Week 28 - Storm Ophelia hits Ireland and I break 10 mile barrier
Sunday 15 October 2017. After just completing such a great week let's see what this week has in store. I was in two minds whether or not to go for a run tonight, but because we are predicted to be hit by Storm Ophelia at midday tomorrow, I decided I would have to run tonight as tomorrow now looks like a no go.
Before getting ready I cooked a minced steak pie, some spuds and cabbage for later. I didn't have all the ingredients so I had to go to the shop first - it'll save me a journey later. After doing a few more chores I had a shower, stretched and headed out at 5.20 pm.
As I walked towards The Glen, I stopped to give the horse his apple. He was a bit stubborn today, but eventually he came to me. Looking at the mud on his coat, he must have been rolling around on the ground. As I walked on I could hear him charging across the field behind me and then saw him run at full speed up onto the embankment. I've never seen him so excited before.
I started jogging early again. Into The Glen and down over the river. On my first lap I also completed two extra laps of the old reservoir - each one is about 120 m. I managed seven full laps and on the last I done another five laps of the reservoir. I was going to finish at the waterfall, but when I got there a teenage couple were enjoying each other's company on the bench. I turned around and jogged back to the footbridge over the river. My first interval was 8.2 km.
The footbridge over the river from the upper path.
After a few stretches I jogged 150 m along the long flat path, then back and over the exit footbridge. I climbed out of The Glen and ran all the way home. So another 1.2 km.
It was pleasantly cool tonight and I did push on. This was probably my fasted run to date. It's still not very fast, but I could feel I was flowing better than usual. By the end of the first interval I knew I had taken a lot out of myself, plus each lap seemed to go really fast.
The Glen was busy tonight. There were lots of dog walkers, some cars in the car park, plus three to four kids out jogging. I almost ran straight into one young lad who appeared in the opposite direction, out of the blue, and flying down the steep hill from the old reservoir. A few dogs did get under my feet at times, but they didn't really cause any problems.
The steep path up to the old reservoir.
I felt really pleased as it was such a good workout to start the week 9.4 km (or 5.8 miles) run and I walked a mile.
Monday 16 October 2017. Storm Ophelia hit Ireland today. It's 30 years since the South of England was hit by The Great storm of 1987. I lived in Chiswick at the time and it caused havoc. Ophelia wasn't as bad but three people did die in Ireland today due to the storm. It hit our area about 2 pm and lasted for the rest of the day and into the next morning. At one point a bin cam flying through the air as I looked out through the back window. Luckily the bin and its lid landed before hitting the window.
There was no chance of going for a run today as the wind was too strong and things were being blown about. I'm not sure if there were any trees down locally, but our bins at the front did get blown around a few times.
I did walk to the local shop at 6 pm, but it was closed. I walked all the way through the village to another shop, but it was also closed. The only places open were the pubs and an off-licence. However, I did walk over a mile in the wind. The whole town was almost completely deserted.
Tuesday 17 October 2017. I went for a walk at 4 pm. The horse came quite quickly today for his apple. It was a calm, but chilly day. The sun kept breaking through the clouds at times and it was pleasant when I got to The Glen. My main aim was to clear all the paths from fallen branches and anything I may trip over, if I decide to go for a run later. I walked around all three paths and cleared a lot of fallen debris. There were no large branches blocking any paths, but there were lots of small ones. It made me think that someone may have already done some clearing earlier.
I also collected some litter on my way around, but there wasn't a lot. I passed a couple of people walking their dogs, but it was very quiet. On the way home it seemed to get cooler and it kept attempting to rain, but it didn't.
I was surprised it was already 5.30 pm when I got home, as it was starting to get late to go for a run. I quickly did a few chores and changed. I was out again by 5.55 pm. Instead of walking to The Glen, I started to run from home. I ran all the way to and down into The Glen. I completed six laps and on the last also done an extra ten around the old reservoir. I finished by the waterfall. It was almost dark by then.
