All posts in June 2020

Same conditions as yesterday, practically the same result — a 9:27 mile. I’m feeling less agreeable to running again; it’s a nuisance, and the lack of evident progress demotivates me. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and I decided to make today a no-productivity-pressure day, so… So I read Alan Jacobs’s How to Think, a helpful reminder…

No offers of cigarettes this morning — indeed, I didn’t see anybody at all. The temperature was 12°, high (but not ‘very high’) pollen, moderately high humidity, breezy, but still a somewhat sluggish run: 9:28. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, wrote a manuscript report, and set to reading. Our front room this morning has been the…

This morning was almost chilly, 11°, though still with high humidity and high pollen count. While I was still warming up, a kind-hearted (perhaps still drunken) woman offered me a fag, on the impression that I was homeless and needed the proffered cigarette — that’s how scruffy I look with my lockdown hair, t-shirt and…

I started my morning run during a break in a drizzly dawn, but by the time I was well into my warm-up, the drizzle turned toward rain and the rain became steady, so I cut the mile short and returned home. Morning Office, Sainsbury’s for the newspaper, hot breakfast, and some slight reading and a…

A century of days, that is. This morning began at 18°, full humidity and ultra pollen, and although I felt better than yesterday physically (knees fine, back fine) I opted not to try to push for speed under the palpable mugginess. As a result, my mile came in over ten minutes (10:02), about which I…

The morning temperature was 17°, and the rest was as it has been — calm, clear, very humid, and the air dense with pollen. My knees were a bit stiff, my back felt twitchy, and I thought it the better part of fitness simply to make the run, without timing it, so I simply ran…

The morning climate was fine: clear, temperate (15°), calm, but distinctly humid and continuing with very high pollen. It felt a bit as though I were running and breathing in treacle. The mile came in at 9:36, which is all right. Got back in time to shower and dash to Tesco at opening, then home…

Another lovely, clear summer day — 12°, high humidity, very high pollen count, and no breezes, my mile in 9:34. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, and settling in to spend as much of the day reading as my eyes and attention span will permit. That turned out to be a good morning of steady reading, helped…

Today dawned clear, cool, calm, high humidity and with an extremely high pollen count. My legs felt leaden, and I didn’t push; I got home in 9:45. I’ve commented before on how unpredictable my times are — I don’t know what specific factors have drawn me back to these slower times after having trimmed my…

It was raining heavily when I woke up this morning, so I was inclined to write off my morning mile. Morning Office, and some work on Legends. At about eight o’clock, though, the rain had paused long enough that I reckoned it worthwhile to run the mile, though I took it at a very slow…

11°, very high pollen, 98% humidity, sluggish legs and challenging breathing, 9:32. Morning Office, separate trips to Tesco and Sainsbury’s (masked and compliant with distancing rules), hot breakfast, and most of the day devoted to Legends. I did receive an ultrasonic cleaner yesterday, with a view to clearing some of my vintage pens from the…

A chilly 13° and wet, very high pollen and 99.9% humidity. I managed to stomp my way to a 9:27 mile, but I felt sluggish the whole way. Morning Office, fruit breakfast, some internet distractions, and Legends. That was most of the day, and I’m getting near the end of the ‘Jacob’ section. I did…