run – Fooyah – Ian Parish

March 5 2020March 5 2020

Only Going To Get Worse

Recently I’ve been trying to exercise more and failing. My excuse the other night, when I had a clear two hours to get out, was that it was raining. It is a fair excuse but I could have jumper on the rower at home and done some exercise on that but I was sidetracked by computers and driving games. I recently ran five or so miles and my standard route takes me along a section of road that gets wet easily. It’s easy to avoid the puddles by running on the raised ground at the edge of the field. Sometimes, when it has rained a lot a large pond is formed and stays for a long time.

As you can see the temporary pond to the left and the road to the right. I was run-walking along the raised pathway but it’s quite disconcerting because of how slippy it is and the thought of falling into the pond.

I’ve written about this before and I am sorry for not doing enough but these weather events and wet winters are only going to get worse. All caused by anthropogenic global climate change. Sorry younger people, I am convinced life is going to be particularly hard for you.

This brings me to another, slightly related, thing. Humans have an amazing ability to ignore the evidence and only concentrate on the things that they as individuals think will make them better. I’m thinking at the moment of people wearing face masks to avoid getting the current coronavirus which causes Covid-19. Face masks won’t protect you numbskulls. They don’t do what you think they are doing. Stop buying them and leave the stock for people who genuinely need them. I spoke with someone at the weekend who mixes and makes chemotherapy for different individuals. They said that they have to re-use disposable face masks while mixing the drugs because they have run out of stock and stupid people are buying up all the facemasks in society.

Another organisation I am aware of is ignoring all the evidence and making people work through particular practices even though there is no chance that any of it will work. We see this all the time with governments and humans. There is an attitude of doing something [even if it doesn’t work] is better than doing nothing because we can then say that we did something [even if it wasn’t going to work]. What an utter waste of human time and resources.

Want to avoid getting the latest fad-virus? Wash your hands properly. If you do get the virus, don’t sneeze over anyone and follow the government advice on using tissues.

February 28 2018February 28 2018

Winter Views

The weather over the last few days has been stunning. There’s a load of snow around and the whole of the county looks stunning. It has rather messed with my professional plans but, hey ho, I’m sure I’ll figure it out. The opportunity of being at home in daylight has meant that I have been for a couple of tentative runs since fucking my right Achilles. I am still walking and the Achilles seems intact. Not sure when I’ll next have a run but I’m pleased with the results so far.

So, these are the details of one of my runs. While I have been out I’ve taken many photos. I think they are gorgeous:

The countryside is stunning and I think that a couple of sub-zero temperature runs is just the way to celebrate the gloriousness of the whole thing. Ever wanted to know what snow does to trainers? The trainers are old, but waterproof and actually reasonably warm. I did notice today though that the sole is coming away so once they are dry I am going to glue them (again)!

I’m not too happy with having the heating on full time but it is the only way to keep my house warm. I guess I’ll have to pay for it over the rest of the year.

I also took some photos with the DSLR. This morning there was mist over the valley and it all looked just bloody gorgeous.

There was a dog walker out in the chill.

This concludes my winter pictures, until next time!

October 25 2017October 1 2021

It Was Just There

I’ve got some Ordnance Survey maps of my local area and I’ve been to a few of the places that are mentioned locally. Just to see what they are. I regularly run past Kits Coty House and have got photos of it in this communication. The other day I was looking at Google Maps and I was slightly shocked that it mentioned a bunch of rocks I’d not seen. They aren’t on the OS map, but are mentioned here.

So, as it fits with one of my main routes for a run I went there and took some photos. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you, the Coffin Stone.

The coffin stone is one of the Medway Megaliths mentioned in this document.

February 11 2017October 18 2017

A Smattering

This morning I went for a run through some of the Kent countryside. I would embed a map of the route from my running app but it crashed after about two miles. So, here’s a map from Google Earth.

It was a good run through a gentle fluttering of snow. I enjoyed it and listened to the Cognitive Dissonance podcast from Chicago. The paths were particularly pretty at times and I took two photos.

November 28 2016November 28 2016

Weekend Musings

It was a weekend of many happenings. I usually try to keep weekend happenings to a minimum and then I can use all the spare time to see a film, exercise, mess around with technology of various forms and play the PlayStation.

This weekend was the end of my relationship with the Beast. But, it was also the start of my relationship with the Not-Beast, which has yet to be named.

There’re a lots of differences between a diesel turbo six speed manual and a petrol hybrid automatic! I will probably bore you with these over time so I won’t go into the detail here. My main current issue is that I don’t know how to hill start this car. Oh, and sometimes I forget to take the “handbrake” off because in this thing it’s a “parking brake” and operated by the left foot.

