The Old Nag

What do you do with an aging draught animal that is nearing the end of its useful life? Do you retire it gracefully with unlimited supplies of hay or do you work it into the ground mercilessly grinding out the last drops of its usefulness before you sell it for glue?

Definitely the latter when you need runners for the first Southern Mens League meet of the year. In truth I did volunteer to help out wherever I could - I just wasn't expecting to be selected for the 800m, 400m and 400m relay in one day!

I'm looking forward to the meet, but am having a few concerns about the state of my body by the end of the day. Having perused the results from last year's meets it looks like the standard can vary wildly - from pretty shit to slightly above average. It's probably no coincidence that that is the zone in which I currently reside, so maybe it's a good match.

In the interest of maximising team points I have resolved to get the best position possible in the 800m (first race on the card) without killing my prospects in the following races. I'm glad to see the meet is at Watford again, which is becoming like home territory and is one of the few places in Britain which seems relatively immune to wind.