With trepidation I was back at the woods. Tonight's run I really enjoyed. 3 miles at a brisk 8 min/mile pace. Lovely jubbly.
Total Janathon mileage = 52.43
#janathon day 17
Tag: bourne woods
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Tonight's Janathon run took place in the woods; in the dark. I am now immune to the scary nature of running around the woods in the dark. What I'm not immune to is falling over. Tonight I fell over.
Stacked it.
Lost my footing.
Plunged.
Sprawled.
Went arse over tit.
Lost balance.
Tumbled over.
Went headlong into the floor.
Whatever way you want to say it, it happened.
I was running across some particularly uneven ground, being very careful so not to trip, but not careful enough. As I found myself falling towards the floor, I did what every brave, athletic soul would do: I went into the old SAS roll to save serious injury. This would have been fine if it had not recently rained leaving a lot of water in close vicinity. Suffice to say if anyone was watching they would have seen me doing a roly poly through a muddle puddle. Furthermore, this was not without injury:
- Grazed elbow
- Two grazed knees
- Painful thumb
- Swollen finger
I even have proof of injury….
Total Janathon mileage = 49.35
#janathon Day 5
Sunday morning, traditionally the home of the long run. Although this early in Janathon to attempt a very long run would be madness. Madness. Madness I say!
10am. Billy boy was quite keen to get out there…
Today the plan was to hit the woods for a muddy run. I like running around the woods and I love running on the trails, even after all the rain when it is near impossible to actually run on them. The last three runs have all been round the woods with Billy boy, which he loves, but he does get absolutely covered in mud. Then of course during the course of the day it dries and he then leaves little piles of dust wherever he lays. So I had a word with him and he agreed to try to avoid getting too muddy.
He lied.
We both got absolutely covered. So when I got in I had something to eat, had a shower, put some washing on, did a bit of ironing, mopped the floor, loaded the dishwasher and wrote this blog. Billy? He had a relax…
As for the run…here it is….in what has quickly become the norm….in graphic form…
Total Janathon mileage = 20.5
Slightly Strange….
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….
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….
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
I’m a big kid….
What can I say? It was early evening, just about dusk, when I headed to the woods with the dog, put the earphones in, pressed go on the 'Zombies, Run!' app and went for it! With the woods deserted, light fading and zombies moaning in the ears it ending up being REALLY creepy. I had great fun!
At one point I actually spotted a fella that reminded me of the bloke from 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' – I did attempt to take a picture of him, but by the time I got my phone out and prepared, I was right next to him and I didn't think he'd really appreciate me taking a snap of him and running off – so for dramatic effect this is exactly what it looked like….
AND…..I got really muddy….
Well I am just a big kid after all!
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