10 Things I Think About Running

10 Things I Think About The San Silvestre Chipiona 2018

1. Christmas Races

I think that Christmas is a dangerous time to be a runner. There are so many races on. It’s so tempting to do them all. I nearly did Belgooly and the Parkrun on Christmas Day. Thankfully I’m sensible now after my many stress fractures so I’m only doing two. I’ve learned my lesson, I think, I hope.

2. Jerez

I think that Jerez is a beautiful place, almost as nice as Seville. I only knew about Jerez because I remembered it from Formula 1 when Schumacher tried to drive Villeneuve off the road in 1997 at that hairpin. It’s such a nice town and it’s closer to Chipiona than Seville.

3. Blue

I think that it’s wrong that blue is the colour associated with feeling sad or down. It should be grey. The blue sky makes me happy. The grey sky makes me sad. I prefer the blue sky, it makes me happy and able to get out of bed before 10.

4. Vegano

I think that it is a very good idea to stick to a vegan/vegetarian diet when traveling before a race. It’s very hard to get a bad stomach from vegetables. Plus when you order something vegan and it looks unusual the worst thing you are eating is vegetables. So long as you avoid the temptation to drink a litre of the excellent orange juice in SuperSol then you’ll be fine.

5. Faro

I think that Chipiona is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. It’s right on the edge of the sea with a beautiful lighthouse. It’s like those fake towns in Lanzarote except not fake but real and really nice.

6. Starting Tape

I think that I found out the reason for the tape at the start of races today. It’s used to push everyone back behind the start line. It really works. Line up the tape and push into the crowd until the crowd disappears behind the line. It really works.

7. Where’s The Other Guy

I think that Michael Herlihy was missed tonight. He would have won easily. A guy in a Jerez singlet did a good impression of Mikey at the start, it was even the same Inverse singlet. I was in a group of about five guys right behind. As normal in Spain everyone looked fantastically fit and capable of running at least 4:00 for 1500m regardless of age or gender.

8. The Cone

I think I thought I could have been the champion of Chipiona as we came to the perfectly placed cone to turnaround. My group had just caught the Mikey from Jerez and I felt reasonably uncomfortable running with the remaining three Spaniards from Cádiz and Nerja. Unfortunately I got even more uncomfortable and dropped back. I still would have beaten John O'Connell easily.

9. Oliver Plunkett Street

I think that we need to have races at night in towns and cities back home at Christmas time. The race tonight started and finished on a street like Oliver Plunkett Street, the atmosphere is amazing, starting in daylight and finishing in the dark. It’s perfect.

10. Podium

I think its a great pity that I missed the real podium while I was on my warm down. I thought I wouldn’t be on the podium but they do podiums differently in Spain. I was the second non old man so I got a nice trophy and a trip to the podium. I like podiums. I especially like podiums where little old Spanish ladies give you sweet wine from a plastic bottle produced from a plastic bag, she even let me keep the shot glass.