It's been a good weekend considering the ongoing situation, the weathers been lovely, the birds are singing, it's not been blowing a gale for a change and I've been having fun even if no one else has. After another busy week at work I managed to get out for a few hours on the bike after tea on Friday. Now the evenings are getting lighter and the suns shining, it seems rude not to take advantage of the traffic free roads and bang in a few quick miles. I always think there's something extra nice about the early morning and evening, the light's a lot less harsh than full daylight and the shadows do some interesting things, plus the animals tend to be more active so there's normally more to catch your attention. With 35 more miles to add to the years total, followed by an early night, ready for a full weekend of fun, in my humble opinion far better than sitting staring at the idiot box on a Friday night! After my early night on Friday I was up and raring to go with the lark, to be honest it's more likely to be a Pigeon or Blackbird than a lark where I live, but, whatever sort of bird it is, I was up with it and ready to leave the house by 07:30. Why the early start you may ask? Well Saturday was scheduled for the inaugural running of the Basingstoke Socially Distanced Trail Marathon. Participants - 1 (Just me). It should have been The Fox Ultra but like everything else the Coronovirus kerfuffle has put pay to that, so in order to keep my 2020 Marathon a Month attempt alive, it was going to have to be a self supported, keep out of everyone's way, law profile, individual effort. Putting my local knowledge to good use, I managed to come up with a route that used mainly local (ish) footpaths, interlinked with a few quiet country lanes, and knew from previous experience that provided I got an early start and got out of town before the masses woke up I could do pretty much the entire distance without seeing another person. Maybe not totally in line with leaving your house for daily exercise, but in my opinion, more responsible than driving to a busy beauty stop to "empty your dog" along with everyone else! In fact, it worked a treat, and apart from the mile or so close to home I think I saw 2 other people the whole time I was out, and we managed to give each other a wide berth with no problems. So how did it go then? Well, the day started off chilly and overcast (ideal running weather) and stayed that way for most of the morning, with the sun breaking through just as I finished. The route I'd planned was great; hilly, interesting and scenic, with lots of Bluebells out in the wooded areas, plenty of wildlife to catch your eye and lots of Lambs frolicking in the fields. The few short road sections were car free, the footpaths dry and not yet overgrown with nettles, and, despite some sharp climbs, almost the entire distance was runnable. Not having anyone to race against I took it easy and enjoyed the morning, stopping a few times to take photos or grab a snack, not the normal "full gas" method of running a marathon, but one which made for a far more pleasurable experience. I certainly enjoyed my morning out a lot more than I often have when running an organised event. Yes, having no support means you are totally self reliant and there's no one to pick you up if it goes a bit wrong or you decide it's all too hard. But, at the same time there's no pressure to finish in a set time, there's no one to race against and it's totally stress free. So, with a finish time of 3:59:25 for the 26.2 miles, not only have I run a sub four hour off road trail marathon, but I'm now the course record holder for the Basingstoke Socially Distanced Trail Marathon and maybe less surprisingly I came in first place! Now I just need to transfer that to an event with more than 1 participant and I'll be a real winner. Never knowing when I've had enough and with it being forecast for a nice night I got the hammock out for a bit of "Backyard Camping" Saturday night. After a glorious, sunny and clear afternoon the night was picture perfect and despite the background street lighting and plethora of security lights in the locality doing their best to drown them out, there were plenty of stars shining brightly above my head. There's something special about bedding down with nothing overhead, the feel of the chill night air against your face and an unobstructed view up to the heavens. It never takes me long to get off to sleep but even in the ten minutes or so between bedding down and unconsciousness I saw enough to make the sleep out worthwhile and waking up to the sun gently warming your face and the birds singing definitely makes for a worthwhile experience. I suppose it would be rude not to wrap up this weeks installment without a quick mention of the allotment, a few pictures and a thank you to the scrote's that thought it necessary to break into half the sheds this week. If you really think I'm stupid enough to leave anything of value in my shed your even more stupid than I thought, that's why the bolts just held on with a piddly little screw that pulls out and not a big iron bar.
Oh, and as the only thing I can't find since your little visit is the worlds shittest screwdriver (that was in the shed because it was no use for undoing any screws) I hope you enjoy rounding the heads off your screws or trying to stab your mates with it and have as much luck with that as the last thing I had stolen (a bike with no brakes, enjoy falling off that!).
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
March 2024
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