Odyssey

Of course I was aware of a new film adaptation of the Odyssey. It was hard to avoid. I was a bit in two minds about it. On the one hand; I have a bit of a fascination with old texts. The Odyssey is a bronze age tale that has survived all the way into modernity. That is spectacular! 

On the other hand; it was clearly going to be a Hollywood blockbuster kind of film. Lots of crash, bang, wallop. I'm not keen on that.

In the end I figured I should check it out. We had seen the trailer when we went to see Effi (which is an entirely different film, obviously). To my surprise, Neil was interested in it too. In his case, not in spite of, but thanks to, the crash, bang, wallop.

We would go after my race. I thought it would be quite nice to sit on my arse for three hours after running my lungs out first. When I said that, Neil panicked a bit. I hadn't thought of telling him it was quite a long film. I didn't realise he didn't know. And he is quite sensitive to food issues. He made sure to have sufficient snacks on him! And we made sure to have a substantial lunch: we went for a nice post-race pizza. I managed to 3/4 of it.

We were really late, and there weren't many cinemas running it anymore. We went to Cineworld in Llandudno Junction, even though this is not anywhere near my favourite cinema. But it did the job.

We first had to sit through what seemed to be ages of commercials and trailers. I suppose that is your fate if you go to cinema like that. And then it finally started.

It starts inside Penelope's Palace. I did not know how close to archaeological evidence Christopher Nolan had stayed, but I did know he was keeping the film relatively close to reality, with as little green screen as possible. I wouldn't put past him that he had made sure to have a reasonable idea of what such palaces at that time looked like. I didn't have to pay too much attention to the story, because I was familiar with it, so I could look at this interpretation of this slice of the bronze age. And I noticed it was a bit of a testosterone version with lots of fistfights and pantomime baddies and whatnot. Unsurprisingly.

We then started to jump through the story of Odysseus’ travails, starting with the Trojan horse. I struggled a bit to imagine a bunch of starving soldiers on a beach could make a horse that is both so big and so sculptural, but hey ho. It is a myth. It doesn't have to be practical.

Suoon we were out at sea. I think the ships that they use to get around the Mediterranean are roughly historically correct. Imagine having to travel on those. That is enough adrenaline for me. 

My classical education stirred its head when we got to the scene with the cyclops. They really changed that, but I suppose if they would have stayed closer to the source text, the film would have been even longer than it already was. I don't know the rest of the text well enough to be able to judge how much liberties they took there.

What I liked best were the scenes with basically only Penelope and Telemachus. They don't want all these suitors in the palace, but they know they can’t boot them out without repercussions that are worse. Telemachus knows he can't really claim the throne unless he knows what happened to his father, but finding out is a perilous business too. And they love each other, but the stress is getting between them.

Then you get the fall of Troy and Scilla & Charybdis and the sirens and Hades and Circe and whatnot. You don't get a moment of rest! But they do make you feel that it is a complicated world to negotiate. If you end up in the cave of the cyclops, you risk being eaten by it. If you use violence to avoid that fate, you risk the wrath of the sea god, who is its father. You might be pitched between starvation or pissing off the sun god. If the gods have decided that you will be the only one who will survive your travels, you still get the blame for losing your men. 

Obviously, he makes it home. And then you get a surprising soliloquy in which Odysseus turns out to be absolutely wrecked by guilt about what he has done to Troy, and how these actions still reverberate through the known world. I don't remember that from the original text. I think this was a decidedly modern take on things. I liked it, though! You basically have a man who knows she has started a descent into chaos and the loss of civilisation. Very resonant with our times. 

I tired a bit of the extensive fighting scenes when Odysseus gets a bow in his hands again, people start realising what is going on, and there is a mighty punch-up. But then at least peace returned. And then it was done. 

We both enjoyed it! In our individual ways. And when we got back to Neil’s place, he had the remaining quarter pizza while I had a drink, and we were both good for bed. A successful night out! 

Having my garden shored up

When I saw that there were people working on my neighbours’ collapsed wall I went to have a look. I had a nice chat with a guy that seemed to be the leader of the pack. I was surprised that they seemed to be comfortable working on the riverbank, bringing all the cement they needed in a wheelbarrow over the uneven riverbank from just outside Alan’s house. I suppose for their work it was good that it was a dry month. There was a little threat of them getting their feet wet while doing that work. 

Neighbours’ wall rebuilt! 

I also spoke with this guy about the bit of my garden wall that is directly adjacent to the wall they are repairing. When I bought the house, it already looked very unstable. It still does. And who knows; it might still hold up for decades, but it could just as well collapse tomorrow. I feel a bit cautious when I'm in the corner of the garden above it.

