I Was So Much Older Then

One of the things I like about getting out, whether that be running or cycling, is the questions that come from nowhere and float around aimlessly. Sometimes they are just reminders of how limited is my knowledge of natural history, e.g. what is that bird or plant? Sometimes they are more like a regression to childhood as they are the sort of thing a toddler would ask, viz today:

The weather forecast said there would be heavy showers but when I set out the sky was blue and I thought I might be lucky. In a sense I was because the really heavy rain, in the sense of a large volume of water, fell after I had finished but I did go through a small shower. Although there was not much water in total, the drops of water were very large and they splattered over me like over-ripe blueberries (without the staining - obviously).

“Does heavy rain refer to the size and weight of the raindrops?” was my first question, which was something I could work out for myself. The next questions though were my toddler’s questions: “what makes raindrops big”, “what is the range of droplet size”, and “what is the maximum size”? I did not know the answers but felt somehow I ought to.

Back home I looked up some references. Appropriately most of the sites were written for children but I found the answers e.g. here.

One of the selling points of running, or any other fitness regime, is that it keeps you fitter and therefore helps you to look and feel younger. I’m not sure it has had that effect on me (in fact i know it hasn’t) but obviously, mentally, it has given me the outlook of a three year old.

The Ridings

My effort to continue exercising daily did not last. Although Manchester provided excuses for breaking the thread, once those days were gone my motivation withered. As I knew I the target had already been missed I could not keep going a few days later when I felt very very tired; and once I had missed a day without good reason the game was up.

I have since had a week off and so it is now time to start again with a new regime and a new challenge.

Usually at this time I think about an autumn marathon but this year will be different: cycling to all the places I have lived - an act of kinetic memoir.

My birthday in April prompted massive introspection as I looked back at all the things I had done, and more prominently all the things I had not done. I started to think about who I was at the various addresses from infant to adult and realised I have not revisited many of the places and I have no idea how much they have changed. That is reason enough to find out. I have had 13 homes in England (always in England, I seem to have missed out on the gypsy gene). The furthest north (and west) was Cheshire (Farndon is a village on the Welsh border), the furthest south: Horsham, the furthest east: Colchester, with a number of places in and around London. London is always the centre and I still think of myself as coming from London.

The plan is for three trips and as there are three they will be called the Ridings.

The first one is planned for next week and will be the South Riding and will cover the places in London, Surrey and Sussex. It will start at Colliers Wood (where I lived my first 8 years) but apart from that nothing willbe chronological. The North and East Riding will be done after I come back from holiday, probably in September/ October.

You can see they would punch a hole in any marathon training programme but that does not matter as there is always another time. in fact I rather like Tom’s idea of celebrating the 2,500 anniversary of the original Marathon next year.

So this year the plan is for some gentle, credit card touring, staying in hotels or bed and breakfasts. The aim is not primarily fitness and endurance. Instead they will be journeys of personal psychogeography and take as long as they take.

Keeping Going

TDIJ day 9: run 7.12km, 44min
TDIJ day 10: run 6.15km 37min

Back home and back on track. In hot weather all that is needed is the chance to get up early and be out before the day warms up.

The procedure is very simple: out of bed, into running kit, drink of water, and out the door. Because I am running before food I know my levels of glycogen will be low and I have to hope the muscles will burn mostly fat. So I run steadily and not too far. Even so it feels harder than would normally be the case. Usually before a pre-breakfast run I like to eat a banana but for the last two days there have been none in the house. However the early run surely helps you appreciate breakfast!

Saturday completed what can be called graduation week. My niece has just completed her fine arts degree at Leeds and her graduation show, along with shows from other art schools was in an exhibition at the old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. I really enjoyed the show because I like to see the way people think-through ideas and overcome certain self imposed problems and I also thought there was some good work (including my niece who had created structures by gluing together individual sugar crystals and then photographing and enlarging the results). However I wondered what would happen to everybody. Would many of them find again the challenges, freedom, and support they had just enjoyed? Would many of them be able to go on an flourish. My suspicion is that for most this was their flowering, after which there will be different career paths. I just hope they do not bury their imagination in the upcoming economic struggles of day to day living.

