Tag: billy

#janathon Day 22

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 8 Comments

Janathon Day 22 

Sunday, traditionally a runner’s long run day, and today was no exception. What with the St. Valentines 30k fast approaching I needed to start increasing the mileage. Sounds slightly odd considering that I’ve run everyday for the last 21 but I’ve only been running 3-4 miles a night. I needed a good gentle long run today…..

My first issue was where to go; I wanted to take the dog and I wanted to go somewhere different from Bourne Woods. I had a couple of possibilities: Twyford Woods or Rutland Water. Decided on Twyford Woods because the dog hates sheep – Rutland Water has loads of sheep. We have been to Twyford Woods once before, although on that occasion it was a very weird experience: strange men, creepy goings-on, enough said. But surely 9am on a fresh and cloudy Sunday morning would be different.

Twyford Woods is described as an “interesting ancient woodland site”, I would have to disagree, unless you find this interesting:

The website also told me some more ‘interesting’ facts: “it was a second world war airfield, RAF North  Witham, and still retains many military artifacts”, again I had trouble finding these ‘military artifacts’, unless this is one:

However there was one ‘interesting’ piece of information that I thought would be worth having a look at, “derelict control tower”. Having arrived at the wood and discovered that no maps or information was available I went in search of said “derelict control tower”. Now call me stupid, but I didn’t think I would have much trouble finding an old world war two control tower. How wrong was I. Firstly, I did a sort of run around the edge of the airfield in an attempt to spot it, it must be quite tall right? Wrong. Spotted this, but even in the 1940s surely Britain could do better:

So a different tactic was needed. This time I began criss-crossing the runways in search of some sort of man-made structure, and found this:

Although, a ramp 3ft off the ground hardly counts as a airfield control tower, even if it was ‘derelict’. By now I was 7 or so miles into the run and decided to give up looking for a control tower in favour of a much more childish idea. The runways were massive so I began weaving across them in an attempt to make it show up on the map of run from freerunning (it didn’t work – see below). By now I had 8 miles under my belt and began heading back to car park when, the clouds parted and sun rays lite up a distant control tower, as if a sign from God…..

As I got closer I realised it was very derelict and only two stories high, I thought it might be taller:

At that point my long gone teenage boy instincts reappeared – must go inside! So I spent 5mins exploring, it would make a great film setting (Blair Witch came to mind)….

………..and of course time was spent pretending I was ‘Wing Commander Lengthorn’ on the observation platform…………’You are clear for take-off’…….’Chocks Away!.

Overall, it was an interesting morning, but I would like to leave the last word to the local vandals:

…enough said.

Summary
******
Distance: 9.41mi
Time taken: 01:25:16
Average/Max Speed : 6.62/8.39 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:09:04/00:07:09
Calories: 1088

Total janathon mileage after day 22 = 85.95 miles

…..jokeathon…in a RAF style…

Q: How do you know you are talking to an RAF pilot?

A: After 2 hours he will say, “Anyway that’s enough about me, tell me about yourself”.

#janathon Day 21

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 6 Comments

Janathon Day 21 (10 days to go)

This morning’s run was a lovely gentle run around Bourne Woods, well it was lovely as long as you ignored the drizzle. The plan today was just a gentle dog jog – and the way my legs were aching this morning I had no intention of changing it. Tomorrow’s run will be a long one.

Dog walkers passed = loads

Horses passed = 2

Horses passed that dog ignored = 2 (janathon must be getting to the dog as well because normally he goes crazy when he sees horses)

Car accidents that involved lamp-posts = 1

Summary
******
Distance: 2.56mi
Time taken: 00:21:34
Average/Max Speed : 7.11/8.60 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:26/00:06:58
Calories: 302

Total janathon mileage after day 21 = 76.53 miles

….jokeathon….

Q. Did you hear about the guy who lost his left arm and leg in a car crash?
A. He’s all right now.

Janathon Causes Madness

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 7 Comments

It has been reported that Janathon, the brainchild of @jogblog, has been causing strange behaviour across the country. Janathon participants have reportedly been starting to ‘lose their marbles’.

One such participant, @phillengthorn, was witnessed running in the rain. He was seen sitting in his car during a heavy storm. An onlooker said, “I thought he was waiting for the rain to ease, but after only a couple of minutes he exited the car and began running round the woods”.  The witness, who wants to remain anonymous, went on to say, “this man must be crazy – it was tipping down!” We have since spoken to @phillengthorn’s neighbours, Mr and Mrs Arguetoomuch who said, “we thought there was something strange about him….but didn’t realise it had got this bad – running everyday in January seems a crazy thing to do!” They went on to say, “he never runs in the rain – something is seriously wrong!”

Reports have been coming in from all over the country of janathon participants behaving abnormally and been seen running everyday since 1st January. Furthermore,  people have been heard saying, “it’s becoming a habit,” and “I’ll miss the routine of it” – clearly these people have lost all sense of reality and need help.

