Soggy grey snail

[Oldfloss]

Yes.. Week 7 Run 1 and a very damp morning...

It had just started to rain lightly as I set out from home, But I decided to be plucky and venture forth anyway.

On Laura's suggestion, I changed my route slightly, running up a different lane.

Quite grey and misty, and no one about; as I passed the little wood where all the rooks nest, at the bottom of the lane, I was transported right back to my youth and A levels!

Wordsworth, The Prelude... and a quote that like so many, has stayed in my mind for a lot of years; when I sat my A levels, you could not take a text in.. you had to learn all your quotations by heart, ( yes, I am that old)!

" The earth was comfortless and touched by faint

Internal breezes from the roofless walls

The shuddering ivy dripped large drops...

Looking at the little wood and the ivy clad trunks as I jogged past, the words seemed just perfect, for the location and the weather.

I was so busy trying to remember the full quotation and others from the poem, that Laura suddenly saying I had been running for twelve and a half minutes and was halfway, almost scared me to death.

Spent the rest of the run going over words in my head, watching the grey sky lighten slowly, ahead of me as I turned homewards.

I even managed to up my pace as I went... and again, as Wordsworth would have said," ...I wheeled about

Proud and exulting like an untired horse..."

Well, maybe not quite that impressive... but I did increase my speed.

Really enjoyed my run; maybe the trick is to recite poetry as I go

(Currently trying to find my copy of The Prelude, which is hidden in a box somewhere! I could be some little time,)

Can hardly wait until my next run. Will try not to ramble on too much in my next post!

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

Ah Flossie - sounds like a great run!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

It was.. and went so quickly too!

[Feliiicia]

What a great run that sounds like, I feel as if I went through it with you. Keep it up! If you are looking to experiment with poetry and running I highly recommend Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol, it just sticks with you. All the best on W7R2

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Feliiicia]

Will give it a go, thanks... if I imagine the 'slithy toves' I could well move even faster than my normal snail's pace, right through my run!

[JoolieB1 Graduate]

Really great run, sounds like u r getting into being able to just get out there. So wonderful enjoying the countryside and let our minds wander wherever they want. I am convinced our mental health improves because we take time out to run! Looking forward to ur next post! Julie

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to JoolieB1]

I agree with you...Certainly I find it very relaxing...clears the mind wonderfully.

Will post after my next run on Saturday!

[hilbean Graduate]

Oh please ramble away! Lovely to hear how it spurs you on

[AvatheGardener Graduate]

Lovely post, thanks for sharing your experiences so evocatively. Just notice that if your mind wanders off to other things then that must mean that your body has got used to running, has learned what to do, so is on auto-pilot and just keeps on while you think of other things.... In other words, you've got this!

Insipred by you I am thinking of ways to take poetry with me, or even try to learn poems while running- I wonder if there's a podcast for that...

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Thank you so much for that.

I came to the conclusion that I must have been on auto- pilot, at least I hope so.. I do feel more confident now, and whilst thinking about yesterday's run , I realised it seemed to just, 'happen'. Maybe I am on the way!

I an definitely going to try out the poem bit again, ( I unearthed my old copy of The Prelude too), and I am going to follow yr idea and see what podcasts or similar are out there! Will keep you posted. Thanks again for the reply.

[Purple_faced_woman Graduate]

Wonderful stuff. I sometimes find myself composing poetry (or more often doggerel) as I walk/run, as the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground creates a great loom for weaving words into patterns, and around me there are always sights that inspire thought and create material to build on.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

So true.. that is a real plus for me.. now I am not concentrating so hard on 'doing it', so to speak.. I can observe, absorb and create.. it is really enjoyable. Nice to know there are so many of us around all enjoying similar things!

[jojo57 Graduate]

Oh I love that post! I can imagine having those beautiful words in your head makes the running time just fly by!

I'm so sad I never learned poetry at my school........

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to jojo57]

Thanks for that...I am not sure it helped an awful lot this morning.. Week 9 run 1...

All that seemed to be in my head was, right foot, left foot, you can do this!!!!

But.. it worked anyway... back home now. Hopefully back to my normal rambling self on run 2 on Thursday