Category: Janathon

Slightly Strange….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 9 Comments

This morning was one of those mornings, you know the ones? The ones that seem slightly strange, the ones that seem to be full of too many coincidences.

The morning began in the usual 'holiday' way. I woke up, lay listening to the rain hitting the window for a bit, put the iPod on shuffle and began contemplating when to get today's Janathon run done. First track that came on was a Frank Hamilton track, featuring Mark Grist, called 'Animal Farm'. This is not particularly strange, I like Frank Hamilton and have quite a few of his tunes amongst the 1000s that are on the iPod.

The 'holiday' morning continued, I went downstairs, made a cuppa, grabbed the iPad and carried both upstairs with the intention of catching up on some Janathon blogs. As I jumped back in bed the iPod was playing the Pet Shop Boys. The iPod has gotten into the habit of picking the Pet Shop Boys when on shuffle, I don't understand why, but I've sort of got used to it by now, it still creeps me out a bit, but I've learned to cope. Next track up 'Animal Farm' by Frank Hamilton and featuring Mark Grist. What? The exact same track that was on earlier! Cue an investigation. Why had it picked the same track twice? Is the track on the device more than once? No. Does shuffle even repeat tracks, I thought once it had played a track that was it. I didn't dwell on this too much, it was really no big deal!

Next, did a bit of blog reading before heading off to Twitter to see what is going on in the world. After refreshing Twitter feed, I was quite surprised to see the latest Tweet was from Mark Grist, yes, the same Mark Grist that featured on 'Animal Farm'. Strange? Well, maybe a bit of a coincidence. The Tweet was referring to the fact that a YouTube video of his, 'Girls Who Read', was approaching 3 million views. Now I like Mark Grist and know of this particular poem, it's very good. I've seen him a couple of times, on his own and also as part of Dead Poets. In fact, it would be great if we got him into school to deliver some poetry workshops – must mention it to HoD. So I thought I'd click on the YouTube link and have another look at the video. Here it is….

After reading various Janathon blogs I felt enthused. I looked out the window, it was raining, but not amazingly heavy. I decided to go for it. I got changed, grabbed the dog, jumped in the car and headed for the woods. I sat in the car for a bit, the enthusiasm I had felt earlier was rapidly disappearing. After having an intense conversation with myself I was ready to go for it. The plan was: two laps of the small circuit, at a brisk pace. Recently I have been using RunKeeper whilst running. This enables me to track mileage for Janathon and also plays music via the app. You've probably guessed what is coming next. The music was on shuffle and what track should appear first? I think you guessed correctly: 'Animal Farm' by Frank Hamilton featuring Mark Grist. Now that is definitely slightly strange. I wonder what the rest of the day will bring?

Nearly forgot…..Janathon….

Total Janathon mileage after Day 4 = 15.23

Why not join in with 'Mark Grist Day'….click here to listen to 'Animal Farm', pop over to his website or do a search on YouTube.

 

A day of discoveries….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 11 Comments

My first discovery of the day was that apparently the UK is receiving some ‘exceptional’ weather. You only have to watch the news or listen to the radio and you will be given various warnings: amber, low-level flooding, high tides, severe flood warnings, red, danger to life, tidal surge and localised flooding to name but a few. Now….let me just make this clear: I sympathise with people that have been affected by the ‘exceptional’ weather. But….I am fed-up of the media storm (no pun intended) that has been created. A couple of minutes watching Sky News and I’m ready to throw the bloody TV out the window (although I remember screwing the bloody bracket on the wall so I doubt I could manage it). The language they use is ridiculous: the sea ‘battering’ the coastline; the latest storm ‘thundered’ in; the flood waters are ‘frightening’; ‘ripped’ apart; left in ‘tatters’. So I headed out the door for today’s Janathon run expecting nothing more than it being an extra bit muddy at the woods.

My second discovery…..the frightening storm that thundered in had battered the woods leaving them ripped apart and it tatters, left an amazing amount of water. This is the estate I live on*, not a house in sight….

And the discoveries kept on coming. I recently read a blog (can’t actually remember what one – I’ve read a lot recently) about some things that had clearly been lost at the woods, which included a Johnny Depp DVD. I love that people pick up stuff and hang them on trees and bushes for others to find. So I give you a selection of items, left in prominent positions, for their original owners to reclaim….

There is always a lost hat about
…and gloves, always lost…
Secateurs? Slightly stranger…
This minion was waiting to be reunited
Someone had even very kindly nailed a lost ‘Private – Please Keep Out’ sign up on a tree….

