The Marco Challenge Pt 1

So I am day 4 (or 5) into the Marco challenge.. This is a challenge laid down by the Lovely Debs, and is named after her vet bloke Marco - it's a run every day for a month...

So I went out on Monday for a little 4 or so, then Ian Beattie called me for a beer, Tuesday was a 9 with Norman and Adrian, Wed I was not that fussed but the challenge was laid down so I ran around to see my girls and then ran back to mine at about 930. Thurs 4 miler at work and this morning because I knew I had a busy weekend, I got up at 630 and ran for 30 ..

So 5 from 6 or 4 from 5 this month.. This morning I was thinking what it must be like to do the 6 day challenge, when you are sleeping far less and running far far more... My legs are a little tired, but what would they be like if I had run 150 miles or 200 by now ?? Something to think about ...

Am thinking of going out in 53 mins, if not then when tomorrow... Nahh reckon I will have a quiet beer and sort it out in the light.. I have already wound up my mate Norman, he is also onboard, albeit he has done a couple on the softy tradmill .. He ran 2.5 at lunch which I told him was not enough, so he did more tonight.. Gotta laugh !!

More later ..

Musings

So why do we go out
in the wind and the rain
what is it that turns on
or off
in our brain and
takes us up a hill in the fuck
off pouring
RAIN

it's only mid week
there is no prize at stake
no winner, no loser
it's just a mile or 2
we had to make to add
on
to the total

but they add up,
and we beat the
rain
and the cold shoes
the toes going
blue
the looks of strange
and the oh shit never
again
and we go again

obsession or deter
mination
it is a line that
need not be drawn or tried
to explain
in rain
or skies of blue
we ramain true
to the peace of our brain
that says
go again ...

It was damp but warm

Signs and portents of dooom
Go no further
Flashing neon and bright
along with family and friends
saying
"Your mind - it isn't right !"

Heavy weather, rain and sleet
All the reasons that anyone needs
to stay home in bed
with the telly at the end of the feet
and a warm coffee, the game on the tube
as your slice of life for the day

But past the signs we go
Loch Lubnaig and the breaking of
light through the high cloud
the crimson heather lifting us
and the cranked up AC/DC
starting our hearts racing

The rain closes in but we are there
and amongst family new and old
in the rain, fueled up and
ready to go


What is there to say
It rained, but we carried along up the Way
Chatting along about wine and food
and what to eat
and what things (if any)
we should wear on our feet

Rannoch Moor with cloud high
and wind behind and company
Queens having a Drama
Princesses to the rescue
and at halfway sunshine after a bowl of soup in
the House of Kings


More spread out on the way back
but tired limbs still up for more
some stop at the Bridge
Others going further
than they thought they could or had even dared
when early that morn they lay in their bed...

As a parting gift and perhaps a reward
The rain abates and the wind turns to end up
behind
and pushing us down the hill
10k to the end of the line

In failing light we made it just
to the dry
Our day is done and the rain and wet is
all but forgotten
Just smiles and friendship and the warmth
of some real food and the glow from the
slice of life
we chose for our day

See if this one updates the blogroll

I have been running
a bit
and possibly been drinking a little too much beer
in between
but there is a lot going on and
my running keeps it together
and helps to clear my head
and focus the mind
from the confusion
and the reality of a change that has
come into my world
the beer is good to help forget
but it is a crutch
a leg up to the escape hatch
whereas a step out the door with only
some miles ahead
is a step to clarity and release
and the quiescence of the turmoiled mind

Beach Run

The sand hard and white
no breeze,
friend and dog
off we go

I am on the beach
like so many times before
but not before so much time
has elapsed
and so many things have changed

I am thinking of my mate
wondering if he is running tonight
and with each step
with nothing but good company
and the wind and sea
to remind me
as the sun sets
my spirits rise
and run free

The distance I don't know
the time neither fast or slow
The pace, it was no race
but he would have been happy
to go around again
and to have a swim at the end.

