Done and dusted in four days.

The already tight schedule is becoming unmanageable. Monday had already been called into action, so was yesterday and now today. I was determined not to miss the twenty five mile target but the price was to run four days in a row. Yesterday's run had to be moved to the afternoon, I thought a nice gentle four would leave today's run more manageable. We started gently enough but as so often happens with short runs they tend to speed up. Admittedly it was reasonably flat but we ran some off road and it turned into a race. I came second but I blamed the digging that I have been doing this week for that.
Today we needed four and a half miles to hit target and I was not to be drawn into another race. We set off at a reasonable pass and maintained it. When we were running down our usual track I glanced into the ploughed field on my left and saw a man walking up and down. He was in the middle of the field and walked about thirty yards in one direction, turned around and walked back. I thought it was a little odd but it was difficult to get a clear view through the hedge. At the next gap in the hedge I stopped to get a better view and could see what he was doing. He was carrying out a geophysical survey. A geophysical survey is what people use to look for ancient buildings and settlements that have long disappeared from the surface but foundations still show on a graph that is produced by the machine that they carry. It's like metal detecting for old buildings etc. they often use it for television programs like the BBC series "Time team" which Tony Robinson presented.  But what are they doing in a field near me? If I had not just started out on a run I would have walked over and asked. Pondering what was happening occupied my mind for most of the run. The run was a circular route of four and a half miles. Mostly downhill in the first half and, you've guessed mostly uphill in the second. It was a mixture of on and off road, the sun was shinning and a pleasant experience. The man was still in the field doing his survey when we ran back past but he did not look as though he wanted to be disturbed so we carried on.
Having completed our twenty five miles for this week already there is a slight temptation to push on  for thirty or more but the schedule just will not allow it.