Category: Half marathon training

Skip-a-dee-doo-dah

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I’d actually forgotten that after my last long run, my leg was hurting badly and I was limping for a few days after. Along with my cold came a bad back that lasted for a week and I didn’t even notice that my leg had got better until fellow running bloggers fairweatherrunner and thereisasixpackunderhere reminded me today by saying on Twitter that their injuries seemed to be better now.

After yesterday’s successful trip to the gym, I thought it was probably time I got back out for a run. Just three miles to see how I got on and to make sure my leg didn’t fall off, a la Travelling Hopefully’s barometer of a successful run.

The first mile was done in 10 minutes and 25 seconds and I thought whoop whoop, go me, but the next mile was quite slow but I was still finding it quite easy but then Kate Nash came on my iPod and put me off my stride and I stopped to skip her as although I used to like her, now I just think she’s an annoying little girl and after I’d skipped her, the next few seconds were spent with me standing in a field skipping songs until I found one that met with my approval for continuing with this morning’s run.

Matt Stevens… skip…

The Shins… skip…

Jesus and Mary Chain… skip…

Cardiacs… skip…

The Wombats… skip…

Sleeper… Ah! Yes! Sleeper! 90s indie Britpop at its finest! You can’t go wrong with a bit of 90s indie Britpop (unless it’s Menswear) and so I carried on with my run and wondering if maybe I should get some headphones with some kind of controllable doo-dah on them so I don’t have to keep stopping while I’m skipping and I think my iPod came with some controllable headphones but I’m not wearing the shitty crappy headphones that Apple make and Steve Jobs should be out of a job for selling something so shit and then I remember that Steve Jobs doesn’t actually have a job anymore and I get further down the field and there’s a slug on the path and I’m worried that the slug will get squished and I want to move him onto the grass but I can’t remember if slugs burn if a human touches them or is that only caterpillars? and maybe slugs only burn when humans put salt on them and so I leave the slug on the pavement and think sorry slug, I’ll just have to leave you with the lesson that life isn’t fair and it’s a dog eat dog or, at the very least, a human squish slug kind of world and I get home after doing three miles which makes me think maybe I can do tomorrow’s 5k race after all.

Achoo!

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I don’t want to do one of those lame-o ‘Sorry I haven’t blogged for a while’ posts (I mean, does anyone even notice when someone hasn’t blogged for a while? And even if they have noticed, do they care? I, personally, a) don’t usually; and b) don’t anyway, but maybe that’s because I’m just a grumpy old moo) but I’m trying to get into the habit of writing regularly and not just mini-reviews on Planet Veggie describing a cup of artichoke tea as ‘beyond minging’ and ‘probably tastes like a turtle’s anus’.

My training for the Folkestone Rotary Half Marathon and the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon was going sort-of-okay until I got a bit of a sniffle was horrifically struck down by a crippling immune system destroying virus which meant that any running- or gym-based activities came to a bit of a slow down. OK, so what I mean is that they stopped completely and I have done fuck all exercise for over a week. 

And now the Folkestone Half is only two-and-a-bit weeks away.

Eek.

But just to reassure you that I have got my priorities right, I checked out our post-half eating and drinking venue – Googies – last Saturday and very nice it is too.

The Girl Who Didn’t Wait For The Green Man

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I’m not going to start this blog by saying I have been running, honest.

Oh, I just did. Oops.

Anyway, I can never think of how to start a blog post; thinking of a title’s hard enough [so hard that sometimes I just revert to lyrics from obscure songs [for ‘obscure’ read ‘unpopular’] that no one ever gets the reference to] so that will just have to do.

A while ago, I lost one of the little rubbery bits on my headphones that go in your ear. I put the larger ones on but they keep falling out as I obviously have little titchy tiny girly ears. It’s either that or I just have really sweaty ears that keep pushing the larger ones out. We’ll go for the former, eh? I was fed up with them falling out all the time, so looked around for some new ones and thought about getting some Sennheisers but the ones within what I wanted to spend didn’t look like they were in-ear ones, and I NEED in-ear ones to cut out the noise from people on the train annoying me by talking to each other (I mean, really? How dare they have a conversation) or on their mobiles (see previous comment). Although I’d never had any before, I quite fancied some of those over-the-ear ones, as I’d heard they do actually stay on. These Panasonic ones seemed to fit the bill as they’re in-ear and over-ear, and also really cheap.

And they’re brill.

