July 2011 – Page 2 – Not a Jogger

There was a young lady who swallowed a fly…

…or more precisely, two flies. I don’t know why she swallowed two flies, perhaps it’s because once was not enough and the coughing fit induced by the first one was so much fun that she ran for the next 8 miles with her jaw hanging open just hoping for another throat buzz.

Yeuch. In addition to ingesting winged beasts, I have been running twice since returning from Paris: a gentle 5 miler on Friday afternoon and a stiff 10 yesterday morning.

I think a few days off running was a good thing, though I did walk down every Rue in Paris so they weren’t really rest days. I didn’t miss it at all, it was hot and there weren’t many runners on the streets. It seems that Parisiennes get their exercise by smoking and walking their tiny dogs, with an occasional trip on a scooter.

I’m not sure where I would have gone to run – there was a man in the Luxembourg gardens who looked like he was on lap 3 of 45. Give me Regent’s Park any day. Everything’s bigger there: the dogs, the trees, the love handles. There isn’t an actual palace though, I’ll give you that Paris.

Au Revoir

I’m off to Paris for a few days this week and I am not taking my trainers. I have filled my travelbag with floaty dresses rather than sweaty t-shirts; it’s packed, the deed is done. I will have to use the time I would have been running to eat macarons and have afternoon naps. Quel domage!

In all seriousness, I am feeling a bit nervous about a few days without running, which is an indication that this might be a good idea.

Yesterday I prepared for the oncoming rest with a 10.5 mile run. It seems this summer thing is actually going to keep happening, so I made myself take the camelpak and choose a route which took in as many parks and the shade of as many trees as possible.

I stopped to take this photograph of the angel in Highgate Cemetery as I ran down the hill. I like to keep track of how he’s doing; I was quite jealous of his shady bower.

The stillness of the Cemetery was quickly broken. I set off late and the pavements were punctuated by runners. There were charity events in Hampstead Heath and Regent’s Park, and every patch of grass was filled with cricket players and dogs, sunbathers and Ricky Gervais (now there’s a celebrity spot for you, Michelle).

Until Friday, au revoir mes amis.

Morning Morgantown

I made a second attempt at photographing the greenest of green trees this morning. This one was on Avenue Road in Crouch End, enjoying a morning bathe in the sun. He looked very handsome.

It was a beautiful morning for a run today – my stomach was feeling a little worse for wine – but I managed a 5 mile circuit of the Crouch. One ear of my headphones has stopped working, so I could only enjoy Joni with my left brain. I looked at life from one side only. It still looked pretty good to me.