Janathon 2012 Day 24: Another lesson

Janathon 2012 Day 24: Walk - 3.3 miles, Time - 1hr, Weather - horribly wet at first but eased off into mistiness

I had actually planned to run today but when I woke to see a coal black sky and steady rain I changed my mind. My plan is to run 4 times this week and there is flexibility as to how those days are arranged, so it was not a problem and as we know tomorrow is always a better day. 

Instead I walked by the canal and was glad I made the choice because the towpath was  a succession of puddles surrounded by sodden mud - rubbish running conditions. Even walking was hard work, needing me to engage my core muscles far more than normal to counteract the slippines under every planted foot. But this is of course a good thing: a better form of exercise, far better for you than a gentle stroll.

It is possible I would also have enjoyed a run, once I had got out (if I had kept to relatively puddle-free pavements). On such days although you get back wet, your skin tingles and you feel refreshed and virtuous. I even felt quite virtuous after the walk but that was as nothing to what I would have felt if I had run.

However potential levels of smugness are not really the point. It would actually have been far more intelligent to to have waited because the rain stopped to be replaced by mistiness - actually quite nice conditions. 

The lesson of today is obviously to make greater use of the weather forecast.

Janathon 2012 Day 6: Each to their own

Janathon 2012 Day 6: Walk - 6.5 miles, Time - 2hrs, Weather - bright and clear. Good weather to be out and about.

Today's object was a little more distance. It didn't matter if it was walking; I just wanted to go further.

So I walked along the canal and it was one of those mornings when the sun was out, the sky was blue and your spirits were lifted. After all the grey/stormy/rainy days it was a relief. There were though signs of the recent bad weather: underfoot it was wet, muddy and squelchy and bits of blown down trees were still strewn around. (The picture is an example: this was lying across the towpath and overhanging the canal, hence the dark background). Somehow it made the good weather more enjoyable.

I felt pleasantly alert - noticing the birds, the trees, and things like a dog training class in a nearby field. A group of people were walking their dogs around the perimeter. In the middle were all sorts of obstacles like ramps and jumps; perhaps it was advanced training. However different people get different things from a walk and some pay no attention whatsoever.

I passed a group of ramblers coming the other way and as the tow path is narrow it means that adjustments have to be made by everybody. However as I was one and they were many, I stood by the edge to let them through. However there was a line of three women, taking up the whole towpath, deep in conversation looking mainly at the floor. The one opposite me was totally unaware of my presence almost until she saw my boot right in front of her. I was fascinated - looking at her, wondering how long it would take to notice the obstruction. I guessed it approximately right. Years of walking crowded London streets where many people are not paying attention to their surroundings was a good guide.

In their way they would have enjoyed their walk, after all be out in the air can sometimes stimulate thought and conversation. In my way I enjoyed mine.

2011 Streak Day 294 (Monday October 24th): Walking with a purpose

2011 Streak Day 294 (Monday October 24^th): Walk 9.26 miles Time 2:56 Weather overcast but pleasant enough

This was another example of us trying to not use the car whenever possible. it would have been very easy to have hopped in and driven the 4.6 miles, looked at floorings and then driven back. But no! We decided we were made of sterner stuff and a walk by the canal would be much more enjoyable; and so it proved.

There is nothing to beat the warm inner glow (or smugness, if you prefer) that comes from feeling you have done something virtuous. 

However the downside, and there is always a downside,  is that it takes a chunk of time and when you get back you feel a little weary and less inclined to get going on other things. After sitting around for a short while thinking about what should be done, the virtuous glow soon fades.

The picture is of something that amused me on the walk: two ducks, side by side, preening themselves. When I started to watch they were in synch with their movements, lifting one foot then putting it down pretty much at the same time, but when I reached for my camera their choreography had become ragged. Nevertheless it shows how different types of duck are relaxed in each others company, something I never cease to marvel at when I see them on the canal.

2011 Streak Day 287 (Monday Oct 17th): The Canal

2011 Streak Day 287 (Monday Oct 17^th): Walk 2 miles time 40min Weather there was a wintery bite to the air

Swans always look as if they own the canal. On the water they are serene on the bank they look fierce. Although I have never heard of a specific case where someone has had their arm broken by a blow from a swans wing, I still remember, as a child,being told it could happen. Such stories stay with you and I give them a wide birth. 

