Saturday, June 11, 2016

Starting All Over All Over Again (And Random Bowling Pins)

   Well, I guess I'm not totally starting all over again but when you run as sporadically as I do it never feels as though you really have a base to run on. It's only when I remember what the running used to be like back in the olden days that I realize I actually do have a bit of a base going on there....
The street, without me
   It was hot today, scheduled for a high of 31C (88F) and I don't know why I didn't either head out first thing this morning or wait until this evening but, NO, I went running mid-day! This has never really bothered me in the past and I've been in all sorts of environments where I was forced into heavy physical exertion under hot conditions so I headed out anyway.
   Once again, my plan was to run 5K as slow as I could. This was dictated only slightly by the weather and probably more so by the lack of recent running.
The street, with me
   My legs felt pretty good (lots of rest!) and soon after I headed out I decided that I would try and run the whole way without a break. Half way through the run, I knew this wouldn't be an issue, even in the heat. I finished with a goshawful time of 48:35 (not sure why I even just told you that) and I knew at the end of the run that I could have really stepped things up, speed-wise, but I very much wanted to stick to the plan, such as it was. My arrival back at the house pretty much co-incided with the arrival of Duncan, a neighbour's Scotch (Scottish?) terrier and I had his master (whose name I don't even know) snap a pic of me, up against our "Leaning Linden" tree. I look happy in the pic but my eyes were full of sweat and stinging terribly. A couple of hours later and I am still replacing fluids!
   Okay enough about the run because in the blog title I think I also mentioned something about random bowling pins, didn't I?
   On Thursday of this week, I was rummaging through  the shed of someone I know and found a cardboard box full of bowling pins! I talked to the gentleman who had left them there and he said he had randomly found them in an alleyway in downtown London and had brought them home. Each pin had been signed by members of the 2015-16 London Knights, the local junior hockey team. Last week, the Knights won the Memorial Cup which actually makes them the best junior hockey team in Canada (and possibly the world) but the significance of this was lost on the gentleman, who is not a sports fan and did not look at the pins really closely. I attempted to explain both the significance and value of the find to him and convinced him that they really should be returned to the team or at least let the team know about it. He was happy enough to let me take them with me and I, for my part, have contacted the Knights and am waiting to hear back from them. The weird things you find!
The bowling pins. Hockey players these
days really need to learn to sign legibly!