Janathon 2012 Day 9: Walking as training

Janathon 2012 Day 9: Walk - 7 miles, Time - 1hr 54min, Weather - greyish but not oppressively so

I liked today's Running Free weekly report today as it contained a quote from Arthur Lydiard, which explained exactly what I am doing at the moment:

If you are not enjoying training, stop all anaerobic training. Go out for a long jog, so slow that the old ladies with shopping baskets go past you. Do that until you start to enjoy it!

When writing my training diary yesterday I reviewed the week and asked myself what I had enjoyed the most and what the least. The session that gave me least pleasure was easy to identify, it was the run where I could not keep my heart rate down and I felt everything was falling apart. i came away with the conclusion was that I was not even fit enough to run slowly!

Something has to be wrong with that conclusion but how to counter it?

Now Arthur Lydiard was the trainer of top class athletes who in no way ran slowly (it is a myth that Lydiard was an early proponent of Long Slow Distance). I am a low level athlete who in no way runs fast. I might have to ratchet things down a bit: to build up my endurance I might need to walk.

If I am going to use walking as training (as they did in the early part of the Twentieth Century) then I had better make sure it has some substance i.e. be something more than a stroll round the block.

This links-in with what was last weeks most satisfying session - my 6.5 mile walk along the canal. Now it could be I was unduly influenced by the weather (a sunny day with a deep blue sky was such a relief amid all the dull, rainy days) but there was real pleasure in striding along, paying attention to my surroundings and going long enough to feel it involved effort.

So today I thought I would repeat it. The weather was not as good but I enjoyed it just as much. So Huzza I think there is some progress to be found here.

Janathon 2012 Day 8: Tea

Janathon 2012 Day 8: Cycle - 16.55 miles, Time - 1hr 14min, Weather - Grey

Poster by Owen Davey

I don't want to bore everybody by going on about how unfit I am and how everything at the moment is a struggle. Even if it is the case the case, it is something I have to deal with, without moaning. Therefore I won't say much more about today's activity apart from the fact that it was my first cycle ride for ages.

(Ignoring the fact that it felt a lot harder than it should have done, my heart rate was higher than I would have expected and 16 miles was as far as I wanted to go, it felt good to be out. I was happy to feel the wheels turn and occasionally have a sensation of speed).

Instead what I will talk about is advice; after all it is the New Year and very many people (including me) are full to the brim with good intentions and the desire, just this once, to make things work.

I don't want to go all goopy new age or vacuous management guru - that stuff can safely be put to one side. I want to introduce specific advice, beautifully presented, in ways that can spark the imagination.

The  Advice to sink in slowly website contains posters by design graduates for first year students, which encapsulate insights which are helpful for design, studying, or life in general. Some of them are rather wonderful.

The one at the top illustrates a practical idea that has kept me going for many a long year. In fact it is what I do when I come back after a session feeling more tired than I should. I just say to myself: "Stop mithering and have a nice cup of tea." Things soon perk up.

This, of course, ties in with WCTB Therapy, which if more widely adopted could save the NHS £££s.

Janathon 2012 Day 7: Half and hour a day

Janathon 2012 Day 7: Walk - 3.5 miles, Time - 1hr, Weather - blue skies before the grey swept back in

I ought to be feeling shamefaced about the low level of activity in this years Janathon. A three and a half miles walk is more of a holding activity than anything else but it might be doing more good than I think.

This video is a little illustrated talk which proposes that exercise might be the most efficacious public health intervention. The surprising thing to me is how little is needed to have dramatic benefits. Just half an hours walk a day will do the job.

Obviously this is rubbish if you want to train for a marathon but it shows I should not belittle these little outings too much 

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.

Janathon 2012 Day 5: Walking, yoga and the risks of exercise

Janathon 2012 Day 5: Walk - 3 miles, Time - 55min, Weather - blowing a gale, sometimes it rained, sometimes it didn't

According to my schedule I should have been running today but I just did not see the point. I still had a cold and so my heart rate was already elevated in addition It was horribly windy and any progress would be a struggle. I knew I would again spend all my time failing to keep my heart rate down. 

