8 progressive tempo am/massage pm
S- 5 easy
Su- 12.5 including 5k race in 16:13
Total 64 on 8 runs
Happy with the week and looking forward to no run tomorrow and another big race uptown on Friday night
T- 7 easy am/11 including 800/1000s on track pm
W- 5 easy
T- 6 easy
F- 13 including 8 progressive tempo am/massage pm
S- 5 easy
Su- 12.5 including 5k race in 16:13
Total 64 on 8 runs
Happy with the week and looking forward to no run tomorrow and another big race uptown on Friday night
Happy Dad's Day!
I've had worse days! Before I go any further I do want to stress that knowing that I would be racing today and then watching the Man U Chelsea game we celebrated Mothers Day yesterday so don't worry Lisa had a nice weekend!
Today started with victory in the Falafel 5k by a full three minutes. I jogged to the start for my warm up, ran a controlled 16:14 (Garmin measured 3.06 but who's counting?), jogged another circuit for my warm down, almost missed the awards as they held them early, picked up my $50 Omega Sports voucher and 4 free cupcakes from Polka Dot and jogged home. I really enjoyed the race and it was neat running on roads that I run on practically daily. The course was rolling but fair and the event very well organized. I hope this is one that stays on the calendar and I can try and defend my crown next year!
Then it was home to watch Utd despatch of Chelsea handily and virtually clinch the league title.
A happy day indeed...
Friday, May 6, 2011
Taking advantage of the temps...and a training partner returns
This week has been pretty solid so far capped today by a decent progressive tempo effort. We had a sudden fall in temps after some storms passed through earlier this week so Wednesday morning I even had to root through my Fall running gear and grab a long sleeve shirt to wear!
This morning I rose bright and early to meet up with a fast crew (Spada, Jay, Alex, Billy and Mike B) with tempo runs on the agenda. Billy had 40 minutes at about 6 minute pace on tap, so Steve and Mike joined him, Jay was looking to do 8 miles progression, starting in the 6s and finishing in the 5s. I chose this one!
As alluded to above it was a perfect morning for a run. It was crisp and dry and just about warm enough that I could get away with running shirtless. We rolled up to the (in)famous Lansdowne loop and immediately got to work. Billy, Spada and Mike settled straight into 6 minute pace, while Jay, Alex and I dawdled about 20 seconds off the pace just trying to find an early groove that we could cut down from.
Now it must be mentioned here that Jay is only just back doing workouts after an arduous winter of injury woes. I was able to help him back on his first track workout this year on Tuesday night and now we were tempoing together. Great to have him back!
I eventually covered the 8 miles in 46:48. That's an average of 5:51 miling and given that we didn't dip under 6 minute pace until the 4th mile definitely one of my better workouts! Normally when I try a progressive run I go out too fast leaving myself too tough a base to speed up from but today we nailed it pretty much perfectly. The progression was 6:22, 6:13, 6:02, 5:49, 5:46, 5:42, 5:28, 5:26 and the 4 mile splits were 24:26/22:22. Given that the second 4 miles were definitely a net uphill and that I was wearing trainers rather than flats I'll take this!
Next up I am entered into a small local 5k on Sunday that I plan to run as a hard effort and hopefully not need anything more than that. I couldn't pass it up as a) it is local and I can run to the start for my warm up and b) my Company continue to reimburse us $25 for any running races we enter so it's free!
I am looking forward to getting a massage tonight. First one in ages. It is something I would love to have more of in my schedule but unfortunately they are not cheap!! Hopefully I can get some kinks knocked out. My left calf and achilles are a bit sore right now and my glutes on the other side are not liking me at the moment. Nothing much to worry about I hope, just getting old and a good reminder to keep on top of my exercises, self massage and stretching!
Looking forward to the weekend, helping Lisa relax and get spoiled on Mothers Day and also the huge match when Man U take on Chelsea on Sunday am in what will effectively be the League decider. I'm confident....
This morning I rose bright and early to meet up with a fast crew (Spada, Jay, Alex, Billy and Mike B) with tempo runs on the agenda. Billy had 40 minutes at about 6 minute pace on tap, so Steve and Mike joined him, Jay was looking to do 8 miles progression, starting in the 6s and finishing in the 5s. I chose this one!
As alluded to above it was a perfect morning for a run. It was crisp and dry and just about warm enough that I could get away with running shirtless. We rolled up to the (in)famous Lansdowne loop and immediately got to work. Billy, Spada and Mike settled straight into 6 minute pace, while Jay, Alex and I dawdled about 20 seconds off the pace just trying to find an early groove that we could cut down from.
Now it must be mentioned here that Jay is only just back doing workouts after an arduous winter of injury woes. I was able to help him back on his first track workout this year on Tuesday night and now we were tempoing together. Great to have him back!
I eventually covered the 8 miles in 46:48. That's an average of 5:51 miling and given that we didn't dip under 6 minute pace until the 4th mile definitely one of my better workouts! Normally when I try a progressive run I go out too fast leaving myself too tough a base to speed up from but today we nailed it pretty much perfectly. The progression was 6:22, 6:13, 6:02, 5:49, 5:46, 5:42, 5:28, 5:26 and the 4 mile splits were 24:26/22:22. Given that the second 4 miles were definitely a net uphill and that I was wearing trainers rather than flats I'll take this!