They don’t move at all when they’re on and they’re so comfy, you don’t even notice they’re there (I really want to put a ‘their’ in there somewhere but don’t know where). As far as I can tell, the sound’s quality’s good but I wouldn’t exactly call myself an audiophile, so don’t sue me if you buy these and then tell me you "can hear a coloration that in my experience has shown to indicate a treble peak” [I obviously nicked that from somewhere. If you want more lovely words I don’t understand pretentiousness, you’ll find it here].

With my lovely new headphones in place, I set out the door for my run. Although, from inside the house, the world outside looked dull and grey, once outside, the sun was out and I wondered if I should go over the fields for a change but then I thought no, I only did intervals the other day and I need to get the miles in and not the really really really slow miles I will do if I go over fields and so I set off down the road then down the cycle path then past the vets and to the traffic lights and there was a woman at the traffic lights with her little girl in a buggy and we were waiting for the lights to change and while we were waiting there was a big gap in the traffic, big enough for me to run across without the risk of getting squished but I didn’t want to set a bad example to the little girl as then her mum would have to explain that I was naughty crossing the road before waiting for the green man and then if I ever saw them again the little girl would point and say LOOK MUMMY, THERE’S THAT NAUGHTY WOMAN WHO CROSSED THE ROAD WITHOUT WAITING FOR THE GREEN MAN and everyone in the immediate vicinity would turn and look and point and give me the evils and I’d be forever known as the Girl Who Didn’t Wait For the Green Man and so I stand there thanking Garmin for the autopause feature and the lights change and we all cross, safe and sound with reputations and integrity intact, and I get to the narrow, lonely and deserted trail and there’s a man.

Without a dog.

And I think waa, there’s a man without a dog, where do you think you’re going? you’re not allowed down the narrow, lonely and deserted trail without a dog and then I think it’s quite sad that if women (and I know it’s not just me, I’ve seen this mentioned on other women’s blogs) see a man without a dog in a wooded/grassy area without a dog we think RAPIST but then if we see a man in a wooded/grassy area with a dog we think AW, NICE MAN WITH NICE DOGGY and it reminded me of a few weeks ago when just after the looters (I refuse to call them rioters. Rioters are protesting about something. This lot weren’t protesting about anything, they were just twats [violent, thuggish twats, but twats nonetheless]) and I was out for a run and I saw a couple of young lads on bikes and I looked at them with pure suspicion although we didn’t have any looting anywhere near us and then that reminded me of the London bombings when anyone with a rucksack was regarded very suspiciously and if you looked a bit foreign then a) you were probably a Muslim; and b) about to blow the whole of London up (and possibly a few unlucky home counties along with it).

I continue on my run without suspecting any more men of being rapists, young lads on bikes of being looters or people who look a bit foreign of being terrorists and get to the sheep field and there’s a load of acorns on the ground and I think of that saying about from little acorns, great oaks are grown (or something like that) and I think from run/walk beginner’s schedules, marathons are run and I think that’s pretty deep for me and I try to think of a simile or metaphor for acorns but I can only think of big, shiny, round bogies and I think oh, maybe I’m not so deep after all.

Stats
Distance: 4.01 miles
Time: 47:08
Pace: 11:45 m/m
Calories: 421
Titchy tiny little girly ears: 2
New headphones: 1
Little girls set a good example to: 1
Girls Who Didn’t Wait For The Green Man: 0
Men who probably aren’t rapists: 1
Young lads who probably aren’t looters: some
People who look a bit foreign who probably aren’t terrorists: a few
Deep meaningful similes to describe acorns: 0

Exclusive preview: Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon 2011 T-Shirt

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I ran the first ever Royal Parks Half in 2008 (read my report). Unfortunately, they thought I was a man called Kevin and sent me a men’s t-shirt. Luckily Kevin was a bit of a weed and so it wasn’t massive but it wasn’t the nicely fitting female t-shirts I saw other girls wear.

rph_2008

I only realised they thought I was a man called Kevin when my recorded time was half an hour quicker than my Garmin said. Although I would have been delighted with a time of 1:54, I’m not sure Kevin was so happy with his new time of 2:25 and so I emailed the organisers who said yes, they were aware of the error but instead of swapping our times round, they just took me off and gave Kevin his proper time. Bah.

The next year, 2009, I once again entered the Royal Parks Half and received the lilac monstrosity of that year’s t-shirt.

rph_2009

Eek.

I didn’t make the start line that year, and so spared myself the embarrassment of running through the streets and parks of London stating that I Red heart 2 RUN. It remains unworn in my kit drawer.