The darkness draws in
as it does at this time of year
and the nip in the air is there
but I am on the beach
and the memory of the june sun
and the warmth of this run
pushes the season aside
and leaves only
Summer

A Barby

So is it just a matter
of burnishing meat over
a flame
a cooking fire that we first leant
all those years ago, the need
to feed, to eat, to feed
to make fire and cook that
which had come across your
path

and now it has become a meeting
a place a wood burning
pyre
a gathering and a place for
tribes to meet
and to eat and to exchange the
pleasantries of the day
to today.

To the barby,salt and fat
to clean the plate, just
like my Grandad showed me
a while ago
and then to feed to eat
to dine and to enjoy
the circumstance that has brought us together..

Waters, Lakes and Wine ...

I could get used to this lark.. Had a great week so far running wise.. On Sunday I caught up with Lucy and Richie and Kipper the dog and hung on with them on their way up the Water of Leith to Balerno... I knew when I started that despite them saying it was going to be an easy run, that I would be doing well to keep up which is what I did. I had my strategic exit about 3.5 miles into the run when I left them at Slateford and went up Craiglockhart Hill whilst they continued on to Balerno.. This is what I like about our sport that a plodder like me can enjoy some time with somebody way faster / better than you and still enjoy it .. Sure, if they were running hard, then I would not have lasted more than a 1/2 mile, but that was beside the point..

The above was written a week ago - sort of lost track of time.. Mon last week wss 5 miles, Wed was a 11 miler, Thurs 4 miles at lunch and then it was down to Windermere with Gary and Merv and their boys for an overnight stay and then a walk in the lake district.. Gaz and Merv have supported me on all my WHW runs (bar 2008) and are really good mates... A lot has been happening in my world the last couple of weeks, so it was great to get away for a night and a day... We stayed in the Windermere Manor - a hotel run by Action for the Blind - well recommended, great accomodation, friendly people.. It is quite weird being shown the way to the town at 8:30 PM by a guy with a dog wearing dark glasses...

I had been wanting to open a bottle of Penfolds Grange for quite some time and made sure with Gaz that the one I had chosen was ready.. Grange is Australia's finest wine - quite a statement I know but it is fact.. In Oz you can't get it for love or money, but in the UK you can pick it up in Tesco's - which is where I got it.. Gary said he would bring along a couple of other wines to support the evening.. We ended up in the Cedar Manor in Windermere - a great place with friendly people, great food and a very welcoming attitude. After a cleansing ale after our drive from Edinburgh we started our meal.. First cab off the rank was a 2002 Leuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay - a spectacular wine from Margaret River - just south of where I come from.. It was absolutely blindingly great.. Then we went on to the big boy. I had never had one of these fellas before - it is sort of a right of passage and I was so glad to be able to share it with such great friends.. And it did not dissapoint ! It was like having your first ride in an airplane or the first time you ever rode in a fast car, or even the first time you had sex - but unlike that event, this one lasted longer than 30 mins :- ) !! I will always remember the first sip I had, like no other wine I had ever had before..



Meanwhile the meal was coming and going, we were having a great chat and a top night was developing. We had to have a spacer after the Grange with a desert wine, then we moved onto the final for the night - a '98 Penfolds Bin 389... What a closer.. A Glengoyne to finish then it was back to the hotel, and bed (well after some chasers of beer, gin, Baileys and JD, with Gaz's eldest son Matthew, a 3rd Year Med Student who can only give you hope for the future..)

Next day saw us at Great Langdale for a delayed start. Rocked into the carpark only to be confronted by people in running vests, limbering up and looking like they were up for a day on the hills.. Turned out it was the English Chanps for Hill Running or some such thing... Spoke to a few blokes about it and they were very friendly (Not sure if my WHW buff made any difference !) And then we were off on the hills. Goal was to get up Great Gable and back (about 18k) but after a short time we knew that might not happen.. I was champing at the bit to get cracking, but this was not a run it was a walk.. a change of pace, and all the better for it.. We had some cracking views to start with, but when we got to the top of Rosset Pike it started to close in.. Me and Matt decided to go up Scafell Pike, the others went down towards Green Gable.. We got up to the highest bit in England, but may as well have stood on the top of a chair in a steam room.. Visibility was down to about 10m, but it was a great climb up !!



the trip back up was uneventful, now back to work and also running, 5 on Mon, 10 or so tonight with Norman and back to running tomorrow lunchtime.. Hope you are having a good one !