kjp

Yesterday morning I went over to J's (pianist) place to practice Malcolm Arnold Sonatina - a piece that I'm very slowly working on. I've heard a recording of it, but it was the first time I've played it with piano. Fitting it together is a different matter to practicing it. I almost needed to ignore the piano in some sections because of the way that the clarinet and piano parts are independent. I also need to practice the third movement with a metronome: we weren’t gelling as much as we should have: in part because I was (and have been) rushing the triplets – getting to the next bar slightly ahead of the piano, so that we were never accurately in time with each other.

These days I seem to be getting old – physically. Hmmm. In other news I’m planning my birthday happenings: probably just a meal out in the evening. Maybe BBQ / afternoon tea at my place for those that can’t make the dinner.

Last night was pretty good: I made some Indian food: the lamb dish I thought was particularly yummy: it’s good fun to make – grinding up spices: a bit different.

So in three weeks time I *might* be a bit stupid – of the half marathon variety. I’m particularly unfit at the moment… Wednesday I was struggling after 2.5 kms. Three weeks is quite a short time to get ready for a 20km run. Walking it would not be a problem for me at all – 20km is nothing for a walk. But jogging is another matter. There’s a fine line between a stunt just for fun and stupidity… Not sure if I'll do it or not yet: stay tuned. The jog on Wednesday was a run: 4m30s per kilometre (quite fast). On two subsequent jogs I was running at a bit over 5mins per kilometre – a more realistic pace. Run on Wednesday was first in ages – hence the too high speed (unsteady). I’ll start to length the runs, but try to slow down a bit: around 6mins per km (10km/hr).