For the 2010 race, I was offered a free place, but due to having moved to Kent and my running motivation being at an all time low, turned it down. Had I known that year’s t-shirt was a lovely orange one, I might have taken up their kind offer.

rph2010_1

rph2010_2

rph2010_3

 

Thanks to fairweatherrunner for the pics.

This year, I was once again lucky enough to be offered a media place and also be one of the bloggers chosen to be sent the t-shirt ahead of the mainstream media.

Earlier this year, Royal Parks Half Marathon launched a competition in The Telegraph for a member of the public to design the back of this year’s shirt.

Richard Knight, from Chomp, was their winner with his fantastic Run the Royal Parks design and every participant will receive one of these shirts on the day of the event (9th October).

rph2011_1

rph2011_2

 

rph2011_3

Nice, innit?

As with all the previous years’ shirts, it’s made from eco-friendly bamboo charcoal and recycled polyester, which is made entirely from recycled plastic bottles. As well as being environmentally friendly and comfortable, they offer distinct performance properties for runners such as high absorbency, quick dry, deodorising and thermal regulation. To see the story behind the idea for the bamboo race shirts, have a look at the following link: http://royalparkshalf.com/about/sustainability/bamboo-shirts.

I wore my t-shirt out for this morning’s Juneathon run and although it was raining, the shirt kept me comfortable and dry and I’m looking forward to wearing it along with 12,000 other runners in October.

Stats
Distance: 1.55 miles
Time: 16:37
Pace: 10:44
Calories: 163
Royal Park Halfs t-shirts: 1

Intervals with Martin Yelling

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Not actually with him, of course, but I thought I’d be brave and try out Audiofuel’s Yelling Performance 180 MAX Interval Training which lasts for 43 minutes and 8 seconds. I’m only used to doing the Pyramid interval training which lasts for 22 minutes. Eek.

After yesterday’s shopping trip for a pair of sandals, I came home with four bras, a silver and purple ring, a top (I had originally thought it was a dress but on further inspection and a quick reminder to myself of the date of birth on my birth certificate, decided it was better off as a top), a dress (of an appropriate length for my age), three books, and a white and pinky-purpley running vest.

I don’t usually wear running vests unless it’s proper hot, but decided today would be an exception as I wanted to wear my new one and so I put that on and then realised that with my pinky-purpley running vest and my pink socks and my pinky-purpley running shoes, if I was five stone heavier, people would think I was out training for a Race for Life.

I set off for my intervals and Marty (I am allowed to call him Marty, aren’t I?) does the ‘run to the beat 1 2 3 4’ thing but I still can’t keep in time and so I just plod along in my own haphazard fashion sticking to my own haphazard beat and then it gets faster and then we’re on a recovery bit and I stop to walk and I wonder if we’re allowed to walk on these recovery bits but Marty doesn’t say anything about walking and so I start to run again and then I’m about to go downhill and I think RAMP IT UP MARTY, I’M ON A DOWNHILL BIT AND I CAN GO FAST ON DOWNHILL BITS and then he’s telling me to run with my arms down by my sides and I think HUH, YOU WANT ME TO RUN LIKE A SPAZ? and I refuse to run with my arms down by my sides, especially as there are three people in my immediate vicinity and then as I get near the bottom of the hill, Marty decides to ramp it up and tells me to go faster and I agree to do this because of the aforementioned three people in my immediate vicinity and I’m thinking ha, look at me as I fly past you, I can see you’re mightily impressed with my athletic prowess and graceful running ability and then a fire engine goes past and I think YEAH, BABY, I’M GOING SO FAST I’M ON FIRE and then we’re going slowly again and Marty says again to run with my arms at my sides and to shake them about but NO WAY AM I GOING TO DO THIS AS I’LL LOOK LIKE PHOEBE IN FRIENDS

and then we’re going fast and then slow again and I get to the traffic lights and my Garmin says I’ve done 2.98 miles in just under 33 minutes but the lights won’t change and I think I’m not going to make under 11 minute miles again and I think CURSE YOU, YOU RATHER ANNOYING TRAFFIC LIGHTS (‘rather annoying’ may not be the exact words that were in my head) and my Garmin ticks over and I need to do another half a mile and so I go up the road and as I cross over Marty says it’s the last fast bit and tells me to give it everything and so I run and run and run and run and run and I run through the park and back home and when I get in my Garmin says I have indeed done under 11 minute miles.

