#janathon Day 5

January 5, 2014January 5, 2014 ~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 6 Comments

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

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A day of discoveries….

January 3, 2014January 3, 2014 ~ 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….

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

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Lately things have changed….

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014 ~ 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

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Here we go again…. #janathon

January 1, 2014 ~ 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.

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I wasn’t the only one….

December 27, 2013 ~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

….lots and lots of people today had decided to go shopping. Initially the plan was to treat myself to a couple of CDs in HMV's amazing sale, although the sale was not 'amazing', unless you wanted to buy DVDs. They had millions* of DVD box sets on offer. I didn't really think people bought DVDs anymore, what with Netflix and various other similar 'ways' to watch stuff, but apparently, judging by the trillions** of shoppers crammed into the store, they do.

So with sales on in all shops I decided to have a wander round and pick up a few 'bargains'. There wasn't many bargains. Unless, of course, you dress ridiculously or are the size of a bus, which to be fair, is the majority of people living in Peterborough***.

I did managed to treat myself to a few bits….

A new CD: 'Bad Blood' by Bastille. This has been on my list of albums to have a listen to for a while. In fact, after bumping into a former student who advised me to go for the 'All This Bad Blood' – a reissue of their debut album – and commenting that it is 'awesome', I took his advice.
A book to read: Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Again, this has been on my reading list for a while. Rumour has it that it is a 'classic' and very scary. I've had a few people recommend it, it was first published in 1979 so it has taken me a good 30 years to finally get round to it. Apparently there was also a film made of it?
A new running top. With Janathon fast approaching and the weather probably going to get colder in the new year****, I thought a new long-sleeve running top was overdue.

Recently I have read lots of blog posts that have been reflecting on the past year as well as putting in place targets and goals for 2014. This has got me thinking….expect another blog post soon….

In other news…..