As I write this it is 30th December - Hogmanay eve - and if ever there was an appropriate time to look back at the year this is probably it. In running terms it was a fairly decent year for me, spoiled by an injury which greatly reduced my running in the last quarter of the year. The fact that the injury is still raw in my mind leaves me with a sense that the year as a whole was a bit of a disaster but on reflection this is unfair and does not reflect the positives that happened prior to October.
First of all, the stats. With a day and a half of the year still to go, I've run 1,616 miles and covered more than 7,000,000 steps. This is the first year I've kept a note on my steps - last year's Christmas present, a Garmin 235, does it for me automatically - and it works out at an average of more than 19,000 a day. I try and walk to and from work most days, which is about a 5 mile round trip and adds around 10,000 steps a day. The walking complements my running well, I think, and helps provide a decent base.
I have completed 21 races. This was made up of 3 ultramarathons (South Downs Way 50, Cateran 55 and Cumbria Way 30), a very enjoyable trail marathon (Mhor), two half marathons (Scottish and Great Scottish, somewhat confusingly), one 10k (a return to my old school town of Paisley), eight 5ks (mostly parkruns) and 6 other races. The other races included a very enjoyable Edinburgh race called Scurry to the Sea, where we ran to the top of one of the peaks in the Pentlands and then down to the finish at Musselburgh beach, trashing my quads for a full week afterwards. It also included the first National Cross Country championships where I was lapped, with Adam Craig being the first athlete to take that honour. I doubt he will be the last, although next year I plan to prepare better, and not spend the week before partying on a cruise. The award for my own 'performance of the year' goes to my 3 hours 49 minutes Mhor Marathon, with my two 1.37 half marathons are also being worth a mention, even though the combination of these halfs and a 30 mile ultra in successive weeks broke me. The expression 'do what I say and not as I do' is one of which I intend to take note in 2020. Another is 'don't be a silly fool and race three weeks in a row, as your ageing body can't cope with it any more'.
On the subject of giving advice, I have coached a number of senior endurance athletes over the year and it has been great to see them achieve PBs and other excellent results. I coach at the Harmeny AC sessions each Tuesday night at the Meadows which is a lot of fun, with a great camaraderie amongst the group.
I continue to be pleased at the progress being made by Scottish Athletics. It was another good year on all counts: our top athletes continue to perform well - three Scottish athletes making the final of the world championship 1,500m in Doha was a huge achievement, as were the performances of Callum Hawkins in the marathon and Laura Muir (coming back from injury) in the 1,500m, along with many others. Callum taking the lead in the World Championship marathon was one of my favourite moments of the year; for about a minute I really believed we were going to have a Scottish world champion. Our para athletes brought medals back from Dubai. Our club scene continues to prosper, and some of the big club events like the national cross country championships were superb examples of what athletics in Scotland is all about. It is nice to be part of a sport where everyone involved - athletes, coaches, officials, other club volunteers, board, staff - are all working so well together to help move athletics forward. I've said it in various interviews and I'll say it again: a huge thank you to everyone involved for all the hard work put in, and for the way everyone is working together for the benefit of athletics as a whole. Scottish Athletics won the governing body of the year award again in 2019 - the third time we have won it in the last four years - and everyone in the sport should take great pride at this.
Away from running and athletics, 2019 was a year of weddings, big birthdays and holidays. We attended three weddings this year: Stephen and Gillian in the Dominican Republic in May (and their second, home version in Edinburgh in June); Dave and Lee in Killearn in June; and Paddy and Emma in Dunkeld in October. Congratulations to the happy brides, grooms and families; all of the weddings were fantastic, memorable days. It was Sandra's 50th birthday in February (hard to believe, I know), which we celebrated in style with a cruise round the Canaries, Madiera and North Africa, accompanied by Stephen and Gillian, Colin, Jemima, Liz and Carol. Last week it was my Dad's 80th birthday, which we celebrated by going to Killin for a lovely weekend just before Christmas. On top of the holidays already mentioned, Sandra and I had a week of relaxation in Ibiza, just after the West Highland Way Race in June, although somewhat unfortunately I had hurt my shoulder and found it difficult to relax. We then headed out to Chamonix in August and had a lovely week watching the UTMB races, walking and running on the stunning mountain trails, and catching up with a number of our running friends.