But there is another reason for swans to think canals belong to them: this new logo shows it must be the case.

In April British Waterways will cease to be. The canals will no longer be a government responsibility and will instead be run by a charitable trust: The Canal and River Trust (people have already made a lot of fun of the use of the singular - which canal and which river will they look after).

 I don't know how I feel about the change.

The only thing I care about is that canals are maintained and developed. All across the country they are a fantastic resource for walkers, runners, and cyclists, as well as boat owners. They provide a  ribbon of tranquility and beauty linking towns across the country. Fantastic places that also tell you about the history of the country and the pattern of the industrial revolution. 

You can tell how important they are to me by the number of times I walk or run there. They have to flourish.

If the new Trust can do better than the old Board, then fair enough. But if they struggle for money and maintenance is cut back and fees go up then I will worry. The competition for charity money and volunteers is fierce, especially as more of them are now expected to move into more areas that were once the responsibility of the state. And with most of the population now facing an economic squeeze, who knows how it will work out?

One immediate consequence will be reduced transparency. As a charity there will be less requirement to make information public as the Freedom of information Act will no longer apply. The problem with privatising or hiving off services is that it will be more difficult to find out what is happening and challenge decisions.

2011 Streak Day 264 (Saturday Sept 24th): Attention

2011 Streak Day 264 (Saturday Sept 24^th):Walk 4.5 miles, Time 1hr 25min, Weather - bright and sunny but with a slightly cool breeze

Another canal photo but not as an illustration of my walk (which today was mostly in London) but to show a quality of timelessness. In black and white it is not immediately obvious how old it might be. The design of narrow boats has not changed much in over a century, and water and trees look much the same. There are no obvious signifiers of the 21^st Century. However some details that show it is modern: the power gantry for the railway behind and the stretched polythene film covering the dry dock. But it is not obvious and  I like the sense of stillness.

The photo is there to represent the idea of attention as it is time to talk about my programme of mindfulness.

In some ways I see this as being similar to running. The essential requirement is consistency - finding he time each day and sticking to the schedule. Also you are not competing with any one else, you are trying to develop your own capabilities. Just like running there are frustration that you are unable to perform as well as your self-image would like and just as in running there are good, average, and bad days. But bottom line all that matters is keeping on.

However consistency is not easy. At various times in my life I have tried meditation in order to increase my awareness and always it has been a damp squib. I think I always expected too much - some vivid insight or sense of transformation; when that did not happen I drifted away.

Now however I hope to put my running experience to good use. With running I have long abandoned the hope of a startling transformation to make me fast. Nevertheless I can find a satisfaction that is hard to reconcile with the harsh statistics of how far and how fast I actually go. Through running I have learnt to keep on going through the disappointment of not being as good as I hoped I might be.

Another lesson from running is that the best way to start anything is with a schedule. If you have a timetable you have the security of knowing what you should be doing and the satisfaction of ticking things off, which are powerful inducements.

So this has been the first week of following the Mindfulness programme of Mark Williams and Danny Penman. It has been quite straightforward 8 minutes, morning and evening, of breathing.

This is probably the most common of all meditations. It involves sitting still and observing the breath - not trying to control it but just being aware of what happens when you breath. It could be the slight, tickly feeling on the top lip as the air crosses it,  it could be the way the chest or diaphragm move, or it could be any other, related sensation. All that matters is that an automatic activity, which goes on every minute of every day that you live,  ceases to be invisible and becomes the focus of attention.

It is impossible to concentrate completely on the breath and only on the breath. Thoughts will always bubble up. But the idea is to be aware of that and not indulge them. Just tell them that you will think about them later as you escort them from the premises.

I am patchy at doing this as my problems are twofold the first is that it is not natural for me to leave thoughts alone, the second is part of by mind always watches what I do and makes judgements. The power of both of these habits somehow has to be lessened.

This is why the lessons from running can be useful. They have taught me that you cannot set impossible targets (i.e. expecting lifelong mindsets to suddenly change) but you can improve by sticking at it.

My plan is thus to do this for at least eight weeks but it might take longer. If I don't think one of the weeks has gone well enough then I will repeat it. My aim is to feel satisfied with each week.

So far this week has been good.

