Oh inbetween my shoulders is gonna hurt tomorrow but I'm so excited that I've just finished TWO miles in two hours dragging my tyres : ))
I really didn't feel up for going this morning (I'd intended to sneak into the Park at dawn to avoid the 'twitchers' and poo-poo their planned BBQ - it's a war of attrition you know) but I decided instead just to chill-out and pester Lucia by text whilst loading the dishwasher, the washer (twice) and generally wake up so it had to be tomorrow or this evening.
I decided it should be today and that I'd take my mobile and tweet as I went. The following is a true account of what happened and has the tweets inserted into the paragraphs below. Enjoy.
*************************************
I got to the park just after 1705hrs and posted the following tweet "The gates of torture await ...."
I began with a few warm-up exercises to try to ensure no repeat of the Achilles issue from last time and, thankfully, no-one seemed to be watching.
Now as most of you know, the very start of my 'drags' are usually eventful; today's proved no exception. As before, today started with a dog and a dog walker.
I'd just carried the first tyre into the Park and was heading back to the car to grab the second one when I heard a noise behind me. I ignored it as dogs and owners are not an unusual sight in a park. As I brought the second tyre through the gates I saw a small dog (aren't they always the nosey ones) sniffing round the first tyre and thought please no, not again. But no this time the owner (a woman, who I later discovered was called Claire) came round the corner and saw the dog preparing to jump into the middle of one of the tyres. She said "No please don't go in there" whilst glancing nervously at me. I smiled and said it was okay; at least it wasn't like the dog last time who wee'd on the tyres.
Claire looked thoughful and finally said "What is it you're doing exactly?". I explained about the training and she visibly sighed in relief and we had a great discussion. At 1712hrs I posted the following tweet "Bless the lovely Claire for asking me if I was dumping tyres. 'I was worried I might get some grief from a young thug if I said too much".
Now before you jump to any conclusions, Claire seems between 38 and 42 years old I'd guess (hope that's not cruel) and had only seen my youthful legs disappear out of the park gates. We had a good chat and she took down my details as one of her neighbours had recently lost her husband to cancer and the inhabitants of leafy Park Lane in Rothwell had donated to Candlelighters in memory of him; it seemed fortuitous that I was wearing my Candlelighters t-shirt first (more about that later ... the paramedics say the woman will get over the trauma).
Anyway she said no promises but she would put a note through people's letterboxes and ask if they wanted to make a small donation which was great news. Thank you Claire for even thinking of doing so.
So I set off happily thinking about what a lovely offer that was and started to tweet when I suddenly HAD to add the following tweet; "Darn it !!! Too busy tweeting, not concentrating on poo-spotting. Yuk, need some wet-wipes : ( "
I posted a further summary of the conversation with Claire as I got to the half-mile mark and added this photo (Ben and Emma aka Diego and Dora, this is for you): -
Thank you so much to the three interested teenagers who took the photo on my iPhone and didn't run off with it. More about teenagers later !
So on I went and started the second half-mile. Of course it's uphill primarily so just one tweet for most of the return half-mile leg and then as I approached the end of the first mile at 1752hrs I added "End of first mile in sight - going for a second mile !! Four cars and a lit BBQ at the 'twitchers' house". Yes it was true, there really WAS a gathering of sorts across the road. How could I have missed it at the start??? Gladly they didn't appear so there were no opportunities to have to smile as I graciously filled up on over-cooked sausages that had probably fallen through the wiring and been cremated rather than BBQ'd.
Oh hang on, no maybe it's a garden fire; can't smell food whatsoever. Perhaps they've captured a tyre dumper and are ceremoniously burning him (or her ... we live in times of equality you know) in front of their friends from Alwoodley or even, gawd forbid, Adel !!
So yes I decided to do a second mile and had prepared for it by bringing my new Heart Research UK t-shirts with me. Quick change which brings us back to the paramedics - I couldn't help imagine some poor woman in her 70's unexpectedly catching a glimpse of my athletic frame (or is that 'pathetic' frame) so the tweet says it all I think; Quick swap out of Candlelighters t-shirt into Heart Reesearch UK t-shirt. Oops sorry madam ... don't worry sir, her fainting is quite normal"
Gladly no-one was watching that I'm aware of so no children with nightmares, no women fainting and no half-sighted pensioners calling the Museum of Natural History to say they'd seen the 'missing link'.