On the political front, 2019 will be remembered as the year UK politics reached a new low. Telling the truth became an unusual and slightly quaint course of action for any politician or political party, as the politics of spin and lies took over. Respect for other points of view disappeared. Brexit hardened opinions on both sides with a lot of unacceptable behaviour being seen both inside and outside the Houses of Parliament. Westminster politics remained in stalemate for most of the year, until a crushing Conservative victory in December's general election means we are heading for an early 2020 exit from the EU. Goodness knows what else is ahead, but it is fair to say that I, and many others, are not optimistic about the state of the UK. All of this turmoil does of course present a great opportunity for Scotland, and the Scottish people, to recognise that we don't have to be part of this, and can do things better ourselves. 2020 certainly promises to be an interesting year in that regard.
2019 not only marks the end of the year, but the end of the decade. It has been an interesting one. Sandra and I have just spent our 10th Christmas together which seems hard to believe; the time has passed in the blink of an eye. Maybe that's another indication that we're getting old.
As I sign off, may I take this opportunity to wish all my readers the very best for a successful and happy 2020. I hope it is a good one for us all.
Monday 30 December 2019
Monday 18 November 2019
We're in a blame culture here (and it's your fault...)
Accidents happen, used to be the saying. Not any more, they don't. One of today's society's depressing features is the fact that when something goes wrong nowadays, it has to be someone's fault. And usually, not the person whose fault you would naturally assume. So, for example, we have turned in to a place where hard working and caring social workers are routinely blamed for child protection failures, forgetting that the actual reason the tragedy occurred was an evil individual perpetrating a horrific crime. Money laundering crimes? I know what we should do: let's put all the onus on professionals like lawyers and accountants, and blame them when dirty money finds its way in to the economy. It couldn't possibly be the fault of the person who accumulated their ill gotten gains from criminal activity, could it? That would all be too easy. You've been scammed out of money by cyber criminals, for making a mistake transferring funds while using an unfamiliar online banking device that the bank more or less forced you to use by making it more and more difficult to bank in any other way. That will be your fault too, sorry. Doesn't matter if you're 80 years old, find it difficult to use technology, and didn't understand all those warnings that appeared when you started the transaction. It won't be covered by your home insurance policy either, because the insurers haven't been forced by legislation to include this as a standard part of your cover. The police probably won't be able to help because it's a financial crime and they don't have sufficient resource to investigate financial crimes.
A few years ago I remember watching President Obama as he addressed the nation after a failed attempt to commit a horrific act of terror on the American people. This attempt had been stopped shortly before a potential bomber stepped on to the plane and I expected Obama to stand up, remind the US people of the need to remain vigilant at a time of extremely high terror alert, and thank his security services for their work in preventing another disaster. Much to my surprise he went down a different route. It was unacceptable that the incident hadn't been stopped earlier, he shouted, banged the table and announced there would be a high level enquiry in to the unacceptable performance of his security services. Really? Had those security people not just saved many lives by their hard work and dedication to the cause? It was a massive error of judgement on his part, in my opinion, and I wonder if he looks back and thinks the same way.
That of course brings me on to Grenfell. This was a terrible tragedy, with many people losing their lives after a fridge went on fire in one of the flats, the fire then spreading quickly through the high rise tower block partly due to the inadequacy of the material used for the outer cladding of the building. Fire fighters from all over London and beyond attended that night, trying to fight one of the most difficult and complex fires they had seen. 72 people died. The inquiry into the fire suggested that the advice given to residents in the tower block to stay in their flats was wrong, and before we knew it news programmes and newspapers were full of stories effectively blaming the London fire brigade for the deaths.