Janathon participants are required to jog, log and blog about their daily runs. This has lead to families being split apart by participants sitting in front of computers for hours on end to blog their latest adventures. Consequently, a new phenomenum began to sweep through the blogs….jokeathon, lyricathon, factathon…..there seems no end to the madness.  But, the last straw,  was the rumour of ‘Febathon’ that has prompted psychologists from all over the world to step in. They are advising friends and families of janathon participants to do anything in their power to stop the madness – hiding trainers has had the biggest effect.

A statement from the Police Countrywide Task Force stated, “Operation Janathon is well under way and arrests are imminent, we will not allow people to be brain-washed in this manner.” Latest reports suggest @jogblog has gone to ground.

Janathon Day 20

Summary
******
Distance: 3.24mi
Time taken: 00:28:34
Average/Max Speed : 6.81/8.67 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:49/00:06:55
Calories: 382

Total janathon mileage after day 20 = 73.98 miles

#janathon Day 14

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

Janathon Day 14 – 50 miles run!

It was freezing this morning…..

Went out early with the dog for a 30 min gentle run this morning. I’m running in a local club organised run in the morning, part of the frostbite league, although I should actually be doing a long run in preparation for next month’s 30k. I’m thinking Monday after school I’ll do a longish run. Today’s run was pretty uneventful, didn’t even have the ipod because the earphones are knackered.

The rest of the day was spent shopping for #janathon related items: new headphones, a long-sleeved running top, gloves and some nice running socks. So I’m now all prepared for some winter running.

Summary
******
Distance: 3.51mi
Time taken: 00:32:02
Average/Max Speed : 6.58/7.91 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:09:07/00:07:35
Calories: 411

Total janathon mileage after day 14 = 50.99 miles

#janathon….

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

#janathon Day 13

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Janathon Day 13

Didn’t get round to today’s run until quite late, for several reasons:

  • Stayed late at work to finish some bits and pieces.
  • Mum visiting for the weekend.
  • Spag Bol for dinner.
So when I did finally get out it was a nice steady run with the dog, pretty uneventful apart from the fella driving his car without bothering to indicate who nearly ran me over. Stupid @#!**’# **@##! !@##!
I completed a couple of laps of the estate – half the lap is in bright light, the other in pitch black – so it makes for a pretty interesting time.
Dog walkers passed = 2
Amount of times I nearly broke my ankle because of the uneven surface and extreme dark = millions
Ridiculous car drivers encountered = 1
Summary

******
Distance: 3.32mi
Time taken: 00:29:36
Average/Max Speed : 6.72/8.30 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:56/00:07:13
Calories: 383

Total mileage after day 13 = 47.48 miles

No #jokeathon today – yesterdays should keep me in credit! Although I will give you a #factathon……

Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown farther if it is thrown west.

#janathon Day 8

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 7 Comments

Janathon Day 8

Firstly, being a teacher I normally plan lessons in my head during long runs, but since the start of janathon I have found that I am planning the daily blog!

No pictures in today’s blog – took the ipod instead. From reading other blogs (which I’m loving) it would seem that the #janathon blogs seem to be expanding all the time, we’ve moved from weather reports to #jokeathon and now we seem to be moving into music choices. Unlike Garry, who had the company of Madness today, I went for Frank Turner. That was until about 3 miles into the run when my headphones started playing up, finally finishing with a very faint noise coming out of the right side only!

Following on from a previous blog post where @runningman856 asked what I was planning to do with janathon. This got me thinking….and last night I signed up to run the Stamford St. Valentines 30k.

It was not until this morning’s run that I really began to think about it. In 2006 I completed the London Marathon so I’m not unaccustomed to doing the training and running long distances. Although, during the first week of janathon I’ve run as many miles as I did training for the marathon, I’ve done lots of 3 and 4 mile runs so far. So I’ve decided to increase mileage on a Sunday, starting today, and after seeing that @lilbee67 completed 10k this morning, I was spurred on….

Took the dog (Billy) and completed just over 6 miles around the fields of Bourne/Toft/Northorpe (2 laps). A nice run, plenty of people/dogs/horses about. The run felt pretty good. After a long run I would normally follow this with a rest day. Although, I am intent on running every day of January, so I’ll be stealing the idea of @AndyRoss75, who stole the idea from someone else, and having a go at a fast one mile.

Runners passed = none

Cyclists passed = 1

Walkers passed = loads

Horses avoided (Billy doesn’t like horses) = 3

Summary
******
Distance: 6.12mi
Time taken: 00:51:03
Average/Max Speed : 7.19/9.00 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:21/00:06:39
Calories: 724

Total Janathon mileage after day 8 = 30.41 miles

Not to forget #jokeathon….

A blonde goes out for a run. She comes to a river and cannot see a bridge anywhere nearby. She spots another blonde on the opposite bank. “Yoohoo!” she shouts, “How can I get to the other side?” The second blonde looks up the river, then down the river then shouts back, “You’re already on the other side!”