Tag: billy

A British Summer?

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

A nice summer's walk with dog….didn't quite go to plan….

It was late afternoon, the sun was shining, it all seemed set for a nice walk with the dog in the Lincolnshire countryside. All began well, it was reasonably warm, so decided to skirt the edge of the field and head towards the woods so that Billy Boy could chase some squirrels.

The nice gentle walk soon turned into a mad dash for cover as an almighty storm came from nowhere. Finding cover in the woods seemed like the best plan, if the rain had started that quickly surely it wouldn't last that long. However, the rain grew heavier and heavier, it grew darker and darker, and staying dry became harder and harder…

It wasn't long before it became impossible to stay dry and a decision was needed as to whether to head home. I was already drenched so the ten minute walk home surely wouldn't make much difference.

I was by now deep in the woods, it was time to make my way home. It took me some time to negotiate various sodden muddy paths and fallen trees to reach the edge of the woods, which meant by the time I finally reached the fields the rain had subsided. I think the cows in the field were quite surprised to see me emerge from the woods….

By the time I had traversed the field and made it back to the ponds and the path that would take me back into town the sun had come out, although it was still raining….

We finally made it back home after nearly 2 hours, rather wet, but we made it….

Are we ever going to get a summer?

Bakewell Tart

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

July's Project rolls on…

The initial plan was Individual iced Bakewell Tarts, although this soon changed to a 'Traditional' Bakewell Tart due to time restraints.

Today we give thanks to Simon Rimmer of 'Something for the Weekend' fame, today's celebrity chef, for his Bakewell Tart recipe. Although, in a Jamie Oliver 30min meal style, I did do a spot of cutting corners. Namely I got some ready made pastry, I am a man after all!

After a few dodgy moments, the Bakewell Tart emerged from the oven a complete success….

Including some very slapdash rustic looking individual tarts….

The Bakewell Tart is being donated to the school's Strawberry Tea afternoon in aid of Cancer Research.

For the full recipe click here.

 

Juneathon Day 30

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

Today’s run a steady dog jog, 4 miles on the trails around Bourne. A pretty uneventful run, except for bumping into Shaun who was in the middle of a 17-miler! He did invite me to join him, but I’m running the Thurlby 10k tomorrow so didn’t want to go crazy!

Total mileage today = 3.95

Total Juneathon mileage after day 30 = 114.07

After ten days of Juneathon I decided to take a more relaxed approach to the whole ‘run everyday’ mantra. Due in part, to workload and Euro 2012, but also the fact that I didn’t want the added pressure – I missed out on 6 days actual running. But on a positive note: I really enjoyed the month, mileage was good (considering I dipped out on some runs), had some really great runs, read some fabulous blogs and good banter on Twitter. Well done everybody!

Juneathon 2012: a success!

Juneathon Day 28

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

The juggernaut that is Juneathon final begins to slow as we enter the last few days. Tonight’s run, taken during the first half of the footy, was again another gentle dog jog round the woods – 3 and a bit miles at a steady 9min mile pace. It also means the 100 mile total has finally been passed. Compared to Janathon the mileage is down quite a lot, although this is due to the slightly more relaxed approached.

With just two days to go, the plan is a longer run tomorrow after work, followed by a gentle recovery run on Saturday. Then Sunday brings the Thurlby 10k.

Total Juneathon mileage after day 28 = 102.72

Runners passed = 1

Deer spotted = 3

 

Juneathon Day 23

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

I do a lot of running around the woods so trail running is not unusual for me. But, after reading Ian’s blog post about his experiences of trail running I thought a different plan was in order. So today I headed off, with the dog, into the Lincolnshire unknown (slight exaggeration – I knew roughly where I was going but had never run there before). This proven to be quite an adventure…

Firstly, whilst running across a wheat field (on the public footpath that split the field) I surprised a young couple that were canoodling on a blanket, apparently  ‘hidden’ from view. Let me just say, I’ve got nothing against romantic rendezvous, but next time move away further than ten feet from a ‘public’ footpath. I could divert my eyes, the dog on the other hand wanted a closer look. Enough said.

Secondly, as we got further into the ‘run’ and began to circumvent various fields, the trails began to disappear. We found ourselves battling through 4ft high crops/weeds. I was hoping the farmer wasn’t near because I’m sure if he spotted us we would have heard, “Get off my land!” before the shotgun pellets whizzed by. We had to clamber over various obstacles and at one stage we had to ‘jump’ a ditch because I couldn’t work out how to get to civilization. In fact, we had to ignore a ‘KEEP OUT – PRIVATE WOOD’ sign to finally reach somewhere I actually knew.

As you can imagine, the run lasted slightly longer and slower than planned and feet were far from clean and dry when we finally got home. But I actually really enjoyed it! Not quite sure about Billy Boy….he’ll be aching in the morning….

Summary
******
Distance: 11.07mi
Time taken: 01:51:21
Average/Max Speed : 5.96/8.87 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:10:04/00:06:45
Calories: 1271

Total Juneathon mileage after day 23 = 86.37