Observations of an occasional runner
Okay, so I’ve managed to get back on the running machine 🙂
Despite the lack of runs, I have been feeling generally fitter lately than maybe last year. One small indicator of this is that I park my car at the top of a hill at work, such that I get exercise when I’m going home. When I started parking in this location last year my legs were often burning by the time I reached the car, but lately I’ve been able to power up the hill with relative ease.
Small things 🙂
Kim was out super-early to a meeting up-country this morning. I remember that my Dad used to regularly drive to Rugby from the south coast, to do a day’s work, before driving home again in the evening. Bizarrely, I suspect that it was probably an easier journey back then, even without the M25 to zoom (?) around.
I had been needing another run, so it seemed like a good opportunity to capitalise on, though I almost had second thoughts to just run on the machine… or relax into a third quadspresso! My mind did at least (sensibly) stop me from setting out in the dark!
Just under 2 miles around the block in just under 20 minutes. The first mile up the hill (66 foot of height gain) at 10.07/mile and the return at 9.35/mile, which I seem to have seen regularly before.
Obviously quite focused as I forgot to take any photos 🙁
I had to drop my car off to the local garage this morning and it seemed like a good idea (at the time) to run home .
It was a lovely early-autumn morning and the people I passed seemed to be happy, which is not bad for a Monday!
2.08 miles in 21 minutes, 10.04/mile.
It seemed like a good idea at the time that I packed my runners for trip to Dubai.
However, I think it might have been better to have got out earlier in the morning to actually use them, before the temperature had risen to 35 degrees. I have great respect for Mister Broom, on all sorts of levels, but not least that he often runs (rather quickly) in the searing heat of Dubai!
By comparison I merely jogged out and down to the marina, then followed the curvy path past the myriad skyscrapers (including the one topped by our two-storey penthouse for the week), before seeking the shade on the beach side… at which point I relented and walked back!
2.76 miles in just under 33 minutes
I’ve written before about how well camoflaged our running machine is, such that I hardly notice it despite it being in prime real estate between the open plan sitting & dining rooms.
I wanted a run this morning, but I didn’t feel like going out!
One mile in 9 minutes 39 seconds.
Deep in the dark, in the maze of my mind
there’s a spring where my thoughts come babbling out
Some that are blue, some that are bright
and some that are dark, like the shock of a fright in the night
La la laa
These words from my song seemed pertinent this morning.
Just under 2 miles in just over 20 minutes… 10.10/mile.
It feels like the end of the summer… and also that my head needed a clear out from all the critical priorities juggling for position.
The morning was bright and still, with a vague mist forming in places to hint at the approaching change in season.
Just under 2 miles around the block in just under 20 minutes… 10.17/mile out and 9.37/mile back… 9.56/mile average.
Okay, so I was running around the local ‘hood again, and not deep in the woods at all.
But the neurons in my head have been firing up nicely recently, to first compose a piece of guitar music that even the amazing Lucas Cook might approve of, and to then put some half-decent words to it (my first new song lyrics since the beginning of 2022).
The words reference a place on the western edge of Washington State called La Push where lush rainforest gives way to a bright beach that takes the full force of the Pacific and regularly collects the remnants of waterlogged trees the size of articulated lorries.
Deep in the woods at the edge of the world
There’s a place where the waves come thundering in
Some that are blue, some that are tall
And some that come crashing to the surprise of us all
et al, la, la
My head has been full of other stuff too, recently, so I really needed a run this morning. It really wasn’t an appealing thought, as I sat in the teahouse with my coffee, but the sun was out in full force and I pushed on out the door.
I stuck to the short circuit so I could get back to my desk, but just over 2 miles in 19:31, 9.42 mins/mile, is a really good pace for me 🙂
