Category: Short run

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Friday for a change

I had sat through a talk by John Dodds of BERR (the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) on Thursday night and realised how little common sense the politicians & civil servants, who churn out the policy that affects us and our businesses, appear to have. Quite honestly, it profoundly depressed me and I awoke in the morning with a real desire to curl into a ball and shun the day.

However, Meester Broom, who also didn’t really feel like running, pitched up to save me from my reverie. Despite being woken up by his kids a number of times at strategic points through the night.

We begrudgingly trudged (is that betrudged?) off into a chilly morning (apparently zero degrees by the gauge in Nick’s car) and I was soon warming (in a number of ways) to the theme of government policy incompetence.

Of course, we understand only too well that one of the key reasons that it is just SO frustrating, is that we have no control whatsoever over it. We can elect a political party into or out of office, but the bureaucrats remain in their twenty-two (or so) well-defended silo’s, their names never appearing against the latest piece of legislation to darken our doors.

For example, in the last 11 years, BERR has created 678 new offences – it is my contention that entrepreneurs and people running SME’s either spend a fortune complying with this endless diarrhoea of legislation, with the cost of lost opportunity as an incalculable additional amount, or stick their heads in the sand and ignore it. The latter might not be such a silly strategy after all, as it’ll be changed again tomorrow (admittedly, if you’re incredibly lucky) after the legislators have seen the misery of the side-effects.

I remember Jeremy Clarkson talking about the car maker TVR, of old, which appeared to design, build and sell a new car before getting their customers to do the product testing. Having had an almost new TVR Cerbera (which was off the road for a total of 6 months out of the 16 months I had it), I know exactly what he meant. The 22 Departments seem to have adopted the very same approach and it sucks!

I would be quick to admit that not all civil servants should be tarred with the same brush, but anyone that uses ‘no legislation’ as a frankly cringe-worthy excuse for ‘over regulation’, will find it hard to convince me that they are really part of the solution.

My internal hot air kept the temperature outside at bay very effectively and I hardly even noticed the run itself. We went out to the Royal Oak, up through the woods and back via the magical path. 5.2 miles took us 47 minutes (6.6mph) and was only really notable for the fact that it was a collaborative affair, even down to the final charge to the finish that we ran shoulder to shoulder.

Though I’m guessing that the run, which felt to me like it was over in a flash, probably seemed an eternity to Nick’s ever-patient ears!

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Cold and forlorn

This morning’s run was the equivalent of not quite engaging first gear on a race car… it felt as clunky as a bag of old spanners.  And despite the dawn initially looking quite clear, by the time I went out it was indeed cold and forlorn.

Added to this, in addition to skinning my ankle on Sunday, I seem to have sprained it too.  Not badly, but enough to make me jump with the dull pain (like the shock of a weak electric fence) every now & then through the run and on through the day.

Still, at least I ran.

In fact I took the same short route that I ran with Nick last week, the only difference being that, at 48 minutes, it took me three minutes longer to cover the 5.2 miles (6.5 mph)… to be honest, the way I was feeling I would not have been surprised if it had been 23 minutes longer!

Two other things.  First, I lost my hat again today, whipped off my head by a passing bramble.  Second, Lew’s hatch has now been battened down, so to speak… looking good man!

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The return of the BEEP!

After weeks of trying to match diaries, the Bok duly turned up this morning at the allotted time for a quick run.  The weather seemed relatively mild to me, but he must have been under the weather as he was adament it was freezin’, so much so that he had his gloves on.  He was sufficiently adamant to persuade me to wear my gloves too,

We set out, with him getting his excuses in early… pain in the back, pain in the knee, pain in the ar… oh no, that was the fact that the mini-Boks had woken him up five times the night before!  Bearing in mind all the pain and tiredness he was exuding, I was surprised that he still wanted to rush off like a racehorse on oats… although I reined him in and we settled into a more leisurely pace!

