22nd August The one that connected the other ones (R41)


Despite living somewhere for several years it's amazing how much of a place can remain a complete mystery. You just get used to going from A to B along the same old roads and unless there is some reason for you to deviate from that routine and those routes, well you simply don't. 

Yesterdays midweek run was another one with the Harriers, one that contained small sections from routes that I had run previously in and around Hucknall but which were linked together by places and routes I had never been too, never mind run before. Thus making a completely new route for the 60@60.

This was a 4.5 mile mainly road based jolly as opposed to the other options of 3, 6 or 9.5 miles as I am currently suffering from a tweaked hamstring, not as a result of running extra miles but through some excessive gardening. It's a long story. One for another day.

So off we went, our little group of 8 around the back of the Roaches, down a couple of narrow alleyways and cut throughs. The along the entire length of Papplewick Lane, a dash for 1/2 mile across the fields out onto Moor Rd and then back to the pub where we started. All done at what for me was a brisk 10 min mile pace.

But that's not the strangest part of the run. For who should not only drive along the very same road at the very same time but recognise that it was me and pull over but TOM, driving back to Matlock after visiting a friend in Thurgarton. Of all the coinidences in the world. 

One of my fellow tailenders thought it was simply someone stopping to ask for directions. I told her he recognised me from the gogglebox and had just asked if he could see my medal from Paris 2024. And just to dispell any rumours that may or may not be circulating, no I did not accept his offer of a lift back to our finishing point.

As for the hamstring, well by the time I got back to the original starting point, after 4.5 miles poundign pavements there were other bits of my anatomy aching more than enough to take my mind off it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6th May Olbia

Image
  A chance to stretch our legs today with our first port of call; Olbia, Sardinia. And it was a quick stretch too due to it being only a five hour stay. Up bright and early, so early in fact that the hot food at the buffet wasn't even ready to be served. Still it gave us a chance to watch the ship glide into port past a host of oyster/mussel beds, before performing a 180 degree turn to reverse into it's berth. A couple of short bus rides later and we were in downtown Olbia. But there an hour or so before anything appeared to open, the disadvantage of being early birds and something we don't seem to learn! Not that Olbia had a great deal to see or maybe if we had done the slightest bit of planning beforehand there might have benn but we didn't. It was pleasant enough but that's about it. It was pleasant enough but nothing special, indeed we were back on the ship after just a couple of hours ashore and then managed to sleep away most of th...
Read more

7th May Naples

Image
 I'm sure I've heard the phrase 'see Naples and die' suggesting that it is perhaps not the nicest location in the Mediterranean but if it's good enough for Diego Maradona fir a few years then it's good enough for me for 10 hours. Although the millions of tax free pounds he was paid might have eased his stay. By the time we got up, washed, dressed and up to The Kitchens, the rest of the ship were already there. Compared to the Marie Celeste of yesterday it was absolutely packed, presumably with people having breakfast before heading out on 8am excursions, our excursion was simply going to be the city of Naples itself as possible trips to Vesuvius, Pompei or the Amalfi coast would have been too much / tired.  So on a day when the weather initially seemed uncertain, we jumped aboard route A for the Hop on Hop off bus and headed out into the mayhem that is the Napoli traffic where it was every van, car and scooter for the selves. I think it's bes...
Read more