2011 Streak Day 263 (Friday Sept 23rd ): A beautiful morning

2011 Streak Day 263 (Friday Sept 23^rd ): Walk 4 miles, Time 1hr 5min, Weather - a beautiful autumn day

It is amazing what a difference a little sun can make.

This morning I looked out of the window and saw both a layer of mist and a rising sun. You could tell that the day was going to be warm and that the mist would soon be burnt off. You knew it was going to be one of those days that can persuade you that autumn is the best season.

I felt a great desire to take some photographs. I was keen to find some of mist hovering over water, with boats catching the early rays of light. I rushed out of the house.

During grey days I sometimes struggle to find enthusiasm because I know pictures will look flat. There have been far to many grey days this year. But clear autumn light is a wonderful thing and you have to take advantage of it when you can.

Unfortunately I was a little too late - the mist had just about gone when I arrived at the canal. But it still looked wonderful. It still felt good to be alive.

Everything was waking up. People were starting work in the boat, people were walking and cycling along the towpath. It was the perfect time of day.

P.S. I wont even apologise for the fact that this is the third canal photo in a row

2011 Streak Day 262 (Thursday Sept 22nd): Waterside

2011 Streak Day 262 (Thursday Sept 22^nd): Walk 6 miles, Time 1hr 50min, Weather grey but not unpleasant, a bit muggy

The bright skies are replaced with familiar grey but a walk along the canal is still pleasant.

The only thing of note to report about the walk was a conversation with a boat owner who had just fallen in the canal. She said she was tying-up but that the front of her boat is small and she just tipped over. Last time she did it she ruined her shoes and ever since she had worn trainers, which I think, this time, will survive.

She was amazingly cheerful. I think it is one of those silly, stupid things that you want to laugh about rather than become annoyed or despairing. I just happened to be passing (after she had sorted herself out, as I did not see her in the water) and so I was the one she told. It might have not been a nice experience to slip into the water but it made for a pleasant conversation.

Odd shared moments like are the difference between a plod and an enjoyable walk

2011 Streak Day 261 (Wednesday Sept 21st): This was a good day

2011 Streak Day 261 (Wednesday Sept 21^st): Walk 5.7 miles, Time 1hr 50min, Weather - bright and clear , sun and fluffy clouds

One of the interesting things about trying to catch up with myself, writing my blog posts in retrospect, is that it forces me to remember my recent past. Normally I would have no reason to relive events of a couple of weeks ago but now I do. Armed with a few jotted notes from the day and a photo I close my eyes and try to picture what happened.

Some days are so featureless it is difficult to sense their shape or anything clear that happened, whilst others are bright and sharp.

This is one of those sharp days, when it felt good to be alive and I felt lucky being able to do what I was doing.

The sun was out and although it was not spectacularly warm, it felt like one of those clear autumn days that lift the spirits. I was walking along the canal, which for some reason it looked more beautiful than ever, and I had a purpose. I was walking the 6 miles to The Rex  to see a film (Sarah's Key).

I could breath deeply and think of how I was uniting two of the great attractions of the area: the canal and one of the most attractive cinema interiors in the country. If I cannot stand upright, breath deeply and appreciate those things and everything else around me, then I would indeed be a very sad case.

Some days this 2011 project is the easiest thing in the world.  

2011 Streak Day 259 (Saturday Sept 10th): Tradition

2011 Streak Day 259 (Saturday Sept 10^th):Walk 2.5 miles, Time 1hr, Weather - clouds come, clouds go

Another day to combine grocery shopping with a walk along the canal. As Sainsbury's is next to the canal, on the site of the old John Dickinson paper mill, it is the obvious thing to do.

This bridge, with its useless secondary arch is one I have always liked. It puzzles me slightly because I do not think the canal too wide to be spanned by a single arch. I will obviously have to do further research on the span of brick arches and their limits.

However as it is this bridge has a picturesque lop-sided charm. A couple of weeks ago I passed a lady painting a watercolour of it and stopped for a chat about what she was doing and the view.

Yesterday I mentioned the comforting Englishness of the bowling green. I ought to add to that the sight of a watercolourist in the open air, painting a landscape.

2011 Streak Day 242 (Wednesday Aug 31st): These things are important

2011 Streak Day 242 (Wednesday Aug 31st): Walk - 2 miles, Time - 45min, Weather - overcast

This is picture of work in progress is a small example of how the planning system can work.

