This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Well it is past 2 am and my brain is still buzzing away and refusing to consider sleep. I have been through my blog list and commented on a few. Apologies if I have made no sense, what’s new you all say, or left very bad spelling. Okay off to try and find something boring on TV to shut my brain off, and no I will not stoop to watching Big Brother. I have totally ignored it this year and I will continue to do so.
Night, night.
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
The results of the Helensburgh 10K race that I took part in last Thursday are online. I finished in 943 place out of 958. My official time was better than my estimate 01h 12m 33s my only other time over 10K was 01h 07m 01s. Another outcome of the race on Thursday was that it became obvious to me that I needed a new pair of running shoes. I have loved my asics GT-2090 that I bought two years ago since I first ran in them, they are so light I hardly knew I had them on, sadly after Thursday my feet were sore in a way they should not have been. When I wore other trainers or shoes they were okay but when I put on the GT’s my feet started to complain. Looking at the soles they are well worn and my arches are not getting enough support.
Today being a holiday here I took a leisurely stroll into town to the Run 4 It section at the Tiso shop. I had a look at the shoes they had but there were a few people about trying on shoes so I couldn’t get to some of them, so I decided to grab something to eat at the in store cafe.
I had a nice bowl of soup with crusty bread and a pot of tea, being the sad geek I am I took a picture of the cup of tea and tea pot.
When I returned to the shoes I was able to spot the pair I had in mind, the asics GT-2110. These are the current version of my old shoes and when I tried them on they felt good. They have a treadmill in the shop so you can try your shoes while running which is a good idea, the new shoes felt like my old ones at their best when I took a run, so I am now the happy owner of a nice new pair of running shoes with that new trainer smell 
I hope to go out for a little run tomorrow evening to test them out a bit more and they will get a good run on Thursday at the Clydebank 10k.
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
The results of the Helensburgh 10K race that I took part in last Thursday are online. I finished in 943 place out of 958. My official time was better than my estimate 01h 12m 33s my only other time over 10K was 01h 07m 01s. Another outcome of the race on Thursday was that it became obvious to me that I needed a new pair of running shoes. I have loved my asics GT-2090 that I bought two years ago since I first ran in them, they are so light I hardly knew I had them on, sadly after Thursday my feet were sore in a way they should not have been. When I wore other trainers or shoes they were okay but when I put on the GT’s my feet started to complain. Looking at the soles they are well worn and my arches are not getting enough support.
Today being a holiday here I took a leisurely stroll into town to the Run 4 It section at the Tiso shop. I had a look at the shoes they had but there were a few people about trying on shoes so I couldn’t get to some of them, so I decided to grab something to eat at the in store cafe.
I had a nice bowl of soup with crusty bread and a pot of tea, being the sad geek I am I took a picture of the cup of tea and tea pot.
When I returned to the shoes I was able to spot the pair I had in mind, the asics GT-2110. These are the current version of my old shoes and when I tried them on they felt good. They have a treadmill in the shop so you can try your shoes while running which is a good idea, the new shoes felt like my old ones at their best when I took a run, so I am now the happy owner of a nice new pair of running shoes with that new trainer smell 
I hope to go out for a little run tomorrow evening to test them out a bit more and they will get a good run on Thursday at the Clydebank 10k.
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Gacked shamelessly from Oasis oh and check out the cracking joke here
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Three to go.. Earlier this evening I completed the the Helensburgh 10K road race in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I was about 5th to last I think but getting round was the aim and I did it. The only other 10K race I have run was 2 years ago and I completed that in 1 hour and 7 minutes so I am quite happy with the time considering my lack of preparation.
The race is part of the Polaroid 10K Road Race Series the other three are at Clydebank Thu. 1st June,Dumbarton Thu. 8th June and Vale of Leven Sun. 18 Jun.
Off for some food and a bath
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Yep! I have finally got my sister blogging. So for blogging on Crafty things, Greetings Cards and the like, checkout made by mee the Crafty blog from made by val.
