I’m A Runner
Columnist and restaurant critic Giles Coren
BRASS BAND MUSIC IS GOOD FOR RUNNING – I like the theme from
The Great Escape. I listen to Radio 4 and news podcasts such as The Daily. For motivation, I like camp 1980s pop, so Cyndi Lauper, Bon Jovi and anything from Rocky.
AS A RESTAURANT CRITIC, the timing for a run is tricky. I like to have an empty stomach, so often I’ll run at 1-2pm, without eating since the night before. I’ll eat immediately after the run, and might make a smoothie with eggs, bananas, peanut butter and oat milk, but I don’t have a regime. I’ll happily eat last night’s curry.
I WEAR MY WIFE’S PINK BOBBLE HAT – but only when it’s below zero. I’ll wear nothing with sleeves and I never wear leggings. When I see men in that awful, long Lycra stuff, I think, ‘You wuss!’ Even if it’s snowing, I’ll wear a vest or T-shirt with shorts. I like to feel the cold air on me. I shop at Runners Need. I buy whatever’s on sale, so I’m always in the sh*t colours left over at the end of the season.
I HATE PEOPLE OVERTAKING ME when I run. I only started running when I was 30 – I used to sprint and play football, so I’m quite stocky. I wear as little as possible, so people can see I have a well-developed upper body – I worry that if I’m too covered up, people will think I’m fat. Also,
I’ve got lovely legs, which I want all the girls to see. I don’t want to cover them up! My model is Rocky Balboa in the first Rocky movie, this lumbering man setting off slowly.
WEARING A CHEST STRAP made me feel like a prisoner with an ankle tag. I wore one after reading your heart rate shouldn’t go above a certain level, but I hated the feeling of it round my chest. I’m happiest when I set off with nothing. I don’t believe in water – Mo Farah doesn’t take a water bottle when he runs the 10,000m. I sometimes use MapMyRun to check my pace, but running without a phone is liberating – I don’t want to be contacted.
I’VE NEVER BEEN FITTED for trainers in a running shop. They don’t know anything. I put them on and see if they’re comfy – I overpronate, so I need arch support. I used to get Asics for £40-60. I thought there was no need for decent trainers, but then I bought some that were too small, ran in them and that put me off, so I Googled ‘best running shoe’. I love my trainers now. They’re New Balance and they’re about £180, which I consider expensive.
I WOULD BE HORRIFIED to see a parkrun. Running is something you should do on your own. I don’t want anyone around when I’m running. The annoying thing about lockdown was that all the young people were running around the [Hampstead] Heath. People recognise me – I live in north London and the middle-class, media-bubble intelligentsia are the people who know who I am.
‘Running is something you should do on your own’