Month: January 2013

Janathon day six: muddy

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I had the pleasure of some company on today’s run and was bravely joined by Ginge (I often become quite stroppy with him when we run together and I wouldn’t put with me if I was him). Running with Ginge means that I can do routes that I would be a bit nervy doing on my own (mainly through fields and the lonelier parts of the village) and today was no different. While we were out we toyed with two longer routes; one was a known 7.5 miles, the other an unknown distance (I’ve fallen for mystery tours before, it rarely ends well), but settled for a short (3.5 miles) hilly, mudfest of a run.

First past some sheep fields, saying hello to the occupants and making them flee with the sight of me flailing past them.

Posing sheep

Posing sheep

If you like all things ovine, Jovial Gnome is treating us all to Sheep of the Day on his Janathon blog. I am in sheepy heaven with this and am going to go round and rustle them all into the boot of my Renault Clio at the first opportunity. Technically my sheep are strangers to me, but I shall call them (from left to right) Muriel, Agnes and Maud.

Next up on the nature walk run was a hawk. We tried to sneak up on it but failed miserably although I managed to take a moody Kes-style black and white shot (entirely by chance than design) before it went and sat in a tree where it looked (a) less hawkish and (b) very precarious.

Imagine Brian Glover on a football pitch, stage left.

Imagine Brian Glover on a football pitch, stage left.

That can't be comfy

That can’t be comfy

There were some fabulously squelchy bits to the run. I splashed through these gleefully and oblivious to the fact that I was narrowly avoiding barrelling into Ginge, whilst he cowered in my muddy wake. Ooops.

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Beware indeed…

Janathon day five: park

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Despite it being Saturday, I had to work this morning. Bah. I tried to come up with a convoluted plan that involved running to or from work, but it wasn’t to be. If I ran to work I wouldn’t have access to showers and that would be at best impolite and at worst, in violation of any number of infection control policies. If I ran back from work, it would be a steady uphill trek and I would then have to catch the bus back to pick up my car (I couldn’t bus it to work because of the amount of stuff I had to take with me). I considered running the streets near work, but quite frankly this didn’t fill me full of joy. I thought about driving somewhere after work, but feared that this would end up taking up the entire afternoon.

And then I remembered that Saturday work is virtually opposite a park. So I decided to run there. It was a glorious spring-like day, the sun was shining and the paths were full of people searching the rhodedron bushes for children and dogs. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that most of the park is uphill and it was only when I got home that Ginge pointed out that it is called a valley for a reason. Still, I enjoyed myself, I tackled the hills with enthusiasm (until the enthusiasm stopped short of my actual legs) and took lots of photos of trees.

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Janathon day four: visible

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Another early run went by the wayside after another not brilliant night’s sleep. Skipping a Friday morning run would normally lead to a missed Friday night run as my good intentions dwindle as the day goes on. But this is Janathon! And there can be no skiving, because then other people mock you on twitter. So off I went (weirdly, I was quite enthusiastic about the whole enterprise).

As runningman856 pointed out, running under the cover of darkness hides a multitude of running kit sins and I have found that the advantage of wearing my hi-vis bib is that I can wear it over otherwise unworn tops that have become a little too snug for public viewing.

No hiding in this thing

No hiding in this thing

Tonight was mild though and I thought I would give one of my race t-shirts a bit of an airing. I have always thought that the Bolton 10k t-shirt is a little too bright for daylight (and possibly a little too bright for the human eye) but this seemed like a good night to finally wear it for its designed purpose.

Earned on a rainy day. No medal though. Sigh.

Earned on a rainy day. No medal though. Sigh.

Wearing a race t-shirt also had the dual purpose of showing to the world that this was not merely day 4 of a new resolution (JogBlog has a handy guide to not looking like a gym newbie if this is a concern to you, whereas if newbies are a thorn in your side, Cake of Good Hope has a handy guide for you to be a bigger hearted, better runner). All in all it was a splendid 4 miles at a pace that I’ve certainly not seen in a while – it’s early doors, but Janathon has definitely put a spring in my step today.

Janathon day three: asleep

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Last night I asked twitter if I should run in the dark in the morning, or run in the dark in the evening. Turns out that I needn’t have bothered asking anyone because at half five this morning, I was physically incapable of opening my eyes let alone getting out of bed, getting dressed and getting out for a run.

After work, I had a cracking headache and it was one of those “if it wasn’t for Janathon, I would be at home on the couch with a brew” moments. I split the difference between a token one mile and a respectable three miles, notching up an acceptable two at a pace that I was quite happy with (I am chosing to ignore that the first half was downhill). It wasn’t an exciting run by anyone’s standards.

When I was home, I asked twitter if it was acceptable to blog about knitting during Janathon (I have days where I am incapable of making decisions without the aid of twitter – you people have no idea how much power you wield over me, do not abuse it). The answer was a resounding YES. Part of the reason that I asked is that I’ve been mulling over the idea of having two separate blogs for running and knitting, but fear that I would end up with two blogs that I neglect equally. And while there is such a vast overlap in the venn diagram of knitters and runners, I think I can get away with the odd woolly post.

The question that I struggle with the most is “what are you knitting at the moment?”. It should be simple. I should answer “sock” (well it’s been true for the last two years). I was asked the question last week and my answer was something like “well, I’m merging two patterns, one for a little woolly Woody Allen and one for a little woolly Holly Golightly and am turning them into a little woolly roller skating hot pant wearing granny with her arm in plaster”.

Roller derby granny

Roller derby granny

I am very proud of her bun

I am very proud of her bun

I should have said sock.

The basic pattern is for a Knit New Yorker from Lauren O’Farrell’s (aka @deadlyknitshade) latest amazing book Stitch New York. It is just as wonderful as Stitch London and I was very pleased to find it under the Christmas tree!

It was a good haul under the tree

It was a good haul under the tree

Janathon day two: canal

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First off an apology – the link to the google bundle yesterday was the 2012 Janathon list – while there are quite a few repeat offenders on the list, if you signed up with that link, you might be missing out on the full Janathon experience. I’ve amended the link accordingly (thanks to the eagle-eyed Not Much of a Runner for pointing it out).

The advantage of working a late shift is that I had time for another daylight run this morning (I’m being spoilt now). The disadvantage is that I didn’t have time to blog (although I did manage to stick two loads of washing on, hurrah for the Athons…) and had to spend the day repeating the mantra “don’t forget to blog…”.

I had a parcel to collect from the post office, so porridge-filled and lycra-clad I trundled off into town and then drove down to the canal for a damp and drizzly towpath run. I’ve neglected my canal running since the “running the length of the Leeds-Liverpool canal” project ground to a halt last year (I did the better half in 2011, but the other side of the Pennines eludes me) and it’s gone on my stuff to do list for 2013.

This was an uneventful three miler along my home stretch, the drizzle was steady and I thought that the wind was gentle until I turned round and ran into it…

A strangely low water level

A strangely low water level

I saw some cows.

Especially for JogBlog

Especially for JogBlog

I finished the run by splashing fearlessly through the many puddles so that the gathering anglers would see that I was hardcore and not think that this was just on day 2 of a new resolution.

Locks

Locks

Oh, and himself did 16 miles on the bike.