Looks rickety

I hadn’t had a lot of faith that I would find anyone willing to take the job shoring that part of the wall up, given the difficulty with access. But these guys had already made this location their workshop. They were clearly ok with it!

I asked the guy to give me a quote. He did that, and I accepted. I don't know if he is going to do that straight after the work for the neighbours. It would be efficient. But either way; I am glad this is in the pipeline now. I have been feeling a lot better about the wall underneath my extension since that was made more stable, and I am sure I will feel a lot better about this situation as well, after that wall will look like it is actually resting on something!

Caernarfon 10k 2026

The 10k races were coming thick and fast! I had only done one a week ago when I got into my racing kit for the Caernarfon 10k. The previous race I had pushed it hard, run a good time, and been floored afterwards. How would it go this time? 

I wasn’t feeling the race adrenaline beforehand. I pottered a bit and did a slow warmup. After that I wanted a last drink, but we had come in Neil’s car, my drink was in there, it was locked, and I couldn’t find him. Oh dear! When I finally did it was time for a club picture and then the actual start. 

Club picture

We headed west, into the wind. It took me a while to find my speed but after some 1.5 km I had it. And I kept it up until the flat course headed inland and started getting slightly hilly. Then it became much harder to know what pace would be a good one to aim for, and I did it on feeling. It also got quite hot. We had lost our sea breeze! 

I was glad to see a water stop. I got a cup from Eryri Harrier Jen; the fact she was volunteering and not running meant I had a good chance of getting a category win. 

I plodded on. I was feeling ok, and didn’t see many women around me. That is always a good sign. There was one coming into view, though. In a black top with no club logo. And then, some 7.5 km in, I saw Tony by the route, taking pictures. He shouted I was third woman. That puzzled me. I had seen Llio and Elliw line up; they are faster than me. And then there was this woman in black. Surely I couldn't be better than fourth position? But it is easy to mis-count. I did take it to mean that I was doing well, though.

At about 8.5 km I was feeling a bit light in the head. I was hoping it would all turn out ok. It is, after all, not unheard of that runners get overheated and collapse. I hoped that wouldn't happen to me. But did I slow down? No!

At about 9 km I managed to overtake the lady in black. And I figured that as long as I could stay ahead of her, my position was pretty much fixed. I did try to keep my speed up as I had the feeling I might be on my way to a good time. I wasn't quite sure what time, though.

Almost at the finish 

I managed to go quite fast in the last several hundred metres, until turning back into the field where the finish was. The uphill finish is a bit of a sting in the tail! I gave it what I had, cheered on by Neil, and saw that I had managed my second fastest 10k ever at 43:21. Nowhere nowhere near my 42:37 PB, but still pretty good! I got my medal from Dyfed and water from one of the sisters, and pretty much collapsed. I needed to sit down for a bit.

I found out that I had come fourth. Llio had won, an unidentified Cybi Strider had come second, and Elliw was third. And then me! Not bad! 

I went to get my recovery drink and bottle of squash and that helped me feel better. And then it was time to do some post race gossiping with the other finishers, and with Neil. And cheering on some other runners.

After a while, Neil got bored, so I asked Dyfed what time the presentation would be. In half an hour, I thought he said. He might have said something else. Neil went off to do a little walk while I went back to the car to exchange my empty drink containers for more useful luggage. And then the presentation happened! A bit earlier than expected. Neil missed it. 

Given that the top three ladies were all in the 35-39 category, or even younger, I got my category win. Quite comfortably! I turned out to have been about 3.5 minutes faster than the next woman over 40. I was proud of that. I won a floppy bottle and a pair of running socks. 

With my loot

I then just sat down below the tree to wait for Neil. (And to ogle at the race stats, of course). The entire Edwards family joined me. They had just been on holiday and we were full of stories. But the first thing Ian said when he approached me was something along the lines of: are you aware that you're supposed to slow down with age? I told him I would surely get to that one day. Just not quite yet.

Then Neil appeared, and we all headed home. A nice race! And guess what distance my next race will be. Indeed, 10k! That one will be super flat. Would I have a chance of breaking my very difficult to beat PB on that distance?. It is not likely, but it is possible. Watch this space!

Bumblebees in the garden

I have had several instances of wasp nests in my garden. I'm not overly keen on that. That is a slightly too high concentration of a slightly too grumpy insect to my taste. But I do like it if my garden attracts what are traditionally seen as pollinators. And for some reason, it seems to attract more bumblebees than ‘normal’ bees.

