This afternoon I started my "looking stupid evening" by cycling home from the station in hat and gloves and long coat, and with long trousers tucked into my socks. Well it's always important to start the way you mean to go on. It wasn't yet dark at that point, but even so most of my attention was taken up with avoiding the visible frost/ice and hoping against hope I didn't hit any of the treacherous black stuff,
Once home I sat with my laptop on my lap, huddled in a ball, feeling chilled and contemplating the Janathon jog still required of me. The more I contemplated the dark and ice outside, the closer I huddled. Even from my sofa the very idea of going anywhere seemed a thought best left unimagined.
Nevertheless, the jedi power of the Janathon was upon me. Despite all my screeching common sense, and my pathetic excuse-finding, a couple of hours later I got myself out of the door following a heavy dose of "it'll only get even colder and icier the longer you procrastinate".
I never intended to go far. And I didn't. However at least I kept going a short distance, buoyed for a couple of corners by the self-talk promises that my run would be very short, and boosted for a few lamp-posts further by the attraction of radiators, hot drinks, food and a log fire on my return. A really rather spectacular moon kept me going for another few paces, as it shone beautifully through some well-placed trees and lit my path. And I suppose I should be grateful to another source of distraction too, namely the sight of a fellow jogger who was wearing only a white T-shirt. Yes, that's right. Just a very thin slightly loose T-shirt. (Well yes, ok, I assume he probably was wearing either trousers or shorts too - I was so shocked by the bare arms I didn't even think to check!) As I say, I should no doubt be grateful to him since at least it made me feel warmer than someone.
Perhaps I should also be grateful for the contrast that there can be no doubt he posed. If he looked merely cold I definitely took the prize for fool's outfit of the day. Trousers and trainers as per usual; then on top a sports bra, t-shirt, old jumper; long fingerless sleeve-glove things with normal gloves underneath poked out from the end of the jumper (fingers tightly curled in balls of course in a forlorn attempt to retain fragments s of warmth); a twisty-scarf-snood-thing covered my head and lower face, and was tucked right down into T-shirt, clashing and scrunching up both T and jumper; finally, to complete the outfit on top of the twisty thing I perched a black beanie-type hat, and shoved into the tiny gap between hat and twisty-thing I placed my glasses, certain that they were so jammed in at least I could be pretty sure they wouldn't be falling off however badly I skidded! Oh yes, I looked FABULOUS darling! (Though as I ran it did occur to me that should I come across a slightly lost #UKUncut or student demonstration in an obscure cul-de-sac of the local housing estate at least I'd fit right in!)
Anyway, with the protection of all those layers (and the beneficial social protection of knowing there was no way anyone would be speaking to me, or, no doubt, even acknowledging this weird jogging oddity passing through their line of sight) I went and I jogged. And that is what matters I believe.
So in summary that was me, and that was the Janathon Experience Day 20. Done, dusted; jogged, logged and blogged.
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