Wimpole Hall Estate

by

Everyone is running except me! It’s criminal!!!!!!!

12186798_1060275160673842_993717652538751333_o

Good witch and tailrunner Diane tries to give me the evil eye as she accompanies this 80-84 category parkrunner at Wimpole Estate yesterday. I was marshaling by a long straight stretch adjacent to the lake and combined this sacred duty with taking a couple of hundred photos. That’s so like me. Just selflessly working on behalf of others without a thought for my own needs or comfort. Well, all that’s gonna change when I recover from my already-one-month old injury. It’ll be about me me me from then on. Still unsure when “my time” commences. Having fallen heavily on rubble and then run 12 miles on a quadriceps injury, it’s slowly getting better but it really is at a snail’s pace.I haven’t attempted to run over the last month because bending my left knee has been painful and movement is limited.

Anyway, I have a cunning plan! I start running prematurely and to my intense surprise and shock, re-injure myself. Obviously I wouldn’t be that stupid, would I? Unfortunately, it’s a great temptation. It’s sooooo frustrating watching Lorna and my running chums take part in races that are currently forbidden to me due to a ridiculous injury. I blame the farmer for laying down rubble to give traction to his heavy farm machinery during muddy weather, gravity for pulling my foot down causing me to stumble headlong, my running shoes for not thinking out of the box and warning me of impending danger and the weak megaphone which caused me not to hear the race director’s specific mention of the section of dangerous terrain (I was warming up at this point). In  a nutshell, my accident wasn’t my fault and I had to de-friend someone who suggested I don’t pick my feet up sufficiently. Condensed version of the above : I don’t like being unable to run.

DSC_0390

Lorna powers ahead to finish our local Bonfire Burn 10k while I languish like a beached jellyfish on the sidelines.

DSC_0433

These are runners. They have run 10k. How lucky are they?

12189388_1060266134008078_2795031234993613871_o                                                                    12185163_1060266170674741_5840595523414540355_o

This is Diane, hardworking race director at Wimpole Estate parkrun addressing the throng and again, with a young parkrunner.

IMG_20151101_205242483

Small compensation in the Wimpole pre-loved -but- now -wickedly -discarded -and -crying -out- for -an appreciative -home book shop.

I rest my case. Good night!

by

Still injured and no running on the horizon. It’s an Existential crisis. Help!

IMG_20150926_122155968.

This is the best front page I have seen on a running magazine. It’s the current November 2015 issue. I suspect that most of the front page females (and the occasional male) runners are models, at least in the most popular mags and are hardly representative of the mass of people running. This picture shows an undeniably overweight young woman, enjoying herself and showing good running form. She’s overweight but looks fit. It’s a cliche but I’ll use it. She’s inspirational and this image will give positive encouragement to legion other potential runners.

It’s two weeks since I fell at the Wimpole half marathon and injured my quadriceps. Recovery remains slow. I can still only go up stairs one at a time and I’ve only started to drive locally a few days ago. I did walk Cambridge parkrun last weekend (in 48 minutes) but in hindsight, it was a mistake and set me back several days. In hindsight, it was a mistake to continue to run 12 miles after I fell and also a mistake not to be doubly careful running over large rubble stones which really should have not been there in the first place. I can hear women all over the world mutter “typical male decision making”.

I marshaled at Cambridge parkrun today. Very enjoyable. I spoke to Mary Holmes (75-79) who is still getting sub 30 minutes and asked after Peter Chaplin (80-84) who used to run at Cambridge but is no longer coming. That’s a pity. He’s still physically able to take part, I think. These two people are excellent role models and demonstrate that age need not be an insurmountable obstacle to running and physical exercise.

IMG_20151017_191303973

I came across a few Ladybird books in the loft recently.The Old Woman and her Pig and The Magic Porridge Pot are beautifully surreal stories and finely illustrated, much superior to the Disney-fied later editions. They were cheap, hardback, had pictures every other page and could be easily read in one sitting. Parents, seek these out on Ebay! But beware of the The Record Breakers (1970) which shows various sporting records. There are 19 text pages and 19 facing illustrations of superlative achievements by men. There is one page and picture of a female long jumper whose Elfin appearance makes her look like a young boy. So, no female role models in this Ladybird reading scheme. If you must own this edition, keep it under lock and key and show it to no-one, particularly children.

by

I REMAIN SUBSTANTIALLY CLOBBERED. IT’S NOT MY FAULT. I BLAME THE EVIL TORY GOVERNMENT.