One day I was just sitting in the garden and a bumblebee seemed to land on the grass, by a non-flowering plant. I didn't really see the point of that. Bumblebees tend to want flowers. I had a look. There was a little hole in the ground, and it had vanished into it. A bumblebee residence! And I kept watching for a bit; I saw quite some bees flying in and coming out.

Up until then, I had no idea where bumblebees might live. Now I have an example of one of their abodes in my own garden. I like sitting near it and watched them coming in and out. Call me a speciesist, but I prefer that over watching wasps coming into and out of my little garden shed! 

Two bumblebees by the nest entrance (to their right)

Work on the new module websites has started

When I went back to the office after my annual leave I first sorted out the last remains of the old academic year. I had to evaluate all my modules and decide what should be changed about them in the new year. And I had a last academic integrity meeting, about work submitted for Supplementary Assessment Week. (I don't think I mentioned Supplementary Assessment Week; for staff it means you have to set assignments and do marking work in the middle of July.) But soon after that it was time to actively start working on the upcoming academic year. 

Traditionally, the first module website that comes live is for my dissertation module, even though it is a second semester module. And this year is probably not going to be an exception. I populated the folders, only leaving out things like where the students upload their assignments, as the timetable for the second semester hasn't been made yet. The deadlines depend a bit on the timetable. I also added all the staff. The students will be centrally added.

I will have to get two more of these websites ready before the start of new academic year. One third is already out of the way!

Trentham 10k for Wales

I was just getting mentally ready for the Breakwater race when I saw I had an email from Paul, the man who organises teams to represent North Wales in inter-county championships. He had approached me in spring, to see if I could join the team for the Llandudno 10 mile race. I was deeply honoured! And this time he admitted he was only asking me because someone else had pulled out, so I wasn't on his first choice list, but I was still proud to be invited to wear that North Wales vest. The race would be all the way in Staffordshire, but I said yes.

Given that it was going to be far away I wanted to know if car sharing was an option. There was no publicly available start list for the racing question: the Trentham 10k. But you could search for names. I checked for some people I could think of: Emma, Rhodri, Steffan, Elliw… no success. But when I tried Llio it was a hit. She was running too! And I didn't have her contact details, but I know many people from her club, so I figured I could get these. Paul said that no one else lived in our neck of the woods. That sounded weird; surely we all come from North Wales?

At the Breakwater race, which is organised by the Cybi Striders of which Llio is one, I got her contact details. She was happy to car share. Great!

The race was somewhere just south of Stoke, which is about 2h20 away, and the start would be at 9:30, so we would have to have an early start. We met in Conwy at 6:15. Llio was ok to drive. 

We now had almost 2 hours to get to know each other a bit better. And we did most of that in Welsh, as she is a native speaker, and quite happy to let me practice. It was quite nice!

Unsurprisingly, the roads are quiet at that hour on a Sunday, and we reached Trentham without problems. We were quite early. We decided to get our numbers and go to the loo. Then I wanted to eat and drink something, and change into my running shoes. I had had breakfast at about 5:15 then I needed a bit more fuel for this race. After we got our numbers we bumped into Paul, who had also arrived. He asked us if we wanted the good or bad news. I said bad. He said that all the other women had withdrawn. It was only us! That meant we were only running for shits and giggles. Your team gets points assigned on the basis of the four fastest runners. If you only have two, you get so many penalty points that you could both run a world record, and you would still lose. I forgot what the good news was.

The men’s team, which was supposed to have six people, had also suffered losses. But they were still with four, so they were still in with a chance. Although everyone assumed Staffordshire would win; it tends to do that! Maybe they could still take on Cheshire? But we, the women, were doomed to come last. 

We made sure to have some pre-race snacks, and do some stretches and a warmup. And meet the men. They were two Buckley Runners, a Deestrider and a Hebog. And then it was time to get to the start for a team picture. And then we lined up.

Before the race

I knew this wasn't going to be a fast course. I had checked it and it had about 140 m of ascent. All of that would be gradual, but it was there. For comparison: the Bangor 10k only has 67 m, and the Caernarfon 10k 50 m. But I would see what I could do!

After the start the entire rest of the team shot off like an arrow. I kept it modest. There's no way I can maintain that sort of speed for 10 km. But I made sure not run too far below what I could do. I knew I would have to run about six kilometres uphill and then four downhill.

Things were going ok. I was happy with my speed, but the rest of the team vanished from sight. I had other things to worry about. There were two women in my vicinity and I focused on these. One was a lady from the local Trentham running club, and we were leapfrogging each other a bit. And then there was a woman running for Cheshire, and she overtook me. I was hoping to be able to get her back. She wasn't too far ahead!