I stretched for a short while then ran back to the exit footbridge, up out of The Glen and all the way home. I changed quickly and walked to and back from the local shop.
My first interval tonight was just over 8 km and my second 1 km. It means I ran 9 km (or 5.6 miles). I also walked 3 miles.
It was much busier tonight in The Glen than it had been during my walk. There were a few dog walkers, a group of three kids, two of teenage girls walking a dog, a young lad jogging, three young kids pottering about, and four teenagers leaving the waterfall area as I arrived. What surprised me most, is as I was jogging back from the waterfall, a young woman had just entered The Glen jogging and was setting off along the top path - surely it was too dark to start a run now. As I climbed up, out of The Glen I passed the two teenage girls with the dog again. They held it for me, but after I passed they started giggling - maybe they found something about me or my jogging funny.
Wednesday 18 October 2017. It's Wednesday again and it's my mother's bingo night. I need to have the food prepared and be ready to take her there just after 8 pm.
I decided to only go for a walk today. However, I left it very late. I didn't head out until after 6.30 pm and it was already getting dark, so I walked swiftly. As I entered The Glen, a young couple was standing at the entrance. Inside and under the trees the light was very dim. I did go to the waterfall area first and took a video, but because of the light it was the only one tonight.
As I walked around all the paths it just got darker. I didn't collect any litter as it was too dark to see any. When I got to the car park, the first time, a car was sitting there with its lights on. Fifteen minutes later, as I approached the car park again, a man with a long coat suddenly appeared from out of the dark, walking towards me. He had a dog in tow and did say hello. I was starting to wonder why I was even here in this dark as I couldn't even see the path beneath my feet. Five minutes later I was happily climbing up the path to exit The Glen. However, to my surprise, a young woman was just entering - maybe she has night vision.
On the way home, I gave the horse his apple and diverted to the local shop. I was out for about an hour and walked 3 miles. As soon as I got home I cooked a curry and rice for later.
At the bingo, my mother won £30, her sister £10, my sister and I won nothing.
Thursday 19 October 2017. The weather forecast said it's going to rain all day. In the afternoon I went to see the dentist. It's the first time in 20 years. I then walked to a shop, at the other end of the village, to get some supplies for my mother's friends for later.
I got home at 4 pm and got ready to go for a run. I was out by 4.25 pm walking towards The Glen. The rain had gone down to a drizzle and it didn't feel that unpleasant. As I walked past the horse's field, he was near the gate, so I called him, but he just stared at me. I gave him a minute, but when he didn't come I just threw the apple into the field. He immediately ran across and started eating it from the ground.
I started jogging 100 m early again, then down into The Glen and over the footbridge. I started off really steadily as I wanted to get a few miles under my belt today. However, I didn't feel that great. After completing a couple of laps, I was beginning to think it was going to be a short run tonight. I just kept it really steady, but the laps started to go by one by one. I was so pleased when I started the eight lap as it meant over five miles and longer than I had expected. I also completed an extra two laps of the old reservoir on this lap.
Although, my legs still felt tired and I wasn't flowing as well as I have been recently, I decided to continue. On the ninth lap, I also did two extra laps of the reservoir. On the tenth I did four laps of the reservoir. The eleventh lap was the same, as was the twelfth. I was starting to think, I'm not that far away from breaking the 10 mile barrier, but I didn't believe I was going to do this tonight. However, I decided, "it's worth a bash" and I just kept going. The thirteenth lap was the same, with four extra laps of the old reservoir. As I started the fourteenth, my thoughts were, "if I finish this lap without falling over, or having to stop, then I've done it" - I was starting to believe my legs might not hold out.
The thing about being so close to a special goal, is it gives you that extra lift, and it can carry you all the way to the end. As I climbed up the last hill and started my last four laps of the reservoir, I could feel I was almost there. In my mind there was no thought of doing any more extras. I completed the laps of the reservoir and ran steadily along the long flat path. On reaching he waterfall, I stopped and felt such relief, but such an achievement as I had finally broken the 10 mile barrier. I stretched for over a minute, by the bench whilst watching the water flow over the waterfall. It was still drizzling and it was almost dark, but to me it felt like a beautiful sunny day in Richmond Park or Bushy Park, in a life I once knew.
