I had no recollection that I had read this book before. The front cover - probably more exciting than the book Up until the moment where the Chamber of Commerce competition is mentioned I read it as a wholly new experience. Even when I remembered the incident with the box of chocolates, the words around… Continue reading Rónán Hession – Leonard and Hungry Paul
Author: theleadlesspencil
Wirral 10K 2025
That went quite well. post race bling with Lucy I’m sitting, or rather semi-reclined, on the sofa having watched the latest episode of Bakeoff with my lunch and I’m trying to analyse my race this morning. It was the Wirral 10k (although, according to mine and Lucy’s tracking it was a little bit further than… Continue reading Wirral 10K 2025
Getting A Coach
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Sometimes, knowing too much may be bad for you. My Garmin is telling me that my Heart Rate Variability is too low, my Resting Heart Rate has gone up, on average, by seven beats, and my Sleep Score is beyond abysmal. If I didn’t wear a sports watch then I… Continue reading Getting A Coach
Warrington Half Marathon
I stand, with a fluttering stomach, watching the runners file past behind their pace banners. My warmup has been to jump up and down on the spot. The random Insta influencer who suggested this said that sixty seconds was enough, but I flag at around twenty. At least I’m very warm. The sub 1hr:30mins lope… Continue reading Warrington Half Marathon
Half Training – not really training
dangerous little swines I managed a slow blustery ten kilometres on the road yesterday. I had to keep my eyes on the ground as the conkers (horse chestnuts) are beginning to fall and just one of those little blighters is enough to make me trip or roll my ankles in unnatural directions. My half marathon… Continue reading Half Training – not really training
Kent – Prospect Cottage, Dungeness
What is written on the house are the first verse and last lines of the John Donne poem, 'The Sun Rising'. The house looks out to the east, just up from the tip of Dungeness, so they are fitting. You get the words as if in a whisper: they’re written in black letters against a black weatherboarded… Continue reading Kent – Prospect Cottage, Dungeness
Kent – Knole House
Without primogeniture we would not have had the delightful grounds at Sissinghurst. So that is one tiny plus point to an arcane law that still exists for some English titles. Having spent the last half hour trying to work out if Vita could inherit Knole House if she were alive today, it appears that this… Continue reading Kent – Knole House
Kent – Sissinghurst and Biddenden
It’s a long drive down to Kent, especially when the heavens intermittently dump great vats of rain onto our little Toyota Yaris so that we need to crawl along with the wipers swishing diabolically. It was sometimes so loud that we had to pause the audio book that was playing in the car. It was… Continue reading Kent – Sissinghurst and Biddenden
Half Training – Weeks 12 and 13
I should have written last week’s efforts up in a blog of their own. At least then I could have had an upbeat training diary entry. I had happily managed around twenty-eight miles simply by knocking out lots of snail (Zone-2) running. I had felt no extra fatigue, and I had two pretty good threshold… Continue reading Half Training – Weeks 12 and 13
Half Training – Week Eleven: A 5K Race
Alright. It is safe to say that I know diddly squat about running and how to work towards anything. Last week I was feeling somewhat sorry for myself in my blog and then this week I pull off something unexpected. (Sorry, I know that I’m writing this on the following Wednesday, because I’m a slacker,… Continue reading Half Training – Week Eleven: A 5K Race