Easing down it's Friday

The forecast was right, showers heavy at times. After one had just passed over we ventured out. We took a circular route which kept us mainly in the town and on the road. We only needed four and a half miles so that is what we got. Just a couple of small hills to stretch the lungs and the rest was reasonably flat. Another day in the garden yesterday digging had left me a little stiff so it was fine. I uploaded the run onto the Garmin site and also wrote it up in my diary as usual. I totalled up the miles that we have run this year; it is two hundred and eighty five or the equivalent of ten marathons. When we take into account the weather we have endured in the last few weeks it is not too bad. Factor in that a high percentage of the runs are off road it is acceptable. Anyway tomorrow is bacon sandwich for breakfast day and no running. The weather forecast for Sunday is not very good, more heavy showers but I expect we will run whatever.

Run for fun, dig for glory.

Rush hour traffic on the road outside was relatively quiet. If the rain was falling as was the forecast splashing would have been heard. Drawing the curtains and looking out confirmed it was still dry. A good opportunity I thought to increase our running total for the week without getting wet. The skies were grey but not heavy with rain, if anything it looked a little cold. Once on the move any thoughts of it being cold were soon dismissed. The ground has dried up with the exception of one or two low lying fields so this broadens our choice of route. The farmers have ploughed and planted most of the fields that they need to. This makes the footpaths across those fields very soft and takes more effort to get through them. When the weather warms up there will be a greater number of walkers and the paths will soon become compacted. We covered five and a half miles this morning, one and a half on the road and the rest across fields. This only leaves four and a half for tomorrow or Friday which will be very comfortable. After running it was time for another spell in the garden. I am turning a part of the lawn into a vegetable plot. I have uncovered enough Cotswold stone a build a dry stone wall along a part of the bottom boundary. I need to get on with the digging as I have bought some seed potatoes and they need to be planted. Digging and running doesn’t mix that well, I use all the muscles on my right side to dig and when I start running it takes a while to get rid of the stiffness.

Monday and we are running.

The weather forecast for the rest of this week is rain showers. Running in the rain is OK but to be avoided it if possible. It was this attitude that lead us to run today. Normally after a long run on Sunday we take Monday off but not this week. The joints were not too stiff as we set off and the little bit of sunshine gave the impression it was warm. I wanted to run five and a half miles to get right on top of the weeks target and leave an easy run in if the weather is not very kind. We didn’t start off that slowly, about three-quarter pace I would say. Checking the Garmin at two and a half miles confirmed this. We had already run quite a lot of it off road and were about to head into another field. A lap of the field was well over half a mile and a little bit up and down but nothing serious. Out onto the road again we had a gentle uphill gradient all the way home. It was the required distance and now we can look for gaps in any showers that may come to complete two further five milers. I must have been feeling fairly good because I mowed the lawn and did quite a bit of digging in the garden this afternoon. A robin and blackbirds were in close attendance eating up worms that I uncovered. Surprising how tame they become when food is available.

Spring in our step.

Overnight frost was followed by clear skies and bright sunshine. The wind has veered around to the south and is a lot more friendly. We set off along the road at a modest pace, I had a testing route planned so did not want to run too fast early in the run. Quickly turning onto a track we ran gently down hill for a mile, crossed a main road and then up a field. It was lung burstingly steep to begin with and after a short dip continued to climb again more gently. Past a farm, we ran along the farm track then turned left down a field. Through a gap in the hedge we emerged by a huge stone Archway. From here we could look across the valley and see the Obelisk on the hill opposite with the winding path leading up to it. We ran down the hill towards it, crossed a bridge over a stream and we were on the winding path. It is advisable not to look up just keep your head down and pump your knees. Passing the Obelisk we drop sharply downhill past a lake then run equally sharply uphill, on past another Folly across a flat field out onto the road. We turn left along the road which still has snow in the hedgerow. After a mile we enter a village but immediately go off road again. Skirting around some fields we emerge onto a country road then carry on past a castle and over a main road. The road climbs out of the village before levelling out, at this point we again go off road running around a huge field before our route takes us across some rough ground beside a farmhouse. We make our way carefully through a field that contains sheep with lambs then over some ploughed ground that was quite soft. Not wet just soft like deep sand. Through another hedge and we were back onto the track from where we started leaving an easy run home. The Garmin said we had covered nine and a half miles. According to my estimation six of these were off road and our longest run for a month. We climbed over four hundred feet and burned eleven hundred calories. A target of twenty five miles for the week should now be obtainable but you never know. If every day was like today I could begin to enjoy running.  

Wind abated so no excuses.

Bitter cold winds yesterday persuaded us not to run. I spent half of the day writing a chapter for my book but it was hard work. Today the wind had abated so no excuses just get out there and do it. We did not fancy anything too difficult just a pleasant run to clock up the last of the miles to reach target. We added a slight variation to our route just to freshen things up a bit. It can be boring running the same route all the time. You begin to race around it just to see how fast you can complete it which can take some of the enjoyment away. The fields that we ran in today were firm under foot which made it a whole lot easier. No significant hills so it was at a respectable pace without killing ourselves. We have completed twenty five and a half miles for the week and all parts are still in working order. If things stays like this we could have a good run on Sunday.

Joking aside it's good in the country.

Another sunny day! Two in a row! Is this spring, or a late April fool’s day joke. Too good to miss we got out early to take advantage of the conditions. We started off at what we term “talking pace”, a speed you can run at and hold a conversation. It was windy but the wind did not have the rawness that it had in the weeks gone by. It was quite pleasant and the first two miles went by quite quickly. We went up a short sharp hill and then across fields that we had not run for some months. They had been ploughed but the path was compacted by walkers, other runners and the wind giving it a hard crust. This off road part of the run was about two miles long with some stiles and the occasional gate to break our stride it was easy going. The last part of the run took us through a village then alongside a main road. A mile downhill followed by a mile up hill. It was not that steep but energy sapping all the same. We saw more runners on this section but none going in our direction so no chance to exchange pleasantries. Six and a half miles, more calories burned and nearer the target. We now need to run five point two miles minimum tomorrow or Friday to achieve the target. Even managed a bit of gardening this afternoon. If this weather continues I will have to put the lawnmower on the launch pad ready for action.

Suprise! Suprise! it's a sunny day.

Bright sunny day and the temperature was rising. Unfortunately we are waiting for a parcel to be delivered (it should have been delivered last week) otherwise we would have run early. I passed the time tidying the garden and then got stuck into some digging. Big mistake. The parcel arrived at 12.30 by which time I had been wielding the fork for a good two hours. To run or not to run that was the question. Wanting to regain my twenty five mile schedule and only running seven and a half on Sunday to miss today would put us too far behind. I thought if we took it steady and completed five we could recover from that position. We set off in hope rather than expectation but at least we were giving it a go. Along the road and then down a track for a mile, I checked my watch at the end. We were going too fast. The next mile was slightly downhill and I attempted to apply the brakes but failed miserably. We had run fast and were travelling at my race pace. My legs finally acknowledged that the pace had been too hot when we came to a hill. They rebelled to such an extent that they had to walk. At the top we set off again at a more sedate pace and almost got to the top of the next hill before swing left handed across the fields. Maybe it would have been better to run home on the road. The fields have dried quite a lot but it was still very sticky in places. I could not get my heart rate down to a comfortable level but with home in sight I struggled on. We did five point eight miles so are over half way to the target. If my back has recovered from today’s digging we will get out there tomorrow and clock up a few more miles.