Tag: sam

Juneathon Day 7

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

I woke up this morning and unbelievably it wasn’t raining. So I got changed, grabbed the dogs, and headed for the woods. After working hard during Tuesday’s night training and last night’s 5k race I had already decided on a very gentle jog. What with all the rain lately I was ready for it to be a bit muddy and the woods are definitely looking green and lush.

 

We began very gently and managed to avoid the worst of the mud by sticking to the main path. After a few minutes we came across a family out walking their dogs. I did notice that one of the dogs had a ball in its mouth and ran past praying that Sam (the dog we are looking after) wouldn’t notice. He did. This meant I had to run back and attempt to persuade him to give me the ball. I was either not very persuasive or the dog is just plain stupid. Therefore I had to physically yank open his jaws and grab the drool covered ball, handing it back to its owner. At this stage in the slapstick incident Sam noticed that the other dog also had a ball. So we then went through the same process and finally were able to leave the family in peace.

So in an attempt to avoid the stress of meeting anyone else we headed for the tracks through the woods. All was going reasonably well, I had managed to avoid most of the mud and still had dry feet. We had passed some of the statues that were placed around, including some oversized mushrooms.

All was going well, that was until we came to a particularly muddy downhill section….

As I slowly started jogging down the hill, the lack of grip meant I began going faster and faster, meaning avoiding puddles became more of a problem, resulting in very wet and muddy feet by the time we reached the bottom. As the track continued we also had various obstacles, fallen and overhanging trees, to avoid.

This reminded me of a blog I read recently, Run For The Quiet, which mentioned the Tough Mudder. This got me thinking, I wonder if once we have completed the Zombie Evacuation the boys would be up to take on the Tough Mudder?

Distance today was 3.26 miles.

Total Juneathon mileage after day 7 = 27.95

Number of wet, muddy and cold feet = 2

Number of families annoyed = 1

Number of dogs nearly taken to the vet to be euthanised because they don’t listen = 1

Juneathon Day 3

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Last night we continued with the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations by attending the Bourne Festival – with every other person in Bourne – it was very busy. ‘The League of Mentalmen’ were on form – Madonna, Proclaimers, Steps (just no name a few) – all in a rock style! I was keeping Sam company (Amy’s fella) while she was at work. Yes you’re right – he is an actual real-life giant.

After Day 2 of the Bourne Festival the Sunday run, normally the home of the long run, was never going to break any records. With constant drizzle all morning, coupled with watching the pageant on TV, I decided to hang on until the rain stopped. Although by about 4ish the pageant was wearing a bit thin, once you’ve seen one boat you’ve seen them all. I’m sure the same thought was rattling around in the Queen’s head. So what looked like a slight break in the rain I pounced, got changed, and went for a run. However, as is normal in these circumstances, as soon I was about a mile into the run the rain got steadily heavier. I don’t particularly like running in the rain, today was no different, I decided to cut the run short and head home, by which time I was absolutely soaked and not happy:

Summary
******
Distance: 2.81mi
Time taken: 00:23:32
Average/Max Speed : 7.16/9.35 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:23/00:06:24
Calories: 332

Total mileage after day 3 = 11.49

Music accompaniment = nothing (ipod and rain does not mix)

Number of times I cursed the rain = 15

Juneathon – Day 1

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 8 Comments

This was probably not the best week for Juneathon to start. Today marks the start of the Bourne Festival.  With its particularly catchy slogan, ‘It’s more than just beer!’:

Also, today marks the start of half-term. So the plan was to get out of school pretty quick, get home, get changed, set off for a nice gentle run around Bourne Woods with Billy Boy to dispatch Day 1 of Juneathon, go home, get showered, eat, blog and get to the bar!

Billy Boy went for a swim in the ponds for a cool down:

Sweet Deals! I’m off to the bar!

Summary
******
Distance: 4.79mi
Time taken: 00:42:21
Average/Max Speed : 6.79/8.97 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:50/00:06:41
Calories: 566

Total mileage after day 1 = 4.79

Music accompaniment = St Etienne, Words and Music

Number of dignified pigeons spotted = 1