Smileyrunner

What a difference the sun makes

2012-01-15T10:02:00.002Z

I've been a bit light on the running front this week, but I've not been idle. The gorgeous sunny weather over the last few days saw Mrs HF and I walking up Castle Crag in Borrowdale. This is a small, prominent crag which Alfred Wainwright, no less, described as 'the loveliest square mile in Lakeland'. For relatively little effort you get magnificent views of the Borrowdale valley. Needless to say, I forgot to take my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it, but it was beautiful!
Earlier in the week I got the opportunity to take my friend Peter's dog for a run up and around Potter Fell. She's called Jess and, like all collies, she goes potty at the thought of playing with any toy...

... and of investigating any body of water....

She's a great dog, even returning to me on command - probably the reduced fat chicken and beef doggie treats in my bum bag had something to do with it! Despite never having taken her before, she learnt that the swishing sound my bum bag made as I brought it to the front to fish things out of it meant treats - either nibbles or the tennis ball. As soon as she heard it she looked back at me expectantly then legged it towards me. We had a great time.
Also on the dog front, I've blogged before about a Search and Rescue collie called Bute that I've helped train (by lying down on the fells and letting her find me, basically). Well, she's passed all 10 of her assessments and is now a fully accredited Lakeland Search and Rescue dog. You can see her on the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs Facebook page. Apart from that, my only other exercise has been to move two tonnes of compost from one compost bin into another at the gardens I volunteer at. So you can imagine that the frosty sunshine outside is rather calling to me now...

Smileyrating for the 'Jess' run: 10/10

Crikey! I might have a plan...

2012-01-01T14:37:00.002Z

Happy New Year everyone!
And of course, being New Year, it's time for a New Plan. And, in my usual uncoordinated way, I appear to have stumbled upon mine. I'm going to try and keep going the momentum I've developed during the latter part of December by making January my Slow and Steady month; just gradually building up the mileage to increase stamina. Then, from February onwards, I'll introduce hills, reps and (weather -permitting) much more off-road stuff. All this is with the aim of enjoying those cool, sunny, Spring/ Summer days running around the gorgeous Lake District fells.

It's grey and raining out. Again. So the cool, sunny Spring/Summer days etc. seem a long way off!

Still, I got out this morning, in a lull beteween the rain, and did another 4.5 miles on the lanes - and it felt really good, especially when I sploshed happily through a flood that had spread right across the lane. The wet feet were worth it just for the look on the faces of the two walkers who were tiptoeing around the edge of it.

Smileyrating 8/10

Unwarranted gloom

2011-12-30T11:46:00.002Z

An interesting run this morning. I did a familiar 4.3 mile loop up and around the lanes before breakfast - and really struggled on it. My legs didn't seem to want to work properly. My ankles, calves and knees were sensitive. I felt all ploddy and out of sorts. Looking back at my records, I'm wondering if it's because I have fairly quickly ramped up the frequency with which I've been running, combined with the fact that it's all been on roads and I'm really an off-road runner. All of which is leading me to think that my next exercise sesson should be in the gym to do some strengthening and core work.
Sorry this is such a self-absorbed post. I'm just a bit light on the post-run endorphins today.

Smileyrating 6/10

On a roll...

2011-12-28T11:20:00.002Z

After a little local trot out yesterday (A pretty level 3.5 miles or so, in the relentless drizzle), I was out again today for a more challenging run with my brother-in-law Pete. Staying on the roads again (I can't wait for it to dry out a bit so I can get off-road) we did a hilly route around the lanes. 5.24 miles, 396ft of ascent/descent, which I did with an average heart rate of 149 - 2bpm over my aerobic target of 147. So a good training run for me, (thanks Pete), though my legs did feel a bit bashed up at the end. A rest day tomorrow, methinks.
It was wild and chilly out but at least it didn't rain. There was even a hint of blue in the sky to lift the spirits. It's been so unremittingly grey for ages it was lovely to see it.
After a pretty relaxed year, I seem to be getting some regular running in at the minute. This is great, but I'm going to be careful not to push too far, too fast to avoid injury. Isn't that just the greatest excuse for sofa surfing watching telly and eating cake!

Smileyrating 8/10

Of lightbulbs and goose terrine...

2011-12-24T18:11:00.000Z

Another chilly day. Another soggy day. Another chilly, soggy run done. Miles in the legs and all that. After festively dusting and vacuuming the house (and nipping out to Morrisons for spare lightbulbs to replace the one I dropped (don't ask)) I worked my way round my local lanes again for about 45 minutes at 8:45 min mile pace (quickest, 6:48). The bald statistics hide the fact that it was, despite the weather, a lovely run. I was enjoying it so much that I put an extra loop on the end just to get some more running in.

According to my Garmin, I burnt 551 calories, though Lord knows how it calculates such a thing. Anyway, I'm no expert in calories, having never counted one in my life, but in my book 551 equates to a slice of goose terrine (made by the lovely Mrs HF), 2 slices of bread, green salad, slice of Christmas cake, mince pie and glass of sherry that I've had since then - and will still leave some left over for the fish pie, glass or so of crisp white and hot mince pie + chilled yogurt I am looking forward to tonight. As I said, I'm no expert...

Happy festive waddling!

Smileyrating 1/10 for the weather, 9/10 for the running

Hard and immensely satisfying...

2011-12-21T18:24:00.002Z

(Ooh er missus).

After a day of festive preparation which included wrestling the Christmas tree from the downstairs shower (where it was standing to drain the rain from it) to the lounge and then subsequently festooning it with baubles various, I really needed to get out and get some fresh air. So I belted out, headtorch on, and ended up doing a top training session which essentially involved running hard uphill for 15 minutes to a high point on the local lane, gasping for breath for a bit, then running back, finishing with a with a sprint. Only 25 minutes, so short, yet as sharp as anything I've done for a while. It felt GREAT.

Now our tree is up, the festive season at HF Towers is officially open. This brings mince pies, chocolates, cake and other seriously non-athletic comestibles into play. Maybe my hard little run tonight was a sort of pre-emptive guilt trip prior to the munching. Well, I'm not going to obsess over it. It's Christmas. I'm off to open a bottle of champagne and toast the lovely Mrs HF.

Merry Christmas all.

Runner's Tip No.1: Don't trip over the sheep

2011-12-19T11:18:00.000Z

I like winter running. I nipped out yesterday for my little River Loop run. It's only about 2.7 miles, but it's got a couple of proper little hills and some gentle upward trending sections, a nice downhill to finish and a flattish bit along the river in the middle. It was glorious. Lovely sparkly sunshine, crunchy underfoot with the occasional soft bit that gave a wet foot (wearing white socks was a mistake), and somnolent sheep that didn't skitter off as soon as you approached. Indeed, on the downhill section I was working my way towards a stile which lay in deep shadow of a wall, with the low wintry sun shining straight into my eyes. Suddenly, less than a metre in front of me, a lump of shadow started up and jogged away from me. Yep, I nearly blundered into a grazing ewe. I don't know who was more startled.
And there we are. Not a great training session. Not a run that can be ticked off a training plan. Just a nice steady trip out around familiar local landmarks; the sort of run that'll keep me ticking over until the New Year when, as every year, plans get made and 'training' starts.

Smileyrating 8.5/10

'Tis the season to be lardy...

2011-12-15T13:12:00.000Z

Yikes! Has it really been that long since I've been out for a run? Oh dear.
Since my last run, I've had a brilliant weekend's training with the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs Association. And their Christmas dinner. And five days toil at the compost heaps of Holehird gardens for the Lakeland Horticultural Society. And their Christmas lunch. There's a theme developing here. I'm off out again dog training tonight and tomorrow I have, no prizes for guessing, another Christmas lunch.

But today I threw off my festive indolence, stirred my stumps and headed out into the gloom and gentle sleet. I did a road route as I didn't fancy wading through knee-deep mire which is what the land round here is currently like. Even the sheep can be seen picking their way through it with a combination of distaste and delicately placed feet. The lanes were running with water and covered in debris, with muddy trenches at the edges where the tractor wheels have chewed up the verges. The only life I saw were the stoic sheep and a flock of black, raucous, birds. I think they were rooks, but I suppose they could have been crows; I'm a bit hazy on the corvids. One Land Rover went sloshing past me. It was cold and misty and permanently drizzling. I and the weighty collateral damage from my multiple Christmas feasts toiled and laboured up the hills. But, you know what? I had a whale of a time. It just goes to show what magic things those endorphins are. I had no watch or Garmin, so I've no idea how long I was out, but it was great.

And that's what it's all about really isn't it? Getting out and getting round and having a good time while you do so.

From deep within the gorgeous Lake District, I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a successful New Year.

Smileyrating 9/10

How to fool a Garmin...

2011-11-24T17:46:00.000Z

After a knackering week (training all weekend with the mountain rescue search dogs - which meant lots of steep climbing followed by lots of lying down - shovelling 3 tonnes of compost at Holehird, the garden where I volunteer, 8 hours of shredding at Holehird and a gym session), it was a relief to go for a run this morning. It also helped that I was in Harrogate with the lovely Mrs HF for the Knitting and Stitch show, and Harrogate was a new town for me to run in.
I did a simple loop from our B&B at about 0730 this morning as the day was lightening. The traffic was beginning to flood into the town as I worked my way uphill past substantial yellow stone houses and seemingly endless restaurants, Indian, Thai, Japanese and fast-food. It was one of those runs where you have no idea where you're going; you just follow your nose. Luckily, at the top of the first hill was a church with a striking steeple that I was able to keep an eye on as I worked my way round the loop. I dropped down a hill, left at a roundabout and back up another long hill, following 'Town Centre' signs, until I emerged at the International Conference and Exhibition Centre from where I made my way back to the B&B.
I've no idea how far I went because the Garmin took over 7 minutes to locate the satellites. At one point it pointedly asked me 'Are you indoors?'. On answering 'No', a spark lit up its little brain and it asked 'Have you travelled hundreds of miles since last use?'. Well only sixty-something actually. All this led me to think that the poor little thing was busily scanning the heavens for its familiar Cumbrian satellites and, when it couldn't find them, started looking for Yorkshire ones!
All in all, a super little run - and another town to add to my list of places I've run in.

Smileyrating 7.5/10

Warm sun? It's November!

2011-11-12T15:24:00.000Z

Is it me or is the weather just weird this year? It's November 12th, so on my trot out today, I dressed imagining it was November 12th: Long-sleeved thermal, shorts, leggings, windproof -with hat, gloves, waterproof overtrousers, cereal bar and water in bum bag. I should have dressed as if it was August 12th. The sun was beaming, the breeze was a balmy south-easterly, and within 45 seconds I was wrestling the windproof off and rolling my sleeves up. What a gorgeous day.

I did a familiar route around my local hills. According to the Garmin it was 7.38 miles with 931ft of ascent, which I ran at an average moving pace of 11.05minute miles. So not bad, considering I've not done any specific hill training for ages. It was just a lovely, steady/slow plod up to a tarn with the curious name of Gurnal Dubbs:

The route comes in from top right of the tarn and runs all the way round it. From here it continues on towards Staveley, past a place called Potter Tarn, which you can see in the mid-distance here:

Here's a curious fact about Potter Tarn. My hairdresser's Mum swims in it quite regularly throughout the summer. She's probably not supposed to, so don't tell anyone will you. In the shot you can just make out the path snaking down towards the tarn on the right hand side of the picture. This was a fantastic part of the route as it was on close-cropped grass (thank you Kendal Rough Fell sheep) which was a joy to run on. Lower down, the route degenerated into cow-trodden mud which was just hard graft, but still enjoyable.
All in all, a top run for a lovely day.

Smileyrating 9/10

A christening in the sunshine

2011-11-05T15:51:00.000Z

New shoes. Always an exciting moment for a runner. Here are mine, fresh from Pete Bland's in Kendal this morning, before I set out on a wonderful, life-affirming run...

Being such a glorious day, I headed out to the gorgeous runner's playground that is the Kentmere valley. The village was busy, with lots of parked cars, but I squeezed into a space and (pausing only to photograph my new Roclites - as you do) headed for the Nan Bield bridleway which begins by winding its way between stone walls...

...before arriving at a point where the valley is laid out in front of you. Imagine these two are a panorama and you get an idea of how gorgeous the day was:

It was great to be out and I was ran fairly easily, enjoying the sensation of having mud, rock, grass and stream bed underfoot. The Lakes have had a lot of rain recently which means that the streams were in full spate, so I had wet feet for most of the way. It was refreshing, shall we say.

I ground on, being made painfully aware of how little hard running I've done recently; as soon as there was an uphill section, I really struggled, plodding and gasping for breath. After 45 minutes, I'd made my high point, paused for a cereal bar and drink of water and made my way back down. Once the energy from the bar kicked in, I felt a lot better and really enjoyed the run. And it's no wonder. The sun was shining, the breeze was delightfully cool, the sheep were content, the Lakes looked superb and the route was gently undulating but tending downhill. I couldn't have had a better day to christen my new shoes:

As I approached the car at the end of the run, I caught my reflection in the rear windscreen. A vision of sweaty contentment I think you'll agree...

Smileyrating: 10/10 for the occasion, 4/10 for my running

Proper hills. Proper mud. Proper run.

