has far to go. So says the nursery rhyme. It is Thursday, I haven’t run for three days and I should be going far to make up for not running. Here are my excuses neatly lined up:-
Monday – legitimate rest day, and post friends’ long weekend visit recovery
Tuesday – hosting friends for a lunch – too busy prepping in the morning, too busy recovering in the afternoon
Wednesday – laziness, tiredness, and a bit of a hangover.
So Thursday was the day to go far – well 10km if I could. We’d had an appointment Thursday morning, necessitating us staying at home, and my running was delayed until after lunch, which for me (and my well known prevarication issues) was not necessarily a good thing. After a good deal of unnecessary faffing – in truth all faffing is generally unnecessary, I got out there.
Mmm, it is a bit warm, I better aim for shadier parts and so I did. This was my old running route for the C25K programme. A route of about 2.8km, and a few uppy downy bits but it was over 25 degrees, which was not helpful, but that was the reality of choosing an afternoon run. The air was hot and humid, and there is a faint smell of rotting fruit and vegetation in the lanes. The grapes in our area have been harvested, including our own and by the side of the road you can see crates of the grape waste from the presses, leading to a slight whiff of rotting fruit. That and the crunch of some dried leaves, really makes you think Autumn is here, except it is still as warm as a typical British summer.
The tourists have gone and in Lovers’ Lane there are a few locals having a picnic in the grounds of Villa Bali, and I received some greetings on my first loop round. This was about 2km in and I could tell that this wasn’t going to be a record breaker run. Nonetheless I plodded on and did the rounds of Mill Lane, The Slope of Hope and the Hill That Kills. Second time of entering Lovers’ Lane and none of the picnickers gave me a second glance, I have become part of the scenery evidently. My running pace was slowing a bit, and I have noticed that if I take too many days’ rest for some unknown reason I get a bit stiff and my limbs don’t seem to loosen up as easily.
It was however a glorious afternoon as you can see from the pic. I loved the run out, and aimed back towards the house where I spotted a lady dog walker walking her dog at the front of our house, looking very intently (the dog, not the lady). The lady had driven along the road and parked outside our home. I’m convinced the dog wanted to do a number two, and so I ran up and down outside of my house in my best passive aggressive manner. It seemed to work both on the unknown dog and lady as she scooped up her pooch and carried it home in her car. No poops to be seen. She and her dog had travelled to my house to ‘go’ and had failed…
My anti-poop control had clocked up half a kilometre and I entered into my last loop of the run. Back at Lover’s Lane, one of the picnickers said Brava as I ran past, and that was a good spur to keep on towards the 10k limit I’d set.
I ran to my newest fledgling playlist based on famous names and finished my run to John Wayne Has Big Leggy – I had slightly tired leggies, but then it was a Thursday and 10km seemed the right distance to go, and I was more successful than the non-pooping dog.
Playlist
Michael Caine – Madness
Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes
Einstein A Go-Go – Landscape
Axel F – Harold Faltermeyer
Jackie Wilson Said – Dexy’s Midnight Runners & Van Morrison
Barbie Girl – Aqua
Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz
Rock Me Amadeus – Falco
Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) – Scritti Politti
Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode
Buddy Holly – Weezer
Vincent – Don McLean
Einstein – Kelly Clarkson
Frank Sinatra – Cake
Paul McCartney – Scissor Sisters
The Ballad of Tom Jones – Space with Cerys Matthews
Marvin Gaye – Puth and Trainor
Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5
Electric Barbarella – Duran Duran
Roll Over Beethoven – ELO
Sherlock Homes – Sparks
Prince Charming – Adam and The Ants
Free Nelson Mandela – Soweto Singers
Just Like Jesse James – Cher
Geronimo – Sheppard
John Wayne Is Big Leggy – Haysi Fantayzee
Stats
Distance 10.15km
Time 1:17:07
Pace 7:35mins/km
Elevation Gain 80 metres
Alzheimer’s Challenge
Kms Run 1547.38
Kms to Run 470.62