I fully appreciate the need to learn from major disasters, and the role of the public inquiry in facilitating this. The excellent recent safety record in the North Sea oil sector is attributed at least in part to lessons learned from the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. However we live in such a blame culture now that the original, and very important, purpose of those inquiries appears to have been forgotten in a horrible desire to point the finger of blame at our public services, or indeed at anyone else who can be made out as a scapegoat. We are now in a situation where the fire service - yes, I'll say it again, the fire service - are actually being blamed as the cause of the Grenfell fire deaths. It is completely ridiculous. I even heard one high profile campaigner given airtime on national news to suggest that there were racist undertones to decisions made by fire fighters that evening, although this was later retracted. Our media needs to do better than act as the medium for this messaging, but sadly I fear that ship sailed long ago.
I fully appreciate the need to learn from major disasters, and the role of the public inquiry in facilitating this. The excellent recent safety record in the North Sea oil sector is attributed at least in part to lessons learned from the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. However we live in such a blame culture now that the original, and very important, purpose of those inquiries appears to have been forgotten in a horrible desire to point the finger of blame at our public services, or indeed at anyone else who can be made out as a scapegoat. We are now in a situation where the fire service - yes, I'll say it again, the fire service - are actually being blamed as the cause of the Grenfell fire deaths. It is completely ridiculous. I even heard one high profile campaigner given airtime on national news to suggest that there were racist undertones to decisions made by fire fighters that evening, although this was later retracted. Our media needs to do better than act as the medium for this messaging, but sadly I fear that ship sailed long ago.
Monday 11 November 2019
Busy week ahead
As often seems the case on a Monday, I had quite an interrupted night’s sleep and decided to get up before my alarm went off. Not sure why that happens; too much going through my subconscious mind, perhaps? Anyway it means I have a bit of extra time and am using that to write a few words of wisdom, or otherwise, on this blog.
I have a very busy week ahead. It is a busy spell at work anyway - partner appraisal season - and on top of that I have things on every night:
Monday (tonight) - Scottish Athletics board meeting;
Tuesday - regular coaching session at the Meadows;
Wednesday - partnership meeting, which is normally followed by a couple of drinks;
Thursday - weekly visit to the physio, followed by West Highland Way podcast with John K;
Friday - night out with Tuesday night running group and others from my club, Harmeny.
I should make clear that I’m not complaining, as I’d rather be busy. I’m also going to make a serious effort this week to be more careful with what I am eating, as my lack of running is already contributing to a few extra pounds appearing, something I’m not particularly happy with. It’s not the easiest time of year for me to cut back, and will no doubt get even more difficult as we head in to the Christmas party season, but I’ll do the best I can now and have a much more focused effort come the new year.
What else has been happening? Still no running for me; it looks as though this issue is going to take quite a bit of time and I’ll need to be patient with it. Patience is a virtue, I’m told. It was the Lindsays Scottish National Short Course Cross Country Championships (quite a snappy title) at Kirkcaldy on Saturday. As well as the competition at the front of the races - including a win for a Harmeny athlete, Tendai, in the boys’ under 15 race, and bronze medals for the team - I was delighted to see that eight senior women from Harmeny taking part in the 4K race. What a great turnout from them and from all the other clubs who pitched up and battled their way round the muddy course.
On the political front, campaigning has now begun in earnest. The Conservatives have made a dismal start to the campaign with various gaffes from senior politicians. I expect their lead in the polls to reduce as the campaign goes on, much in the way it did at the last election two years ago, as their lack of credibility both as a party and as individual politicians becomes more apparent as they are put under greater scrutiny. I find the Lib Dem messaging opportunistic, and do not take to Jo Swindon’s rather hectoring style at all. In my opinion she is not a Prime Minister in waiting. Despite the massive media campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, he retains strong support (in England at least) from some of the younger voters. It’s a different battle here in Scotland where I expect the SNP to gain seats, but perhaps not as many as some commentators are suggesting. I watched BBC’s Question Time on Thursday night. It took place from Glasgow and felt as though the SNP’s messages were being supported by a significant majority of the audience. Time will tell if that was a bit of a one off, reflecting the fact Glasgow has been a strong SNP area for a number of years, or if it indicated a turning of the tide towards the independence message. I certainly hope it is the latter.