Thirty Days In July 8/10
run 7/10
distance: 48.84km
time: 4hr 51min
cycle 1/10
distance: 17 miles
time: 1hr 17min

Celebrating a Failure

TDIJ day 6: run 4km 24min
TDIJ day 7: clapping 1hr (approx)
TDIJ day 8: hiding from sun, all day

Ah well Thirty days in July did not last a full week. Already there has been two fails, even though there are extenuating circumstances, a fail is a fail.

Day 7 was the day of my daughter’s degree ceremony at Manchester and that, of course took precedence over everything. I had hoped to be able to fit in a little run between the ceremony and the celebration meal but we all decided that we should take the chance to visit the John Rylands library, which was reopened after a brilliant renovation, two years ago.

It was by a long, long way the right decision. There are plenty of chances to exercise but not many to go to Manchester to visit the John Rylands. If anyone is interested in either books, libraries, printing, or Victorian Gothic there are few more fascinating places.

When walking round a building built in imitation of an ancient cathedral (all beautifully faced sandstone, with decorative carvings in both stone and wood) I marvel at how much I enjoy the atmosphere. Earlier in my life this would have been unthinkable. My aesthetic outlook was pretty much old fashioned Modernism. I had bought the line that decoration was decadent and that we should aspire to functional formalism (with plenty of light).

I still enjoy good examples of that style and I am a fully paid-up admirer of Bexhill Pavilion but my outlook is now much more catholic. I appreciate the workmanship and desire for beauty that informs the best artists and designers of any age. I have learnt to try appreciate buildings according to values of the period it was built and not impose any retrospective ideology.

Now I look at these buildings and marvel at the quality. I also marvel at the impulse of the widow of John Rylands who wanted to assemble and bequeath such a library collection, purely for the good of the people of Manchester.

The permanent display has some wonderful examples from the collection. Not only books that are finely bound and printed but also examples from the beginning of printing (Guttenburg and Caxton) as well as incunabula, manuscripts, and as one of the highlights a tiny fragment of St John’s Gospel

The following day was also an exercise blank. We had to drive back early to prepare for visitors. There would have been time for a run in the afternoon but the weather crept up and wrapped me up in a big hot blanket so I was incapable of movement. As someone who does not cope well with the heat there was no way I was going out. All I could do was spend the time in the shade.

So two blank days and Thirty Days in July has crumbled. Never mind I will continue to see how well I can manage the other days.

Thirty Days In July 6/8
run 5/8
distance: 35.57km
time: 3hr 30min
cycle 1/10
distance: 17 miles
time: 1hr 17min

(Photos on this blog are my own. In this case however I had to steal a photo taken for the University of Manchester, which I found here.)

Tree Spirits

TDIJ day 4: run 7.18km, time 42 min
TIDJ day 5: cycle 17 miles, time 1hr 17min


I have been reading about how the Inca empire was linked together by a network of professional runners: chasquis. They lived in huts along the roads and as soon as they saw a messenger approaching they would run along beside them, listen to any instructions and they take over the knotted string that contained the message. They would then run to the next hut, which was only a few miles away. Because they ran only short distances, they ran fast. At the height of the empire it was 1,000 miles between Cuzco and the most distant parts, yet a message could be received within five days. This means they were probably averaging better than 7 minute miles over an extremely mountainous landscape. A Spanish mounted messenger took twelve to thirteen days to travel from Lima to Cuzco but the runners could do it in three days.

As I was cycling through some woods today I remembered a tiny side detail. Although the runners were often alone in desolate places they never felt alone because the Incas believed that even the smallest thing possessed a soul and everything was alive and worthy of respect. I thought of this when I saw the exposed roots and distorted shape of this tree. How easy it is to imagine that it is some frozen being, or contains a strange spirit. At twilight, running alone I might find such shapes rather more scary than comforting.

