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Tuesday 30 September 2014

It just dawned on me......

   After such a wonderful holiday in Menorca, bathed in glorious sunshine, bedazzled by scintillating
Sunrise by Emley Moor transmitting station.....(click to enlarge)
seascapes and bobbing white boats, the last ten days have been somewhat anti-climactic. Coming home to routine runs in old familiar places seems a teeny bit boring after the rocky trails around Alcaufar. Tripping over a rabbit on Castle Hill doesn't quite compare with the excitement of discovering a tortoise wandering across the path in the early dawn. My garden doesn't have the luxury of a pool to dive into when I get home from a run drenched with sweat in the 75º heat. Nor does it have the blazing bougainvilleas, oleanders or hibiscus to brighten my days. And the fact it's been raining almost every day in the Balearics since we came home is no consolation. It was beautiful whilst we were there and the memories are treasured.

   A little reluctantly last week I crept out of the house while most of the village was still in bed to ease the old legs back into some sort of running routine, though some lines of Shelley kept coming to mind (I can't remember which poem they're from):

....and I, I know not if to pray
still to be what I am, or yield and be
like all the other men I see...

In other words, whether to run or pack it in, but decided there is still some mileage left in the old dog (though probably not very much!) and until I find a new pipe and slippers under the Christmas tree I'll try to carry on running.

  
Autumn tints on Castle Hill side...
    While on holiday we ran every morning just as dawn was breaking, while it was still reasonably cool, though I'm not, or ever have been,
a morning person. Nor can I run on an empty stomach so I'll have a quick coffee and maybe half a cereal bar before venturing out to sniff the air. In a masochistic sort of way I came to enjoy those morning runs and decided to try some after I got home. Oddly, in the 36 years I've lived here, I've rarely seen the sun rise, mainly because my house faces due north. Last week I saw it four times - and have photographs to prove it. Furthermore, in spite of the early hour, I seemed to be running very easily so finished up turning some steady runs into fartlek sessions.

   I'd some urgent need for speed on one occasion when I came across a newborn calf lying on the path shielded by its
Bull fight - Big Daddy versus an heir presumptuous...
mum. Except mum had a raggy tuft hanging from its belly and a funny shaped little udder with no teats. It was in fact a proud dad who lowered his head and advanced towards me, a move that prompted a quick change of pace whilst simultaneously calculating if I could reach the next stile before this lumbering half ton of beef? Thankfully, he decided not to make a race of it. He'd done his duty and returned to the sleeping calf. However, I didn't hang around to get a picture of this unusual bull and calf scenario. When returning home, mum was back in charge and dad was fighting off an heir presumptuous.

  
Clifford in his heaven - salmon fishing on the Tay
Even at that early hour the dog walkers were out on Castle Hill, and a couple of runners came by as I was talking to the wife of an old friend of mine who lives on Castle Hill Side. I should say 'lived' because sadly, that very morning, he was being moved to a nearby Care Home suffering from severe dementia that his wife, or any untrained person for that matter, was able to cope with. Eight months older than me, he's always been an active outdoor person involved with hunting, shooting and fishing. I remember times when I'd return home to find a goose hanging in the porch, courtesy of Clifford. Or he'd open the boot of his car to reveal neat rows of Pink-footed and White-fronted geese and invite drinking mates at the old Castle Hill pub to 'take your pick'. Fond memories flowed through my mind as I jogged home. And some sad thoughts too...

   Each of those four dawn runs was a little over five miles, and very enjoyable they proved to be. Not so the fifth run after Church on Sunday. To finish the week I ran a six miler that included a so-called 'Magic mile' to assess my current state of fitness or, as it turned out, unfitness. I was so disillusioned with the readings on my watch I wouldn't repeat them to anyone, not even my wonderful partner. I tried another fast run and that was even worse. Shelley's lines came back to me yet again. Maybe it is time for that new pipe and slippers after all....

14 comments:

  1. I would say that if you can still run around 20 miles a week ,you are still in good shape Old Runningfox. I like indeed your post and this one is excellent . Well done and carry on. Antonio from Otley AC.

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    1. Hi there Antonio, I can manage the quantity OK. It's speed, quality and style that's lacking nowadays, and the feeling I'm beginning to look a wee bit eccentric.....to use a polite word.
      Cheers!

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  2. Love the way you write and the stories you tell, so keep running and testing yourself... Some of us love the feeling of speed, so run fast and even if it slow if compaired to the years gone by it's fast compaired the most of the world!

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    1. Good morning Coach! Thankyou for your kind words and encouragement. I love the feeling of speed too and was out before sunrise this a.m. enjoying half a dozen whizzies across the top of Castle Hill. Whether the early morning dog walkers thought it was 'speed' is maybe a different matter....but I was certainly moving faster than them!

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  3. Ah but you have such beautiful scenery - watch out for those angry cows though! Keep that pipe and slippers for later, not needed yet.

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    1. Liz, it's the wonderful scenery that lures me out of the door and I regard all the animals as my friends. One day I'll pat that bull on the back. Maybe as I stroll past him smoking my pipe!

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  4. Another entertaining blog post Old Fox. I agree, sometimes the "same old runs" get a bit stale especially after going somewhere new. I try to console myself that I have the wonderful Peak District only 15 mins away. Imagine living in a city!
    Don't swap the bumbag and fell shoes for pipe and slippers just yet!

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  5. Hi Dave, I'm lucky in that I can step out the door straight into wide open fields - which were frosty at 6.45 this morning. If I lived in a city I think I'd have stopped running long ago - or maybe never even started. We're both very lucky...

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    1. Yes very lucky. I'm not looking forward to the cold, wet and windy weather that winter might bring but crisp, misty mornings and the colour and smell of autumn leaves that precede it are a joy!

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  6. Lovely post and I especially like the picture of the 'Autumn tints on Castle Hill side...'

    Dare I say it, but we have still been enjoying unseasonally warm sunshine in my part of the UK ....due to change soon though.

    Keep running - keep posting - I enjoy reading your posts.

    Thank you

    All the best Jan

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    1. Actually, that autumn tints picture is a bit out of focus Jan, it was taken in a hurry. The house on the left and the empty garage is where my old friend Clifford lived so it has bittersweet connotations for me.
      I'll try to keep running!
      Cheers!

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    2. It's the lovely colours in that photo that took my eye.
      I can understand it has 'bittersweet connotations' for you.

      Take Care and .........

      All the best Jan

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  7. Don't get shy about your deteriorating speed Gordon!

    I enjoy passing by your blog but your main interest to me (and I suspect to many others) is watching what effects old age has on a runners performance.

    You are a naturally gifted runner who achieved admirable PB's as a middle aged man. You have kept up what seems to me to be an optimal level of training. You have been lucky enough to avoid injury. As far as a man in his 80's goes you are as good as it gets. I'm interested in the statistics. What is the best I can hope for when I'm your age?

    Sorry for viewing you like a scientific subject :-)

    I'm in my early 50's, am enjoying some success as a runner and coincidentally am also called Gordon.

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    1. Hi Gordon, I'm working on the premise that the best way to beat my contemporaries is to outlive them! Nowadays I run mainly to keep my old body in reasonable shape to be able to carry on enjoying all the wonderful things life has to offer... I don't 'train' any more, as such.
      As for 'what is the best you can hope for if/when you reach my age' - I couldn't even hazard a guess. Only God and your genes can determine your future... Just embrace and make the most of each day.
      Thanks for dropping by....

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