BOY. I SAY BOY.... AWAY AND.......YOURSELF

I KNOW I have an ungainly and awkward style of running. I’ve seen the pictures!

I know I stick my chest out when running (“shoulders back, chest out – lovely boy”).

What I didn’t know – or indeed need to know is that I run like “Foghorn Leghorn”.

I now know this as the fact was brought to my attention loudly by what I assumed to be the matriarch of a large family of weegie benefit scum out for an “alfresco” Greggs picnic along by the banks of the majestic Clyde. Even though I was a bit out of breath (6:30 pace) I did manage to suggest that they may wish to consider the twin pursuits of travel and fornication…..

Oh how I love the weegie banter!

FRIDAY JAZZ WITH CHEESECAKE

Off last night to see the Brian Kellock Trio at the Queens Hall.
However, before the "main event" there was support from Cathy Rae.
I am not the world's biggest fan of vocalists (of any genre) so I'm maybe not the best person to comment. But lets just say I just didn't dig it.

However, Mr Kellock came out to a [sadly] modest but appreciative crowd and just lept right in with both feet. Starting off with a cover of the Benny Goodman classic Opus 1. But unlike Mr Goodman, the Brian Kellock Trio didn't make this "swing". No, no. They made it bop along at an accelerated pace, threw it in the air, slowed it down to a crawl while stripping it down to its component parts then put it all back together.

It sounded, for all the world, like one tune from the swing era had been taken on a musical journey through time and some of jazz's more popular later styles like bop, hard-bop, modal and free before being returned home to its own era.
Mr Kellock kept his audience interaction down to the bare minimal - no bad thing given the set was only one hour fifteen long and there wasn't a moment to spare on non musical verbiage.
However, when he introduced the band (Kenny Ellis on bass and Stuart Ritchie on drums) and announced that they would be playing a selection of bop numbers it was enough to cheer the cockles of at least one listener.
One particular favourite was their version of the Dexter Gordon classic "Cheesecake". Almost worth the ticket price alone.
Benny Golsons "Stablemates" was again given the treatment of being "deconstructed", at some points to a couple of notes or phrases. There were a few instances during the evening when Kellocks approach was similar (to my mind) of Django Bate's recent tribute to Charlie Parker.
The set flew in too quickly. But after a show of appreciation the trio came out for one more to be joined by Graeme Stephen on electric guitar for a blues that sounded very Kenny Burrell(ish).
Whatever Kellock's reasons are for not getting his new album out, if the music last night was a taster of what to expect, the sooner he gets things sorted out the better.
The music was excellent and the trio were playing in front of a "home crowd". But [sadly] the venue was only about half full. Jazz IS a minority interest these days. I still can't quite get my head round the claim that a "major" label is interested.

IS 70 YEARS STILL "TOO SOON"?

Is there a statute of limitations on when you can joke about something without it being deemed “bad taste”?

Does 70 years sound about right?
All I said was “The last man to enjoy the commute through to Glasgow was probably flying a Junkers-88 at the time”!

Only a joke. Wasn’t me that bombed your granny.

GOT MY NEW SHOES. WHERE'S YOUR NEW ALBUM??

For the first time in about three weeks I took it fairly steady last night (certainly steadier than the last two weeks). Don't want to get into the habit of making Tuesday club runs "easy" for myself, but at the same time there is probably little to be gained from flat out race pace every week! Plus I did two races at the weekend and the legs needed a rest.

However, the "flip" side is that today I felt better on my Wednesday run than I have for a while. Managed 11 miles (I say "managed" - could have went further, but even when working at home there are SOME time restraints). Pleased too as I finally got round to testing out my new shoes. I'd opted for Brooks Ravenna this time (rather than the Brooks Adrenalin). Two main reasons: "a" I like Brooks and still needed a stability shoe and, more importantly, "b" unlike the adrenalin I managed to track down a pair of Ravenna for half price in a  sale!!

Getting a good shoe is important - but getting a bargain is infinitely more so!
Probably not really able to tell after one 11 mile run, but they seem to be fine. Comfortable, provide the stability to my "left-legged-gangliness" and provided a welcome "bounce" that's been missing from my road runs for a few weeks now!

I'm off to a gig on Friday. The Brian Kellock Trio. Scotland's premier jazz trio led by Scotland's finest spud-faced piano player. It's supposed to be the launch of their new CD. Oh yes indeed. The last one was so successful it's only taken them 10 years to bring another one out!!

"Yes". The money I saved on shoes I can squander on new musc.

But then today I find out from Mr Brown that it isn't a "launch" anymore... apparently, they were going to release it on a small independent label (Thick Skinned). BUT some of the major labels have shown an interest and they are in negotiation. That would be the same major labels who keep our high street shops so well stocked with jazz would it?? Christ! His last album was the bloody jazz album of the year. The "major" labels have had pleanty time to track him down and chap on his door if they were that bloody interested.  Probably be another 10 years before the recording sees the light of day.