IMG-20151010-WA0004

Six days ago, I came a cropper during the Hoohaah Wimpole half marathon falling heavily on rubble. My left thigh took most of the impact. I picked myself up, dusted myself off and started all over again (thanks, Nat King Cole). I fell at just over  a mile in and continued running for the next 12 miles. By the evening I was hardly weight bearing on my left leg leg and couldn’t bent it at the knee.

Now it’s six days on.There’s clearly been some improvement but it’s slow. I think I’ve had an impact injury to my quadriceps (and specifically to the rectus femoris), the type that footballers get when they get kicked in the thigh. I can walk but not jog, I haven’t been able to drive and I’ve got limited movement in my knee joint because any kind of stretching movement hurts.

Today is parkrun day and if I didn’t do it, I know I would have been subjected to a torrent of hate mail, Sinton-Hewitt would have been on my case and people would have openly wept in the streets of Cambridge. I don’t want that kind of attention so I decided to walk it .Usually Cambridge  attracts around 450 runners and more often than not a few people are walking most of it. Unfortunately, no-one walked it today although I wasn’t too far behind the people in front of me. Cambridge junior parkrun provided all the volunteers , including the 13 year old run director Chloe who gave a very confident pre-run  address to the assembled crowd. I was accompanied by tail runner 12 year old Ben who was very supportive to me and gave vocal encourage to the myriad runners who flashed past us. I hope he didn’t hear me grinding my teeth as I watched them recede into the distance. I came in at just over 48 minutes which, interestingly, is exactly twice the time I do it on this course when I go full pace. Young Benji, who has cerebral palsy, started late and came in a minute behind me. He ran with his mum and came in strongly to enormous applause.

Hopefully, I may be able to gently trot around Cambridge parkrun next weekend and then the subsequent one will be my 250th. It won’t be a PB!

Recent reports show the NHS in dire financial straits, suffering financial mismanagement, imply inefficiencies, experiencing poor staffing levels, missing targets and spending mountains of money on agency staff. If you treat the NHS as a market economy, require it to compete and make a “profit”, continuously emphasise poor financial governance, cut staff levels, employ dodgy borrowing devices with the private sector, continually reinforce the private sector has the nous, nerve and expertise to do a great (and cheaper) job and create standards which are designed to fail because of under funding, then it’s an inevitable set of outcomes.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/09/chain-failings-led-death-charlotte-bevan-newborn-baby-coroner-rules

This is a very, very sad coroner’s report of the death of a mother and her newly born baby. She had a long history of mental ill health, sectioning under the Mental Health Act and had stopped medication in order to breastfeed. Tragically, she left a Bristol maternity hospital unchallenged and killed herself and her child shortly afterwards.

Reading the coroner’s comments and conclusions, it’s hard to comprehend the apparent complete lack of joined up, considered care for a patient who is so obviously at risk.. Vulnerable mothers with a history of severe mental illness have been having pregnancies and births for decades in a health system which is a aware of the level of input required to ensure the safety and well being  of mother and baby. I don’t think this event occurred because of a lack of understanding of the health requirements. I think it’s much more likely to be due to staff shortages, cost and unavailability. These days, I can’t accept that general hospital staff are so out of touch with mental health issues that they are capable of willfully ignoring them.

 

 

 

by

HOOHAAH WIMPOLE HALF MARATHON – I GET CLOBBERED !!!

