…as I was testing out a new pair of shoes – one of two new pairs of running shoes that arrived this week! Since I started running every day, I have been burning through running shoes a lot more quickly, so I’ve decided to start getting older models on discount sites every few months. It means that I will have a better range in my rotation (meaning less chance of injury, which is always a bonus), and if a pair doesn’t happen to suit me, then I won’t have spent quite as much money on them as I would have if I’d bought the latest model (and any not-quite-so-suitable pairs can be used for short runs anyway).
It was quite a relief to be able to relegate my Brooks Transcend 6 to the ‘gardening’ pile. They were already worn down to the foam when I bought my Brooks Adrenaline 20 in Inverness in March, and having continued to rotate them with the Adrenalines over the last five months, they now have absolutely no tread left at all after 550 miles. Meanwhile, the Adrenalines themselves are starting to wear to the foam at the edges after only 200 miles, so maybe Brooks shoes just aren’t as resilient as they used to be (my first pair, which were Brooks Vapor 4, did 650 miles and still have plenty of tread on them). Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how my new pairs fare in comparison – I’ve bought a Saucony pair and a Mizuno pair, both of which are brands I’ve been meaning to try for a while.
Anyway, in non-running-shoes news, I’ve managed a good clean of the house today, and got a bit of day job work done for a client as well. Looking forward to seeing Kieran and Lisa, who are popping in for lunch tomorrow – it will hopefully feel like a nice bit of normality after so long!
Saucony Guide ISO 2 and Mizuno Wave Equate 4. The Sauconys did well this morning, but I can already sense that they’re going to be better on short runs up to three miles, as they feel quite fast and light but less cushioned. Going to try out the Mizunos tomorrow 🙂
Here’s another phone box photo sent in by Bill, depicting three red phone boxes. I don’t think I ever had cause to bump into these ones during my once-annual trips to Sheffield for Resistanz Festival!
Red phone boxes, Surrey Street, Sheffield, 2nd January 2020.
You can just about see all three phone boxes in the Street View image linked above – the third box is under the tree on the right! The Street View image was taken in summer, on a busier day, so it’s harder to make them out.
These boxes look very well-kept, as tends to be the case with city centre phone boxes (councils seem to maintain them better in city centres as they’re popular with tourists).
Back to rural Scotland next week, and the long quest to capture as many small village boxes as possible before they get removed…
…because I woke up late again. I need to set an alarm tomorrow as I’m falling behind with stuff a bit this week.
After my run, I spent pretty much the rest of the day building garden furniture. Geth ordered a set the other day and it arrived yesterday, so I put it all together this afternoon as we have guests (!) coming for lunch on Friday. It’s still meant to be very warm and dry by then, if a bit cloudy, so it’ll be nice to sit out in the fresh air.
No videogaming tonight as I have too much admin to catch up with. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit easier time-wise… if I don’t sleep through that alarm.
I really like this garden set. We also got a plastic cover for protecting it from the elements overnight (although next door’s cat has already sprayed on it… he really doesn’t like new-smelling furniture). Hopefully we’ll have a few more weeks of summer weather to enjoy sitting out.
…because I’m increasing my mileage slightly on some of my recovery runs while I’m training for my October challenge. It’s nice to change my route on occasion.
The rest of the day has been fairly slow – I do have quite a lot of admin to do this week but I just couldn’t concentrate today. Hoping to feel a bit more productive tomorrow.
A large and heavy box arrived today! Its contents will look a bit more exciting later in the week once I’ve set them up.
…because the last week has been a bit speedier than usual running-wise. I think it’s partly been the adrenaline generated by Thursday’s announcement about the London Marathon. I’m very excited about my training for my replacement October challenge and beyond, and have now also signed up to the Virtual Great North Run in order to provide me with a mid-training focus. However, I do need to make extra sure now that my mile runs are strictly recovery pace, hence my deliberate slow speed today.
It’s Monday, so I’m taking the rest of the day off. Back to it tomorrow!
Bridges of the Tyne in central Newcastle during our walk on Friday. It was overcast but very muggy.
…as the London Marathon decision (which was announced yesterday evening) worked out really, really well for me.
First of all, I will be taking part in the (Virtual) 40th London Marathon in a slightly altered form. Participants have 24 hours (from midnight to midnight on Sunday 4th October 2020) to complete the virtual race, and are allowed to take breaks. As such, I will be combining it with a challenge I’ve wanted to do for a couple of months but couldn’t commit to until I knew what was happening with the marathon – I will be running one mile an hour for 24 hours on 4th October! (My usual ‘mile’ route is closer to 1.2 miles so I will be running around 28.8 miles in total – more than enough to complete the Virtual London Marathon.)
I’m thrilled about this – it feels like a challenge I can really have a good go at this year, seeing as I run that route most days and could do so in my sleep – whereas my ‘training take two’ for the full marathon was not going as well as I hoped due to the general uncertainty of the pandemic, and I don’t think I would have run to my full potential had the physical race gone ahead this October. It also enables me to raise a bit of money for the RNLI (here’s my JustGiving page if you’d like to donate!), which I’ve not been able to do this year due to all my races being postponed, and it will be something exciting that I’ve not done before. I really feel motivated now, and am considering entering the Virtual Great North Run as well in order to give me a good training base for the challenge!