Thirty Days In July 5/5
run 4/5
distance: 31.57km
time: 3hr 06min
cycle 1/5
distance: 17 miles
time: 1hr 17min

Keeping Things Fresh

TDIJ day 2: run 7.14km, 42min
TDIJ day 3: run 10.33km, 1hr 2min

Today’s photo was taken looking down at one of the bollards used for mooring narrowboats. I have no idea why it is open at the top, perhaps it is a birdbath for wrens unless, or maybe it can serve as a vase to prettify the side of the canal - who knows.

One of the reasons I run is to get out and have the opportunity to notice details in the landscape. My hit rate is low - I don’t notice much on each run as a lot of attention is internally focussed (e.g. thinking about running form or rhythm, how heavily I am breathing or my heart rate), and my field of view often limited by watching where I will put my feet. But every so often I will catch something out of the corner of my eye, or pause and look around. It gives me a strange sense of satisfaction when I find some object or detail that repays attention, the more so if I have passed it many times before without really seeing it.

The route may be familiar but I do not take it for granted. I cannot take for granted for if I do there is a danger I will think of my trips as just another run, and there is the danger of ennui. There has to be a freshness in getting out of the door, a sense of satisfaction. Initially, for all runners there is the almost heady pleasure of getting measurably better. You have clear evidence that you can go faster and last for longer and it is exciting. After a time though things plateau and new inducements have to be found. Most people who take running seriously look to races for purpose and focus. For some reason I don’t. I seem to find enough satisfaction in getting out and looking at things. That and setting myself little challenges.

Thirty Days In July 3/3
run 3/3
distance: 24.39km
time: 2hr 24min

Thirty Days In July

Yesterday felt very strange. I had been looking forward to a break and not feeling that I had to exercise but when it came to it I felt something was missing. It was not as though I had nothing to do, the day was full and I came back in the evening feeling more tired than most of the June days. It was just that I had the vague feeling that I had forgotten to do something ( the same sort of unsettling feeling you get when you have left the house and you cannot remember whether you had turned the cooker off).

The purpose of Juneathon, for me, was give impetus to a base training regime and bring some consistency to my exercise programme. Well the first part was achievable in one month, and was a success. The second part is what happens next.

How do I build on the momentum?

Part of me just wants to do the same again: have another 30 day exercise streak and it is possible - there are 30 days left in July. I can give it a go.

I will relax the rules about blogging and taking photos daily - there are no rules. All I want to do is maintain a pattern of steady exercise (without hard days that require recovery) to see if I can build up a fitness base.

Thirty days in July. That is all. Let’ see how it goes.

TDIJ day 1: run 6.92km, 40 min.

And In Conclusion

Juneathon day 30: run 7.74km 46min

Mostly I have ignored the World Cup in recent posts, with no pictures of all the flags on cars or hung from buildings. So for the last post of this year’s Juneathon I would like to make some small acknowledgement that there is something happening in South Africa by taking a picture of a Zulu shield and spear (even if it looks more like a shield and a paintbrush).

As for today there was no doubt that for the last run of the month I choose my home of running: the canal. During the whole time I was very relaxed, looking around and enjoying what was in effect a final easy lap. At the mid point I stopped to take some pictures, then drank some water and felt satisfied that the end was close. As I passed the hedge that marks the end point of my run I imagined a tape across the path and me running through it, in triumph. The race had been run. It was over and I had completed 30 days of consecutive exercise.

“Hooray” the spectators yelled and clapped “Well done! Good stuff!” Well I’m sure the spectators would have done if they had known but in all honesty the couple of dog walkers were not at all interested in me finishing my run.

But reality should not intrude too far: in my mind I was finishing a long distance race and feeling far more satisfied than normally justified by a run just shy of 8k.

The basic Juneathon stats are below but in total I exercised for 25 hours 35 minutes, which averages out at about 51 minutes a day.

My quirk of thinking in km for running and miles for cycling masks the symmetry of the distances. I managed just over 100 miles for both (101.36 running, 103.5 cycling), which became a target in the last week

All my runs were at a steady/slowish pace, with the average being 5.71 min per km; and my cycling was about 13 miles per hour. Deliberately I wanted to keep everything fairly level so that I could continue from day to day. I was really pleased with how this worked because I only had a few days where I felt really, really weary.

