The Marathon Diaries: Peas in a Pod!

A very wet day today (all over the UK apparently) and the prospect of running more than a few miles was not a welcoming one. Rain pouring down, I pulled out some of my winter training gear, unbelievably for mid-summer, and decided on a few laps of the disused road near my home. the reasoning was that I could quit as soon as I’d had enough, call it a day and head home for a hot shower and drink.

Running laps always presents me with the problem of actually counting them them and keeping in touch with how far I’ve run and up at my little local route I devised a little system with a bunch of limestone rocks at the side of the road. Simply this, I’d count them off, one per lap, kicking them to one side after each lap was completed. I’m always confounded as to how mental arithmetic evades me whilst running as my brains appear to become increasingly scrambling the more tied I get.

Then some passer-by strangely took my rocks away!

I needed a counter and the first thing that came to mind were the fresh garden peas in the refrigerator, nestling still in their pods! Left-hand trouser pocket full of peas, I headed off on my initial lap, swapping a pea into the right-hand pocket after each lap. It worked like a dream!

An intended five miles (10 laps) evolved into eight miles then finally ten miles. It’s often this way when I get the bit between the teeth. A little music was important today and it was the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, that got things under way today as I skipped down the old lane. It was Get on the Good Foot rather appropriately.

Which I did.

Oooooowww!