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Drank and Deary

I ran the same road circuit as I did on the 30th October but, with only a short diversion to take a look at a football match, came up with an entirely different distance.  And a different one again when I remeasured it a second time!  Me & maps!

At least I remembered my drink this time!

It was raining straight down, but not heavily, so it was merely a little dank & dreary.  Whether for this reason or another, I didn’t really get into the flow at any point today… it was just constant hard work.

Only my conscious mind pushed me forwards to take another step, and another.

Still, I managed somewhere in the order of 11.1 miles (definitely more than I thought on the 30th) in 1.47 (a WHOLE lot slower, whichever way you look at it!), circa 6.25mph.

Blimey, this post is almost short enough for Cliff to read!

PS.  I’ve been watching this being built… it really is MY kind of house!

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Dry run

I’m not sure what flavour of weather front blew across this morning, but it sure was wet outside.

Meanwhile, in the land of the warm & cosy running machine, I ran a de-lactic mile in 9:04.

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Reversal of enutrof

I was quite relaxed about going out this morning (as in not under duress) but in my chilled state it took me almost until the afternoon to get out. I finally closed the door behind me with fifteen minutes to spare.

I half thought I would run last week’s circuit in reverse… but you know how it is with me. I ran out along Folders Lane, saying good morning to Eiddwyn, who was walking her dog… I could have easily run past without disturbing her, but I just love saying her name.

Rather than run across the common road, I ducked into the country park and thus had the treat of seeing the pond for a change.

From there I ran down Spatham Lane and turned right at the other end to run into Ditchling.  Here I briefly caught up with another runner who looked as if he had been up on the Downs and, being slightly jealous, I turned left at Sporting Cars of Brighton and ran up to Underhill Lane, en route stopping to chat to a lovely lady who was working hard moving her woodpile to its winter quarters nearer the house.

It was once on Underhill Lane that, despite having my longs on, plus two layers on top, gloves and hat, I felt chilly enough to put my jacket over the top.  It was not icy cold or anything, but this additional layer made me feel much more comfortable in the chilly wind.

I crossed over the Beacon Road and continued to the bottom of the Burnhill Bostal, where I found this not so good advert for Jewson… you could call it jewson lazy!

The majority of law-abiding subjects of this United Kingdom have to endure more and more onerous legislation designed to stop a tiny few people doing stuff like this… I expect they were really pleased with themselves for having saved a few quid at the tip.

I ran up the Bostal, noting that although I don’t seem to be getting any faster generally, it does appear to be getting easier to run up steep hills!  At the top I didn’t even pause before running on down to Jack & Jill.

Okay, that’s not strictly true, otherwise these shots from various points down the hill wouldn’t be on my camera, but I paused to take them (mainly to show that the sun was shining in lots of places apart from where I was!) rather than for a breather.

I dropped directly down from Jack & Jill to Clayton, nestling below and then, reaching the road again, realised why the direction of my circuit was so fortuitous today… it was the old crocks rally.

No, not as Kim assumed I meant, the old Crocs rally (see previous post).

I ran pretty much from Clayton to Leylands Road in Burgess Hill with a grin affixed to my face (and my mind was working overtime too, which will be apparent when you read the next blog post on my other site), sharing vicariously the spirit of adventure of the drivers and the designers of these early automobiles.  I paused only briefly, half way along, to bubble out my enthusiasm to a lovely couple standing watching the proceedings.

Turning onto Leylands Road and still more than a mile from home, I suddenly felt tired and with no external stimuli to sustain me, the last drag along to, and up Junction Road was harder work than it should have been.

However, the end was eventually reached and I felt pretty good once I had stopped & had a shower.  Must be getting more resilient!

13.6 miles in 2.24, 5.67mph.

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Yikes!

My overused Crocs have long required replacement, but since the original charcoal grey seems to be unavailable, Kim decided to give my feet a subtle makeover.

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The morning after the day before

Our friends Jo & Simon very kindly gave me free reign with my hedge trimmer yesterday and I spent around 4 hours giving my upper body and core stability muscles a really great workout!

However, among the trees, bushes and hedges I tackled were two 15-foot holly trees and I now have some idea why the tree surgeons charge them £200 to trim them!

It took Simon and I about another hour to clear up all the trimmings by which time it was dark, so I have no idea how it looks in daylight.  Since Kim went to see Karen for the day, I know that the weeds will look just as they did when we arrived, alas!

Jo then very kindly produced THE most delicious lamb roast, possibly ever, washed down with smooth red wine, apple pie and Simon’s chocolate mud pile.  This latter may not be its correct name, but does correctly describe how it looked… though to be fair, it was also delicious!

So after a slightly broken night’s sleep (my wrists weren’t the only painful areas!) I decided I had better have a quick run this morning to clear at least some of the lactic acid.

One mile in 9:03.  Have a GREAT week peops!

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Sunshine and showers

First up… no it’s not Sunday yet, don’t worry!  But may I remind you that the clocks go back tonight… and for some reason, possibly inflation, they are due to change at 2am.

And it’s for this reason that I ran today rather than tomorrow… I was going to trim a hedge for some friends tomorrow afternoon, but they reminded me that, with the clocks changing, it would be dark by about 2pm so I’d better come earlier.

And it was lovely and sunny earlier so I got out and got going.  Being a Saturday I thought I would run somewhere different, so I decided I would stick to the roads and started by running down to Wivelsfield Station.

