I tried out a few new years resolutions in the first two weeks of January, and pleasingly quickly found that none of them really fit the bill: after three days of obsessive eating, no-meat-no-wheat was axed after a trip to Sainsbury’s left me rather confused and armed with a basket full of cheese (quite the opposite of what I was trying to achieve); all hopes of a dry January were wantonly dashed against the rocks in a delightfully rebellious Saturday afternoon drinking session; and the jury is still out on The Morton Plan*.
Good. So now there are none of those pesky resolutions in the way I can get on with a proper challenge: I declare 2012 the year of the triathlon. And for good measure I intend to try (sorry) to conquer three this summer.
One glorious, sunny, frosty Saturday morning I decided to see what the Aire Valley canal in Leeds had to offer and I was pleasantly surprised. My running route followed the last 3K of the Liverpool to Leeds canal, snaking through woodland, golf courses and decaying industrial areas on its way into the city. Ideal for the runner prone to boredom, the canal offers interesting, ever changing surroundings at every turn, but the real surprises were the people I passed on that 6K circuit.
First of all, the sheer number of them – I counted (at the risk of sounding like a twisted version of the twelve days of Christmas):
- Ten runners
- Seven cyclists
- Six golfers
- Three horses
- Twelve elderly people with walking poles, backpacks, maps and compasses
- Two lads shivering in last night’s clothes
- Nine dog walkers and their canine friends
- Seven men fishing, accompanied by two under-fives
- One litter-picking hero
That’s 56 people, nine dogs and three horses. In the space of an hour or so. I’m no expert but that’s a fair few folk who love their green (and blue) infrastructure.
But the best surprise came close to the end, when I stopped to find out if the fishermen had been successful. A man with more gold than teeth in his mouth declared that they would ‘av caught summat if folk din’ kip fetchin’ tea from t’river. Indeed. People have been catching and eating fish from that murky canal… I’m not sure that’s the healthiest way to get your RDA of Omega 3.
So, I urge you – quit while you’re ahead, ditch the resolutions (as Charlie Brooker points out, they are doomed to fail anyway) and take on a proper challenge. Who knows who you might meet on the way!
*The Morton Plan is an austere personal spending plan concocted by my good friend Suzanne Morton, which allows just five clothing purchases throughout the year (necessary items and charity shop purchases excluded). Last year, she made it to July. This year, I’m running the risk of being done by March.
Glorious!
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