Days of Woden

Weather - or Not
Luck rather than good planning has provided me with sunny days on which to run and cloudy wet days on which to rest. The classic pattern of our classic English weather - changing from day to day - has coincided with my alternate run / rest training schedule.

Run - or Jog
But I don’t really have a plan - just a habit. And it seems from my Garmin readouts that I do not run but just get up to a “fast jog”.

Am I bothered?

Weirdo - or Clot
One day I thought I had got a stalker. I was accosted by a female on a bike who said I had “growled” at her.

Unlikely - the last time I growled at a girl was in 1971.

Then she claimed I had stared at her. Hadn’t the faintest idea what she was on about. Kept running and tried to ignore her.

Then it clicked - a week earlier she had tried to mow me down. Rode head-on straight at me.
My “growl” was a yell (audible warning of approach). My “staring” was because of rabbit-caught-in-headlights syndrome - I could not believe she could look straight at me and still steer head-on.

When I told her this she said I was “weird”.

Seems to me that woman out on a bike harassing jogging pensioners is the weird one.

Wandering Only - Cloud Thinking
My weekly mileage has got up to more than 20 as I have done several 7 miles within 70 minutes runs - stretching my usual 6.5 mile out-and-back by a short distance. Practising for the 1000 miles in 2012 challenge on Runners Forum.

But - concentration and pace has dropped. One day I got into a “set” - just followed my usual run and then after awhile wondered where exactly I was and how far.

Another day I pressed the wrong button on the Garmin and lost the record of half the run. This does not do any good for improving my times - although it does help my thinking time. Lots of ideas come whilst out running (or jogging - whatever).

A4 No 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley

Steaming Along
Got whistled at by a steam train. Not directly - it was the other side of the valley. Blue A4 Pacific pulling chocolate-and-cream Mk1 carriages. Bit like locomotive exchange trials in late 1940s - only not quite.

It was the Wednesday steam special.

Heard the whistle again this week but it was behind a hill so don’t know if it was the same loco.

Global Warming
Blackberries in the hedge. In December!

December blackberries for the blackbirds

When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather - Samuel Johnson