Category: Blog

My general wonderings…

Running shoes….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

I have been thinking about getting some new running shoes for a while. My last pair of running shoes, Adidas Litestrike EVA, have done me well. Bought them over a year ago and in that time they have covered a fair few miles. I'm not entirely sure how often you should replace your running shoes…300 miles….500 miles? Then I remembered seeing this in Runner's World magazine asking how long your trainers usually last….

So a couple of weeks ago I began checking out new trainers. I looked online, browsed sports shops and generally faffed about. I am very good at faffing. The problem is I don't particularly like to spend a lot of money on trainers. I know trainers are the only real expense when it comes to running, but even so, over £100 for a pair??

Another thing about hunting for new running shoes are the names. It is amazing what the manufacturers are calling their shoes, a quick browse through the first dozen pages of a running magazine: New Balance 880v3; Mizuno U4ic; Brooks Ghost 6; and Nike Lunareclipse+ 3. I'm not fussed what they are called, although I would be very happy with a pair of trainers called Lunareclipse+ 3! How cool would that be?

So what was I looking for?

  • Price – around £40-45
  • Colour – wasn't particularly bothered, apart from black, I think black trainers look ridiculous
  • Weight – well I'd like a pair of the really cool very light trainers that cost £100s – but I knew I'd probably settle for something reasonably light, yet supportive.

So when out shopping yesterday, in Ely of all places, I popped into Paul Day's Sports. It was only a small, independent shop so wasn't expecting too much. In fact, they only had half a dozen running shoes to choose from. I began the long process of looking, picking up, turning over, weighing up, trying on, etc. After a fruitless ten minutes, and as I was about to leave, I looked down on the bottom shelf. There in front of me was the most perfect looking pair of trainers: Nike Flex 2012 Run iD Men's Running Shoes in Red. I looked at the price: £40. I weighed them up: reasonably light. I tried them on: perfect.

I bought them!

This morning was an easy 4 mile run…..no issues with trainers….in fact I ran like the wind!

 

Day 13 #juneathon ….but why?

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 9 Comments

Come September, and the start of the new academic year, our school is changing the structure of the school day. We have new start and finish times, longer lessons and Wednesday afternoon students will be able to choose an 'elective'. As well as a couple of other things I decided to offer a running club.

The students are in the process of choosing 'electives' for next year. Today, one of my Y9s was asking me for details of the running club, I couldn't really help with any details because I don't actually know them myself. But whilst chatting the conversation turned to our experiences of running. This lad is very keen on running and whilst talking, the topic of Juneathon came up. When I explained to him what Juneathon is all about he looked slightly surprised and said, “What? You actually run every day of the month?” I tried to explain to him that I do and he seemed reasonably happy with my answer. However, a bit later in the lesson, the subject had obviously been playing on his mind, he said, “You run every day? Isn't that bad for you? Shouldn't you give your body a chance to recover?” I tried to explain to him that some runs are short, some runs are long, some fast and some slow, and that as long as you listen to your body it should all be ok.

Which brings me to the purpose of tonight's post….why am I actually taking part in Juneathon?

  • Exercise. Seems obvious I know, I do plenty of running without Juneathon, or Janathon for that matter, but I suppose by taking part in these activities it actual forces me to keep exercising throughout the year.
  • Challenge. I like a challenge: 2012 was proof of that, setting myself something different to do every month; before that in 2011 it was project365; even this year I am taking part in '1 second every day'. I like the challenge of completing something, Juneathon is great for that, because when you get 25 days into the month it all starts to become a bit of a struggle.
  • Music. I love listening to all kinds of music. Juneathon gives me the chance to download some tracks onto the phone, get out of the house, and enjoy an hour or so of listening to everything and anything with no distractions.
  • Thinking. It gives you a chance to just think….and I think we all need that.
  • Blogging. I've been blogging since December 2010 – so Juneathon is just an excuse to do more of that.

Today's mileage = 6.29

Total Juneathon mileage = 65.44

Mojo level = very high

 

Juneathon Day 3 plus Billy Bragg

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

Last night….