After recovering, I started jogging slowly again towards the exit bridge. As I climbed out of The Glen, my legs just wanted to stop at times. However, I forced myself to continue all the way up to the road junction and along the road to the start of the village. I must have looked like a drunk as I walked the last few yards home. The thing is, at no time did my body really tell me to stop, and it's the effort put in to keep going which, at the end of the day, get's the miles into your legs and makes you progress as the weeks go by.
Due to the rain today, The Glen was almost empty. One man was there for quite some time, walking his dog. Another was there for just a short time. On my last lap, a man got out of his car and began jogging in front of me. He looked to be going really slow, but he was pulling away from me. As I approached the bottom of the steep hill, he passed me above. I said hello, he replied, but also said I gave him a fright, as he hadn't seen me in the dark.
Tonight, I jogged 16.85 km (or 10.5 miles), then 0.8 km. A total of 11 miles. I also walked a mile.
My mother's sister and friend arrived after 8 pm. I do butler for wine, crisps, cheese and biscuits. They stayed until after 10 pm and all had a good night.
Friday 20 October 2017. My legs were stiff today and I possibly drank a bit too much Guinness and wine last night. Apart from walking to and back from the local shop, I done no other exercise today. However, after running 11 miles yesterday, it's probably not a bad thing. I got all the ingredients for a really good Bolognese and spent three hours cooking it.
Saturday 21 October 2017. It gives it to rain all day and Storm Brian is supposed to hit us later in the day. I watched online footage of it coming into the south of Ireland and the South-West of England and things didn't look great.
Early afternoon, it stopped raining, the sun came out and the wind died down. I went for a walk at 2.30 pm. The horse was nowhere to be seen, so I dropped the apple into his field where he can find it later.
I was armed with my camcorder, two carrier bags - one to hold my rain jacket for the predicted rain and one to collect any litter I passed whilst in The Glen.
Immediately, as I entered The Glen, there was litter. I walked down and then to the waterfall. With the rain overnight and earlier today, the river was high and lots of water was crashing over the waterfall. However, the rain was still holding off.
The area around the waterfall was almost clean. Just a half eaten bar of chocolate by the bench. I walked back into The Glen, but I had to stop as it maybe a while before I can take another video of this amount of water flowing over the waterfall. The Clay River flows from Clay Lake and through here. It's source is only about 1.5 miles away. It fills up very quickly, but it also empties quickly. I suppose I should be panning for gold in it as the fields around the lake is supposed to have huge gold deposits.
As I walked back into The Glen, it was still dry. It did say there would be rain all afternoon, but I was lucky. I walked over the footbridge and along the river path. The colours were beautiful. I just stopped recording before I heard a loud crack and two bangs. I looked up the bank and two large parts of a branch were falling down the bank towards me. I took cover behind a tree. These were huge logs heading in my direction. Luckily, they both stopped before reaching me. It was scary.
Monday 16 October 2017. Storm Ophelia hit Ireland today. It's 30 years since the South of England was hit by The Great storm of 1987. I lived in Chiswick at the time and it caused havoc. Ophelia wasn't as bad but three people did die in Ireland today due to the storm. It hit our area about 2 pm and lasted for the rest of the day and into the next morning. At one point a bin cam flying through the air as I looked out through the back window. Luckily the bin and its lid landed before hitting the window.
Fast moving clouds and hedge being blown about by Storm Ophelia in my back garden.
There was no chance of going for a run today as the wind was too strong and things were being blown about. I'm not sure if there were any trees down locally, but our bins at the front did get blown around a few times.
Bins and trees being blown about by Storm Ophelia.
