Running and Race for Life 2012.

Let me get my boring bit out of the way first as I haven't given any updates on the status of my running recently. About six weeks ago I realised that I wasn't the type of person to ease myself into anything, I was more of a "jump in and see what happens" type of guy. That's no great shock as I knew that anyway but I had intended to ease myself back into running and distances. Finally I did what I should have done from the start and pushed my daily distance up to 5 miles and on the following Sunday ran 8 miles. I had some muscle pain and sore feet, as expected, so the following weekend I ran 12 miles and kept up the 5 milers during the week.
Now I haven't mentioned that my daughter had her appendix out so I was left to my own devices, hence the increased daily miles. She started back the following week so I ran 3 miles with her on 2 alternate days and 5 miles on another 2 days, then I ran 11 miles on the Sunday, rested on the Monday and started again.
I have just finished my third consecutive weekend of 11-13 mile runs and it's going very well, I'm enjoying it, feeling some pain in my muscles and feet but nothing that is worrying me. I am back to loving the run but I am struggling to ship the weight I put on during my lay off, it's going but slowly.

Yesterday, Sunday, was Race for Life day. My youngest daughter ran it, of course. It was back at Waddesdon but they have reversed the course. This means tha there is a very long and steep hill towards the beginning of the run, around 3/4 to a mile long, nasty! The weather wasn't looking hopeful with rain threatened. There were 2000 women and it was as poignant as ever. I bumped into a couple of old friends, one of whom had lost her mother to cancer the previous month and had decided at the last moment to run this race. It was reading the dedications on the backs of the ladies, so many names being commemorated. It is watching a Mother with the dedication to her parents on her back standing next to her daughter with the dedication to "Grandad and Grandma". It was watching the survivors and the way that women know how to bond, that this is a "one-ness" event, something that we men can never do. We laugh, compete and shake hands, we don't know how to cry and celebrate lives and I suspect that we wouldn't want to either, being blokes an' all that....It's a shame.

 

My daughter was determined to run this as a race, my hopes weren't too high for her as she was only freshly back to running so I did warn her to take it easy and enjoy the run. She went off with the runners and pushed her way to the front. 

I didn't see the start as it was out of the way of spectators so I made my way to the finish line to wait. After ten minutes the rain came down in a torrential shower. Sheltering under my umbrella, I gave thanks that I wasn't running in this. Another ten minutes and the first runner came in, my daughter's previous PE teacher, Mrs Austin, a superb runner and absolutely mad keen on it. She has been very supportive of my daughter so it was a thrill to see her romp home. The second place runner was a minute or so behind her and all the while the rain poured down. My daughter came in 6th, an amazing result that is a testament to her fitness and determination and a steely resolve to do better next year.

The worrying thing for me is that I have been running more but I know that my daughter is faster and stronger than me over most distances. I have taken her up to 8 miles and she is faster than me, I know that even beyond that, she will outpace me. Still, there's never a hurry to be beaten, that can wait a couple of years.

...Chris Cornell embarked on an acoustic tour...

Yesterday I relived my youth, kind of. I actually took my daughter to her first gig. Taking her to Reading in 2002 doesn't count as she was 6. Yes she saw Marilyn Manson, the Cult and Queens of the Stoneage but I can't really class that as her first proper gig and I am not sure that I can class last night as her first proper gig as it was an acoustic affair.

I am sure that a few of you will be familiar with Chris Cornell but for those that aren't, he was the rock god that came from Grunge. Soundgarden were the modern day Black Sabbath in 1992, except with a far better singer than Ozzy, morphing from a more Indie outfit in the late '80's to the metal Gods we grew to love. Whilst recording the seminal "Badmotor Finger", Chris Cornell also recorded an album, "Temple of the Dog" as a tribute to a recently deceased friend.
 After Soudgarden split in 1996, Chris Cornell, released a solo album, "Euphoria Morning", a total change in direction and song writing, it has remained a staple part of my listening routine ever since, a testament to the quality of the songs and performances.
He then joined the ex-members of Rage Against the Machine and formed Audioslave. I always found them weak on record but brilliant live. Cornell would always do a handful of numbers acoustically and this was always the highlight of the show for me.
Audioslave split and Cornell has been releasing solo albums that I continue to buy, tours from time to time and I always go. The albums are of mixed quality but always contain a real gem. And then Soundgarden reformed and Chris Cornell embarked on an acoustic tour, releasing an acoustic live album at the same time.

History lesson over. He came, he saw and he conquered. His song writing quality really shines on these stripped down versions of classic tracks going back to 1992. The arrangements were sparse leaving plenty of room for rock's greatest singer to show me why I have been such a fan for so long. That voice....I am in awe. The choice of songs was inspired, "Mind riot", "Blow up the outside World", "Fell on black days", "Burden in my hand" and "Blackhole Sun"  from Soundgarden era, "Hunger Strike", Wooden Jesus" and "Call me a dog" from Temple of the Dog, "Sunshower" and " Seasons" from the really early solo stuff. Covers of "Thank you", "Man of golden words", "Day in the life" and "Imagine". Plus the Audioslave songs and amazing versions of  "Scream" and "Down" that utilised a record player as a backing track rather than a programmed PC. My favourite singer and vinyl, how much better can it be?

