Author: FosterRuns

I’ve had a really interesting week, but it’s been infeasibly cold for April… bleak grey skies, snow flurries, Siberian winds.  In fact it was a great week to have good excuses to be inside… and I was particularly glad that a walk down amongst the Seven Sisters was postponed at the last minute!

Yesterday we were treated to a sibling visit, with Debbie and John arriving in style… on the back of a low loader!

It was really nice to see their smiling faces emerging from the truck… they took the whole incident very well, despite a two-hour delay to their arrival and a £200 bill for emptying £20 of petrol from the diesel tank!

By the time we woke up this morning the sun was well in control of the day and though it was still chilly, I couldn’t resist a run outside.

Two layers was not really enough, though I’m not sure whether this was for the obvious reason, or because I was sweating and the cold wind was supercooling me as a result.  Either way I resisted the temptation to don the jacket I took along for spare.

I headed out to Oldlands Mill along a path with mud the consistency of chocolate icing.  The lovely panoramic photograph I took is unfortunately too big to upload to this site… you’ll have to take it from me that the white windmill looked beautiful, while the view to Jack & Jill across the Weald was lovely in the sunlight.

From there I ran down into a bustling Ditchling and up towards the Beacon track.  The track itself seemed really steep after so long away whilst the top layer of permafrosted ground had melted to make the surface very slippery in places.  Despite this it was great to be back and I managed to reach the Beacon without stopping.

Running back down the track was harder work in some ways, since the brakes had to be full on to offset the questionable grip, but I made it down without incident.

As I retraced my steps I reaped the benefit of all those recent magic carpet sessions… despite the additional distance, gradient and rough ground, my legs felt really good.  I even managed to increase my pace towards the end.

So 10 miles in 1:44 (53 minutes out, 2 mins taking photos on the trig point and 49 minutes back) gives an average of 5.77mph.

One odd aside… I’m not sure when I last had a pair of scales in the house (at least 20 years ago), but our new scales show that I lost 2 pounds during the run, despite drinking half a litre of water en route… no wonder my shirt felt cold!

As a further sign that Spring is nigh, Kim and I then sat outside to eat brunch… it wasn’t spectacularly warm, but warm enough while we ate.  Though as I write this we are admiring the sunlit garden from inside with the doors closed!

I’m inclined to make the most of it as the forecast for the rest of April (starting Tuesday) is for as much rain in three weeks as we normally have in four!  Spring ahoy!

It may seem an odd thing to say, but if you have about 20 minutes (or more) to spare right now, I suggest that you click the link below rather than reading my blog.

http://www.ted.com/playlists/60/work_smarter.html

My week started with a little snow, though come Tuesday when I checked to make sure some London meetings were still on, this fact was met with more than a little surprise… as was the snow gear I was wearing when I arrived!

Thursday found me back in London for meetings and an interim event, after which I stayed in my old Earls Court stomping ground.  It may sound slightly kooky, but I slept right under the bed in my old flat!  Before you get the wrong idea entirely, I was one floor down, staying with friends.

 

The next morning I was reminded why it was such a great place to live when I was able to walk to a meeting near Olympia!

All week I had slowly been coming to terms with the change from Blackberry to Apple.  Frustrations abounded to start with, but these lessened as the week wore on and I discovered simple work-arounds… such as, for example, how to set the alarm so that it only vibrates on the bedside table rather than blasting you awake.

Last night I had a comparative epiphany… I had read poor reviews about the various TED apps on offer, but clicking on the play-list above brought me a series of phone-sized TED talks with no app required.

I think I have just sold myself on the Apple thang in one easy step.

Recalling my running machine experiments with the Kindle as I prepared for my run on the machine this morning (it was raining outside) I found a safe place for the iPhone to sit and wired myself in.

Because the link above is a playlist, there is 165 minutes of material available with no digital input required… digital, in this case, pertaining to my finger.  Trying to control any tiny technology devices whilst running is generally a little hit & miss… as in miss step, hit floor.

Suitably wired for brain food I did the normal 7mph run with occasional 0.1mph increases.  Trying to concentrate (on TED for example) requires a generally slower pace, which meant that I found it hard going towards the end.

Several things would improve the experience further: an iPad so that the screen is larger, a bracket to hold it higher and further away and a set of Bluetooth headphones to remove the wire tether with the associated risk of catapulting the devise off into oblivion.

I ended up completing 7.35 miles in 60 minutes.

Spring now seems to be back on track after it’s brief winter sojourn and with a little luck I’ll be back outside next weekend.  In the meantime I have another fascinating week of discoveries ahead, including lecturing at both Brighton Business School and UCL.