When September ends . . .

[Sweder]

Thanks to a crashed server at work I found myself waiting for the technician to finish up when I should have been home pulling on my running shoes. Resolved to get at least 5 miles in today, I finally arrived home at 7:25 pm. The sun had already made it's excuses and was busy descending behind the hills to the west when I dashed out of the house at 7:45, baying hounds in tow.

Right away I realised that if I was to complete 5 miles I would be finishing in the dark. That spurred me on. I puffed and panted manfully up the chalk-pathed slopes, chasing Apollo's glowing red chariot as it raced beyond the cloud-strewn horizon.

My early efforts took their toll after 2 miles, just about the time that the two steepest ascents of the outward leg combine to sap one's will. A wave of dispondency laced with nausea washed over me as I staggered through the livestock gates and into the fields of Black Cap. And yet darkness, as with time and tide, waits for no man, so it's away doom, begone gloom - run! Run to the hills!

Iron Maiden dutifully appeared in my earphones courtesy of Planet Rock, a live track from their soon-to-be-released double CD Death on the Road - such a cheery title. It occured to me as I laboured, breath rasping in the cool, damp air, to mention for the benefit of Nigel if no-one else that Iron Maiden are, to a man, staunch followers of West Ham. There, I've mentioned it.

To the summit of the Cap in 23:03, some 2 1/2 minutes faster than Saturday (around a minute per mile improvement). The inelegant sucking of air into my burning lungs suggested further improvement unlikely on the return leg, and so it proved. Home in 42:56, almost exactly (still) 2 1/2 minutes quicker than Saturday. It is possible that I might have shaved another minute or two off the descent, but in the interest of sound limbs I elected to take it easy, considering the complete lack of visibility whilst traversing dry, uneven, rock-strewn pathways a major factor.

A couple more of these this week and I'll be ready for something a little more substantial come Sunday.