Wilf and the bonus run

I had offered my services to a friend to help out walking their dog, so this morning at 6:30 I was due to take the said dog 'Wilf' out for a walk. Given that this dog is of the breed of short legs, running with Wilf was not an option. I was therefore going to have to get my run in beforehand, this meant an early start and out the door at 5:30! By my estimations that was exactly 10 hours after I had got in from my previous night's run!

The legs were still feeling pretty good from last night, so I decided to run an 8 mile road loop (aka the 'Fruit Farm Loop' due to the farm on the route that used to have a fruit stall, selling an abundance of different fruits!). I must have run this route at least a couple of times a month for the past 5 years, so I knew it well. It's essentially out the door, then once on the main road, keep turning left at each lane you come to. The main road was much quieter than last night, I made it to the first turn off without meeting a single car - another great reason for running in the morning. A mile and a half down a windy road and the pace was feeling pretty fast, a quick calculation proved my pace to be in the 7.15 range. A right turn along another busy road and over the M6, which at 6am was pretty solid with traffic already.

My favourite part of the route now followed for the next two miles along the quiet country lanes linking back up to the main road into Knutsford. Down the hill running parallel to the railway line, I could feel a small stone that had worked it's way into the side of my shoe. Stopping at the bottom of the hill to remove it, adjacent to a field with a lone white horse, I was conscious that the horse had now wondered over to the fence and was looking right down at me. So, continuing in the animal theme for today and keeping up with the volume of horse pictures I have spotted in the Juneathon blogs so far, a quick picture was taken.

I kept the pace up around the 7:15 to 7:30 pace and finished off the last two miles heading back into Knutsford for my dog walking appointment! The half hour walk with Wilf served as a nice cool down from the run. I think if I had taken Wilf for the run I may have been carrying him under my arm for most of the way!

It suddenly occurred to me after I got back from my run that I had agreed to go for a run at lunchtime. Oh well, packed a bag with more kit (gonna need to keep on top of the washing with all this running!). As the morning progressed so did the rain, alternating from sunny skies to torrential downpours. Not wanting to get wet unnecessarily, we ventured out between rain showers.

With lots to do in the office, it was just going to be the standard 'Office 4' but in the anticlockwise (slighly harder) direction. Under cloudy skies with the rain never far away we ran a steady first two miles down to the 'cow field'. The sun was trying to make an appearance and it was now feeling very humid. Having successfully negotiated the field the next half a mile or so, gradually winds up the newly tarmaced country lane up to the main road. Done in this direction the hill seems much steeper than the benefit you get from it when running it in the other direction. We upped the pace in the final mile and a quarter back up to the office to finish in just over 30 minutes.

The legs felt pretty good considering the increased running fequency, they might be getting used to the demand being placed on them!! I might not say the same in another weeks time. Having showered and now back at my desk, my lunch was looking very pitiful and was not going to fulfil the hunger requirements of the afternoon. A quick trip to the 'local' shop was required and I managed to secure the following item...

That was surely needed and hit the spot perfectly! More of the same tomorrow, one week down...

Stats

Run 1

Distance: 8.52 miles

Time: 1:02:48

Run 2

Distance: 4.04 miles

Time: 30:24

Juneathon Total Distance: 60.75 miles