CATCH-UP- CORNER...LAST FEW DAYS of JANUARY...Slip off your running shoes and come on in...Everybody Welcome!

[Oldfloss]

Well people.. here we are nearly at the end of January! Yikes.

Well, here at least the weather has eased a tad. No ice, snow, wind or rain! That is a win in my book.

I am so close to the end of Red January, Yoga with Adriene, CENTER and I have got two runs in! The runs were slow and very, very steady. What else?

I took my own advice, I listened to my body and I took notice. I had three rest days between, my last run and today's run!. I breathed in my own way and I did a regular little body check as I moved round.

I am feeling a lot more at ease and positive... I do feel that most of the left-overs from Covid are receding .

But what about you folk... well, things are moving on a pace, We have some Newbies and some returners, some very new Graduates and... we have folk still on the IC and a few like me, heading out very, very cautiously!

Now there is a word...cautious! Hmm... proceed with caution... which is what got me thinking...here she goes again !!!

I wondered what the theme of this last January post should be and I did think, let us have a bit of fun! We have had lots of chats about breathing, doing what we are able, taking it gently... so a bit of light-hearted chat is what we need right now !

So.... what's with the creepy photograph and the weird caption...?

Well, that was taken on one of my runs a while ago. Mr OF and I had headed for one of the Hugh Peak trails... he for a walk and me for a run... I had headed off and I was going to meet him on the return, he was walking slowly. The run out was going sooooo well, when I came to the tunnel.

It looked dark...it looked damp and it looked spooky. It looked like there might be strange things inside. It was unexpected and unnerving ! It went from slightly nervous to full scale panic, fairly quickly! Da da dahhhhhh!

Now what I would like to happen is this.

When you slip off those running shoes and come on into the Corner this week, we would all like to know what unexpected thing has happened to you on any of your runs? Something you heard, smelt, felt or saw! Something unexpected!

It could be funny, mysterious, worrying, ridiculous, odd, unbelievable, or really scary!

The cushions are ready, the fire is warm, the coffee is on the simmer, the croissants and we, are waiting

Oldfloss x

PS

Link to the Tunnel post!

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto......

[David_G]

Hi Oldfloss and running friends, I’m happy to report I’m still trundling along the slow road to recovery 👍

I suppose the weirdest thing I’ve seen on a run was a large lizard (maybe an iguana?) in a harness, basking in the sunshine along the seafront in Bognor🦎🌞 The owner was there too and they were attracting a lot of attention! 🙂

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to David_G]

Hello, good to see you here on your cushion! Even better to see you making such good progress in your running!

Now that really is unexpected!!! Okay... somewhere exotic... yes... but Bognor ????

Well at least it was harnessed and it's owner with it...!

I have seen cats and rabbits on leads and harnesses, but never a Lizard ! Thank you for sharing! xx

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to David_G]

ha ha I bet you did a double take seeing that in Bognor 😆

[Jell6 Graduate]

I remember your post about that, creepy! I also posted about my unexpected happening. The bull on the road!!! and me throwing myself over the gate and hiding in the field😱

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Jell6]

I do remember that! Thank you for calling in and sharing with us!

Yes that blinking bull... you ended up in the field... he on the road! That was a scary encounter... !!x

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Jell6]

was the bull alone and loose on the road? Worst nightmare 😱

[Jell6 Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

Yes he was, he cornered me for several minutes before I was able to get into the field every time I moved he did. Never a dull moment!