We ran an old favourite route, out past the Royal Oak to Wivelsfield, through the woods to Ditchling Industrial Estate, down the magical path & back across the common.  I quickly removed my gloves as it was much warmer than I had been lead to believe… which correlates (strangely) to the fact that later, over breakfast, he confessed that he had sweated buckets, putting it down to how fast we had run! 

What nonsense!  He was still sweating when I saw him last night and it was plainly that he was overdressed for the weather, trussed up as he was in a three peice suite.  I’m kidding, of course… no-one can wear more than a chair in these troubled times.

We we half way through the wood when I heard the first Beep beep beep BEEP, the telltale sign that his heart rate was elevated… and this on a flat section.  I duly increased my speed and was rewarded with a muffled expletive and a further two renditions from his heart rate monitor.  To be fair though, despite the beeps and the fact I was running straight through all the mud and he way tiptoeing around the edges (well okay, strategic mud-hopping), he kept up pretty well!

Along the magical path, which is also more or less flat, I once again heard the telltail Beep beep beep BEEP and I once again increased the pace.  You may think I am being very unkind, but there are some unwritten laws (well, actually they are not even unwritten now, are they?) and this is one of them.  Snigger snigger!

Over breakfast, which was achieved after running 5.2 miles in 45 minutes (6.9mph), he probabaly consumed more than the 658 calories he reckons to have burned off.

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Bright morning

This morning was bright and slightly chilly… sufficiently so to warrant longs, although the gloves might have been overkill.  Not that I took them off, of course!

I headed out to Ote Hall, past Wivelsfield Church and then out towards what I now know is Wivelsfield Hall.  (I don’t reach it and I’ve only seen what I assume is it from afar)  Then I dropped into Wivelsfield, up Hundred Acre Lane and hung a right into the woods.

Autumn has really kicked in since the recent wind & rain, with many of the leaves on the ground like a gloriously rich & golden mat.  With mud underneath.

At the Common I opted to run to the roundabout, across and then right down the path without crossing the railway line.  This is a very old route that I’d not run for ages and I had forgotten how pretty it is, especially at this time of year.  At the end it joins my normal route and I made it back to the house in one hour, nine minutes.  Overall a pretty slack 7.2 miles at 6.25mph, but a really enjoyable one in the autumn sunshine.

Cliff is trying to persuade me to enter the Prague marathon next year, but at this speed I would probably finish with the 2010 runners.  Oh my, is that another good excuse not to do it?

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Man Down!

It was another flat-grey, wet and slightly misty morning and I had forgotten about running until I prepped the espresso maker.  The shorts duly made another appearance and I jogged off into the surprising stillness of the world outside.

As I stretched out towards the Royal Oak, I had a sudden change of mind about where I was going and crossing the road, I headed up towards the Magical Path in the opposite direction to normal.  It really is amazing what you see and think when you look at something from a different perspective.  And, I thought as I tripped and flew through the air into the mud, what you don’t notice!  In this case, a low root.

As the seasons change, so does the environment and what was not a hazard before becomes more dangerous and visa-verse.  For example, there are always low branches to duck under, but on a flat-grey day, when they have lost their leaves, they are almost invisible against the patchwork quilt of colour behind.

The different viewpoint meant that a path that I seldom even register made itself clear to me and as a result I ran across to Hundred Acre Lane and up towards Wivelsfield for a way.  Missing the path I was aiming for I turned left onto another which took me back into the woods where I then ran right again until I reached Wivelsfield.

I realise that I am still running ‘dry style’, that is trying to keep my feet dry wherever possible.  Once the ground gets truly waterlogged I will be able to revert to ‘wet-style’, which is where I just run through the middle of the puddles with no regard for dryness.  This realisation has prompted me to think of a post for my other site which I shall write shortly.

Then it was a quick run past the Royal Oak, with it’s great memories of our Gathering last year (more so from this direction for some reason) and back to the house.  Despite the greyness of the day, the colours of autumn are glorious, so I thought it was time I showed you.