If I was going to be forced to walk all the time I might just as well dress in walking gear and be honest about it. On a bleak wintry day this seemed by far the best option as I could pull my chin down to my chest and hide it behind the collar of my anorak, hunch myself up defensively and tramp on.

Somedays are about more about endurance than enjoyment and this was one of them (not that there is much endurance in a three mile walk).

When I was out, not walking very far, not walking very fast I was thinking about the role of ego in sports. Today I had none - I was not trying to prove anything, I was just trying to keep going, but in other circumstances, no matter how much I might protest to the contrary, there is an element of me that says I should be able to keep-up, I should be able to do that, I should be better than them. I am not the world's most competitive person, yet I still have that in me. In fact I believe that almost everybody who takes up a sport, or active pastime has some of that in them. The higher the level, the greater the desire to excel and show yourself the best - the greater the ego

My thinking was sparked by an article on the dangers of yoga. Yes even yoga can be ego ridden and the desire to adopt extreme positions can cause of injury. This is entirely plausible: you only have to look at the fashions in different types of yoga. 

When it was introduced into the West the dominant type was Hatha Yoga and the underlying philosophy was that as Westerners sat on chairs and were not necessarily very active, they didn't have the basic fitness and flexibility of the Indian yogis who had sat crossed legged since childhood and led an outdoor life. The appropriate yoga was therefore more gentle.

But you can't keep the reasons for that approach secret and once it is known it does not sit well with the competitive Western mindset. It is part of our cultural upbringing to push further and prove ourselves as individuals and sometimes the more extreme the achievement the greater the validation. It is unsurprising that progressively more vigorous classes became fashionable. 

But the body has limits, you might be able to ease them out gradually over time, but you cannot easily fully reverse the consequences all that time spent in front of a computer screen. Our genetics and the what with our days set those limits and pretending you are someone else can be dangerous. 

No matter how many warnings about not overdoing things, working within your limits, and it is not a competition, there is still the ego driven desire to go further. That is fine as long as there is a good teacher to point out the problems and guide the progress. If there isn't then there are risks.

However, I wondered, is it more risky that the low level exercise I was doing. For sure my walking was very, very safe and there was minuscule risk of me injury myself but I did have to cross the road ...

Janathon 2012 Day 4: Balance

Janathon 2012 Day 4: Weights and stretches, Time - 30min, Weather - not as wild as yesterday. Mostly grey

This morning I woke up with a sudden flash of insight: I didn’t have to go outside to exercise. As insights go this is fairly low level and I was not going to leap out of my bath and run down the street yelling Eureka!  but in its own small way it was quite satisfying.

The past year had been so dominated by the thought that everyday I had to get out of the door to run, walk, or cycle, it had become a state of mind. Subconsciously I had even begun to believe the only valid form of exercise involved fresh air and travel. But this is not true - it is not even desirable.

Running, cycling, walking are an undoubted good and the basic building blocks of health and fitness but they are not everything. Their range of movements is limited and only certain muscle groups are developed. To keep the body in balance more needs to be done - strength and flexibility also need to be fostered.

One of my new year’s resolutions is to balance my fitness regime. I have a set of dumbbells and many books showing me how to stretch and plan to incorporate them into each day - not big sessions but a little regularly.

However my insight this morning was that a half hour session would fit the bill perfectly for Janathon and I would not be ridiculed and mocked as an impostor. So that is what I did

Janathon 2012 Day 3: Not a good day

Janathon 2012 Day 3: Run - 2.55 miles, Time - Urghh, Weather - Gusty gales all day but I managed a run when there was no rain

This really lowered the spirits.

My second base run and I was unable to keep my heart rate low enough. Every time a ran it went above my limit. Even if I slowed as much as I could, I could not control it.

My first thought was to blame the gale, which was swirling and buffeting but that was no good - when the wind dropped my heart rate was still high. The only other, obvious, explanation is the cold I have (and colds raise your heart rate) but it was worse on Sunday and I am getting better. So that doesn't make much sense.

