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Wednesday 1st July, '09

Like most runners (and probably cyclist's) there are a lot of things out there while training that get on my nerves and over the years the patience for certain things sort of wears off, for example if 4 people walking towards me on a path see me and still refuse to give me a little space they will most likely get a shoulder as I go past....as I increase the pace to make sure they cant turn around and catch me of course! So in reflection after another 'fun' filled morning with dogs, cows, and cars I thought I would compile my 'Top 10 Worst Things While Running'....

 

Dogs - Straight into top spot has to be DOGS, I don't want to play with them, be friends with them, or even touch them. For some reason some (not all to be fair) dog owners seem to think that everyone will love their dog...I don't! And especially if I am doing something hard I don't want it clipping at my heals so get it on a lead and keep the thing away from me.

Cows/bulls - Probably not a popular choice but I have a bit of a fear of cows. As I always say to people, once they realise how big and strong they are they are going to take over the world! They can move quite fast and I don't want to be hit by one, that's for sure. Running around Myther Mawr where they roam free sometimes I have had to take the long routes jumping fences just to avoid the 'beasts'.

Objects being thrown - Seriously, this does happen, Iv had chippings thrown by children, eggs thrown while doing a hill session in Tenerife (ask Steve lisgo!), and even a Strawberry milkshake...a car drove past throwing it at me,  it flew past my face hitting the wall, hence how I knew it was strawberry!

Walkers - This is a problem especially where I live at summer time, everyone wants to walk around the costal paths, lanes, seafront etc, and will happily be walking across the whole path and watch me come towards them and not budge. They can quite easily move but seem to want to play chicken...some times doing sub 5min milling on tempo runs it's the old 'hit and run' job.

Another runner - By this I mean you go on a group run and someone else is there who you don't like, it might even be a long 2 hour run and by the end I wish I didn't run at all. It can be that they run 2 steps ahead the whole time, moan for the whole run, or just a clash of personalities...either way it can make a run seem never ending!

Wrong clothing - quite simply you get it all wrong, in the winter it seems cold so you wrap up and within 10minutes you wish you had left the extra layer at home. Similarly if doing a road session you don't wear a lot thinking you will warm up but then never actually do...I hate it when it happens.

Chaffing - for the long distance guys and girls out there, 10minutes into a run and the lining on the shorts is digging in like a knife through butter, by the end of the run you're moving around like a cowboy trying to avoid and rub on any part of the body, sounds funny but it hurts.

Cars - not a problem all the time but can be very dangerous, coming fast around a bend, not giving enough room or even trying to run you over on the pavements...yes this has happened. In short I was doing mile reps and a guy thought I shouldn't be on the road and told me so, I told him nicely to "get lost" he then threatened to run me over so I said "you will need a better car than that piece of crap to catch me" and he rammed it up on the pavement to try and hit me, luckily my cat like reactions got me away with my legs.

Hail - Weather doesn't bother me, as Lance Armstrong says "if it rains then put on a jacket and get out there" but hail is a different ball game! I will still go out but I hate it. You can't really open your eyes properly, it stings the legs and in Morocco it was more like golf balls than little pea's.

Snakes - Granted I only seen one once, but that said everyone knows around the sand dunes I run they are there. One day I was ticking along and it just jumped up out of the sand scaring the life out of me!! I have never since used that same path and every time I go on the dunes at the back of my mind I wonder if another will jump at me like a coiled spring.

 

Anything I left off??

 

Simx