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Friday, yay! Honestly I must stop saying this every Friday, but I doubt I will. I have spent the evening adding new photo’s to my Flicker account and listening to whatever the party mix on iTunes throws at me. I have added a recently listened to chart on the sidebar near the bottom.
Tomorrow I am going to see The Beautiful South, wiki, at the Carling Academy.
Next week I will be running, or more likely jogging a bit and walking , my first 10K race of the year. I am doing a series of four in the next four weeks.
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
For part one and useful links about the Glasgow to Loch Lomond route please see the post here.
Bowling to Loch Lomond
The path from the Bowling Memorial Park is wooded and offered some nice shade on a warm morning. This section also as some of the few gradients on the route and even then they are nothing that should bother anyone who is aiming to cycle 20 miles. Twice you have to dismount and cross a road before rejoining the path. The second crossing is at the exit and entrance to a busy roundabout so care should be taken map
After crossing the road the path runs behind Milton, wiki, with the railway on one side and a nature area with reed ponds on the other. I take it there would be some information about this but I didn’t spot any, to be honest I didn’t spot them at all until I was on the way back. The path now reaches the outskirts of Dumbarton, wiki, satellite, and there is some on road cycling.
In Dumbarton I had the only mishap of the day, just after I crossed the road to go over Dumbarton Bridge my back wheel stuck! It had come loose some how, luckily I was not cycling at the time. I quickly reset it and made sure it was secure. Now the farside of Dumbarton Bridge has a slight mystery. If you check out this satellite photo Dumbarton Bridge is at the bottom and the route is signed posted to follow the road round to the left and up the hill then the you are directed down the back of the tower blocks. However there is a cycle path that runs from the end of the bridge which would avoid this detour. I took the photos below from Dumbarton Bridge on my way back.
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
On Saturday I cycled from Glasgow to Loch Lomond and back. I followed the National Cycle Network N7 route. You can find a PDF with information and a route map here. On my way I took some photos and video clips on my phone, some of which I have included here.
I wanted to start early as some of the weather forecasts were saying there would be rain later, however this turned out to be wrong as my sunburn testifies. I started off from my flat at about 6:30am, which is a totally unnatural hour to be doing anything on a Saturday.
Part One : Clyde Walkway to Bowling
I started the route proper on the Clyde Walkway at the corner of Clyde Street and Gorbals Street on this map
The first part of the route to the Tall Ship take you past some of Glasgow best known landmarks and attractions. The Finnieston Crane, wikipedia, satellite. The Armadillo at the SECC, wikipedia, satellite and the Glasgow Science Centre, wikipedia, satellite, my photos of GSC. At the Tall Ship the route crosses the motorway, I took the photo below from the bridge.
The next section is not the most picturesque, it starts off along side the motorway and then take a few diversions before taking an underpass back under the motorway. There is a lot of construction going on in this area so there is not much to see. The route eventually joins a path along the old railway line through Scotstoun, wikipedia, satellite. The tarmac along this section is graffitied with the names of local gangs and I would not be comfortable being there at night. The route through Yoker, wikipedia, satellite, to Clydebank is well sign posted, however at Cart Steet I missed the fact that there was an underpass on the right, satellite This only caused me to take a brief diversion as I knew from the map that I needed to pickup the path at the back of the Playdrome Leisure Centre.
The path from Clydebank, wikipedia, to Bowling, wikipedia, along the Forth & Clyde Canal, wikipedia, is one of the most beautiful parts of the route. On this stretch you pass under the Eskine Bridge, wikipedia, satellite. Below is a photo of the bridge taken from the canal tow path on the Bowling side.
At the end of the canal there is a bike shop which also sells cold soft drinks from what I gather from the signs outside. I stopped at the memorial park in Bowling for a breather and took the video and photo below.
Bowling is the half way point and it is the first time I remember actually seeing the distance remaining marked on the signs.