The new car isn’t named yet, but will be soon. Suggestions welcome to @iparish. This purchase does now mean that the only manual driving experience I will get is either the school minibuses [limited to 100kph] or my Playstation. I’ve upgrade to a six speed manual stick for the PS4. I had been pretty good at heel-and-toeing and matching engine revs to new gears when selected. Now I’m worried my left foot will whither away through lack of use in the new car.

I spent some time in Essex this weekend and I can never be sure if I feel like I am home or whether Kent is now my home. I’ve been down here mostly since 1996 and so while not all of my life it certainly consists of quite a bit of my life. I don’t think I identify as an Essex-boy any more, but I’m not sure I was to start with.

I had a very nice run along the A1060 while in Essex.

It was good until the last mile when my left knee decided it didn’t really want to run and all I could do was hobble along keeping that leg straight. While it continued to ache through the day it turns out that a day later the upper part of my right foot hurts a lot climbing stairs. It is quite possible that my body is starting to fall apart due to age and wear and tear.

While running I spent some time directly under the flight path for the approach to Stansted Airport and I have to say I stopped twice to watch the aircraft fly overhead. It’s a lovely sight. I’m not sure why I like planes but I do.

Since I got home I have learnt of an update to No Man’s Sky. I am looking forward to seeing what that is like. I really enjoy a good hour of time exploring planets. I’ve tweeted a few things from this game, it’s nicely relaxing [as long as you don’t die].

#PS4share pic.twitter.com/DpgzzRe1ms

— Ian Parish (@iparish) October 22, 2016

So I am currently waiting to decide a new name for the car and enjoying the knowledge that I should get 70mpg, because, you know, the planet is fucked.

October 4 2014October 4 2014

Stones

I had a lovely run today. Up over the North Downs and then back again. I actually stopped today to take two photos of stuff I regularly see.
This is the route I took.

Here’s the fist photo I took of the Upper White Horse Stone on the way up the North Downs [the link takes you to Wikipedia].

And here’s a photo of a distance marker I passed at the top of the Downs.

September 27 2014September 27 2014

Newts

Went for a run earlier today. Coming up Rotary Hill I noticed some plastic fencing. It turns out that this is to catch newts and then relocate them away from an area where there is going to be a new water main. Here’s a picture in case you see some around your area, you’ll at least know what they are.

Here’s a map showing where the fencing is and also the path that is Rotary Hill.

September 25 2014September 25 2014

View

I had a run recently, I try to run about three time a week. The running is for two main reasons; keeping fit, eating more. Anyway, I’ve bought an OS map and have investigated other routes I could do in the area of the Medway Gap.

The views in this area are just stunning. Here’s a picture I took while descending the North Downs.

August 23 2014August 23 2014

Lakes Or Ponds

I had a lovely run in my home area of Essex. I was born in the centre of the Essex plateau and raised near the borders with Hertfordshire. I actually went to school in Hertfordshire and my best mate had the Essex / Hertfordshire border at the bottom of his garden.

Here’s the run.
[I did have an iframe linking to the MapMyRun website but it doesn’t seem to be working so here’s a snipped version.]

I took a couple of photos of the lakes/ponds from near the southern most part of the route. I also saw some sloe berries so I might be making some sloe gin soon.

Here’re the lakes.

And the other:

Here’s a snapshot from my phone giving you an idea of the OS map.

These bodies of water got me thinking about ponds and lakes. What’s the difference? These things could be ponds but they seemed too large for that and yet they are most definitely smaller than any of the Great Lakes in North America [although I suspect that they are really seas]. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

I spoke too soon. Wikipedia doesn’t help. There is no internationally agreed definition of the difference between pond and lake. Large things are definitely lakes and small things are definitely ponds but where the line is, no-one agrees. It’s probably somewhere between 2 and 5 hectares. I think my favourite definition is:

bodies of water where light penetrates to the bottom of the waterbody

There’re plenty of ways of setting a distinction. Some depend on surface area and some on depth, others on plant growth. This is a pretty cool thing to look into. As for the Great Lakes, they are lakes. It turns out that lakes have to be surrounded by land. The Great Lakes are named correctly. The Caspian Sea is not. I love learning.

[I should point out that while writing this I was discussing it with my family and my mother pointed out the definition of a lake before I had even looked it up. Well done mum!]

