The morning run

Avid readers of this space will know that I like to run. And after months of saying I was going to do it, and days of almost doing it, I finally did it.

I ran to work.

I think it is about 4.75 miles. That isn't very far for me to run, well, it is a medium distance I suppose. During the week, I run anywhere from 2 miles in the winter to 5 miles in the summer. On the weekends, I run from 4 to 9 miles.

Normally, I don't have all of my work clothes strapped to my back, so adjusting to that took some doing. It was actually a bit easier than I was expecting. My back wasn't nearly as weary as I thought it would be.

I have learned some important lessons though. The first is to really get your clothes nice and tight on your back. It isn't very pleasant to have them bouncing side to side while you are trying to run forward. The second is to separate your shoes from your nice dress shirt in the bag. After my shower at work, I was a little disheartened to see scuff marks here and there across the front of the shirt where my shoes had been rubbing it. The third, and I can't confirm this as I haven't yet tried it but I suspect it is true, is to take side streets. Almost the entire distance was a cloud of choking fumes, and the smell coming off the back of a van carrying hot tar was especially nice at 7.30am.

I also need to hammer out the logistics of it all. How do I pack the bag, how much clothing should I keep at work, how do I keep the smell of my running clothes that I stuff into my bag and the end of the day from infiltrating my work clothes that I may pack the next morning? Disinfectant? Deodorizer? The possibilities are endless.

Technorati tags: commuting, London, Running

That's not nice

An anonymous commenter suggested that the activities described a couple of posts ago should be "reported in full" to a certain member of staff at my place of business.

Now, that is a perfectly legitimate comment to make, but I had to take it down because it uses somebody's name without their permission and I just don't think that is very nice. How would you like it, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, if I went around quoting your name every place I went?

I've also had to review my use of other organisational names and whatnot to which I am connected. I've decided to take those down as well. On the internet, a little bit of anonymity, as you Mr. or Ms. Anonymous will surely agree, is sadly both necessary and preferable.

The Masters: a dreary recap

Been trying to write something for the blog about this year's Masters tournament, and I can quite put my finger on my thoughts.

Basically, I was rather unimpressed by the whole event. Mickelson was kind of just around and ended up being the winner in the end. It isn't like he put forward some sort of herculean effort to pull it off. He was only ahead by two strokes most of the final round, yet he was all but assured victory by the time he hit the 13th tee. Why was that?

I'm not saying you have to decimate the field, ala Woods in 97(?), to be a true champion. But you have to admit that the most interesting contender was Olazabal, who managed to go from +3 to -5 in the span of sixteen holes (3rd round 17 - 4th round 15). It took Mickelson nearly four rounds to traverse the same distance.

I guess I don't value steady progress (Phil) as much as I do the late surge (Ola), but Phil's steady progress was just so ordinary. Hard to get excited about that.

Also, with all the complaining that has been going on about the relentless Tiger-proofing of Augusta National, I took a look at the PGA stats site to see who is hitting the ball so far. Turns out that there are 22 players from the 2005 PGA freshman class amongst the top 50 in driving distance and only 5 in the bottom 50. So, maybe they do have something to worry about.

Technorati tags: golf, The Masters, Phil Mickelson, Augusta National

Audience pep talk

"...the sort of place that bring the best out of the best."

That is the final thought of the pep talk that Gary Lineker gave viewers just as coverage of the final round of The Masters just started on BBC2.

Why is that? Why do the producers insist on the motivational speeches before big sporting events?

I think that you only get these little sermons for the events that are watched by more than just core fans. The Super Bowl is watched by hundreds of millions of non-fans and the Olympic swimming finals are surely watched by more than swimming fans. And you will always get Bob Costas giving you his thoughts on the spirit of [insert sport] and the traditions of [insert event].

Trust me, when you watch the second game of a three game series between two fifth place baseball teams in mid-May -- a game only the jobless, the infirm or a serious fan would watch -- you don't get nothing.

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Tiger Woods just hit his second shot on number two. 306 yards - from the rough - to make it to the green.

Sick.

Technorati tags: The Masters