In canal history terms the site is interesting as it had been a working wharf from the earliest days of the Grand Union Canal in 1798 until 2002, when Bridgewater Boats stopped using it in 2002. 

However a vacant plot beside a canal, in an attractive town like Berkhamsted is an obvious opportunity for housing development. A plan was put forward for that would have lost the wharf and its connection with the past. There was however opposition.

In the event the initial proposal was dropped and a new owner got planning permission for a scheme, which scaled back the housing and incorporated a boatyard. As you can see some housing new housing is in keeping with its surroundings .

The story of the battle against the original proposals is here, including a link to the documents presented to the planning committee. A colossal amount of work was required to oppose the initial planning application but it showed that sometimes things can be done to preserve the character and tradition of a place.

This is important to know because at the moment there are threats to our planning system, making it far easier for developers to get the go-ahead. 

The proposals have incurred the ire of, amongst others, the National Trust (not a body I would have thought a  Conservative politician would want to cross) and it is well worth reading the wonderfully spleenic polemic by their chairman Simon Jenkins.

These things are important because we are often unaware of all the forces that shape our environment and the character of the places we live. We need systems to both preserve and improve what we have. We cannot leave it all to chance and market forces.

With all the time I spend running or walking by the canal I am acutely aware not only of how fortunate I am to have it nearby but also of what a wonderful amenity it is. Yet knowing something of the history of canals and how in middle of the 20^th Century they were scruffy neglected areas in the backend of towns makes me aware that their present state cannot be taken for granted

2011 Streak Day 231/365 (Friday19 Aug): Hours of Practice

2011 Streak Day 231/365 (Friday19 Aug): Distance 5 miles Time - 48min 50 Weather - sunny and quite warm, a big change after yesterday

Another run where I stopped on the dot, which shows not only that it was a bit of a struggle but also I am a bit dumb. Yesterday's hills were quite hard so I should have  eased back with a gentle recovery around the park. As it was my calves were tired and there was no zip.Tomorrow must be a rest day.

This got me thinking about Bounce, which I mentioned in the last post. Matthew Syed's thesis is that champions are made rather than born - it is not a matter of innate talent but of hard work. He follows the Malcolm Gladwell line that it takes 10,000 of practice.

My body is not capable of putting in those sort of hours. It needs time to recover or it breaks down. This suggests talent and genes have a say in the ability to put in the necessary hours. Those who have the innate ability and a suitable constitution can both, see the rewards and put in the hours. It is very difficult to stay dedicated if you are getting nothing back.

Yet initially the book seems very convincing. Good evidence is presented about the importance of practice and one is easily carried along by the advocacy. But as I read it I had the same uneasy feeling I had when reading Oliver James about the importance of parenting in forming a persons character and emotional stability - yes  it is important but is it sufficient to explain everything? I have always been amazed at the intellectual energy spent on a nature vs nurture debate that sees it as an either/or.  By all means argue about the percentage split but don't dismiss one or the other. It is exactly the same with talent vs practice.

As a key piece of evidence Syed cites the 1993 study by Ericsson (as does Gladwell) that looked at the hours of practice accumulated by the best, good, and less good violinists and showed that there was a distinct difference in the average hours of practice for each group. In other words the best practiced more. 

This article from The Science of Sport, which is a very considered response to Bounce, includes something rather surprising about the Ericsson study - although he showed the average practice times for the different grades of violinists  he did not show the variance, i.e. he did not show the standard deviation within each group. It is perfectly conceivable that there could be people from the less able groups putting in more hours than some in the more able group but not seeing the result. Conceivable but I do not know because the study withholds the information. 

When weight is be placed on a study you would hope it covered everything openly.  You would also hope it accorded with a broad range of other studies but as the Science in Sport article shows there is contra evidence.

Bottom line is that you can get a very long way by working hard but I still believe champions have something extra.

However that is not of much personal concern as I will never be a champion. I can only hope to do the best I can and be satisfied with that. 

That best includes the concept of rest and enjoyment. Hence my picture of someone, at ease, reading by the canal. A waterway for slow paced boats and slow paced runners.