June 14 2014June 14 2014

Back To Running

After a week of lovely food, drink and company [OIC] I am now back in my normal routine. Had a lovely run this morning through the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

One of my views:

April 26 2014April 27 2014

Vantage Point

I had a good run yesterday [26 APR 14]. I decided to discover more of the North Downs and headed further to the north than I had previously. This run is shown below and includes all three of the Medway Valley villages.

Here’s the view (rather cloudy) of the valley from Wouldham Common.

This is the longest run I have ever done and I am quite proud of myself. I am going to try and do this route more.

January 18 2014

I Don’t Get It

About five years ago there used to be three or four burnt out cars by the footpaths surrounding my village. The were rusty and were old, plants had grown in them and I couldn’t see a track or pathway to get them there. At some point there was a clean up and the footpaths and surrounds were back to a more natural look.

This morning on my run up the Downs and down them again I found a freshly burnt out car. It was still smoking. I don’t understand why someone would do this. I really don’t. It’s not that I care for cars, I just don’t get why you drive a car to a relatively quiet spot and set light to it. Seems pretty shit to me.

Here’s the route I ran:

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Here’s the car I found along Common Road at the top of the Downs.

Possibly a Vauxhall Corsa. I don’t really care.

November 23 2013November 23 2013

Views From My Run

On my run this morning I took some photographs because this area of Kent is lovely. It was nice and sunny, although cold. I run in the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Here’s my route:

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Here’re my photographs:

Kit’s Coty House – note the moon hanging around!

A road / footpath:

The North Downs taken half way up / down from the footpath from Burham to the Robin Hood pub:

A kind of triptych of the view just out of Burham on Church Street

West South West from Church Street — South West from Church Street

April 7 2013April 7 2013

DC Day Two

The second communication in a series of not many giving you the highlights of my trip to DC during the Easter break 2013.

This being the USA and me being a big eater of food, I decided to bring my running stuff, just in case I wanted to go for a jog. As it happens DC is a wonderful place to run and I might one day start a business doing jogging tours [not going to happen!].
On the sunday morning I woke up early and so went for a jog. The plan was to head through the woods down to the Potomac and then turn left and see where I would end up after about 2.5 to 3 miles. I jogged past the Watergate hotel and could then see the Lincoln Memorial, so I just decided to get there and attempt to run back. If I run more than 10k my body starts to break so I was a little worried about the distance I was going. It was well worth the effort and time.

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

After showering and breakfast, Rich and I headed to Nasa Goddard, aware it was Easter Sunday but according to the website they should be open. The weather was not brilliant but it was nice to be chatting and seeing more of the city. The car park at Goddard seemed rather empty and so it proved that the place was shut. Bugger. So we headed to Arlington.

Arlington Cemetery is one of those places that are fascinating to visit but leave you feeling bad about humanity and what we do to each other. We saw JFK’s grave and also the Lee house on the hill. The Pentagon was just peeking through the mist and rain now and then it it is HUGE. A reasonable walk took us to the United States Marine Corps Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the size of that is breath-taking. Just incredibly large. All of the places we saw are huge. I think everyone feels so comfortable with Washington DC because they have seen it on TV and film that they don’t realise just how much space and how big everything is. That and I come from quite a small island just off Europe which has no space and small twisty roads even in the cities.

We drove back home via Safeway and Barnes and Noble, where I bought my postcards and then we had lasagne for dinner. The evening was filled with Guitar Hero and Rock Band playing. Nice to have someone to share a game with. We mostly played Metallica guitar hero.

October 7 2012October 7 2012

Mapping My Run

Here’s a map of what has become my standard 5 mile (8 km) run. At the time of writing I am running this in the dark with my trusty head torch. It is about 3.5 miles of cross country running and 1.5 of road or pavement running. I really enjoy it.

Find more runs in Eccles, England

July 25 2012May 7 2017

Proud

I am rather proud of the run I did today. It was 4.85 miles, which isn’t the main thing. The thing I am most impressed with is that I ran around Burham Nature Reserve which is comething I’ve been meaning to do for a while. It was also rather hot today (26C).

[There was an iframe here that was linked to my MapMyRun account. But I have deleted the MapMyRun account. This is no more.]

This is a picture of the monument to the Battle of the Medway. Not to be confused with the Battle of the Midway!

July 23 2012

Vineyard Summer

This was taken by WW while out on a run today.
Beautiful [just like WW].

June 2 2012

Lovely View

Out on run yesterday and had just climbed 5-O hill (more later on that). The view over the Medway valley is lovely. Makes the climb worthwhile. For the route of the run click here.