The fantastic Billy Bragg, The Bard of Barking, at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Great gig, great venue…overall a great night. I did manage to take a few pictures before the grumpy old bag told me not to – apparently pictures are not allowed in the home of Shakespeare. I'm not entirely sure what they thought I was going to do with pictures….sell them for £millions?

NB. The empty seats you can see behind Billy were the only empty seats in the theatre.

Today….

Day 3 of Juneathon. This was intended to be a nice gentle couple of miles around the woods with the dog, but because of this…..

….it ended up as over 5 miles because a run to the ponds was required to let the boy wash himself off.

Today's mileage = 5.24

Total Juneathon mileage = 14.05

Mojo level = very high (still?)

 

Whizzing across London in a helicopter!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

Today was quite a day! We have reached about half-way through Mum's never-ending 70th Birthday celebrations….and today a helicopter ride over London. We've always said that London is the best city in the world, and Mum has certainly seen a few, but today just backs up that statement.

Arriving at Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey, we were greeted by the friendly staff of EBG Helicopters, including Nick, our pilot for today. After a quick coffee and identification checks, including a safety briefing of: “don't stand on the rail thingys at the bottom”, we were off!

Once airborne the champagne was poured – it had been open prior to entering the helicopter as I'd imagine you don't really want a cork bouncing around in the cockpit. Travelling at 1200ft and 130mph we reached London in 9mins and were treated to some truly amazing sights. We followed the route of The Thames from Fulham and turned for home at Greenwich. Along the way we whizzed past various landmarks: Hampton Court, Wimbledon, Wembley, London Eye, Westminster, The Shard, The Gherkin, Canary Wharf and many many more.

A number of things strike you when you are up there: the amount of green spaces in London, the closeness of everything and the fact that London is indeed a fantastic looking city.

We all had a fantastic time, especially Mum who had wanted to do this for a long time. Happy Birthday!

 

 

I must confess…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

….it has been three weeks since my last blog.

Quite a lot has happened in that time….

A trip to The Engine Shed in Lincoln to see the rather fabulous Lucy Rose. Since buying the album 'Like I Used To' I've been a fan….and when I heard she was to play Lincoln I was on it like a rat up a drainpipe.

Lucy Rose has been described as an English Suzanne Vega and been likened to Laura Marling…so what could go wrong? Nothing. The set was full of her own brand of acoustic folk/pop yet mixed with jazz-funk rhythm that cannot fail to entertain. Good gig – she's going to do well me thinks.

Next up was a trip to the ole smoke to see Frank Hamilton (again) at The Borderline. Although not the best gig of his I've been to, due in part to the big heffer standing in front of us who seemed intent on trying to step on the feet of everyone, complete with her ridiculous boyfriend who thought just because he had a big camera this gave him the right to be a complete arsehole. And what is it with girls in London and their stupidly huge handbags that that refuse to put down, they just hang around their elbows sticking them in you. Now I'm a Londoner and proud of it, but things have definitely changed.

But Frank himself was on top form, not the best set list he's every played, but he is slowly attracting more and more acclaim, I think 2013 is going to be a good year for the man.

There was also a very early, or should I say late, Christmas with my sister that I somehow remembered to blog about here.

School has been absolutely crazy: workshops, immersion days and so much exam prep that if my boys and girls don't pass I'm not sure what to do. This week we said goodbye to the Y11s…I've really enjoyed the last couple of years with my group, they've all done really well and developed into lovely young men and women over the years. I wish them all the luck for the future.

But half-term has finally arrived….a relaxing week in store with a few bits and pieces to do at home….mum's birthday party…Billy Bragg gig….and on the horizon we even have #juneathon. Oh crap!

 

It’s Christmas!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 3 Comments

It may only be May but in sunny Edenbridge it is Christmas! Very exciting!

For my sister last Christmas was a bit of a washout, due to her second child turning up on 22nd December in a rather traumatic way, therefore Christmas is taking place right now! Christmas music and the smell of turkey is filling the air.

Christmas Eve was spent in the pub, as is the tradition, although midnight mass didn't take place due to the vicar being rather unwilling to open up the church just for us. However, Santa did remember….

Jill has been busy with preparations: food, decorations, drink, she even managed to create a 'shed' for the nativity scene….

Can't wait for dinner!!!!