2011-10-24T20:16:00.002+01:00

I'll be the first to admit that my recent runs have been somewhat leisurely affairs. They've mostly been on roads and at a comfortable pace. I have justified this to myself by saying that I'm just getting over a cold, and am recovering from a calf pull and have to 'ease back into it gently'. But you can do that for only so long. Eventually you have to go back out and do it properly. And today was the day.
By lunchtime here at Hayfellaville the gloomy cloud had lifted somewhat. The breeze was picking up. The grass was drying out - a bit. So I decided to do my classic lunchtime route which I call the River Loop which essentially entails running up one side of the River Sprint and down the other. The river runs serenely down the valley, but the land undulates wildly either side of it, so it's always in interesting route to do.
I set off and immediately noticed the fatiguing effect of running on muddy grassland. I ground on along the river and past the sad little unofficial grave on the side of the path that I suspect is the last resting place of a local pet. I was shocked at how heavily I was breathing; but then, I always am. It's been a while since I've done the route and I was pleased to note that the dangerous oak tree bough that overhung the path, and forced you to limbo under it, had been removed. Also, the broken bridge that used to span a muddy stream has been replaced so the route is back as it should be. I managed to ease along up the hills, slowly but steadily, and had a lovely surprise as I bounded* down the grassy fields on the way home. In one of the fields I came across a few Jacobs sheep. For those that don't know, these are beautiful animals, white with chocolate blotches and short pointy horns. I've only seen a few in my time and they are rather splendid. I'll try and get a photo of one next time I'm out that way.

After about 29 minutes, I arrived back home. MY PB for this run is about 24 minutes, so it was hardly earth-shattering, but, with the hills, mud and buffeting wind, it felt like a proper run. I loved it.

*As in tottering in a rather more uncontrolled fashion

Smileyrating 9 for the run, 9 for the Jacobs'!

If it's Thursday, it must be Middlesborough

2011-10-20T18:57:00.001+01:00

Last week I ran in Sheffield for the first time ever. This week, it was Middlesborough's turn. Mrs HF and I visited MIMA - the Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art - to see an exhibition by Ben and Winifred Nicholson - with a couple of Alfred Wallis's in there for good measure. We drove over last night, stayed at the Thistle Hotel from where I set out early this morning.

I love exploring new towns and cities on an early morning run. This morning it was very quiet, with hardly any traffic. It was cold, crisp and clear with a bright blue sky. I've no idea where I went. I turned right out of the hotel and ran around following my nose, going down streets that looked interesting. I came across these bells on one street and liked the way they were silhouetted against the morning sky:

As it's not a very big place, it wasn't long before I came across MIMA, with a statue called something like 'Bottle of Notes' in front of it:

At the other end of the square is one of those random fountains; this reflected the light fantastically as the jets spouted and foamed:

All in all, this was one of those short, uplifting runs that felt really good. After the hills of Sheffield it was great to run somewhere that was absolutely pancake flat.

Smileyrating 8.5/10 (it lost a few points for being more of a sightseeing jog than a proper run)

Me and Jessica Ennis have a lot in common...

2011-10-17T12:22:00.001+01:00

...well, she runs in Sheffield and yesterday... I ran in Sheffield. (Mrs HF and I were over in the steel city visiting our niece who is at university there). Though it sounds a tenuous connection, when I'm out running, especially on Sunday morning, I quite often find myself thinking of everyone else up and down the country who is out doing their Sunday run. I imagine I'm part of a virtual community; a 'runnerhood' if you like. We're all out, breathing the same air, feeling the same pains, getting the same benefit. It's kind of comforting and makes the miles ease by. Also, I very often have virtual companions when I run. I have had for years. I've run with Douglas Wakihuri (remember him?) on many occasions. Similarly, Ron Hill's been known to materialise alongside for many a mile. Paula's looked in, head a-bobbing. And, naturally, the blessed Haile G has many times jogged along for a chat before effortlessly pulling away. Does anybody else do this, or should I be making an appointment with somebody with a couch in their consulting room?

Anyway, I was running around the steep lanes 5 miles outside Sheffield in a place called Dungworth. It was fantastic. As I left our hotel (The Royal, a very nice pub-with-rooms place) the sun was coming up in the east, and the moon was still pretty high in the sky to the west. I plodded up hill and down, following lanes, with no particular route in mind other than if there was a hill I went up it. I ran past fields of contentedly munching cows, and grazing sheep. I heard the sounds of the countryside waking up - dogs barking and cockerels crowing. It was lovely. Here's a pic that shows, er, nearly, just how lovely it was:

And naturally Jess (as I came to call her as I got to know her quite well) was running alongside for a while before disappearing off to do yet more reps around a track somewhere...

Smileyrating 9/10

That's more like it...

2011-10-04T18:31:00.001+01:00

Peer out of window. Grey dominates. Wind swishing the trees about. Sheep snug fast up to the stone wall. Thirteen degrees. Not actually raining, but showerproof top put on just in case. At last, proper running weather.
Next up - careful stretches, warm-up leg swings and cautious arm twirls.
And then a nice, easy 40 minutes. Up the lane, along Potter Fell road, down to the river and back along the lane. It was the longest I've been out for ages and ages and it was fantastic to be back doing a 'proper' run; one where you have to work at it to get up the hills and where it feels just great to be easing along the flat bits.
It's been a while since I've done this route and I noticed the little changes; how well Paul's extension is coming along (he has a fantastic house which looks out over a distant Coniston Old Man), that there seem to be a few less chickens scratting about in the field just as you turn down by the wall where a squirrel ran alongside me on a previous outing. Where the stone wall looks a bit more precarious since the rains. The tree crashed to the ground by the tail end of the hurricane.
Back home, more careful stretches just as Roxy - my brilliant sports physio - has prescribed. All in all, marvellous. No twinges, no creaks. Lots of puffing, but so what. I'm back running again.

Smileyrating 10/10

New life. New look.

2011-09-30T15:54:00.000+01:00

I've been playing with the blogger design thingy. Hope you like the new look. Just thought it was time. If ever I can get a decent mugshot, I'll include that too!

4 runs, no tweaks :))

2011-09-29T12:10:00.001+01:00

Sorry about the long delay in blogging, but, now I'm retired (sorry to rub it in) I've been so busy! I've celebrated by having a fantastic holiday with the lovely Mrs HF around Scotland.
We started by overnighting at Fort William and then heading north-west to Sutherland, staying just outside Lochinver. We drove as far north as Durness, where we had the most yummy chocolate truffles in, of all places, a disused Cold War early warning station. Strongly recommended. There was a delicious irony in the fact that our waitress was Eastern European. I wish I'd asked if she was Russian. I suppose radar station to chocalaterie is the modern version of swords to ploughshares.

From here, we took the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway on Lewis. To be honest, I was a little worried about this three and a half hour crossing - it wasn't long since the tail end of that hurricane had swept through and the Minch is not noted as a particularly tranquil body of water - but it was rainy, and we had a really calm crossing. This is us leaving Ullapool behind.

From Stornoway we drove the forty-odd miles south to Tarbert, on Harris, where we stayed for a week in a lovely little house. It's the little bright cream building you can see if you follow the line of the red roof in this shot:

We loved Harris. I found an off-road path called the South Harris Walkway, which I used as a run. It started up a steep hill (from where I took the above photo) and continued along the coast. It was early morning, so the shot's a bit gloomy (or atmospheric if you prefer). It was boggy, with jewel-bright colours of heather and moss. Really quite gorgeous.

The beaches on western Harris are fantastic, though this shot doesn't do them justice. The sand is made of crushed shells, rather than crushed rock. It is this that makes the sands so beautifully white when lit by the sun. Also, it makes the water a beautiful colour.

Here's a wonderful picture that Mrs HF (in acrylic, with rag and palette knife) did which actually gives a much better feel of what the place was like:

Here she is, collecting sand for another project

And here's my representation of her, done in hard pastels and conte crayon:

After our week on Harris, we left for a few days on Skye which, in comparison, seems impossibly crowded and developed!! All in all, a fantastic break. I did three runs, all quite hilly and on broken ground, with nary a twinge. I ran this morning back home (I did the route I call the Buzzard Loop) in unfeasibly high temperatures and 75% humidity which was, frankly, weird for this time of year. It was fantastic to run without feeling as if something would go 'Twang!' at any minute. Hopefully, I can build up time and distance nice and gradually and feel like a runner again, rather than a hobbler.

Smileyrating: 10/10 for Harris runs, 9.9/10 for this morning (0.1 knocked off for the lack of sea view)

Not a vintage summer

2011-08-24T18:22:00.000+01:00

Here we are at the end of one of the peak running months of the year and what have I done? Developed a dodgy calf that is slowly responding to therapy. Developed a touch of patellar tendinitis in the other leg which I hope will respond to therapy. Done a few lowly runs, done a few bike rides, done quite a bit of time in the gym. All in all, not a vintage summer.
That's the downside. The upside is that, from 1st September, I shall be retired! After a 22-year career as an advertising copywriter I won't have to get up in the morning wondering about earning my living. It's very exciting and very weird. But it'll give me more time to spend with Mrs HF and more time to do lots of other things, including, I hope more running.
Hopefully, a vintage autumn awaits!

No runner is an island...

2011-08-11T18:34:00.000+01:00

Running's a funny thing. It's essentially solitary, yet you can't do it alone. You need a support team. Recently a new member was co-opted onto the Hayfella squad. Her name's Roxy. Petite, dark, pretty and skilled in inflicting nasty levels of pain. Yep, she's my Sports Physio and she's fantastic. Let loose on the dodgy HF calf, she realised straight away it was all due to a wayward sacro-iliac joint, tilted pelvis and, quite frankly, pathetic hamstring strength and flexibility. And there was I thinking it was a bit of cramp!
She gave me stretches to do, strengthening exercises to do and then ground her thumbs along my tender gastrocnemus in a way felt like it was doing way more damage than the original injury. I've never had a sports massage before. Doesn't it HURT!
Still, I'm sure that, once the 'treatment tenderness' as she delightfully put it, has worn off, and I stretch and warm up more assiduously, I'll be back enjoying the hills.

Blogger problems

2011-07-27T09:24:00.000+01:00

I've been trying to leave comments on people's blogs (Old Running Fox, Running Bear et al.) but Blogger seems determined not to let me. I get to the 'Word Verification' bit, complete it, click 'Post comment' only to go back to the 'Sign In' page. Again and again and again.... It's very frustrating.
Can anyone help?

A brief catch-up

2011-07-26T17:35:00.000+01:00

Hello again! It's been ages since I've blogged and stuff's happened. Most importantly, congratulations to Mike and Pete, Mrs HF's brothers, who completed the Tour d'Etape (from Modane/ValFrejus to Alp d'Huez). A brilliant effort over an incredibly tough course under the blazing sun.

Since we've been back, I've been ticking over nicely, doing some before-breakfast runs, and some interval and hill sessions. Annoyingly though I've just kn*ck***d my right calf again (always a weak point), so I'm going to have to ease off for a bit. To try and get it sorted, I've booked myself in to Body Rehab, a sports clinic of high renown which is just down the road. One of their 'supported athletes' is Rob Jebb - fell-runner and cycling God - so they must be pretty good!

Because the calf's effectively kiboshed my running, I'm going to have to turn to the bike a bit more. Mind you, I went out on it on Saturday morning for the first time in ages and, rather embarrasingly (though also, it must be said, very comically), fell off. I was trying to climb much too steep a lane when I ground to a halt and couldn't get my foot out of the pedal in time. I was abruptly deposited with my elbow in a brambly stone wall and my left calf and hip scraping the road. Ouch! I bear the scars of classic road rash with the added pleasure of picking bramble prickles out of my elbow. I'll choose a different route next time.

Some great news to finish:

The man is Roger. Earlier this year his wonderful Mountain Rescue Search Dog, Beinn, died unexpectedly. This little chap is Ted, his new dog.It hardly seems possible that this cute bundle could well be, in 2-3 years, charging up and down the fells finding people and saving lives.
But for now, it's hard to say who looks happier.

A bientot!

2011-07-07T10:12:00.000+01:00

I'm really into this 'no-watch' running caper. I nipped out at the end of the day yesterday for a cracking little run. I've no idea how far it was and I've only a rough idea how long it took (30 minutes). All I do know is that I missed the showers, felt strong on the flat bits and really struggled up the hills. Plus ca change. Which reminds me, my next run could well be in the Alps. We're off to watch my brothers-in-law try and cycle a stage of the Tour de France (this year's Stage 19, Modane-Alp d'Huez).
Alpine trails await! I don't think I'll take my watch.

Smileyrating 9/10

Give me sunshine...

2011-06-28T18:13:00.001+01:00

Another morning hunched over a word processor. Another morning's tension in the shoulders and brain. Bright sunshine outside.... It didn't take much to obey the call to go for a run today!

I popped round my new local route which is all uphill at the start and then downhill from about mid-way. It's pretty much all across fields, including one which is still knee-high grass (which caused great red weals where it brushed my legs - I must be more sensitive to grass than I thought), and one in which there are always a few hens free-ranging about. I felt really slow and ploddy, with tired (soon to be fetchingly blotchy) legs. Apart from that, it was great, with gorgeous warm sunshine, tractors buzzing about cutting the grass and swallows flitting about after the insects the grass cutting disturbs.

For the digitally inclined, here are the figures: Duration 27min 10s, 2.39 miles, 185 ft of ascent. Average pace 10:47 min miles. Average HR 141, max 162. Not inspiring from an athletic point of view, but most satisfying from an emotional one.

Smileyrating 9/10

Runners' Rules

2011-06-22T19:29:00.000+01:00

I think there's a rule of running which goes something like: 'Thou shalt run fastest when thou leaves thy watch at home - trouble is thou shalst never be believed'.

