Re: Bob's Bits.

Entry:-190215
6:15am And the prod of dedication wakens me from a deep sleep where I have won marathons and received Olympic gold medals. The same prod selects auto-pilot as I quietly get dressed and gaze at the rain soaked window. Before I have time to resist, I’m out in the street splashing along waterlogged pavements. Full kit this morning, hat, gloves and waterproof jacket, but I still wear shorts: legs are very waterproof and can manage without the flapping of sodden bottoms.
I cross the road and drop onto a small path down the side of a field, it’s full of puddles, some I dodge and some I leap over, but by the time I get to the end of the field I just run through them. I can feel the cold embrace of the water on my feet as it soaks through my running shoes. Err. I’m back on tarmac now running through a housing estate, I find the alley that leads to the wood and once again I’m on soft ground. The rain seems to have eased off now; or is it just the protection from the trees. As I leave the wood and join the main road, I find a small procession of vehicles queuing to take their place on the roundabout. Faces peer out at me from steamy windows, I know what they are thinking; but they are wrong, I’m warm and comfy jogging along on what is [for them] just another rainy morning.
The lane is not as bad as I thought it would be, I can still find some places to run on that are not underwater or chewed up by the odd tractor. I arrive home in a disappointing time, I try to think of excuses to write in my journal; the rain, the mud, the traffic, but in the end, it was me, doing the best that I could on this rainy February morning.

Re: Bob's Bits.

Weather must make a difference what with dodging the puddles and the softer conditions. I think people who pass someone running in their cars do wonder why they are doing it but the runner is quite happy in their 'zone'.

Going to do my exercise now but an indoors exercise class.

Re: Bob's Bits.

Well done OGF. My hubby is a walker, he goes out most mornings for a 30 minute fast walk whatever the weather. He keeps asking me to join him but its not for me.

Re: Bob's Bits.

Loved the stories and I know how good you must have felt at the end of each one . Worth every sodden step !

Re: Bob's Bits.

Robert we're off on a seven mile walk on Saturday, to the Falls of Clyde. I think it will be a lovely walk and the weather is forecast to be good. The walks get longer as the weather gets better. I'm really looking forward to our Summer programme. I'll need to get another walk reccied and get it put into the programme soon. The leader is champing at the bit

Re: Bob's Bits.

Your running shoes must take a bit of cleaning and drying out Robert.

Re: Bob's Bits.

Glad you're here Mr Fox

Re: Bob's Bits.

Wish I was coming with you Alice. Have a great walk and I look forward to your report..... I'm just doing my running at the moment, but I'm also getting itchy feet for a longer adventure. I'm trying to tidy up all the jobs around the house, because once the sun comes out I won't be able to resist the temptation to get out there.

Re: Bob's Bits.

At the end of April last year I suffered a second Heart Attack [The first being May 2004]
I was eager to return to running and was given the all clear to run again.
After successfully completing some short distance runs, along came Sunday, and I decided to attempt my first six mile run. This was my report at the time.


Entry:-170814
Let me take you with me on a six mile run.
The weather man was quite intimidating last night when he believed that strong winds and rain would spread to the North of England by morning. If that was the case, my long Sunday run would be difficult to say the Least.
Looking out of the window at six o clock this morning revealed something very different. The sky was a uniform shade of light blue with white fluffy clouds low on the horizon still obscuring the sun, which had only just started to rise. A gentle breeze ruffled only the highest leaves on the trees that circled the green.
I clamp the velcro fastener round my upper left arm, containing my mobile Phone, it’s the only way I am allowed to go out on a run these days, by carrying it with me. With my stopwatch round my left wrist, and heart rate monitor round my right wrist, I am ready to take you with me as I take my first steps out into the cool morning air.
I start the stopwatch and lean into a jog, that same cool morning air gently brushes past my face and legs, it takes a while to get into a pace, It is the first time I will have attempted to run six miles non stop since before my heart attack sixteen weeks ago. The pace I select will be the difference between success and failure. I jog past bungalows containing sleeping neighbours, some are awake though, and I see their curtains twitch as they see me run past: I know what they must be thinking, ‘There he goes, running towards another heart attack’
I believe they are so wrong.

The streets are empty with only the odd car humming past on the main road, most of them will be driving the few hundred yards from their houses down to the paper shop and back. The temptation of a car on the drive is too much to ignore, and after all, it saves time; for what? It’s Sunday, nothing much happens on a Sunday. Except I do my long Sunday run.

I pass the church on the left as I make my way into the country, it’s silent now, but in a few hours time it will be full of worshipers singing and praying to the lord. The congregation is not as large as in old days, but still as enthusiastic as their voices mingle in harmony and drift over the fields behind, typical sounds of village life. Is there a God, I honestly don’t know, but if there is, he is smiling on me this morning. And I should thank him for providing me with a body perfectly designed for doing this.

I feel a twinge in my left ankle, It’s the Achilles Tendon that I’ve had so much trouble with over the last year, the pain will go off in the next half mile, I don’t run fast enough now for it to be a problem, and it’s almost better. A couple of Magpies cluck at me from somewhere in the hedge, and I hear the sound of a whistling Blackbird or Thrush on the other side of the road. I glance at my heart rate monitor and see my pulse has evened out at 130 BPM, perfect.

The sun breaks free from the cloud that has been hiding it as it rises higher into the clear blue sky above, and I feel the warmth on my back. The countryside is illuminated by it’s light, the greens suddenly take on a new vivid brightness and the road in front of me shines like a thousand diamonds off the small puddles left behind after the rain in the night. I squint into the light.
My breathing is heavy but not forced, I could easily hold a conversation, my running shoes tap out a rhythmic pat on the hard surface of the road, my thoughts drift off into another place. They could never go there at home with all the distractions of modern life. I feel like I could maintain this pace forever.
I have lived all my life to be delivered to this place, now; I have though about this moment a thousand times; while at work, and in those dark days during my two heart attacks when I thought this feeling would be lost forever, impossible
to return to. Nothing is impossible.

We are more than half way round now, and as the road climbs gently I glance once more at my heart rate monitor, 139 BPM, a bead of sweat appears on my brow, I brush it away as I crest the hill, my heart rate drops back to 130 BPM as I cruise down the other side.

I pass over the level crossing that marks the end of the peaceful stretch, l am once again thrust back into the present, as I pass by the first of the houses I become aware of the sounds of the traffic on the main road ahead. It has become a lot busier than it was an hour ago. I stop the watch as I take my last few steps onto the drive.

I sit here at my computer and wait for the endorphins to kick in as they always do after a run. I’ve never took drugs, but if I had, I would imagine this is what it would feel like. I sit and write a report of my experiences, the wind has got up and it begins to splatter the window with rain..... Weatherman was right.....

Re: Bob's Bits.

Robert, if you lived in this area you would be more than welcome to join us . We welcome all new members and love to encourage them. Yes, when the weather gets better you will get out there. I always think it's something to look forward to, the better weather when you can get out and about and see the outside world, as opposed to this internal one