I have a very busy week ahead. It is a busy spell at work anyway - partner appraisal season - and on top of that I have things on every night:
Monday (tonight) - Scottish Athletics board meeting;
Tuesday - regular coaching session at the Meadows;
Wednesday - partnership meeting, which is normally followed by a couple of drinks;
Thursday - weekly visit to the physio, followed by West Highland Way podcast with John K;
Friday - night out with Tuesday night running group and others from my club, Harmeny.
I should make clear that I’m not complaining, as I’d rather be busy. I’m also going to make a serious effort this week to be more careful with what I am eating, as my lack of running is already contributing to a few extra pounds appearing, something I’m not particularly happy with. It’s not the easiest time of year for me to cut back, and will no doubt get even more difficult as we head in to the Christmas party season, but I’ll do the best I can now and have a much more focused effort come the new year.
What else has been happening? Still no running for me; it looks as though this issue is going to take quite a bit of time and I’ll need to be patient with it. Patience is a virtue, I’m told. It was the Lindsays Scottish National Short Course Cross Country Championships (quite a snappy title) at Kirkcaldy on Saturday. As well as the competition at the front of the races - including a win for a Harmeny athlete, Tendai, in the boys’ under 15 race, and bronze medals for the team - I was delighted to see that eight senior women from Harmeny taking part in the 4K race. What a great turnout from them and from all the other clubs who pitched up and battled their way round the muddy course.
On the political front, campaigning has now begun in earnest. The Conservatives have made a dismal start to the campaign with various gaffes from senior politicians. I expect their lead in the polls to reduce as the campaign goes on, much in the way it did at the last election two years ago, as their lack of credibility both as a party and as individual politicians becomes more apparent as they are put under greater scrutiny. I find the Lib Dem messaging opportunistic, and do not take to Jo Swindon’s rather hectoring style at all. In my opinion she is not a Prime Minister in waiting. Despite the massive media campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, he retains strong support (in England at least) from some of the younger voters. It’s a different battle here in Scotland where I expect the SNP to gain seats, but perhaps not as many as some commentators are suggesting. I watched BBC’s Question Time on Thursday night. It took place from Glasgow and felt as though the SNP’s messages were being supported by a significant majority of the audience. Time will tell if that was a bit of a one off, reflecting the fact Glasgow has been a strong SNP area for a number of years, or if it indicated a turning of the tide towards the independence message. I certainly hope it is the latter.
Tuesday 5 November 2019
Injury update
For a few days I've felt I've been making good progress with my injury. I managed to walk 8 miles on Saturday at a decent pace when I was up watch the Glen Ogle ultra, without any issues at all. I stayed away from any temptation to get involved in the country dancing at the after-race party - not a big sacrifice, I can assure you - and I've been doing my exercises religiously. So imagine my excitement yesterday morning when I did the 'raise my leg' test that my physio uses, and found that my left leg could go as high as my right. "I'm back!", I thought to myself, and despite the hideous weather decided to try a wee run at lunchtime.
I was very excited as I got myself ready. It's been about 5 weeks since I've done a proper run, and I've missed it a lot. I didn't mind the rain at all as it soaked me to the skin within seconds of leaving the office, and I headed off at an easy pace in the general direction of the canal.
At first it felt good. I managed half a mile or so, not at any great speed, but then started to feel a bit of tightness on my left calf. This was the area that had been sore the last time I had tried to run, and was not a good sign. However on I continued, running along the road where I fell and broke my shoulder a couple of years ago - how prophetic - but it was clear this tightness was not going away. So I headed back in the general direction of the office and called it a day. Two miles done at no pace at all, and it was sore. Clearly I was not back. My calf remained quite tight throughout the afternoon and evening, not so sore that I couldn't walk on it, but not right. I had probably stopped on time, before doing myself any real damage, but it was clear my self styled fitness test had failed.
I'm back at the physio on Thursday night and know what the message will be: sciatic nerve pain takes a long time to go away, and as soon as the nerves feel under threat the muscles respond negatively as a defence mechanism. I will be told that it will heal, but will take time. And time will require patience. Something of which I am in very short supply at the moment.
I was very excited as I got myself ready. It's been about 5 weeks since I've done a proper run, and I've missed it a lot. I didn't mind the rain at all as it soaked me to the skin within seconds of leaving the office, and I headed off at an easy pace in the general direction of the canal.
At first it felt good. I managed half a mile or so, not at any great speed, but then started to feel a bit of tightness on my left calf. This was the area that had been sore the last time I had tried to run, and was not a good sign. However on I continued, running along the road where I fell and broke my shoulder a couple of years ago - how prophetic - but it was clear this tightness was not going away. So I headed back in the general direction of the office and called it a day. Two miles done at no pace at all, and it was sore. Clearly I was not back. My calf remained quite tight throughout the afternoon and evening, not so sore that I couldn't walk on it, but not right. I had probably stopped on time, before doing myself any real damage, but it was clear my self styled fitness test had failed.
I'm back at the physio on Thursday night and know what the message will be: sciatic nerve pain takes a long time to go away, and as soon as the nerves feel under threat the muscles respond negatively as a defence mechanism. I will be told that it will heal, but will take time. And time will require patience. Something of which I am in very short supply at the moment.
Sunday 3 November 2019
A quick update
It's been an interesting few days.
It has been confirmed that we are having a general election on 12 December. We spent the weekend in and around the beautiful village of Killin, where Sandra was running in the 33 mile Glen Ogle ultramarathon and I was wishing I could be running but was watching instead. England lost the rugby, beaten by a much better South African team on the day. Newcastle United won a Premier League game on Saturday. I was at a charity dinner on Thursday night where I heard one the best speakers I've heard for a long time, Paul Reid, and had a very entertaining long chat with a former Lord Advocate and senior Scottish judge. Rangers announced an £11 million loss and tried to present this as a good thing. Nigel Farage has never been off the television. Andy Maciver presented a wonderfully entertaining seminar in our Edinburgh office on Thursday morning. His thoughts: 60% chance of a hung parliament, 30% a Conservative outright majority, and 10% a Labour outright majority. He also thinks there will be another independence referendum within the next two years. We caught up with a good number of friends from the ultra running world, shared a few beers, and appreciated how lucky we are to have this community in our lives. Entries for the 2020 West Highland Way race opened, it all worked, and after nearly 3 days we already have 210 entries. There are a few interesting things going on with Scottish Athletics, hopefully positive, which will all become clear in due course. I went to the physio on Wednesday, full of hope I'd get the ok to run again, and left disappointed. At least I am able to walk further than before and am sleeping without pain.
It's our fourth wedding anniversary on Wednesday. Partner appraisals have started and will continue until January. The nights continue to arrive earlier each day. I'm back at the physio on Thursday and hoping my improvement has continued. I'll take my running session on Tuesday and will hope for a reasonable turnout. The news will continue to be full of election coverage, which I enjoy. We certainly live in interesting times.
Have a good week everyone.
