Monday 2 February 2009

A golf course round

Quite then best fun I've had on the course for a long time. £700 better off and free of club regulations prohibiting me from running thereon, I set off over the snow clad fairways for a bit of fun; additional to what I'd have on a schedule,as I'd normally have a day off on Monday. However a slower than normal Sunday run and a cancellation by Linda of a scheduled massage gave me a window to have a run on the course, as my now ex-fellow members sat in the lounge looking wistfully at the snow and wishing that snow was red in order that the balls would be visible. 18 holes, in reverse, meant I ran the steepest hill right at the start, although that gave me the benefit of running the 17th downhill. Steep and known to club members as "Heart Attack Hill", in memory of a past captain whose sudden death on the slope I had to report to the Procurator Fiscal some years ago. The first mile was a long one by Garmin as due to a lost pin I had it in my pocket and therefore the 11.57 was ridiculously inaccurate for a mile! The course is a hilly one and run in reverse mainly has the hills in the first nine. Now carrying the Garmin in my hand, 8.30 was a bit more like it for mile 2 and 7.07 and 7.30 reflected the mainly down hill aspect of the "front nine" again in reverse. About 2 or 3 inches of snow pretty much all the way round meant that I had my wits about me as it was shallow enough to allow some sliding, but the Inov8 Mudrocs, hardly used since being purchased 4 or 5 years ago, kept me firmly on course with only a couple of blips, mainly due to lack of concentration, stretching the tendons. Good fun, and I'm looking forward to repeating it in better weather, although greens staff and early morning members will require me to run at first light to avoid disrupting play. Forecast for more snow Tuesday and Wednesday gives rise to the hope of at least two more similar runs that will insure against being unable to run on roads later in the day.
Popped into The Coachhouse for some coke and soup, and found myself talking to a wee guy who's (apparently!)in the pub most days. Turns out he's an ex Comrades marathoner, who did most of his running in S.Africa but now walks most days on the Clydeshore or Carman. Tales of his running days made the soup so tasty I came home and put a pot on!

2 comments:

Sara Monty said...

Hi Davie
your 'local' routes around Cardross are definately inspiring me! I had a turn around the shore the other day and ended up nearly swimming in the boggy puddles! The running was fine I was just so preoccupied at how cold and wet my feet were. Anyway just to let you know I haven't abandoned thoughts of joining millburn just keep getting caught with wedding jobs in the evenings as it gets closer, prob won't make this week but am hoping for next! Sara

Davie said...

You need three sets of kit and shoes to join Millies. One to wear,one to wash and one drying! we might be slow but we get places some running clubs can only go in nightmares. Click on Steph's blog (from my blog list) for some hilly adventures.