Tag: billy

Janathon Day 6

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 6 Comments

Sunday, the home of the long run, and an early start so that I have plenty of time for the scary pile of marking that needs doing. Although as I write this – 1 o'clock in the afternoon – the pile of marking is still there, well actually I moved it into the garage so that I could no longer hear it.

This morning's run was like a scene from James Herbert's 'The Fog'…

On a 'normal' Sunday without the pressure of Janathon I would have probably put in 8 or 9 miles, but with 25 days left I decided to take it slightly easier as tomorrow will not be a 'rest' day. So a gentle 5-miler was the result. Actually saw a few runners about this morning, which makes a change. Passed a group of ladies doing some sort of run/walk activity, clearly a new year resolution in action. Followed by a fella running at around 100mph, clearly some sort of bionic android alien sent down from a distant planet to make me look bad.

Made time to stop off at the ponds so that Billy Boy could have a dip, also gives me ANOTHER opportunity to play with the fantastic 'Halftone' app I discovered….

Today's mileage = 5.55

Janathon mileage after 6 days = 28.17

Taking the lead from Andrea and her musical related posts, today is my response to the miserable old gits that don't reply to my 'Good Morning!' as I run past: Two-Fingers!

 

Janathon Day 3

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 9 Comments

Today was always going to be the toughest day so far, first day back at school after the Christmas Holiday plus the dark evenings, doesn’t make for a motivated runner. But after a very long day I ventured to the woods with the dog for a spot of running in the dark. I’m starting to get use to running at the night. I’m no longer terrified, although I never turn and look behind just in case I am being followed by an axe wielding maniac or a horde of zombies. Although getting out the car at a pitch black woods is never particularly inviting….

In an attempt to keep me on track to bettering last year’s Janathon I managed a couple of laps of the woods totalling 4.74 miles. Although the forester must have heard about the Rat Race Dirty Weekend as he threw a few obstacles at me: lots of mud, fallen trees and temporary fences.

Today’s mileage = 4.74

Janathon mileage = 13.73

Number of people seen = 0

Every day’s a school day…..

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

They say that ‘every day’s a school day’ and today was exactly that. Forgetting that I am a teacher, and that every day IS in fact a school day, I have done TWO things I have never done before.

Scary

Earlier on tonight I ran around the woods in the dark for the first time ever. And let me just say now, despite being a machotough man, it was scary.

During the winter with the dark and cold nights, the walking of the dog becomes more and more of a chore. So a week or so ago I purchased a head torch with the idea that when I go running of an evening I would go round the woods and that way the dog can join me.

And so to tonight’s run……

It was really, really dark and really, really scary.

With the head torch on I could at least see where I was going, but the thing was it made the whole experience 100 times more scary. The shadows it casts freak you out, the trees become strange moving figures, the sounds in the woods zombies tracking you, the constant feeling of being watched and the whole ‘what is round the next corner’ makes for a rather strange experience. But having said all that, I actually quite enjoyed it! I even made a short video of the experience….

Origami Ghost

Another first for today is today’s origami attempt. To keep with the whole scary theme we’ve got going tonight, I have created a ghost….

What a day!

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

A long day, piglet and cults.

Today was a very long and stressful day. It has felt like everything has been against me:

  • I have a stack of marking that, despite my best efforts, does not seem to be going down.
  • I was not really ‘feeling it’ today.
  • The kids have been slightly crazy today. Even my ‘lovely’ Y11s were also not really ‘feeling it’ either. Even a spontaneous bit of Zumba in the classroom failed to shift the negative feeling that was banging around.
  • iPad has less that 4% battery life left – Apple make the shortest ever charging cable in the history of the world so that it is impossible to work and charge it.
  • I made an origami piglet that ‘apparently’ looks more like a rhino (see below).
  • I’ve got work to do but can’t be bothered.
  • The paper is rectangle and not square which is a problem for an origami master like myself.
  • The dog thinks I am mean all because he is a big girl and is stressing out about the fireworks.
  • Blogsy, the app I usually use for posting blogs, has decided that it wants to mess me around as well.
  • All in all I am feeling very sorry for myself.

 

I also found out today that my sister lives in a strange town that offers sacrifices to their God in the form of rather bizarre bonfire Guys. Lance Armstrong was this year’s sacrifice, just ahead of Jimmy Savile and George Osbourne. My sister took part in last night’s procession through the streets of Edenbridge before Reverend Bonfire helped conduct some sort of mass cult prayer session before the effigy was lit to cries of “burn him, burn him!”.

I will be keeping a close eye on my sister’s behaviour in future, although the giant Wicker Man she has erected in her garden is causing some concern.

And so to Day 5 of November’s Challenge to produce one piece of origami per day. Continuing the recent animal theme, a piglet is today’s offering….

Here is Billy hiding like a girl in the cupboard because of the fireworks….

In an attempt to lighten my mood I resorted to the genius of Terry Hall, in his guise of lead singer of Fun Boy Three, that didn’t work either…..

Birthday Wishes and Muddy Running

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Yesterday was my most favourite niece's 1st Birthday and to celebrate we made the trip to Kent to spend the day with her. Firstly, let me just say that since the birth of Grace my sister has gone slightly mad. And considering she is once again pregnant things are only going to get worse. On arrival we were forced given our own hand-made party hat to wear.

Jill had gone all out to make sure we had a great day: loads of food; birthday decorations; home-made cake; AND party games. Although I was slightly disappointed not to have won pass-the-parcel, amazingly Grace won it, what are the chances of that? Grace got some lovely presents, including her first doll named 'Baby Gracie' which she was very intrigued by. We all had a great day….

This morning the plan was to get very muddy with a run on the trails of Bourne Woods.

I had the iPhone for some pictures and had the Zombies, Run! app on the go. I had already decided on a pretty gentle run this morning and once I spotted how muddy the trails were a gentle run was the only option.

Pretty much covered most of the trails including the hilly ones, did loads of slipping and sliding, which actually reminded me of this ice-skating outing….

Billy Boy was with me this morning, so after about 4 miles we headed to the ponds so he could cool down and clean himself off a bit.

Overall a good run around the woods, loads of people out enjoying the morning, and I did indeed finish very muddy….

Same again tomorrow? Yes please!

 

Chocolate Croissants

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Bakeathon enters the home straight. Today makes nine out of a planned ten baked products.

There are not many things that I can actually say 'I really, really like', but Croissants in a can I really, really like. It is the most amazing invention…

Now I understand how this could be seen as cheating, and that I haven't actually made anything, but I did open the can….

Furthermore, once the can was opened and separate pre-prepared triangles were exposed, I had to actually place some chocolate in them before rolling them into perfectly shaped Croissants. The result was perfect Chocolate Croissants that I really, really like….

The Croissants were quickly devoured for breakfast. This was followed by a bike ride with the dog and the new fitness mad Amy…

You'll be glad to hear that the tenth and final part of Bakeathon will be something spectacular….