It has been confirmed that we are having a general election on 12 December. We spent the weekend in and around the beautiful village of Killin, where Sandra was running in the 33 mile Glen Ogle ultramarathon and I was wishing I could be running but was watching instead. England lost the rugby, beaten by a much better South African team on the day. Newcastle United won a Premier League game on Saturday. I was at a charity dinner on Thursday night where I heard one the best speakers I've heard for a long time, Paul Reid, and had a very entertaining long chat with a former Lord Advocate and senior Scottish judge. Rangers announced an £11 million loss and tried to present this as a good thing. Nigel Farage has never been off the television. Andy Maciver presented a wonderfully entertaining seminar in our Edinburgh office on Thursday morning. His thoughts: 60% chance of a hung parliament, 30% a Conservative outright majority, and 10% a Labour outright majority. He also thinks there will be another independence referendum within the next two years. We caught up with a good number of friends from the ultra running world, shared a few beers, and appreciated how lucky we are to have this community in our lives. Entries for the 2020 West Highland Way race opened, it all worked, and after nearly 3 days we already have 210 entries. There are a few interesting things going on with Scottish Athletics, hopefully positive, which will all become clear in due course. I went to the physio on Wednesday, full of hope I'd get the ok to run again, and left disappointed. At least I am able to walk further than before and am sleeping without pain.
It's our fourth wedding anniversary on Wednesday. Partner appraisals have started and will continue until January. The nights continue to arrive earlier each day. I'm back at the physio on Thursday and hoping my improvement has continued. I'll take my running session on Tuesday and will hope for a reasonable turnout. The news will continue to be full of election coverage, which I enjoy. We certainly live in interesting times.
Have a good week everyone.
Tuesday 29 October 2019
Brexit, VAR and good sessions
I've managed to get through three full posts without mentioning Brexit, but it couldn't last a fourth. Does anyone actually know where this is going to end up? Our Prime Minister evidently doesn't, nor indeed any of the other political leaders. On Thursday morning I'm going to a Brexit seminar in our office to hear Andy Maciver's thoughts on it all. We work closely with Andy and he is a first class, hugely entertaining speaker, as well as one of Scotland's top political analysts; you may have seen him on various Scottish news outlets. I doubt Andy knows either but it will be fascinating to hear his views on the various scenarios, and how they will affect the political environment here in Scotland. Once I find out what's happening I'll let you all know.
Almost as contentious as Brexit this week has been VAR. For those who do not follow football, VAR stands for 'video assistant referee' and has been brought in to the English Premier League to reduce the number of errors made. Unfortunately it is not working very well. Brighton were awarded a penalty in their game against Everton which baffled everyone except the people who were operating VAR. The penalty was awarded when Brighton were 2-1 down, and helped them to go on and win 3-2. I've seen the incident about six time and still don't know why it was given, and I used to be a referee, albeit in the Ayrshire Amateur League rather than English Premier League. Using video evidence to review decisions seems to be working fine in the Champions League, and it has worked very well in rugby for a few years, so perhaps the issues lie with the way the English Premier League is using the technology, rather than with the technology itself. An analogy for life itself, perhaps.
Today is Tuesday which means it is intervals night at the Meadows. I coach this session each week at 6.30pm for my club, Harmeny AC, with normally between 5 and 15 runners coming along. I don't tell anyone what the specific session is going to be until we are ready to start - I simply tell them it will be 'good'. I have still to decide what tonight's 'good' session will be, but as we are now in to the darker winter nights I will be reminding the group of the old running adage 'winter miles make summer smiles'. Not sure they will be thanking me for that wisdom after half an hour of running at close to threshold pace, but I'm sure they will in the long run (no pun intended, of course...)
Almost as contentious as Brexit this week has been VAR. For those who do not follow football, VAR stands for 'video assistant referee' and has been brought in to the English Premier League to reduce the number of errors made. Unfortunately it is not working very well. Brighton were awarded a penalty in their game against Everton which baffled everyone except the people who were operating VAR. The penalty was awarded when Brighton were 2-1 down, and helped them to go on and win 3-2. I've seen the incident about six time and still don't know why it was given, and I used to be a referee, albeit in the Ayrshire Amateur League rather than English Premier League. Using video evidence to review decisions seems to be working fine in the Champions League, and it has worked very well in rugby for a few years, so perhaps the issues lie with the way the English Premier League is using the technology, rather than with the technology itself. An analogy for life itself, perhaps.
