Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner
Well okay running around Battersea Park in your lunch hour isn't exactly long-distance, nor is it that lonely. In fact I even have Dave for company on odd occasions. Anita gave up not long after I started. She did however buy rollerskates in an effort to keep up after I started running in a zig-zag, and then backwards a bit as well for every step she took. Its a shame Team Kilimanjaro (i.e. me) lost her but I know in spirit she is with me every step of the way .
The running is going well. I'm up to 2 laps, about 5km, running for a good half an hour at least on 3 lunchtimes a week. I also cycle to work, half an hour there and back, which is a really nice experience especially across Clapham Common However my gear shift has busted now so I can't move in to high gear. Coming down Queenstown Road to work my little legs are going hell-for-leather to get any speed at all. Ah well its all good for the heart.
The Sunday just passed I restarted my attempt to walk the North Downs Way by doing the section from Guildford to Dorking- 21 km in all which I accomplished, with pauses for lunch, coffee at Newlands Corner and a multitude of pauses for the appreciation of all nature's wonders in 7 hours. Highlights included chalk grassland, greater spotted woodpeckers, a pin-cushion gall, WW2 pillboxes and lots of wonderful old trees. I'd forgotten how beautiful Surrey is.
At one point while I was scratching my head over a strange looking concrete dish burried by the side of the road, when two girls arrived and we began chatting. Would you believe they were also in training for a Kilimanjaro trek this September. What a small world! Good luck to you both if you are reading this!
I wonder what it will be like trekking in Tanzania? After recently returning from an ascent of Snowdon, I do hope it won't be as busy. There were so many people on the top of Wales' highest peak it was hard to find room to stand. It seems that Kilimanjaro may have become a focus for people looking for a personal challenge like myself. I wonder if completing this walk will change me. The Englishman that went up a mountain and came down a...well something else!
What an adventure...!
Jim
The running is going well. I'm up to 2 laps, about 5km, running for a good half an hour at least on 3 lunchtimes a week. I also cycle to work, half an hour there and back, which is a really nice experience especially across Clapham Common However my gear shift has busted now so I can't move in to high gear. Coming down Queenstown Road to work my little legs are going hell-for-leather to get any speed at all. Ah well its all good for the heart.
The Sunday just passed I restarted my attempt to walk the North Downs Way by doing the section from Guildford to Dorking- 21 km in all which I accomplished, with pauses for lunch, coffee at Newlands Corner and a multitude of pauses for the appreciation of all nature's wonders in 7 hours. Highlights included chalk grassland, greater spotted woodpeckers, a pin-cushion gall, WW2 pillboxes and lots of wonderful old trees. I'd forgotten how beautiful Surrey is.
At one point while I was scratching my head over a strange looking concrete dish burried by the side of the road, when two girls arrived and we began chatting. Would you believe they were also in training for a Kilimanjaro trek this September. What a small world! Good luck to you both if you are reading this!
I wonder what it will be like trekking in Tanzania? After recently returning from an ascent of Snowdon, I do hope it won't be as busy. There were so many people on the top of Wales' highest peak it was hard to find room to stand. It seems that Kilimanjaro may have become a focus for people looking for a personal challenge like myself. I wonder if completing this walk will change me. The Englishman that went up a mountain and came down a...well something else!
What an adventure...!
Jim
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