I am heartily sick of winter here. Two weekends ago it was utterly and delightfully springlike. Vic and I spent Sunday hanging out in the park playing frisby golf (some call it frolf! coolest blended word ever?) with Bea and Royce. Top fun. I was beginning to look forward to getting back in shape.
Then it snowed. Then it snowed some more. it's about -5 now and still snowing, but I refuse to let this get me down. To get me running anyway I have signed up for the San Francisco half marathon in August. 13.2 miles over the Golden Gate Bridge! To make matters worse it kicks off at 5.30 AM, although this gives the twin benefits of running before the heat rolls in and allowing one to run into the sunrise as it appears behind one of he wonders of the modern world.
So, the training starts here. 10k last Sunday on an indoor track (59 mins), 5k yesterday on a tedious treadmill and some unspecified distance in the snow today (26 mins) accompanied by the sublime mutterings of Laurie Taylor on my Thinking Allowed podcast. I'll keep you all posted as to my progress, and please pass the word and get me sponsored. All funds going towards Watoto Childrens Villages for orphans in Uganda, a new home and a fresh start for children with literally nothing, and building a generation of leaders with integrity in Uganda too.
Thanks,
Rob
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Monday, 14 April 2008
Odd weather precipitates confusion, frustration
Scene: Weds PM. Glorious weather outside at home after long day at work.
*much joy!!* Now is the end of our winter of discontent. Spring has sprung! As much as I have enjoyed this year's winter for it's skiing and other forms of Mountain frolics, it has been too cold to run outside and I rebel against the hamsterwheel nature of treadmill running. Rather than force myself through an arduous regime of icy tolerance or a tedious routine of indoor jogging, I accepted this winter as a one off experience and temporarily resigned from the ranks of runners. This would be a fat winter.
I am aware that last winter had the same effect on me but I hope this will cease to be the case upon returning to blighty. I have always classed myself as a fair weather runner, but I hope having struggled through snow drifts and 40 below days I will have revised my opinion of 'fair-weather' to include virtually anything an English winter has to offer, provided I can get some water proof running shoes (Eughh; wet feet!).
Anyway, I had accepted my fatness for the duration of the season, but I was starting to get a little tired of expanding. True, being off beer for lent had helped, but Lent was over so I was looking forward to starting up running again. Whenever I have run I feel like I have earned the right to a big dinner and a couple of beers, but not running hasn't stopped me, I just feel a tiny bit guilty and self indulgent and I was looking forward to going back to feeling a little bit smug instead. Wednesday marked my return to running, and after a half hour run that evening I was looking forward to another short one on Thursday.
I awoke to find that it was snowing on Thursday morning and by 8.00 am there was the best part of a foot already fallen and it was still coming. Big, wet heavy flakes that made the roads deadly due to both slipping and sliding as well as the poor visibility. It looked like there was as much snow in the air as on the ground. It took two and a half hours to get to work. We started driving, but we soon turned back because not only was our minivan with "all -season" tyres blatantly not equipped for wading through this stuff, but plenty of other people seemed to be having similar trouble. We saw a number of fender-benders and decided to retreat back home and bus our ways to our respective schools, discretion being the better part of valour where surprise blizzards are concerned. At the bust stop it transpired that many other good burghers of our neighbourhood had reached similar conclusions and the first few buses to arrive were full. I walked most of the way to school before a bus with some empty spaces picked my up at 10.00.
By that evening it was well into positive temperatures and the melt had begun in earnest but a foot of snow just doesn't melt that quickly so no running for Mr D on Thursday. Bugger.
Still, they do say that if you don't like the weather in Calgary, wait 5 minutes it's bound to change. I was back out running again on Friday and Saturday followed by frisbee-golf (I like the term 'frolf'!) on Sunday with temperatures well into the twenties. Surely NOW it was spring!
As I write this on Monday morning, it's snowing again.
*much joy!!* Now is the end of our winter of discontent. Spring has sprung! As much as I have enjoyed this year's winter for it's skiing and other forms of Mountain frolics, it has been too cold to run outside and I rebel against the hamsterwheel nature of treadmill running. Rather than force myself through an arduous regime of icy tolerance or a tedious routine of indoor jogging, I accepted this winter as a one off experience and temporarily resigned from the ranks of runners. This would be a fat winter.
I am aware that last winter had the same effect on me but I hope this will cease to be the case upon returning to blighty. I have always classed myself as a fair weather runner, but I hope having struggled through snow drifts and 40 below days I will have revised my opinion of 'fair-weather' to include virtually anything an English winter has to offer, provided I can get some water proof running shoes (Eughh; wet feet!).
Anyway, I had accepted my fatness for the duration of the season, but I was starting to get a little tired of expanding. True, being off beer for lent had helped, but Lent was over so I was looking forward to starting up running again. Whenever I have run I feel like I have earned the right to a big dinner and a couple of beers, but not running hasn't stopped me, I just feel a tiny bit guilty and self indulgent and I was looking forward to going back to feeling a little bit smug instead. Wednesday marked my return to running, and after a half hour run that evening I was looking forward to another short one on Thursday.
I awoke to find that it was snowing on Thursday morning and by 8.00 am there was the best part of a foot already fallen and it was still coming. Big, wet heavy flakes that made the roads deadly due to both slipping and sliding as well as the poor visibility. It looked like there was as much snow in the air as on the ground. It took two and a half hours to get to work. We started driving, but we soon turned back because not only was our minivan with "all -season" tyres blatantly not equipped for wading through this stuff, but plenty of other people seemed to be having similar trouble. We saw a number of fender-benders and decided to retreat back home and bus our ways to our respective schools, discretion being the better part of valour where surprise blizzards are concerned. At the bust stop it transpired that many other good burghers of our neighbourhood had reached similar conclusions and the first few buses to arrive were full. I walked most of the way to school before a bus with some empty spaces picked my up at 10.00.
By that evening it was well into positive temperatures and the melt had begun in earnest but a foot of snow just doesn't melt that quickly so no running for Mr D on Thursday. Bugger.
Still, they do say that if you don't like the weather in Calgary, wait 5 minutes it's bound to change. I was back out running again on Friday and Saturday followed by frisbee-golf (I like the term 'frolf'!) on Sunday with temperatures well into the twenties. Surely NOW it was spring!
As I write this on Monday morning, it's snowing again.
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