Day 159 Thursday 7th June 4.1 miles : miles to date 1070.8 I connected with nature big style on today's little jaunt. I parked in Woburn and ran over into the grounds of the House. For anyone who doesn't know Woburn, it is the family home of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford and it is set in stunning countryside next door to the safari park. In the grounds, numerous herds of deer roam freely in the extensive grounds which have a variety of trails to walk and run. I was only intending to do a slow, easy run having made the decision not to go to the clubs 5k time trail. Just before I entered the park, I came across my first ever sighting of black squirrels which Paul Newton mentioned the other week. They are strange looking creatures with long contrasting light brown bushy tails. Not quite as hard as their cousins over in the Ashridge Estate, but still a tad adventurous none the less. As I entered the grounds proper, I came across my first herd who were just feet away from the path I was on. As one, the entire pack stopped, turned their heads and stared at me, not moving until I got very close indeed. This was repeated at various points and it was a tiny bit disconcerting. I came across two very large herds in particular who did the same thing and I half expected one of them to bellow - in deer language of course - come on lads, there are 74 of us and only one of the humans, lets get him. In the second of the two, right by the path was a really young one who was about the size of a border terrier and who had trouble standing. I didn't wait to find out if the maternal instincts of the mother would lead to be being the first bloke ever to be savaged alive by deer in Woburn and just scooted on past quickly. It was still a bit weird to have so many deer, so close, watching your every move for someway. Outside of the gates, I came across a large muntjac who are pest but very shy. I got within 30 feet of this one and it didn't move which is the closest I have ever been to one in the wild as it were. Driving home tonight, a fox and its cub ran within feet of the front of my car and to top it all I had a chicken sandwich for dinner. Could I have come across any more animals today?

Day 158 Wednesday 6th June 3 miles : miles to date 1066.7

I have over the last 158 days found a number of spot on three mile runs. The standard run from home is a specific loop around my village. Another is a run from the train station to my place. Quite literally both runs are almost spot on three miles. They are in fact ever so slightly over, but unless I get to 3.1, they are recorded as three miles. I don't round up. If I run 3.09 miles, it is recorded as 3 miles, albeit in practise most of the time once I go past I will run to the next single digit. And no, I don't have some form of compulsive repetitive disorder. Unless you count the need to run three miles every day for a year.
That is of course my minimum daily run for this year long running streak. So, if anyone ever bothers to check the run history and finds an unusual number of three mile runs, take it from me that these are not rounded up say from 2.66, they are spot on three mile runs. Tonight was another spot on three miler, accompanied by the kings of easy dad rock, none other than Status Quo on the i-pod long play thingy machine. The music at least ensured I went back to my few weeks of low level easy running.
Before Voldemort training starts. Come to think of it, this is V -13 day. Mmmmm. Soon it will begin.

Chocolate and TV

Day 157 Tuesday 5th June 7.5 miles : miles to date 1063.7 As its the Queens Jubilee, Fi and I decided on an early run rather than the club tonight so we could spend the day eating, getting fat and watching the celebrations on television. I am not by any stretch a fervent royalists, but on the whole I do support the concept of the monarchy and besides, a day of TV, not moving and chocolate sounded appealing. All part of my recovery process of course. As for the run, it was a mixed bag from the Owen household. Fi picked up an injury last week at training which hasn't gone. I made her rest a week, but she was itching to run today so she did. We went cross country slowly and it was clear the pain was still there, so at two miles we parted and she took a shortcut home and I went on the long cut. It doesn't look good for her 5k race in two weeks and she is not a happy bunny. I emerged from the disused railway track I was running along, almost knocking a cyclist off his bike as I did so. Having startled the poor chap, I then started chasing him up the hill we were both by that stage climbing. Needless to say, I caught him up and it was all the old boy could do to pull away from me at the top on the flat. That was it then. All my attempts to take things easy went out the window and I started powering up the road after him. The only person I came across in the middle of the country and I had to start racing him. In the last few months I have raced a bus 4 miles into Luton, a rower for 2 miles and now a not very fast cyclist. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and enter actual running race? Anyway, for the next five miles I just went for it. I don't know what pace I was running as my watch had been turned on from the start when we were going slower. I do know that I looked a number of times and the pace was around 6.10 - 6.30 for longish sections, which I was quite pleased about even though I am meant to be taking it easy. Right, where's the remote control and choccies gone?