I  didn't know what to do when I was out. After walking and slowing and slowing and walking the only conclusion was that  If I followed my plan I would have to walk the whole way and I didn't see the use in that. So I recalibrated, allowed myself an extra 10 beats and carried on. However it still felt like a defeat.

Fitness is a long, long way away.

Janathon 2012 Day 2: Who needs accuracy?

Janathon 2012 Day 2: Walk - 2.54 miles, Time  - 1hr 3min, Weather - Sunny and bright but a little colder

I mentioned yesterday that I am going back to relying on just two measurements: heart rate and time. They are the most accurate information you have. Watches have obviously been around our wrists for ages and we take for granted their astonishing accuracy (so much so that I don't know anybody who is at all astonished). Heart rate monitors have only been general used since 1983 but since that time they have evolved to resist interference and do a good job of precisely counting your heart beats.

GPSs have only been available since 2003 but I would guess that they are now the dominant training tool and people grow to love them. So much so that some people think going out for a run without one is a form of disloyalty - that it cannot be a proper run if it is not validated by a full set of statistics. Some people give them names and bicker as if it is a proper relationship (I am talking about you Travelling Hopefully). But here's the thing - they are not accurate. They have been getting better but they are still not accurate.

It is undoubtably true that they are wonderful and a marvel of modern technology but it is still a mistake to confuse the precision of their results with accuracy.

This article on the subject from the New York Times amused me, especially the idea that people would contact race organisers to tell them they mis-measured their courses. Although I can shake my head and say "silly billies" it must be very tedious for the organisers. 

Now I would not want to use this article as an argument against GPSs - not at all. As I have said before they are a wonder and a marvel. I would however use it as a an argument for showing that we should know the limitations of our tools and how much we can rely on them.

Today's Janathon was a walk in the park - literally. It was however very muddy and the slow pace shows the effect of trying to pick the less watery, slippery path amid a sea of mud.

(The distance measurement is, of course, as it always has been, an approximation)

Janathon 2012 Day 1: Base Training

Janathon 2012 Day 1: Run - 2.35 miles, Time - too embarrassed to say, Weather - mild, a little blowy, grey clouds

Back after a lay off and in terrible shape. Time for a new beginning! 

“What else is the New year for?” I asked myself “if not to draw a imaginary line and promise yourself that from this time hence you will be far, far better, in so, so many ways.” Before the rational side could snarl back “Yes, it is surely a time of mass delusion.” I was out the door - before breakfast, before I could think.

Well actually that is not totally true -  I had given it quite a bit of thought. For some time I had been thinking about using the New Year to mark a change in my approach. 

The last couple of years have seen me running for moderate distances at the same steady/slowish pace without any great improvement in fitness or endurance. In running terms the technical term for this is: rubbish. If I carried on in the same way I would again achieve very little and be another rubbish year so something else has to be done.

My plan is therefore to go forward by going back to something I used to do - heart rate training.

Before I got my Garmin footpod I never worried much about how far I ran. The only things I paid attention to were time and heart rate. On my long runs I would try to keep around a set number of beats and on tempo runs I would try to maintain a different level. I actually think it worked quite well I I don’t know why I changed. (I think I must have been seduced by the idea of a different technology and more complete information. This is not necessarily a good thing.)

Today however I went back to the future and pace does not matter.

This is a very good thing because the first stage my training plan is base training, which involves running very, very slowly to keep your heart rate below 70%. It is far more difficult than you might think. Today even the slightest incline would rocket my heart rate and force me to walk, just to keep below the maximum. It was not as if I was going fast in any case - but I still had to walk. 

Progress was slow and it could have raised questions about the fine line between running and miming. But I don’t want to think about that or even worry if I am overtaken people with Zimmer frames. I have a plan and I must stick to it.