Tomorrow Bowling to Loch Lonond
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Thanks to the WordPress plugin LiveJournal Crossposter (LJXP) I am at last able do what I said I would when I set up my LJ account which is to run both in tandem. I could have done this by hand but I am far too lazy I am going to contact the author of LJXP to see if it is possible to send the mood from myMooMus to LJ’s mood.
On Saturday I had a great time The Alarm concert it was worth the wait I have booked tickets for The Beautiful South, who are in Glasgow in May.
I have sent out the second beta of myMooMus 2.0. I am hoping that I can get it released so that I can concentrate on other things for a while.
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
W00T! This evening I managed to get out on my bike, my attempt on Tuesday failed when I realised that my back tyre was a little soft and when I went to inflate it the pump died, not sure how as it worked the night before but it wasn’t pumping air any more.
I went to Pollock Country Park and did the ‘Green’ and ‘Blue’ mountain bike circuits. Just at the end of the ‘Blue’ circuit my front mud guard got cought up behind the wheel and jammed. I only put the mud guards on when I used the bike to go to work, so I think this was the bike saying “Well if you are going to use me as a mountain bike at long last, let me look like a damn mountain bike!” I removed it and dumped it in a bin. You can see details of the circuits here.
I almost swallowed a bug ::eugh:: & I will spare you from the photo of me in my cycle gear that I had thought about posting with this entry
Kev
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Yesterday while doing a little shopping for anti-histamines at Braehead I decide to pop in to the Govan Lidl as I reckoned that the two eggs, carton of orange juice and half used jar of red pesto I had in the fridge was not going to make a very satisfying meal. If you are not familiar with Lidl they are a German low price supermarket and on a weekly basis they have hard goods for sale, one week it could be BBQ equipment the next fitness or computer equipment. This week they had bicycle stuff!! I picked up a wireless bicycle computer for £5.99. A couple of years ago I bought one, for more than double that on eBay, and never got it to work due to fixing provided not permitting me to set the transmitter and the magnet close enough. So the good news is that I have it set up now and after making sure my back tyre is on the right way ::red face:: It took me two goes ::even redder face:: and getting oily hands which are still not clean after 5 washes I am going for a cycle tonight.
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
The weekend has been mixed. I had a great day yesterday. I spent time with my nephews when my mother and I took them to the park and played with Frisbees and had a picnic. On Saturday I also spent time at the Merchants Square Craft Fair at my sister’s card stall.
There was another stall there that caught my eye Roosters Metacreations I loved the humour in this one
Sunday has not been so good, there is pollen in the air so I have been feeling tired and sleepy. I had lost most of the day before I realised what was wrong and took an anti-histamine. I am also worried about my girl friend who has not been feeling well recently.
Next week I will need to get out for some runs, my weight has been going up over the last few weeks when I have been feeling unwell and I also have the first 10 kilometre race at the end of May. I want to get version two of the myMooMus plugin finished and available for download, I need to move on to other things. The code needs a little clean up and I need to add the new features to the instructions.
I will also be making some more changes to the blog. I am going to an “About Me” section which I don’t think I have ever had before, I may even add a mug shot of some sort, if you are so curious you can’t wait there is one on regularjen from a couple of years back. I also want to add the categories and calendar back to the sidebar.
More tomorrow, when I hope to be able to think of a title
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
I’ll hope to write a post later today but until then here is a fable I was sent in an e-mail the other day.
Kev
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was
proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.”
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.
So, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!
This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn
Wired is how I feel right now, it is 2:20 am and my brain is buzzing and shows little indication of being interested in sleep. For years I was used to this when I drank coffee at work and now the same thing can happen when I just have one coffee but I haven’t had any in weeks so it can’t be coffee to blame. I did have a banana and strawberry smoothie earlier but I really can’t see how that could cause this! I have taken two herbal pills that I take when my nerves get jittery so hopefully I they will help, fingers crossed.
Kev