Well, I don't care. If tonight's run is anything to go by, it's true. I thought I'd nip out for a Buzzard Loop, before it chucked it down with rain. The last thing I agreed with Mrs HF as I went out the door was 'I'm just going to take it easy' (so no need for a watch), but as soon as I took my first stride I felt good. So I pushed up the hills, felt strong on the descents and enjoyed the flat bits. Net result: I felt faster than I have in ages. But was I? I'll never know.

Still, it's raining now. So that bit of the plan went right!

Smileyrating 9.3/10

A 'yow' called Nikon

2011-06-22T10:38:00.001+01:00

After my last miserable effort, I'm delighted to report that I had a smashing run yesterday lunchtime. It was a warm, soggy sort of day (62% humidity according to the nifty little weather station gadget we've got on the windowsill) when I set off for a run that linked together bits of the routes I refer to as the 'River Loop' and the 'Buzzard Loop'.

It was on the first part of this that I heard, very distinctly, Click!, the sound of a camera shutter. 'Weird', I thought. There was nobody about. But then I heard it again, the distinctive click! of a camera shutter. I trotted on, looking around. And there it was. A bedraggled ewe (they call them 'yows' in these parts), head nodding with the effort, coughed/sneezed - and sounded uncannily like a camera. Phew. Mystery solved.

I then wondered whether sheep can get hay fever. After all, they are mammals, with mammalian immune systems and so presumably have all the necessary biological mechanisms to respond to allergens like grass pollen. Can you imagine being such a sheep? Sneezing and coughing, eyes streaming, wishing summer would hurry up and be over, being delighted every time it rained, going through a gate into a new field... oh bugger, more sodding grass... Atishoo! click....

Such musings kept me occupied for quite a while. The run was glorious. Even in the fields which have yet to be cut, with the knee-high soggy grass soaking my feet and legs (and leaving red wheals where my skin responded to the grass pollen) which meant I had to run with high knee-lift. Tiring, but good extra training. Rabbits were scurrying about. All in all, it was an enjoyable 35 minutes with 192 ft of ascent/descent.

Smileyrating 9/10

Ho Hum.

2011-06-16T18:57:00.000+01:00

Along the river. Up a small hill. Along the top. Downhill. Home. Just 4.6 miles. Average moving pace 9:45 min miles. Despondent.

Smileyrating 4/10. At least I got out.

Bimbling along

2011-06-08T08:59:00.000+01:00

Went round my local River Loop yesterday lunchtime. Nothing special in performance terms. Not an interval session. Not a hill session. No fartlek. I just went out and ran. The weather was lovely - warm sun and cool breeze. Sheep and (large) lambs to say hallo to. Gorgeous ferns in the woodland alongside the river. The perfect antidote to being hunched over a keyboard all morning.

Smileyrating 7.8/10 (I'm getting very discriminating!)

On losing count

2011-06-02T17:41:00.001+01:00

I did a lovely hill session today. Lovely in the sense that it was Kenyan hills (where you just keep going up and down, trying to maintain as even a rhythm as possible) so you get into a sort of karmic zen mindspace where you just keep going and going. I was so mentally chilled (if physically boiling in the warm sun) that I lost count. I meant to do 10 reps and ended up doing 11. The reps took 2.05 miles - so I reckon that's about a mile up and a mile down.
That'll do nicely.

Smileyrating 8/10

On the Question of Why

2011-05-29T12:49:00.000+01:00

Why do we run? I reckon the answers range from "It's just what we do" to "I'm keen to reduce my 10k/marathon/mountain marathon time", taking in the "I'm thinking I'll stay ahead of the Grim Reaper for a bit longer" along the way. It can be a complicated thing, this running lark. But not for me today. Today I had a really simple answer to the question. I ran to get the papers. And how liberating it was. I had purpose. A destination. I was the hunter-gatherer chasing down my prey. (OK, a bit of a stretch, but you catch my drift).

I was five strides from the front door before I realised that the baseball cap was not a good idea. It is essential to keep the drizzle off my glasses, but a liability in the warm gusting gales that were blasting in over the fields and paper factory. I ran a loop through a little hamlet called Bowston on a route that took me along quiet, rain-washed lanes alongside fields with sheep and lambs huddling snug against the stone walls for shelter. The burbling song of curlews reinforced the air of desolation. Not a person, bike, car, dog walker, cyclist or tractor did I pass.

At the paper shop, the lad behind the counter looked with some distaste at the sweaty scruffbag shoving an Observer into his rucksack, and watched with mild bemusement as I extricated my money, with some difficulty, from the zipped back pocket of my shorts. To his credit, he managed a weak smile on receiving payment.

The final leg was just half a mile or so uphill to home. It was a shock to realise that, because of work and other commitments, I have not been able to run for a whole week. No wonder I was feeling lardy and grumpy. And that's also why I run. Because if I don't, I'm not at all the pleasant, even-tempered Smileyrunner I want to be.

Why do you run?

Smileyrating 9/10

Running update

2011-05-28T14:49:00.000+01:00

I'm sure you've not been losing any sleep about it, but in case you were wondering what's happened to Hayfella, the answer lies in that 4-letter word that begins with W and ends with K. Work. And if you had another in your mind you should be ashamed of yourself.
I've been in beautiful Copenhagen and not-so-beautiful Basingstoke with ultracollie but have managed to get a couple of little bimbles in: The first was a beautiful run around a local route I call the Buzzard loop (because I was buzzed by buzzards there last year). This was memorable because it was one of the most deliciously fragrant runs I've had for a while. The hawthorn on the hedges, the cow parsley along the verges and the vanilla/banana aroma of gorse (who'd have thought that gorse, that botanical thug, would have such a delicious, heady smell. You have to be careful where you stick your nose though) were lovely.

Smileyrating 8.5/10

The other was in Ireland last Sunday and, entirely my fault, was one of the most tedious affairs I've endured for a while. We (Mrs HF and I) were staying at her sister's and I thought I'd just nip out before breakfast and simply run along the main road for 25 minutes, turn round and run back. What I hadn't realised was that the road was dead straight. There were houses and gardens on either side, but the gardens were boring. The road, being so straight, was boring. The sky was grey. Boring. The only excitement was when a red Seat Ibiza overtook another car and shot past about three feet from my left hip. If only I'd've taken advice and gone round the lanes; at least I would have had some bends to enjoy! Ah well. It was done. Another 57 minutes in the legs (I overshot my turn off on the way back) and I felt better for having done it.

Smileyrating 5/10

It's not running, but...

2011-05-16T11:16:00.001+01:00

It's been a tragic week or so for the Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs Association. One of our most experienced dog handlers and an extraordinary man, David Watt, died in a accident while piloting his own aircraft. His funeral is later this week.
Twenty four hours prior to this tragedy, search dog Beinn, a brilliant dog with many finds to his credit, died unexpectedly at home. He was only 6.
As my readers know, I help out as a 'dogsbody' for the Association (I lie about on the fells to give the dogs someone to find when they are training). Doing this I have come to appreciate the strength of the bond between handler and dog and the enormous committment the handlers make, both to the Mountain Rescue part and to the Search Dogs part.
So, if I may make a gentle plea: If you're up in the Lakes and see a Mountain Rescue Search Dogs box - do pop a coin or two in. The money goes to help train the next Beinn.
A memorial walk for David was held on Saturday along Mickleden Beck in the Langdales. If you'd been planning a quiet walk there, you'd have been disappointed. You would have met about 65 MR people and 46 dogs! The sight of them all (dogs, not people) charging after a tennis ball was something to see. Astonishingly, during the minute's silence, the dogs fell silent too. They are special animals.
To finish on a positive note. Roger, Beinn's handler, is planning to train another dog.

Don't you just hate...

2011-05-11T14:46:00.000+01:00

Intervals.
Well, I do just at the minute. But that's because I've just got back in after doing 8x30s with 30s rests. I should have done 10, but was so jiggered, frankly, that I came home.
I'm of the opinion that intervals are like medicine. You may not like it at the time, but it'll do you good in the long term. Provided the side-effects don't get you!
'Twas a gorgeous day for running though. Blustery, but sunny and dry with lovely springy grass to bound over.

Smileyrating 5/10

Don't you just love ...

2011-05-08T16:53:00.000+01:00

Skylarks.

This time of year, seemingly whatever the weather, they erupt from the moorland trilling loudly overhead. And so it was this morning that my laboured run up to Potter Fell was accompanied by their distinctive liquid song.

It was a classic Sunday run today. I'd watched Match of the Day, had a bowl of muesli, and headed out . It was warm and windy, but thankfully the torrential thundery downpours we'd had last night had passed through. Everywhere was wet and sparkling. The River Sprint - so dry just last week - was again rushing and roiling over the rocks. Lambs were skittish. Last night was probably the first thunderstorm they'd ever seen, so I guess it's understandable.

I was anything but skittish. It was a struggle for about 25 minutes before I got into the swing of things and relaxed into the running. In fairness, the first 35 minutes or so were pretty much all uphill, so that might explain it.
By the time I got to the top of the hill, and the land flattened out into heather-clad moorland, I was puffing and wheezing like leaky bagpipe and was grateful for the skylark's beautiful song.

For the stat minded, I did 6.64 miles - so not huge - was out for 1hr 9minutes, averaging 10.12 minute miles, and climbed 779 feet (c.240m). My average heart rate was 153, which is midway between my aerobic and interval target HR (147 and 160 bpm respectively). Certainly it was way above my LSS target HR of 134bpm. I'm putting it down to the hills.

Smileyrating 9/10. It was hard, but great!

A much-needed jaunt

2011-05-04T08:35:00.000+01:00

There are times when you just have to go for a run. I'd had a frustrating day at work, grappling with a problem that I was struggling to solve, I had drunk too much coffee and I was anxious and fretful. "Go on, get out", urged Mrs HF, "And we'll go out and eat afterwards". So I donned shorts, top and Roclites and headed out into the evening sunshine. The air was surprisingly cool as I made my way up the lane and across the fields on a route I call the 'Buzzard Loop' because it passes close to where there are a pair of said birds nesting in an old tree.
As I bimbled round, the exercise worked its magic. I calmed down, thought nice thoughts, said hallo to the lambs and even did a couple of intervals between stiles. Even thought he grass was lush and green, the ground was bone-jarringly hard beneath it and I ran past areas that, only a few weeks ago, I was having to skirt because they were under water. It's amazing how dry it's been this Spring.
And we did go out afterwards. It was delicious.

Smileyrating 8/10

An arty aside...

2011-04-25T11:42:00.000+01:00

I've been asked whether any of my artistic efforts from our recent holiday in Spain could go on the blog. With trepidation, I offer these...

Firstly, an olive tree, rendered with a bog-standard Pentel signwriting pen, on watercolour paper. When you wet the Pentel ink, it flows like watercolour.

As part of the course, we were asked to draw 'A Seat'. This is my effort. It's drawn in turquoise oil pastel, pretty much in one line, with a watercolor wash over:

In a more avant-garde moment, I tried to depict a towering palm tree, growing close to our room, using just a palette knife and acrylic paint. This took about 45 seconds to do and turned out far better than I'd hoped!

Finally, and thank you for your patience, an abstract triptych. This is a representation of a hill-top town called Salares. I took a photo from near the river, looking up into the town and was struck by how the glaring white walls and red roofs showed up against the uniform pale blue sky. The white is the paper, the sky is (I think) cerulean blue gouache and the roofs are cadmium red gouache.

This is the simplest of the images, yet it took the longest to create. The sketchbook page shows the labour pains...

Results notwithstanding, it was a great holiday. If you fancy it, it was Frances Winder's course based at the beautiful, idiosyncratic, hotel called Finca el Cerrillo - and it's already fully booked for next year!

Easter jaunts

2011-04-25T10:18:00.000+01:00

What a beautiful day Easter Sunday was. Sunny, yet cool. Pete, Mrs HF's brother, was visiting so we went for a nice little leg-loosener run.
On Saturday, we had spent 5 hours walking in the Howgills (gorgeous, massive, rounded hills, remarkably steep in parts), so our legs were a bit trashed. Hence we decided on a nice local route which went out flat along the River Kent and then turned hillwards and returned over some gently undulating farmland. Only 4.6 miles with 310ft of elevation gain, so nothing too strenuous, but it was surprisingly hard work.
The hawthorn blossom is at its finest just now; making the hedges great snowy swathes of delicate white. The fields are full lambs. Particularly cute are the Swaledales with their blotchy black faces and little black knees. They certainly make this time of year a special time to be out.
All in all, a pretty good Easter weekend's activity. Which will have to do for this week as I'm off to Munich first thing tomorrow for work and won't be able to get out until Friday.

Smileyrating 8/10

Good to be back

2011-04-20T10:21:00.001+01:00

Just come back from a week in sunny Spain, where I've exercised nothing more than the creative side of my brain and wielded nothing heavier than a Prolene size 6 artist's paintbrush.
So, about half a kilogramme heavier than when I left, on Monday I set out on a gentle loop around Hayfella acres - and a gorgeous loop it was. It was only about 2.7 miles, but I put together sections of two different routes into one satisfying new route. Pleasantly undulating without being too heroic. Mostly off-road an sheep-cropped grass. Rather too many stiles and gates, but that's unavoidable. Every field full of cutesy lambs and watchful ewes (or 'yows' as they're called up here - you may have heard them called that on Lambing Live). All in all a beautiful little run.
Only marred by the fact that I think I may have re-tweaked the a*se muscle I pulled a while ago...

Smileyrating 9.5/10 (0.5 knocked off for the bum tweakage)

Retail excitement

2011-04-05T14:01:00.000+01:00

Last night, on the way back from the pub, I peered through the windows of the new-look Pete Bland sports in Kendal. It was a hive of stocking-up activity. From what I could see, it's going to be fabulous. It was due to open yesterday, but wasn't quite ready - but any time now.