Less than 1k in. The lady in green would still be right behind me at the finish

I tried to keep my speed up and enjoy the route. Slowly the kilometres ticked away. And then I got to 6k. Now it would be downhill pretty much all the way. I accelerated. Everybody else did too, though.

Looking determined, 8k in

I did manage to shake off the local lady, but the woman from Cheshire was stronger than me and she increased the gap. I could see her black and yellow shirt thunder towards the finish. And then I got there too. Paul was there to take a picture. And I saw my time was 43:39. I figured that was pretty good considering the ascent! And I was seriously out of breath.

Almost at the finish 

Done! With the Trentham lady right behind

What I wanted now was a drink. Luckily I had brought four containers. And there was a building where I could refill them. And once I had my drink and my recovery shake I went to talk to the rest of the team. They hadn't waited to cheer me on. That was a bit disappointing. At the Borders League, you are pretty much guaranteed cheering Harriers when you finish. 

The others had been super fast and they were quite happy with their achievements. Llio had run a PB! On this course! She had dropped below 40 minutes. I don't think I will ever manage that. We were both registered for the Caernarfon 10k the week after; I'm wondering what sort of time she can run there. 

After the race

I emptied three of my drinks containers, and then the others said they wanted to do a cooldown run. Their idea was to first run to their car, and then do a bit of a loop. I did join them to the cars, but realised I was so full of drink I really didn't want to run further, so I just went back to the finish area, and had a look at the results which had come in. I had been 13th woman, and second in my category. The Cheshire lady I had been chasing had been first F50! 

After a while, the presentation took place. Llio had a category win! Well-deserved. And she was the only one in the team who managed that. Obviously, Staffordshire had won, both in the male and female competitions. And Cheshire had consistently come second. Our four men hadn’t managed to beat them. 

Then it was time to go home. I brought my last container into the car. Unfortunately, I had already finished it before we even set off. I should have made sure to refill some of them. By the time I got to my own car was seriously craving both food & drink.

The rest of the day I was knackered. And frankly, the day after as well. When I had a look at my Garmin stats I saw that it said I had run 71% of the race in zone 5, at maximum capacity (defined by Garmin as having a heart rate of 165 +; Strava uses a different threshold). For comparison: I had done the Breakwater race at that intensity only 3% of the time, Race the Train 56%, Pentir 54% and Felinheli 5%. I'm sure there is uncertainty in these measurements, but I do think they give an impression. And this time it surely matched my experience. I clearly gave it my all there! But I suppose I ran practically an identical time as I had done two years ago in Pwllheli, where I had won, on a course that was as flat as a pancake…

Kitchen progress

After my first experiments with making my kitchen look better, I had momentum. I wanted to keep going! But there was one impediment. I had decided I wanted new handles. I ordered a few, but then had to wait a while for them to arrive. I didn't really want to go and strip and paint more cabinet doors, as I figured the result is better if you fill the holes you're not using, and then paint over the filler, rather than paint them, then abandon one hole, and then fill that and try to make it look good afterwards. 

It took a while for me to get the message that my new handles had arrived. I was excited! But there was no sign of them. Not by the door. Not in the garden. Not at the neighbour's. They must have been mis-delivered. There was no proof of delivery, so I could not check if there was a picture of a door that most definitely was not my door. Bummer!

I decided to not try this again. It took too long. And being handmade they were quite expensive. And that is worth it, if you know it will be a success. But I decided to just Google some other options, and I came across some quite kitschy alternatives. These might suit what I was doing, and they were very affordable. I decided to buy 5 to try them out. And they arrived the next day. I was back on!

I first provisionally put the handles on the two doors I had painted first. I figured they combined well! I decided to stick with them. They are quite kitschy but it works! So I could put them on the other door I had already done, and now I could do two more doors, as I had handles for them. So I did. And I ordered more.

New handles

The second batch arrived quite early too. So I started working on the sixth door. After I strip them, the first thing I do is drill the new handle holes and fill the old ones. Only then did I realise that the new handles I had bought were the same type as the old ones, but a bigger model! Oh dear.

After some thought, I decided to use the small handles for the smaller doors and the drawers, and the big ones for big doors. That meant leaving two where they were and moving three. It wasn’t much work really. And then I could continue with the stripping and painting business. 

5 doors done! 

With every cabinet door painted, my kitchen looks better. I'm glad! And the weather makes it a relatively quick job! These coats of paint dry fast in such a hot dry summer...