Day 156 Monday 4th June 4 miles : miles to date 1056.2 After a hard nights partying, the early part of today was spent avoiding my trainers at all costs. Instead, we went over to the village fields for a Diamond Jubilee party with some lady warbling away on the speakers singing hits such as the white cliffs of Dover. Elton and Tom didn't make an appearance due no doubt to the palace gig tonight. I eventually ventured forth on a slow few miles around the fields with Daisy our border terrier. She is getting a little better in keeping up with me, but was frequently distracted by rabbits, smells and no.1 stops. We were running albeit not troubling the clock at all. It was nice just to be out there with her in the sun. As I am cutting back for a few weeks, the pace wasn't an issue and actually after just eight days, I'm already starting to get the itch to start training harder. I'm going to stick to my guns however and wont start the training until the 18th June, when for the first time in seven years I am going to follow a sixteen week schedule.

The start of millions...

Day 155 Sunday 23rd June 5 miles : miles to date 1052.2 I'VE INVENTED A NEW RACE!! I'M GONNA MAKE MILLIONS!! Ok, I do have a tendency to exaggerate ever so slightly, but I did have an unusual run this morning. Due to the rather inclement weather, I was pushed out the door by Fi and told to go and help my daughter with her paper round. Out came the Ron Hills, rain jacket and off I went. The race involves finding my daughter, which wasn't hard today as she was in a bright yellow jacket, stopping at the checkpoint (her paper trolley), folding papers dexterously whilst still in the paper trolley to stop them getting wet, taking six or seven at a time and running to the houses furthest away. Once there, shovel the papers in as fast as possible and return to the checkpoint. Then repeat seven times each time trying to find the moving checkpoint. There must be a hundred odd houses where we live and most are spaced quite far apart. I was able to run back and forth and in between the houses quite well. There are also six off site, that I normally drive her to, so by the time I ran there and back I found that I had covered just short of 5 miles, so I looped a few times to round it up. On the basis that there are say 106 houses where I live, next weeks race will start at some point or other after I get out of bed, from the front of my house. Entries are limited to 106 and if full, runners can only take one paper at a time. The entry fee is £74.98 and for that you don't get a goodie bag, you don't get a medal and you don't get any finish time. Or water, food, gels, t-shirt, marshal's, bacon sarnies or any type of incentive to come back next week. If the race is not full, the other entrants have to pay the shortfall in the entry fee. Winner gets a paper. Right then, let's get the ball rolling. Please send a cheque, postal order, cash, green shield stamps, euros, Drachma, a years subscription to Trail Running magazine or unopened bottles of wine to me at my address. I can only apologise to the Parkrun races for taking away future race entrants. I'm off to Coutts Bank to open an account.

Day 154 Saturday 2nd June 3.8 miles : miles to date 1047.2 After the JB last weekend, I have decided to throttle it back for a few weeks and keep the run's short. I think that after a run that you have been preparing for perhaps a few months, once it's done it's important to have a period when you just run for the love of running with no pressure of training for an event. You need to let the body recover and as importantly the mind as well. In order to do well in a race or challenge, it's not only about training the body but also the mind. To stop both getting stale, I am intentionally running low mileage runs and limited speed work both this week and the next. I am keeping the watch on to measure the distance, but trying not to look at the pace or time too much. It doesn't always work but tonight it did. I ran the usual village loop with a bit extra added on and just kept a steady even pace all the way. The legs are still tired and I'm not panicking over the beer belly I seem to have encouraged in the last week despite running every day. The Voldemort training schedule starts on the 18th June for the second half of the years plans, which in short is PB smashing every where. I can see quite an intense 16 week period after that, so until then it's a laid back Pablo enjoying a few leisurely runs and beers after. Talking of which, its that time me thinks.

More food?

Day 153 Friday 1st June 4.1 miles : miles to date 1043.4 Another food related run tonight. If I don't get out early on a Friday, it's always a rush prior to the fish and chip run. Having spent a very tedious day in a court case, it was with some joy that my off chance e-mail to my running pals seeing if anyone was around for a run before food, was answered yes by Annie Page and Rebecca Fleckney who were doing a leg of Greensands. Pulling into doggers delight layby, it was great to see that Shaun Kirtley also turned up. I don't think he has been to that particular meeting point and it was clear that he was quite relieved we had turned up, given that a number of cars had pulled alongside with the occupants wanting to make friends. We ran the first part of leg five, when due to time constraints I had to turn back and cover the last two miles on my own. As I did so, I rang the other arf and due to Jnr Owen being late, we went for a pizza. Now I know Dean Karnaze is famous for eating a pizza on the run, but I partly emulated the mile muncher extraordinaire by ordering one on the run. That was after I convinced the lady on the other end of the phone that I was actually running and I wasn't a heavier breather. She realised when I arrived at the pick up 20 minutes later that I was telling the truth as I was a tad sweaty. Mmmm, boy it was good as well.