Author: FosterRuns

Posted on

An absence of mince pies

We were at a FAB party at Clive & Nat’s last night, during which time Pete & Cliff reminded me about the Mince Pie ten mile race this morning. Though I remember saying that I ‘might’ see them there, even then I was somewhat doubtful… I could list the reasons for my doubt, but it will make no difference since they will still harangue me for not turning up to compete!

Suffice to say that I wasn’t there this morning: I made it only as far as my folks’ place by the start time.

It had been raining all morning north of the Downs as I sat re-reading Michael Apter’s Reversal Theory, both reading and raining being factors in my considerable prevarication. However, in sight of the sea to the south of the both the Downs and the coastal ridge, the day was chilly and overcast but dry and optimistic… sufficiently so that I opted to wear shorts.

I had a vague thought about running to the finish line in Peacehaven, but I honestly didn’t feel that energetic, so I sufficed by running down to Rottingdean and along the Undercliff Walk to its easterly end at Saltdean.

The sea was heaving magnificently and I paused several times to take photos and then to take a longer video… which I would share with you if Google hadn’t bought YouTube and messed up my passwords in the process.

I then simply retraced my steps back up the hill to Woodingdean, all the while feeling guilty thinking about Pete, who would have competed having already run from Brighton and then, in the absence of my car, may well have had to run home again afterwards! Heck, he’s the one who should be writing the running blog!

I notice from the results sheet that out of a record 327 entries, Cliff came 95th (average speed 7.4mph) and Pete 66th (7.7mph).  Good show boys!

For me, around 7 miles took me 1.17 (5.45mph), but this included all the pauses for 21 photos and an almost three-minute video, so I was running a smidge faster… and comfortably so, even though I took the Falmer Road in a relaxed fashion.  After all, it wasn’t the day for racing!

There are only a few days left to submit your humorous incidents for the competition ahead of the deadline!  Though if I hear one more person claim they’ve not had the time to spend five minutes writing a few words and sending them to me, I’ll be forced to, er, sob… publically!

Posted on

Et tu, beaut day

The LED starlights were out in force in the sky last night and that translated into a chilly but beautifully clear morning.  Apart from Thursday, where there might be a little rain, this is supposed to set the pattern for the week in the South, with some chilly nights but temperatures generally above average.

As I pounded away to relax my muscles after yesterday’s run, the temperature underfoot on the running machine was considerably hotter still.

I know this because I tend to run barefoot and having managed to get up to 7.5mph during my normal mile, I felt so comfortable that I continued on at that speed for a second mile too… the belt warming all the time!

So warm feet and two miles in 17.04.  Have a GREAT week peops!

Posted on

Greyday chug down memory lane

Once again I tootled off to my parents house for my run, although having got absorbed in re-reading David Eagleman’s book Incognito, the Secret Lives of the Brain this morning, I was even later in starting out than last week.

Eagleman writes beautifully: ‘Your consciousness is like a tiny stowaway on a transatlantic steamship, taking credit for the journey without acknowledging the massive engineering underfoot’.  If ever there was a great Christmas present for someone who is curious about life, this is it!

I ran up the hill to the top of the village, delighted to see that at least one of the latest units on the old Sunblest Bakery site has been let… clearly to Reflex, the sports nutrition company… nice design guys!

Sunblest, with its neatly kept lawns, had been baking on the site for decades until the early 1990’s and I seem to remember that my eldest brother worked on the doughnut line whilst on break from university in the early 1970’s.  Legend has it that one of the permanent workers asked him what he was studying and when he replied Pure Physics, she said ‘how boring’.

The site slowly decayed from its closure in 1994 until 2002 when it was levelled for redevelopment and this year  (in fact last month!) is the first time that it has been a net visual asset to the village since then.

At the top of the village I turned left and ran across to Brighton Race Course before, on a whim, dropping down the steep steps to Bevendean.

My parents and elder siblings used to take this route to see my grandparents in Moulsecoomb  the 1960’s but unless it was in a pram, I don’t remember having been down here before… probably because my Dad was one of the first people in our street to get a car.

I followed my nose and ended up exiting onto Bear Road, giving me a great opportunity to run up at least the top part of one of the steeper main roads in Brighton.

Back on the racecourse I headed the mile and a half down Wilson’s Avenue to the Marina then turned left and ran down onto the Undercliff Walk.  It was a very different scene to last Sunday, not least since the tide was out.