As for blogging: I managed to blog every day, include a photo taken during that day’s exercise and write a total of 9,726 words

In summation I would say that everybody who took part in this year’s Juneathon did a good job, even those who did not make it to the end. there are no failures in this event! But special congratulations go to those who managed to run every day. One of those will be presented with a pair of gorilla’s feet as a prize but how Shaun chooses a winner I have no idea. His job is far more difficult than just getting outside and doing a bit of exercise



Juneathon statistics 30/30
Run 21/30
distance 163.13km
time 15hr 31min
Cycle 6/30
distance 103.5 miles
time 7hr 59min
Gym 3/30
time 2hr 05min

Cycle Facility

Juneathon day 29: cycle 21.7 miles 1hr 43min

I know there is a well establish website with photos of idiotic cycle facilities but nevertheless I feel I should join in with a picture from today’s ride.

This is your basic cycle lane: a little bit of red edged with some white lines, not much wider than a bike. However our wonderful traffic engineers have obviously given it extra thought. “What happens” they wonder “at those points where pedestrians want to cross the road?”

Obviously waiting for a gap with no cars or bikes would be very difficult so they need to be able to do it in two stages: first avoid all the bikes, pause and then wait for a gap in the cars. Genius! To allow this to happen they have altered the line of the curb, bent the cycle lane and built a little traffic island. The result is that it is impossible to cycle round this barrier at normal speed so there is no point in using the cycle path and the pedestrians don’t have to worry about looking out for cyclists before reaching the island.

The sad thing about bad cycle facilities is that some of them are so bad they are laugh out loud funny, yet they have cost. Resources are put into their creation and the authorities can turn round and say we spent so much on promoting cycling but it hasn’t worked so we might just as well forget about it. The cyclists look on bemused and wonder what sort of training and qualifications traffic engineers have to have and whether it contains a module on making things useful. (Just look at a few of the pictures here, here, and here).

Enough whinging. The cycle facility made no difference to my ride, I was soon out onto quiet country lanes, cycling through woods or past farms. It is odd, I live in an overcrowded part of the world, and towns and major roads are proof of this, but when I am out on these little byways I feel I could be in a world of my own. Anyway, after a fairly relaxed ride, I came home, listened to some Jan Gabarek, ate a sandwich, drank a mug of tea and thought pleasant thoughts

Juneathon statistics 29/29
Run 20/29
distance 155.39km
time 14hr 45min
Cycle 6/29
distance 103.5 miles
time 7hr 59min
Gym 3/29
time 2hr 05min

Under The Cover Of Trees

Juneathon day 28: run 11.67km 1hr 10min

The best place to run when it is hot is in the woods, where the trees not only provide plenty of shade they also cool things through evapotranspiration. So off to Ashridge.

This is one of my favourite place to bike or run but strangely, so far, during the whole of Juneathon, I have not been there. I can’t think of a good excuse except that it is a bit further away, so that to go for a run I first have to go for a drive. But nevertheless it always repays the extra effort as there is a contentment to be found in mature woodland. I also love the way everything changes with the seasons, from week to week things look slightly different. At the moment the bracken is particularly fine and as the photo shows, there is also the odd, random foxglove.

The route I run takes me into Berkhamsted Common and alongside the golf club. It looks a tricky course as any deviation from the fairway means you are deep in the undergrowth. As I was plodding along the pathways I saw a group of golfers searching for a lost ball. As a mental diversion I started to look as well and there it was nestling next to some tree roots. Well thats my good turn for the day I thought - except it wasn’t. It wasn’t the ball they were looking for. I merely managed to give someone who is probably golf ball rich another spare.

Anyway it was a bit of interaction, something that doesn’t happen too much round here. Most people avoid eye contact. It might not be quite the same as London, where you would be seen as a little weird if you tried to offer a greeting, but a lot of people want to stay in their own private world. To me the odd “hello” can make a run cheerier but I tend to look carefully to see if the other person looks as if they would want to respond.

