I am busy dabbing the edges of my nostrils with Vicks and drinking some honey, turmeric and lemon concoction. I should have been going for a walk in Hawarden with my walking group but have given them a pass on picking up my lurgy by staying at home. Current Reading Current accompaniments This means that… Continue reading Discovering George Eliot
Author: theleadlesspencil
I started blogging to practise using that writing 'muscle'. And it's made me realise that I keep banging on about the same subjects: mainly 'running', sometimes about what I'm reading, and, even more occasionally, where I'm going.
Brimstage Parkrun
Of course, I got lost getting there, so of course I was late. I was greeted and directed by the waiting marshals, the latter of whom warned me that the runners were about to start. They were not wrong. I was almost mowed down in the final hundred yards by a stampede of shoes. I… Continue reading Brimstage Parkrun
Cardiff Half Marathon
We can see the pacer flags for a 2:30 half marathon and think to squeeze closer to them. It’s difficult because the throng of runners and civilians presses us in. Some of these non-runners look like shocked shoppers who have come out of the coffee shop and then nearly been pushed back in. Mostly they… Continue reading Cardiff Half Marathon
Loch Ness Marathon
The song ‘Ring of Fire’ by Johnny Cash has been playing in my head all day on and off. It’s mainly ‘on’ when I try and stand up or go down the stairs. When two rings of fire light up around my quads and I wince audibly. The irony here is that after my previous… Continue reading Loch Ness Marathon
Drumnadrochit
I nearly didn’t make it to Parkrun. The postcode took me to a turning that was signposted as Belladrum and then told me ‘You have arrived’ but it was a narrow road that continued winding through the dark trees. There were a couple of houses and two ‘private’ roads branched off the main track and… Continue reading Drumnadrochit
WiFi Blues
I have just picked up On Writing, Stephen King’s well-known primer on, well, writing. Surprisingly, I’ve never read it before, but then I’ve not read that many books on ‘how to write’. Yes, I know I did a Masters on it, but that was on Creative NON-Fiction, so a slightly different beast. Compared to my other pastime, running,… Continue reading WiFi Blues
Tapering For The Loch Ness Marathon
I’m in the last week before my marathon. I have absolutely no idea how well I’m going to run it anymore because although I started the training well with a very good base (for me) of running thirty miles a week and then upping that to thirty-five, I lost the momentum after a long weekend… Continue reading Tapering For The Loch Ness Marathon
Insomniac Indecisions
Am I a writer who runs or a runner who writes? Such is the question that has been worming its way around my head for the past hour while I should have been sleeping. It’s now four o’clock in the morning and I have given up the battle of trying to sleep and crept into… Continue reading Insomniac Indecisions
Rita Mistry – Death On All Hallows’ Eve
Have I told you lately that I...am publishing my book? Well, now it's finally available on the behemoth that is Amazon. My book out in the world! One day I want to say that my book is also out in all good bookshops but in the meantime two wonderful local places will be stocking it… Continue reading Rita Mistry – Death On All Hallows’ Eve
Novice Self-Publisher Learns Some Hard Truths
I am supposed to be in the deepest part of my marathon training but we’re away in Ribblesdale for a long weekend with family and although I brought my kit, I’d also brought a pair of trainers that were technically retired. I’d had a vague plan to go to Clitheroe for their parkrun, but I… Continue reading Novice Self-Publisher Learns Some Hard Truths