(I’m also quite looking forward to watching the special biosphere-protected elite race on TV in between mile runs on Sunday 4th October, as that will hopefully provide some inspiration!)
Secondly – assuming that COVID-19 is no longer cancelling races by next autumn – I will be running the next in-person mass race at the 41st London Marathon in October 2021 (they’ve delayed the usual April date to give the pandemic a better chance of clearing off). My place for the 2020 race was a ‘back of the pack’ place, which was generously given for free to all runners who took more than seven hours to complete the race in 2019, due to the problems that arose at the back of the pack that day. All ‘back of the pack’ places are being deferred to 2021 – so, unlike ballot place runners, whose places will be spread over a couple of years, I know for definite that I will be on the start line in October 2021 (again, assuming that COVID-19 is thoroughly in retreat by then!). I am really grateful for this additional certainty, although I do feel for other ‘back of the pack’ runners (and other groups of runners who won’t be allowed to defer to 2022 for various reasons) who can’t run an autumn marathon due to calendar issues.
In general, then, I’m on a real high about my running plans for the rest of the year. I’m even going to be swapping out some of my weekday one-mile runs for two-mile runs in order to build more of a mileage base! Following the 24-hour challenge, I’m planning to work hard on my 10k pace over the winter in the hope of getting that sub-hour result at the Sunderland City 10k in May (pandemic depending) and then start building up the distance again with the Edinburgh Half Marathon, also in May (pandemic depending).
(I really, really hope that we can have races as normal again in 2021 and that all of this planning will come to fruition.)
Anyway, in only-semi-running news (as far as I’m concerned walking is good training, and it was related to Geth’s running anyway!), Geth and I went for a nine-mile walk this afternoon to scope out a new section for Geth’s long run. Geth is hoping to run the Yorkshire Marathon in autumn 2021 (if we can get in – what’s happening with Yorkshire is a whole other kettle of fish that deserves a post of its own!), and so is gradually building up his distances for the long run he does every second Sunday, thus requiring additional loops for his route. It was a warm, muggy day and so we appreciated a stop-in at Brinkburn Street Brewery in south Byker – it was our first time in a pub since March, but we both felt really comfortable there. They are managing their distancing admirably – we only had to wait a short time before being shown to the beer garden, where we had plenty space to ourselves and didn’t feel encroached upon by other customers (some of the beer gardens I’ve walked past lately are not like this at all!). I would definitely stop in again on a quiet weekday afternoon, though I’d probably book next time as I think we were quite lucky to get a table.
A very quiet evening now, with both of us collapsed on the sofa in front of some YouTube!
A ‘pace run’ tomorrow morning, though after today’s exertions I doubt it’ll be that pacy. I’ll post my running vlogs over the weekend as usual and do another update on Monday.
Back to the random flavours of Fentimans that you get in pubs (so possibly look out for some new Booze Alternative posts soon!). It was nice to have a bit of semi-normality this afternoon.
Today’s earworm playlist:
ACE+ – ‘Riki The Legendary Heropon’ Meat Loaf – ‘You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)’ Abba – ‘I Have A Dream’ Vangelis – ‘Chariots Of Fire’
…but of course the main running focus has been the nailbiting wait to find out what’s happening with the London Marathon rescheduled date. A few media outlets have picked up the story this morning as it seems to have been leaked that the mass race will be re-postponed to the spring and the October date will just feature a few elites running laps of a London park (which would make good TV but won’t really be the London Marathon in my view, so if that’s the plan I hope they call it something different!). Some sources are suggesting that the official announcement will be made this evening, while others are saying it’ll be 7am tomorrow morning.
Either way, I’m finding it very hard to be productive today, because waiting for this announcement is very distracting!
My ears are doing a bit better today. Last night, I tried the drops that came with the pack Geth bought from the chemist a couple of weeks ago, and they felt a lot more effective than the oil, so I’m going to switch to those for a few days. After that, I will have a go with the bulb syringe from the pack (gently!) if my ears haven’t fully cleared from the drops.
I’ll be spending the rest of the day further trying to distract myself. I’m not sure how successful I’ll be.
I will be back on that start line… but it’s looking increasingly unlikely that it’ll be this October.
Bill recently sent me this phone box photo from 2006. The phone box is in the grounds of the ‘Les Jardins du Monde’ attraction in Royan, France (and probably doesn’t have a phone inside, as Bill is using a ’00s Nokia in the picture 🙂 ).
Red phone box, Les Jardins du Monde, Royan, 7th August 2006.
(Coordinates 45°62’91.1″N, 1°01’41.2″E – Google Street View won’t let me inside the attraction, but you can see the entrance.)
While the traditionalist in me would prefer all red phone boxes to have remained in their original locations in the UK and been maintained by councils for the rest of eternity, it is nice that some of the unwanted ones are going to good homes in other countries and brightening up the tourist attractions there.
