Well ... that worked up a sweat & another 10.39 miles for
the week :-) Since we’ve had all this crazy rain today & thunder & lightening
earlier, I thought I’d be prepared. I went out on my run all geared up with my
OMM on again. It turned out to be the calm after the storm (or before the next).
There was a nice breeze. It started off drizzly but drizzled to nothing. Ultimately
I ended up feeling pretty hot and sweaty and ended up stripping off the jacket,
always fun in the dark when your headphone wires are tangled all over the
place. It’s part of the challenge…
And the weather has really been mental today. There’s been
lots of lightning. I love storms. Obviously I don’t like running in them
(though they certainly make you run faster, like cows…not that you could
logically outrun either, but you somehow convince yourself that this is
possible and not some illogical crazy runner logic. By the way, cows can run,
fast…), but I love watching a good storm and fork lightening. It’s one of
nature’s best shows. Then again I’d also like to witness a tornado one day, not
for their destructiveness, but for the sheer power, wonder and natural
phenomena of it all. And because I cannot comprehend it. It’s interesting to
face things that you cannot comprehend. But anyway, yep, the storm had passed –
I kind of wish it had passed earlier, since I couldn’t get into Liverpool for
Starbucks catch-up with my friend because of flooding on the tracks and serious
disruption/ cancellations on Merseyrail trains :(
 |
| Sooo weird... |
So, I was out for my run. I bumped into two lovely runners I
know & had a nice natter and continued on my way. I was thinking that
tonight would be an 8 mile night at the most, so I was happy to get a bit more
mileage in than I had hoped for. Big developments tonight were that the slugs
were back! They were massive. The mysterious ‘floating in thin air’ spider webs
were also back in force, probably because it has stopped raining. And there
were lots of gnats about again. The trees weren’t dancing as much tonight and I
couldn’t see any dodgy hanging branches, so that was good. Lots of puddles
about, but that’s the fun bit. Oooh, I nearly forgot that I saw a rabbit. I got
really close to it too. In fact, I thought it might be injured because it just
stood there and didn’t seem phased by my presence at all. I don’t know, I got
squeaked at the other night, I see foxes and get chased by cows and now I don’t
frighten rabbits; I’m like Liz Doolittle…
The ‘occupy Auto lift’ hippies that have been camped out on
the hilly road outside Auto lift for the last month or so were gone! I was
shocked because I was so used to seeing them and their camp. I’m not even sure
why or what they were doing there for so long. I’m sure it all made perfect
sense to them.
Running up the hill felt much easier today. It’s all a
matter of breathing and again, trying not to make it look like I’m struggling too
much up the predictably strugglesome’ hill in front of a bunch of glaring
motorists.
The song that got me through the last little stretch tonight
was a bit of Wheatus and ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. Yes, I know. I have all sorts on my
mp3 player. I like to change it up. Last night my power song was ‘Megalomaniac’
by Incubus. A bit of cheese here, a bit of indie, a power ballad or two, some
rock and you’re good to go.
By the way, excuse me for the blog writing craziness this
week. I’m on a roll; both with writing and running. I guess being ‘in between
jobs’ there are only so many jobs you can look and apply for & this way I
can occupy my mind. Although, I fear my mind is being too occupied. I haven’t slept
earlier than 3am all week. Last night was the worst and I slept for only 3
hours. I tried and tried and I just couldn’t. So, what do I do when I can’t
sleep? I seek out interesting snippets of information, usually philosophical to
read. But then I end up thinking far too much about what I just read, so rather
than trashy, mindless reading, my mind goes ‘Whoah, I thought/ felt/ that
happened to me once.’ With my mind gripped by thoughts of insomnia I decided to
have a little read around that very topic. Some good snippets of wisdom that
struck me were:
"The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of
superiority to the sleeping world." - Leonard Cohen} this struck a chord
with me, largely the second bit. Whenever I’m running an ultra & you get
onto the night bit, I can’t help but feel a sense of ‘superiority to the
sleeping world.’ You’re on an adventure and they’re not. Sure, they might be
having nice dreams, but you’re out there actually living yours. And seeing
things and experiencing stuff. See, even when I just cannot sleep and I read
something not even directly related, I automatically relate it to running in
some way.
"Every morning I think: What’s the latest I can sleep
in ‘til, and still be on time for work? Well, I used to think that, before
unemployment turned every day into a Saturday.
" - Jarod Kintz } This one is more self
explanatory and made me feel more miserable, but he writes quite quirky stuff,
so I’ll let the author off ;-) It made me think I have too much time on my
hands, and yet so much to do with it, but only so much that can be done…and I
feel lonely *sigh*
"All I want is to sleep--to dream. Life is better in dreams." - Christina Westover} and this one kind of contradicts my feelings of
superiority about experiencing more than the sleeping dreamer, whilst crazily
running through the night. Sometimes life is better in your dreams. Unless you hallucinate
(like some long ultras will give you), then your mind tries to entertain your
waking self with bizarre creatures and mad imagery; both entertaining &
frightening & maybe funnier than dreaming…
 |
| Post -run mugshot of the day... |
I just had a thought;
If I can’t sleep tonight (which I’m currently not doing because it is gone 2am
and I am still wide awake), what will be my reading topic of choice?
No comments:
Post a Comment