I don't like Mondays

Yet another disturbed night and once again I enter my familiar confused world as the alarm rings. This is my second week of morning runs.

There is still a little stiffness remaining after the weekend run but hardly noticeable.

I have decided to run to Little Neston today for the first time. What appears initially to be a busy "suburb" of Neston has quite an interesting history. It is the site of a disused colliery and the village is mentioned in the Domesday book. More recently housing estates have been built but the area still retains some charm overall. Unfortunately I didn't pick the most picturesque route today. I had hoped to reach the waste tips at the bottom of Marshlands road but alas I didn't have enough time. That pearl awaits.

The streets were much busier than sleepy Parkgate with many children "rushing" off to school. I hope my children show a little bit more urgency when they are of that age.

Thirty minutes later I was back home after a comfortable and steady run.

The highlight of my day though has to be the loss of my blood blister. It first appeared after my 10k run in Hoylake on 25th September. I was delighted that it has finally done what it needs to do and could be harvested. I will treasure it for a few days before I throw it out and it is now sat in pride of place on my bedside table (don't tell the Mrs). My eldest seems quite keen on having it for a day or so and so I have promised (out of earshot of Helen) to pop it in his pocket later in the week. He is absolutely delighted (as I would be). Who knows it might even feature in the school nativity play this year perhaps as an injury to Joseph in his long trek to Bethlehem.

I'm lost for words (A less traditional nativity set)

Joking apart another 5 kms or so under my belt and I am nearly at Cannock. Rest day tomorrow.

A Quick raid into Gayton and beyond

It was the day of my long weekend run and I had overslept. Our two sons have a tendency to just burst in through our bedroom door...and so the day begins. After scraping myself off the ceiling and going to the toilet I went downstairs in a rather confused state. I needed coffee.

Where am I ?

Today I set a simple goal for my long run. Stay on my feet for a one and a half hour run and see how far I get. At the forty five minute mark I am to turn back for home.

And so I set off towards even posher areas heading to Gayton and Lower Heswall, the latter the haunt of Paul McCartney and Rafa Benitez (according to "her indoors"). Maybe I would bump into Paul and he would decide to sponsor me ?

Got a spare £1 Paul ?

Soon I was in the unfamiliar village of Gayton armed with my map. Funnily, the name does not derive from "Gay town" but from the old Norse "Geit-tun" meaning "goat farmstead" with a population of around 3000 or so. Well there were no goats to be seen today but the road through Gayton was certainly undulating. I was having a good workout that is for sure !

On through Gayton then to Lower Heswall and the village shops. Lower Heswall is a conservation area - one of 8000 such areas in the country so perhaps not that special after all. I ran through very carefully and made sure I caught any beads of sweat on my handkerchief just in case I damaged a pavement.

Out of the village and onto Delavor Road heading towards the Dee and for the first time (I'm embarrassed to say) I actually said "Wow" out loud when I saw the view. At this point we are close to the mouth of the Dee estuary and the view of the marsh and river and across to Wales was quite spectacular. It was probably also helped by the fact I was running downhill too !

Delavor Road is actually the road where one of my favourite authors lives. "The growth of embryonic brain tissue transplanted subcutaneously in rats" is certainly a great bedtime favourite of my boys. Evidently I was not the only admirer passing through.

There is certainly a lot of intellectual muscle in the road. Just Google it to see what I mean.

Finally I arrived at the Wirral Way and my time was soon up. 45 mins gone. I drank from my bagpipe thingy and headed home. The sun was in my eyes as I headed South and topped up my tan. Who needs sunbeds ?

Home in 1 hour 30 mins. A very stimulating run but a slow hilly one. Will do me good. And the distance covered ...nearly 9 miles. I also did a 3.5 miler yesterday but felt too tired to blog last night.

That will do me...it has been the highest mileage I have done in a week. Total covered since Monday almost 23 miles.

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.