Ooooo….better actually mention what I did for day three of Janathon…

Total Janathon mileage = 11.37

* this is a lie

Lately things have changed….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 14 Comments

This was me a couple of years ago, all shiny and new:

I couldn't wait to be taken off the shelf and have someone take care of me, love me and be number one in their life. This happened. A lovely man came along, he looked at me, he tried me on and took me home. He welcomed me into his life; I was so happy. Our relationship blossomed. We went everywhere together: club training; loads of races; we sometimes even went shopping together. I was at the centre of his life; always left by the door ready to be slipped on.

I'd always known I wasn't the only one in his life, there was someone else. But it was me that he choose most of the time. Only when the weather was bad, rain and mud, was I left indoors. I was happy with the situation: I didn't want to get ruined. I was the special one. It was me that got him through Juneathon, it was me that got him PBs, it was me that never got thrown in THE cupboard.

But days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years and eventually something changed; I was no longer number one. Someone new entered his life. I was now the one that came out when it was raining. I was the one that had to endure the mud at the woods. I was the one that was thrown in THE cupboard.

This is me now, dirty, smelly and knackered:

I know my place, and whilst I'm not entirely happy with it, I know I am still loved. With the help of Janathon, we are building that relationship again. With the help of lots of rain and mud we're together more often. I've heard him talk about chucking me out, but he hasn't yet. I know he can't live without me. So for now, thanks to Janathon, I'm loving life. Bring on the rain!

Total Janathon mileage = 6.03

 

Here we go again…. #janathon

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 20 Comments

The first post of Janathon is an important one; it is this post that other Janathoners read. It is this post that other Janathoners base their judgements on. Will they read tomorrow's post? Will they come back later in the month and read again? Will they avoid it like the plague? Will they avoid commenting?

So I thought long and hard about what to post, about what this strange breed of people would want to read. I decided to approach this like I would approach a non-fiction text with my students. We would PALL it: purpose, audience, layout and language.

Purpose. What is the purpose of the blog post? Well a couple of reasons I suppose. Firstly, it is part of the rules, you have to: jog, log and blog. Secondly, and more importantly, it is to inform. People will want to know how I'm doing, won't they? But they won't want to daily read a load of pointless statistics about the latest 400 yard run round the block. So….thirdly, the post is to entertain. I should make it entertaining. A couple of jokes included? Some amazing word puns? But wait a minute….other runners will be reading it. So maybe the post should also advise? But surely I'll end up explaining stuff? Even describing what I've been upto? But then again, I'll also be persuading people to get on the Janathon train? So sorted….my post needs to: adhere to the rules, whilst informing, entertaining, advising, explaining, describing and persuading.

Audience. That's easy. Anyone and everyone. Any person in the world can stumble on 'Lengthorn's Blog'. That's no good! I need to write with a more specific audience in mind. Ok….this month the blog is mainly for other Janathoners to read. So I need to understand what a Janathoner is. Definition will help:

Janathoner. A person short of the correct amount of brain cells resulting in some ridiculous idea to run every day of the month of January.

So there you have it….my target audience are all crazy! Should make the blog post a lot easier to write.

Layout. Does it matter? Probably not. Although I think a few photos might help…Janathoners are naturally a nosey bunch. Also, avoid going on and on and on. Keep it short.

Language. We've already discovered that the majority of people reading this post are crazy. Avoid words of more than two syllables. Keep. It. Sim-ple. Employing ambitious, strenuous and gargantuan vocabulary will only result in an influx of participants requiring appointments with General Practitioners with diverse forms of cephalgia.

So I'm ready to write a blog post about Janathon day 1….but to be honest…I really can't be bothered.

 

Back in the Blogosphere…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Let's be honest: Janathon was a disappointment. Only managed to run for 22 days, barely reached the 100 mile mark and found the second half of the month very tough. Cue an endless list of excuses: cold, snow, ice, busy at work, snow, cold, ice, dark nights, busy at work and it was very cold.

Following on from the monthly projects in 2012 and Janathon I feel like a bit of a rest is needed in February.

Work has been very busy and I've been working hard to catch-up with marking in an attempt to have a pretty quiet and relaxing half-term. The hard work has paid off and I've somehow managed to do everything apart from a class set of Y10 controlled assessments that need doing. A week to recharge the batteries this week because the next term is probably going to be very busy: exam preparation, after school sessions and other general rubbish.

So the start of half-term began with beer, some vodka martini in a James Bond style, some blue stuff…

….followed by some green stuff….

In other news….I have managed to bag some tickets for a few gigs in the coming months: