Today’s earworm playlist:
Smokie – ‘Living Next Door To Alice’
Steve Kirk – ‘KSCUM 198.7 FM’
Duran Duran – ‘911 Is A Joke’
And a bonus track that Geth was humming earlier:
September 87 – ‘Bad Dream Baby’
Month: May 2020
parkrun tourism: Windy Nook
Before lockdown happened, I was trying to visit more of the parkruns local to me in the north-east of England, in the hope that I could one day tick them all off the list and achieve parkrun ‘regionnaire’ status! New parkruns spring up a lot in normal circumstances, so it would have taken some time, but it looked like an interesting adventure. I don’t know when that adventure will resume, as I expect that when parkrun does start back up again (2021?), I will be focusing on enjoying my home parkrun (Newcastle Town Moor) and nearest parkrun (Jesmond Dene) instead.
In January, however, I was very much in tourism mood, so one Saturday Geth and I got in the car and drove to Windy Nook parkrun, in Gateshead.
Windy Nook is a bit of a grim place on a cold winter’s day – iced-over puddles everywhere and scrubby-looking winter trees. The parkrun course is a very tough and traily three-lapper with lots of hills and a series of steps at one point (i.e. at three points due to the laps). As such, neither Geth nor I managed anywhere near our fastest times, although Geth did make it into the top five finishers due to the small field.
Post-parkrun coffee and cake was on offer at the nearby community centre, which was very welcome after a tough run! If I do this parkrun again, it will definitely be in the summer, as I imagine the area looks a bit nicer at the moment.
Forwards
One more mile today…
…which I felt was quite an achievement, given that I really didn’t want to go out this morning. That’s what the run every day streak is for – if it weren’t for that motivation, I doubt I’d have run much at all during this lockdown!
I’m feeling happier today than the last couple of days, and I’ve got some really fun projects to work on over the weekend. I’ll be doing run vlogs and review posts as usual tomorrow and Sunday, and will be back on Monday for a diary update.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Yoko Shimomura – ‘Colony 9’
Justin Bieber – ‘Sorry’
Katy Perry – ‘I Kissed A Girl’
Traditional – ‘The Blaydon Races’
Madonna – ‘True Blue’
Martika – ‘Toy Soldiers’
Duran Duran – ‘Ordinary World’
Start again
Another day, another mile…
…because I was busy today. Nearly done now though!
Mentally it’s not been a great day, but the best thing is to move on to tomorrow.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Revo – ‘Sylvan Tranquillity’
Timecop1983 and Primo – ‘My DeLorean’
‘Korobeiniki’ (the Tetris theme music – Tetris 99 version)
Revo – ‘The Land Of Immortality’
Phone Box Thursday: A714, Pinwherry
An interesting example from Mum and Dad’s Scottish travels today.
(Coordinates 55°14’45.0″N, 4°83’12.0″W.)
However… the coordinates above aren’t quite correct, as is obvious if you look at the box’s surroundings in the Google Street View image! According to Dad, the phone box is currently in a temporary position:
‘This phone box is in Pinwherry, on the A714.
It appears to be in the process of being moved – as you can see, it’s in
a field. There’s a notice which says where the nearest defibrillator is
(some way away); the box is being turned into a defibrillator box.
Its present position is close to, but not exactly where it is on Google
street view.’
I did try to find the coordinates of the current location, but I’m not sure it’s accessible via Street View! I can’t see the wooden gate (seen in the below wider shot) anywhere…
…but judging by the scenery, I’m guessing it’s roughly here.
I don’t know where the box will eventually end up, but I hope the defibrillator will be of good use if necessary!
Still not firing on all cylinders
Just another mile today…
…as I woke up with a slightly sore shoulder (I had planned to do closer to two miles today but decided to keep it short and gentle again).
I’m still not sleeping well, and I don’t feel productive at all this week – I’m a bit slow to get going with everything. Still, I’m managing to get a bit of work on my current writing project done every day, which is great.
Despite the uncertainty about absolutely everything at the moment, I am 100% certain that two things will be the case by the end of 2020:
- I will have made a significant dent in my videogame backlog. There’s no way I’ll have cleared it completely, but there will at least be light at the end of the tunnel…
- I will own enough leggings to last me for the rest of my life, and yet I will still want more. So many shiny patterns!
Everyone needs a hobby, or twenty in my case. Especially at the moment.
Videogaming tonight, running in the morning, writing during the day, rinse and repeat.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Billy Idol – ‘Rebel Yell’
Revo – ‘Ship Upon The Open Skies’
Thought Beings – ‘Shakedown’
A slow day
Back to my mile route today…
…and my legs were pretty thankful for a short recovery run after the last few days!
I’ve been finding it really difficult to concentrate today. I slept very badly last night because I can’t stop worrying about everything that’s going on, and there are various COVID-related stresses that are really starting to get to me. I find myself kind of wishing the next two months away, simply because (I would hope) there will be a bit more certainty by then in terms of some of the things I’m concerned about.
In the meantime, I’ve just been trying to get on with my routine as best I can. I’ve planned out my next competition writing project, which I’ll be working on over the next few weeks, and I’m trying to keep on top of my admin and housework (not always successfully, but it’s nice when it happens).
Videogames have been my absolute salvation in all of this. They’re the only thing that allows me to relax properly at the moment – I drift off in my own thoughts if I’m just passively watching a film or TV show, and even sometimes when I’m reading. Writing, meanwhile, though it’s my passion, is tiring and requires brainspace, so I try and keep it for the ‘work’ hours of the day. Videogaming is just brain-engaging enough that I can lose myself in it without feeling like it’s tiring me out – it strikes the perfect balance.
I’m hoping to feel better tomorrow. The exercise restrictions are being lifted slightly, so though I’m still being cautious about going outside, I have an afternoon walk planned in addition to my morning run. It’ll be nice to get a bit of extra fresh air.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Revo – ‘The Land Of Beginnings’
Bucks Fizz – ‘Making Your Mind Up’
Tired legs, busy brain
Five miles run this morning…
…which was the third day in a row that I’d run considerably further than I have been doing for the last couple of weeks. I did my three-mile not-a-parkrun on Saturday, then eight miles yesterday – I had hoped to do ten or even twelve but didn’t want to push too hard after a few weeks of lower mileage. As such, I finished off my planned route from yesterday with a longer-than-usual recovery run today. It turned out that the route as a whole is thirteen miles, rather than the twelve that Mapometer calculated, so it would have been a bit of a big ask yesterday given that I haven’t run that distance since the Inverness half two months ago!
I got up early to do my run this morning as I had a few things to do today. The rest of the week is looking fairly quiet, though, so hopefully I’ll be able to get some stuff done around the house.
I’m also hopeful that I might finish my playthrough of Bravely Default this week. Lockdown, if nothing else, has been fantastic for working through my videogame backlog.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Revo – ‘The Civil War Country’
The Midnight – ‘We Move Forward’
Carter USM – ‘After The Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way)’
Timecop1983 – ‘Tokyo’
2019 Pizzas #21: Sainsbury’s Wood-Fired Chargrilled Peppers, Courgettes, Olives & Pesto Pizza
That is a long, fancy name for a pizza. Does it deserve it? Well…
First of all, I have to say that the pesto on this pizza is really nice. I’m a bit of a pesto addict when it comes to pasta, but I’m slightly wary of it on pizza because it can sometimes make the overall taste a bit rich. Not so here – it really complements the flavours.
The Mediterranean vegetables, however, can be a bit overpowering. This is partly because the pizza suffers from a common ‘Sainsbury’s pizza’ problem of the toppings being a bit overloaded and hence acting as a giant salad on top of your pizza. However, the whole thing is still pretty tasty, and I’ve had it regularly since I first tried it last autumn.