Splits (you can see where the rather annoying traffic lights held me up)

splits_310511

Stats
Distance: 3.5 miles
Time: 37:04
Pace: 10:35 m/m
Calories: 368
Martin Yelling interval programs: 1
Shopping trips to buy a pair of sandals: 1
Pairs of sandals bought: 0
Runners wearing too much pinky-purple: 1
People in my immediate vicinity: 3
Fire engines: 1
Rather annoying traffic lights: 1

Adrenaline Junkie

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After seeing Audiofuel Sean mention on Facebook that Adrenaline Junkie 2 would be out soon, I thought to myself ‘I don’t remember trying out the old Adrenaline Junkie’ and so I looked in iTunes and lo! Adrenaline Junkie wasn’t there. I thought to myself ‘this must be rectified immediately’ and like someone who cares about her friend’s business and livelihood should, I bought it off the Audiofuel website emailed Sean and said ‘oi, I haven’t got the old Adrenaline Junkie, can you send me a link to it please?’ and Sean being the nice guy he is, said fuck off freeloader ‘of course you can, here you go’ and so, hurrah, I had some new old Audiofuel to try out.

As if turned out, I did have most of the tracks on Adrenaline Junkie in my collection but having all the tracks run on to each other with coaching from Howie telling you how long each track will last for and at what intensity was great. (Except for the two tracks where he said I’ll be running at 190bpm when I promptly told Howie in my head to fuck right off.)

It’s just as well I don’t see many people out and about round here, as today’s sartorial decisions in all things running made me look like I’d got dressed in the dark. I had on a blue sports bra, orange and black capris, a pink top and my new blue Run Breeze socks which apparently are anti-blister and ergonomically designed and left and right-footed and breathable and moisture managed and have mid foot grip for anti-slipping.

run_breeze_socks

Whatever.

They look nice and were very comfy and didn’t give me blisters and that’s all you need to know really.

Today’s schedule called for four miles and as I got to 3.95 miles, it looked like I was going to make it in under 11 minute miles and so I ran and ran until I got to the titchy terraced house two doors away whose owners had decided to hire a digger to dig their front garden which is all of about two square feet big which meant that only the spadey bit of the digger was in their garden and the rest of the digger was taking up the whole of the pavement and so I had to stop and walk in the road around it and that is my excuse for doing over 11 minute miles.

Stats
Distance: 4.01 miles
Time: 44:24
Pace: 11:04
Calories: 422
Adrenaline Junkies I didn’t have: 1
Adrenaline Junkies nice Sean gave me: 1
Number of colours worn at once: about 8
New pairs of running socks: 1
Diggers on postage stamp sized gardens: 1
Under 11 minute average miles: 0

p.s. You can get Adrenaline Junkie at half price on the Audiofuel website by using the discount code Juneathon

p.p.s. Talking of Juneathon, don’t forget to sign up for it. Slacking is not an option

p.p.s.s. There’s still time to enter my limerick competition to win a copy of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Thru the hardcore Pyramid

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Hal says I have to do three miles this morning. Hal also said I was supposed to have stretched and strengthened yesterday but I spent the day trawling the mean streets of Maidstone (successfully) looking for a new book club venue and then going to Pizza Express for lunch and then going (even more successfully) shopping in Ashford on the way back and then I couldn’t be bothered with all that stretching and strengthening nonsense but I decided the runs are more important than the stretching and strengthening nonsense anyway, aren’t they?

So I get up this morning and my shoulders are hurting as I must have slept funny or something and I can’t be bothered to go out for a run but I don’t want to slack off this early in my training schedule as I have got two half-marathons just two weeks apart to train for after all and then I’m on Twitter and Travelling Hopefully says she was going to do intervals and I think ooh, intervals, that’s a good idea but the Audiofuel Pyramid 180 Max interval session only takes me about two miles and so Travelling Hopefully says that sometimes when she does intervals, she rounds it up to three miles and I think, well, I can’t be outhardcored by her and so I plot a three mile route and decide to do the Pyramid followed by Thru the Gears and when I go back to Twitter to waste some more time, Lissy Runs tweets that she’s got two halfs to do but there’s only two weeks between them and she’ll have to ditch one of them and so I say