Today is Tuesday which means it is intervals night at the Meadows. I coach this session each week at 6.30pm for my club, Harmeny AC, with normally between 5 and 15 runners coming along. I don't tell anyone what the specific session is going to be until we are ready to start - I simply tell them it will be 'good'. I have still to decide what tonight's 'good' session will be, but as we are now in to the darker winter nights I will be reminding the group of the old running adage 'winter miles make summer smiles'. Not sure they will be thanking me for that wisdom after half an hour of running at close to threshold pace, but I'm sure they will in the long run (no pun intended, of course...)
Monday 28 October 2019
Spring forward, fall back
The first Monday since the clocks have changed. Lighter in the morning today, but that won't last and soon it will be dark going to work in the morning, dark coming home at night, and a poor quality light for most of the rest of the time. As you can probably guess I don't like this time of year. November and December are a struggle. I don't mind January; the days start getting longer again, a new year with new aspirations. But we need to get there first. Part of my strategy is to try and get out at lunchtime every day, recognising how much I need that daylight. It will be harder to do that as I'm not running, but important I make the effort. I'll use this post as a reminder.
In other news: we have completed our merger at work and have 17 new colleagues joining us today in our Edinburgh office. We signed the final paperwork on Friday evening and I look forward to welcoming them all this morning. Also, the 2020 West Highland Way Race opens for entries on Thursday. I need to do a few final pieces of testing and we should be there. Keep your eye out for a couple of interesting announcements.
Saturday 26 October 2019
Congratulations to England
Congratulations to the English rugby team for an excellent performance and win this morning against New Zealand. I watched the first half on television and though England completely controlled it, then listened to the second half on the radio. It may surprise some to hear, but I actually enjoy seeing demonstrations of positive English nationalism, and the English rugby supporters certainly embrace that. Too often we see United Kingdom / England used interchangeably and in the wrong context, which I find hugely frustrating. So well done to England and to all the English supporters. I hope you enjoy your celebrations. England will start as favourites in the final regardless of whether their opponents are Wales or South Africa. I hope it is Wales - what a final that would be.
A couple of observations on rugby more generally. First of all, I am fed up with the Haka and think I is time for the rugby authorities to say enough is enough. It was fine when rugby was an amateur sport, but in the professional era it looks completely disrespectful. Imagine another team being allowed to jump up and down and shout aggressively at their opponents before the start of the game? I don't think so. Time for it to go. Secondly, we shouldn't forget that Scotland completely outclassed England at Murrayfield in the Six Nations only 20 months ago. The fact England have improved so much since then, and that Scotland have deteriorated so much, is something we should be asking serious questions about. We have gone considerably backwards in that time. Why has it gone so wrong? Here's a question: if we had a coach like Warren Gatland or Eddie Jones, could Scotland be in the semi finals of the world cup? I think we might, but we'll never know.
Finally I'm not long back from Cumbernauld where I watched a wonderful display of high quality cross country running at the Lindsays National Cross Country relay championships. It was great to see athletes of the calibre of Callum Hawkins, Andy Douglas, Sol Sweeney, Ali Hay and many other show their talents. I have to admit I felt very old presenting the Edinburgh University ladies team with their medals after their win. Hopefully I'll be back again running at these events, and one of the joys of these events is the way that people of any ability can take part, but it was a reminder that my best days of running were quite a long time ago.
A couple of observations on rugby more generally. First of all, I am fed up with the Haka and think I is time for the rugby authorities to say enough is enough. It was fine when rugby was an amateur sport, but in the professional era it looks completely disrespectful. Imagine another team being allowed to jump up and down and shout aggressively at their opponents before the start of the game? I don't think so. Time for it to go. Secondly, we shouldn't forget that Scotland completely outclassed England at Murrayfield in the Six Nations only 20 months ago. The fact England have improved so much since then, and that Scotland have deteriorated so much, is something we should be asking serious questions about. We have gone considerably backwards in that time. Why has it gone so wrong? Here's a question: if we had a coach like Warren Gatland or Eddie Jones, could Scotland be in the semi finals of the world cup? I think we might, but we'll never know.
