An unplanned day of rest yesterday – thunderstorms and general life stuff slightly got in the way. This meant today had to be a longish run, so I decided upon the usual 10km route from home (ish) to my coffee stop.
It was warm but windy when I left and I was to take my usual route via Mill Lane. Just on exiting Mill Lane, I noticed another alien direction sign, wow this is so close to home, they could be getting nearer – this is somewhat worrying. Oh and to add insult to injury, there’s another sign (on a tree) in yellow informing the aliens that Lovers’ Lane is in a bad way…
Donna Summer started her orgasmic sensation Love to Love You Baby, an apt tune for this venue. Last night’s love detritus being collected by the local piadineria man, cleaning up for his lunchtime trade today, no doubt. I did my usual mini-loop around Villa Bali and on my way I thought I saw Albino and Anouska, except oddly enough Albino had the walking stick. Ah no, I got that wrong, it’s a couple with Nordic walking poles. I overtook them briskly, thinking that the aliens might pick on the slightly slower folk. I ran towards the hill that kills, all was quiet and nice and shady.
Down towards the bendy, scary road and I saw a sinister looking cyclist in the distance. A young guy, he was wearing skin tight cycling kit in black and orange with alien style wraparound sunglasses. The portents are adding up, I better get a move on and up my pace to avoid capture. Except that kind of pace increase was harder to achieve as it’s quite warm today. I pootled through Royston Vasey and decided I didn’t need a water top up – fewer stops equals fewer to chances to be abducted. At the 6km mark I swapped roadsides, balancing the need for shade with likelihood of being run over as I’m running in the same direction as the traffic. I got overtaken by 5 or 6 vehicles in quick succession, all of which were a bit too close for comfort; I swap back to the sunny side of the road again, as it’s way too scary to run with my back to the traffic.
I aim for the fish shop, and this puddle of a sweaty runner enters to make my order. I am standing amongst, if not exactly smartly dressed then, non-sweating and looking cool folk. I pay, make my excuses, and hurry out to avoid the embarrassment of leaving a sweaty puddle behind me.
I make my way to Bin Lane where a nonno and his grandchildren are doing the recycling run. His grandson is wearing a face mask and big rubber gloves – a slightly alien look for a little boy. As ever, there’s a swarm of flies near the bins – and to be honest it’s a toss-up whether it’s the bin or me that they like most. I gather my own mini fly cloud, just like Pig-Pen in the Snoopy cartoons and continue towards the cafe.
Me and my fly buddies continue onto the All Roads Lead To Rome road, and my pace such as it was, tempers a little, not least because there are two humungous lorry tractor things coming towards me. I take sanctuary in someone’s driveway and slow down even more. In the distance I can see Mr JCR. Job done – just over 10km, I’d avoided alien encounters, tractor encounters and I managed not to swallow any flies, despite having my very own personal convoy.
Playlist
I’m So Excited – The Pointer Sisters
Hot Stuff, and Love To Love You Baby – Donna Summer
Ain’t Nobody – Rufus and Chaka Khan
Young Hearts Run Free – Candi Staton
Jump – The Pointer Sisters
He’s The Greatest Dancer – Sister Sledge
Don’t Leave Me This Way – Thelma Houston
What’s Love Got To Do With It – Tina Turner
Forget Me Nots – Patrice Rushen
Ring My Bell – Anita Ward
I’m Every Woman – Chaka Khan and Lew Hahn
Knock On Wood – Amii Stewart
Boogie Oogie Oogie – A Taste Of Honey
Let’s Hear It For The Boy – Deniece Williams
Automatic – The Pointer Sisters
Car Wash – Rose Royce
Street Life – Randy Crawford
Lady Marmalade – Patti LaBelle
I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston
Respect – Aretha
Stats
Distance 10.38km
Time 1:11:10
Average Pace 6:51 (mins/km)
Elevation Gain 43 metres
Alzheimer’s Challenge
Kms Run 1244.91
Kms To Do 773.09
