South of the Border

I've been down south the last two week ends. Both times to places I used to live. A couple of weeks ago I was in Coventry. That's where I grew up and lived until 1972. Like everywhere else, it has changed a lot and that includes the stadium where Coventry City play their football.

That's it out... my guilty secret - I'm a Sky Blues fan. You don't find many of those in my part of Scotland. Anyhow, I was a fan in the glory days of Jimmy Hill, so I always look for the results, which a the moment is a pretty depressing experience. The old stadium at Highfield Road is long gone. The Ricoh arena is the new home of the team and it also has a DeVere hotel and a casino. We stayed at the hotel and during the course of the week end got a tour around the stadium, which included having a look into the managers office and the changing rooms. We even went out onto the pitch through the tunnel. It's a state of the art modern stadium which occasionally hosts concerts and will also be hosting some of the Olympic footy games. I got a good run along the Coventry canal tow path while  I was there. On Saturday we watched a thrilling 1 - 1 draw between Coventry and Birmingham.

Yesterday I was in Liverpool, taking part in the half marathon. This was a trip down memory lane alright. It started near Albert Dock and took a circular route through all the places I used to hang out in the seventies. The best bit for me was running through Sefton Park, where I used to live and run, before the days of mass participation marathons had been thought of. Really pleased to have done the run, especially in view of the recent injuries which I thought would have kept me out of it. Running conditions were ideal... sunny and cool. They said it was the biggest of the 19 half mara's to date, with 7000 people taking part. I got around in 1.43, which was fine. My stamina in the final stages was a bit suspect due the break in my training, but there you go. A nice t-shirt and medal to boot.