2011 Streak Day 232 (Saturday Aug 20th): More diggers

2011 Streak Day 232 (Saturday Aug 20^th): Walk - 4 Miles, Time 1hr 10min, Weather - bright early on but clouds then gathered and there was some rain

These diggers amused me: tethered like horses in a temporary corral, resting before they are let out to mend the road. I looked at them and thought of any number of cowboy films.

After my legs had felt so tired, it was important to have a low key day. and so today was a gentle walk to B&Q to buy some tools. It was enough 

Juneathon 2011 Day 5: Slower but happier

2011 Streak Day 156/365: Run - 4.05 miles, Time - 40min 1sec, Weather - overcast, spitty rain

Diggers add personality to any driveway. As evidence I present the example I saw on today’s run. It is odd to think of machines having a personality - but they do. Shapes make associations to which you react and there is something very pleasing about the roundedness of this little digger, standing upright next to the SUV.

As for the run itself I was a bit surprised at how slow it was. It is not that I have been running fast recently but all my runs have been in the 9:20 to 9:35 range and this one did not feel a lot different. So what happened?

It is actually quite simple: the impression we have of any activity is over influenced by how we finish. Today I felt tired when I started and began very, very easily and gradually eased into the run. I finished at my current, standard pace but started more slowly, so the overall average was affected.

I am not at all bothered at my pace at the moment (I only look at my watch when I have stopped). As I have said my only concern is to run easily, concentrate on form, and stay injury free. In those terms I am doing well and today’s run is a significant marker because I didn’t once think of my knee. On every other run at some point I have paid attention and monitored how things were going. Today it never crossed my mind - and that is the way it ought to be. Wonderful!

If things continue like this I might be able to start my half marathon training programme with a modest degree of confidence.

2011 Streak Day 139: Diggers in their natural habitat

2011 Streak Day 139: Cycle - 15.85 miles, Time - 1hr 6min, Weather - blue sky, fluffy clouds

I take a childish delight in seeing diggers munch their way through concrete and marvel at their power - just look at the size of the concrete beam the yellow one is lifting. I somehow imagine them as a pack of animals feeding on the debris.

Here they are flattening a processing plant in the business park. Watching the destruction I know it will only be a short time before I have forgotten the building was even here.

Quite a good social history could be written by tracing the changes in the business parks of the New Towns around London. In the beginning there was a heavy reliance on the aerospace industry but now that has mostly gone. (In Hemel the example of this was Lucas Aerospace, which opened a plant in 1956). Now it is distribution and logistics.

Looking back at your local history is one of the reasons you need public libraries. They keep the old maps, directories and accounts, without which you are lost. Otherwise it is amazing how quickly your own memory fades. A simple example from the high street, when one shop closes and is replaced by another - how long does it take to completely forget about the original shop?

2011 Streak 56/365: Abandoned Digger

2011 Streak 56/365: Walk - 5.04 miles, Time - 1hr 35min, Weather - pleasant and springlike but gradually clouding over

Diggers cost a chunk of change and need to be used to repay the investment. On the whole they do not spend their time lost, beside a little heap of gravel, doing nothing.

I have passed this digger numerous times and it has not moved. There is no sign of continuing activity, it is as if someone, after a half-hearted attempt at moving some earth, has given-up. But they have left a digger behind, abandoned with a coat still in the drivers cab; as if he finished one evening and walked away.

This is not a good plan. It already looks as if the rear window has been smashed and it might not long before it is fully taken apart. There will soon have to be a new warning sign, posted on the fence, telling us that this is not a suitable area for play, or the wilful destruction of equipment. We obviously need to be told these things. Especially as the current warning sign is now out of date. It says: "Danger Men At Work".

Although I have walked along this street regularly, I cannot remember when there was last activity. I do not know how long the digger has been abandoned. This says a lot about memory - you just do not notice when things are not happening. Only after a period of time does it sink in that nothing has moved.

As my 2011 project is as much about observation as it is about exercise, I find that interesting.

Childlike (or even childish) Delight

The last post was all about how you see things you are primed to see. Another small example is the way I unconsciously look-out for diggers or other engineering works on my runs – all because of Adele. Rather heroically she is preparing for the London Marathon by pushing a running buggy and keeping her son amused at the same time. Spotting diggers is obviously the thing to do as it is well known that kids love diggers. But what is my excuse?

This picture from my last run has no digger but is the result of engineering work. They are replacing some lock gates and have thus had to drain a section of the canal to enable them to do the work. As I have never seen the canal empty of water, I found it quite exciting – in a distinctly childish way. I was surprised at how shallow it is and it shows why, every so often, they will need diggers to remove silt. Also you can see more clearly the wear and tear of a couple of hundred years.

If I ever needed a reminder of what is good about running, this picture provides it. It shows me that no matter how often I run a route there is always something new to see and that looking more closely at something increases your understanding. It brings you closer to the landscape and whether you see interesting new things or not, just being out on a sunny day, by the water (well for most of the run) and under trees lifts the spirits.