12079992_1095935427085000_3530819183672775867_o

Here I am, cruising along effortlessly,way ahead of everyone apart from the 102 people in front of me. But this relaxed, highly efficient running style  obscures a painful reality. At just over a mile into the half, we encountered a newly laid rubble farm road, full of large, sharp, vicious stones just waiting to wreak havoc. We had been warned about this surface and it couldn’t be avoided. Nevertheless, I failed to pick my feet up sufficiently, stumbled and fell flat. I don’t remember falling in a race before and I don’t intend to repeat the experience. It was embarrassing and very painful. I landed heavily on my left thigh and hands, got up, reckoned I was fit enough to carry on and started running again. My thigh continued to hurt but there was no discomfort in my knees or hips and the cuts on my hands were minor. I couldn’t see any bones protruding. So I carried on and did 12 more miles. When I stopped running my thigh started to stiffen up and swell. By the evening it was virtually non weight bearing and finding a comfortable position sitting or sleeping was very difficult. It’s more comfortable today although flexibility is limited.

Still, given the fall and residual cold symptoms, I did OK. The weather was lovely, the course a delight (mostly) and I met up with a number of chums who looked after me.

The previous day we did a bit of parkrun tourism and ran Brandon Country Park, a very enjoyable trail path about 40 minutes away from Milton.

11225246_10207469922096979_2812514304206249149_o

I am in a yellow jacket flanked by two running pals who didn’t run at Brandon. Kerry, in the red jacket, has a parkrun PB of 21 mins 24 secs this year and Mike, his arch rival, on my other side, has a PB of 22 mins 8 secs this year. They are both in the 65-69 age bracket and neither have been running longer than 3 years. There’s no justice in parkrun world. I think I’ll object to a higher authority on the grounds that parkrun is a social run not a race. They obviously take it too seriously.

We seem to have done a lot of running and socialising this weekend!

by

Books, bookshops, a polytunnel, running, Tories scupper Humanity, an old door.

DSC_0020

The Oxfam bookshop in Durham, where we stayed, and a short train journey from Newcastle and the Great North Run. Second hand books on three floors. Lovely shop, huge selection of books but substantially more expensive than any other comparable shop.

DSC_0074

Oohh… look!  A load of orange Penguins and old Pelicans.

DSC_0076

I toyed with the idea of hiding in the shop overnight but decided against it. The sheer volume of all these pre-loved  books weighed heavily upon me. I didn’t want to risk overdosing on the written word.

Back to the running world. I’m doing a half marathon on the Wimpole Estate in 8 days and only started training for it 5 days ago. In those 5 days I’ve done two 10 mile runs without any problem and I’ll probably do another 10 or 11 mile run and a parkrun before the half. This should be adequate for me to get around the course without the pressure of going all out. It’s nicely undulating and mainly trail. The last time I ran it (2013) I came in at 1 hour 55 minutes. I anticipate 2 minutes longer this time.

I often run along the river Cam, which, depending on the time of the season, is littered with anglers. As a rule, they never acknowledge anyone passing and continue to stare vacantly into the water in the forlorn hope of catching a luckless fish. They are invariably alone and occasionally smoking. All appear to have a sense of humour bypass otherwise they would be continually laughing at the notion that fishing is a sport. Anyway, for the first time in 16 years of running by the river, one of the fishing people actually turned around, smiled and said hello. And then, to add to the sense of unreality, he made a comment expressing surprise that a group of young lads who just  passed us were not in school. I responded in kind and had to stop myself commenting that he wasn’t following accepted protocol governing angler/runner interaction. I ran on, light in heart, relishing our transgressive behaviour. If I see him again it’ll be my turn to take the initiative. I hope he hasn’t been cast out of the fishing world for unauthorised contact with a runner. Only joking (mildly).

Guy

My polytunnel is up and running! This is Guy who masterminded the construction. Green Minds, my fledgling therapeutic gardening project is progressing very, very slowly. The actual site is being developed by friend and charity trustee, Rebecca and myself but referrals to Green Minds have yet to materialise. The timescale for things to happen is a lot longer than I had anticipated. It will happen, I’m sure, and I’m very grateful for generous financial and plant donations from friends Elaine and Robert.