Today's picture came from a walk later in the day. The cows amused me by looking is if they were part of an identity parade

2011 Streak: A sense of ending

2011 Streak: A sense of ending

Not with a celebratory burst through the finishing tape, nor with a retirement forced by overwhelming odds,  the 2011 Streak ended. I cannot give a precise reason why I could not carry on but rather it was an increasing weariness and a fading of enthusiasm. For sometimes the whole enterprise had felt like going through the motions rather than something fresh.

I missed the day of my return from France. The shipped docked in the morning and I still had most of the day in front of me but I did nothing. No exercise, no photograph, no notes. After a streak is broken you cannot put it back together again. 

When that happened I felt a sense of relief. A voice in my head said "300 days is not too shabby and anyway what about all those other jobs you have put to one side. Eh?" (You can never escape that voice that tells you you ought to be doing more).

"Yes" I said "it will do. I need to get on and regroup"  A sigh escaped my body and that was that.

The picture of a fizzled out firework is probably appropriate

2011 Streak Day 305 (Friday Nov 4th): Going home

2011 Streak Day 305 (Friday Nov 4^th): Run- 3.1 mile, Time - 33min, Weather - a bit overcast

Again the routine of running before breakfast. 

There is nothing much to report about the run except that it was slow but with a low heart rate. As this was my last run here I was determined to make sure it was easy and enjoyable - a chance to look around and appreciate.

Instead of the the ferry going from Caen, this time we went from St Malo, which is a much more interesting port. When we arrived there were bright lights and a milling crowd as amovie or TV programme was being filmed on one of the old sailing boats and people gathered to watch.

The action was to the right of the photo (you can see the glow from the lighting on the side of the boat). I took the photo mainly because of all the yellow lines but the kids also looked rather cute discussing the finer points of filming.

Whilst waiting for the ferry we went to a bar. A cat was sleeping on one of the bench seats. There were two other people huddled over their drinks at a corner table, speaking softly. A girl came in sat at the bar and over her drink chatted to the barman, they were friends. I thought that if this was one of the last experiences in France on this trip, then it was a good one - bars are meant to be like this.  

2011 Streak Day 304 (Thursday Nov 3rd): And then there was lunch

2011 Streak Day 304 (Thursday Nov 3^rd): Walk - 2 miles Time - 40 min, Weather - a bit wet

This was the last full day of the break. All the planned work had been done and it was a day to celebrate by having a very long lunch. After all this is France and it would be totally wrong to ignore the culture.

I can honestly say that I have never had a better value meal - ever! In fact I find it hard to believe one exists. €19 for 5 course meal, including a bottle of wine, at a good quality restaurant is quite amazing. The most amusing course was probably the cheese. The waiter wheeled in a huge trolley full of cheeses I had never seen or heard of before. I could only make a random pick and hope but it worked. I was just amused at the collision of so much choice and so little knowledge.

When we finished we walked out, looked around and thought "Well that's that then.  Tomorrow is the journey home. The interlude is over." 

We had had a civilised lunch in a restaurant in a small town. As we left there were few cars on the road and all around were views of rolling countryside. I suddenly realised why I am always slightly discombobulated when I get home - I miss the emptiness. Here there are enough people to make the place civilised but there is also space. You don't feel crowded-in. Home though is southern England, one of the most densely populated corners of Europe, where there is always the pressure of others.

Anyway the picture the picture was taken outside the house in Gourvillette. Its purpose is to show the steel grey skies and dampness. I was a good day to eat and not run.

2011 Streak Day 303 (Wednesday Nov 2nd): habit

2011 Streak Day 303 (Wednesday Nov 2^nd): Run - 3.11 miles, Time - 31min, Weather - cloudy but mild

Again another run keeping the heart rate down. I am beginning to enjoy this routine of running every other day before breakfast. The mystery is why I can never do this at home.

Here it feels easy to wake-up put on running kit and leave. Once I am out of the door I walk for a few yards, gentle jog and then get into a rhythm of slightly more active plodding. I am on quiet lanes with no one in sight and the sun coming up. It feels just right and for this house it is my habit.

