Blue skies running

Up and out this morning at 7am. It's an absolutely gorgeous day up here at the moment. Cool air, bright sunshine and blue skies. Perfect for running. So it was a bit of a shame that I felt really ploddy and laboured. It took about 35 minutes to feel as if I'd loosened up - and even then my knees felt like creaky gate hinges. I've not run much this week, but last week was good, with hill reps and a good tempo run, followed by a trot out with my brother in law Pete on the Sunday.
We've decided it's time to move house and have been looking around. Like a Herdwick sheep, I feel hefted to this region, so I'm pretty sure we won't be moving far. We had the strange experience of seeing our house on Rightmove this week and I have to say it looks pretty fabulous. I'd buy it!!

Smileyrating for today 6/10; for the previous week 8/10

Lovely!

Lovely run yesterday morning. I went slow and steady for 77 minutes along the River Kent and back. It was a gorgeous morning with cool air and clear sunshine. The river was as still as I've ever seen it; so utterly smooth it was hard to imagine that it was flowing at all. There were herons standing like statues along the bank. A pochard duck paddled around near the weir. Oystercatchers peeped loudly overhead. It was fabulous.
The route took in a wood, managed by the Woodland Trust. At this time of year the woods look at their best. IMHO. The bluebells are out, as is the wild garlic and the celandines. The whole wood was a beautiful, vivid mix of blue, white, yellow and leaf green.
As you can tell, I enjoyed my trot out. It was capped by meeting, on the way back, a superb weimaraner called Lucy, who I've seen on many occasions being walked around the village. She was huge but bounded about like a giant puppy, full of the joys of spring.

Smileyrating 9/10

Best laid plans...

Went out yesterday at 7am for what I hoped would be a nice brisk trot around the 2.7 miles of the run I call the River Loop. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. It was one of those outings when you just know, from the very first step, that it wasn't going to happen. My legs felt really heavy and my breathing laboured. Still, I plodded on, past somnolent sheep and bluebells shimmering in the woods until I eventually got back home relieved it was all over. I put my bad performance down to the fact that I spent all the previous day shovelling tonnes of compost at Holehird gardens where I volunteer. It was like a 6 hour gym session doing squats for 5 out of the six!

Smileyrating 4/10

"Nice 'n Easy...

...does it every time". Wasn't that an old Frank Sinatra number? Whatever, it perfectly describes my run this morning. I managed to drag myself out of bed at ten past six for a nice, relaxed 45 minutes over the hills and along the river Kent. It capped a good week's running for me: An interval session, a hill rep session and a steady easy run. None of them particularly long - but I'm beginning to feel the benefit of the consistent approach. Also, much to my surprise, I'm actually enjoying getting out really early. Particularly this morning, as it looks as if the best of the day is over; it's clouding over and starting to rain.

Smileyrating  8/10

Up early (x10)

I started my hill rep session at 0650 this morning! I realise that this is not that early, but for us retired folk, getting up and out for this time was like being back at work! The hill in question is a small, steep lane, about 7mins 20secs from my front door. It's a place that holds, in a manner of speaking, fond memories; it's where, on one occasion, a startled sparrow flew between my legs as I was running down it and where, last year,  I fell off my bike and planted my elbow into the brambly wall that lines it! Nonetheless, it's a pretty, secluded, lane that has the added benefit of good blackberries in the autumn.
It takes me about 40 seconds to go from the bottom to the top and in my ten reps this morning my times were pretty consistent, conforming to the usual pattern of the middle reps being slightly quicker, numbers 8 and 9 being slightly slower and no.10 being slightly quicker because the old 'final big effort and then you can go home for breakfast' kicked in.

So, a satisfying start to the day, though what the blaclava'd farmer on his quad bike must have thought, as he called "Mornin'" on his way past, I've no idea!

Mind you, it was bloomin' freezing (hence the balaclava). The sun was out, but weakly, but the wind, combined with it being only 6 deg. C, made it really cold.

Smileyrating  7/10

Running and painting

Somewhat to my surprise, I found myself running intervals along the River Kent yesterday morning at 0655. Sheep and lambs looked up blearily at me. They'd hardly stirred from their night's slumber and must have wondered what on earth was going on as I lumbered past. Anyhow, I managed to do 5 x 30sec intervals as hard as I could and was shocked at how hard I found it. I was up and out that early (for me) because I've developed, over the years, the ritual that I have to have been out for a run before I watch the London Marathon on telly. And as I wanted to get Match of the Day in as well, it meant I had to get going early doors!
Normal service was resumed today, when I went out for a gorgeous run mid-morning. Basically, I just went out and ran around, linking routes together, with plenty of ups and downs, for about 45 minutes. It was fantastic. My average and max heart rates were a bit high; this probably just reflects my lack of fitness.

One reason I'm not in the best shape at the minute is because I've just come back from being in Spain on a painting holiday. One of the exercises we did was to use a small viewfinder and select a detail to paint. This is a great idea, because it really helps you to focus and cut out all the visual clutter that you get when you look at, say, a landscape. I did one of the wall of the hotel from the garden:

And another of a lemon tree The whole thing was a mass of abstract shapes:

Another exercise was to do a charcoal drawing in the olive grove and write notes about the percentages of each colour that was present. Back in the studio we had to cut up the drawing, rearrange it and paint the result, being true to our colour analysis. This gave a great abstract feel:

 I've been trying to use oils since Mrs HF bought me some for Christmas. I love them, but I've got a long way to go to get proficient with them.  I did this of Kate Rusby from a photo. (Sorry Kate, you're much lovelier than this). I quite like the hair and the jacket.

Before we went away, we went to see the Lucien Freud exhibition in London. Now that's proper portrait painting!! If you like that sort of thing, go and see it. It's fabulous.

More running next time...

Spring. What's not to like...

Gorgeous Springtime run early this morning. Fields full of lambs. The air filled with the liquid burbling of curlews punctuated by the piercing peep of oystercatchers. The hawthorn (or it may be blackthorn, I'm a bit vague botanically on this) is in flower; clusters of small, white, star-shaped blossoms turning the hedgerows into ribbons of white foam. They are fragrant too, but you need to be careful when you sniff them!
My route was a familiar one. I call it the 'Buzzard Loop', because I watched a pair of them circling above me on one occasion. It starts with a gentle climb and then contours along sheep-grazed grassland before dropping back down to the river. It took about 30 minutes and felt brilliant. The sun was fighting its way through the cloud, there was a fresh cool breeze and I got a sense of the land waking up. A cracking run.

Smiley rating 9/10