Slow run, quick post.

2011-04-05T09:33:00.001+01:00

Headed east on the Dales Way on Sunday. 5 miles out, and 5 back. Legs and lungs were fine, but the route was, shall we say, tedious. After getting some fine views of the Howgills, the run descended into one where you're forever micro-navigating, trying to find Dales Way signs and heading blindly into enormous fields with only the compass to guide the way. Which was good for my navigation, but so frustrating. I longed to be out on the tops, following a fine ridge; instead I was splotching around quagmires trying to find the gate fastening. Grrr!
So the10.44 miles took me 2hrs 16mins (!) but I did go up and down 908ft, so it was a good training run in the blustery sunshine and showers.

Smileyrating (thanks Kate) 6/10

An affair of the heart...

2011-03-31T17:39:00.000+01:00

I've blogged before about the wayward nature of my heart rate readings. Somehow, if I set an HR target, I can never actually run to it.
Until today.
I set out intending to do a fairly short run, keeping to a heart rate of 147bpm, which is my aerobic target rate. And I managed it! 2.39 miles, 131ft of ascent at 09:11 min miles, average heart rate 146 (with a max of 164 going up the steepest hill on the course).
Rather ridiculously, I feel very pleased with having done it. It was a cracking little run too. Very blustery, but with lots of lovely lambs to keep me company.

Runners' beer goggles

2011-03-28T15:54:00.000+01:00

Why do we do it? Why, on a beautiful Spring day with fluffy white lambs in the fields and fluffy white clouds in the sky, do we go out and make everything hurt by running intervals?
I don't know. But it is what I did this lunchtime. 8x400m (roughly - it's two fields worth of effort) with 1 minute rests between them.
It was a slog from the word go. As they do, they got progressively harder until it got so embarrassing I stopped. Not the most technically advanced way of training, but I'd recently watched the film about Graeme Obree, the Scottish cyclist; his home-made approach worked pretty well, so I'm optimistic mine will work for me.

Whisper it quietly, but I'm thinking very seriously of entering a fell race. Somehow, running with a number pinned wonkily to my chest seems strangely alluring. It's probably the endorphins talking. The runner's equivalent of drinking too much beer and taking on the world.

Smileyrating 4/10 for the effort, 10/10 for the conditions

Oo-er, I might be in PB-land

2011-03-22T14:45:00.000Z

My usual lunchtime run is a route I call the River Loop, because it essentially goes up one side of the River Sprint and down the other. Looking back at my times for this rather lovely little trot out, I see that it usually takes about 27-30 minutes.
So you can imagine my delight when I did it in 25:13 today. For the 2.7 miles/174ft of ascent/descent it meant an average moving pace of 08:55 min/mile, which is the first time I've dipped below 9min/mile, offroad, for ages - if ever before! This could be a PB.
Of course, the dry figures tell only half the story. It was the first run this year without wearing leggings! The first without needing a windproof top! The first without serious mud! All in all, it was a beautiful dry day and underfoot was lovely sheep-cropped grass which is the finest running surface of all. After all my tribulations of last year, it is such a joy to be running - and to be running hard - once again.

Happiness abounds in the Smileyrunner camp.

Smileyrating 9.9/10. To be 10 it needed to have hurt less!

Ooh! me aching parts...

2011-03-13T16:23:00.001Z

From which title you've gathered that today's blog is a tale of creaking and groaning. In short, and continuing my apparent fixation with Garmin stats, I did 9.73 miles, with 954 ft of ascent, in 01:49:08 this morning, between the muesli and boiled egg courses of today's breakfast. My average moving pace was 10:58 min/mile, my average HR was 156, max 172.

All that just goes to show that figures are only part of the story. Because it was a gorgeous run, even though the weather had not yet decided to play ball by being sunny. That came after I got home. I started off in the gloom and headed off up Potter Fell, by way of the first part of my normal River Loop route. The very preggers sheep were grazing contentedly as I trotted past and my friend (and fellow dogsbody for the Mountain Rescue Search Dogs) Peter's soppy old collie, Jess, came to see me for a stroke.

Some 38 minutes of pretty continuous climbing later, I was astride the stile at the highest point, watching the clear sunny skies approaching over Windermere to the west. The wind was pretty cold up there; the temperature was only about 5 degrees, so the wind chill was noticeable. I then dropped down to Staveley and came back along the River Kent, through the woods where the bulbs (possibly little narcissi) were poking through anticipating the forthcoming warmth before bursting into flower.

At about mile 8 my legs and lower back had decided they'd had enough, and it felt as if I slowed considerably. Never mind, the river was flowing, swift and silent, the grass was getting greener as I watched and there was the unmistakeable feel of Spring in the air. It was good to be alive and so, so good to be able to be out running. It was the 12 March 2010 - one year ago - that I had my hernia diagnosed and my running ground to a halt....

The boiled egg was pretty good too. Especially as it was followed, in pretty short order, by lunch at the Punchbowl in Crosthwaite - one of the finest eateries in the Lake District and, therefore, the World!

Smileyrating 8.9/10

2011-03-07T20:47:00.000Z

Lots of work to do, so only a little run today. I did the River Loop, which is my default run. It goes from the door, up one side of the river Sprint, across a bridge, and down the other side. Though, of course, this being the Lakes, the River is the only flat bit of it. The route climbs 154ft up and down.

It's mostly run on grassy footpaths with just a bit of road in it.
It's 2.68 miles long (thanks Garmin) and I did it today in 26.07. This isn't very quick in absolute terms (my average moving pace was 09:23 min/mile), but on looking back at my Garmin records, my best time from a couple of years ago was 26.04 - so maybe I was close to my PB today! I actually felt quite good too. I pushed up all the hills, tried to push over the tops and then did a couple of fartlek-y bits on the way back.

Not much to report other than I did it. Definitely more sheep about. It won't be long before we have the fun of lambs to look at (that'll slow things down a bit!) so it's a great time of year.

Smileyrating 8/10

2011-03-02T16:15:00.000Z

I've just run a mile uphill. Admittedly it was the same 0.13 miles eight times over, but it all adds up. Yes! it was a sun-bathed Kenyan hills session today. And what a gorgeous day it was. It was only 5 deg. C, but the sun shone warmly on my back as I headed out to my hill rep field. Last time I was here it looked a bit different...

There's not much you can say about a hill session is there? I went up and down, in one continuous movement until I was knackered. Then I went home. It's one of those sessions where the benefits won't be felt until you find yourself easing up a hill that you normally struggle up.
He says hopefully.
Still, the fields are beginning to be populated by sheep now. The farmers are bringing them down to be nearer the farm to make it easier when they're lambing. It's an exciting time of year.

Smileyrating 8/10

"Was that it?"

2011-02-28T08:52:00.000Z

Have you ever had one of those runs where you think, as you're going along, "I'm doing all right here" only for these thoughts to change to "Was that it?" when you get back and take a look at the figures? It happened to me yesterday.
I set off , in a very cold NW wind and bright sunshine, to do about an hour or so, and headed out on a new road route. This took me from home up into the hills with wonderful views across to the Howgills. The dominant sounds were the wind and, particularly, the gushing of water. The river Sprint bounded and foamed far beneath me. Torrents of water spouted from the base of stone walls and disappeared gurgling under the road. I splashed through puddles and ran through rivulets streaming downhill, washing gravel and debris into furrows in the middle of the lanes. It felt good.
Mind you the numbers weren't great. I did 6.7miles, with 529ft of ascent, in 1:02:40, at an average moving pace of only 09:20min miles. I must admit I was hoping for better. I've got a long way to go!
Still, it was just great to be out, among the snowdrops and clear sunshine.

Smileyrating 7/10

Captain Statto...

2011-02-19T15:58:00.000Z

Just uploaded my 99th run to Garmin!
4.91 miles in 46.31. Average moving pace of 09:23 min/mile. Best pace of 06:05.
391 ft of ascent, 392ft of descent, which means my house sunk by a foot this morning.
Max HR 169; Average HR 141, so bang on my long slow steady pace, which is a pity as it wasn't really long enough for a long run. Still, I have family obligations this weekend so to get out in the sleet before breakfast was a bonus.
Saw 5 soggy sheep, one soggy old english sheepdog and 3 pigeons the whole way round. Felt fantastic at the end, particularly because the uphill bits felt a little easier.

Smileyrating 8/10

Interval Animal

2011-02-16T14:22:00.000Z

The sun is shining today so it was a pleasure to get out. Even if it was for an evil interval session. 8 x 200m over undulating sheep-cropped grassland. I know it's nothing in terms of serious athletic training, but it was enough for me to grind to a halt on the last one!
My excuse is that I had a weekend in the high hills near Helvellyn, where I was bodying for the Search and Rescue dogs (I spent Sunday peering out of a bivvy bag in the pouring rain and mist waiting for an excited collie or labrador to charge up and bark at me. It was brilliant.) so I reckon my legs are still a bit tired.
My best pace was 4.45 min mi for the 200m. It would be nice to be able to do it for a whole mile but, let's be honest, it's not going to happen. All I hope for is that it helps to make my long runs go a little quicker and/or easier.

It's a busy time in rural Lakeland. At one farm they are building what looks to be a new barn - though I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't a new lambing shed later in the Spring. A tractor buzzed up the lane, the smoke from its exhaust showing the effort it was putting in to tow the full muck spreader up the hill. Another one bounced across the far field, empty trailer clattering behind.
Interestingly, there's not an animal to be seen. The Kendal Rough Fell sheep are out on the tops, but lower down the fields are eerily quiet. There's a sense that the land is pausing for breath before the full activity of Spring gets going.

Smileyrating 9/10 for getting out and doing. 3/10 for what was done!

Of mists and cake

2011-02-10T18:23:00.001Z

I had a feeling today's run would be special. As I was undertaking the essential pre-run faffage (donning shoes, waiting for the Garmin to find some satellites, wondering if I should have a final wee before setting out) a swan flew over, its wings making that mellifluous whistling sound that they do. I could only just pick out it's white body against the morning mist. Moments later, a second one flew over, but it must have been higher as I never spotted it.
I set off up the lane in the mist...

I was planning to run up to Potter Fell along to Staveley and back along the River Kent. The 'up to Potter Fell' part meant about 35 minutes of constant uphill work. It was mostly at a perfectly runnable gradient, if by 'runnable' you mean a sort of shuffling trot with wheezing to disturb the morning air. A lot of it was along a stony track, running with water; so refreshing for the feet.

As I climbed, I climbed above the mist... Looking back, the cloud filled the valleys

Near the top lies this beautiful little lake with the strange name of Gurnal Dubbs. There's a well built stone fisherman's hut at the far end, just out of shot to the left. It's a wonderful spot. Wild yet tranquil.

My route lay right round the lake and then on, back down into the mist. The path goes across here, somewhere...

Then it was down into Staveley, through the village, and then back along the River Kent. I liked the way the sun lit the trees...

The river was wild and high today because we've had such a lot of rain.

And then, after 10.06 miles with 979ft of elevation gain, after having been out for 1.56.44, at an average moving pace of 10.55 min/mile, with an average heart rate of 154, I was plodding back up the lane towards home.
It was still misty.

A great run. And wondrous ginger cake (made by the lovely Mrs HF from a Nigel Slater recipe ('Double Ginger Cake' in the Kitchen Diaries, cake fans)) to finish.

Smileyrating 9/10 for the run. 10/10 for the cake.

Ouch, wheeze, b***ks, f*. Repeat x 6

2011-02-08T14:05:00.000Z

Yep, it's been hill reps again.
Only 35 seconds long, but oh so steep. It's never fun. But it's done.
The sun was shining. The air was crisp and cool. The birdsong is getting louder as they develop their vocal skills for Spring. All in all, a good session. The only blot on the horizon is that it'll have to be longer next time.

Smileyrating 7/10

Just a quick blog...

2011-02-05T13:04:00.001Z

The wonderful Mrs HF is just fixing lunch so I must be quick: After a really busy week, which included business trips to Copenhagen (lovely) and Basingstoke (er... Basingstoke), all I've managed to squeeze in this week is a little River Loop (2.7 very sploshy miles) on Tuesday, a gym session on Thursday and a gentle 6.4 miles this morning towards Staveley.

This morning's trip out, on lanes littered with debris from the thrashing winds and rain we've had this past 48 hours, reminded me of the one thing I like about road running. You don't have to worry so much about where your foot lands. You can just bimble along, nice and rhythmically, letting your gaze wander where it will. Mine found only sogginess. The fields were sodden, with huge great puddles in the slightest depression. The hedges were sodden. Sodden furrows of brown leaves lined the road. The sheep were sodden. The road ran with water. Everything dripped. Everything that wasn't dripping trickled, ran or splashed. But it was GREAT. Great to be out and great to be able to be out. I mentally said hello to the many thousands of runners that must have been out at the same time and felt one of the soggy brotherhood.

Gym tomorrow. I'm already dreading the plank exercises. Hey ho.

Smileyrating 9/10

That's more like it

2011-01-24T17:49:00.000Z

A cracking run this lunchtime.
I ran the length of Scout Scar which is a limestone ridge to the west of Kendal. It's a great, airy ridge, with views southward to the sea at Morecambe Bay and northward to the Lakeland hills. Underfoot it is quite tricky because it is composed of knobbly limestone. Barely any footstep falls on the flat. Not a place to run if you have weak ankles. And where it is muddy it is that soapy, slippy mud you get in limestone areas.