At Ovingdean I ascended the cliff where I descended last week, the steps seeming somehow less dramatic approached from below.  I then ran up the valley to the church where my good friend Ric, who died in 2009, rests with a marvellous view up towards Woodingdean and down to the sea.

From the church I once again had a steep hill to climb to the ridge at the top of Ovingdean, which I then followed all the way up to Woodingdean Primary School.

When I was growing up there was only a pair of derelict houses next to the school, but my Mother was Chair of the Scout Group working party which erected the Scout hut, from memory in the very early 1970’s.  The group of parents first dismantled the building at it’s original site in Sunbury and then rebuilt it, much to the excitement of all the young scouts at the time.

Since then the derelict houses have also been reborn and the previously utilitarian school has had a neat pitched roof installed.

From the school I crossed the grazing land (which used to be a ploughed field) back to my folks place.  9 miles in 1.43 is a chug at 5.25mph, but to be fair there were a couple of steep hills and more than one pause while I paid my respects to the past.

With only two weeks to go to the deadline, I have but one entry to the competition, published on the Competition Stories page.  Bearing in mind that there are three £40 vouchers up for grabs, it could be well worth your while penning a few words and sending them to me.  I’d hate to have to send two of the vouchers back!

Posted on

Monday run-off

After I pointed out the extreme clemency of the season yesterday, the weather made a half-hearted effort at producing winter last night.

The sky was so clear that the stars shone like LED’s and there was already a frost on the deck when I went to bed.  Likewise this morning at 6am there was a heavy frost on the cars outside, but as I write two hours later it is melting fast, ahead of another week of mild weather and heavy rain… the latter albeit in all parts of the UK except here, where the water companies are already talking about a hosepipe ban!

Despite only running 10km yesterday, my legs had that tell-tale stiffness this morning that suggested that I’d be back to walking like a penguin tomorrow… which is exactly what happened for what felt like a week after my token short run three weeks ago.

The only antidote that I know is to get my legs moving again the morning after the run before, so I duly climbed aboard the machine this morning for a gentle jog.

It’s a good way to warm up on a cold day and I was reminded of the time two years ago when I ran 20 miles whilst staring inanely at the white wall in front of me and the leaves of the overgrown cheese plant!

My barefoot Monday run-off covered a mile and took just over ten minutes.

Have a GREAT week peops!

Posted on

Back to the beach

It had been stormy overnight and I awoke to a wet, grey day… not an especially appealing prospect for a run.  Fortunately it was still unseasonally warm here, so at least I wasn’t going to get cold and wet.

I quite like running from my folks’ place in the winter and so it was 10am before I was there and ready to leave… into a most beautiful sunny day that had somehow emerged from the gloom!

So glorious in fact that I opted to wear the shorts and shades that I had somewhat ironically taken along for the drive!

My folks live in a village on a hill behind Brighton and most routes out involve going down… in this case two miles down to the Saxon settlement of Rottingdean.  It was an easy way to ease myself back into the running, but after a little gardening yesterday my back was still a little tender.

Rottingdean is such a pretty village, with its pond, windmill and mix of tiny cottages and grand houses… one of which housed Rudyard Kipling for five years at the turn of the previous century.

One of the reasons that I particularly wanted to come down this way was to see the sea after last night’s storm… I was not disappointed!  And I wasn’t the only one admiring the view of the whitecaps along towards Brighton.

A mile westwards from Rottingdean are the Ovingdean steps, which descend 25m to the Undercliff Walk below.  Originally constructed in the 1930’s as part of sea defences, this is still an impressive construction… though not quite as daunting as the vertiginous and more recently constructed steps at Peacehaven, which can be seen in my post earlier this year

Once down at sea level the power of the waves became apparent… I’m pretty sure that Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano’s book Flotsametrics passes comment on just how much force each wave exerts (alas, I can’t locate my copy on my bookshelves right now) but the clap of sound as each wave hit home was thunderous.

Fortunately the wind was offshore (so the undercliff was sheltered) so whilst the waves breaking against the seawall below me were producing a curtain of water ten feet above my head, they were then dropping straight back down… otherwise I would have surely been drenched on numerous occasions as I ran along.