I did walk to the local shop at 6 pm, but it was closed. I walked all the way through the village to another shop, but it was also closed. The only places open were the pubs and an off-licence. However, I did walk over a mile in the wind. The whole town was almost completely deserted.
Tuesday 17 October 2017. I went for a walk at 4 pm. The horse came quite quickly today for his apple. It was a calm, but chilly day. The sun kept breaking through the clouds at times and it was pleasant when I got to The Glen. My main aim was to clear all the paths from fallen branches and anything I may trip over, if I decide to go for a run later. I walked around all three paths and cleared a lot of fallen debris. There were no large branches blocking any paths, but there were lots of small ones. It made me think that someone may have already done some clearing earlier.
Branch parts across the upper path.
I also collected some litter on my way around, but there wasn't a lot. I passed a couple of people walking their dogs, but it was very quiet. On the way home it seemed to get cooler and it kept attempting to rain, but it didn't.
I was surprised it was already 5.30 pm when I got home, as it was starting to get late to go for a run. I quickly did a few chores and changed. I was out again by 5.55 pm. Instead of walking to The Glen, I started to run from home. I ran all the way to and down into The Glen. I completed six laps and on the last also done an extra ten around the old reservoir. I finished by the waterfall. It was almost dark by then.
I stretched for a short while then ran back to the exit footbridge, up out of The Glen and all the way home. I changed quickly and walked to and back from the local shop.
Path towards waterfall from beside the exit footbridge.
My first interval tonight was just over 8 km and my second 1 km. It means I ran 9 km (or 5.6 miles). I also walked 3 miles.
It was much busier tonight in The Glen than it had been during my walk. There were a few dog walkers, a group of three kids, two of teenage girls walking a dog, a young lad jogging, three young kids pottering about, and four teenagers leaving the waterfall area as I arrived. What surprised me most, is as I was jogging back from the waterfall, a young woman had just entered The Glen jogging and was setting off along the top path - surely it was too dark to start a run now. As I climbed up, out of The Glen I passed the two teenage girls with the dog again. They held it for me, but after I passed they started giggling - maybe they found something about me or my jogging funny.
Wednesday 18 October 2017. It's Wednesday again and it's my mother's bingo night. I need to have the food prepared and be ready to take her there just after 8 pm.
I decided to only go for a walk today. However, I left it very late. I didn't head out until after 6.30 pm and it was already getting dark, so I walked swiftly. As I entered The Glen, a young couple was standing at the entrance. Inside and under the trees the light was very dim. I did go to the waterfall area first and took a video, but because of the light it was the only one tonight.
Waterfall area at near dark in an Irish Glen.
As I walked around all the paths it just got darker. I didn't collect any litter as it was too dark to see any. When I got to the car park, the first time, a car was sitting there with its lights on. Fifteen minutes later, as I approached the car park again, a man with a long coat suddenly appeared from out of the dark, walking towards me. He had a dog in tow and did say hello. I was starting to wonder why I was even here in this dark as I couldn't even see the path beneath my feet. Five minutes later I was happily climbing up the path to exit The Glen. However, to my surprise, a young woman was just entering - maybe she has night vision.
On the way home, I gave the horse his apple and diverted to the local shop. I was out for about an hour and walked 3 miles. As soon as I got home I cooked a curry and rice for later.
At the bingo, my mother won £30, her sister £10, my sister and I won nothing.
Thursday 19 October 2017. The weather forecast said it's going to rain all day. In the afternoon I went to see the dentist. It's the first time in 20 years. I then walked to a shop, at the other end of the village, to get some supplies for my mother's friends for later.
I got home at 4 pm and got ready to go for a run. I was out by 4.25 pm walking towards The Glen. The rain had gone down to a drizzle and it didn't feel that unpleasant. As I walked past the horse's field, he was near the gate, so I called him, but he just stared at me. I gave him a minute, but when he didn't come I just threw the apple into the field. He immediately ran across and started eating it from the ground.