The part of the ridge I did was 2.17 miles long, giving me a nice 4.34 mile round trip which took 42 mins. So, roughly 10 minute miling, which is OK at my state of fitness. What I failed to realise as I set off was that the whole ridge slopes down gently southwards towards the sea. So the outward leg felt fine; but coming back was always tending uphill. That's why it felt so hard.
Still, I wheezed my way through. In the bright sunshine and cold wind it was one of those runs that restores your faith in this essentially daft activity that we all enjoy. (Or should that be 'enjoy').

Smileyrating 7.5/10

A duty run

2011-01-20T10:48:00.002Z

Popped out yesterday lunchtime for an easy 3 miler. Beautiful day; cold, bright, sunny. Underfoot it was soft but not too marshy, with only one stream to run through. Everything was set for a gorgeous run. So why was it such a struggle? I felt leaden-legged right from the off. Every uphill was a grind. Every downhill was a creaky plod. No flow. No looseness. Nothing doing.
I'm old and wise enough not to worry about the occasional run being like this, but it's been a while since I felt so yeeuch while out. It felt a shame to waste such a lovely day. Ah well. Things can only improve.

Smileyrating 4/10

I now know why I'm a rubbish runner...

2011-01-16T18:30:00.001Z

I've joined a local gym. Well, it's what you do in January isn't it! As part of the service they give you a Health Assessment where your blood pressure, BMI, flexibility and lung function among other things is checked. Well, everything's tickety-boo (I was unfeasibly pleased with my body fat of 16%) - except for my lungs. My peak flow rate is a measly 460l/min. This is less than that for a small woman (apparently); the normal range for my age, sex and height is 506-626l/min. So I'm running around with only about 75-90% of the amount of lung function I should have.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. Miffed, I suppose. Wondering how much better I'd be with 10-25% more puff. Resigned to my fate. Wondering, in my more miserable moments, if I've got some weird lung disease. On balance, I think 'Stuff it - I've just got to play the hand I've been dealt'.
And so, having been on a course all weekend, I seized the opportunity tonight to pop out for a short, hilly, tempo run. This was made all the more enjoyable by stopping briefly to pat Jess, a lovely collie who guards the drive of a house I pass. It was made more interesting by running through a flood that spread right across the lane. This flood is often there as it sits in a depression in the road that is drained only by a small hole under the stone wall. But we've had a lot of rain. So, as I ploughed into it, it was a lot deeper than normal and the water came up to over my knees. Needless to say, it wasn't particularly warm! And, of course, just as soon as I'd managed to warm up a bit, I had to go back through it all over again. It was like having your post-run ice-bath while you're actually running.
Still, it was a bright, clear night with a good moon, which made the running a pleasure - even with micro-lungs.

Smileyrating 7/10

New Year, New Optimism

2011-01-10T16:36:00.002Z

Well, hello again and Happy New Year to all readers!

My, it's parky out isn't it? Mrs HF and I are a tad more sensitive to it at the moment because we've spent the festive period on an Exodus trip touring Vietnam and Cambodia (hence no blogging). We're used to 28-31 degrees C and humidity upwards of 80%. So it was a bit of a shock when I went out this lunchtime for a quick half-hours poddle around the lanes in the sleety rain!

After the diabolical year that was 2010, I'm hoping 2011 will be a lot better, running wise. To that end, I'm going to try and introduce a bit more structure into my training this year.

I've been hugely impressed with Runningbear's spreadsheet, target HR, scientific, precision-running, timetable approach, even if I know that I could only stick to it for about 5 minutes before it all went pear-shaped.

So my programme will be more yer classic slow, steady Sunday run, dipping into a rotating selection of intervals, hill reps, Kenyan hills, fartlek, doglek and tempo runs during the week. I'm going to go through the Bible, otherwise known as the FRA Fixtures Calendar & Handbook, to try and pick out some races that can act as mini targets through the year.

But first I needed to assess my baseline fitness after having spent three weeks doing nothing more strenuous than a bit of flat cycling and a couple of hours in a kayak. I also had my traditional festive cold which I'm now just getting over. That was what today's run was about.

Basically I went up the hills from home for 15 minutes, turned round and came home, all the time monitoring the following:

aches
niggles
degree of raspyness of the breathing
closeness to the 'bugger this for a game of soldiers' mind meltdown
level of agreement/disagreement with the statement: 'I'm getting to old for all this nonsense'
degree of curiosity about 'How fast can I run if I train properly and consistently?'
scale of enjoyment about defying the weather
my personal coefficient of belonging (0= outsider, 1=committed) to the fellowship of runners

- not stuff that can be spreadsheeted (?spreadshit) very easily! My conclusions are: my fitness is rubbish, but miles better than this time last year, my cold's got a way to run, I feel younger for having been out than not, sod the weather, and, though I tend to do my own thing, I like being part of the running fraternity.

Let's hope this optimism lasts.

Smileyrating for this run 5/10. Not great. Not total cr*p.

Ding Dong...

2010-12-19T10:58:00.000Z

Merrily on high and all those festive things.
I'll not be blogging for a little while, for reasons which will become apparent when I return. In the meantime I'd like to wish all my readers the merriest of times this Christmas and hope that all your goals be achieved in the New Year.
Hayfella

A new training method

2010-12-12T16:03:00.000Z

I had a new training partner for my run yesterday. HIs name is Jarvis, he's very quick, can run all day and has a brilliant level of grip on even the iciest slopes. He does struggle a bit with stiles though. Which is because my new athletic hero is a 10-month old jet-black cocker spaniel. (Hence Jarvis. Jarvis Cocker...)
His owners were away yesterday and asked me to take him for a walk. I thought maybe I could take him out when I went for my River Loop run. Perhaps he'd enjoy lolloping along; after all, I've seen how much Charlie enjoys taking ultrarunning collie for a run.
The owner's last words to me were "He's got a harness because he pulls a bit and... (make strangling noises)... you know... on his throat". So my first task was to try and fit this onto his hyper-excited, wriggling body. Let's just say, it went on but I'm still not convinced it wasn't upside down!
And we were off.
Well, dear readers, I could not believe the power that could be generated by that small, well-muscled body. He shot along, nose an inch from the ground, bounding through the soft snow and dragging me skittering over the icy bits. It was the greatest fartlek/interval session I've had in a long time. (I think I'll call it a 'doglek' session). Jarvis would charge off until we reached the next stile where he would either a) sit down and look up expectantly as if to say "This is when you have to lift me over" or b) he would jump up on top of the wall and wait, tail wagging while I helped him negotiate the down side. Once over, we were off again. As quickly as possible.

Needless to say, the whole experience was absolutely brilliant. So much so that I extended the run (also in the vain hope of tiring him out a bit) so we were out for about 50 minutes. I'm going to ask if I can borrow him again. I would love to be able to let him off the lead, but there are pregnant ewes about and I'm not sure how he would respond to my calls in his excitement to make friends with/chase them. Maybe in time it will be possible.

In all the excitement I forgot to take my camera, so I'll try and get some shots of him at a later date. But just imagine a cute-as-you-like black cocker with silky, floppy ears, perpetually swishing tail and, I swear, a big grin on his face and you won't be far out.

Smileyrating 10/10 from me 2/10 from Jarvis. He wants to go further, faster...

Sunday's long, snow, steady

2010-12-06T09:32:00.000Z

As a tabloid headline "Birds ate my snowman's mouth" might not be a bad offering, but it is precisely what happened yesterday to our neighbour's fine creation. He, and his two-year old son, laboured mightily to create a stunning 1.7m high snowman complete with cricket bat (in honour of the Ashes), a classic carrot nose and a very Raymond Briggs' Snowman-ish hat. But, crucially, the mouth was made of currants. Which is why, when my brother-in-law Pete and I returned from our run, the homme de neige was very much sans bouche and was left with a rather gummy smile.

End of local neighbourly bulletin. To the run. And what a glorious run it was too. I've no idea how far we went (I really must get my Garmin back up and running) but we were out for 1hr 27 minutes in about -3 degrees C, in dazzling sunshine. We ranged along the foothills of Potter Fell (our local fell) then turned and ascended its broad flanks, up to Potter Tarn and then along to Gurnal Dubbs and down. The snow was about 6cm deep - drifting to 2m or so where it blew against the stone walls. There were boot tracks, fell running shoe tracks, X-country ski tracks, toboggan tracks, rabbit, sheep, chicken, other unidentified bird and dog tracks. But we only saw two other people; he walking purposefully and happily, she trailing behind carrying her coat and looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else but out in the sparkling sunshine.

It was, in short, a fabulous run. It was made harder by the soft snow necessitating a higher knee lift with every stride, but it was brilliant. I'm only sorry that I forgot to take my camera so I can't show you any beautiful shots, but if you imagine opening any coffee table book of 'The Lakes in Winter' - it looked exactly like that!

Smileyrating 10/10

The hills are alive...

2010-11-30T19:31:00.000Z

...with the sound of puffing.
After a great 6 hour walk in the local snowy hills on Sunday - and therefore no long steady run this weekend - I felt that today I should make some effort and have a more intensive session. Admittedly, after sitting at a computer all morning, it was a joy to be out in weather like this...

which is why I'm grinning like an idiot (whilst squinting into the very bright sun)

Anyway, to business. Time for some Kenyan hills. And I know just the hill. It goes from the nearer tree on the right, up and round the corner to the upper tree on the right. It takes (me) about a minute to do, and gets my heart up to about 172bpm, which'll do nicely.

So I did 6 reps, which was about 12 minutes of continuous up and down running. It was fun putting fresh prints into the snow. After I'd done a couple I had the bright idea of using fresh snow for each uphill bit...

Photographic evidence of having done my hills! It was as knackering as Kenyan hills always are, but I have to say it was fantastic too!

Smileyrating 9/10

Round and round...

2010-11-24T13:51:00.000Z

...the sheep field
like a lumbering bear
one rep, two reps,
Less than half-way there.

Three reps, four reps
Only one to go
5! thank god I'm done
'Cos I am knackered so.

Round and round the sheep field
in the chilly sun
intervals are such hard work
A masochist's idea of fun

Smileyrating 9/10 for doing it at all

An Apology...

2010-11-20T17:20:00.000Z

I'd like to apologise to the Lakeland fells, particularly those between Sadgill, in the Longsleddale Valley, and Kentmere.
You, dear fells, stand there, magnificent in your altitude and isolation, your flanks combed by the wind, your marshy depressions dark and mysterious and your stony tracks washed clean by tumbling streams.
And how do I repay you? By stumbling up and down your stony tracks, by disturbing your stones and muddying your crystal streams, by plotching deep into your dark marshes, by polluting your wild windswept tranquillity with groans and wheezing.
You give me an hour and a half of fantastic cardiac workout, in glorious sunshine, leaving me happily knackered and glowing with a sense of returning hill fitness. And I give you water-filled footprints, flattened rushes, muddy scars and stony scrapes.

I'm sorry.

Umm. Will you be OK by next week?

Smileyrating 8/10

Of squirrels, bears and breakfast

2010-11-17T11:19:00.004Z

Busy, busy, busy. I've been working in Chester so haven't blogged. Sorry. I must tell you about my Sunday run. It was early, before breakfast and it was cold. In a Three Bears kind of way, the cloud was really low on the hills above me and the mist lay wet and heavy in the valley below me, but where I was it was just right!
I stayed on the road because everywhere was knee-deep in mud because of the recent rains. I ran up the hill, into the cloud - where the temperature dropped noticeably - then contoured along a hill high above Kendal. The lane was running with water and it was littered with stony debris that had been washed from the fells and verges. The lane is bounded by moss-covered stone walls about shoulder-high. As I plodded along my eye was caught by a flash of movement. It was a grey squirrel, that ran alongside me for about 20m until the wall snaked round a tree, at which point it decided it had had enough of my wheezing and it disappeared up the tree. I tottered on. The lane steepened downwards and the air was full of the sound of streams rushing off the fell.
As I turned for home, the low, brassy, sun finally emerged from behind the cloud and backlit the mist, turning it into into sheets of gold. Beautiful.
As for the run? Well, I did it. It wasn't fast, my backside muscle still hasn't settled down and was aching a bit, but it is just such a delight to be out that I didn't really mind. I felt I'd earned my bacon and eggs!

Smileyrating: 7/10

Bread and butter

2010-11-10T18:03:00.000Z

Here's the scene: I've got a bottle of Pinot Grigio chilling, a brace of pollack fillets in the fridge awaiting Mrs HF's gastronomic genius (I could do a whole other blog devoted to this subject; SmileyEater?, SmileyGuts? Smileystuffyerface?), The Jam's 'Sound Affects' on the CD. And I did my River Loop run for the first time in many, many months.
Life's good.
After Sunday's mighty Kentmere Horseshoe, it took until today for my solidified quads to decide to flex enough to allow me to bend my legs sufficiently to permit running. So at lunchtime I tottered out. And it was shocking. I wheezed and huffed my way round. I plodded glacially up the hills. I creaked my way down. And I thought... this is what it's all about. This sort of run. When you struggle and groan and revel in the sunshine, the cool air, the beauty of the hills - anything that takes your mind off the fact that you are so not running-fit. The sort of run you do because you know that by doing it you'll feel better next time. This is training.
And, of course, once I'd twigged this, I relaxed into it and enjoyed it enormously. And probably got faster because of it.
So if Sunday was the Mrs HF gastronomic- de-luxe cake-with-cherries-on-top run, today was the bread and butter run.
And I reckon bread and butter makes the cake taste better.

