Running costs

- Alf Tupper has become fat -

How did it happen. I used to weigh 10 stones 4 pounds in summer and four pounds heavier in winter. I once ran the Great York Run on the 25th March 1990 in 1hr 31min 54sec 22.
I was a runner. Dedicated. With a meticulously-kept running log and a proclivity to lapse into lyricism whilst avoiding sweating.
I had a kidney transplant and my gall bladder and my first wife removed.
I met Valerie and had a daughter.
I feel I am in a dead-end job where I am not appreciated and which does not look like it is going to offer me any hope of financial comfort in the future.

I now weigh in at 18 stones 9 pounds. Caused by a surfeit of custard doughnuts, olive oil infused ciabatta, and acute Toblerone and Crunchy Kitkat dependence. But as the addicts realise - recognising you have a problem is the first step towards recovery.

I want to run again. I need to learn to accept that at 53 I am unlikely to be selected for international honours or rack up monthly total mileages to impress David Bedford. I am going to start slowly (very slowly), I am going to say no to Mr Kipling. I last ran on the 8th of August 2010 so the leg cadence might be somewhat arthritic and the lung capacity equivalent to two wet paper bags flapping like dying goldfish on gravel.

I will abandon any thoughts of competition or comparison, to my old body or to anyone else's. I will set my cruise control to Stagger and try to negotiate every kerb and camber within spitting distance. I accept that it might take a while and that a calendar rather than a stopwatch might be the most valid measuring tool during the process.