2011 Streak Day 225/365 (Aug 13th): Slapstick

2011 Streak Day 225/365 (Aug 13^th): Walk - 4 miles, Time !hr 10min, Weather - still grey

It has taken three days to get to the canal. Usually when I return from holiday it is my first run - a form of touching base. Today however was a walk. My legs felt weary and told me that although I had done OK, I could do with some rest. But total rest is impossible in  2011!

The gentle walk was fine but on holiday such a walk would not even have been mentioned in the daily stats.

Along the way I saw three young men (twentyish), dressed in suits with ties loosened off, messing about on a row boat. They were trying to get from one side of the canal to the other but lacking oars they were using a lump of wood to paddle. Progress was unsteady but they reached the other side only to be berated by one of the boat owners, whereupon they abandoned the row boat.

I can only think that young men in suits on a Saturday lunchtime meant they were refugees from a wedding.

I can remember something similar from my youth. After a wedding, three of us decided to play golf in rain so hard nobody else was out on the course. Being drunk we did not care how wet we got and also being drunk we found every inept shot funny. My own low/high point happened when a three wood slipped from my hands when driving off (as I said it was very wet and the grip was slippy) but then I could not find the club. I looked all around but it was nowhere to be seen as I went through the classic ‘searching for something lost’ routine of looking again and again in the same place and being just as surprised each time that it wasn’t there. I had all but given up when I looked up and saw the club hanging from a tree like a long catkin. It had obviously flown up and the head had hooked itself over a branch - amazing. I retrieved it and carried on with a puzzled look on my face like Stan Laurel.

Sometimes I think I still see life as a never ending silent comedy.

Juneathon 2011 Day 20: Taking it easy

2011 Streak Day 171/365: Walk - 2.3 miles, Time - 50min, Weather - blue skies, white cloud that turned grey in the afternoon

The reason for yesterday's run feeling harder had nothing to do with the shoes. I was sickening for something and the run was the canary in the mineshaft.

Today I woke up with a sore throat, headache, and aching limbs - all the normal symptoms of a mildly inconvenient virus. The only sensible response is cut back on activity, curl into oneself until it washes itself away - over time.

But I want to keep the streak going and so for a few days I will be doing only a minimal amount of exercise. Today I even took my car to the canal so that the walk only included the good stuff.

Whilst there I saw water overflowing one of the lock gates  - gushing with an energy my body did not posses. I like these contrasts. There I was feeling like a long drink of water,  yet here was the canal showing that water could be a force

Juneathon 2011 Day 12: Wet

2011 Streak Day 163/365: Walk - 7.21 miles, Time - 2hr 29min, Weather - steady rain

I had planned to go cycling today, in that dippy, let's not bother checking the weather forecast, way I plan. I even got dressed in my cycling gear, as if to show that I meant what I said. However as I ate my breakfast and watched the rain streak the windows, saw that the whole of the sky was heavy grey and that there was no sign of it letting-up, I had a rethink.

Of the three activities (running, walking, cycling) for me cycling is the one most affected by rain. I don't really like it. I will do it if I have to (and for years when I commuted I took pride in paying no heed to the conditions) but I don't have to I don't. My present rides are for amusement and fitness.

I didn't think I would be too amused today. So I switched the plan and walked by the canal.

There were very few people about: 1 runner 4 walkers  and 3 bedraggled cyclists. Not many for 2 hours.

There were however fishermen, in a line along one stretch,  huddled under their big umbrellas, watching the pattern of rain on the water. There were no signs that any of them had caught a fish, nor was there any sign of a nibble. I respect their dedication. All the fair weather canal walkers had been put-off, but they stuck to their task. I suppose if their main task is watching water, it doesn't matter if some of it comes from the sky, especially as their umbrellas were large enough to keep them quite dry.

The canal boats were all snuggled down, with their tiller decks enclosed in the equivalent of a macintosh. Smoke was coming from a some of the chimneys and there is something very comforting about the smell of a coal fire. One or two boats passed by, steered by people wrapped in waterproofs, wearing Tilley hats but they seemed content enough.

In a way there was something cosy about the whole scene. The weather wasn't extreme or fierce - it was just wet

I might not enjoyed being sprayed  by passing cars on wet slippery roads, whilst riding my bike but walking (or running) in the rain is different. I enjoyed today's activity.

