22 and easy

From the days before high speed internet and free streaming  porn people of my vintage had to use their imagination when they wanted create an elaborate fantasy that lead to a one-handed work out.

That or be lucky enough to find a catholic-guilt discarded jazz mag in a suburban hedge somewhere.

Anyhow, in the olden days the gentleman’s one handed art pamphlets would  carry some stories (colour printing and naked ladies were expensive and the dirty minded men who wrote the stories were cheap) to fill the pages between the colour spreads.

They invariably had titles like 22 and easy and recounted some mature (i.e. old but dashing)  international environmental negotiator (me) having his wicked way with some young Swedish girl (young being 22, not 12) who was so impressed with his expertise and staying power she kept begging for more.

The 22 and easy of this blog title is not about that. Mainly because this blog is founded on a shoddy foundation of vague truthfulness. And it’s supposed to be about running.

This afternoon I completed a 22 mile training run on a fuel strategy of 4 jaffa cakes and a bottle of ribena.

And it was easy. Sure, I was tired at the end but my legs were in reasonable condition. I lost a fair amount of weight for such a run (8 lbs – 3.6kg) but nothing a few beers wouldn’t fix.

Still, long boring runs are a test of mental fortitude (= being a bit nuts) more than of physical ability and if you can complete them with ease you can withdraw from that bank account during a tough race (tough means you body is knackered but you must keep your mind on the job).

Now that I’m back to where I was before I injured myself it’s time to enter a race and return to mid-pack plodding.

I’ve selected the Brandon Mountain Marathon in Dingle in about 12 days. Mainly because it’s close by (100 miles away) and I can kip in the car or in a friend’s house the night before and because you can’t run up a mountain so there should be plenty of time to power walk and take on fuel (jaffa cakes and ribena). Also, because the words mountain and marathon in any sentence mean that normal people give you that “he’s gifted and/or mad” look and you don’t need to worry about your time (it’ll be slow) so you can just get on with a nice day out with like-minded people.

I wonder will that post be called 26.2 and easy?