Smileyrating: 4/10 for the performance, 9/10 for the weather

A Happy Horsehoe

2010-11-08T09:58:00.001Z

All the training books say that, on your long steady run, you should extend your mileage by, say, 10% a week. On Saturday I didn't quite do that. My longest run until then had been about 1.5 miles. On Saturday I did 13 with c.3600 ft of ascent. That's about a 767% increase! And it was utterly fantastic.
Ultracollie (and Charlie) were up for a recce before his Lakeland 100 in July and fancied the Kentmere Horseshoe. So we met in a layby and set off in the most glorious cool, sunny weather. Three hours 39 minutes later we were back, necking strawberry milkshakes and stuffing our faces with flapjack.
It was, as I've said, fantastic. After my miserable time since January, it was such a joy to be running again, and I couldn't have had better companions. DD and I chatted companionably the whole way round, and Charlie is just a delight, chasing sticks, trotting along the path, looking back to check where we were, and making friends with everyone he meets.

DD and Charlie making their way up Froswick. Charlie strolling.

A few seconds later - Charlie's got bored with strolling and has shot off somewhere!

As can be expected I struggled on the uphills, but managed to run on the flats and downs. But to be honest, I didn't care about 'performance'. I was just elated to be out, and I got round with nary a twinge from the operation scars. As I said, it was fantastic.

Thanks guys.

PS. I could hardly walk on Sunday and today (Monday) my quads are still sore enough to make creeping downstairs a right pain. But who cares. Hayfella's back!

Smileyrating: 10/10 doesn't do it justice somehow

Sunday worship

2010-11-01T11:35:00.001Z

I'm very excited. I managed to get out yesterday (Sunday) morning, before breakfast, for my half-hour walk/run. This may not sound much but it had two things going for it: 1) It reintroduced the idea of getting out for 'The Sunday Run' a familiar ritual cherished by all runners and 2) I walked for 5 minutes, then ran for 10, then walked for 5 and ran for 10. So, wow, I ran for 20 whole minutes!
It was a bit gloomy, but deliciously cool with not too much wind as I made my way up the lane. On this route, about 15 minutes in, there's a beautiful white house that looks down the valley. It is home to a collie dog that sits on the cattle grid at the entrance to the drive and barks at everyone and everything that goes past. It's given me many a fright on a pitch black night when I'm running past. Anyway, she was out loose yesterday. She saw me, barked and came lolloping up. 'Uh-oh', I thought, 'savage beast alert'. So I stood quietly. And she promptly sat on my foot and leaned on my leg, chin upraised ready for it to be tickled. So I obliged and made friends with a real softie of a dog. Mind you, I think she'd rolled around in something ripe so it was a bit of a smelly experience, but there's a country dog for you.
All in all, a terrific run. I hope it's the start of regular Sunday runs. I've got a long, long way to go, but hope to get there, one run at a time.

Smileyrating 8/10

A pain in the a**e. A qualified success...

2010-10-29T17:15:00.001+01:00

I did my little run on Wednesday. 5mins brisk walk to warm-up, then 5 mins light jog (uphill), 2 mins walk, 5 mins 'run', 5 mins walk then 5 mins 'run'. A gorgeous, blustery day (for some reason I've never minded running into a headwind. It feels as if I'm 'leaning' on the wind which is very comfortable. Must be my own peculiar biomechanics I suppose) with warm sunshine and a cool wind.
You would have noticed the inverted commas in the word 'run' back there. To be honest, rather than 'run' I had more of an 'active shuffle' thing going on, but it was definitely not walking and it was as quick as I've covered the ground for a long time.

You won't believe this, but while I've been hors de combat, the council have been out and made all the lanes around here steeper. In fact, thinking about it, I expect all councils do this so they can watch the struggles of runners and cyclist's returning from an enforced layoff. Well, they did a good job around here, I can tell you. I felt like one of those, let's be charitable, chubby, souls being forced to undertake an exercise regime on one of those 'Let's Torment Some Fatties' reality TV programmes. It was ghastly. Not quite hissy-fit, burst into tears and stuff my face with comfort chips ghastly, but depressing nonetheless. I'm definitely at Level 0. And on top of that, the day after, I had an ache deep in my right, ahem, buttock which seems not to want to fade away. Great.
So why, with my Level 0, achy-arse, Max HR = 205 (something wrong, surely), utterly unfit condition am I strangely drawn to ultracollie's kind offer to accompany him on the Kentmere Horseshoe next weekend? Must be the thought of the 'very, very easy pace'. Mind you, it'll have to be. I can't do any other. Yet.

Smileyrating: 10/10 for getting out at all. 1/10 for the resulting experience!

On twingettes

2010-10-26T18:02:00.000+01:00

Five and a half hours walking with Mrs HF around Caw and Stickle Pike (near Coniston) on Sunday.
An hour's weights at the gym on Monday.
And nary a twinge the whole time. Yippee!
Things are looking up.
I'm still getting the odd twingette but that's it. These happen at the weirdest of times - like when hitching my rucksack up on my back in order to tighten the waist strap. Or when putting a lightbulb in an overhead fitting. Or squatting down to tie a shoe lace. It's profoundly irritating.
Anyway, I think it's time I began to consider turning myself from victim to runner. I've been hunched over my computer today, so now would be a good time. But it's raining. Maybe tomorrow. Better not rush these things. Tomorrow's forecast is looking better anyway, so I'm thinking of, say, a 10 min walking warm up followed by a couple of minutres running to see how it goes and then gradually extend the time. Fingers crossed.

Smug, moi?

2010-10-20T18:20:00.000+01:00

Gym today. Lots of cross training then weights and core. I was at one with my inner Plank. Feeling really good about it too.

One more step forward...

2010-10-12T18:07:00.000+01:00

Just had a great couple of days. Yesterday Mrs HF and I took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and walked for 3 hours - one and a half along the river to lunch at the famous Wilf's in Staveley, then one and a half back. With not a twinge from my midriff the whole time. This may not sound much, but it's such an improvement on just a few short weeks ago where I struggled to walk at all.
Today, we went to the gym. Did fast-ish walking on the treadmill, some weights and some core strengthening. I've discovered I can do the core exercise known as the 'Plank' without a twinge. Which is great, because it is brilliant for core stability, but also a bugger because I've got no excuse not to do it!
So, once again, the slow grind towards some form of fitness begins. I hope I can sustain it this time.

A funny way to spend an evening...

2010-10-08T18:14:00.000+01:00

Here's something to try: Go into the garden at 6 o'clock tonight and find yourself a nice knobbly bit of lawn. Put an empty garden compost bag down. On top of that, put a sit mat and sit on it; then recline with your shoulders and head resting comfortably on, say, a rucksack. Stay there until twenty past eight, watching the sun go down and the stars come out.
If you replace 'lawn' with 'marshy Lakeland fell', you'll get an idea of how I spent last evening. I had my first proper experience of 'bodying'for the Lake District Mountain Rescue Dogs, (see earlier blog). My job was to make myself comfortable 'hidden' behind some clumps of rushes and wait for the brilliant dogs to find me.
It was a beautiful evening. The sky was largely clear, but as the sun set, it set on fire a huge bank of cloud blown in by the cool easterly breeze. I lay back, comfortable and relaxed.
My radio squawked into life. It was Ollie, who was directing the night's training: "Ollie to Body Steve - Einich (dog) and Joy (handler) are on their way. Don't do anything. Play dead". "Body Steve to Ollie. Copy that. Play dead".
I lay back and watched the shadows creeping up the hill opposite. Within seconds I heard panting and the drum of footsteps and Einich, a border collie, thundered in, ran over me, licked my face and sat by my right ear barking furiously - just as she was supposed to do. A few minutes later, Joy hove into view and we both extravagantly praised Einich and rewarded her with a few throws of a tennis ball which she absolutely loves. In this way she learns that finding people is the quite best fun she can possibly have in her life.
Pretty soon she was off - there were two more 'bodies' out there to find - and I resumed my tranquil observation of the waning light and rising stars. It was so beautiful.
And so the evening passed, with Einich being followed by Sam (a large, very handsome border collie with the most almighty loud bark) and Kitt (a small border collie but so fast and agile and incredibly intelligent). It went dark and got colder as the breeze picked up. I put my hood up and my gloves on and watched as the handler's headtorches pinpricked the darkness.
The dogs all found me on the way back. This time I could sense them coming by hearing the panting and the footsteps and by seeing the flashing red lights on the backs of the special jackets they wear.
At about eight twenty it was over. Pack up, headtorch on and trudge back to the car with the other bodies, comparing notes; "Were you cold?", "Did you get midged?", "Did Sam bark as he should?".
What a brilliant introduction to this fascinating world. Training continues year round, through rain, snow, hail and gales. And I hope to be out there with them, lying on the ground for them to find. For them it's play, but of course it's critical play. The dogs have already been called out 56 times this year. And the nights are drawing in...

On the mend again...maybe

2010-10-02T15:37:00.001+01:00

Well, it's been a funny ol' time. For a couple of weeks I've not wanted to blog because I've been pretty despondent about my state of health and fitness and wanted to spare you a self-pitying whinge.
In a nutshell, my doctor thinks I've had an unusual post-operative complication whereby a nerve or nerves are, in some way, being stimulated into firing, leading to random bolts of searing pain along the surgery incision. The result has been weird and unpleasant. I'd be walking along when, out of the blue, wham! I'd wince and lurch all over the place before carrying on until the next attack.
Unfortunately, this coincided with a holiday to St Ives. This is very hilly, with lots of steps, which seemed to set it off quite a bit! (Here's a picture I did, inspired by the view from our apartment window, based very loosely on on the styles of two of the St Ives artists, Bryan Pearce and Ben Nicholson)

Mercifully, though things have improved a lot this week and I did the shopping today with only a few twinges. I think it'll be a while before I dare risk running though.

Whilst in St. Ives we saw some exquisite Maggie Hambling paintings in a gallery. They were small oil or acrylic image of waves and were full of movement and life. So I thought I'd have a go...

Hmmm. Keep practising I think! If you've got this far, I might as well inflict one last painting on you...

Just to show I need a lot more practice with watercolour too!

Bl**dy weeds...

2010-09-10T14:58:00.000+01:00

Think I've put my recovery back again. I was tugging some weeds out of the garden when I felt a burning pain in my affected part. So my running must come to a halt again. Heartsink time.

On thoughts of Africa...

2010-09-06T10:08:00.001+01:00

Another 7 o'clock trot out this morning. I did 4 minutes running with 1 min's walk, times 3 (or, in my shorthand '4 on, 1 off X 3'). Pathetic really, but I'm creeping back towards being a 'proper' runner (I fancy having a go at ultracollie's genius 'Four Trigs Traipse') and I had only the slightest of discomfort at the end of the third running leg which eased off as soon as I walked. So I think things are getting better.

It was another beautiful morning, with a warm south-easterly breeze. Yet it had a poignant edge: Over the past couple of weeks I have been watching with pleasure the swallows as they wheel and dart above the house and skim over the fields snapping up the insects disturbed by the tedder as the farmer dries the grass for winter feed. They are brilliant little birds and today, as I went down the lane, there they were, all lined up, chattering, on the power line like children attending a new school in their new uniforms. When I came back, a mere 25 minutes later, they'd all gone, every last one of them. I wonder if we'll see them again this year or whether, even now, they are winging their way to their wintering grounds in Africa. I felt a little pang of sadness at the loss, but cheered myself up thinking that sometime soon, under an African sun, there may be someone out for a run whose spirits get lifted by the arrival of those same swallows.

Smileyrating: 9/10. Lovely run, but with a hint of melancholy

Oh what a beautiful morning...

2010-09-04T18:45:00.000+01:00

It's 7am. I'm out the door. Just up the drive I see...

"Morning sheep!" I begin my 10 min warm-up walk as specified on my program. A gorgeous scent wafts past my nostrils. Aha! that's why...

10 minutes later, I'm fed up with walking. I'm warmed up. At the crossroad I can go left or right. Right leads up a hill. I go left...

At last, grass. I start my 4 minutes jog. The dew-soaked grass gives me wet feet immediately...

This small rise leads to the river, where it all flattens out. The river is so tranquil this morning...

This part is beautiful and flat. As I run along, quicker now, I see a heron fishing in the river. You'll have to look hard to spot him...

All too soon, I'm at the halfway stage. Just touch the wall by the steps and then turn back...

I retrace my route, running gently 4 minutes on, 1 off. It's been so long since I've run, I'm shocked by how hard I find myself breathing. I see the steam of the paper factory rising vertically in the still, cool morning air. It's been a beautiful run, but it's over all too soon.
I lean my soggy Roclites against the wall of the house to dry and think; This is a sight to stir any runner's soul...

Roll on tomorrow!

Smiley rating for this run: Sorry, but it's got to be a 10

Soggy feet and a doggy treat

2010-09-02T22:40:00.002+01:00

What a great day. 7 o'clock this morning found me doing careful 2 minute intervals on the flat path along the River Kent. It was cool and beautiful at this early hour. The dew was yet to burn off the grass and my feet made a pleasing swishing noise as I ran gently through it. For the first time in ages, I got soggy feet while out running. It felt great.
The river is tranquil now as, curiously, were the sheep. They're normally a little skittish at this time of year, but this morning they grazed contentedly, raising their heads to look carefully at me as I ambled past before returning to their high fibre breakfast.
My rehab programme recommends I run for 2 minutes, followed by 2 minutes walking, repeated 3 times. This sounds as if it's hardly worth getting out of bed for, but I followed it religiously and finished wanting to run more and with no discomfort. So maybe it works. I have to do this a couple more times and then I can up the intervals to 4 minutes on, 2 minutes off, for a further week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Smileyrating 10 (I'm still over the moon at getting out!)

