Do you run with your dogs? @dailymile

That was the question set by dailymile the on line, cheer leading, supportive, social networking, log book type thingy.


So, do I run with my dogs?


Well I have in the past when both dogs and their human were more able and more resilient. Occasionally I still do, but truth be told one dog (Misha) is getting on and although he would probably run until his wee legs fell off, his body would take a while to recover and he would probably be limping and stiff that day and next. A 2-3 km walk is about his regular distance now for his constitutional. He can and does go further but not everyday, it's not worth it.


The younger of the two by a year or so (but we don't really know as Misha was a rescued dog) is Boris he is still very good at chasing after the rabbits and squirrels that appear in the distance but he has always been reluctant to cover a longer distance, not unlike myself there then. 


The last short run over a couple of kilometres I had with canine company was just with Boris, Misha was back in the house recovering from his yearly immunisations, putting his paws up.


As we are all getting older together you get used to a pace and a capacity all of your own, knowing what can be done and by whom. The dogs are fit, lean and healthy, they enjoy regular exercise, a good diet and a place to rest without disruption. Not a bad life, one indeed that we would be clever to follow.


The video clips embedded here are from a year ago and are nothing more than thirty second runs rather than than x, y or z Km's. The sole purpose was to film me running with my dogs. I'm not dressed for running as I had layers to keep off the rain and the chill and heavy boots to grip and wade through the mud. The sharp eyed of you will notice three dogs, we were dog sitting.

So that's my answer to the dailymile question of the day.

What's blue, yellow and difficult to say?

Today I have been invited to blog elsewhere on
The Yarn Yard
see you there.......

Straight ahead

The start of the week beckons, the journey looks clear for me, no obstacles, no speed bumps in sight but you never know when a ball might just bounce out onto the road.......

Smile, Wave or Hi?

This week my travels took me to London a city I am ambivalent about.  Not to the extremes of love and hate as Freud would describe it, but more of a "like some things and wouldn't it be good to be able to see that art or cultural event" to "not liking the frenetic nature of the place".


Whether it is the crowds, the noise, the hustling pace of city life, the Londoner does not seem to be a happy bunny. Of course I see laughing and smiling and people enjoying each others company but as a population they seem a very insulated and dour collective.


I try to maintain an air of cheer and positivity through all of this, if nothing more than as a buttress against this oppressive force. Perhaps it is smugness as I think to myself that I will be here (in London) for just a short period of time and soon I will be home to fresher air, more space and happy looking people.


Perhaps it is the stage in my life where I am grateful for what I have and the experiences that I have lived through but I do try and project cheer and positivity. I especially like to do this towards "my" community of runners. 


At home if I venture out onto the streets I will be sure to acknowledge those of a similar ilk coming towards me by offering a smile or a wave or perhaps a "Hi". I usually don't have more puff for anything over one syllable, so "Hi" it is.


Most of the time my social interaction will be reciprocated and that serendipity thing continues to spread amongst the family of runners, joggers or whatever's.


Now it may be that as a dweller these days of a more rural habitat that my social awareness is too acute but when I try to replicate the smile, wave or "Hi" thing in London it is usually met with a blank.


This last week I had prepared my bag with the required running gear with the intention of running (at the end of the working day) from the office to my hotel for the night. The planned run was to take me alongside the Thames path embankment heading eastwards. I do like running alongside rivers they do provide me with a certain level of mental tranquillity within my sweaty, puffing body.


As you would find in any big city along a popular route there were a lot of runners with not a great deal of space between each. To expect them or me to have a level of social interaction would have been unrealistic. Unless of course I wanted to look like one of those nodding dogs you find in the back of cars atop of the parcel shelf.


As I plodded eastwards the commuting walkers and runners became less regular and perhaps I thought those moving a tad faster would be more open to a greeting from a fellow pedestrian.


No, not at all! Apart from the woman who thanked me for stepping out of the way, as we had both decided to run along the same line of cobbles, the only draw back being that we were doing this from opposite directions.


Not any of the men who steamed at various rates of knots towards me. All no doubt in their "zone". Although to my trained eyes the zone was either the one where you stop afterwards and realise that those shorts are the quick route to "red raw thighs city" or the other one called "the dead zone" as you wait in the back of the ambulance with paramedics working on your chest. The latter group need to take things easier and think of the long run rather than the short burn.


A large "could do better" on the running report card of the gents who decided than running two abreast on a narrow pavement was the thing to do and to heck with anyone else including me, who rather than tuck the head down and charge through (brawling is so unseemly) decided to step out into the path of an oncoming bus. Did the driver need to accelerate just as I did that? At least the old shimmy of the hips and the body swerve servo's can still perform.


So no "Hi", grunt, half smile, wave or anything. Perhaps it's the wearing of ear pieces, (another reason not to like them) or was it too dark to see my oncoming smiley face or was it just the shock within London that someone was trying to be friendly.


Distrust perhaps of someone inanely grinning as he ran along the street towards you?

Bang! Goes the wind

Our walk from the week end brought us to the end of the path and an open moor. Lots of interference from the wind on the video. Posted it however to show the destructive force of the wind that has been in evidence here.

Walking, windy, cold but happy

One of the joys of living where we do is that once you leave the house, after a short journey you can be on your own stomping through some element of rurality.


I took myself and the dogs out to a section of woods I've not been too for about five years. It was peaceful, windy and cold.

The path

Frozen ponds

Man and two dogs went this way

A bit cold for Moses

A chilly, dark scar

Happy! 

The Grey

A trip to the "pictures" this evening to see the new Liam Neeson pic "The Grey".





So what's it about well there's snow, wolves, planes, snow, a crash, more snow and cold.


The movie throws the characters into a variety of situations. The sort that make me think to myself as I'm watching "what would I do".


Liam Neeson for a change gets to play close to type as his character is from Northern Ireland, enabling him to speak more truly. The bit were he vents skyward is particularly Northern Irish and it makes a nice change from him working through a script with a dodgy North American accent.


So it makes you think, makes you question and doesn't give the viewer a perfect boxed off ending. It has the sort of ending that offers viewers the opportunity to finish it off their way as they undertake the post movie analysis on the road home.


Go and see it, especially if you like Liam Neeson and snow.