food pictures

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Aliveandrunning February 14 2014

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Nice break from the wind and rain on Thursday around the Cambridge area, at least in the morning. I went for an eleven mile run, including a long stretch by the side of the Cam, stopping only to take some pics. I decided not to eat before running and therefore I didn’t have my daily porridge until around 1pm. Then I had my lunch at 1.30pm.

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Before the run I took Rupert for a walk in Worts Meadow.This tree is fascinating. It’s a walnut and despite having a huge hole in the trunk, still produces leaves and nuts. The sap still rises! The pool in front of he walnut is magical. Don’t scoff at the tree’s condition or suggest it should be cut down. The water will suck you down then spit you out like a cannon ball. It will remember you as well. Don’t take any risks. Openly offer the tree compliments. It’s very susceptible to flattery.

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Yesterday evening I made spaghetti bolognese, seen here in all its multi coloured glory, with mixed salad, chopped raw onion, cheese and red onion flatbread and broccoli (a reasonable substitute if you’re fed up with sprouts. Was it Dr Johnson who said “If you are tired of sprouts you are tired of life?)

I went for my annual cardio-vascular review at the surgery yesterday morning. I’m not sure if I saw a practice nurse or health care assistant. She clarified whether or not I had a problem with a high potassium reading (no), asked me a few questions to check for depression and took my weight and blood pressure, didn’t seem to know I had a heart attack 4 years ago and couldn’t tell me if my BMI of 20.4 was outside the “normal range”. She was friendly and pleasant but I couldn’t help wondering if the appointment was a waste of time. It’s more about ticking boxes to achieve a particular standard. It tells me nothing about the current state of my heart disease.

Extremely windy in the Cambridge area today although the trees in Milton Country Park (where Cambridge parkrun is held) gave a lot of protection. Still plenty of mud around to slow me down, though. I gathered up the signs and direction arrows again after the race. It felt odd retracing my steps on deserted trail paths, and curiously enjoyable.

I read today that two cyclists in Berkshire have been killed by a car being pursued by the police after a domestic incident. I suspect that giving chase to cars not willing to stop are regarded as a perk to the police and almost no consideration is given to public safety. If you accept the transactional analysis  model of our behaviour reflecting adult, child and parental elements in our personalities then the police frequently reveal they are stuck in the immature adolescent stage. This results in a motivation to drive fast cars fast with no reasonable justification and a mandate to provoke a lethal pursuit.

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Aliveandrunning February 12 2014

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Out running with the club last night. No rain but there was a bitter wind and after we left the track and made our way to where we ran 2 k loops (around a landscaped tech park), the wind chill only got worse. We broke up into 4 groups according to speed and whizzed around 4 loops. At one point I considered giving up. However I persevered and it got better. I wore SealSkinz gloves, a vest and two running jackets plus Ron Hill tracksters and still felt overwhelmed by the impact  of the wind. A large group of juniors were also running on the site and it was marvellous watching them suddenly apppear in a train form, running very smoothly and fast. Quite a few of them were kitted up in a top and shorts and seemed supremely comfortable.

When I returned home with wind trauma, I immediately self medicated with this banana cake, having baked it earlier just in case the wind turned nasty.

Decided not to run today and have a longer outing tomorrow. The River Cam is high at the moment and my son Nick had to negotiate a stretch of water covering the cycle path which runs into Cambridge. I’ll see if the path  is usable and, if so, do another 10 miler. I might need to offer a sacrifice to the appropriate wind god. But which one? And which culture? Greek, Egyptian, Aztec, or Japanese ? I’ll offer a libation to Zeus and ask his advice.

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Here’s a gratuitous picture of me in a typical insouciant pose just before taking Rupert out for a walk. Let the elements do their worst ; my trapper’s hat will see it all off.

I listened to America’s Horse With No Name while cooking this evening. Great lyrics! I particularly liked “In the desert you can remember your name cos there aint no-one for to give you no pain.” Nice triple negative. Does it mean there are no people who would do no harm to you but, by implication, plenty of people who are a threat to well being ?