How not to catch a 7:30 flight...

Stage 1. Instead of making good use of your afternoon to get to Stansted nice and early, potter around the Tate Modern gallery until about 4 o'clock.

Stage 2. Now start working out how to get back to Kensington High Street.

Stage 3. Arrive in Kensington but instead of rushing back to hotel dither around looking for that ice cream that suddenly seems so important.

Stage 4. Give up on ice cream quest and settle for some sort of milkshake thingy from Cafe Nero.

Stage 5. NOW wander down to hotel & wait for ages for luggage to be retrieved from some subterranean vault.

Stage 6. Return to Tube station and find that mysteriously, the trains are packed with commuters.

Stage 7. Seriously begin to panic as train crawls around the circle line stopping mid-tunnel frequently.

Stage 8. Reach Liverpool street in a flap and run to Stansted Express. Get on train and realise that it's one of the "slow" ones that stops several times on the way.

Stage 9. Check timetable and realise that you're going to miss the cutoff time to check in baggage.

Stage 10. Repack four bags into two bags discarding cloths, sandals, computer bag, books and other sundry items. Wear raincoat and fill pockets with books, cameras and other junk. All this done on a crowded train with standing room only for extra pleasure. ;-)

Stage 11. Reach Stansted and race across concourse to security, packing make-up etc. into plastic bag on the way. Stuff rucksac and computer bag into bin on way to security and hope that my dirty underwear and other sundry items don't precipitate a terrorist alert. Hold breath whilst going through security and pray that luggage doesn't get weighed. (At this point we got lucky)

Stage 12. Remember that you didn't remove nail scissors & file as luggage goes through x-ray scanner.

Stage 13. Breathe huge sigh of relief as scanning technician ignores said items.

Stage 14. Grab bags and run hell for leather through the departure lounge where the screens are reading "Final call" for your flight at some god-forsaken gate that you swear must be the furthest one they could find from the lounge.

Stage 15. Reach gate 45 in a puddle of sweat (remember that I'm wearing my rain coat) with just a few minutes to spare.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PHEW! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

To cap it all, on arrival at Prestwick, couldn't get out of car park as no one was answering the intercom to take our booking code.

I'm sure that there's got to be a less stressful way to travel!

Square peg, round hole?

Now that I'm back to running again, I'm wondering if perhaps I haven't been trying to be something I'm not. Namely, am I trying to be an ultra runner when what I really enjoy is sprinting.

Maybe I was genetically endowed with more fast-twitch than slow-twitch fibers but for whatever reason, I have always enjoyed those moments when you get up on your toes, work your arms and feel the surge of muscle, bone & heart that is as near to the imagined joy of flying that I can attain.

Today I was taking my new Vibram Five Finger (VFF) shoes for their first spin and as we were in London in Kensington, that meant running around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Well, after a slow warm up (my back still hurts like b*ggery for the first couple of miles but it does gradually ease off) Muriel and I were running alongside a cycle path and I just couldn't resist giving chase. If I was a dog I would have been woofing and barking excitedly and indeed I think I did rather upset a couple of of cyclists but, Oh, the joy of it! I feel the need for speed! ;-)

Now I've always assumed that all runners feel the same as me about sprinting so I'd be interested in any feedback on this point but I'm beginning to suspect that not everyone feels the same as me.

Anyhow, I'm not going to give up on my ultra-running aspirations but perhaps I should think more about track work? Who knows?

Speaking of VFFs, having experimented with barefoot running in my pre-sciatica days, I was delighted to note how quickly I returned to my barefoot running style. I'm now very aware of how much what you wear affects the way that you run but having had some barefoot experience I was aware that the VFFs seemed to encourage a barefoot style without the disadvantages of being actually barefoot. Maybe they'll just be a transition stage for me to a return to full barefoot running but I do now feel that I can recommend them to folk looking to adopt a more "natural" running style.

Lots of other stuff happened down in London (stuff for another blog posting) but highlights were meeting up with The Pirate and Lee and seeing the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Everybody ought to hear "Teenage Dirtbag" on Ukulele before they die. ;-)

6.2 mile trail run. 52 minutes

In my dreams!

That's the kind of time I used to run this local hilly loop in but not any more. It took me 74 minutes of plodding to get around this loop today but at least I did get around without walking. The thing is, before I started, my back was pain free, I was feeling good, and I was so delusional I really did think I could have a "good" run around this loop.

The moment I started running the familiar ache was back but with possibly misplaced confidence that it would settle down, I plugged on taking teeny weeny steps and generally taking it very easy. Sure enough, within a mile or so it started easing off to "blunt screwdriver" level and by 3 miles it was down to a distracting discomfort. None of it nice but miles better than the pain that I've been having in the past that always brought me to grinding halt, on the verge of weepiing tears of frustration.

The last 2 miles were relatively "easy" and I even managed a bit of a sprint to finish off with. I'm really beginning to believe that I *will* go to the ball next year. ;-)

Today my legs ache - and it feels wonderful

I've not blogged in ages as this was meant to be a running blog and there's been damn little of that for months & months. It's been very depressing and I saw little reason to repeatedly tell the world that my back still aches and I still couldn't run.

I have been trying the occasional run but the pain has always turned any attempt to run in to a stop/start affair that's been about as much fun as toothache.

Last night however Muriel and I set out on one of our short loops (about 3 miles) and I found that the pain seemed to be plateauing at a tolerable level and I was able to run continuously. After one particular steepish downhill bit, I found that I had no pain whatsoever. I suppose a sensible person would have just savoured the moment but after months of pain that was all I needed as an excuse to open the throttle and let rip for a couple of hundred meters. A pathetically short stretch of pain free running in the big scheme of things but oh, it felt so good!

So today, my legs are aching. Not due to any problem with my back but through unaccustomed exercise and it feels great.

Fingers crossed this marks the turnaround point for my return to running. Woo hoo!!