‘I must be stupid two then as I’m doing two halfs with two week’s between them’

and then I delete my tweet and correct the embarrassing ‘two’ and tweet it again, as yes, I’m that sad that I edit my tweets and then I delete it again and write it again, this time without the unnecessary apostrophe, as yes, I am that sad that I will edit twice the same tweet and then helsbels comes on to say to Lissy Runs that we’re doing two halfs with only two weeks between them and if we can do it, she can do it and I remind Lissy Runs that Juneathon participants are hardcore and then fairweatherrunner comes on and says she’s done two halfs with only two weeks between them before and she survived and Lissy Runs says ok then, she will do it, so yay for her, and then I ask Travelling Hopefully if she’s been out for a run yet and she says yes, she went at 6am and so she has definitely outhardcored me there and I force myself out the door and turn my Garmin on while I’m still walking down to the gate as then my three miles will be up sooner and I cross the road and start running and I do the interval session and I walk most of the recovery bits although not all of them and then Thru the Gears comes on and I run along to that and when I get close to three miles my Garmin tells me that I’m close to doing it in under 11 minute miles for the first time in about two years and so I don’t stop to walk across the last two roads as would be befitting for someone who usually adheres strictly to the Green Cross Code

(and not just because I’m scared that a weirdy looking man will turn up and call me Dumbo) but run across them as befitting for one of those small children who run out in between cars* in one of those scary public information films they made you watch at school**

and I do indeed manage three miles in under thirty-three minutes which is pretty cool considering that included walking breaks.

Stats
Distance: 3.02 miles
Time: 32:33
Pace: 10:46
Calories: 318
Stretches and strengthenings slacked off of: 1
Runs slacked off of: 0
Time wasted on Twitter: some
Hardcore Twitterers doing two halfs in two weeks: 3
Roads run across: 2
Miles over 11 m/m: 0
Music
Audiofuel – Pyramid 180 Max
Audiofuel – Thru the Gears

*I am not as brave as I sound. There weren’t actually any cars coming.
** I didn’t go to school in the 1940s but that’s all I could find.

On the 15th day of Juneathon, we’re halfway there!

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juneathon_2010Here’s my pretty chart of my halfway mark. Who’d have thought I’d turn into a cyclist?!! Thanks to The Red Bucket for posting one on his blog and allowing me to nick the idea. You can make your own on Google Docs. It would be prettier though if I could change the colours. Does anyone know how to do this?

No cycling for me today though. Today I got up early and plotted a 3 mile route on Gmap Pedometer and was out of the door by 9am (that’s early for me these days, so shut up) and started off up the hill and got about three feet up the hill before deciding to walk and I did my run with a bit of walking in it and nothing very exciting happened and as I got to 2.4 miles I thought no way is it .6 miles back to the house and it’s going to be more like 2.7 miles and Gmap Pedometer must be lying and when I got back to the house it was indeed 2.7 miles and I thought well, I’m not going up the hill again to make up the mileage so today’s run is only 2.7 miles and not the 3 that the Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training Program had me down to do today.

Stats:
Distance: 2.72 miles
Time: 29:20
Pace: 10:48 m/m
Calories: 279
Pretty charts of the halfway mark: 1
Lying Gmap Pedometers: 1
Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training Programs: 1
Halfway through Juneathons: 1
Music
Audiofuel
MGMT
Joy Division

Audio Fuel – Easy Beats

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A man named Sean (not to be confused with Shaun) took pity on me yesterday and emailed me and said as you’ve lost your phone, wallet and forty English pounds, would you like some free running music from Audio Fuel?  And I said no, not really, what do I want any freebies for? but you’ve probably already guessed that is a complete lie as what I really said was ooh, what a gentleman, yes please, I would indeed like some free running music and so the man named Sean (not to be confused with Shaun) sent me five compilations of free running music and I extract the files and with each compilation is a 22 page pdf giving advice on exercise, music, injury prevention, running kit and good nutrition and I especially like the running kit bit as that means clothes and I also especially like the good nutrition bit as that means eating and the compilations are a piece of you know what to install onto iTunes and the compilations I’ve been given range from Easy Beats for a slower run to Full Tilt for (to quote the man named Sean (not to be confused with Shaun)) when a rabid dog is chasing you when you are desperate to use the loo, and your house is on fire.

Unsurprisingly, as I’ve been such a weed lately, I decide to test out the Easy Beats compilation which starts off with a 10 minute track at 125bpm and continues with five more tracks at 140bpm and 145bpm and that’s the last thing I’m going to say about bpm as I haven’t a clue what I’m talking about.

