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 !

Support

Weekly running total - Monday out with Norman up Costorphine hill (twice) for a wee blast before he does Loch Ness. Wednesday a little trot with Ian Beattie - up some steps on the Water of Leith and then C. Hill again.. Both Ian and Norman are doing Loch Ness, and they are in fine fettle - hope it goes well for them ! Today a lazy 4 miler at lunch time with Ian King and others from work along the Water of Leith.. So a good few days... and only a few glasses of wine in between !! (well a bottle of Campo Viejo Rioja !! over 2 nights ...

Last weekend I had the privilege of having my suppport crew and families (minus Stuart McCormack) from this years little adventure around for a barby. this is the beast - my mate Mike made it - it is TOPS !!



We had the best weather and I really enjoyed getting the Big Barby out and cooking up for the 30 or so people who were there.. A few beers were had, and then a few wines.. And then a few more wines.. Luckily there were more sensible heads that prevailed when I wanted to set off a few fireworks..

So for Mike Johnson, John Kennedy, Merv Jones, Gary Haywood, Kristin Mitchell. Matt Stoner, Mike Smith, Norman Duncan and Stuart McCormack (who unfortunately could not be there), this one is for you ... Also thanks to Shirl, Kirsty, Caroline who are always there and Sandy, Zak, Ben, Anne, Pauline, Alex, Luke, Eloise, Anne Marie, Matt, Rachel, Jarrad, Alison, Brody, Jasmine, Sheena, Jenny, Katie and Laura, Shirley, and David and Trish Ruxton, thanks for a great day and also for lending me a mate for a day or 2 !

So I am doing this run
Do you want to come
And support me in this dream
It's a bit of a long way
And it is all about me
and what I want to do
What, you can make it
How did I get a friend like you ?

I am running
And
I can only do what I do
because you are there
and I will never forget

The miles are mounting
the midges are biting and annoying
the hell out of you
sitting in your car and I
am running

And then I get to where you are
and I see you and my eyes well up
when I see the bowl of porrige
or can of coke
or just the smile
I have made this goal
done that last mile
when I was feeling like shit
and needing you just to be there
for me
and I will never forget
that I am running which is a
privilege
and I owe it to you

And this is all about me
in this most selfish dream
and then towards the end
we share some miles
you keep me going through the dips
and pacing me, chatting away
I don't recall much of what you say
I can't save it for another day
but you are there
and I am running

which means
We are running
I am the legs
You are the engine, driving
Every step I take
Every mile
Ever bloody rock I kick
or hill I climb
I can't stop
not when we have come this far
We would only have to come back another day
To do it all again

And you have not given up
you are lying and tell me how good I look
In the moments that we share
when I ask for 'the thing' I need
You know the one
it's the, you know
it's at the bottom of the pack
you know - I am sure it's there
oh you've found it
no excuses then
you've done your bit
so I must do mine
Until the end
and we have done
what we set out to do
Only at the end
can we stop..

and now it is all over
and many months hence
So I did this bit of a run
and so did you
and supported me in this dream
It was a bit of a long way
And maybe it started off as all about me
and what I want to do
But we made it
And I am glad that I have a friend like you

If it sounds bad - it probably is

Been doing a little bit of running, but not much .. Was having a good week last week, Sunday, Monday and lunchtime Thursday... Went to the Adventure Show preview night - was great to see everyone and I thought the race report was tops...

It is a sign of my off season that I am back on the turps and so was also out on Thursday night. This time it was for dinner with my good friend Kristin - the lovely Kiwi girl who ran with my for the first and last bits of Fort William to Inverness and provided the wonder hands to massage my battered body and keep me going to the end. Her Mum and Dad were over from Kiwi land, and so me and a few work colleagues went out .. So we all went to a newish French Restaurant here in Edinburgh. And what a top night it was... Beers, a few wines, some cliche'd French food, a steak, and some more wine...

Next day - was feeling a little rough, but put it down to the wine.. Now 1:30AM Saturday morning was a different matter.. Oh dear.. Without going into the details, my guts were in a terrible state.. We've all been there.. Slept intermitently between trips to the loo..