Back home I can never maintain the pattern and it does not feel the obvious thing to do. I have tried but after a few days the effort peters out - perhaps after many years my morning routine is so ingrained it resists change.

One of the strands of the Mindfulness book is to become aware of ones habits and try to break them: do things differently. On the whole I like that idea. I like, for example, to randomly take a different route or doing something new but it has to be after breakfast. Everything before then is a matter of waking-up and sorting myself out. And breakfast, well breakfast is the most habitual thing I do. Almost every morning I eat exactly the same thing. 

I actually don’t know if this is a good or bad. It is what I do and it is comfortable but that is not the same thing at at all. 

Today’s picture comes from Cognac and shows that the tourist season is over. La Dame Jeanne takes groups of people up and down the river but is now undergoing maintenance. I suppose I should not have been surprised at how shallow the draft is and that it is flat bottomed but I must admit that was my first reaction. A couple of moments thought though and I realised that was the appropriate design

2011 Streak Day 302 (Tuesday 1st Nov): Open skies

2011 Streak Day 302 (Tuesday 1^st Nov):Walk - 5.23 miles, Time - 1hr 39min, Weather - walked after the rain there were dramatic grey clouds but they passed and then the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds.

Although my average pace was just over 19 minutes, the first mile took me 24. I stopped many times to take pictures of the dramatic sky and bare fields. it is probably the section of the walk I enjoyed the most as I was paying attention to the surroundings. After I had put my camera away the pace increased and I trudged along. Often my mind was elsewhere as trains of thought were followed. The pleasure was then  in the exercise, pumping my arms and keeping-up the pace. 

The great feeling was in not having to go anywhere to appreciate the surroundings. One step out of the door and there were beautiful views, peace, tranquility and a sky full of birds. I love the raptors in these parts, especially the buzzards gliding in the skies of sitting on the wires.

The great thing about an open rolling countryside is the skies. Vast and dramatic all you need to do is look upwards and appreciate the majesty of the clouds. Sometimes the weather fronts move amazingly fast and today produced one of my favourite effects, where if you look in one direction the sky is steely grey and oppressive but if you turn around it is blue and sunny. Heavy grey clouds, streaked with sun light look fabulous and foliage seems to glow.

Sometimes being outside, slightly raising your breathing but being well within exercise limits so that you can sustain activity without stress, looking around, appreciating the landscape, feels like the most enormous privilege. If this blog is about anything it is about that feeling.

2011 Daily Streak Day 301 (Monday 31st October): Contentment

2011 Daily Streak Day 301 (Monday 31^st October): Run 2.5 miles Time 25min Weather - the most glorious warm sunny day

The run was mid way between the last two both in terms of speed and heart rate. Interesting how direct the relationship was.It actually felt quite comfortable most of the time but I got out of breath going up hill. 

The weather was so good though, with the sun rising in a clear blue sky it would have been hard not to enjoy a run in open rolling countryside the the early morning light bringing out the texture of the landscape and burning off the overnight dew. I felt lucky to be here on this particular morning.

Inspite of the run being enjoyable I was not tempted to extend it. the distance felt about right. It was refreshing and set me up for the day. I did not want it to be tiring.

I spent part of the day in Jarnac - walking in the park and by the river. The town itself was quiet (it was Monday) with very few people about but a café was open and that is all you need. 

It was just peaceful and I felt amazing contentment looking at the river and trees. At one point I sat down and listened to all the sounds around - the rustle of the leaves when the wind got up a little, the mixture of bird song, cars in the distance.

I often talk about how part of the pleasure of running is being a figure in the landscape - the appreciation of your surroundings through effort. As you are sensitive to gradients you are very aware of contours and shape. You feel the land under your foot. But in some way you are fighting it. Your satisfaction comes from covering the ground, doing, achieving.

Sitting still, listening and sensing your surroundings is very different. The very reverse of doing. But in those few moments I felt an enormous sense of contentment. 

