Rainy River Run

12.67k
Start 20.20
After waiting all day for the rain to stop it seemed it just wasn't going to so went out anyway in the wet.  Along the river and then back on the higher dijk path.  Saw some very miserable looking longhorned sheep huddling under a tree.  It wasn't cold and was actually pretty ideal running weather.  Did 30 minutes of 2 minute effort, 30 sec recovery jog after my 15 minute warm up and got down to an average of 6.13min/p/k and was up to 6.20 by the time I was home again. 

Hekendorp 20k

20.23k
Start 4.30

Managed to get out of bed when the alarm went at 4.  Sunrise was actually rather dull as no clouds to reflect the light.  Bit of mist over the fields and a haze on the horizon but no real colour.  Did 30 minutes of 2 minute effort, 1 minute jog intervals after my 20 minute warm-up to Goudse Hout.  After that it was more or less a medium effort with a few stops to decide my route, investigate new paths (which went nowhere).  Lots of pheasants and hares, lambs and calves.

Satelite problem

16.14k
Start 20.30

Great interval session on The Pocket Running Coach podcast.  90 sec fast with 30 sec recovery - it was really handy to have someone telling me when to speed up and slow down and he played good music as well.  But half way through I noticed there was a notice saying that the last satelite signal on my Garmin had been a few minutes earlier.  Kept running for a while as I was enjoying the interval stuff, hoping the problem would solve itself.  But in the end I had to stop and switch the watch off and on, then leave it on a fence for a few minutes till it had refound its bearings.  So I 'lost' a few kilometers. 

Sunset with sitting swan

10.89k
Start 20.15
Out to the Goudse Hout again to see if there was any sign of hatching cygnets.  Back via the edge of the Plassen and along the canal.  Couple of photos later but my battery ran out so I missed capturing a rather good sunset.

Sunrise over the towpath

16.78k
Start 5.00

Out past Haasdrecht and back along the Hollandsche IJssel.  Actually the towpath to Oudewater doesn't really start till Hekendrecht I believe but there was a jaagpad of sorts for me to follow most of the way.  Quite heavy shower for about 20 minutes in the middle of the run but the rest of it was dry and full of good light and impressively coloured clouds.  Photos later.

Allotment tempo

11.01k
Start 16.40
Out to Bloeyendaal and around the allotments at a fairly steady slightly faster pace than of late.  No stops, no photos.  10k in 62 minutes so much faster than the 8k/p/h plods of recent months.

New Route with Compression Shorts

19.03k
Start 18.10

 

Slightly longer route than I'd first planned due to a wrong(ish) turn at one point, but no matter, new paths through the lakes were claimed, much less poplulated ones than the southern half of the area.  I'll soon have been on all the available paths - it gets easier to adjust a route to suit the particular mood/weather/time available once you've been on them all and can navigate by recognised landmarks rather than direction.