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Jell6]

Wow, I’m glad you got out of that situation and I hope the bull was captured 😳

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Jell6]

Bulls. cows or horses... they can be so unpredictable!!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator]

It’s been a great week here. I’m finally feeling back to normal. If I run 5km across today and tomorrow, I’ll officially have my biggest monthly total distance ever which I’m so pleased about. Coming back slow, steady and super carefully really did the business and I feel in really good shape now! Better than before I fell. So glad that you’re back on the runs again. Red January seems to have worked brilliantly for you with all the different activities building job back up again after covid and all the ice. Slow and steady listening to your body really is the next way!❤️

I’ve had some weirdness on runs. I like the commentary on the Nike Run Club app. One time, I was listening to coach b talking about the unexpected benefits of running and I looked down to see £20 on the floor! No sign of an owner so it went in a special charity box this weekend. I once got a bee stuck under my glasses just as Coach B was talking about odd things happening during every run! One time I was doing a speed run, the young bullocks in the field next to me decided to join me in running with me on the other side of the hedge. I found a lost dog once and had to knock on half the doors in the neighbourhood to find the owner. A really sweet little cat sometimes joins me along my standard couch to 5k route!

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

😍 for the £20 in the special charity box MissUnderstanding 🤗

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

I totally agree!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

This is such happy news... back to normal and heading back stronger than before ! You have done so well , pacing yourself... after such a tricky time! Good to have you here !

Ye, I am feeling a lot stronger and the variety of exercise has really been useful and entertaining too! Thank goodness the dreadful feeling of utter fatigue disappeared fairly quickly!

Your runs sound full of unexpected happenings... and interesting too!

The bee... no.... that was potentially frightening... the £20.... ? Well done you... someone will truly thank you for that x

You clearly are a sort of Dr Dolittle... not talking to the animals, but running and attracting the animals! Maybe, if you head to more wild and distant parts...don't run ! I have this vision of elephants or cheetahs racing alongside beside you!

Thank you for popping in... x You'll see I managed to find an almond croissant for you xxx

[MissUnderstanding Administrator in reply to Oldfloss]

I’ll always gladly take an almond croissant, especially on national croissant day!

National croissant day

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Absolutely... I had not got any today...I'll eat double tomorrow when my order is delivered! xxx

Today is a small runner in training care day.... so Monday is always poached egg day !

[MissUnderstanding Administrator in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks for the lovely response and so glad your fatigue didn’t hang around too long.

The bee incident was a bit terrifying. It made a huge racket with its wings against the lenses and I didn’t want it to sting me as I tried to free it. Luckily we were both emerged unscathed! I do tend to attract unusual happenings in general. It’s always nice to see some wildlife up close but not as close as under my glasses!!

The cat came and said hello again today. I paused to take a snap but was he unwilling to pose.

Today’s most unusual event? My podcast told me to spend time looking up and not down on the road. Can you you guess what I saw?

Pants up a tree. That’s right. Pants.

The mind boggles.

Tree with pants in it.

[Liono Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

That tree will forever be known as The Pants Tree now 🤣

[MissUnderstanding Administrator in reply to Liono]

😂😂😂 I was sad to see they’d disappeared when I went for a run along there yesterday. The image will forever be in my head though! 🩲

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Great to hear you’re not only on the mend but feeling fitter than ever ☺️

How lovely of you to put the £20 to charity 🥰

Bee under your glasses sounds horrific but I bet it was funny to watch 🙈😆 sorry but I pictured it in my mind 🐝

Bulls running along side you (hedge in between or not I’d be running the opposite way) I’m petrified of cows or bulls. Great post MissUnderstanding 👍🏻

[MissUnderstanding Administrator in reply to Dendev75]

Thanks!! I bet I looked utterly ridiculous trying to remove the bee! Thank goodness I normally run in quiet enough places that nobody was there to see me!!!

I’m also scared of cows. I like them as long as they’re not in the same field but I’ve often diverted to avoid them.

I’ve been holding on to the £20 until a special cause declared itself and it was great when one did. It’s a charity dear to a very dear friend and I know it will mean a lot. It’s nice when that sort of thing works out. It’s been a bit of a sad time and being able to get out and run has made a great difference for good in many u expected ways!

