The Morning After the Night Before

 

The Morning After the Night Before

Neither of us slept very well last night and when the alarm went off at 4.15 a.m. we were both already awake. We took a food short cut last evening and ate couple of frozen pizza’s that needed to be rotated on the very much still with us emergency food plan, which is not a plan exactly. We both blamed the pizza for the poor sleep knowing that in a normal world we only like to eat fresh food. Yet those pizzas, bought for the ‘just in case day’, when we might have run out of food; although they had not really been sitting in the freezer that long by some peoples standards, it was long enough for a pair of foodies like us, that are set in their ways.  They were next; in the exacting controlled way that Steve is keeping a keen eye on whatever is in the cupboards and fridge and freezer. We do know folks who have that olde worlde war time idea, that storing food for years on end is a good idea. Not us. Habits are hard to change.

 

We had used the pizzas, because we wanted to get cleared away and washed up before settling down to Cendrillon being streamed from the Royal Opera House. We had never seen that opera so it was something we did not want to miss. It is the Cinderella story and was a true delight. The music is by Massenet and we loved it, even though it had the spirit of traditional pantomime since the part of Prince Charming was played by a woman. Alice Coote and the Cinderella character of Lucette, was sung by Joyce Di Donato. I could not find the name of the fabulous Fairy Godmother, who had the most astonishing range. The scenery and the outrageous wicked stepmother and ugly sister’s costumes were all wonderful. Loved it. 

That said, we got dressed quickly, threw a short coffee down our throats and drove off for our morning run hoping as ever to be alone in the woodlands. We had covered about a mile and a half when Steve muttered that he could see something moving up ahead and was it a deer. We soon realised that it was not an animal but a human being. As we got closer to the a man, who was ambling along quite slowly, we looked at each other questioningly since he did not look like the usual walker. As we got closer it became obvious that he was STILL up rather than up early. Steve made signs to me to move to his other side. It was a young man with shoulder length hair, dark at the roots and the rest was well grown out dirty blonde. His scruffy jacket looked as though he had been dragged through a hedge backwards and his pants wear ripped right across the top of one leg with an expanse of pale flesh showing through.

As we started to pass him I said a cheery, “Hiya” as I do, and Steve said “Morning”. The young fellow almost fell over looking over his shoulder and had it seemed, not heard us coming. After a few seconds he called “How far to town”.

Steve slowed and shouted “Which town” and neither of us made out what he replied but it sounded roughly like it started with and A….. Arundel or Angmering or Anywhere!

Steve called back to him “You’d best go back the opposite way, keep going until you reach the road because you’re in the middle of nowhere here”.

I shouted as we ran on that the way we were going came out in Patching in a couple of miles.

We thought that he must have not found his way home after his Friday night outing to wherever he had been. Those woodlands are not that vast, but it is easy to get lost if you don’t know them.

We carried on with our run toward Patching, but only to put in and extra mile before making a turn back the way we had come before turning again to make up the distance we wanted for today. We didn’t see him again and presumed that he was alert enough to have done as Steve told him and walked back toward the west.  

It was not a big day for wild life, and the best thing was saw was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker quite close up eating something on the grassy bank, that was nice. When we were within the last mile there was short hill rise that we usually walk up the second half of but this morning I caught up with Steve and goaded “Come on Dave, its Pay and Safe Hill” that is something that we often recall, from a classic Hawaii Ironman World Championships years ago when there was a big dual between, Dave Scott and Mark Allen. We have banner with that image in shadows hung inside our garage to garden door. It bears the two great Ironman hero’s images clearly and unmistakably shown. Steve rose to the bait and we ran together all the way to the top. We still have the video somewhere.

When we got in the car, before driving home Steve showed what a good run it had been which was surprising after our first half marathon in a couple of years,  only done two days ago. The Garmin Forerunner showed: Best 5 km and Best 10km, within this mornings run.

Once home we did an hour Ballet workout and another hour of Yoga. Then I sowed a different variety of snow peas in a grow bag by the back garden wall whilst Steve made scones for our Saturday late breakfast. Yum.