Juneathon statistics 28/28
Run 20/28
distance 155.39km
time 14hr 45min
Cycle 5/28
distance 81.8 miles
time 6hr 16min
Gym 3/28
time 2hr 05min

Keeping Going

Juneathon day 27: run 10.69km time 1hr 6min

Another failed attempt at getting up early - after several internal debates inertia won and I left it too late. On hot days like today you really have to get out by about 7 or wait until evening. So it was evening.

It was interesting running after the football because I passed two pubs festooned with English flags. I wonder how much longer they will stay up. I tried the judge the mood to see if there was any agro after such a poor display but there wasn’t. The whole atmosphere was one of resignation and carrying on drinking in the warm sunshine.

I ran along the disused railway track that links Hemel to Harpenden on a straightforward out and back route. it was remarkably peaceful. I only encountered two couples walking their dogs, one man resting on the fence having a smoke, and four cyclists. Most of the time I was in a world of my own.

It felt hard though. I struggled but was determined to run 10k. I might not be on tip top running form at the moment but I take some satisfaction in the fact that I am keeping going

Juneathon statistics 27/27
Run 19/26
distance 143.72km
time 13hr 35min
Cycle 5/27
distance 81.8 miles
time 6hr 16min
Gym 3/27
time 2hr 05min

A Fragment of Life

Juneathon day 26: run 14km time 1hr 23min

One of my pleasures is to drink some good coffee whilst reading the Saturday Guardian, in a leisurely, relaxed way. It doesn’t make me think that all is well with the world - the purpose of newspapers is the opposite but there is usually at least one article that is really stimulating and makes me glad it was written.

The pleasure is enhanced if it happens after a run. There something about the mental ease one feels after a longish run that makes you savour the moment even more. This plus the fact that you are physically a bit weary and do not want to be doing anything too active

Today was no different.

The article I would want to bring to your attention was and opinion piece by Lynsey Hanley about Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society. I rather liked the last paragraph:

“There needs to be a return of focus towards what the writer and academic Raymond Williams called "the articulation of what men have actually seen and known and felt". "Any restriction of the freedom of individual contribution," he wrote, "is actually a restriction of the resources of the society." To get from Neil Tennant to Raymond Williams and back in one train of thought, you need to learn what people have seen and known and felt. You need libraries.”

I certainly agree that we need libraries and any article that says such a thing makes my Saturday ritual a little bit more congenial. But the article also reminded me of the reason for this blog. It is my attempt to examine what I see, know and feel about running. Admittedly running maybe a small fragment of life but it is still something worth recording.

Juneathon statistics 26/26
Run 18/25
distance 133.03km
time 12hr 29min
Cycle 5/26
distance 81.8 miles
time 6hr 16min
Gym 3/26

Some Short Runs Feel Long

Juneathon day 25: run 4.1km 23min

Tired, tired, tired.

I think it has come to all of us this Juneathon - days where we just want to rest. Our bodies tell us their reserves are low and need replenishing and the thing you should not do is go out again. But because it is juneathon we do.

Today was like that for me - right from the alarm going off. I had planned an early run before breakfast but when it came to it my eyes really did not want to open. Evening would be fine I told myself but when I got out not only did the air felt heavy, my legs were even heavier.

“4k is all you have to do” I told myself but all the time my mind was like a little kid in the back of the car “are we there yet?”. Eventually we were. I completed the run and I just sat in the garden feeling more tired than I normally do after much longer runs.

I sat there bent foreword, elbows resting on my knees watching as the sweat dripped from my forehead forming patterns on the patio paving. I was transfixed. “Get up and do your stretches” a little voice was saying but I just did not feel like moving, the patterns were far more interesting.

Eventually I did move. Stretches were done, I washed and changed and after an evening meal with a bottle of wine everything was fine. In fact better than fine - I was happy that I had managed to keep going.

Juneathon statistics 25/25
Run 17/25
distance 119.03km
time 11hr 06min
Cycle 5/25
distance 81.8 miles
time 6hr 16min
Gym 3/25
time 2hr 05min

Hidden Strangeness

Juneathon day 24: cycle 20.4 miles time 1hr 38 min

Although it has been a warm sunny day, it has not been too hot because of a cooling breeze. For this reason the song going through my mind was Bill Callahan’s Rococo Zephyr. If you follow the link to a performance on YouTube you will realise that this is not really exercise music - no driving beats. However being slow and gentle it is perfect hot weather music and it suited my mood as all I wanted was a relaxed cycle ride.

