Hail to all ye merry runners!
Just thought I'd share my latest run with you. The weather at 6.14am was not altogether clement I have to say. It had rained in the night and the roads were wet so I made a mental note to take it easy around corners. Didn't want to slip, slide and fall on my pert bottom! Sophie the cat demanded her tin of nostril invading rabbit flavoured cat food before I set off, so once I'd served Her Majesty I chose todays podcast to run to.
Frequent readers of my blog will know that I've jettisoned music to run to, in favour of more 'boring' things to listen to. The idea being that if my brain is fed with gobbledeegook, it'll take my mind off the mental struggle I seem to have with getting 5K under my belt each time. Although this sounds slightly eccentric, it works! I've already run to discussions about scientific research (into subjects I have zero interest in) and a banal American Quiz show with presenters who kept using the word "Awwwwsome!". Todays poddy was going to be "Gardeners Question Time"! I've got a garden. I'm growing spuds for the first time in my life (also lettuce) so I thought "I'll give this a go." I mean, on the panel was a bloke called BOB FLOWERDEW for God's sake! Couldn't resist a gardening discussion with a geezer who'd clearly changed his name to suit his profession could i?
Set off on the warm up walk and first up on the podcast was a lady from East Midlothian asking how to stop her radishes from going all mushy once she's dug them up and stored them in dry sharp sand!!! Unbelievable but true. Various members of the panel came up with all sorts of ideas - dig them up and store them in damp sand (not dry), dig them up, dig another hole in the garden and stick them in there, another panel member advised to make horseradish sauce from them as soon as they're dug up! But watch out lady from East Midlothian, cos you might have a nasty accident owing to the strong aroma whilst grating the blighters!!
By this stage I was well into my 2nd K and already more knowledgeable about horseradishes - their growing, their storing and how to make horseradish sauce!! My legs felt good. My breathing was fine. Sweat was forming on my brow and sliding down my now quite rosy cheeks.
Then came a lady asking about nettles. They were taking over her garden and how the hell could she fight back! This almost caused war between the panel members as one of them suggested "If you want to be organic about it, get a black plastic sheet and smother them until the light no longer nourishes their root system, thereby killing off the offending nettles" - "What?" a fellow panel member named Eric exclaimed "Black plastic? Organic? Are you mad?" - Cue about ten minutes of boring chat about bloody nettles and how to wipe the buggers off the face of your garden. This was great stuff for me though. I was well into 3rdK and going like a gazelle.
Eventually "Nettle Gate" was put to one side and we finished off with a comedy question - "How do I stop my husband from pruning EVERYTHING in my garden back to a stump and virtually killing off most of my plants?". Answers like "Send him down the pub", "Get him a subscription to a golf club", to "Lock him in the shed for a few months" put a smile on my face. It was all conducted "in the best posssssible taste!"
My run had come to an end - 4.89K by the time I stopped, puffing and panting. Not brilliant but not bad, and thanks to yet another banal podcast I had completed yet another run to benefit my health, my fitness and of course my gardening knowledge. What more could one ask for on a wet soggy morning before work.
Toodle pip and thanks for reading!
Dan
I particularly like the tags: "Boring Eccentric mental hole"
Also, I agree with Greenlegs' comment about the tags (great!) but why is SWEAT in capitals and none of the others?? In fact, the more I look at the tags, the more I feel a rude limerick coming on!
Running with Marthadog
Mud and nettles
Tourism running
Running in the rain