Next up I am entered into a small local 5k on Sunday that I plan to run as a hard effort and hopefully not need anything more than that. I couldn't pass it up as a) it is local and I can run to the start for my warm up and b) my Company continue to reimburse us $25 for any running races we enter so it's free!
I am looking forward to getting a massage tonight. First one in ages. It is something I would love to have more of in my schedule but unfortunately they are not cheap!! Hopefully I can get some kinks knocked out. My left calf and achilles are a bit sore right now and my glutes on the other side are not liking me at the moment. Nothing much to worry about I hope, just getting old and a good reminder to keep on top of my exercises, self massage and stretching!
Looking forward to the weekend, helping Lisa relax and get spoiled on Mothers Day and also the huge match when Man U take on Chelsea on Sunday am in what will effectively be the League decider. I'm confident....
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Week in review
M- off
T- 7m am/5m plus 5*1200 pm
W- 6m
T- 9m (strides)
F- 4.25m (strides)
S- 5m plus 5k race in 15:53 am/5.1m shakeout pm
Su- 8.1m recovery run
Total- 56 miles on 8 runs, 1 race, 1 workout
T- 7m am/5m plus 5*1200 pm
W- 6m
T- 9m (strides)
F- 4.25m (strides)
S- 5m plus 5k race in 15:53 am/5.1m shakeout pm
Su- 8.1m recovery run
Total- 56 miles on 8 runs, 1 race, 1 workout
Skyline Run 5k
So, shortly after my post the other day expressing my hope that a few notable absentees was going to make my quest to notch another Skyline print all the more manageable, Ben posts a status update on Facebook announcing the creation of a team of him, Bob Marchinko and Brad Popple for the race. Now this made things interesting as I fully expected all three had a shot at running sub 16. Given that my combined record against Bob and Ben is probably somewhere around 48-2 in their favour, a top three finish was now certainly going to have to be earned.
The day before the race I thought about the set up of the course, the competition I was going to be facing and the favourable weather conditions in the forecast and came up with my tactics for the race. The plan was to gun it from the start, take it out hard, try and stamp some authority on the race and hang on for dear life on the last downhill mile. So I did.
As soon as the gun went off I hit the front as we headed up the hill towards 7th Street. My tactics had made an immediate impact as Bob shouted after me "What happened to easing into the race, Paul?!" I think my early injection of pace had thrown them off guard a little.
Right on 7th and the long drag up towards the mile mark and beyond. I hit the mile in 5:09. I could hear someone close behind but didn't want to look over my shoulder and see who it was. I had fully expected more people to be right there but it appeared I only had one close pursuer at thi point.
Just past the halfway point I discovered that the pursuer was Bob as he pulled alongside me. The old Paul may have taken his foot off the gas at this point and settled in to try and keep 2nd place but not today. I actually put in another little surge and created a gap again. We hit the 2 mile in 10:16 and had 'just' the downhill mile to come. Some quick math in the head and a sub 16 definitely looked a possibility. As we turned on to the last 500m descent to the finish I could hear Bob catching me and lo and behold he soon came past me. I tried to respond but was pretty much all out already and he soon had a five yard gap which he kept through to the finish.
So 2nd and 15:53, fully 29 seconds faster than I ran this race last year and a very satisfactory performance. Obviously I was pleased to get the top three finish but the most pleasing aspect of the race was how I executed the race. I was far more aggressive and less passive than usual and it worked- definitely food for thought for future races.
Oh and I'm now leading the Grand Prix standings haha!
The day before the race I thought about the set up of the course, the competition I was going to be facing and the favourable weather conditions in the forecast and came up with my tactics for the race. The plan was to gun it from the start, take it out hard, try and stamp some authority on the race and hang on for dear life on the last downhill mile. So I did.
As soon as the gun went off I hit the front as we headed up the hill towards 7th Street. My tactics had made an immediate impact as Bob shouted after me "What happened to easing into the race, Paul?!" I think my early injection of pace had thrown them off guard a little.
Right on 7th and the long drag up towards the mile mark and beyond. I hit the mile in 5:09. I could hear someone close behind but didn't want to look over my shoulder and see who it was. I had fully expected more people to be right there but it appeared I only had one close pursuer at thi point.
Just past the halfway point I discovered that the pursuer was Bob as he pulled alongside me. The old Paul may have taken his foot off the gas at this point and settled in to try and keep 2nd place but not today. I actually put in another little surge and created a gap again. We hit the 2 mile in 10:16 and had 'just' the downhill mile to come. Some quick math in the head and a sub 16 definitely looked a possibility. As we turned on to the last 500m descent to the finish I could hear Bob catching me and lo and behold he soon came past me. I tried to respond but was pretty much all out already and he soon had a five yard gap which he kept through to the finish.
So 2nd and 15:53, fully 29 seconds faster than I ran this race last year and a very satisfactory performance. Obviously I was pleased to get the top three finish but the most pleasing aspect of the race was how I executed the race. I was far more aggressive and less passive than usual and it worked- definitely food for thought for future races.
Oh and I'm now leading the Grand Prix standings haha!
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