15 April 2013
Two marathons completed in a few days!….The
first was Manet. After around 15 months of work, the film was shown in
cinemas around the world on Thursday 11th April. 30 countries,
1000 screens. Fantastic. The reviews have been supportive and included
full pages in the Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Toronto Star, and
more. One or two sniffed that it’s better to go to the exhibition
to which I reply: OF COURSE! We encourage everyone to go to the gallery
or any gallery in fact. But 99.9% of the world’s population couldn’t get
to the Royal Academy. It’s a strangely arrogant criticism really, especially
from a London-based critic or blogger. I was at a screening in Brighton
and the audience loved the film – and some expressed that they simply could
not, for reasons of time, cost and mobility, get to the show. We don’t
yet know the worldwide attendance or reaction but it will take time to build
the ‘brand’ and we’re already deep into the next two films – on Munch and
Vermeer. The first of these marathons is over though and we just have to
shower ourselves down and crack on with the next. Actually I
took that very literally on Sunday (three days after the Manet screening) when
I completed my first ever marathon. I’d trained quite well up until February
but March was much less consistent with so much travel and work. Overall, I’d
done a lot of 5-10 mile runs but I'd only run 17 miles and 20 miles once each
before so this was entering the world of the unknown... It took me Friday and
Saturday to prepare my stuff – gels, music, right running gear, etc. I
had to ‘load up on carbs’ which just meant stuffing my face (easily done!) and
by 9am on Sunday morning, I was one of 9000+ runners in Brighton’s Preston
Park. I wasn’t afraid of the distance but you never know how your body is going
to feel. Anyway, at the gun, it was so packed everything was very slow
and crowded but after two or three miles, I got into a nice rhythm. The sun
didn’t exactly shine (and the wind certainly blew) but it was lovely running in
my lovely city. I kept to a noticeably slower pace than I run
half-marathons and found it OK, indeed fun, for the first 18 miles but then it
started to get harder. With me, it was my calves (which I’d hurt two
weeks previously running without a warm-up or proper sleep &
nutrition). From 18 to 22 miles, I could feel they were getting tired. By
22 miles, I was having to grit my teeth and keep my head down. People were
cramping up all around me and stopping and I just didn’t want that to happen to
me. Luckily I managed to keep running and just beat my target of cracking 4
hours by doing it in 3 hours 58'. It was - as everyone had told me - super fun
with all the crowds of Brighton out on the streets, kids handing out
jellybabies alongside musical bands and groups of drummers, etc. For me the
most genuinely moving thing was the messages of support from friends and
acquaintances - as well as the super donations we've had for Mir’s teacher
(we're a third of the way towards our target at justgiving/PhilGrabsky).
I
genuinely felt I was running for and with friends. I had to sprint to the
finish line to ensure I beat 4 hours and did feel a bit teary as I crossed
it. Physically, I felt pretty good after the race but then jumped in a
car to dash to Wembley to see the FA Cup semi-final. I don’t think 90 minutes
in a car is recommended as a post-run recovery. We arrived at the stadium 4
minutes before kick-off and despite my son's protestations I thought we should
jog to our seat...doh! Running up the many steps, I hurt my knee! The
game though was wonderful and I spent the next 90 minutes jumping up and down
and dancing quite a few jigs…. What a special day that was. And, as
you can imagine, today I’m paying for it. Ouch. But two ‘marathons’
in a week – thank you to everyone who has helped. If I can do it, you
can!
Two marathons completed in a few days!….The
first was Manet. After around 15 months of work, the film was shown in
cinemas around the world on Thursday 11th April. 30 countries,
1000 screens. Fantastic. The reviews have been supportive and included
full pages in the Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Toronto Star, and
more. One or two sniffed that it’s better to go to the exhibition
to which I reply: OF COURSE! We encourage everyone to go to the gallery
or any gallery in fact. But 99.9% of the world’s population couldn’t get
to the Royal Academy. It’s a strangely arrogant criticism really, especially
from a London-based critic or blogger. I was at a screening in Brighton
and the audience loved the film – and some expressed that they simply could
not, for reasons of time, cost and mobility, get to the show. We don’t
yet know the worldwide attendance or reaction but it will take time to build
the ‘brand’ and we’re already deep into the next two films – on Munch and
Vermeer. The first of these marathons is over though and we just have to
shower ourselves down and crack on with the next. Actually I
took that very literally on Sunday (three days after the Manet screening) when
I completed my first ever marathon. I’d trained quite well up until February
but March was much less consistent with so much travel and work. Overall, I’d
done a lot of 5-10 mile runs but I'd only run 17 miles and 20 miles once each
before so this was entering the world of the unknown... It took me Friday and
Saturday to prepare my stuff – gels, music, right running gear, etc. I
had to ‘load up on carbs’ which just meant stuffing my face (easily done!) and
by 9am on Sunday morning, I was one of 9000+ runners in Brighton’s Preston
Park. I wasn’t afraid of the distance but you never know how your body is going
to feel. Anyway, at the gun, it was so packed everything was very slow
and crowded but after two or three miles, I got into a nice rhythm. The sun
didn’t exactly shine (and the wind certainly blew) but it was lovely running in
my lovely city. I kept to a noticeably slower pace than I run
half-marathons and found it OK, indeed fun, for the first 18 miles but then it
started to get harder. With me, it was my calves (which I’d hurt two
weeks previously running without a warm-up or proper sleep &
nutrition). From 18 to 22 miles, I could feel they were getting tired. By
22 miles, I was having to grit my teeth and keep my head down. People were
cramping up all around me and stopping and I just didn’t want that to happen to
me. Luckily I managed to keep running and just beat my target of cracking 4
hours by doing it in 3 hours 58'. It was - as everyone had told me - super fun
with all the crowds of Brighton out on the streets, kids handing out
jellybabies alongside musical bands and groups of drummers, etc. For me the
most genuinely moving thing was the messages of support from friends and
acquaintances - as well as the super donations we've had for Mir’s teacher
(we're a third of the way towards our target at justgiving/PhilGrabsky).
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