Hopelessly, hopelessly lost.
No, not in any sort of spiritual or emotional way. We're talking physically and spectacularly lost on yesterday's run. There was a plan, I was organised, I don't know how things could have gone so awry. Here was the plan:
I knew I'd have a few hours between work and, well, work yesterday so I thought, I know what I'll do with my time, I'll do my Friday run somewhere different. Going to be a nice day, why not make the most of the Scottish countryside? I was very well prepared, I planned out the route on good old Mapometer - a lovely jaunt through Glamis and out on the country roads to the West...I repeat, the WEST of Glamis. Now, having no GPS watch or Google Maps on my phone - I know, both of which leave me around caveman level in today's society - I wrote down the directions (with a pen and piece of paper...shock horror).
Something you have to understand is my brain holds about as much information as a leaky boot so, perhaps not surprisingly, I left the directions at home, on the kitchen table. But I thought, that's alright, I had a good look at the route on the computer, I know the way!
I can tell you right now, those fateful words should be emblazoned in the most ironic sense across my backside. Some of the sights on the supposed-to-be-6-mile-run-but turned-into-10, which I really shouldn't have been seeing were as follows:
Several farms (straight through the middle of, to the bewildered looks of quite a few farmers)
Several fields (complete with crops and debatable 'tracks')
Locked gates and barbed wire fences (should really have picked up on the fact they were in place to STOP people from entering...)
Castle grounds (and no, not just the estate, I managed to confuse several tourists and groundskeepers as I passed them at speed in the peaceful, well kept Walled Gardens)
KFC and McDonalds (how did I even!!! I was supposed to be on country roads to the WEST of Glamis, but both these establishments, I knew, were so far East it's incredible!)
The fact I even found the village with my car in it - and the food, importantly - was thanks to Nice-Mr-Lawnmower-Man who, after a seemingly never ending farm track during the most humid part of the day was my saviour, marked out I'm pretty sure in a glowing halo...or perhaps I was just delirious by this point. With a certain amount of concern for not only my current, sweaty state, but also for the busy road he was directing me onto which, in his opinion, was no good for runners to be on, he sent me on my way (cannot thank this man enough!). And he was totally, totally right - that road was an absolute shit to run on. Because, when I say road, I mean two minutes on the tarmac before having to hop onto the soggy, uneven grass 'verge' to let a stream of traffic pass, any of which to actually notice my existence did not seem happy about it.
I'm pretty sure I styled the whole thing out pretty well though...
So, with a sigh of relief because it is Saturday (REST DAY!!), it's good-day from the thankful-to-still-be-alive runner :)
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ShauneyWatson
I knew I'd have a few hours between work and, well, work yesterday so I thought, I know what I'll do with my time, I'll do my Friday run somewhere different. Going to be a nice day, why not make the most of the Scottish countryside? I was very well prepared, I planned out the route on good old Mapometer - a lovely jaunt through Glamis and out on the country roads to the West...I repeat, the WEST of Glamis. Now, having no GPS watch or Google Maps on my phone - I know, both of which leave me around caveman level in today's society - I wrote down the directions (with a pen and piece of paper...shock horror).
Something you have to understand is my brain holds about as much information as a leaky boot so, perhaps not surprisingly, I left the directions at home, on the kitchen table. But I thought, that's alright, I had a good look at the route on the computer, I know the way!
I can tell you right now, those fateful words should be emblazoned in the most ironic sense across my backside. Some of the sights on the supposed-to-be-6-mile-run-but turned-into-10, which I really shouldn't have been seeing were as follows:
Several farms (straight through the middle of, to the bewildered looks of quite a few farmers)
Several fields (complete with crops and debatable 'tracks')
Locked gates and barbed wire fences (should really have picked up on the fact they were in place to STOP people from entering...)
Castle grounds (and no, not just the estate, I managed to confuse several tourists and groundskeepers as I passed them at speed in the peaceful, well kept Walled Gardens)
KFC and McDonalds (how did I even!!! I was supposed to be on country roads to the WEST of Glamis, but both these establishments, I knew, were so far East it's incredible!)
The fact I even found the village with my car in it - and the food, importantly - was thanks to Nice-Mr-Lawnmower-Man who, after a seemingly never ending farm track during the most humid part of the day was my saviour, marked out I'm pretty sure in a glowing halo...or perhaps I was just delirious by this point. With a certain amount of concern for not only my current, sweaty state, but also for the busy road he was directing me onto which, in his opinion, was no good for runners to be on, he sent me on my way (cannot thank this man enough!). And he was totally, totally right - that road was an absolute shit to run on. Because, when I say road, I mean two minutes on the tarmac before having to hop onto the soggy, uneven grass 'verge' to let a stream of traffic pass, any of which to actually notice my existence did not seem happy about it.
I'm pretty sure I styled the whole thing out pretty well though...
So, with a sigh of relief because it is Saturday (REST DAY!!), it's good-day from the thankful-to-still-be-alive runner :)
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ShauneyWatson
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