My route took me along a number of small roads and as far as possible through woods. Today’s photo is of a very shady road in Bricket Wood. I have mentioned Bricket Wood in a previous post when I made a passing reference to it being the home of British naturism. I have since found out that it was also home to a coven of witches.

I am constantly amazed by the area that surrounds me. At first glance it seems unremarkable - just the dull Home Counties but behind the respectable facade there are all sorts of strangenesses.

On a completely unrelated note (well actually it is related to cycling) There was an excellent edition of ‘Off the Page’ on Le Tour de France (available on the iPlayer until 1st July). If you are at all interested in the romance of the event it is well worth a listen.

Juneathon statistics 24/24
Run 16/24
distance 114.93km
time 10hr 43min
Cycle 5/24
distance 81.8 miles
time 6hr 16min
Gym 3/24
time 2hr 05min

Cautious About Heat

Juneathon day 23: run 8.79km time 51min

Another hot day so the obvious solution is to run before breakfast and by the canal.

I am lucky in that most of my routes have tree cover but I also try not to run when it is too hot. From experience I know I do not handle heat well and that if I do too much in the sun I end up feeling feeble.

This article in the New York Times about heatstroke is very interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is the reminder that it is very sensible to be careful when running in the heat. It can be incredibly debilitating and cause damage. The second is the limits to what we know. The advice about heatstroke is not based on solid science but the equivalent codified folklore (or codified common sense, if you prefer).

It strikes me that this is probably no different from much of the advice we are given as runners. A lot of it can sound sciencey but actually not have a good evidential base. The topical example of that at the moment is barefoot running. People might have strong opinions one way or the other about whether cushioned trainers prevent or cause injury but they tend to be based on anecdote rather proper studies.

Juneathon statistics 23/23
Run 16/23
distance 114.93km
time 10hr 43min
Cycle 4/23
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 3/23
time 2hr 05min

Minimum Levels

Juneathon day 22: gym

A hot day so I went to the gym where there is air conditioning. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same idea and there were queues for some equipment. I think I would have been annoyed if I had been waiting for an elliptical cross-trainer to see one of them occupied by a girl on her phone, slowly moving as all her attention was on the conversation. But as there are no rules about how vigorous one should be on any piece of equipment, there is nothing you can do.

I am however amazed that some people can leave the gym without shedding a drop of sweat or allowing or without a single hair on their head out of place. But I must try to suppress such thoughts because it is one of my rules to never to make judgements about other peoples level of exercise. People must do what they feel able to do. However the only point of aerobic equipment is to raise the pulse and make you breath more heavily. If you don’t do that you might as well stay in the coffee shop.

As for my exercise: I worked hard on the rower for 20 minutes and then did some weights. A short 30 minute session in all, but it felt good enough.

As I refuse to take any photos of the gym. Today is another picture from my garden: some seedlings planted in a hanging basket waiting to be hung.

Juneathon statistics 22/22
Run 15/22
distance 106.14km
time 9hr 52min
Cycle 4/22
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 3/22
time 2hr 05min

Three Legs of a Stool

Juneathon day 21: run 7.37km time 41min

Yesterday was very long: I got up at 4:30 and went to bed at 1:00. Fitting in the half hour run between the two journeys was great. It really freshened me up and made me forget I had driven for 2.5 hours. it completely eradicated the yawniness I often feel at the end of long journey.

As for the journey to Manchester: the best that I can say is that it was fine ... l until just past Junction 16. Then everything stopped. There had been a collision between two motorcyclists and a car and the motorway was closed for 4 hours. Absolutely nothing could be done and I felt really sorry for anybody with young children as keeping them amused for such a long time must have been a real struggle.