On Saturday I had arranged to help my mate Mike (my best mate and the guy who followed me from Milngavie to Inverness in Lucy the Combi) to demolish his shed.. So it was not something that I wanted to miss out on .. Climbing up ladders, hitting things with big hammers, smashing bricks, loading the pickup, lifting bit of wood, shovelling rubble all with clenched butt cheeks and between running to the dunny made for an interesting day.. But at the end of day, there was a bare concrete pad where a shed used to stand..

So lesson learnt - if there is something on a menu that says Snails and Pigs Ear, even if you think it might be interesting and it ticks a box - read the words..

Snails (yes - you find them in the garden) and Pigs Ear (it is fatty crappy stuff that your dog might chew on...) - FUCK ME - that is NOT FOOD !!!!

A few days on, and am nearly back in one piece.. Happiness is a dry fart !!!

2 for 2

And just went out again
not too much beer at the weekend
to slow me down or
take from me the
will and the desire to
end
the malaise of the everyday
all those excuses that the mind will say
oh I'll just do it another day
I know I will
just not today
much better to listen to the heart
and the pleading of the soul
get out and run
don't sit don't recoil
get out and breathe and work and
beat the heart
get off your arse
don't think
don't reason
just start..
with a step
the one out the door
once that one is done
you can do one more
until you can rest
contented and in repose
with a body, mind, heart and soul
at one ..

Not time for a new top - YET !!!!!

Been a bit of a week. so have been looking forward to getting out tomorrow for a short run with Norman.. He is doing Loch Ness in a couple of weeks so sent him a text and said I was not up for more than and hour or so but would join him for the first part of the run... So now I find he is picking me up, for a trip to the Pentlands and I guess I will be coming home when we have stopped running...

You gotta love mates who can see the signs of an impending change of clothing in the direction of something flouncy and floral and nip it in the bud... Best pack a gel or 2 and a sachet of toughen the fuck up..


KH

PS - Job done - 2hours out and a cracking run it was too... Gotta love it .. Saw a few dogs out and thoughts turned to my little black haired mate - all good... Blouse and tissues not needed !

ENJOY !

Who's the Best Boy - It's the Sammy Boy

How many miles did we run together
Along the sand when you were young
and my years of running had just begun,
in the dunes on the other side of the world
the Freo doctor blasting into my face,
it was a race
you barking at my feet, chasing seagulls
catching one just the once
getting such a fright
and look at me to say
look what I've got, thats a bit of all right..
the setting sun disappearing
into the waves we crash, you yelling at me as I swim too fast
the only time I can make you work
then explode out of the water
you really pissed off
chasing me as I dive again, yelping and clawing my back

You are the maddest boy, eating swimsuits, stubby holders,
digging holes, chewing things
stealing my steak from the barby
always running, always the fastest thing
you catch the air
you fly, speed and black hair
noise and energy, and a perfectly still
poised
and focussed gaze

And then we could run together,
and that is what we did ..
Just a bloke and his best mate, going out
running
in the start 5 feet in front looking back, egging me on,
and maybe checking that I was still there as when you get too far
I turn and you have to chase me
and eventually that is the lead that I never need use,
as we run together
and there is nothing
not cats or dogs, the rest of the human race
nor aliens from out of space not man or beast
nothing
can separate a bloke and his mate
running

We move from the beach,
to a cold place, with hills
and snow that you love
and rain
and the girls
who grow,
and we run still
by my side, at my heel, never moving
stride matching stride,

we go out on the Way
from Rowaradennon to Inversnaid
and back
with my mate John and a few others
he doesn't like dogs,
but like everyone he likes you ..
the tree roots don't worry you
it's the goats you smell and want to catch

and things go on
staying the same
and changing
you are no longer beside me
you are 2 out 2 back
but you are still my best boy
you're still having a crack

On Monday this week
we went to the park,
you stopped for a pee
and then ran to join me
you saw a branch of a tree
and tried picking it up
just like you used to
when we were at the sea

So tonight you sleep
I held you as you went
to the beach, from the snow
chasing
running and chasing
head poised in perfectly still
gaze
where's the birds Sam ?
catch them and bring them
from the hills
back to the sea
Go on
Catch them Sam...
You're the best boy...