It was wet. And then more wet. The only other people braving Bedgebury were two dog walkers dressed in head to toe Advanced Waterproofing. A solitary deer looked forlorn and wet before it took fright of the Insane Yellow Puffing Thing shambling towards it.
Running in the rain is no fun. Especially with some waterproof top that keeps the wet out but seals me in like Cling Film. Form? Forget it. A plod. With added plodding.
A weird assortment of stuff to run along to today as well. Stravinsky meets Handel meets de Grigny and Lord knows what else. (Doesn't everyone have a selection of French 17th-century Organ Music on their running playlist? Nah. Thought not. There's a reason for that clearly.)
The last time I did W9R3 I took along an astonishingly lovely and assured piece of singing by a fantastically good American Tenor called Zachary Wilder. And my post appeared on his Google alerts. And he posted a lovely "Hello" message on here. So if you're still out there Zachary, a big "Hello" back at you. You were on fine form again today.
"Vieni vieni vieni leggiadra e vaga
Primavera d'amor presaga
Odi Zefiro che t'invita
e la terra che il ciel marita
al suo raggio venga Maggio
vieni con il grembo di bei fioretti,
Vien su l'ale dei zefiretti."
Doesn't feel terribly spring-like today and not too many flowers around either, and definitely not May, but that's not going to stop either Zachary or me. Music 1: Rain 0. We can beat this.
Dig in with the final Gloria from Handel's "Dixit Dominus". From Handel's early stay in Rome. A cracking piece, but an absolute horror to sing. Handel had no clue how to write for voices (yet) and it's a terrifying white-knuckle ride to keep under control. But all those suspensions over the G pedal at the end are just brilliant. Times like this you want to be a tenor. And not one of the poor sopranos who need to pop out a high Bb from nowhere. I grumble the bass lines a bit.
27 minutes get me to more Stravinsky. The end of The Firebird. Kastchei's Palace disappears, the Petrified Knights are restored to life, cue General Rejoicing. Anyone who isn't fired up by this is frankly either dead or beyond hope. (Though I'm not convinced by the fact that Yes used it as "walk on" music in the 70s.) Even in the rain all the hairs on the back of my neck are standing to attention.
Music 2; Rain 0.
But 30 minutes in the bag. Tho my legs grumbled a bit. And then some more. Even the flat bits felt hilly today. All a bit tight. So lots and lots of stretching to do later.
But LedZep and "Celebration Day" cues up and despite everything, the rain, the wetness, the rain, the plodding and the rain, it all feels pretty good.
Further would have been nicer. Faster would have been nicer. But sometime's just going out and running is its own reward. A couple of weeks consolidation and some C25K+ podcasting and the last month or so of niggles will be a distant memory I hope.
"My my my, I'm so happy
I'm gonna join the band
We gonna dance and sing in celebration
We're in the promised land.
"
Done. Back to the Big School Herding Pens. New stationery all bought and in the satchel.
Doing this whistle-stop tour has been far more fun than I thought it would be. 8 runs. 16 days. I remembered (mostly) how to do it. Have been happy to be part of the team again.
Keep the faith. Keep on running. Slow and steady wins medals just the same. Be kind to yourselves. But mostly, just go out and have some fun.
Right. Time for cake. Cake for all. Lots and lots of cake!!
Written by
sallenson
Graduate
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Good work laddie! And ditch the waterproof jacket I say. Your skin is waterproof. 😁 I bought one last year and it only served to make me sweaty. Got drenched on my run this morning but it was thoroughly refreshing. 💦💦💦 Good to have you back on track. Now, sssssstrreettttch! xxx
Lovely run for you Stephen, love Handel's music, I have that Dixit Dominus on CD with Vivaldi's Gloria, performed by The Swiss Radio Chorus of Lugano, I Barocchisti with Diego Fasis conducting. However, I don't really think I would listen to that while running. I could listen to it outside while running. As well as now having two Mobile Smartphones and a laptop which I am posting this on, I still have a portable Sony Walkman CD player, yes, I could run and listen to those two works, but probably won't, the whole CD lasts exactly 1 hour. Dixit Dominus 32 minutes, Vivaldi 28 minutes. My hip is completely better, I have already ran a few very short runs just to test everything out. Will repeat the whole running program very soon now the exact way you have done it, only then I'll know if everything is OK.
Glad the hip's better. I had Andrew Parrott on the Handel today. I missed doing the recording, but I did join in with the Proms performance many years ago and still have a cassette copy. That was epic stuff
I do have French 17th century organ music on my running playlist. Nothing like a good Tierce en taille to carry you away. But then I'm an organist and thus admittedly weird.
Yay! You’re back! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Cake all round then, and bunting going up on the bridge as we speak... 🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰
Don’t worry about Big School stationary or satchel! The last few weeks have taught me we are a motley bunch of rebels who just try to get out there and do our own thing - and the more the merrier! 😃❤️🏃♂️🏃♀️🏃♂️🏃♀️🏃♂️❤️❤️😎
My wife went out after me and came back looking like a sorry otter.
She hates her waterproof top too. Am I brave enough for just a running top? Is that what happens in Big School? I iz scared!! So many things have changed
Top bombing! Big school may be a bit rowdier than you remember it owing to an influx of boisterous newbies, but generally the teachers keep us all in line. Did you mention cake? Welcome back to the madhouse 😀👍👏
Does this make you not only a graduate but a Masters, maybe do it all again and become a Ph D? Seriously good to see you back to W9 running, the futures bright, the futures orange (other coloured jelly babies are available)
At this rate I'll have more badges than actual degrees. Trapped in some Circle of Hell and condemned to do C25K over and over again until the Last Days
Congratulations Stephen! Then more congratulations! Then yet more, with a cherry on top! We’re back to 🍰 again 😋
So pleased you’ve carried on and made it through your resits and can now join the rest of us in detention in big school. That’s where I always was, I seem to remember 😊
Mind you, I was the littlest in my year and subject to peer pressure of course! 😀😂
Good luck with your journey, we’re all rooting for you 👍🙂👏👏
Fantastic to have you back on good form, and great running playlist. I'm still a bit averse to having classical music when I run, although I do listen to serious music in the gym. Currently learning Britten's Spring Symphony for a couple of concerts next week at the Barbican , so tend to croon along with it under my breath while leg pressing and cross training I tried running to Ravel's L'enfant et les Sortileges, but I really didn't like that at all (although we were on telly singing it on Sunday evening ).
Are you going to be joining us in the big boys and girls playground again soon, now that you're over your injury?
Yes, that was pretty awesome, having Zach comment .
The Ravel Prom was great, I now have a massive crush on Sunny-boy Dladla- gorgeous South African tenor (his voice is the attraction obviously 😍). And we get to sing it again next Monday in Lucerne. I am so excited.
Well done you! It’s been nice having you back in the infants for a while. Good luck back in big school. Maybe one day I’ll peer into the yard myself. Hope you stay injury free 🤞😊
I'm going to take a bit of time rooting through the bins. There might be some crisps in there for something. From the look of it these days it's full of near-hysterical Year 7s getting overexcited and trying to use every emoji ever created in each of their homework assignments. They'll learn
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Hello all - 71 years old and hoping to run!
FAQ Post C25K COMPLETED…….WHAT NEXT?
Roseabi’s Bridge to 5K plan!
