I've struggled for motivation this past week, the endless rain, dark mornings and nights have finally got the better of me, to the point where I even cut Wednesday nights run short because I just couldn't face slogging along in the dark. I had planned on getting out on the bike Saturday morning, but, when I woke up to yet another gale blowing and the rain lashing against the bedroom windows I just couldn't face it. So instead I sat in bed and had a cup of tea, and then, I had another one. Missing a days cycling isn't going to kill me and maybe the break will do me good, doing something else for a change might help restore the old motivation. So instead of heading out I had a leisurely breakfast and then headed up to the allotment for the morning. Obviously it couldn't stay dry for more than 10 minutes at a time, but between hiding in the greenhouse and shed to miss the hail and downpours I had a productive morning. I scraped of all the old rotten wood chippings from one of the paths, adding the rotten stuff to the compost heap, re-positioned the retaining boards and barrowed in about 30 loads of new chippings to level out the path. So that's the hedge cut back as hard as I can and the first path replaced as part of operation "no birds on my veg next year". Just the other paths to do and a big old bonfire to enjoy once it all dries out a bit and then we can get onto the next stage. I also managed a bit of general tidying up, cleared the final bit's out of the greenhouse ready to give it a wash before the growing season starts again (that horrible job can wait for another rainy day though), had a chat with my plot neighbors and generally pottered around, which I think you'll find is the whole point of having an allotment in the first place. Saturday afternoon I hid myself away in the workshop for a bit of tinker time and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. I really need to have some project or another on the go. I think it's when I feel like I'm not producing anything useful or making anything that I get most frustrated. So I've solved that problem by starting on a couple of little "keep me occupied and busy" projects that will hopefully give me something to think about and occupy my fingers over the long night's that are still to come. I'll keep you updated and stick some pictures up when I've got something to show, but for now it's all in my head, so you'll just have to wait and see. I'd signed up for the Muddy Welly 10K on Sunday, this is a nice little run around the grounds of Wellington Collage and is the second race in the my sporting times organised Winter Run series. The other two being the Mapledurham 10 and the Gut Buster, both of which are great events in their own right. After another night of heavy rain the morning was clear with a cold wind blowing, not the best running conditions as the wind can make for hard going, but it's a pretty sheltered course and well drained, so, whilst there were some wet parts the majority of the course was pretty dry. 10Km isn't my favorite distance and is pretty short by my current standards, it's a pretty fast pace from the off with no respite. Unlike a marathon where you can afford to have a slow mile and catch it back up on the next one there's no such opportunity over 10Km. If you lose a few seconds that's you moving backwards down the field, so it's really 40 odd minutes of full on effort. As predicted we started fast and the pace stayed pretty quick for the duration, I made up a few places in the first couple of Km and settled into a steady pace, holding the gap to the person in front but slowly opening a gap to the one behind. By the half way point a significant gap had opened out to the people behind, but I'd lost a couple of seconds on the one in front. Not to be put off though I pushed on, never letting the person in front out of my sight and managing to hold on, not losing any more time but unable to gain until the end. A final finishing position of 16th from the 379 finishers in 41:18 (5th in my age group category) isn't a bad result and is pretty consistent when viewed against 2017 and 18 where I managed 30th and 18th respectively. I don't think I could have gone much faster, but likewise felt fully in control at all times, paced the run well and finished strongly, so all in all a good result for me and as I mentioned, pretty consistent. Whilst we are discussing running, I seem to be going through socks like no ones business at the moment. I suspect it's just a coincidence and I must have just bought a load of socks that have all given up the ghost at the some time but I seem to be wearing out the toes on a weekly basis. So if anyone's got a use for a load of socks with holes in the toes give me a shout, I've got more than enough to go around.
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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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