One hour and one minute was less time than I expected, but I didn’t feel as if I was running particularly fast, especially after my fall.  Distance to be confirmed later.

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Long shot

That is actually short for Longs Summer Hibernation Over Today.

I had sat inside reading since just after 6am, watching the dawn break grey and cold.  Since the ice on the car outside still had not melted at 7.30am, I left the house wearing longs, my Thurloe woolen socks, two top layers plus my Gore jacket, hat AND gloves.  Oh, and my warmer, orange mud-plugging trainers.

This possibly sounds a little over the top, but I didn’t feel hot at any stage, so I feel vindicated in my decision.

I ran a very different way today.  Out to Ote Hall then left and across to Theobalds Lane.  Almost to the end then right onto a footpath across to Wivelsfield Church.  Right after the church then left and across to the north of Wivelsfield Green, dropping down through the middle of the village and up Hundred Acre Lane.  Right into the woods and along towards the industrial estate, but then right and right again in order to cut back across behind St Georges Retreat and down to the Royal Oak.  Then back the way I normally go out.

I’ve no idea of the distance at this moment, but it took one hour 15 minutes so I would guess around 7 or 8 miles.  (Postscript – it seems to be about 8.5 miles, although I went off the map briefly so I’m not certain)

Then I walked to the office and, losing my footing on the stairs, managed to wow the four people watching as I skied noisily down to land on my feet at the bottom!

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Hot and wet

On a day that Lew was clearly sitting in front of the fire watching cartoons, I was out in the rain wondering whether I really need my jacket on, it was that warm.  At least inside my jacket!

I was in a wonderfully thoughtful frame of mind, brought on by my continued reading of The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb and my reaching a point where he posits a definition of an epistemocrat, with which I can associate.

I think that I finally got out at ten past eleven, choosing a moment where there was a squall in progress which helped me to decide which direction I was going to run.  For the woods!  I feel very lucky to have enough woodland in close proximity to be able to run for an hour under cover, which is great on hot days and on wet & windy days.  And I guess especially on days when you are both hot and wet, like today!

I ran to the Royal Oak and up through Hundred Acre wood, where I was delighted to see all manner of walkers, young and old, with and without dogs (it was a shame that two Wivelsfield ladies couldn’t be bothered to at least flick their dog’s poo off the path though!).  It might have been windy and raining but it really was beautiful out there!  And great for the soul!

As I ran along the magical path, I realised that it was a lovely metaphor for life.  The path winds ahead through the trees and you have a sense of where you are going, but not a clear view.  There are opportunities to turn off onto different paths along the way, but the path ahead is really intriguing.  Most importantly, you have to watch your step, ducking around the trees and under low branches.  

This is wonderful if you have your wits about you, but I can imagine it not being such fun if it were dark, or you were tired, as it would be quite confusing and dangerous.  I really must take a photo to show you what I mean.

I’m always keen not to run the same route twice, as the tendency is to compare times directly and today I had the additional incentive that I knew the easy way back would not allow me to reach the hour, a kind of informal lower threshold for a Sunday run.  So I ran on past the development of St George’s Retreat and back to the Royal Oak.

Here I took a Nietzschian decision.  Rather than stick to the calm shelter of the woodland, I would cut back across more open ground, in spite of the conditions, in order to experience the adversity of it.  I recalled cold, miserably wet walks in Wales, the Lake District and Scotland when I was young.  

As I pushed on into the weather, I was surprised that it still had a draining effect on my energy and I wondered how much of this was physical and how much psychological.  Even being aware of it, I still suspect it is the latter, as once I was back into woodland I felt fine and I was not exhausted on reaching home.

The distance was 6.75 miles and the time on completion was, er, ten past eleven.  That’s strange, it took me no time whatsoever.

Or maybe British Summertime ended while I was out.

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Short Thursday run

Nick called yesterday to cry off this morning’s run, which was a really good thing as I had forgotten that we had changed it to Thursdays.  I didn’t tell him that though, rather allowing him to expand on his elaborate excuse, something to do with looking after someones bored nose, which was an entirely new one on me.