I started jogging 100 m early again, then down into The Glen and over the footbridge. I started off really steadily as I wanted to get a few miles under my belt today. However, I didn't feel that great. After completing a couple of laps, I was beginning to think it was going to be a short run tonight. I just kept it really steady, but the laps started to go by one by one. I was so pleased when I started the eight lap as it meant over five miles and longer than I had expected. I also completed an extra two laps of the old reservoir on this lap.
Although, my legs still felt tired and I wasn't flowing as well as I have been recently, I decided to continue. On the ninth lap, I also did two extra laps of the reservoir. On the tenth I did four laps of the reservoir. The eleventh lap was the same, as was the twelfth. I was starting to think, I'm not that far away from breaking the 10 mile barrier, but I didn't believe I was going to do this tonight. However, I decided, "it's worth a bash" and I just kept going. The thirteenth lap was the same, with four extra laps of the old reservoir. As I started the fourteenth, my thoughts were, "if I finish this lap without falling over, or having to stop, then I've done it" - I was starting to believe my legs might not hold out.
The thing about being so close to a special goal, is it gives you that extra lift, and it can carry you all the way to the end. As I climbed up the last hill and started my last four laps of the reservoir, I could feel I was almost there. In my mind there was no thought of doing any more extras. I completed the laps of the reservoir and ran steadily along the long flat path. On reaching he waterfall, I stopped and felt such relief, but such an achievement as I had finally broken the 10 mile barrier. I stretched for over a minute, by the bench whilst watching the water flow over the waterfall. It was still drizzling and it was almost dark, but to me it felt like a beautiful sunny day in Richmond Park or Bushy Park, in a life I once knew.
One of my old photos of runners in Bushy Park.
After recovering, I started jogging slowly again towards the exit bridge. As I climbed out of The Glen, my legs just wanted to stop at times. However, I forced myself to continue all the way up to the road junction and along the road to the start of the village. I must have looked like a drunk as I walked the last few yards home. The thing is, at no time did my body really tell me to stop, and it's the effort put in to keep going which, at the end of the day, get's the miles into your legs and makes you progress as the weeks go by.
Due to the rain today, The Glen was almost empty. One man was there for quite some time, walking his dog. Another was there for just a short time. On my last lap, a man got out of his car and began jogging in front of me. He looked to be going really slow, but he was pulling away from me. As I approached the bottom of the steep hill, he passed me above. I said hello, he replied, but also said I gave him a fright, as he hadn't seen me in the dark.
Tonight, I jogged 16.85 km (or 10.5 miles), then 0.8 km. A total of 11 miles. I also walked a mile.
My mother's sister and friend arrived after 8 pm. I do butler for wine, crisps, cheese and biscuits. They stayed until after 10 pm and all had a good night.
Friday 20 October 2017. My legs were stiff today and I possibly drank a bit too much Guinness and wine last night. Apart from walking to and back from the local shop, I done no other exercise today. However, after running 11 miles yesterday, it's probably not a bad thing. I got all the ingredients for a really good Bolognese and spent three hours cooking it.
Saturday 21 October 2017. It gives it to rain all day and Storm Brian is supposed to hit us later in the day. I watched online footage of it coming into the south of Ireland and the South-West of England and things didn't look great.
Early afternoon, it stopped raining, the sun came out and the wind died down. I went for a walk at 2.30 pm. The horse was nowhere to be seen, so I dropped the apple into his field where he can find it later.
I was armed with my camcorder, two carrier bags - one to hold my rain jacket for the predicted rain and one to collect any litter I passed whilst in The Glen.
Immediately, as I entered The Glen, there was litter. I walked down and then to the waterfall. With the rain overnight and earlier today, the river was high and lots of water was crashing over the waterfall. However, the rain was still holding off.
Fast flowing river, waterfall crashing over waterfall, waiting for Storm Brian.