The question was always going to be how he would be able to retain the attention of the audience for the duration. It ended up being a non question, the moment he came on stage with his easy banter, lack of pretension and gentle manner coupled with a voice that has range, power, depth and soul, enough to capture you in a spell for the whole 2 hour and 15 minute show, that is truly something to remember.
My daughter loved it, so yes, it was her first gig and it was truly a special night, a real event and I would recommend anyone that loves music to visit this acoustic tour. It easily rates as the best time I've seen Chris Cornell, he was more self assured and not quite as fragile as other occassions. Possibly this is one of my favourite gigs. It was gentle and refined, emotional for those that lived these songs the first time around, seeing a hero as a peer and knowing that for this moment he has chosen to play a smaller more intimate venue, facing his fears and exceding our expectations. I can only add that it was like seeing an old friend, albeit a very talented friend but it did have that friendliness about it.


Roll on July when I attend Soundgarden with both my daughters in Hyde Park. That will be loud and bombastic, bring out the spandex and wigs, we're going to squeeze that middle aged spread into bulging T-shirts and show the youngsters that we lived it then and can live it now.......so long as the shows done by 10.30......and the weather holds out..........and there's somewhere to sit....and tea....

.....and again I have come over all patriotic....

It doesn't seem so long ago that I was waxing all lyrical about this tiny Island nation and our diminishing place in the World and how the eyes of the World were drawn to us in the event of a Royal Wedding and here we are again, this time a Diamond Jubilee and again I have come over all patriotic....

It has been a brilliant time to be in the United Kingdom. The feelings of neighbourliness and Englishness are wonderful. On one hand I can't help but feel it is a shame that our feelings of national pride are so closely linked to our Monarch but on the other hand it would be far worse to have a President and have to link your feelings to a transient post. This is the only ruler I have ever known, she has been there the whole of my life and it is impossible to imagine a time without her. There are republicans, thankfully a very small minority in the UK, that think a presidential system would be better but they don't seem to understand that the relationship between the people and the Monarch is extremely precious and special, something that we would all be incomplete without. Maybe they need to move to another Country that embraces their beliefs rather than whinging about something that isn't going to change.
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The weather has been poor for the Jubilee but we are English, rain is part and parcel of our lives so we carried on. I attended a street party in the grounds of our local Church. My wife and daughter had been invited to play as part of a string quartet, named the Boughton String Quartet after Aylesbury's sole composer, Rutland Boughton, son of a green grocer and a genuinely talented composer. Fortunately, as the weather was so bad, they played inside the church and it was wonderful to hear. It was a fairly informal affair, no-one was expected to sit and listen but classical is always nice to hear as it isn't a usual part of most people's lives and to hear short but popular pieces is always a welcome surprise.

Outside the weather didn't improve, infact it got worse but in a brief break in the weather, entertainment was provided by some fire bugs.

It was quite a day, the alternative would have been to go into London and attend the flotilla. It was a close run decision but the idea of supporting the Jubilee locally struck me as a wonderful thing to do and to see the effort that the local residents had made was incredible and with a turnout of around 500 people, it was a lovely day.
The only downside was an incredible Jazz band that played outside to a handful of people sheltering under trees.

Yesterday was the Jubilee concert. I watched it on television but left the house before 10pm as they were lighting beacons across the Country. I would have loved to be at Hadrians Wall but that is a few hundred miles away and I wasn't organised enough to think about it in advance but fortunately they were lighting 60 beacons in my County so I attended Coombe Hill along with 1000 people. It was amazing, I shan't say a word more about it and let the pictures do the talking.

It was the final day of the celebrations today. I had intended to go into London but circumstances prevented that so I watched it on television instead. I found it all quite moving, being a Royalist I suppose I would and of course have no idea how others see it. The fly pasts were amazing, 4 SPITFIRES!! I didn't know we had that many that could still fly. The Red Arrows.....always incredible and the Lancaster and Hurricane, it couldn't be any more complete. Oh wait, yes it could, the Irish guards laid down their guns, removed their hats and cheered the Queen.
So much pomp and pageantry, I couldn't live in a Country without it. I love our history, our rubbish weather, the Countryside and the Cities. I love the various dialects up and down the Country. That is the thing about being English, we love our Country with a passion, it takes a state occasion or a football match for us to remember that and forget that we hate people. We hate foreigners, Northerners, Southerners, our Neighbours, other drivers and the youth of today. We are arrogant but gracious, kind hosts yet rude to strangers, full of our own self importance but concious that we aren't "the master race".
At times like this I wish that you could all take a step in my shoes to appreciate how special being a part of living history is and how it determines who and what you are. I have no idea why 4 billion people watched the Diamond Jubilee but I feel very lucky to be English, but reading back on previous blog entries, I do have a permanent appreciation for this Land, its eccentricities and peculiar landscapes.
In the words of the motto of our Monarchy, a perfect description on what it is to be English, Dieu et mon Droit.....God and my Right.

Arrogant bastards.