I made a few new friends tonight. Their names are Kit, Skye, Bruach, Scar and Annie. They are very, very special. They are all Border Collies who are, or who are training to be, search and rescue dogs for the Search And Rescue Dogs Association. I have volunteered to be a 'dogsbody' for the Association to help train the dogs. When I've learnt the skills (how to respond to each dog, how to get it to bark when required, the right level of play to use depending on the stage of its training etc.), it'll mean spending my thursday evenings, and the occasional weekend, lying in a bivvi bag out on a mountainside, pretending to be an injured climber or walker, waiting for one of these extraordinary animals to come and find me. At the moment it means getting to know all the dogs and their handlers, so I get lots of doggy playtime. It's great!
If you should see a 'SARDA' collecting tin on a counter of your favourite gear shop, do drop a few coins in. As with all Mountain Rescue in the UK, it's all entirely voluntary and made up of dedicated people who turn out, dog in tow, because somebody else's world has gone horribly wrong.

WOO HOO!

2010-08-30T15:38:00.000+01:00

As the days perceptibly shorten, as condensation appears on your car windscreen in the morning, as the sycamore leaves in the hedgerows become dusted with the silver of mildew and the blackberries hang in juicy profusion, something strange is spotted in the fields along the River Kent. 'Tis a strange, shuffling creature with a big grin on its face. Yes! it's a Hayfella, bimbling along in the great wide open for the first time in months.

Following strict instructions from Mrs HF, I walked briskly for 10 minutes to warm up, then entered the fields where I ran gently for 30s followed by 30s-1min walk. This was repeated for 20minutes and then I walked home. And the good news is, that I had no ill effects in the nether regions at all. (Perhaps I should point out that surgery has left me with two 4 inch long scars, one on each side of my groin, right where your knicker elastic goes!).

The running was simultaneously brilliant and awful. Brilliant that I should be doing it at all. Awful in that I've got such a long way to go before I can run anywhere as I would want to run. But today, in the most beautiful conditions imagineable for running, the brilliant won out.

Swim tomorrow. Then run again on Wednesday. Maybe I'll run for a whole minute. Double woo hoo :)

Smileyrating for this run: How could it be anything other than a 10!

HR Sorted

2010-08-11T12:35:00.002+01:00

Thanks to the genius of Mrs HF, my HR queries are solved and I now have three numbers to guide my training from as soon as I can start running again.
Here's the method she used:
Assume HRmax = 180 and HRrest = 48.
180 - 48 = 132. This is the heart rate range. To work out the training zones you take the required percentage of the range and then add back in the HRrest. So...

Long slow steady training at 65% = (65% of 132) + 48 = 134
Cardio/aerobic training at 75% = (75% of 132) + 48 = 147
Interval/anaerobic at 85% or above = (85% of 132) + 48 = 160

Simples!

Now all I've got to do is to get healed enough to actually run. I've had a bit of a set back while turning over inadvisedly in bed, so it might be a week or so yet.

On heart rates

2010-08-10T09:31:00.000+01:00

Took my resting pulse in bed this morning. 48bpm. It might have been lower, but I had to get out of bed to get the heart monitor and strap it on!
Still,I'll settle for 48.

What I'm uncertain about is my max HR. As I rapidly approach my 54th birthday then the '220 minus your age' rule of thumb (or should that be rule of ventricle?) gives me a max of 166. But on my bike ride the day before yesterday I had an average of 152, or 92% of my theoretical max. Now I'm pretty sure no-one can exercise at 92% of their max for 44 minutes, so I think my own max HR must be higher.

Until I can get out and do a maxHR test, I'm going to use 180 as my max. This is a figure from my last maxHR test, performed at least 10 years ago. Even this higher figure means that I was biking along at 84% of max, and, when walking yesterday (I went to post a letter in the village and took the longer way home, walking briskly all the while [isn't 'briskly' a fabulous word?]) my average was 95, or 53% of max.

I think I need to find the more sophisticated rule of ventricle for working these things out. Can anybody help? It seems the height of conceit to imagine I'm doing my stuff with the heart of a 40 year old.

It's a start!

2010-07-29T16:12:00.000+01:00

After being hunched over a computer all morning I took advantage of the fine weather to nip out for a quick 30 minute walk this lunchtime. What a gorgeous day. Lakeland in full colour. Enough tumultuous cluds to make it look exciting, incredibly vivid green grass - thanks to all the rain - and peculiarly pink-hued sheep.
I had a fantastic time and... (dramatic music under...)...I RAN A BIT!! All of 50 metres up and over a grassy hummock but it's a start. I felt a slight groin pull, so will have to be careful, but WOW!
It's hard to imagine just how good it was to feel the wind flowing on my face as I eased over the grass. It's dispiriting how knackered I felt after having done it! I'm back to square one and will have to find a nice programme to ease my way back in. But that'll be fun compared with not being able to do it at all.
One good thing - being so out of condition, I got a huge endorphin rush from running just one little hillock. The fitter you get the longer/harder you have to run to get it!
Sorry for the breathless tone. I'm a bit excited.

Smiley rating 10/10

One step at a time...

2010-07-09T11:01:00.000+01:00

An update. I'm on the mend. I can sit, get up again (which was harder than it sounds a couple of days ago), walk around for a bit, and very nearly wash and dry my own feet. This sounds weird, but I couldn't bend for a few days; I could just about reach my knees! I can do my sandals up now, but socks are an impossibility!
I'm still not allowed to lift 'anything heavy' - but what is heavy? The coffee pot? The cast iron griddle pan? The hosepipe to water the fern collection before the ban comes in? Shopping bags? Can I take the bins out? I've done all of those except the shopping bags, which is the only example the surgeon came up with when I asked the question. It's all suck it and see. But I can begin to picture myself out running again....
This is the dangerous time. Overdo it now and I could be back to square one. I must be patient.
One side-effect is that the enforced idleness has meant I've put on weight. So I'm now eating less. It makes life cheaper!

The journey begins...

2010-07-01T10:09:00.000+01:00

Had my operation yesterday and would like to say a big Thank You to all the staff at the Day Case Surgery Unit at Westmoreland General, Kendal who made the whole experience as stress-free as possible.
Today finds me very sore, with a bruised groin sporting two whopping dressings. The ibuprofen+paracetamol is dulling the pain and, as long as I don't move below the waist, I'm all right.
In fact, today is a very good day. I'm thinking of it as the start of getting back out on the fells. I've just got to heal, strengthen, walk, and then, finally, finally, run. I'll get there.

There's light at the end of the tunnel...

2010-06-14T17:58:00.000+01:00

...and it's glinting off the surgeon's scalpel.
I'm due to go under the knife on the 30th June. With an estimated 4-6 weeks recovery before any thought of gentle running. So, fingers crossed, I'll be donning the old fell shoes towards the mid/end of August. Maybe I should treat myself to some new shoes...

Lardy update

2010-06-07T10:09:00.000+01:00

Well here we are. Five weeks after my 'pre-operative assessment'* I still haven't heard when my operation is to be. Despite phoning the person concerned once a week.
And no running in all that time. True, I am walking quite a bit, and have started swimming, but it's not the same. Trust me, nothing makes you appreciate running more than not being able to do it. I've mentally wiped out this year. I hope to begin training again as soon as I can, post-op, and then work towards getting back again next year.

*This was it, pretty much in full, after the necessary groinal probing:
You look a pretty fit young bloke. Do you smoke?
No.
Drink?
Moderately.
Allergic to anything?
Not that I've come across yet.
Right. You'll be getting a letter from my secretary.

I'm just a media tart

2010-04-07T22:01:00.000+01:00

A while ago I was asked to write a daily diary for BBC Radio Cumbria for their feature 'Little Cumbria' on the Ian Timms show at about 1745.
I did this, and recorded it today in the BBC studio in Kendal. I say studio, it's a room with a pair of microphones and headphones and a friendly engineer called Suzy (or Susie, I forgot to ask). Anyhow, I went in and did my stuff and was delighted to do it in one take, with no fluffs or serious glitches. It took me back 30 years to my days on Radio Hammersmith, Hammersmith Hospital's radio station - except we didn't have ISDN lines back then.
If you're interested to hear what it was all about, then try BBC Radio Cumbria, Ian Timms' show at about 1745, on the iPlayer. It starts on Monday and continues all week.
Next blog will be a thrilling pre-surgery update. You lucky readers. In the meantime, keep running and enjoy it. I'm thinking of you. It really is pretty desperate when you can't do it.

A bonkers chaffinch

2010-03-26T17:44:00.000Z

Sitting at the breakfast table today, we kept hearing this thumping sound against the window. Went to have a look. Couldn't see anything. Sat back down again. Thump!
Hmmm.
Looking out more circumspectly we saw this male chaffinch staring into the house from the back of one of the patio chairs. After a few minutes bobbing about he'd launch himself at the window and...Thump! All a-flutter he'd fly back to the chair only to repeat the process a little later. With the same result. We reckon he could see his own reflection in the window and, it being the time of year when territory becomes important, he was trying to see off this persistent intruder.
Despite being mad (doesn't one definition of madness run along the lines of repeating the same action in the expectation of a different outcome?) he is very prettily marked.
I'm wondering if we should stick a photo of a cat on the window so he doesn't brain himself!

Not a running post I know. But I have been out walking a lot.

Damn! Blast! B**ger!

2010-03-12T17:07:00.000Z

Not a happy post.
Remember my swine flu / chest infection from Christmas? It turns out that the coughing that it caused resulted in not only a torn rib muscle but, whisper it, a hernia. I've got to have an operation. I can't go running. I can't organise my garden (I've got lots of earth moving to do) and I can't shift rocks around to build terraces at the fern collection I help care for in Windermere.

This bunny's not happy.

Mind you, I did pop out for a little River Loop before I went to the doctors. It was beautiful. Cool air, warm sun, a few hardy lambs. The memory of it will succour me until I can get out again, though Lord knows when that will be. I'm relying on you all to get out, train hard and achieve your goals. I'm with you in spirit. Good luck.

LAMBS!!

2010-03-02T17:57:00.000Z

Did my new quick loop yesterday. In just over a week, I've run it in snow and ice, soggy slush and, yesterday, springy grass in warm sunshine. As an added bonus there were, hoorayy!!, fresh lambs. Some were so little that they stood, a little wobbly, and looked at me - they might not have seen too many bipedal creatures yet. Needless to say, my transit through the lamb field was a little slower than through the others....
What a lovely run. I managed to catch up with Mrs Hayfella on the final hill home; she was out doing her own training session, so we glided home together.

Smiley rating 8.5/10

Stripey world

2010-02-24T11:35:00.000Z

Popped out last night for a nice hilly-ish half hour. It was freezing, with snow-laden clouds and a sharp north easterly wind, but the light was fantastic. It was dusk. All the northern-facing slopes of the hills were still covered in snow and gleamed silver in the early moonlight. The other hills were grey-green except where the snow still lay at the foot of the stone walls. The result was that the world was grey-green with white pinstripes.
On my way home, the lights were coming on, twinkling snugly in the folds of the hills, with the bright lights of Kendal bringing an orange glow to the sky. Against the dark menacing sky, with the moon shining weakly through, it was rather lovely.
I've done this route numerous times and there's always a collie dog, at the entrance to one of the farms, that barks as I pass. So I shouldn't really have leaped out of my skin as I went past...

Smileyrating 8/10

On perfection

2010-02-23T11:32:00.001Z

Is there such a thing as a 'Perfect Run'? I pondered this on my little trot out last evening. I'd been hunched over my computer all day and was dying to get some exercise. So I went out and had one of the most beautiful runs in a long time.
I'd recce'd the route the day before, trudging through the sparkling snow, (joining a small girl throwing snowballs at her Dad who was sledging down the field) to link up some footpaths that I'd spotted last year. Now, 24 hours later, a lot of the snow had melted and the ground was just beginning to get squidgy, making it lovely to run on. The sun was just beginning to set, suffusing the air and remaining snow with a soft pink glow. It was cool and still. Perfect. I ran as strongly as I have since before Christmas and glided up the hills almost without effort. Perfect. Inevitably, runs like this - from stile to stile, gate to gate - turn into interval sessions and I rang strongly across the fields. Perfect.
I got back and looked at my watch: 26.15. And my first, instinctive, reflex, thought was 'Pity I didn't break the 26 minutes'. And that is why I think there is no such thing as a perfect run. It's not the run, it's the essential dissatisfaction we all feel whenever we do go for a run. We always want to do that bit better. So, not perfect, but then no run can ever be (discuss). But it was pretty damn close.

Smileyrating 9.8/10

Sheer delight

2010-02-17T14:01:00.000Z

The world is on the cusp. Poised between winter and spring. You get the feeling it could go either way; slip back into winter's sleety grey, like yesterday, or continue inexorably forward into spring's warmer embrace.

I did my River Loop again this lunchtime, in glorious sunshine. It was lovely. Interestingly, where the ground was in shade it was still frosty and hard. Where the sun had hit it was soft and muddy. Some of the stiles round here are lateral stones laid through the wall. On the shady side they were still frosty and icy. On the sunny side they were dry and grippy. A schizophrenic world.

Part of my route goes through a copse by the side of the river. Later in Spring, this will be carpeted with bluebells - they're already pushing up through the leafmould.

It's a lovely place to run, even though my lungs are still full of grilch and I'm coughing my way round like a phlegmy sealion.

So, what with my appalling physical condition (I've never been so unfit at the beginning of the season) and taking pictures, it was a leisurely pootle round. But what the heck, it was beautiful and there's not enough beauty in the world, so I'm going to enjoy it when it's there!

Smileyrating 9/10

A brief diversion...