This Guardian piece on the “downfall” of Cambridge’s Addenbrookes hospital is worth reading for its perspective on so called “failing” hospitals.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/22/cqc-jeremy-hunt-nhs-hit-squad-addenbrookes-hospital

Strangely enough, here’s another Guardian article, this time on the baleful nature of drug pricing. Beyond dismal. Sort it out Jeremy!http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/23/uk-cancer-patients-being-denied-drugs-due-to-inflated-prices-say-expertsents-being-denied-drugs-due-to-inflated-prices-say-experts

DSC_0018

Finally, here’s a lovely old door, currently attached to Durham Cathedral. What’s behind it, God only knows!

by

An increasing circle of running friends

IMG_20150822_104409446_HDR

Last Saturday at Wimpole Estate parkrun. The weather was excellent, we all had a good run and then had coffee and homemade cake to celebrate a 100h parkrun.

Six years to the day, today, since I had my heart attack at 58. Within 3 hours, I was stented, returned to the ward, spent two nights in hospital, discharged home to the care of my wife, Lorna and began a period of recuperation and recovery. I attended an excellent rehab programme at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge consisting of a series of cardiac, diet and lifestyle talks and later physical rehabilitation in the hospital gym where it was a sobering sight seeing very ill or disabled people struggling to recover. Concerning the national uptake for cardiac rehabilitation, Addenbrookes was one of the highest at 46% (that is, 54% of suitable cardiac candidates declined the opportunity). 12 planned sessions of increasing, monitored activity. I enjoyed these sessions and had complete confidence in the experienced staff (cardiac rehab nurses, sports scientist and dietician).

My only serious criticism of the Addenbrookes cardiac care path was the absence of psychological and emotional focus in the rehab programme and particularly the impact on close family. Probably my experience of a myocardial infarction wasn’t typical. I quickly self diagnosed I was having a heart attack, I didn’t experience pain, I wasn’t frightened, I had complete confidence in the ambulance crew, the paramedic and the hospital staff. Unfortunately it was very different for Lorna who wasn’t with me at the time and had to make her own way to the hospital and wait a long time for information about me. It was a far more traumatic experience for her. Subsequently, the rehab programme seemed to marginalise the family and didn’t appear to recognise that some patients were depressed, anxious or frightened,

Overall, I feel lucky to have had a cardiac episode in the Addenbrookes/Papworth Hospital area. Even when I made a discreet complaint (to the cardiac rehab nurse) about the arrogant and rude attitude of a registrar at an out patient appointment, it was sorted out quickly and without fuss.

Six months later, I discovered Cambridge parkrun which had started 5 weeks previously and I’ve never looked back. Running didn’t stop me having a heart attack but it furnished me with a level of fitness that allowed me to recover and continue running at a satisfactory level which includes 10ks and half marathons. That’s more than good enough.

by

Fast Fruit?

19977742704_199b0fd649_b [287532]

Wimpole Estate parkrun. I look like an escaped banana pursued by smoothie bounty hunters but this astute and discerning photographer saw through the comic potential and recorded this classic, timeless running image. And to top it all, I was the first person to come in at number 76.

The weather was very kind on Saturday, the cows with their scary pointy horns sat around playing Monopoly, forsaking their menacing poses and ignoring the runners  and even the sheep, famously daft, kept out of our way. Three of our friends from deepest Essex, came up to run with us and we gave a lift to another pal who usually runs at Cambridge. Post race, we had coffee and a bite to eat in the National Trust café and sat around chatting for an hour. A brief visit to the pre-loved bookshop yielded only three old OS maps despite being horribly tempted by serendipity, and then home.

Gorgon Brown, ex Labour prime Minister for a month or two after Tony Blair, gave a speech today containing a “coded message”, warning against choosing a Labour leader who would be divisive and make Labour unelectable at the next election. Using skills gained during a visit to Bletchley Park several years ago, I rapidly decoded the hidden message and concluded he was referring to Jeremy Corbyn. This is the same Gorgon Brown who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer so proudly boasted of light touch regulation of the banks and financial institutions which allowed them to run amok. The same Gorgon Brown in the Blair government that was utterly determined to pitch into the Iraq war with the Americans. The same Gorgon Brown, who along with all the other Labour heavyweights and the Miliband shadow government, utterly failed to address the evil Tories’ onslaught of rhetoric which continually blamed the Labour party in power for all the debt and economic ills whilst affecting a “we care about the common people and your NHS” stance. An extremely poor judge, to put it mildly!