As I started my second mile I noticed lots of glances and guessed it wasn't my chic fashion that attracted the attention (red t-shirt and ginger .... sorry, 'strawberry blonde' hair did clash a little). One couple smiled warmly, a lady said hello and was happy to take a photo of me in the HRUK t-shirt (well she took 7 photos actually including one of the ground, one of her hand, two of my legs and the remainder of me in various poses trying to explain which button to press) and I also had some further attention.
At 1807hrs I tweeted "Two local chavs, imported from Middleton probably, enviously looking @ the tyres I'm dragging. Bet they've never pinched some off a person before". Now perhaps that was a little harsh; maybe they were just intrigued. Heck I would be !!!
On my way back up the hill one couple joked it would be easier if I fastened them to a car ("Bet you've heard that lots of times already ha ha" - well err no actually. you are the first to say that), one car driver tooted his horn and shouted out of the window "You've forgotten your car mate" (how funny and original) and then ....... nemesis time!!!
"The 'Greenwoods surplus stock' man and his wife at 12 o'clock - bandit alert!!". Crossing the road towards the Park were the couple from tyre-drag 2. They looked up and started to head away from me but suddenly .... they turned and brazenly started walking in my direction. Time to put the Gunfight at OK Corral in its place as second string tension and violence.
But hang on, they were smiling and said a hearty hello. They even asked how I was doing and we passed the time of day for a minute. Maybe they realised I was normal .... well 'ish' .... and perhaps they were part of a growing fan club on the day. "Oh it's okay. she took charge and they seem quite nice".
And so my dear reader the dragging was coming to a close. "End in sight. Two miles in two hours but tyres getting heavier. Ah I see, scooped-up (collected) soil, twigs and a small child on the way"
The small dot in the middle of the photo (base of the trees and just above the grassline is where the gates are) was only 10 minutes away and I certainly had my second wind. Must have been the beans from last night - sorry about that.
So that was it; my first ever two-miler and I might just see if I can add a single mile to the tally tomorrow but let's not get ahead of ourselves, and the VAT man would much rather have his quarterly return .... sadly.
So it's shower-time now (why DO I feel the need to share that information?!?!?!) and then picking up my youngest from work. Perhaps then a DVD followed by a long peaceful nights sleep. Ahh looking forward to bed already ('weary old git' clearly).
Until next time ...............................
I really didn't feel up for going this morning (I'd intended to sneak into the Park at dawn to avoid the 'twitchers' and poo-poo their planned BBQ - it's a war of attrition you know) but I decided instead just to chill-out and pester Lucia by text whilst loading the dishwasher, the washer (twice) and generally wake up so it had to be tomorrow or this evening.
I decided it should be today and that I'd take my mobile and tweet as I went. The following is a true account of what happened and has the tweets inserted into the paragraphs below. Enjoy.
*************************************
I got to the park just after 1705hrs and posted the following tweet "The gates of torture await ...."
I began with a few warm-up exercises to try to ensure no repeat of the Achilles issue from last time and, thankfully, no-one seemed to be watching.
Now as most of you know, the very start of my 'drags' are usually eventful; today's proved no exception. As before, today started with a dog and a dog walker.
I'd just carried the first tyre into the Park and was heading back to the car to grab the second one when I heard a noise behind me. I ignored it as dogs and owners are not an unusual sight in a park. As I brought the second tyre through the gates I saw a small dog (aren't they always the nosey ones) sniffing round the first tyre and thought please no, not again. But no this time the owner (a woman, who I later discovered was called Claire) came round the corner and saw the dog preparing to jump into the middle of one of the tyres. She said "No please don't go in there" whilst glancing nervously at me. I smiled and said it was okay; at least it wasn't like the dog last time who wee'd on the tyres.
Claire looked thoughful and finally said "What is it you're doing exactly?". I explained about the training and she visibly sighed in relief and we had a great discussion. At 1712hrs I posted the following tweet "Bless the lovely Claire for asking me if I was dumping tyres. 'I was worried I might get some grief from a young thug if I said too much".
Now before you jump to any conclusions, Claire seems between 38 and 42 years old I'd guess (hope that's not cruel) and had only seen my youthful legs disappear out of the park gates. We had a good chat and she took down my details as one of her neighbours had recently lost her husband to cancer and the inhabitants of leafy Park Lane in Rothwell had donated to Candlelighters in memory of him; it seemed fortuitous that I was wearing my Candlelighters t-shirt first (more about that later ... the paramedics say the woman will get over the trauma).
