Running

3531 days ago

Run Number Two at the Greek Hovel

As I detailed yesterday this was also pretty much run number two of the past two years. My joints felt a little stiff this morning and so I waited until the early evening before setting off.

It was the same route as before. I guess it is about a mile from the hove down to the spring. I ran that happily enough and had a breather at the bottom. It is heading back up the hill I have problems with. This time I managed 200 yards up before the slope got the better of me.

That is about twice as far as yesterday. I walked the next 500 yards of steep slope and then ran the rest – a gentle rise back to the hovel where I bumped into my gardeners and the shepherd.

I sense that he is not a jogging man

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3532 days ago

Going for a run at the Greek Hovel…that really is a first

The first person to join me at the Greek Hovel arrives in two weeks and has already warned that our morning routine for the three weeks that follow will commence with a jog or was it a run. Either way I have rather tried to put this to the back of my mind but it struck me today that I have just two weeks without this ordeal left.

For the past two years the closest I have come to this form of masochism is shuffling quickly to the newsagents to get a pack of Marlboro Lights before the newsagent shuts. But I used to be able to do a decent run.

In my London Irish days I could do six miles in an hour on the treadmill (on a gradient) and used to run back from work in Shoreditch to Swiss Cottage. And then go to the gym. But that was a long time ago.

But what the hell.

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