run

Today’s run

Posted on February 1, 2024February 1, 2024

Today’s run was made less fun by several things.
First up was a grumpy left foot/ankle, which was fine until it hit even the smallest of bumps in the road or on the trail, and was then grumpy. Nothing serious (I hope), and I’ll just be gentle with it for a couple of days.
Secondly, that blood donation on Tuesday afternoon. I have tried to keep well hydrated since, but I’ve had a headache since a couple of hours afterwards, which is unusual. I was sensible and had a full on rest day yesterday. But there just wasn’t the stamina that I would have liked this morning when I would have liked it. Which was also this morning.
Thirdly – and we’re really clutching at straws here after two genuine complaints – the environmental conditions. It was hot and “hanging”, as one person described it earlier, and the air is full of smoke from Pringle Bay.

Still, I went out there and did it, and now – following two nights of very late football action – I’m completely ready for bed.

It’s not even afternoon yet. :/

Run

Posted on September 2, 2023September 6, 2023

Early morning Dodgeball training today ahead of the Nationals and the International v Saudi Arabia for the Boy Wonder, so I braved the rain and popped in a nice 5.5km around the sports complex.

Well, I say “nice”, but it wasn’t. I don’t mind the rain, the wind and the cold. I’ve never minded them, as long as I know that they’re coming, and I was well-prepared this morning with fresh clothes, a towel and some coffee.

But the smell…

Not me, I hasten to add. I’m all good.

But this whole area STINKS. Is it the nearby oil refinery, or the local sewage works? I don’t know, but the sickening, nauseating stench of what seemed to be human faeces lingered across the whole area for the duration of my run.

And beyond.

The good news is that I’m now in my car, in my car park, and I feel pretty much protected from it. But what was it, why did I have to breathe it in, and how on earth do people live here*?!? I have worked with poo in laboratories for many years (how else do you diagnose someone with Salmonella spp.?), so I figure that I’m fairly immune to the smell. But at least when you put the cap back on the the specimen jar in the laboratory, the whiff goes away.

This is constant. Pervasive. Offensive.

I am very much looking forward to a long, hot shower to remove any and all traces of… whatever it is… from myself ahead of an afternoon of football in front of the fire.

* a reasonable question about Milnerton at any time.

Another quick catch up

Posted on March 6, 2023

Admit it: The Army Corps Of Engineers Has Released a 2023 Calendar Of Giant Cats Attacking Infrastructure is the sort of headline that makes you want to go and look at the 2023 Calendar Of Giant Cats Attacking Infrastructure. It’s also the sort of headline that made me think that it would be the perfect subject for a blog post.
And it does exist: just click the link above. Sadly, it’s also really disappointing.
So… er… maybe don’t click the link above.

Coverify is an online playlist cover making app. And if you don’t have Photoshop or something similar, then it’s perfect for making your online playlist covers. I do have Photoshop or something similar, so I do my own, but I did enjoy the simplicity of the Coverify process and the results do look pretty good.

I knocked out a reasonably decent 7km this morning, (given that I’m still struggling with this) with just a bit of hill thrown in for good measure.

No world records were in any danger, but on the positive side of things, while I’m aware of my ankle, it’s not causing me any big issues after this morning’s efforts. Yet.
Tomorrow may bring a World Of Pain^TM, but for the moment, I’m feeling pretty good and highly motivated.

Fair point. I’ll tone it down a bit.

The Cut-Off Low (see here) which threatened the interior of the Western Cape this weekend, did its best to cause panic and mayhem. Grabouw got 84mm of rain yesterday, Kirstenbosch got 48mm, Struisbaai 35mm and Laingsburg (which has a bit of history of these sort of things) (the museum is excellent, btw) thankfully managed just a single mm.

I made some Yorkshire Puddings last week and they weren’t quite up to my usual standard. They were still damn good; it’s just that I set myself very high standards for that sort of thing.
Could this air-fryer recipe (I can almost hear my ancestors turning in their graves) be an option for next time?

Right, and on that bombshell, it’s ~~back to the studio~~ time to end. More tomorrow.

It’s good to be back

Posted on January 14, 2023January 13, 2023

Yep. My first “proper” run yesterday after this little incident on the 27th November. I’ve done a few 1km jogs and a bit of hiking, but this was the first time I’ve dared to go out and “do” a “run”. And it turned out to be a very (very) leisurely 10km along the local beach here on the West Coast.
No records were broken. Just a fun little walk and run to pass the time while loadshedding was on. (Given that it’s the first of two four hour slots, I didn’t use all of it). And a lobbed in a few 50m “sprints” as well to see if I could still go “fast”…

[lots of quotation marks today]

…and apparently I sort of can still move quite quickly over a short distance when I need to.

Has today brought a World Of Pain™? Well, I don’t know, because actually I’m sitting on the deck yesterday writing this. There are already a few issues with cramping calves – sand remains a bastard to run on – but I’ll sort that out with some stretches and crying.

A return to playing football is still a long way off, but it’s closer than it was yesterday, and that’s a big plus. [party emoji]

Run

Posted on November 5, 2022November 5, 2022

After a fairly appalling night’s sleep, during which my little luxury memory foam pillow seemed to have forgotten all that my head had taught it, the Boy Wonder and I went for a bit of a run, ahead of a thing we have planned.