I get outside and switch on my iPod.  How am I supposed to run to this?  I’m never going to keep up and it’s going too fast and I don’t understand this dancey kind of music as it’s all jumbled up and I’m an indie/rock chick but it’s kind of uplifting and I don’t hate it and so I carry on and the first track ends after 10 minutes and I look at my Garmin and I’ve done almost a mile and I think wow, that’s faster than I’ve done for a long long time and the next song comes on and I think I recognise this but then they’re singing in French or something and I think hmm, maybe I don’t recognise it after all but I like it and I get past the tree and there’s an old couple on bicycles coming down the road and the old lady is in front of the old man by quite a way and I think yay, you go old lady, beat the old man and I get to a mile and a half and I stop and turn round to come back the way I came and I’m quite enjoying the music even if I can’t keep to the beat and I go past the tree and there’s another old man on a bicycle and I think it must be National Old People On Bikes Day today or something and he’s got a very red face and I think it’s the sheep killer from the other day and maybe he’s got a red face as he’s embarrassed to be a sheep killer and then I’m back out on the main road and there’s a cyclist coming down the pavement and I think OI, CYCLIST, GET OFF THE PAVEMENT and he pulls in and lets me go past and I feel bad and I should stop thinking all cyclists are like London cyclists, i.e. ignorant, selfish twats and I get home and I’ve done three miles in my quickest time for ages and ages and ages and I think the free running music compilation worked.  Yay.

Stats:
Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 32:51
Pace: 10:34 m/m
Calories: 310
Men called Sean not to be confused with Shaun: 1
Free running music compilations: 5
Old people on bicycles: 3
Cyclists on pavements: 1
Music:
Audio Fuel’s Easy Beats compilation

Woof!

2 comments

After getting monstrously drunk last Thursday; so drunk I fell asleep on the train, lost my phone and my wallet and had to spend £40 in a taxi to get home, I haven’t been feeling well since.  Whether it was a week-long hangover, or the copious amounts of alcohol kick-started some little bug I had hanging around, I don’t know.  But I’ve been too weak to run and have hardly left the house all week.  Until this morning.  This morning I decide to get back into my schedule that I had promised faithfully to stick to and went out for two miles.  I get out the door and am seriously not feeling like running and I decide just to get to the corner and turn back, thus turning my run into a measly one mile but I get to the corner and decide I’m too fat to go back and if I want to lose weight without drastically reducing my food and alcohol intake, I’m going to have to do some exercise and so I carry on and I get to the sign that says public footpath and I stop and ponder this and think maybe I should go in the field for a change, seeing as I hate running on the road so much and so then I have to decide whether to go in the field on the left or the right but they look the same so I go into the one on the left and it’s a cornfield or something and there’s a path been trampled through it so I follow the trampled through path and I come to a field I’ve never seen before with sheep in and there’s loads of sheep, some with black faces, and I wonder if I’ve done a mile and I look at my Garmin and it says I’ve done a mile exactly and I wonder whether I should turn round and go back and I decide to carry on and the sun’s got very hot and I’m quite enjoying being in a field especially as I can have my iPod turned up without worrying about getting squished by a car and I wonder if the field loops round to where I started but then I get to the end and there’s some trees and I’m outside the field on the other side of the fence and I wonder if I carry on going will it take me back to where I started and there’s a pond or something and then it doesn’t look like I can get any further and I decide to turn back and to explore another day and I get out of the trees and two dogs run over and stand in front of me barking and barking and I’m scared as I only know London dogs and they’re usually harmless and just come over for a bit of a sniff before wandering off and don’t stand there baring their teeth barking at me like these ones and I don’t know about countryside side dogs and they could be trained to kill or something and I can’t see their owner and I’m looking around thinking what the fuck am I supposed to do and I’m frozen to the spot and I don’t know whether to say good doggies, calm down, as they might be dogs with attitude or something and this will only wind them up further and then I see a man in the distance walking towards me and I think thank fuck for that and he says don’t worry, they won’t bite and he’s making snapping gestures with his hand and I say are they just noisy? and he says yes, and I say oh, ok then, thanks and I walk past the noisy dogs and the man says sorry and I say that’s ok and I continue running and I run back round the field and I get back to the road but this isn’t the bit I came in and I must have missed it but I don’t think I’m lost and I get round the corner and I can see the main road and there’s only half a mile to go and I get home and I’ve done 3 miles instead of 2 and I think hurrah and then because I am hardcore, I do my weights too.

Today’s route

route230709

Stats:
Distance: 3.03 miles
Time: 37:28
Pace: 12:21 m/m
Calories: 278
Cornfields: 1
New sheep: lots
Dogs barking at me: 2
Music:
Nine Inch Nails
Rolling Stones
Charlatans

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