The area around the waterfall was almost clean. Just a half eaten bar of chocolate by the bench. I walked back into The Glen, but I had to stop as it maybe a while before I can take another video of this amount of water flowing over the waterfall. The Clay River flows from Clay Lake and through here. It's source is only about 1.5 miles away. It fills up very quickly, but it also empties quickly. I suppose I should be panning for gold in it as the fields around the lake is supposed to have huge gold deposits.
As I walked back into The Glen, it was still dry. It did say there would be rain all afternoon, but I was lucky. I walked over the footbridge and along the river path. The colours were beautiful. I just stopped recording before I heard a loud crack and two bangs. I looked up the bank and two large parts of a branch were falling down the bank towards me. I took cover behind a tree. These were huge logs heading in my direction. Luckily, they both stopped before reaching me. It was scary.
Beautiful colours in The Glen.
I walked on, passing five teenagers in hoodies, trying to hide their faces, on the graffiti bench. I said hello and the all looked up and replied.
Apart from the odd plastic bottle and crisp packet, The Glen looked really clean. OK, there were lots of leaves and broken branches on the paths, but all that is natural. I kicked the branch parts from the path as I walked around. I don't want myself or any other runner to trip over them and fall. When I got to the car park there was only one car. I later found out it belonged to the teenagers sitting on the bench. There was some litter in the car park and I walked around and picked it up. By the time I got to the bin, I had a full carrier bag. I continued across the footbridge over the river and towards the climb up to the old reservoir. The river had its small waterfall again, coming from the road.
By footbridge over river, next to car park in Irish Glen.
I walked around the old reservoir and along the long flat path, then over the river and up along the top path. I passed two men walking their dogs on the way. I also cleared debris from the footpaths. It was starting to get windy and I kept looking up into the trees, waiting for another branch to fall. When I got to the car park again, it was empty and I walked back along the river path towards home. As I crossed back over the river, the sun broke out from behind the clouds and everything looked lovely. I started to take a video, but the sun soon disappeared.
Sun breaks through the clouds.
As I walked home it kept threatening to rain. It drizzled, but never totally started.
I had a short rest then changed to go for a run. After stretching I walked towards The Glen. I started jogging 150 m before reaching the entrance and then down and over the footbridge. I completed seven laps. On the second I did an extra lap of the old reservoir, two extra on the second, three on the third, etc. and eventually six on the seventh lap. I also added an extra 100 m, near the end, by going part way up the top path again. I finished by the waterfall and stretched for a short while. I then jogged from there all the way home.
After cooling down and changing I went to my brother's pub for a few pints on the black stuff. It was quiet and I caught the end of the Munster v Racing 92 rugby. Munster won 14 - 7. Both my parents were also out tonight. My mother at her sister's birthday meal in Armagh and my father at the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the local Credit Union.
Today, first running interval was 10 km and my second 1 km. A total of 11 km (or just over 6.8 miles). I also walked 3 miles.
Overall, for the week I have ran 29.2 miles and walked 12 miles, making a total of 41.2 miles. It's a good split in running and walking and is my second best week to date.
I had a short rest then changed to go for a run. After stretching I walked towards The Glen. I started jogging 150 m before reaching the entrance and then down and over the footbridge. I completed seven laps. On the second I did an extra lap of the old reservoir, two extra on the second, three on the third, etc. and eventually six on the seventh lap. I also added an extra 100 m, near the end, by going part way up the top path again. I finished by the waterfall and stretched for a short while. I then jogged from there all the way home.
After cooling down and changing I went to my brother's pub for a few pints on the black stuff. It was quiet and I caught the end of the Munster v Racing 92 rugby. Munster won 14 - 7. Both my parents were also out tonight. My mother at her sister's birthday meal in Armagh and my father at the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the local Credit Union.
Today, first running interval was 10 km and my second 1 km. A total of 11 km (or just over 6.8 miles). I also walked 3 miles.
Overall, for the week I have ran 29.2 miles and walked 12 miles, making a total of 41.2 miles. It's a good split in running and walking and is my second best week to date.
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