The loneliness of the long distance runner

Another short morning run snatched before work. I must take the chance whilst I can and build up the mileage.

There was a sea mist today - very atmospheric .

I ran along the front to return home via the Wirral Way. There was nobody around this morning on the Wirral Way. Where was everyone ? I'm not complaining. It was great to have the path to myself.

The hedges had been cut recently which was good as it can tend to feel a little bit oppressive especially on days like today.

At one point up ahead to my surprise was what appeared to be rays of sunshine cutting through the mist onto the path. It was however an illusion ( yes I have started seeing things ) and was simply leaves that were so fluorescent in colour that they gave the illusion of sunlight where they had fallen. A strange moment indeed.

It is still strange to run in the morning before work. Until now I have got straight into the car and joined the rush hour. Overall the experiment seems to be working. I am running during the light and it is far more pleasurable to be able to take in the surroundings. The limitation will be time. I have limited myself to half an hour runs at the moment but will try for something longer tomorrow. May even take my hydration system out for an airing.

A historic day

This morning we woke up to the news of a new US president.

Inspired by Obama I thought it was time for CHANGE and to run in a more aggressive way - race mode again.

Same run as Monday. Cornflakes substituted for Cheerios. Time almost 2 mins 30 faster for a 5 km and back to 8 minute 17 pace. Legs shaky afterwards and sweat pouring off me.

A good session and now well south of Stoke and approaching Stafford and then the M6 Toll.

We can do it.

God Bless Parkgate.

Avoiding the Raptors

Running in the evening was clearly not going to work for me...just grim. I also find myself stuck in traffic every morning on the way to work. The obvious solution for me is to try and run in the morning and go in a bit later and by doing so change my working hours slightly to work until later. A win win situation ? We will see.

There are "issues" though.

I do tend to like my bed in the morning (see bear pictures down the page to get the idea). I also am a bit delicate and vulnerable once I do get up. A bowl of cheerios is about all I can usually manage to eat. The thought of anything heavier in the morning makes me want to retch at that time of day. I have retched on toothpaste for goodness sake ! Yes I am as delicate as they come in the morning. As delicate as a butterfly.



Could this delicate thing risk going out in the morning ?

My new routine got off to a "great" start with me almost falling over whilst doing my stretches. Is one bowl of cheerios really going to do it for me ? The vultures will be waiting after today's performance.

However, I can't complain about today overall. This was again a beautiful crisp sunny morning and great to be active !

Another 5.5 kms under my belt and I am now running for Salina.<

Trick or Treat ?

We are visiting my mother-in-law, Renate at the moment and so I had the opportunity to run in fairly unfamiliar surroundings in "leafy" Surrey. A pretty but much more densely populated part of the country within an easy commute of London.

I always plan my run before I set off which involves mapping out the distance on a google style map. I can then accurately log my progress on the map to Madrid. At home planning my run is quite straight forward as there are relatively few roads and I am fairly familiar with how places link together. Planning a simple route here was a lot more involved as there are roads crisscrossing my google map everywhere. With this in mind and to avoid getting completely lost I made a simple loop following the Basingstoke canal and one main road.

I had just 1 more km to run for my mother-in-law so it seemed entirely appropriate to run it here. I didn't give her the pleasure of seeing me suffer but she did kindly wash my kit afterwards and so would have got a sense of the torture I put myself through from just the smell !

My run was to be around 8 miles in distance. A little less than last Saturday. I decided for once to listen to my body as my mobility last Saturday after my 11 mile run left a lot to be desired.

The run along the canal was very scenic with the trees full of leaves of varying shades of green, brown and gold. There was a lovely blue sky and this contrasted with the crispness of the air. I love Winter/Autumn days like this they are such a bonus after all the grey.

I'm sorry to say though that despite the conditions my body did not rise to the challenge. Plod plod plod. None of those good moments today when you feel you are moving quickly and effortlessly.

The bonus of my run though was that my wife joined me 4 miles into the run for a mile or so. That was nice. She has hopes of running more seriously in the future too but seems to be plagued with back injuries.

I was surprised by how quiet the towpath was. It is quite a strange sensation running along a ribbon of quiet countryside only to find you have passed underneath the often congested M25 motorway encircling London.

We once saw a Kingfisher from the very same path. However, it was not to be today. The only wildlife was ducks and noisy ones at that. One duck in particular gave me a bit of a fright when I was daydreaming about food. It must have known that "le canard" served in its own "jus" is one of my favourite dishes. The French have discovered a way of squeezing a whole duck into a tin barely larger than a plate. Delicious.

On arriving "home" I rang the doorbell and wobbled in. I am only a month into my serious running but I do have some concerns about my form over the last week or so. I must improve.

I want to run Madrid with my head held high in style with senoritas cheering me all the way. Well we can always dream can't we ?

Cold

Snow today. What happened to Autumn ? It seems that the weather is becoming as chaotic as the economy.
It wasn't easy dragging myself out tonight. My first run in the dark was to be at a temperature of 1 degree celsius. I was shocked to see blizzard conditions out of my office window for a spell this afternoon and this is a place which rarely sees the white stuff. On the positive side at least the snow did not stick and the insect swallowing problems are now going to be a distant memory. Thank goodness I ordered warmer kit when I did.