Juneathon 2011 Day 10: Boundaries and distance

2011 Streak 161/365: Run 7.55 miles, Time 1hr 11min 32sec, Weather - hints of rain

The following is a wonderful poem. It is very specific in place and so allows a precise imagining of a person, a pose, a view, yet at the same time its subject is large and more abstract:  vastness and interconnectedness in tension with the need for the manageable, the attainable.

Of course it has nothing to do with running. How could it? it is written by an elderly man taking a moment to contemplate, flipping his cigarette into the water, looking at a boat and the sky. It has nothing to do with running.

And yet … because it deals with universal themes, it does.  

When I run by the canal my situation is the reverse I have the extreme nearness of the task and the straightjacket of my capabilities, my world is constrained. Yet I look up and see a stretch of waterway 200 hundred years old. I see a connection with the industry, which built the country, a link to towns and cities which used to be quite isolated. On my own patch I can see the evidence of old industry turned into housing and retail park. And that is only the human history. Beside all that are the fields the landscape and the animals. The vastness opens out at odd moments and then closed down as the more immediate concerns of feeling breathless, weariness or thirst take over.

On the pier at Kinlochbrevie

The stars go out one by one

as though a bluetit the size of the world

were pecking them like peanuts out of the sky's

string bag

A ludicrous image I know.

Take away the grey light.

I want the bronze shield of summer

or winter's scalding sheet

My mind is struggling with itself.

That fishing boat is a secret

approaching me. It's a secret

coming out of another one.

I want to know the first one of all.

Everything's int he distance,

as I am. I wish I could flip that distance

like a cigarette into the water.

I want the extreme of nearness

I want boundaries on my mind

I want to feel the world like a straightjacket

Norman MacCaig

Juneathon 2011 Day : Back to the Canal

2011 Streak 154/365: Run - 6.53 miles, Time 1hr 2min, Weather - hot and sunny

The rubble of Nash mills

Part 1

As an aside in my last post I said that Dr Johnson had a good quote for just about everything but I didn’t really expect him to have much to say about exercise. After all my image of him is of a gouty man at home in an ale house. My instinct was that if he ever thought about exercise he would be dismissive but I was wrong as he was able to see right to the heart of the matter:

The necessity of action is not only demonstrable from the fabric of the body, but evident from observation of the universal practice of mankind, who for the preservation of health in those whose rank or wealth exempts them from the necessity of lucrative labour, have invented sports and diversions, though not of equal use to the world with manual trades, yet of equal fatigue to those who practice them, and differing only from the drudgery of the husbandman or manufacturer, as they are acts of choice, and therefore performed without the painful sense of compulsion. The huntsman rises early, pursues his game through all the dangers and obstructions of the chase, swims rivers, and scales precipices, till he returns home no less harassed than the soldier, and has perhaps sometimes incurred as great hazard or wounds or death: yet he has no motive to incite his ardour; he is neither subject to the commands of a general, nor dreads any penalties for neglect and disobedience; he has neither profit nor honour to expect from his perils and his conquests; but toils without the hope of mural or civic garlands, and must content himself with the praise of his tenants and companions."

Johnson: Rambler #85 (January 8, 1751)

Apart from the acute observation the phrase which struck me was ‘lucrative labour’ and the neat divide between the wealthy and those who work was physically hard. In two and a half centuries  things have changed. A middle has developed and grown so that a majority of us are now sedentary, which means that we fall into the wealthy category of having to invent exercise.

I must admit that I do not feel like a landowner or Eighteenth Century gentleman but for that short time I am out on my run I have joined their ranks.

Part 2

The today’s run was something of a landmark - I was back to my home run; back to the canal. Since returning all my runs have been round the park, which has been perfectly fine but I find it psychologically difficult to run many laps. If I want to run further I have to have a route that goes there and back or is a bigger loop.

This morning I planned 6 miles and rather pathetically was quite excited by the idea going back to the towpath I like to claim as my own. Gosh! Looking forward to something is always worrying because I assume I will be disappointed but this was not the case. As soon as I reached the canal and felt the cooling of the the trees and water and saw the beauty of the stillness I just said to myself “welcome back”.

Part 3

The picture shows all that is left of what once was a very significant paper mill. It was John Dickinson's second mill and dated from 1811. Now it has been demolished for housing and all the stone and brick has been ground up into a fine rubble.