Most of us got out of our cars and wandered around or made any number of phone calls saying we were going to be late, or trying to check up on the situation - at one stage there was an estimate, which was passed on, that the road would not not be opened until 7:30 (!). Everywhere though there was a calm resigned air, which was appropriate because what else could you do and anger or agitation would have solved nothing. (One thing we dod notice though was the number of men wandering around dressed in shorts and flip flops - when did flip flops become good for driving?)

The upshot was that we were very late arriving and therefor every late in returning.

The consequence for today’s run was that I felt tired and it was harder work getting out of the door than yesterday, when I had no real time. It was a forcible reminder of the importance of sleep.

Running is a very simple activity but it is supported by three legs: the physical activity (the training), sleep and recuperation, and nutrition. All of them need to be in balance. Mostly we talk about the training (because it is the most obvious thing - it is after all the activity that defines us as runners) but the other things should not be forgotten.

During Juneathon we get no time for rest days, so getting good sleep becomes more important.

Juneathon statistics 21/21
Run 15/21
distance 106.14km
time 9hr 52min
Cycle 4/21
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 2/21
time 1hr 35min

Must Rush

Juneathon day 20: run 5.35km time 31min

The big thing is that I have actually managed a run and for that I am going to give myself some bonus dedication points.

The reason is that the day is otherwise full of motoring duties. It started at 5:15 when I drove my niece to Gatwick airport so she could catch her flight back to Canada. Shortly I will be driving up to Manchester to move my daughter’s stuff out of her student house. In between there has just been enough time for me to go out for a half hour run and write these few words.

So toodle pip - off now to do some more driving.

Juneathon statistics 20/20
Run 14/18
distance 98.77km
time 9hr 11min
Cycle 4/20
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 2/20
time 1hr 35min

Flashes of Contentment

Juneathon day 19: run 7.8km time 46min

Looking for “some one good thing” from my run is very difficult. Nothing much happened: I ran a fairly average distance, at a fairly average pace, I was not impeded in any way, nothing bad happened but there again nothing good either. It was a run.

But perhaps I am being a bit too proscriptive in my search for the good thing by looking for something new or a development. Perhaps I ought to look at the good things that are always there - the things that keep me running. For example there is that moment, near the beginning, when you realise you are starting to move easily. For whatever reason the start of a run is always a bit awkward - the body complains about being shaken-up, your heart rate goes up before settling down, and your legs feel a bit tired. After a while things settle down and you hit your stride. I will then often have a sense of freedom when I suddenly feel glad to be out. Those flashes of contentment are sometimes accompanied by the realisation that I am fortunate to be doing what I am doing and able to enjoy such moments.

This sense of good fortune is the “good thing” I will take from today.

Juneathon statistics 19/19
Run 13/18
distance 93.42km
time 8hr 40min
Cycle 4/19
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 2/19
time 1hr 35min

Hemel Hempstead Twinned with Knossos

Juneathon day 18: cycle 7 miles time 35min

My day has been spent at a local archive of paper making in general and the John Dickinson Company in particular. As a cycled there and back I thought I would count the journey as my Juneathon. It makes it a fairly light day but I think 7 miles is just about allowable.

One of the reasons I have an interest in papermaking, aside from it being one of the most significant inventions in human history, is that our local mills significanct in the history of mechanically produced paper. The first continuous papermaking machine was installed in the Frogmore Mill in 1803, which is next door to the site of the first John Dickinson mill at Apsley.

John Dickson obviously grew to become the dominant producer of stationery in the country but one of the interesting things I found out today was that it was the wealth generated by these local mills that allowed the excavation and restoration of the palaces of Knossos.His grandson, Arthur Evans, used the money he inherited to buy the land at Knossos and undertake all the archeological work.

If my current plan is to try to look for “some one good thing” from every day then today it is the discovery that there is a strong link between Hemel Hempstead and the rediscovery of the Minoan civilisation.

Today’s picture is of Frogmore Mill. You can see the water disappears into the building, where used to drive the waterwheel, which were the original source of power. It now houses the Paper Trail, with its displays on the history of papermaking, an archive and a small, working machine.

Juneathon statistics 18/18
Run 12/18
distance 85.62km
time 7hr 54min
Cycle 4/18
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 2/18
time 1hr 35min