Category: Photos

It was another glorious morning and Jack was in a romantic mood, back-lit by the sun and softened with a hint of mist.  It was one of those mornings where I too would have been happy just to stand in the sun and wave my arms around.

I certainly wasn’t in the mood to run, but heh-ho, here I was.  Heading East from Jack and Jill, I passed Ditchling Beacon, where I paused to stretch and then headed for Blackcap, stopping on the way again to take a photograph of a persuasive sign saying ‘don’t stray off the path’… the words chosen for the purpose were ‘Firearms in constant use on this farm… for your own safety stay on the public footpath’.  Sticking to the middle of the path, to avoid any doubt, I ran on and arrived at Blackcap faster than two weeks ago… which is amazing bearing in mind the stops and how slowly I felt as if I was running.

From there I backtracked a little and dropped off the Downs to Plumpton Agricultural College and headed North as far as the racecourse, then West.  The houses around here are just beautiful and the little hamlet of Streat is charming, with the sound of its parishioners singing their hearts out emanating from the church.  I had spooked a horse with an old lady aloft two weeks ago and then had to pass them a second time ten minutes later… the horse was clearly unsettled by something, possibly my bright blue gilet.  Today she greeted me as I paused to let her pass, just in case, but the horse walked past nonchalantly.  ‘ I’m not scared of you, you silly runner’ it must have been thinking.

Then I was back onto the old faithful track which goes North from Westmeston… I really love it because it’s been here since Roman times and I suspect that not much has changed since then.  When I got to the railway though, I just had to stop and walk for five minutes as my mind was still not really in the run.  It’s a powerful thing, that thing in your head!

There’s a path that runs along one edge of Ditchling Common that I think is magical and I ran down it today.  It’s a narrow path along the treeline that winds between old trees and and through thickets and seems almost enchanted.  For some reason I felt my strength return and I blew along it effortlessly like the wind.

Back out on the Common I had another pause though (bit of a habit today), ate a Tracker bar and then jogged home the last ten minutes.

Overall, particularly in the psychological department, a really awful run, which was reflected in the speed at 5.69mph.  But it was 12.3 miles which is almost 20km, so it was not all bad.  And nothing could take away the fact that, with the Autumn leaves turning shades of red and gold, it was a glorious morning!

Was it me or the event timing that was running slow?  1.50.54 is nowhere near the sub-1.50 that I expected!

For a picture of the drowned rat hammering home, visit Antbliss – runner 1291 finishing 525th…

Enjoy!

Always write when the pain is still fresh… that’s what I reckon!

The day was gray & drizzly and curling up by the fire seemed like the best idea, but instead Mister Thomas’s jalopy turned up at the appointed hour to whisk us away to play.  Cliff, the tall man with the gray hair, was already there whilst Pete turned up in the nick of time… not bad, bearing in mind that he had cycled from Brighton to warm up!

Cliff & Pete acted as the advance party, Kim brought up the rear, whilst Dai and I just cruised along in the middle, the beeps of his sat-nav watch suggesting that someone could have been more accurate with the mile markers.  Seven, eight and nine minute miles were the order of the day, depending on the gradient therein, which augured well for the sub-two-hour goal.

The weather was basically pants (that’s a technical term) and although warm enough on the lungs and cool enough on the back of the neck, it played havoc with my hair, making me look like a drowned rat.

Two tips for anyone who’s interested.  Firstly, when you’re running try to land towards the outside of your heel, rolling your foot forward as you pass over it to depart from your big toe.  This is very efficient and is great for allowing you to lengthen your stride… which means that you can reduce the number of strides you have to take if you’re a lazy oaf like me!  It’s also softer on your knees, welcome for the vets amongst us!

Secondly, judging by the gasping going on around me, the lungs are a greatly under utilised asset to many runners.  Although I do accept that you have to do what works for you, I was taught (some 25 years ago by a Police diver) to run four paces breathing in and four paces breathing out.  This slower intake means that you can breath in through your nose (helped today by a Breathe-Right strip, at least until the sweat and rain washed the sticky stuff away towards the end) and also means that you get to fully inflate your lungs.  After five minutes focusing on breathing this way, it is amazing how easy the uphills are, as the blood has that elusive oxygen stuff, that muscles lap up, in abundance.

At the 12 mile marker my watch said 1.40 and I picked up the pace slightly to chase a new target of 1.50, helped by a kind man in a green vest.  In the last 400m a tall guy came running past, kamikaze style, only to slow to a walk ahead.  As he picked up to run again at the 200m mark, he became my new target in a sprint to the finish.  I hoped the man in the green vest would come with me, but I ended up pipping the tall man and two or three others to the post alone.

The results are still not out, but my watch was a gnats whisker before 1.50 so I hope to have a one forty-nine-something time.  Slightly better than Dai at 1.59 and Kim at 2.34, but not as good as Cliff at 1.42 and Pete at 1.36.

Pete was all set to cycle back to Brighton too, mad fool, but accepted Dai’s offer of a lift in view of the inclemency of the weather!

The fire was finally lit and a fry-up devoured along with copious cups of Earl Grey tea… Twining’s of course!  And hey!, it’s only six o’clock!

For the finishers photo, you need to go to Dai’s site… enjoy the grins!