Finally I'm not long back from Cumbernauld where I watched a wonderful display of high quality cross country running at the Lindsays National Cross Country relay championships. It was great to see athletes of the calibre of Callum Hawkins, Andy Douglas, Sol Sweeney, Ali Hay and many other show their talents. I have to admit I felt very old presenting the Edinburgh University ladies team with their medals after their win. Hopefully I'll be back again running at these events, and one of the joys of these events is the way that people of any ability can take part, but it was a reminder that my best days of running were quite a long time ago.
Friday 25 October 2019
Lions, gazelles, and great role models
‘Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.’
This is not a new quote, but I came across it again today. Unfortunately at the moment I am neither a lion nor a gazelle. I am injured. I have a problem with my sciatic nerve, which is causing my varying degrees of pain in my left leg and, at the moment, in my left calf. Being injured 'sucks', as today's youth would say. Where running is good for managing one's mental health, injury has the opposite effect. Combine that lack of running with regularly interrupted sleep, caused by the pain, and it is fair to say I have not been my usual cheery self for the last couple of weeks. I have a lot of sympathy for my wife and my work colleagues who have had to put up with me.
But there is a positive. Tomorrow is the Lindsays National Cross Country Relay Championships, at Cumbernauld. My injury means I cannot run. That in turn means that a) I will be able to enjoy the day in my dual roles as Chair and representative of the title sponsor without the pressure of racing, and b) I won't get lapped by Callum Hawkins, who is making a very welcome re-appearance at the event. Isn't it wonderful to have an athlete who was 4th in the recent world championship marathon taking part in this? It will inspire not only the many youngsters taking part in the junior races, but also everyone else, who will undoubtedly be thrilled to run in the same race as one of the world's top distance runners. Last week Andy Butchart ran in the East League cross country at Stirling, with his girlfriend Lynsey Sharp watching. They spent a significant amount of time afterwards getting their photo taken with some of the junior athletes, which was so good to see. Laura Muir and Jake Wightman have taken part in recent Scottish cross country championships too. We are lucky to have such great role models in Scotland.
This is not a new quote, but I came across it again today. Unfortunately at the moment I am neither a lion nor a gazelle. I am injured. I have a problem with my sciatic nerve, which is causing my varying degrees of pain in my left leg and, at the moment, in my left calf. Being injured 'sucks', as today's youth would say. Where running is good for managing one's mental health, injury has the opposite effect. Combine that lack of running with regularly interrupted sleep, caused by the pain, and it is fair to say I have not been my usual cheery self for the last couple of weeks. I have a lot of sympathy for my wife and my work colleagues who have had to put up with me.
But there is a positive. Tomorrow is the Lindsays National Cross Country Relay Championships, at Cumbernauld. My injury means I cannot run. That in turn means that a) I will be able to enjoy the day in my dual roles as Chair and representative of the title sponsor without the pressure of racing, and b) I won't get lapped by Callum Hawkins, who is making a very welcome re-appearance at the event. Isn't it wonderful to have an athlete who was 4th in the recent world championship marathon taking part in this? It will inspire not only the many youngsters taking part in the junior races, but also everyone else, who will undoubtedly be thrilled to run in the same race as one of the world's top distance runners. Last week Andy Butchart ran in the East League cross country at Stirling, with his girlfriend Lynsey Sharp watching. They spent a significant amount of time afterwards getting their photo taken with some of the junior athletes, which was so good to see. Laura Muir and Jake Wightman have taken part in recent Scottish cross country championships too. We are lucky to have such great role models in Scotland.
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