Posting this a week after I completed the run. It’s been a strange old time with mixed feelings and emotions: exhaustion, part relief that it’s over, amazement that I managed it, and a feeling that there’s something missing. After having this strict routine and specific purpose to everyday in getting from A to B by whatever means, a kind of emptiness has set in and I feel that something is missing. It feels odd to be back and although I was away for just 10 days in all, this odd existence of staying in different motels every night has left its mark on me. For the first 3 nights I didn’t sleep, partly from over-tiredness and partly from my limbs aching when lying still. It was difficult to find a comfortable position without some stiffness setting in after just a few minutes- although I needed to rest, I guess my limbs had got used to moving in a certain way and a certain amount every day. I’ve also been having strange thoughts or dreams in my half-sleep of continually trying to find pathways and routes- I guess my mind has remained active too and has not yet recovered from negotiating and figuring these out.
I’ve tried to get back to normal as quickly as possible but I’m realising that perhaps I’m taking it too quickly as last night and today I’ve felt particularly tired and a little emotional. I suppose I haven’t really allowed myself to rest that much: Wednesday, the day after the run was a complete rest day, but I still had to make it home from Dartford, the last stop. Then as other work commitments started coming in on Thursday evening (my evening class) and Friday (my teaching day at Camberwell), I just got on with it.
Aside from that I was eager to get to the Stephen Lawrence Gallery in Greenwich where I’m showing this work until the end of the month to talk to David Waterworth, the curator about how an archived version of the run would work. We’d also talked about making a display of clothing and items I’d used for the project to give visitors further insight into the project. I was eager to get this up and running (no pun intended!) as soon as possible, so there would be as little gap as possible between the live run and its archived equivalent. So we had a meeting last Thursday and I also talked to Matt Watkins who has been working on the interface about how soon the archive would be ready. I cycled there to keep my limbs moving gently.
A weekend away and I was back in the gallery yesterday morning to set things up. David had found me two display plinths with perspex tops, which were perfect for what I wanted and away from the gallery Matt was just finishing tweaking the archived version. I really appreciate the amount of work he’s put into this, so I didn’t want to push him. I also took some more stills and video footage of the exhibition installation. (see images).
Tried my first run on Sunday whilst I was away in Salford, along the river Irwell. Beautiful morning and beautiful run- took it gently, just 3 or 4 miles. Felt okay and I think I was wise not to do more. I tried a longer run this morning. I was aiming for about 10 miles, but decided to stop at 8.5 as I was starting to feel it in my legs and the back of my left heel. Not pain, just twinges. Felt fine, but it’s left me quite exhausted and I’ve found it difficult to do much today.
After a few false starts at the gallery this morning the archived version of the run is now working. It’s playing at a speed of 1 second for every 30 seconds of real time so that you can see the movement of the GPS tracking. I’m not sure about this. I think it should probably be playing in real time to preserve the integrity of the live event, so it may change. But take a look at:
www.toomanylegs.com (click on archive map)