An album launch without the album?? Probably be a good gig, but a bit feckin' daft all the same!

XC X 2



Thanks to Roadrunpics.com



Is it just me or does that look like a face??



A couple of cross countries at the weekend. Both pretty tough going and both very, very muddy.

Saturday saw us going through to Kirkcaldy for the National Masters XC. I’ve done the masters before, but I’ve never run a XC at Kirkcaldy, so I didn’t really know what to expect. However, given the relentless rain the couple of days before the event, I had a fairly good idea that it was going to be wet – and muddy. I wasn’t disappointed.

Registered in a nearby school then walked off to the start in a nearby field. A field that was partly flooded. Anne went off for her warm up, while I went off to try and find the rest of the Dunbar team….

And I found him. Turned out that me and Ian were the only runners daft enough to give this a go. By the time we met and started our warm up we had missed the start of the women’s race, but managed to catch a bit of the action “en route”.

Didn’t get much of a chance to talk to Anne after her race as we were soon called to the start line. The course was excellent! A really good mixture of track, field, path and disused railway. And unlike a lot of XC you actually did get out into the country – it wasn’t just half a dozen laps of a municipal park.

The rain that had been threatening all day came on with a vengeance just before I got to the finish line and, as I was already soaked through to the bone, I followed the example of a lot of other runners and used the flooded section of the field as an impromptu public bathing facility and got the worst of the mud off my legs. It’s hard to judge your performance by time on these XC races, but I was about a quarter of the way down the results list – so not too bad!

And then there was yesterday. If Saturday had been “proper” XC then yesterday was “extreme” XC. The third leg of the Borders XC series at Norham and my last chance to run a leg and get enough races to “count” for a final result.

The rain was already hammering down by the time we met in the field close to the village hall for the start. Went out again with Ian for a bit of a warm up, but yesterday we were joined by Brian. Noticed that there seemed to be a few changes to the course – including the perimeter of a ploughed field that I couldn’t quite remember from before. The whole field was well ploughed up, except for a very narrow strip along the side (not many chances for passing there).

Got back to the start and got lined up with the other runners to listen to Les deliver the course instructions. Did I hear correctly? Did he really say there were NINE river crossings??

Yes I did! And they were all crammed into one half mile section! Bliddy hell… talk about knackered. Just too wide to jump, and too murky to see the bottom, so even running through was a non starter. It was more a case of run up – step down and through, climb out the other side (often up steep muddy banks) and then get started again. I sort of lost count of the actual crossing, most times the icy water was just above the knees but at one point I actually went in up to my waist! It was the relentless breaking of the rhythm that made it so tiring.

Anyway, my old friend, from last year, the wire fence was there but happily didn’t pose a problem this time (Les had painted the wires yellow to make them stand out ). However, I did have a wee bit of a problem with my heart rate monitor on Sunday – at one point running through the glen (over the river) I was aware that the chest strap was slipping. I ended up having to run along while trying to haul it back up and tighten it (maybe stop wearing it for races).

Throwing in the part where we went up, over, and under the bridge twice was a wee bit of evil that just sapped the energy even more.

Got back in 11^th place wet, muddy and happy.

Happy too as that’s the last XC for me for about 8 months or so now.. no more short sharp Sunday morning shocks for me ..time to get the miles in.

The photo above probably makes me look a bit better than I actually felt on Saturday. The photo comes from www.roadrunpics.com (thanks for letting us use your photos) where more pictures of Saturday’s race can be found. That’s the photo with the running in it ….obviously.

Thinking about my HRM strap problem… Looking at some of the blokes I see walking about, perhaps it’s my body shape that’s to blame. I’m too much straight up and down.. The modern trend appears to be towards having a pair of pendulous “moobs”. Maybe if I upped the cake consumption a bit I could grow myself a pair of these and then just sort of “tuck” the monitor strap underneath for a bit more support??

Maybe not.

OH DEAR... WON'T BE GOING THERE FOR MY HOLIDAYS.

Looks like Malawi may be out of bounds for vegetarian runners then… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12363852

GALE

My Wednesday lunchtime runs are turning into a bit of a nightmare.
Last weeks run was crap due to "shagged-legs-syndrome" brought about by excessive speed on the Tuesday.
Today the legs were feeling a bit the same to be honest after yet another two-run-Tuesday that culminated in an eyeballs-out run last night.
So, I'd already decided... "nice and easy, old son. Nice and easy".
Well today, sadly the howling gale of a wind had other ideas, and it ended up neither nice or easy! What it most certainly was is slow... bloody slow. I never realised until today that my GPS actually had an "are you actually moving?" alarm message on it!

But even in the face of such bleak conditions we can still benefit in some way. For example I had an important lesson reinforced.......
Running head first into a howling gale? Turn head ... then spit. Glasses needed a wash anyway.