Anyway she said no promises but she would put a note through people's letterboxes and ask if they wanted to make a small donation which was great news. Thank you Claire for even thinking of doing so.
So I set off happily thinking about what a lovely offer that was and started to tweet when I suddenly HAD to add the following tweet; "Darn it !!! Too busy tweeting, not concentrating on poo-spotting. Yuk, need some wet-wipes : ( "
I posted a further summary of the conversation with Claire as I got to the half-mile mark and added this photo (Ben and Emma aka Diego and Dora, this is for you): -
Thank you so much to the three interested teenagers who took the photo on my iPhone and didn't run off with it. More about teenagers later !
So on I went and started the second half-mile. Of course it's uphill primarily so just one tweet for most of the return half-mile leg and then as I approached the end of the first mile at 1752hrs I added "End of first mile in sight - going for a second mile !! Four cars and a lit BBQ at the 'twitchers' house". Yes it was true, there really WAS a gathering of sorts across the road. How could I have missed it at the start??? Gladly they didn't appear so there were no opportunities to have to smile as I graciously filled up on over-cooked sausages that had probably fallen through the wiring and been cremated rather than BBQ'd.
Oh hang on, no maybe it's a garden fire; can't smell food whatsoever. Perhaps they've captured a tyre dumper and are ceremoniously burning him (or her ... we live in times of equality you know) in front of their friends from Alwoodley or even, gawd forbid, Adel !!
So yes I decided to do a second mile and had prepared for it by bringing my new Heart Research UK t-shirts with me. Quick change which brings us back to the paramedics - I couldn't help imagine some poor woman in her 70's unexpectedly catching a glimpse of my athletic frame (or is that 'pathetic' frame) so the tweet says it all I think; Quick swap out of Candlelighters t-shirt into Heart Reesearch UK t-shirt. Oops sorry madam ... don't worry sir, her fainting is quite normal"
Gladly no-one was watching that I'm aware of so no children with nightmares, no women fainting and no half-sighted pensioners calling the Museum of Natural History to say they'd seen the 'missing link'.
As I started my second mile I noticed lots of glances and guessed it wasn't my chic fashion that attracted the attention (red t-shirt and ginger .... sorry, 'strawberry blonde' hair did clash a little). One couple smiled warmly, a lady said hello and was happy to take a photo of me in the HRUK t-shirt (well she took 7 photos actually including one of the ground, one of her hand, two of my legs and the remainder of me in various poses trying to explain which button to press) and I also had some further attention.
At 1807hrs I tweeted "Two local chavs, imported from Middleton probably, enviously looking @ the tyres I'm dragging. Bet they've never pinched some off a person before". Now perhaps that was a little harsh; maybe they were just intrigued. Heck I would be !!!
On my way back up the hill one couple joked it would be easier if I fastened them to a car ("Bet you've heard that lots of times already ha ha" - well err no actually. you are the first to say that), one car driver tooted his horn and shouted out of the window "You've forgotten your car mate" (how funny and original) and then ....... nemesis time!!!
"The 'Greenwoods surplus stock' man and his wife at 12 o'clock - bandit alert!!". Crossing the road towards the Park were the couple from tyre-drag 2. They looked up and started to head away from me but suddenly .... they turned and brazenly started walking in my direction. Time to put the Gunfight at OK Corral in its place as second string tension and violence.
But hang on, they were smiling and said a hearty hello. They even asked how I was doing and we passed the time of day for a minute. Maybe they realised I was normal .... well 'ish' .... and perhaps they were part of a growing fan club on the day. "Oh it's okay. she took charge and they seem quite nice".
And so my dear reader the dragging was coming to a close. "End in sight. Two miles in two hours but tyres getting heavier. Ah I see, scooped-up (collected) soil, twigs and a small child on the way"
The small dot in the middle of the photo (base of the trees and just above the grassline is where the gates are) was only 10 minutes away and I certainly had my second wind. Must have been the beans from last night - sorry about that.
So that was it; my first ever two-miler and I might just see if I can add a single mile to the tally tomorrow but let's not get ahead of ourselves, and the VAT man would much rather have his quarterly return .... sadly.
So it's shower-time now (why DO I feel the need to share that information?!?!?!) and then picking up my youngest from work. Perhaps then a DVD followed by a long peaceful nights sleep. Ahh looking forward to bed already ('weary old git' clearly).
Until next time ...............................
No comments:
Post a Comment