DSC_0161 [307646]

This pic features Ms Alive and Running establishing whether or not it was safe to go near to the edge. This was an independent decision, undertaken without my consent. I’m sure if I had done this, severe  criticism would have ensued.

DSC_0122 [307884]

Part of the Seven Sisters, East Sussex between the Birling gap and Beachy Head, the coastal bit of the South Downs. Very hilly. Excellent running country. Useless for high diving or cliff top homes.

Cambridge Half Marathon, end of February 2016 : interest registered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by

RUN, DON’T QUESTION!

DSC_1008

DSC_1003

 

Wimpole Estate parkrun nearly two weeks ago. This shows the courtyard tower and below ye old spinning lady creating yarn and ye old knitted items to buy. National trust, so guaranteed to be an interesting parkland course, very middle class, frightening to aficionados of modern architecture and to have plenty of sprightly elderly  volunteers who enthusiastically inform you of the history of the stately home and its grand rooms. I think the vast majority of runners will feel grateful to have the opportunity to run in such an environment (as long as they don’t dwell to deeply on issues like social equality, class experiences, the have and the have nots etc. Come to think about it, weren’t many of our most proud cities built on the proceeds of slavery and exploitation?) It’s just that kind of thinking that can be very distracting and slow down your parkrun time. So my advice is to forget the past. It’s literally dead in the water. Thinking too much can raise all sorts of awkward questions. You start to question everything and then things can really go awry. Look at all those people hell bent on supporting Jeremy Corbyn’s bid to lead the Labour Party. The Loony Left (as defined by most of the Labour Party and the entire evil Tory Party) clearly think too much, question too much and as a result will cause the Labour movement to implode. So, the lesson to be learned is be socially aware and compassionate up to a point, listen to moderation, don’t be seduced by attractive but totally unrealistic policies and accept the banks and poorly governanced capitalism are sometimes not run in the best interests of everyone but ultimately and mysteriously create maximum wealth for society as a whole. Does it really matter if the Tories fool most of the people most of the time? They seem to have a handle on most things. And they’re absolutely brilliant at evil.

Anyway back to running. Recent parkrun controversy. Complaints were made concerning a fast runner or runners (unknown) pushing aside a slower runner as they lapped them on the narrow woodland course. This happens only occasionally and is entirely unacceptable. If identified, the culprit should be returned to evil Tory Party Head Office and re-programmed. No-one was identified, there was a lot of condemnation of the egregious behaviour and a lot of emphasis on parkrun being a run not a race. In fact it’s a time trial! Of course this would carry greater weight if the results weren’t organised from the fastest time to the slowest in a clear hierarchy (as in a race). Luckily, we all know it’s a run (except the ones who persist in believing it’s a race). I must acknowledge the run director handled the issue very adeptly and very fairly. It’s not easy managing to please 400 plus people charging around a narrow two circuit course.

I went running over the South Downs around Brighton in Sussex this week Lovely, undulating trails which allowed me to do a bit of hill work denied to me in Cambridge.

Warning : this blog contains irony and litotes. Reading is undertaken at your own risk!!!!

by

A Rather Large Statue at Kings Cross St. Pancras Railway Station

DSC_0652

Kings Cross St. Pancras Station. The Meeting Place, a 9 metre statue by British sculptor Paul Day, situated under the clock, or two clocks actually.

DSC_0663

I was in London recently, travelling down from Cambridge, to attend an outpatient appointment at Moorfields eye hospital which I calculate to be around 3 miles from the station by foot. This was the fourth time I had walked to the hospital and the first time I got lost. I have a sixth sense when it comes to choosing a direction and almost always I choose the wrong one when I decide to “improve” the route.  I got even more lost when I walked back to Kings Cross. No matter. I find it very pleasurable walking in London. I crossed over the Grand Union canal a couple of times. I think all of it is walkable along its tow path right up to Birmingham, 137 miles away.

