The hills are alive with the sound of silence

Welcome to my new irregular column released each Saturday sunrise. 

Be here or steer clear…

 

Number 2

Saturday 16 January 2021

As things stand my wheelie bin is getting out more than me.

Ten days locked down and my weekly late-night shop is the only social interaction with the outside world.

Run out of cat litter, bog roll, bin bags, kindling for the fire? I’ll grab my coat. Even if it’s pissing down with rain.

Other than the weekly late night shop, I’ve not left the village for three weeks.

That is apart from several two-hour round-trips to Barrow. For Covid tests. Both negative.

I shouldn’t complain,  I have a season pass from the kitchen to the living room with request stops in-between.

But when my Apple watch strictly enforces an 880 kilocalorie workout each day, lockdown can put brakes on progress.

There’s no way I can burn 880 calories inside the house.

There’s no gym at Felton Towers, but I’ve worked out that the hallway up to the loft and back burns about 10 calories.

I’d need to do that 88 times each day to reach my daily kilocalorie goal.

To be fair, I’m lucky where I live with a beach, woods, fells, trails all on my doorstep.

So one day I’ll walk six miles, the next day I’ll run five miles.

The running clocks 700+ cals in 52 minutes. Having taken care of business, I’m a self-satisfied lounge potato for the rest of the day

My running is going well this lockdown. Forty five miles in the legs since the turn of the year. Definitely going to bag 100 miles for the month if I keep it up.

The problem is trying to burn 880 calories with a walk. That’s got to be some walk. It necessitates 2.5 hours speedy strolling.

Some nights I’ve ended up pacing the streets at 10.30pm, in the snow, in desperate attempts to honour the wrist watch workout.

Amazingly, I’m not the only midnight stroller. There’s others in our village marching through the blackness on a road to nowhere.

The podcast is my go-to walking companion. Adam Buxton’s interview with Paul McCartney is magnificent.

Listen to the full 85 minutes while walking and you’ll have burnt a good 550 calories. You’ll then need to trace Macca’s rare 1980 track Temporary Secretary. Listen to the podcast by clicking on the image below.

Shake it up baby…

A big thank you to the *Nasty Vegan* for providing some post-walk-run refuelling…

The advertising blurb tells me this super shake is ‘…formulated by registered nutritionists, packed full of essential vitamins, minerals and a full range of amino acids…’

And all-in-one chocolate shake instead of a small army of supplements seems like a win win.

And it tastes amazing. Get on it.

Sounds of solitude…

Samantha Crain’s a small death is getting much listens this week as is Roxy Music’s Same Old Scene Glimmers Remix.

I know nothing about Crain having discovered her on Tuesday. But her LP – which came out in July – is magnificent.

I’m even later to the Roxy Music party. About 40 years late.

Still, there’s never been a better time to do some catching-up.

(click on the images to hear the tracks)