Christopher Isherwood's poem was my favourite when I was ten, and still makes me smile:
The common cormorant (or shag)
Lays eggs inside a paper bag,
You follow the idea, no doubt?
It's to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never thought of, is that herds
Of wandering bears might come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.
A third of the way in to Janathon and there was a cormorant on the canal today, as I did four fast half mile runs with recoveries and warm up and cool down. I was surprised to see a coastal bird so far inland but he seemed perfectly happy. I think he was a cormorant, not a shag. It's hard to tell the difference, and an old bird-watcher's joke is that the only way to do so is to count the tail-feathers.
As for the running, I wasn't particularly fast, paces below:
1st half mile: 09:34 (pace)
2nd half mile: 09:22
3rd half mile: 09:12
4th half mile: 09:28
See the full horror on Garmin Connect
I also claim about 5.5 miles of cycling.
