I found a pound coin in a trouser pocket this week and I have no idea what to do with it. I can’t remember the last time I used cash, instead of a card, or a phone, or even a watch to pay for something. 

“You mean to say I used to give this money to a shopkeeper and the shopkeeper then gave me more money but less money in response?!? I would hand over a single coin and the shopkeeper would hand back several lesser coins as, what did you call it, ‘change’? And I would then use that change to add it to other coins to pay for something else until I had no change left? But if I got it wrong I would have to take out some paper from a wall and start the whole process over again and again??!?? This is madness!”

Change (coins) can be bad but sometimes change (progress) can be good too – just like with the Jimmy Irvine 10K.

This year the Jimmy Irvine 10K promised a new flatter course. For the last few years, it has used a route that can only be described as Alpine, with one hill appearing three times as part of the route, including a tough start to the race where you’re expected to run up it to begin. 

This year, the race started at the top of the hill, and that was the last we saw it. The route descended to the flat parts of Bellahouston Park and then snaked twice round the park with barely a bump, never mind a hill appearing. 

I have to admit though that I missed the old route. The climb up and across the hill was interesting and had the benefit of a nice fast drop to make up for the suffering to get there. The flat route was largely featureless and had an extended leg on a pavement running around the park and next to a road. The hill may have been tough but at least it was more scenic, and with far more trees, than plodding along a pavement watching a Honda Civic approach a busy junction. 

But I also must admit the change was welcome. I had Covid and a throat infection in September and had missed several weeks of running. I had only started running again four weeks ago and this was going to be my longest run yet. Missing a few hill climbs was a  welcome bonus for my not yet recovered legs.

Iain TwinBikeRun comfortably won the award or fastest Todd, and I finished in 49 minutes, four slower than last year but 1 minute faster than I was aiming for so I was as happy as a man who found cash in his pocket that he didn’t know he had (even if he doesn’t know now how to spend it).

I’m not going mad but…

I was driving on the M80 this morning and, near to Cumbernauld, a woman with an Indian accent started repeating a phrase along the lines of “Take the fishing rod. Take the fishing boat. Go to the hotel. Repeat.” This was a surprise as I was listing to a football podcast on Apple CarPlay at the time. Her voice was superimposed on the podcast.

I tried changing podcasts. Same voice. Same message. Like an angling version of the broadcast numbers from Lost.

I switched to Spotify and played music. Same voice. Same message. Just played over a song this time.

I switched the music off and the voice stopped. I switched it back on and it kept going.

I switched to Radio 1 on DAB. Same woman. This time she’s speaking at the same time as Greg James.

“Take the fishing rod. Take the fishing boat! And now yesterday’s quiz!”

I switched it off. The voice stopped. I switched it back on and she’s back again.

This continued for five minutes.

And when I left Cumbernauld, the voice stopped and everything returned to normal.

And all I can think is that I can’t be mad because I can turn the voice off!

Also I don’t like fishing.

The Restless has published its ‘official’ images of the race and Iain TwinBikeRun and I are featured prominently. Or at least our bums are!

Will we be Rear of the Year next?

The one that got away. After trying the most northerly beach I could find I was looking for another beach but only found this one on the last day, and only a few hours before catching the ferry back to Aberdeen. It was too late to swim. Everything was packed and I didn’t have a towel to dry off. There were a few others in the water, and someone SUPing round the cliffs. It was a blue sky, hitting 20 degrees and look at that sand. It was perfect! But I didn’t get to swim it. If you’re in Shetland through at any time, do check it out!

REVIEW

Ease of Access: There’s a car park right beside the beach – and, when we were there in September, a portable sauna box too.

Water quality:  The beach is sheltered and, with two sides, there’s room to choose a calm spot..

Swim Quality: I’m guessing, like the rest of Shetland, it will be colder than the mainland, even if the water benefits from being in the tailed of the North Atlantic drift.

Other People: It’s a popular spot.

Would I go back: Yes – I definitely missed out on this one.

After several years of using the same running belt to hold my phone when running home, the zipper broke. In search of a new belt I found via a long and detailed search (Amazon then sort by price low to high) a belt by the Chinese company, Fozme.

I knew it was going to be good as Fozme don’t make any other products. Check out their Facebook page: Fozme. It only shows one product – their running belt. And again, on Amazon, a search for Fozme will also only return one product: their running belt.

I thought if that’s all the products they have then they must really know their stuff about running belt. No company is just going to sell one product if it didn’t believe in it.

“It must be the best belt in the world,” I thought.

And I was right, even if Fozme itself was too modest to respond to my emails congratulating them on their achievement. To busy perfecting perfection, I expect.

Anyways, if you’re looking for a running belt that holds your phone and you don’t want to spend too much on it then I have the belt for you.

Link to belt: Amazon