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This page represents only my own views, and not those of any university or other body. Posted Monday 29th August 2011 at 4.37pm A poor man's Eddie Izzard: Day 6 of 19 Setbacks: yesterday was the second anniversary of my Grandad's death, and we had a fun family day out at Anderby Creek, on the east coast, where my mum's family (all 10 of them) used to go every year when she was young. We didn't get back till late and so I didn't get a chance to run. Then today I set off to run another 7 miles, but about 1.8 miles in my right leg went dead. I stopped and discovered that my right ankle was very tight and didn't feel right, so after trying to stretch/walk/jog it better without any luck, I ran straight back rather than risk doing any real damage. I did at least run back quickly - 2 slightly uphill miles in 14 minutes. Some had crawled their way into your heart To rend your ventricles apart Posted Saturday 27th August 2011 at 2.33pm A poor man's Eddie Izzard: Day 4 of 19 7 miles in 59 minutes, including a couple of bits where I had a little walk. There's this voice in my head permanently going "go on, have a little walk... go on... walkie time... have a little walk..." and it's always disappointing when I give in. But still, if - if! - I can keep that average pace up for 13.1 miles, it'll take me about an hour and 50. I tried listening to music on the way today, but it didn't really work - as soon as I got tired it just annoyed me. Until then, though, I think I made a good choice - the Go! Team's latest album. Good running music. Here's a sample: Posted Friday 26th August 2011 at 5.40pm A poor man's Eddie Izzard: Day 3 of 19 Today's route was much flatter, but along a busy road. Much nicer on the legs, not so nice on the eyes. 34 minutes for 4.4 miles. Felt really good at the end - like I could do a fair bit more at the same pace. Tomorrow I will (hopefully). Posted Thursday 25th August 2011 at 2.42pm A poor man's Eddie Izzard: Day 2 of 19 My hips hurt! I'm an old man. I think it's from running downhill. Unfortunately I live in a very hilly area in Nottingham, which makes it difficult to find flat running routes. Anyway, I did the same 4.4 mile course as yesterday, this time in 36 minutes. Given the aches and pains from yesterday I'll take that! I felt much better along the flat and was able to push myself along more. For the last quarter, which is uphill, I felt like death warmed up but I suppose there'd be something wrong if I didn't! You can sponsor me by donating money to WaterAid via my JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/mattiroberts. Posted Wednesday 24th August 2011 at 5.25pm A poor man's Eddie Izzard: Day 1 of 19 I decided last Thursday that it might be a good idea to do this year's Robin Hood half marathon. I've been meaning to do a half marathon for quite a few years, but always had the excuse that I was never in one place for long enough. Then on Thursday I noticed that registration for this year's Robin Hood marathon in Nottingham is still open, and that the race is on 11th September, about a week before I fly out to Montreal. So, after a weekend of fun, I started training today. This morning I didn't eat enough for breakfast, set off too fast, and took the wrong path around the golf course. And it was really warm. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Excuses. I did about 2.4 miles, I think, in about 20 minutes. Pretty poor. Then just now (2.5 hours after a much bigger lunch of rice and beans, and once the weather had cooled down a bit) I managed 4.4 miles in 38 minutes. Much more like it and I'm fairly happy with that for the first day. Update, 7.36pm: I'm tired now! Posted Wednesday 24th August 2011 at 1.40pm T'other side of the coin Here is an article looking at forcing the unemployed into work. Of course we shouldn't be making people work for less than the minimum wage - isn't that illegal? - and I agree that one should be able to volunteer for such schemes. Moreover, as I pointed out in my own rant of a while back, it's not big multi-national companies that should be taking on free labour: they can afford to employ people properly. But other than that the article seems rather one-sided. It quotes one woman who worked 6 hour days (for 3 days a week) at Primark and didn't get a job at the end of her time there... well, that's going to happen quite a lot of the time, isn't it? It's interesting to read the opposite view, but essentially the complaint seems to boil down to the fact (if it is a fact) that people are being underpaid for the work they're doing. Clearly that needs to be changed. The article highlights some other potential problems, but is far from being a fair and balanced look at what's going on. Posted Tuesday 23rd August 2011 at 10.36pm Fun Running full pelt through London to get to the pub first (and losing the race). Teaching people to play Commander Bimböller (sp?). Learning the Turkish word for 14. Someone I didn't know putting a bottle of vodka in his back pocket and then falling on his bottom. (He was ok, but the bottle wasn't.) Finishing last in the UK maths postgrad football tournament, but seeing the team finally score a goal - two goals! - in our final game. Chasing meatballs. Singing happy birthday to a Latvian in Russian. Pushing someone up a hill in a trolley. Bruce walking past randomly at 4am with a ladies' wig clutched in his hand. Playing cricket in a graveyard with a Swiss, a Latvian, a Russian, a Turk, and two Germans. Sunday lunch. Animatronic dinosaurs. A mini golf hole where it helps to hit the ball into the water. Blockbusters. Guacamole all over the place. A pub playing the whole of Castaways and Cutouts. Bowling (in the loser lane). Cake! Double Maths. Seeing a lot of old friends again. I'm tired now. Posted Tuesday 16th August 2011 at 11.53pm Dig in Two good articles about the riots. Another about taxing the rich too little (in America, where things are different from here. But still George Osborne talks about cutting the 50p tax rate for top earners because it's only raising a bit more money than the old lower rate. Erm, that's still a bit more money than the old rate! I thought we needed every penny we can get to cut the deficit?) Posted Monday 8th August 2011 at 9.58pm Gosh The riots in London don't seem real. Posted Wednesday 3rd August 2011 at 1.15pm One down You know those sachets of shampoo you get through the door, stuck to a leaflet telling you why this shampoo is better than all other shampoos? Someone had to stick that sachet to that leaflet. Or the little string bag with a couple of washing tablets inside? Someone had to put those tablets in that bag. I spent two summers doing those tasks and more. I had blisters all over my hands for two weeks from sticking double-sided tape to calendars at high speed (we got paid per completed task, so there was no hanging about). I stank of washing powder for several days. And I saw people who did that job every day for their whole lives. I had one of the sachets of shampoo framed, and hung it on my wall when I was a student, to remind me that I had to keep working hard and trying my best. This interview with Graeme Swann reminded me of that. It's good to hear a cricketer complaining about people who complain about going on cricket tours for England. I could be waiting tables; I could well be pumping gas. But I get paid much finer for sending emails and doing maths.
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