The photo marks the time of year. The 1^st of November is La Toussaint a public holiday where it is traditional to remember the dead with chrysanthemums. In the days beforehand the flowers are for sale everywhere. Never before have I seen so many bunches of one type of flower

2011 Streak Day 300 (Sunday 30th October): Easy day

2011 Streak Day 300 (Sunday 30^th October):Walk 3 miles, time 1hr, Weather - mostly overcast

Sunday and time for a day sight-seeing - going somewhere new. Confolens is a medieval town on the confluence of two rivers that has retained the narrow, jumbly street structure and many very old buildings. In the 19^th Century it was, apparently the administrative centre for the surrounding agricultural region but it has not grown since then and has the atmosphere of being stuck. The population has declined as people have moved from the land and despite its beauty it does not have the tourist infrastructure of cafés, bars and shops. 

It was all a bit weird to go somewhere that felt quite so shut. The plan had been the obvious one of wandering around, seeing the sights, taking photos, eating and then going home, which worked just fine except for the eating. There was nowhere.

We asked around and were told about a place a few miles away by an old railway track. It looked like the functional shed of a traditional truck stop but of course the food was nothing like and so all was well.

All in all it felt like a easy paced day off - something that needs to be built into every schedule

2011 Streak Day 299 (Saturday29th October): Going slow

2011 Streak Day 299 (Saturday29^th October):Run 2.53 miles, Time 27min 44sec, Weather - grey, overcast, slight breeze

Yesterday I ran with my heart rate monitor for the first time for ages and was horrified at the reading. I was about 10 beats above what I would have expected for every speed and it conclusively proved what I already suspected - I am far, far away from any decent level of running fitness.

It cannot be denied. Reality has to be accepted.  Plan have to be made from where I am, not where I want to be.

Patience, Patience, Patience! will have to be the three watchwords. It will take time to build back up. To do so I must accept a slow pace and run to my heart rate and build a base. It is difficult because part of my mind will not let go of a false pride that tells me “I should be better than this!”, or “ surely I am faster than them!”  (whoever them may be). Part of the training is learning to ignore that voice. A little humility never hurt anyone.

On today’s run I cut back on my speed, paid attention to keeping my heart rate down and started the process. When I got back I ignored the average speed (delicately averted my eyes, if you will) and concentrated on my average heart rate, which was 18 beats less than yesterday. Huzzah! there is always something to give satisfaction.

My French observation of the day concerns design, thinking through a workflow and cultural differences: 

We had to take some rubble to the tip. At my local tip, and every other English tip I know, there are big skips with steps you have to climb up. If your load is heavy or awkward then too bad, it something you just have to manage. This local French tip was much smarter because it was on two levels. The higher level was where you drove in. The lower level was where the lorries delivered and took away the skips. This has two advantages: the first is that skip lorries can go in and out of their own gate without obstructing the cars and causing the tip to temporarily close; the second is ease of use - as the skip is below you, all you have to do is drag the rubbish to the edge and let go. 

However I don’t know if it is an example of something being better thought-out or diferent design priorities. With the French design it would be much easier to topple over the edge when letting go of your load. It could be that in England we are more concerned with health and safety and aware that there will always bee the idiot user who must be protected from himself.

The picture of the day comes from Matha. I only went there to pick up the day’s bread (there is a particularly good bakers/choclatier in the town) but was fascinated by the towers of pallets piled up beside the distillery. 

2011 Streak Day 298 (Friday 28th October): Misty grey

2011 Streak Day 298 (Friday 28^th October): Run - 3.4 miles, Time 33min, Weather - soft grey, slightly misty

The day feels very soft and quiet as a light mist lays a thin blanket over everything. Not a fog, the visibility is good but everything is cloaked in grey. It did not feel oppressive or gloomy. The number of grey days in Hemel over August and September were much more lowering. Instead today feels  gentle.

The great pleasure of running here is feeling alone. The land is well tended - so it is not wild - but you can run on a road and not see another soul. There was just me and the bare autumn landscape, alone with the sound of my foot scuffling on the road and a heaviness of breath. In the background I can hear birdsong.