I twisted my ankle in the car park at work on Monday (I am reading The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb at the moment so I really shouldn’t be surprised by this, but if you saw the ‘stuff’ that I run on and compared it to the car park, you’d probably be amazed!) so I was not super-inclined to run anyway.

Furthermore, yesterday morning was totally brass monkey weather and the thought of getting supercooled in October did not appeal.

However, this morning dawned mild again so I decided that I would take my shorts for a quick run ahead of the approaching winter.

I took the same route that I ran with Nigel Woods a couple of weeks back which I reckoned was 5.2 miles so the 46 minute time gave me a speed of 6.8mph.

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Slack week, chortle chortle

I didn’t get to run last week, but I did manage to walk to work four days out of five, which is at least 8 miles in total.  Cliff was impressed, but wouldn’t let it count towards my running total… don’t know why, as I walk as quickly as he and Pete were running the other weekend!

I started the weekend with a list of tasks to do around the house, mainly because we’d not planned to do anything else.  As I cracked into them on Saturday morning, I realised that they were not chores, but rather chortles.  Discreet tasks that had been hanging around looking at me for ages, were largely straightforward and were hugely rewarding on completion.

So while Kim immersed herself in her sculpting, I was left happily mending, painting, cleaning, hanging, tidying etc.  And despite a full day on Saturday, I still managed to get out for a run.

After the bright sun of Saturday, Sunday started mild with heavy threatening clouds around the edges.  I almost didn’t run, happily reading (Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan, a VERY thought provoking book, by the way), but then I realised I’d not have anything to write about.

Not wanting to be out for long, especially after last weekend’s 16 miler, I ran over to the Common and did a loop with several sets of knee raisers and leg flips thrown in.  Then I ran across to Wivelsfield and up Slugwash Lane, hoping to take an updated picture of the Barbie (use my Search box above to find an old picture)… alas, it’s either no longer there, or has been subsumed by the hedge, which was a good few inches taller than before.

At the top of the hill I turned left and ran past Debb’s Da’Packa’s… it was odd to hear one almost chirping (I think it was a long and worried winney) and I realised they’ve always been silent before. 

As I dropped down to Ote Hall, the heavens opened with a precursor to a long and rainy day (or so it seemed at the time) but the shower passed.

I reached the house again at 57 minutes, but I’ve not checked the map to see how far it was… 6 miles, possibly a bit more.

The weather cleared and I resumed my chortling, with Kim getting stuck into some of the tasks I really don’t like.  Overall, very productive weekend, apart from on the running front!  I thought you’d like to see how tidy the garden was though, but it was dark.

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Running with the Woods for a change

Nick must have introduced me to Nigel Woods at some point last year and I’m pretty sure that at that very first meeting, Nigel said that he would come out for a run with us.  And so it was that, sometime over a year later, Nigel finally pitched up at the house at 7am on Wednesday morning.

Alas Nick had cried off and I wasn’t expecting Nigel until half past, so he found me deep (actually, not so deep as that’s pretty hard work!) in meditation and not at all ready.

Still, Kim came down in her dressing gown to amuse him while I got ready and we were out at a good time.

There was sufficient an autumn chill for Nigel to initially run with his sleeves covering his hands and he confessed afterwards that he had leaden legs along that first section, but it wasn’t really that cold and the sun filtering through the trees warmed our souls… and the run warmed the rest of us pretty quickly.

We ran out to the Royal Oak, up through Hundred Acre Woods and looped around the Industrial Estate before returning down the magical path and across the Common, which looked glorious in the morning sun.

Nigel had sought to manage my expectations about his running speed over the course of the last year, but he was ample fast enough for this morning jaunt and even demonstrated a Bok-like increase in speed ahead of the finish.

We ran for a modest 50 or 52 minutes (sorry, I forget now, sitting here in the teahouse tapping away on my lap-top) and covered 5.2 miles – at least 6mph, if my maths is correct.