2011 Streak 119/365: Mottocross

2011 Streak 119/365: Walk - 4.73 miles, Time - 1hr 30min, Weather - lightly overcast

Day 119 of 2011 was the day of the royal wedding, and outside central London,the quietest day imaginable. A lot of people must have stayed inside watching television, or just stayed inside. Whatever the reasons it was a perfect time to walk along the canal as it perfectly peaceful.

That was until I reached the site of the old paper mill at Nash Mills, which they are redeveloping into houses. Surprisingly some people were working. It did not seem to be a full crew but there were at least two diggers moving around a few men in hi-vis jackets and hard hats.

One or two other people were out walking but not as many longboats as normal were moving and wee were passed by two cyclists. Later on we watched three canoeists showing a nice turn of speed as they paddled along - a quick burst  and then relax when they chatted to each other. it looked like fun.

The canal is the focus for all sorts of recreational activity and we are fortunate to live nearby. It is not only the obvious sorts and pastimes - on some land that comes down to the canal is a course for off-road motor cyclists. It looks very, very tricky. In the same way that I am always impressed by the tricks and verve of BMX riders at the local skate park, I think these riders show amazing bike control and concentration.

This appeared to be some sort of training exercise, with each rider in the group going down and up in turn. Just like the BMX riders they watch each other and appreciate the skills. I like to think every shared enthusiasm is like this - full of mutual support and encouragement. It is certainly true for running.

2011 Streak 111/365: Evening by the canal

2011 Streak 111/365: Walk - 3.7 miles, time - 1hr 15min, Weather - pleasantly sunny and warm

Oh no! This is becoming a habit: evening walk to the pub. 

However the circumstances today are completely different as a friend ,who now lives in New Zealand, is visiting us for a couple of days - so obviously there is no alternative.

Actually as a plan it developed fairly organically. He arrived late morning , we had lunch and talked, catching up on the last 5 years. After a time we realised our backsides were getting seat shaped and we needed to use our legs. A walk by the canal seemed perfect for a spring day which felt like summer. Just by chance we headed in the direction of the Three Horseshoes at Winkwell.

Somehow or other our path deviated and we ended up sitting on a bench beside the water with a beer in our hands. How did that happen?

After a short time we realised that this was the most pleasant way to spend our time and we were joined by my wife (who had been out during the day). And that was that; the walk was over.

When out we only saw one runner; and I took this picture of him in the distance. It reminds me of how much I enjoy running by canals and how they are the very best of places, especially when the sun is out.

2011 Streak 100/365:Sunday by the canal

2011 Streak 100/365:Walk -3.25 miles, Time - 1hr 10min, Weather - It almost feels like summer

It was the day of the Brighton Marathon and it felt like a hot summer's day. Not the best weather for running 26 miles, so I congratulate all who took part and completed the event (especially of course Adele and Tom).

I felt like a complete slacker as I followed on from yesterday's stroll with another leisurely walk. As I was back home the obvious place to go was the canal, which has both light and shade, trees and water. What more could you want?

It is the perfect place for weekend recreation and today was rich in activity. There were people out for a gentle stroll, power walkers dressed in athletic garb, traditional ramblers, and someone on on a long distance walk, complete with map and Camelback. There was also a runner in Vibram Five Fingers, which quite impressed me because the towpath is stoney with lumps, bumps and many sharp edges, which can tenderise the soles of the feet. Cyclists ranged from  wobbly inexperienced riders to confident young men (who were probably going too fast bearing in mind the number of people on the footpath). Beside the water were fishermen sitting and enjoying the sun.

On the canal there was a most interesting training session. You can see in the photo some kayaks in formation, but strangely the boats have outriggers.  At first I was really puzzled because canoeing is not like cycling where a kid will learn on a bike with stabilisers, you get in the boat straight away and then wobble about until you get comfortable. Anyway these people were far from beginners they were fit and proficient. it all seemed odd until I saw a trainer riding along the towpath on a bike. He had a polo shirt with a logo reading Batchworth Dragons. Ah ha it was dragon boat training excellent!

I love finding new past times and sports. Mine of running, cycling and walking are very mundane so I salute those who find more unusual obsession. The more variety the better.

If we want to encourage more people to be more active (which we do) there are worse ways than just taking them to the canal and showing them all the ways people find to enjoy themselves.