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Huff and Puff and Fluff

What better way to end a holiday than to come home, go to bed, and then wake up to huff and puff my way through a 10k that I hadn't trained for? I think I've run maybe twice since the marathon, and well ... I'm sure that the Baltics trip didn't do a heck of a lot of good for my cholesterol (a tad high according to the last reading), so it's time to get back in the groove.

The goal today was to finish, and then have a benchmark for improvement over the next couple months. I finished in about 66 minutes (official time's not up yet), so I'm pretty confident I can do the Great North Run at the end of September in under 2:15.

Newcastle, here I come ... ten pounds lighter and hopefully about 100 points (or about 2.0 for those off you keeping score in UK mmol/l) knocked off the lipid count.

As for the fluff, it was HP and the Order of the Phoenix. I found it a surprisingly good film, especially since it's my least favorite of the books. It made me want to give the 6th book a rescan before the last one comes out in the next week or so ... at which point I'll have to go on media blackout because you know some fool is going to post the ending and ruin it for anybody that takes more than a day to read it.

I know, I know ... some of you want to hear about the vacation. It really was spectacular, and I think I'll do a Time's Arrow and recount it backwards.

Next stop ... Stockholm.

But first, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite sights from the race.

1. The bloke in the bare feet sitting on the park bench around the 6km mark, reading a Men's Fitness. You were just looking for inspiration, weren't you?

2. The chavtastically bleached blond princess who was running the race in full make up and false eyelashes. You gotta make an effort.

3. The little kid on the sideline of the homestretch who shouted "Look at her, Daddy, she's walking!" I shouted back ... "and you're (gasp) just standing."

And finally, this bit of wisdom from Mylene Klass, who was screeching her way through today's pre- and post-run color commentary (note to Mylene ... you don't have to shout darling, you're miked through a huge PA system).

I didn't have a tape recorder, but I swear she said something along the lines of ...

I want to say to each and every one of you, that this is a huge accomplishment. And not just the one or two hours it's going to take you to finish. It's the months of training. It's the dedication to go out there and buy the right trainers.

Someone please remind me. Who is she?

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