A short run of four miles or so tonight along busy, well lit roads with pavements. Not my cup of tea at all. I took it easy as the pavements are full of wet leaves and quite treacherous. I think I have now started the long Winter grind.
My main aim over the Winter is to stay fit and injury free and hopefully get a half-marathon under my belt in the New Year. This is not terribly compatible with my usual instincts of basically staying cosy and warm over the Winter.
I expect as the Winter progresses my kit will become less practical and more and more comforting. If I can run with a hydration system attached to a belt is there anything to stop me replacing this with a hot water bottle ? Could I put fur lining inside my trainers ?

Lovely cosy thoughts.

Today is a good day to die

My plan today was to step up the distance as I now have a hydration system on board and much more appropriate kit for Autumn. I'll talk about the hydration system I carried on another entry but it was a great help overall.

I started with a long slow climb out of Neston and up Hinderton Road. This is a 200 foot steady climb away from the coast in around 2 miles of running. It is non relenting but not too steep. I usually drive this way in the morning and always thought it looked quite challenging. I felt quite "ploddy" and was overtaken by another runner...but I reached the top of the rise in one piece and I certainly wasn't going to use much of my energy knowing I had another 9 miles to go.

Shortly afterwards I was out into the countryside and faced with my first obstacle. A lorry was dropping off a skip and took up the whole of the narrow lane I was running up. I made sure the driver had seen me. A heavy skip being lowered onto me would not leave me in the best sort of shape ! The lane was little more than a dirt track and had been churned up by farm vehicles and so I had to take care.

Fortunately, it was not long before I was onto a tarmac road again and able to relax again. Running felt very natural today. It really took me back to my late teens. Running down quiet roads and having the time to observe the changing landscape does have a lot of appeal to it. Probably why I fell in love with running the first time. It has never really been about speed for me. It is about distance. The endurance. The slog.

Shortly afterwards I passed some large kennels on the left. My Goodness I had visions of a scene on the Simpsons when Mr. Burns says "release the hounds". There were a lot of excitable dogs in there ... a LOT. I picked up my pace slightly just in case. Pathetic isn't it. I mean was it likely that I could outrun a pack of dogs ? I always think of who I am currently running for in my roll of honour (sponsors) so I couldn't help taking pleasure in the thought of them chasing my mother-in-law (sorry Oma !).

Tranquillity returned shortly afterwards as I passed the Wheatsheaf Pub in Raby at the 5k mark certainly a favourite of mine. Oh to fill my hydration system with a fine draft cask ale ! Beer is meant to be very good for runners as it is full of minerals that are lost through sweat. I might reverse the route and pop into the pub one day. A beer fuelled last three miles home would be interesting.

My legs were now fully recovered from the initial plod up the hill and there was not much more to report on my run down towards Hooton.

Hooton station is the beginning of the Wirral Way and at the 10k mark for this particular run. I grabbed the bagpipe that is my running hydration system and drank greedily. How athletes can actually drink from these things when running God only knows.

Just 7.5 kms to go and my legs were still feeling solid. I now had the Wirral Way to deal with.
I always plan my runs so I have little route finding when I know I will be tired. In many respects it feels like you are at high altitude. My brain is just switched off and focussed on my legs by this stage.

There were so many people on the Wirral Way and the exchange of pleasantries such as the "Good mornings", "Hi's" etc. etc. are almost as tiring as the run. As I am going to be running in Madrid perhaps "Ola" would be more appropriate. Nah what could be better than the Klingon greeting "Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam" which means "today is a good day to die".

Click here:

Heghlu%27meH.au

(I assure the reader that I am not a Trekkie)

I finally arrived home in 1 hour 47 mins and had covered 10.9 miles or 17.5 km. Now we're cooking with gas ! Slow I know but totally intentional.

My legs are certainly feeling it ...

Look at me !

When I go to bed each night especially at the weekend I can still hear our two year old son saying the words "look... look at me". Well tonight it was time to look at me. My Autumn running gear has arrived which included loads of high visibility items. A running jacket, two pairs of tracksters, two long sleeved running tops and a high visibility bib. I was really impressed with my purchases as I felt I hadn't spent loads.

Everything is so hi-tech these days.

This is what I wore tonight and I quote directly from the catalogue:

"A Day Glo long sleeve top with...wait for it...fast moisture transportation"

It begs the question as to where my moisture is being transported to. What moisture is it referring to ? Do they mean my sweat ? Transportation almost sounds as though lorry loads of the stuff are being carted away. Not me - I hardly sweat at all. As I keep reminding my wife I went around the tropical zone biosphere at the Eden project wearing a fleece and not a bead of sweat appeared. (I can see her eyebrows lifting as she reads this.) I suspect Madrid might be different.

I also wore my moisture wicking running pant with stirrups and inner key pocket. Crikey, I didn't know there was an inner key pocket ! I'm glad I read that again now. It must be really discreet. Hope the moisture doesn't all go into that pocket or the key will be washed out.

Well joking apart it was a pleasure wearing the kit and it certainly did feel nice and much warmer than a t-shirt and shorts...and probably a lot safer too.

Ran a nice steady 7 kms or so (4.4 miles) this evening and have now reached Knutsford on my virtual map. I was pleased as I had enough left in my legs to sprint the last bit. I hope none of the neighbours were watching !!