2010-02-12T18:44:00.001Z

This is a Magellanic penguin, who lives (with 159,999 or so of his/her mates) on Isla Magdalena, a bare windswept island in the Magellan Straits. They aren't very big, but are inquisitive and incredibly cute. They were one of the highlights of our recent Patagonian adventure.

Patagonia straddles both Chile and Argentina and is an enormous, empty region with huge skies (below is a shot of the Argentinian steppe. If you turn through 180 degrees, it looks pretty much the same!) It looks (and felt) utterly desolate, scoured by a chilling wind, but there are sheep up here)...

The mountains are stunning. I'm almost tempted to rate the Andes as more photogenic than the Himalayas. These are the Torres del Paine, in Chile. The black 'cap' of rock is ancient volcanic magma that forced its way up through the ochre sedimentary rock and spread out on top of it like chocolate icing on a sponge cake. Erosion by ice and wind did the rest.

It is also home to awesome glaciers. This is the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina. The ice towers up 60m from the water - and extends to 120m below it. This giant river of ice is continually grinding its way to the lake; deep, explosive cracking sounds reverberate through the valley and great slabs of ice fall off and plunge into the lake with a great roar and huge splash. We waited for ages, but only saw one little bit break off - but that was impressive enough.

The lake below is not steaming...

This phenomenon is caused by the wind. It is so strong, it blasts onto the water, and atomises the surface into droplets which are then driven by the wind. The sunlight on the droplets creates rainbows which span the lake. It was an extraordinary site - but the gusts made it so hard to walk in. We were forever being flung off balance.

I wouldn't want you to get the idea that we had wall to wall sunshine. Our visit to the Fitzroy massif in Argentina didn't have quite the scenic majesty we would have wished. This is a viewpoint for the hugely impressive range...

An hour's further trekking took us higher and nearer...

We finished our trip by visiting Tierra del Fuego. This was a fantastic place, with the clearest, purest air I've ever breathed and stunning scenery. A real highlight were our trips on the Beagle Channel - named after Darwin's ship.

Back to running for the next blog...

Back from the end of the world...

2010-02-08T18:42:00.000Z

Startling times in the Smileyrunner camp, and I almost swoon at the thought of writing it, but... yesterday I went for a run.

Now I know that's what you expect in what is ostensibly a running blog, but this was special. It was the first run I've had since the swine flu/chest infection/rib muscle tear triumvirate comprehensively knackered up my 'training' before Christmas. For the record, it was my favourite little 2.7 mile River Loop, in a leisurely 29 minutes, and it felt absolutely great to be back out on the frozen fields.

I appreciate that this is nothing compared to what you lot are up to, with your heroic mileages, silly hills, reps, gyms and skittering about the Lakeland tops on pointy things (you all know who you are, and well done everyone), but it's a start... and I have spent the last three weeks trekking in Patagonia.

The full details will appear in another blog (I'm sure I could blog ad nauseam about how fantastic it was) but I've got to download the photos first. So I must ask you to wait.

D'you know, I think I'll go out for another run tomorrow. It can get a bit addictive can't it.

Out at last!

2010-01-11T10:19:00.001Z

Yesterday was a triumph. Mags, her brother Mike, and I went for a walk in the winter wonderland . We started in Ambleside, headed off up the Struggle and veered off towards Red Screes. It was beautiful, if very windy, with great swirls of spindrift hissing over the snow. The sunlight was strong, even though it was hazy with cloud.
After 2 hours of plodding uphill in the slippy snow I'd had enough and we turned back, leaving Mike to get to the summit and work his way back to the car park.
It felt great to get out, even though I was shattered after just 3 hours or so. We're off to Patagonia soon, where we will be trekking for c.6 hours a day. Normally, we try and get nice and fit before we go. This time I think we're going to get fit by doing it, which isn't ideal, but there it is. Having done yesterday's walk, I feel much more positive about it all. So I'm going to give it a high Smileyrating...

Smileyrating 8/10 for doing it. 2/10 for the nasty iciness

Sting in the tail...

2010-01-06T11:46:00.000Z

Just when the antibiotics are clearing up the chest infection, a vigorous cough resulted in a pulled muscle in my ribs. So now every cough and sneeze is accompanied by a stabbing pain and I can't lie on one side!
On the other hand, I did get out yesterday for an hour to clear snow and ice from our communal path. It was nice to feel I was doing something for the neighbours, after having watched their toil over the past two weeks. I was completely wrecked for the afternoon, so just had to lie on the sofa and watch the final series of the Wire. That's what you call a silver lining....

This flu's a real swine

2009-12-26T11:32:00.001Z

I've been lucky; I've hardly had any serious illnesses in my life. Which makes this current bout of flu a bit of a shock. I've never felt so rotten in my life.It started with the temperature, with the skin almost too hot to touch. Curiously, I seem to have lost the ability to sweat. So no natural cooling. It's like have permanent heat stroke.No wonder I've had a headache for the last 6 days and nights. A symptom compounded by the sinus congestion.Which in turn resulted in me tearing a nasal blood vessel while trying to blow my nose. So now I haemorrhage if I forget and attempt to remove the gloop too vigorously.
I've also had the nausea that the NHS website said you might get, so I'm not all that interested in eating. So I've got weaker (I lost 2.5kg in 4 days). And despite trying to drink water by the pint, my saliva has the consistency of wallpaper paste. This I find extremely distressing and in turn makes eating difficult, and contributes to the nausea....
I'm taking paracetamol and ibuprofen, which seems to help a bit. I've not gone down the 'Tamiflu' route, because we have been snowed in here, with eight inches of snow, and lots of ice, on the lanes.
'In most people, the disease is mild', says the Govt. I guess I don't fall into that category. But again, maybe this is what mild is like. As I said, I've been lucky. Until now.

Transformation!

2009-12-21T12:56:00.002Z

I've been a bit lax in my blogging, so here's an update: Did a fierce gym session last weekend, then travelled to Cheshire for work. Whilst staying at the Travelodge (I live it up) I did a smashing 3.5 miler that was so familiar I could have done it with my eyes shut. As it was I did it in the dark, cocooned in my bubble of headtorch light. The route was one I've done well over a hundred times before. For about five years it was our default lunchtime run from work. We callled it 'The Lollipop' because it starts with a lovely flat, straight lane for 0.8 mile (the Stick) followed by an undulating loop of about 2 miles which has hills steep enough to curse but short enough to be grateful and then back along the stick. The challenge was (for me) to do it in less than 30mins. My PB (and we're talking 5 years ago here) is 27.27. So I was pretty chuffed to do it in 29.14 with 5 years more creakiness in the limbs.

Smileyrating: 8/10

Remember those kids stories about cute tractors? Here's the model:

I love the wonky headlamp eyes! This is just at the start of our lovely River Loop, which Mags and I walked yesterday. It's amazing how a layer of snow transforms somewhere familiar into somewhere magical.

Here are a few more images from the walk...

Looking back. The river runs along the line of

dark trees on the left.

Looking ahead.The route follows the line of

trees going off top left

The river, with snow covered rocks.

There were sheets of ice where the water was more tranquil

I travelled with ultracollie last week on a train full of coughing people. Alas, I am now going down with something horrid. Swollen eyes, aching joints, shivers, sore throat deep into the chest. So I shan't be running for a while. May I wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas and that all your plans come to fruition in the New Year.

'Aint LEDs brilliant!

2009-12-08T18:03:00.001Z

Those clamped to my forehead in my head torch anyway. Tiny little things. Dead light. Tichy batteries only required. Super, slightly eerie, even, blueish light that hides the slopes, flattens the road, shows up the eyes of animals and your exhaled breath - making you exhale sideways like a shifty spiv grabbing a crafty drag because if you do it straight ahead you can't see anything and your glasses steam up. A truly great invention. Sends ones brain off reminiscing about torches and bike lights of old; Pifco anyone? The cause of many a curse.

And that, my friends, was my thought process for the first half mile last night as I eased my way round the lanes in the dark. It was great. I like the feeling of easing along in your own little bubble of light, being cradled by the darkness, seeing the occasional star peeking through the cloud, and the steam from the local paper factory rising in an incandescent plume, lit from the skylights beneath the chimney.

I learned the vital trick of avoiding the dark patches - they were holes full of water. I muttered to myself as I tried to create a Christmas story for grown-ups for a writing group I'm in (I didn't get very far). But mostly I toiled onwards and upwards as I discovered a super, hillyish route along beautifuly quiet lanes. It was shorter than I imagined; I was only out for about 40 minutes, but it was a great end to a day spent hunched over a keyboard. Next time I'll extend it.

Smiley rating 8.5/10

On shame and Scotchlite

2009-12-03T19:39:00.000Z

Thanks to Ultracollie and Runningbear I've just had a brilliant run. Their blogs are so full of dawn, or pre-dawn, runs, sparkling PBs, glorious sunrises and all round chipperness that I was ashamed of my inability to (a) get out of bed on these dark mornings and (b) to get out in anything other than perfect conditions.
I'm one of nature's hibernators. Much as I'd love to be reincarnated as a dolphin or some other free spirit, I reckon dormouse would be more likely. So the dawn jobs are going to be a stretch to say the least. Nonetheless, the 'bang a headtorch on and off you go' ethos struck a chord. So I did just that. And I'm incredibly glad. Firstly because I got to pet our neighbour's incredibly cute cocker spaniel puppy (he's called Jarvis - great name), and secondly because I got to enjoy a beautiful moonlit half hour run up the hill and back again.
I hurtled to the bank and back on my bike yesterday, and I could feel it in my legs today. But it mattered not a jot. It was great. Only 5 cars passed me (and two of them were as I approached a layby) so my Scotchlite-adorned running gear came into its own and my way was lit by a great big yellowish moon which looked particularly dramatic with shards of ochre-grey cloud across it.
So thank you, fellow bloggers. You gave me the metaphorical boot up the gastrocnemus that I needed in these gloomy, S.A.D, times

Smiley rating 9/10

First snow sighting!

2009-11-29T14:54:00.000Z

Yesterday was a dream winter day. Blue sky (unheard of for weeks here), windless, cold and with a good dusting of snow on the high tops. It looked beautiful. Did I get out in it? Of course not. Too much stuff to do.
But I did get out on Friday when I went for a late afternoon, splashy, plod. Once again this was around the lanes as it is just too sodden to contemplate going on the fields just yet.
I managed a nice, hilly 45 minutes with an average heart rate of 142 (which is 79% of max). It was cloudy, but not actually raining and looked as if it was going to clear up. It was good to get out; afterwards I felt as if I deserrved a treat, so we went to a brilliant Thai restaurant in Ambleside. (Our new kitchen is nearly installed, but we can't actually cook in it yet, so we're having to eat out all the time. We're getting to know all the good places locally!)

Smiley rating 6/10

The hills are alive...

2009-11-26T16:09:00.004Z

...with the sound of groaning.
Just back from a soggy little trot on the hilliest route around the nearby lanes. I figured I would be gone about 50 minutes, so was quite surprised to be back in 35. My pace judgement is way off! Not long after the start of this route you can see a white house high on a hill across the valley. It seems impossibly far away, yet in only a little while you find yourself toiling past it. It's very satisfying. All in all, a very enjoyable, hilly, little outing.

Not as hilly as this though. This is Patagonia. I put it in because we're going trekking here pretty soon! I'm very excited about it. We're also going to Tierra del Fuego, and visit the Beagle channel, named after Darwin's famous ship. The Beagle was captained by Robert Fitzroy and was surveying the S. American coastline.
The weather is notoriously bad. It drove Fitzroy's predecessor mad. He committed suicide. So did Fitzroy, come to that. Hmm, I wonder if Marbella's available...

Smiley rating 9/10

Smileyrunner

What a difference the sun makes

Crikey! I might have a plan...

Unwarranted gloom

On a roll...

Of lightbulbs and goose terrine...

Hard and immensely satisfying...

Runner's Tip No.1: Don't trip over the sheep

'Tis the season to be lardy...

How to fool a Garmin...

Warm sun? It's November!

A christening in the sunshine

Proper hills. Proper mud. Proper run.

If it's Thursday, it must be Middlesborough

Me and Jessica Ennis have a lot in common...

That's more like it...

New life. New look.

4 runs, no tweaks :))

Not a vintage summer

No runner is an island...

Blogger problems

A brief catch-up

A bientot!

Give me sunshine...

Runners' Rules

A 'yow' called Nikon

Ho Hum.

Bimbling along

On losing count

On the Question of Why

Running update

It's not running, but...

Don't you just hate...

Don't you just love ...

A much-needed jaunt

An arty aside...

Easter jaunts

Good to be back

Retail excitement

Slow run, quick post.

An affair of the heart...

Runners' beer goggles

Oo-er, I might be in PB-land

Ooh! me aching parts...

"Was that it?"

Captain Statto...

Interval Animal

Of mists and cake

Ouch, wheeze, b*****ks, f***. Repeat x 6

Just a quick blog...

That's more like it

A duty run

I now know why I'm a rubbish runner...

New Year, New Optimism

Ding Dong...

A new training method

Sunday's long, snow, steady

The hills are alive...

Round and round...

An Apology...

Of squirrels, bears and breakfast

Bread and butter

A Happy Horsehoe

Sunday worship

A pain in the a**e. A qualified success...

On twingettes

Smug, moi?

One more step forward...

A funny way to spend an evening...

On the mend again...maybe

Bl**dy weeds...

On thoughts of Africa...

Oh what a beautiful morning...

Soggy feet and a doggy treat

WOO HOO!

HR Sorted

On heart rates

It's a start!

One step at a time...

The journey begins...

Ouch, wheeze, b***ks, f*. Repeat x 6