[Elfe5 Graduate]

Ooooh I remember that post! I also remember that tunnel entrance - your photo brings back vivid memories of the “that’s creepy/ don’t be daft” battle in my head when Mr E & I cycled through there on our tandem - I was very pleased to have him with me! 😂

The most unexpected running companion I ever had was an energetic stoat! It leaped out of the long grass, galloped alongside me for about 5-10m with every particle of its little ginger body exuding Olympic effort & vanished again!!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Elfe5]

Ha ha ! You will see from another reply here that last Thursday, we reached the tunnel on our walk and MR OF wanted to turn and head back!

It looked as spooky , even on a sunny day... so I was, okay!

Oh my goodness...a stoat! I think that is so special! They really can move too, I know if they head across a lane in front of a car they really do run fast! Perhaps it was pacing you!

Hope all is well with you, it is lovely to see you here on the cushions xxx

[Elfe5 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Very wise Mr OF!!

I’m still slogging my way through post viral debility, but using my rebounder & exercise bike gently when I can & my usual Pilates. Xx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Elfe5]

That Post viral??? Absolutely awful. The week after I tested Negative from Covid.. that was on Christmas Day... I felt really wiped out.. worse than when I had it! I did my next test two days later, negative, but by the Saturday I tested again because I thought I must still have it... I didn't. It has been a very slow recovery and I have been so careful not too push.. I was gradually aware that the waves of fatigue were abating, any gentle exercise we do, if able, really does pay dividends

Take care you x

[Elfe5 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

No, I had a stinker of a flu, followed by a chest infection - 5 weeks on, I’m still plodding on with tiredness, chest pain & breathlessness, but slowly going in the right direction. Just having to be patient & sensible…. but “wiped out” is exactly right. Heigh ho! It will pass.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Elfe5]

Just horrid . I remembered it wasn't Covid but so many folk here have had this flu, or heavy cold thing that has floored them for weeks!

You just take care... Spring will come and the runs will be there, and you will enjoy them ! x

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Elfe5]

🤣🤣 these stories are hilarious and I’m picturing everyone of them 😆

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

Good fun eh!

[Hidden]

Two dogs joined me (and my dog) for a run. We were in the middle of nowhere and the dogs were without ID. They were very nice but I really didn't need their company. I kept expecting them to peel off home, but they just kept coming. After about an hour, I thought I better do something about this and turned back in the hope of finding an owner. My 6k run ended up at 8k, when a farmer turned up in her pick-up. 'Oh', she says, 'at least they won't need a walk'.

About two weeks later there they were again this time with some walkers who they were clearly bothering, approaching me on the path. The man said in an irritated tone 'you have a big pack of dogs running with you' and I explained that they were nothing to do with us. I was relieved that the doggies preferred the hikers company to mine, and carried on with them in the other direction, on their walk!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Hidden]

How odd.. clearly just let out and join whoever for company! You got a good run in anyway! Thank you for popping in, always really good to share a chat with friends x

[MrsLydiaWickham Graduate]

Delighted you have got out for a run OF! You have been very patient. Tunnels are creepy as heck. I blame that scene in the original film of the Railway Children, where the school boy doing cross country paperchase, gets his leg mashed in the tunnel. Childhood nightmares!! 😱😁

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to MrsLydiaWickham]

Absolutely... if I watch that even now, it sends shivers down my back. Mr OF and I went for a walk on that trail on Thursday.. we got to the tunnel and he said... I think we'll turn back now!

Lovely to see you here too ! Hope all is well!

[Tbae]

Nothing scary to report Floss.The weather has been exceptional.Just building miles.Got a simple plan.Started beginning of Jan, week 1. Three runs per week and minimum distance 3miles.Now in week 5 and minimum distance 4miles.In addition one of these runs has to be 6 miles.So progressively this will build to 2x6milers and 1x 12 miler.The marathon distance each week.Well so far so good.🤞🌟🏃‍♀️💪🙏

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Tbae]

Hello. Good to see you here x Not unexpected , except for the weather? Has it been good?

