Huddled in the shade ...

Issac Newton was a clever fella for sure and someone I would have liked to have gone for a pint of beer with.

His third law of motion states “To every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions” – in short, everything finds its balance eventually. Tucked up in the back of ma van with some Lucero playing on the ipod, I got to thinking about the twelve month period since the last Tour de Helvellyn and how another circle was about to close.

Much of the positive has been edited (not heavily though) and appears elsewhere on this wee scratchpad of a blog. The negatives & downs …actually too horrific to write about – they sit real enough in my head and actually don’t deserve the time or energy to make any more real than necessary. I have apologised in person for the mistakes but do so again here.

As usual, the time frame has been punctuated by live music – gigs by such diverse bands as Old Crow Medicine Show, The Vatersay Boys, The Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner, Larry and His Flask (twice), Steve Earle, The Mastersons, Elvis Costello, Dan Reed, Lucinda Williams, Tim Barry (twice), Emily Barker (three times), Dave Hause, Northcote, The Virgin Marys, Franz Nicolay, Crazy Arm, Chris T-T (twice). All of the above were good …some were great …the odd one incredible.

The numbers of days in the mountains were similar to the few years with two particular highlights being the campervan based trip in the far north with Joe and the solo trip over to Rum. Running was very mixed …great start with Mexico and a new PB in London balanced with a very poor performance at every race over the summer and autumn (still braw fun though). Reason for the poor was simple enough …not enough focus on training and not enough effort in the events.

The one thought which was keeping me from drifting off to sleep was how important friendships have been. In July went the shite really hit me …it was humbling to find mates organising to give a safe place to fall. Since then, folks have continued to be around when clearly they didn’t need to. Some probably don’t know the part they played but if you have heard me say how much your friendship and support means …then that’s what it was about. Equally, most folks have people in their lives who don’t deserve to be there – strongly suggest clearing them the hell out. Guarantee it feels good to tramp the dirt down (had the privilege of hearing Elvis Costello sing that at the Royal Albert Hall shortly after the individual who inspired the song took up her rightful place in hell although I still think she should have been buried at the bottom of a coal mine).

As I got ready to run next morning …wondered what new circles would be started soon – another post for another time but at least I know I will be arriving in Las Vegas in the spring with an adventure in mind. Reckon that will be marked with a whisky, a beer, a wry smile and the phrase “well …here we are”.

Not necessarily my favourite Tim Barry song but this wee video was filmed at the end of his gig in the 13th Note here in Glasgow and was easily the stand out gig of the year.

Slainte mhor amigos !