In the late sixties and early seventies when I was a child, we used to go down to Rottingdean and play on the beach and in the sheltered sitting areas.  I’ve not noticed these sitting areas for years, but now I ran up through them and the combination of this and the baking hot sun transported me back in time in a most delightful way.

Then all that was left to do was run the two or so miles back up the hill.  It’s not such a bad hill and it wasn’t as if I’d run the eight or nine miles to Shoreham harbour & then back again like I did last year, but after a few weeks off running it was still good workout.

I arrived back in 1.07 having completed 6.4 miles… a paltry 5.7mph, but a very enjoyable entrée back into the running world and I couldn’t have wished for a more glorious day to do it!

Posted on

And now for something for those with a competitive streak!

Its competition time, although in this case you can compete from the comfort of your own home!

  

SportsBallShop have always been heavily involved with local sports clubs and teams, providing much-needed equipment and funding. Recently though they have expanded into the online world and started the Sponsor A Fitness Blog campaign to support passionate fitness advocates across the UK.  They have very kindly offered me a few vouchers to offer as competition prizes on FosterRuns.com!

Since I love interaction with readers, the competition is going to be for the most quirky, short story about running (max 250 words), ideally highlighting something funny that has happened to you (or your running partners) in the past and that everyone will enjoy.

I have created a separate ‘Competition stories‘ page above to publish all those that don’t need to be censored for a family audience and we will then have a public vote to find out which are our favourite stories.

The author of each of the top 3 stories will receive a generous £40 voucher to be used on equipment of their choice at one of the following sites which sell: balls of all types SportsBallShop.co.uk; sports bras SportsBras.co.uk; and trampolines EtoysZone.co.uk.

Whilst £40 is only a discount off the cost of a whole trampoline, there is plenty of great stuff that it will buy you on the other two sites… so get writing!

Competition Rules Are: Writers may submit more than one story but only one prize will be allocated per person.  Stories must be submitted by close of play on Saturday 17th December.  Voting will then run until Saturday 31st December and winners will be announced the following day, or thereabouts!  Voting will be via email and each voter will be able to identify their first, second and third favourite story.  There will be no cash alternative to the prize which is provided by SportsBallShop and will be sent direct.  I will be fair and equitable but will have the casting vote if required and my word will be final in any dispute!

The competition is now closed and the winners can be found HERE

Posted on

Gazelle-like

Cliff’s offer of a run on Sunday morning was highly tempting, but my head presumably knew that I wasn’t yet ready for a long run so it didn’t wake me up until after he had started running… just in case!  Though if he had said there were going to be bacon butties afterwards, then I wonder if it might just have tipped the balance of my cognitive alarm clock!

But Cliff did plant a seed in my mind which germinated this morning with my first run in over three weeks.  Okay, so it was a short run on the running machine, but the poor thing hasn’t had much use lately either so it was probably good for both of us!

I started at a slow 5mph to see how painful it was going to be, but everything seemed to be working so I ramped up the speed to 6mph and then increased it each quarter-mile until I reached 8mph.  The three mile run left me sweating profusely but in all other respects my body took it in its stride.

3 miles in 26 minutes 53 is not exactly gazelle-like (thank you Russell… you know gazelles can hit 50mph?) but 6.8mph is not bad for me!  It may yet be a couple of weeks before I’m back on the Downs, but it’s entirely possible that there will be a couple more of these short runs in the meantime.

Posted on

A Forrest Gump moment?

Mindful that my regular readers might be concerned (or maybe overjoyed!) that I have had a Forrest Gump moment and suddenly forsaken running for some other activity (leaving this blog high and dry), I hasten to report that I’ve merely been continuing to suffer from a bad back.

With luck (and some help from Hanne at Chiropractor House), normal service will be resumed shortly!

Keep on running!

Posted on

Five at seven

When I was staggering down the stairs at six o’clock this morning with stiff legs from Sunday and a painful back, the idea of going for a run seemed a little silly.

However, I had arranged to meet the Bok for a slow run (HA, there’s two words that rarely appear in such close proximity!) so I hobbled off down the road to meet him just after seven.

His latest road route took us around the town and whilst conversation helped the pace flow, it was clear that he could have sprinted off ahead at any point… such that we were two minutes down on his normal time after just two miles!

We still managed 5.34 miles in 45 minutes… which at 7.12mph is pretty good for me!