An action-packed day. I was up early to see Senegal surprisingly dump Sweden out of the World Cup, before pulling on my wellies and getting into the garden where I spent the rest of the morning marching up and down the lawn pursuing our ancient petrol mower. It has a mind of its own, which in many ways is an admirable quality in a piece of gardening equipment.
We spent a long time trying to find a house with a large garden, and eventually we did, but keeping the grass short is like painting the Forth Road Bridge. By the time you get to the end it’s time to start at the beginning again. Actually, I enjoy it, though disposing of the masses of grass cuttings is a headache. Today’s Everest sits in the far corner of the garden, and may one day be serviceable compost.
Lunchtime was the Ireland – Spain game. A cruel result for Ireland; they deserved to go through but if you don’t take your chances…
Then a few hours turning the contents of the 14 cardboard boxes that have been obstructing the hallway all week, into a couple of wardrobes and chests of drawers and things. What fun that was.
And finally, at 7.30pm I got to do my 6 mile run. Actually it was 6.2 miles: another thing that’s changed this time around is that I’m not going to be so anal about distances. In the London training I spent hours trying to find routes that were exactly 4 or 8 or 16 miles or whatever the schedule called for. Pointless. As long as the routes are not shorter than the specified distance, I’ll do it.
I was itching to run, though I was pretty knackered after an active day. This was borne out by the time: 1 hour 13 minutes, or 11:47 per mile. Horribly slow but it doesn’t matter. It was a pleasant jog up the canal. The only downside was the quantity of midges along the waterside. Two or three times I got mouthfuls of flies as I panted through the invisible clouds. Not pleasant.
On the flora and fauna front, I saw two herons fly past, and there plenty of rabbits playing around the towpath. Plus a spectacular fieldful of orange poppies. Several comatose anglers as well, deep in thought and uncommunicative. A very peaceful run and an ideal way to wind down after today.
The outward leg was tough but it got easier on the way home, with more comfortable breathing and a slightly slower heart rate. It was the longest run I’d done since mid-April and I was glad to get it under my belt.
One week gone and only another 17 to go. Yesterday we booked our flights to Chicago, so this really is going to happen now.
