FOAF parties

I dislike them. You know, the gatherings where your presence is by virtue of being a “friend of a friend”. But Wifey really wanted to go, and I know when to shut up and grudgingly oblige.

I dislike being in a room full of people I barely know, largely because at these parties, people seem to introduce themselves to each other and engage in conversations where they try to outshine one another by claiming links to people they view as important. “Oh yes, I know this guy who writes for The Times…” “My husband used to train with Mr X’s personal trainer…” “This friend of mine knew someone who worked with Famous Person…” Pizza, potato chips and wine also do not make a good post-run meal - not least store-bought pizza passed off as homemade. And in this part of north London, people automatically assume that if you’re a guy, you watch football soccer, automatically either support Tottenham Hotspurs or Arsenal (what a terrible name for a team), and immediately launch into the most anal discussions about soccer formations, player stats and all. Who said soccer was the world’s simplest game? One of these days, I should keep nodding, and then say something like “Pele was a great strong safety in Brazil’s 3-4 defense, wasn’t he?”

I think I might have sprinted home last night.

Yesterday was another 90F day, but thankfully it cooled down some before I did my 3.5 8-minute miles. Thankfully, that was uneventful and I had no post-run back pain, although I’m conscious of the need to stretch. My lack of flexibility makes me run with a slight arched back, and every stride sends little jarring waves up the lower back.

At this stage I think I should aim to try to stretch more, and run properly without doing damage to myself, rather than be too ambitious in terms of mileage or speed. For the time being, I’ll be happy to do 5Ks or 5 miles each time I run. Form should be my main focus. I don’t want to run fast or long and sacrifice form, causing wear and tear to my joints. My main goal in exercise is to have a fit and healthy body when I’m older.

Probably because I don’t want to be stuck in some old folks’ home with Foafers.