Day 80 - 4 miles
Swift 4 mile evening run today, as had spent the day in Leeds = graduating! My penchant for endurance events extends beyond running. A full 9 years ago, as I finished my first degree and pondered on what my options in life were, I decided that I wanted to be a dietitian. If I was into the 100 metre sprint approach, I would then have taken stock of this decision, worked out the most efficient and fastest way to go about this, and got it done pronto. I dislike sprinting though (unless at the end of a race, when lots of people are watching), and so in the end it took 3 attempts to get onto the course to train to be a dietitian, meanwhile I lost focus on it several times, and did a different degree, and then tried another career. But finally I was successful in getting on the postgraduate course at Leeds Beckett University, and two years later - the finish line is crossed! (looking and feeling much the same as when crossing the finish line of a marathon, emotionally and physical drained, and really craving a cup of tea, but secretly enjoying the feeling).
I am doubly pleased, as I finally have a graduation gown in a colour I like. My sister had a pink hood on her gown (my favourite colour), which has been a source of great distress to me for many years, while I had to make do with pale blue and yellow. I now have pictures in a purple hood with green, which are my second and third favourite colours respectively, and so now I feel it's an appropriate point to retire from studying.
I dug out my PhD thesis from under a pie of dust the other day (the pile of dust slightly dampens the feeling of anxiety I get every time I look at it), polished it off, and looked at the first page, which was my acknowledgements page. It is written in a very sombre and sincere style (a tone which I have since lost), but despite this, I feel the sentiment is the same today, so instead of being bothered to write something similar, I have simply uploaded it from the recesses of a dusty bookshelf. But really - thanks everyone!
One more thing to say about today, and then, you will be pleased to hear, that's it. During my graduation ceremony, an honorary doctorate was presented to John Walsh, Practice Manager York Street Health Practice in Leeds, for his work over the last 20 years with homeless people in the city. In his excellent speech, he summed up what he had learnt from this experience as "people matter, kindness counts, and together we can make a difference" which I like very much, and have stolen (although fully referenced).
Day 81 - 11 miles
Today I was abandoned at the bottom of Winter Hill (on the Belmont side, of all sides) and left to make my own way home, like a pigeon.
I imagine that going up Winter Hill is very nice in the summer. But today it rained all the way up. When I got to the top it was quite busy, a man walking a dog, a runner, and a car. It was almost as busy as the last time I was up here a few weeks back, a few miles in to the Bolton Hill Marathon. Realising I was on the route, I took a detour and ran a bit of it, for old times sake, imagining that people were running alongside me and people were clapping us, rather than running by myself, through a cloud. Toe be fair, it actually got hot enough to take my coat off, which is quite remarkable, given it's July.
A few miles later I arrived at Rivington Pike, and began a steep descent down the hill. The sun had clearly had other engagements by then, and had disappeared. For those unfamiliar with Rivington Pike it is....."a hill summit on Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moors, overlooking the village of Rivington in Lancashire. The Pike is a prominent local landmark which derives its name from the Old English hreof plus ing meaning the rough or rugged hill and pic, a pointed eminence." So there you go, we learn something every day. I realised once getting there that I had never been there by myself before, which is odd, as I've been there loads of times with family. But today, it was empty. As in, completely empty, bar a squirrel. It was spooky going down all the rickety old steps through the woods, past all the derelict buildings, in the semi darkness, as it now looked like rain. I ran quickly down the steps, not looking behind me, for fear that a goul might be floating down the steps in pursuit.
It poured down when I got to the bottom, but I was running through woods by then, so got one over on the weather. Ha! Ran back along the reservoirs, and a point of note occurred when a man walking shouted at me that I was "a bit late, aren't you, for an IronWoman!". I was unsure if this was a compliment or an insult. The IronMan UK event was the Sunday just gone, where athletes completed a 2.4 mile swim in Pennington Flash, cycled 112 miles around the Lancashire countryside, and finished off with running a marathon, in Bolton. I pointed out, that if I had started this on Sunday, I could very well still be doing it, in fact would likely still by sat on the bank of Pennington Flash, weeping. I am unsure if the gentleman had clocked this, just by looking at me, or if he was indicating that I looked like an Ironwoman. I feel the former is more likely. In other IronMan news, I have finally discovered what a tattoo I keep seeing on the back of runners legs is:
It's the IronMan logo! And thus concludes our foray into triathlon trivia. From now on, we will return to running.
Stats
Total days: 81 days
Total miles: 837 miles