I’m having “issues” with myself concerning running with my club and I’m not running so regularly at present. A number of the slower, older runners of which I am one, now seem have to have dropped out and I’m road running with much faster, younger clubbers. I’m missing some training sessions but I’ll still hang on. I continue to do parkrun weekly and I’m only 12 away from the 250th which is pleasing. I did a 10k race at the beginning of the month and another 10k at the National Trust Wimpole Hall Estate last week. But part of me wants to run alone as I did for nearly 30 years before loads of races started appearing  and before parkrun came along. Am I reverting to type? No, not really but the reality is that I don’t have much in common with most runners I know apart from running. And I have a limited capacity to talk about running. Or any sport!

I’ve signed up for an introductory creative writing course, starting in September and 10 sessions in length. I’m looking forward to it. It should kick start my interest in writing again. Hopefully I’ll be motivated to look again at the 70,000 word children’s novel I wrote but never revised. I completed the bare bones of it following my heart attack nearly 6 years ago but it’s lain fallow for the last 5 years. I was told that children can smell the author’s own moralising a mile off when it’s superimposed on characters. But somebody has to tell the young what’s what! They gotta learn, aint they? All right!Guilty as charged.

Jeremy Corbyn, prospective Labour Party leader, in the upcoming leadership contest and now apparently a real contender. A relatively radical left winger and old style Labour activist. The moderates and moderate Right Labour MPs are now having kittens at his unexpected support, fearing they will be unelectable as a Party at the next election. A modern acronym sums this up : LOL! What the left needs to do is create a new and compelling response to the black propaganda spewing out from the evil, self serving Tory party for the last 5 years.

My bloody book on druidism still hasn’t arrived ! I ordered it from the Guardian Bookshop nearly 6 weeks ago. My spiritual enlightenment remains on hold.

 

 

by

Alive and Running April 19 2015

WP_20150419_015 New tactics for parkrun. It’s a good example of thinking outside of the box. I was musing (metaphorically) about scything down the competition and then I thought  why not in actuality! So when I saw this scythe at a local garage sale, I knew the universe was giving me something I needed. I bought it for a song ( Let It Be, and I threw in a shortened version of American Pie as an encore). I still have to figure out where to place myself on the start line but that’s not likely to be a problem since I think there’ll be plenty of space around me wherever I choose to stand (particularly if I’m wearing something black and hooded.

Anyway, back to a pre-scythe parkrun at Wimpole Estate yesterday. It went OK. Not too cold, a reasonable time and some unexpected sun. There was a frost at 7.45 am when I walked Rupert the dalmatian but by 9 am it had warmed up sufficiently to run without a jacket. A good cup of coffee and a fruit scone with strawberry jam in the National Trust restaurant/cafe with Ms Alive and Running and our running chums completed a very enjoyable morning.

DSC_0911

In the afternoon we went into Cambridge for a birthday meal. The sun remained out and the scene on the Cam was barely distinguishable from the Venetian Grand Canal.

1374832_856387551044467_4581921936816377248_n

And so, today, to Ickworth House, which is a rotunda, to run a Hoohaar 10k on the estate. I think all races should be held on National Trust properties. Great facilities (lavatories instead of toilets, lovely large, airy cafes, wonderful grounds) and entry to the right class of person. The plebs are turned away at the Gate House and advised to go and run in a public park. Only joking! The hoi polloi are guaranteed entry everywhere.

The race went well and I knocked off 90 seconds from last year. There is an evil hill at 9k which slowed me down considerably but I’m not complaining (much). It’s a beautiful course, mainly trail, and undulating. Unfortunately one of our running friends, who moved to Yorkshire and came down for this race, fell and injured her knee. Unable to continue, she had to hobble back because of a lack of mobile signal and inadequate contingency arrangements.

And speaking of class based entertainment, one can do no better than listen to BBC Radio 4’s Paul Temple and the Gregory Affair, a 2013 production of Francis Durbridge’s detective drama at 11.30 am on Fridays. Paul Temple, his wife , Steve (female) and the top policemen have cut glass English accents and weld power effortlessly with confidence and panache. Gentle drama, gentle comedy and so redolent of a 30’s and 40’s class divided Britain.