Here I realised that I’d left my drink in the kitchen, but rather than return I carried on along Leylands Road, where the skies opened for about 5 minutes and soaked me through.

It was warm enough that I was wearing shorts, and my two top layers kept my body warmth in so I didn’t feel the need to unfurl my Gore jacket… yet!

Fortunately I had remembered the last of Cliff’s orange energy beads, so I rationed these out all the way round to keep at least some energy flowing in.

I turned left, South, onto London Road and followed this all the way through and out of Burgess Hill to Hassocks.  As I nearer the Stone Pound crossroads, the heavens opened a second time, but with WAY more gusto!  On went the jacket and just in time for a serious soaking… in fact I was forced to swim through the air for several minutes otherwise I would have been sunk.

Although I had pondered about running on and up to Jack and Jill, the shower persuaded me otherwise… I’ve run down that next section or road in heavy rain a couple of times before and it hasn’t left me with fond memories!  So I turned left and ran through Hassocks, Keymer and Ditchling instead.

At the other side of Ditchling I turned left onto Spatham Lane, fully expecting the rain clouds to envelope me, but as it happens I managed to get away with it.  It did provide a lovely background for some autumnal colour though.

Meanwhile, I capitalised on a large puddle.

From there it was an easy run back across the Common and down Folders Lane to the town again…. and to my patiently waiting energy drink!

An easy 10.95 miles in 1.38, 6.7mph.  The sun is out again now and it’s still only the start of the weekend!

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Longs On 2010

It was a gloriously sunny morning but I found it difficult to motivate myself into my running gear… such that it was 2 minutes to midday before I finally made it out.  Since there seemed to be a wide disparity in temperature between sun and shade, I reluctantly opted for my longs, thinking that I would probably only take a quick spin around the local woods.

Additionally I wore two layers plus my jacket, gloves, hat and, of course, for those of you who have seen me out running, my ubiquitous shades.  These latter are usually to keep low hanging twigs out of my eyes, but today they were needed for their proper purpose as the sun was strong and low in the sky.

I quickly realised how warm it was in the sun, but just when I was contemplating stripping off a little, I ran through a patch of shade and quickly changed my mind.

Unsure of where I was going, I chose a different path at the end of the road and ended up running out along Folders Lane and, using a dog leg to Fragbarrow Farm, ended up on the Sussex Border Path heading South.  Here, the jacket came off, but nothing else.

I opted to run down little twittens through Ditchling village and then, surprise surprise, found myself on the track to the Beacon.  It’s like a magnet to me!

As I ran up so I found a couple who were madder than I… they had their three sub-five-year-old children, including a two year old and they were slowly walking up the track.  This is not the steepest track I run up, but it’s not far off, so they were doing well indeed!

I made it to the top of the Beacon in 59 minutes and watched in awe as a glider made a steep turn and quietly whistled past overhead.

I started back and found the family group almost at the top… apparently, given a choice of what to do, the eldest boy had chosen to walk up the Beacon, possibly safe in the knowledge that there’s an ice-cream van at the top.  Either way… BRAVO!

I ran on down the hill to Sporting Cars of Brighton, turned right and then left onto Spatham Lane.  Despite the extra distance, this is quicker going and the houses are pretty enough to balance out running on the road.  By the time I had reached the other end I was wishing I lived nearer to the Downs!

I ran down through the country park and across the Common before making it home in 2.02.  11.1 miles, 5.45mph, knackered!  I can hear the sofa calling gently to me!

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In amongst the Deans

This morning was bright enough for sunglasses, chilly enough for gloves and yet still mild enough for shorts… if any of that makes any sense!

And it’s my brother Nigel’s birthday today, so Happy Birthday Big Bro!  And as a result, what better place to run than on home territory… the Deans.

I started out at Woodingdean, running up the Falmer Road to the old bakery (long, long gone), and across the top of the village…

… before dropping all the way down the long and winding decline to Standean Bottom, where the hamlet of Balsdean used to sit.

From here I chose the path that went straight back up the hill, following it around until I came back to the side of Woodingdean again.  Today was clearly going to be a run of views.

Turning sharp left, I then ran down the Bostle, passing Balsdean reservoir, ‘Cottages and ‘Farm before reaching the top of Saltdean.

At Saltdean I snuck around the back of the houses to try to get a better view of Saltdean valley.

They I snuck back and from here I dropped gently down through the village of Rottindean, all the way to the sea, where the colour balance changed dramatically.

It was an easy run along the flat of the Undercliff Walk to the steps at Ovingdean, where I ran up the valley to the church, pausing to pay my respects to Ric.

From here I was going to take a quick detour into Roedean Bottom, but instead ran past and up to the Race Course at the Western end of Woodingdean.

Once at the top I ran along the Drove Road across the top of Woodingdean, looking down on Bevendean to my left, back to my starting point at the old bakery.

It was then an easy few minutes back down the Falmer Road to finish what had been a really pleasant run in two hours on the nose.

I had covered 11.45 miles at an average speed of 5.72mph, which is quite sedentary but I’ll forgive myself because of the terrain and the fact that I was very happy just moseying along, looking at the view and taking pictures.

I hope this is a nice trip down memory lane for your birthday Bro… I made sure that I went all the way around the village for you!

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Sunny monday

Cutting the grass after running was okay yesterday, but for some reason it was my arms that really felt tired by the time I finished washing the cars.

This morning is beautifully sunny again and I completed my barefoot, anti-lactic mile in 9.05.

Have a great week!