Month total 1236

Better start to the year than last year when I got behind my target already in January in Marocco.

Utrecht

35 min
Start 17.00

From Oudwijk to the centre of town where I had a waterstop at Karin's. Back along the canals.

White Out

45 min
Start 13.00
Thinnest layer of powdery snow imaginable almost covering the ground as Joep and I did a couple of circuits. One of them was at an almost fast as possible pace as I want to see if I’m able to increase my normal plodding pace a bit by doing regular bouts of interval training.

Week total 150

Well the (vague as usual) plan was 3 weeks 'on' followed by one week relative rest and I seem to have managed that, with still a couple of days left to make up my month total.

City Run with Sil

70 min
Start 14.00



Meandering jaunt about Utrecht, collecting Sil to run part of the way with me as I was in her street.

Rained off

12 min
Start 17.00
At the end of my first circuit the rain finally started with such a vengeance that I decided to stop. (Pathetic I know. I don't mind running home in the rain, but starting out from home in a downpour just seems too daft/depressing to contemplate.)

Shadow Circuits

31 min
Start 13.00
Borrowed Shadow, the nearest neighbour's alsation to accompany me on my run about the complex.
"2 legs good, 6 legs better." (to misquote George Orwell)

Cold circuits

37 min
Start 16.00
Few circuits of the grounds. One slightly faster one in the middle. Very cold feeling somehow, though according to the thermometer about 8 degrees. East wind?

Week Total 381

Long run this afternoon brought me over the 300 limit easily. Which means I can/should have a relatively easy week for the end of the month. Most training schedules advise 1 week 'rest' after 3 weeks harder running. (But since when did I follow any schedule...?)

Dijk Training

144 min
Start 14.00




Long run - first the plan was to run the whole circuit which I ran most of last week but half way I decided to cut across the fields to the dijk along the Lek so added a few more scenic kilometers to the route. Also did a handful of 'hill repeats' up and down the driveway from the dijk to the harbour.

Dog with a Log

57 min
Start 13.00
.
First a circuit with Joep doing crosstraining with a sizeable log in his jaws. Then later out past the windturbines

Grey 70s Dawn

32 min
Start 8.15
Joep and I were out in a grey dawn. Once the sun was over the horizon it managed to briefly make a red hole in the clouds. Lots of 70's music on the BluePod, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Blondie.

Joep in the frost

64 min + 14 = 78
Start 12.30 + 17.30










Lunchtime run with the dog out along the tractor path which still had a white hoar frost on it in the shadowy bits.

Sunset run with ridiculously intense red/orange light.

Lopikerwaard

70 min
Start 15.00










Got out the car in Lopikerwaard and ran home via Uitweg.


First few minutes were hardgoing but by the time I was back on known (to me) paths I was happily charging along to Queen's 'Don't stop me now cause I'm having such a good time' and all was well with the world.

Week total 320

Reconnaissence Mission

87 min
Start 15.30
Out past the Shell station to find out where to get on the road to Jaarsveld as I'm planning a longer circuit next week taking in this route. Came back via the industrial estate on the other side of the road and ended up in a dead end road to a carpark at one point so had to clamber over a weir to get back to the tractor path behind the main road I needed to reach for the home strait.

Two Runs?

28 min + 63 = 91
Start 11.45 + 16.30
Hope to get out again later perhaps. Worked out that my new headphones work on the old iPod so I can actually hear the podcasts even if it's windy.
Caught up with the 2 latest RunRunLive programmes.

New Tunes

54 min
Start 10.00
Great run with my new mp3 player round to Benschop. I bought a cheap one for 10 euros last month as I was getting fed up with not being able to hear my podcasts properly if there was a bit of wind or traffic and wanted to have something in reserve if it died completely. But hadn't got round to unpacking and installing it yet. However left mYpod in the workroom in Utrecht yesterday so last night decided to tackle the new one and put some stuff on it.
There were a few old podcasts on my laptop here and I have the external hard disc with all Rens' music on it. Working out how to transfer stuff from one to the other was remarkably easy and I really enjoyed pounding along this morning with Billy Idol and The Jam and Blue Oyster Cult (and more) as a soundtrack.

What with all that and an Actual Blue Sky it was one of my best runs in quite a while.

Library Play

44 min
Start 10.00
Listened to an excellent Afternoon Play about a Kenyan researching Scottish library practices whilst running up and down the lanes of the complex. The wind has dropped to almost nothing now so I can hear the talk programmes on mYpod as well as the music ones.

Desert Island Shadow Run

44 min
Start 12.30




Yet again didn't really feel like going out (oh dear, this is not a very enthusiastic start to the running year is it?) but ach, it's such a routine for me to pull on running clothes as easily as any other sort so went out for a meandering run about the paths whilst listening to Brian Cox on DID.
Even took a photo of my shadow at one point - something I feel I haven't seen for months due to general greyness of the skies.

Week total 305

Have decided that this year the week ends on Saturday. The plan is to do 1200 minutes a month. So if I try to keep to 5 hours a week this should be possible.

Cold Wind

44 min
Start 16.00
Really didn't feel like going out today but at the last minute forced myself to get out and make up my week's total. The first 15 minutes was running into a nasty thin cold wind that came a bit from the right (NW) and made it particularly hard going. Then along a route I hadn't yet followed (but noticed for the first time when out with Joep yesterday) through the field where the windturbines are. Climbed over a fence to get into the industrial estate and then back along the main road. With the wind pushing me homeward now and feeling much better than at the start.

Joep Tidies Up

20 min + 41 min = 61
Start 12.00 and 16.00
Joep and I trotted round the lanes, Joep occasionally dragging fallen branches about in some vague attempt to pretend to be useful. Will probably go out again later.

Second run was out along the muddy path again before dark after going into Benschop with the car.

Fallen Tree

40 min
Start 13.00
Ran about the complex again - spotted one large fallen tree in the middle of one of the forested areas which I'm fairly sure was upright yesterday. Wind still making mYpod practically unhearable.

After the Storm

46 min
Start 11.00
After last night's extreme wind I had a run round all the paths of the complex to see what the damage was. No major trees had come down, just a fair number of loose branches and twigs strewn about the paths. Also found a dead buzzard in the grass up the back. Don't know if he was a storm victim or if he's been there for a few days already.

Muddy Sunset

75 min
Start 15.30

Out along the grassy path to the water tower where I met someone on the path for the first time ever. 2 men with a quad and a huge trailer who'd been cutting trees. Lots of mud churned up by their tyre tracks. On the way out the going was a bit laboured but by the time I'd got my second wind on the return I felt I was running much easier and faster.