Of course my running is still rubbish - I am in no great shape and cannot expect a magical transformation just because I am in perfect running country. I have to accept that and do the best I can

Afterwards it was a day of little activities. I went to Matha to buy some bread and was again struck by the rhythm of a small French town. People were out and about, stopping to chat or quietly going about their business but all at a comfortable pace. It felt human in scale as there were not the crowds of people pressing against each other, as happens in cites or bigger towns.

Also (and this was probably a freak of timing rather than a general rule) I saw nobody walking around with a phone to their ear. Sometimes I am minded to sit on a street corner at home and survey the percentage of people using a phone. I’m sure it would be large.The consequence is that many people aren’t really present - their body is there walking about, occupying space but their mind is elsewhere. 

Here in Matha today, everybody was in Matha.

2011 Streak Day 297: (Thursday October 27th): Travel

2011 Streak Day 297: (Thursday October 27^th)

Walk 3 miles, Time 1hr, Weather - dark and wet when I set out bright when I arrived.

The picture is of people milling around Paris Montparnasse station. It is like any station: so many people, so many reasons for travel. My reason is pleasure. I am on my way, once more, to the Charente and am catching the train to Angoulème. A couple of months from the summer holiday and I am going back again but this time I am going there to offer a little help to my brother-in-law with the eternally ongoing building project that is his french house.

I take a childish delight in long training journeys and almost like the prospect of arrival as much as actually getting there, especially if you have to get up early and the day stretches out before you - it seems more of an adventure. For this journey I had to get up at 4:30 (plenty early enough) and set out in the dark and damp to walk to the station (pleasure doesn’t come from things being easy). As I walked I thought myself lucky because serious rain and soaking trousers would not a happy rail passenger make.

On the Eurostar I sat alongside a grandfather, father and child. All three were train enthusiasts, something I gathered from the adults reading railway magazines and having the odd conversation about high speed points and the boy getting excited about seeing a TGV painted the wrong colour. It was reassuring to see a family sharing an interest, a reminder that the world was still a decent place. 

The bit of overheard conversation I liked the best was not about trains at all. The father was showing the grandfather a GPS app on his iPhone. “Look”, he said “it shows you exactly where we are on our journey.” “Well where are we then?” “In the middle of nowhere.”

I sometimes feel like that when collecting stats about my runs. The technology is all very clever but all it shows me is that in running terms I am in the middle of nowhere.

2011 Streak Day 296: (Wednesday October 26th): Attention

2011 Streak Day 296: (Wednesday October 26^th):Walk 3 miles, Time 1hr, Weather - sunny and bright

I regularly walk to past the parish church on the way to the park, sometimes I look at it sometimes it is just another part of the familiar landscape and I pay it scant attention. 

Walking and running are like that - the mind can drift in and out and  attention swings between the sharply focussed to the fuzzy. Sometimes on a familiar path you can drop into a reverie, snap out of it and, for a few moments, not be sure of where you are. “I don’t remember passing the bridge/building/bend/tree”,  you say to yourself, spend the next few moments puzzling how you could have been so unobservant and then miss the next landmark.

Bridges puzzle me the most because there is such a transformation when you pass under them but I have been known to run a familiar section of the canal and lose count. That should not happen - my senses are meant to be alert!

It is an indication of my low level sporting mentality. The difference between me chugging along and a top sportsman is indicated by an anecdote of Jackie Stewart’s (related in the film about George Harrison, ‘Living in the material world’). Apparently when he raced his senses were incredibly heightened, so much so that he could remember an occasion when coming into a bend he smelt grass; instinctively he backed off, knowing there should be no fresh cut grass on a motor racing circuit, and avoided problems from an accident which had churned up a grassy area. To notice grass above the engine smells, whilst all his other senses were being bombarded meant he was completely and utterly in the moment.

I would love to have even a hint that such awareness was possible but sadly all I can say is that I have read about other people being ‘in the zone’ but have no recollection of it ever happening to me. All I get are little flashes of attention, like when I walked past these trees and realised, as if for the first time, how beautiful the colours were and what an exceptional month it had been.