[Tbae in reply to Oldfloss]

Yes.Really enjoying it and making progress.🏃‍♀️🌟👩‍❤️‍👨💪🙏

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Tbae]

That is great news... our site opens again four weeks tomorrow... Hooray!

[Dendev75 Graduate]

Hi there OF, just let me take my shoes off and get comfortable… that tunnel would have spooked me too but I am a bit of a scaredy cat.

Weird tale from a local park run I did a few months back. The setting of this park run is a beautiful old Manor House set in acres of woodland (where we run), there is a lovely courtyard where the loos are located with a cute little coffee van there too. Anyway, I always run the loo before I start running so have done this route many times before when I found myself in a strange little cobbled street with an old wooden cart (with barrels on)and some buildings to the right that looked like an old tavern - as you can imagine I was really confused as the courtyard was nowhere to be seen and I couldn’t hear anybody. I honestly thought I’d gone through a timeslip. Another woman came jogging in behind me and we just stared around us and looked as confused as each other as we didn’t understand where we were. She had been the loos before and said ‘where are the loos they’re normally there?’ Whilst pointing to the left corner of this cobbled street. I said ‘you’re right, but where can they be?’ We decided to retrace our steps as we were a bit bewildered and found that another door was to our left, we walked through that and found ourselves in the familiar courtyard with the loos. We were still talking about it in the loo when a woman pointed to a wooden door nearby in the outside wall and said ‘they’re filming a period drama in the little street’. Phew! 🤣🙈 when we exited the courtyard we noticed there are two doors close together and they’d closed the usual one to the loos and this other one was open. 😵‍💫😆 oh well it was good while it lasted. I was thinking I’d be trapped back in time for a moment!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

Oh wow!!! I was really going there! It sounds to have been totally surreal!That is just great...it shows that running is about a whole lot more than just running .

I've got shivers .....thanks for popping in! Xxx

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

it was the surrealist pre run ever 😉 xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

I can hardly imagine. I have a real overactive imagination anyway...when I was a child... we lived in a Victorian house... I used to hear the ladies walking along the landing as their long skirts swished past the walls!

I would have freaked out I think!

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Ooh spooky, I had an overactive imagination too but was convinced I’d lived a previous life and could describe what I looked like and also my father of that time who was an older gentleman. (my actual real dad was really young) so my mum was a bit freaked out. 😳😱

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

Now this is spooky ..I know I was here before! A whole other story...oh goodness!

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

I’m intrigued - but yes a story for another day 😉 xx

[LiisaM Graduate]

My running experience was not so creepy but was unusual to me: I was running around our house after much rain and was surprised to see a LOT of mushrooms growing all around it. Some were unusually very tall. A couple caught my eye because they were a brilliant red albeit extremely small. The other mushrooms I saw were mediocre in appearance. And today i uncharacteristically ran in deep snow, but I ran—in boots…. In past winters I shoveled snow instead of running but today I ran in it. Our latest snow was about seven inches. We are in snow season here.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to LiisaM]

Hello! Good to see you on your cushion... time to snuggle up and get warm out of all that snow!

Well that was unexpected! Mushrooms everywhere and tall ones too, whcih alwyas look so magical to me. I have an idea I saw some tiny red ones once high in the mountains in Wales. I will try and find the photograph I took!

I think you running inn snow, and in boots... is amazing! Huge well done to you... I would not mind some really deep snow sending over if there is some to spare.

I know it causes issues but I do LOVE really deep white snow !

Enjoy your warm here xxx

[nowster Graduate]

Unexpected running companions: a squirrel on a wall, various dogs, and a robin. Not all on the same run.

And my long run route has two creepy unlit tunnels: one with the pontoon bridge where the canal goes under the M62 and the other about 2km further south where the towpath separates from the canal itself and ducks under a main road. In the first I'm more afraid of a raised metal plate tripping me up (as it did once) and in the second the problem is the puddles which accumulate in the dark cobbled passageway.