2011 Streak Day 230 (Aug 18th): Very wet

2011 Streak Day 230 (Aug 18^th): Distance - 3 miles, Time - 28min 20sec, Weather - rain, rain and then more rain

This was one of those days when you could not believe it could continue to rain so hard for so long. “Wait till it eases off” I told myself, “just a little longer” but as time passed and the sky was still a solid, unremitting grey, I became less convinced there would be any change. By the middle of the afternoon I thought that if I left it any longer I would not run at all - and I had to run.

Originally I had planned to do 4 to 5 miles but in the end I ran 3. It still seemed quite heroic but in the circumstances as I really don’t enjoy it when it rains so hard it drips straight into your eyes and your clothing i sticks close to your body.

What I lacked in distance I made up for in intensity with a hill session. It was a quarter mile loop: hard up, easy down, repeated 10 times. After the first couple of repetitions I thought 5 would be hard  but I kept on going thinking “just one more” until I reached my target. At the end I bent down from the waist, hands on hips, panting - whatever the weather I could console myself with the thought that I had made an effort. 

When I had dried off and drunk my cup of tea I even felt satisfied.

The photo is an indication of the amount of rain by showing the rain gathering in our wheelbarrow (though sensible people would probably have parked it upside down).

2011 Daily Streak Day 229 (Aug 17th): Skatepark or fair?

2011 Daily Streak Day 229 (Aug 17^th): Walk - 3.75 miles, Time - 1hr 10min, Weather - actually some blue sky in the morning but the clouds soon gathered.

The day after giving blood is no time for any vigorous exercise - a gentle walk, tops. 

Walking through the park I saw another fair setting up. Just beyond the site is the skate park, which was full of kids hanging out and doing stunts and I thought of the difference between the thrills. On fair rides you are thrown round and tilted at crazy angles so that your adrenaline surges and your stomach flips. On the bmx or skateboard you get a similar  adrenaline surge when you leap or twist but with the difference that you are practicing a skill and are developing all sorts of abilities.

When I look at the kids doing their tricks I wonder at two things: balance and bravery. Some  things can only be done if you fully commit at speed but the faster go the more it hurts if you fall. When you are learning there must be an awful lot of bruises but you can only develop by accepting the risk and the occasional injury

I recently read Bounce by Matthew Syed and one of the interesting asides is the observation that the best ice skaters fall over more frequently than skaters who are merely good. The reason is that they are always trying to push their limits, working hard at the edge. The courage of top performers is something I have never thought too hard about but this made me realise it is crucial. In any sport you cannot reach the top without taking a hell of a lot of lumps.

In the fair, where all the thrills come from power, speed,  and throwing the body around, you need to be absolutely sure of the safety of the rides. If something goes wrong it is potentially fatal. In the skatepark you need to make sure it is is not hazardous (eg rickety structures or sharp edges) but the aim is to provide an environment where people can take risks and perhaps get a little hurt.

Odd the comparisons you make when you see things side by side.

2011 Streak Day 228 (Aug 16): Giving blood

2011 Streak Day 228 (Aug 16): Run 2.25 miles, Time - 20min 35sec,  Weather - guess

Another short run today but the simple reason was lack of time. It was something I had to fit in before giving blood. The photo is of the church in which I bled.

It was started in 1952 and shows more than any other building the poverty of the architecture of the time (a stretched brick box does little to lift the spirits). This was a combination of two things: the first was a prevailing design philosophy that took Scandinavian modernism and toned it down to dull; the second was an actual lack of resources as the country was recovering from the war.

Inside though the church is surprisingly bright. The windows let in lots of light, the walls and ceiling have been freshly decorated in bright colours, and there are plenty of flowers. It only goes to show that you should not judge a building solely by its exterior.

in our mixed group of blood donors there were only two young girls but both of them were in trouble. They were laying on their beds with a damp flannel on their brow,  feet raised, and being attended to by nurses. They looked very pale and shaky. It made me wonder if any particular demographic is likely to react badly to giving blood; in other words are girls particularly susceptible or is this a random quirk.

I have no answer and probably never will. It is just one of those questions that flits across your mind when you are doing nothing but clenching and unclenching your fist.

2011 Streak Day 227/365 (Aug 15th): Pathetic

2011 Streak Day 227/365 (Aug 15^th): Run - 1.1 miles, Time - 10min, Weather  - Gloomy

Pathetic! I think I will draw a veil over this run except to say that I followed the dictum of Joe Henderson. He advises you to run for a mile before you deciding the sort of session you should complete. A mile is enough to warm up and clear away the usual early run sludge and allow you to tell how strong you felt. Today the answer was not strong at all and I didn’t want to go any further. There was no spring in my step and no enthusiasm to force myself onwards. So I stopped, looked up the hill and walked back.

I am not sure whether that is failure or realism. It is what I did and that is all there is to it. The veil is drawn.

Today’s picture shows a couple of things: 

The first is how unremittingly dull the weather is. The pattern for almost every day has been to start with grey cloud, which may or may not bear rain, followed by patches of blue sky later in the afternoon. As I tend to go out in the morning I only get to see the wet or the grey.

The second is to show something about Hemel - it is a low rise town. The initial plans were drawn up by one of the leading landscape architects of the time, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, who envisioned not a city in a garden but a city in a park. It is still a town of low density, with many green spaces. There is no vantage point from which you can see its full extent.

If I had been feeling strong, this particular green space would have been good for a tough hill session. But as we already know I did not feel strong

2011 Streak Day 226/365 (Aug 14th): Mind/body

2011 Streak Day 226/365 (Aug 14th): Run - 7.5 miles, Time - 1hr 14min, Weather - there had been rain but it was merely cloudy

Time for a longer run. If I am going to do a half marathon in September I have to try to extend my runs, even if it does feel hard work.

It was a sunday morning and so everything was fairly empty, which made the discovery of road-stripping plant hidden away in a quiet parking place, all by itself,  seem a little bit eerie. Not a sight I expected but I was amused by the big brother, little brother look.

As for the run - there was no breakthrough. I had hoped the regular running in France would have made a noticeable difference and this would feel like a breeze. But there can be a wide gap between hope and reality. It was not bad, I did not struggle too much but at the same time it didn’t feel any progress. Most disappointingly the last half mile was hard and I was happy when it was over.

P.S. When I said most of the last half mile I was referring to that strange phenomena of feeling progressively more tired until the last 100 meters when suddenly the sight of the finnish line lifts the spirits and your form picks up. Finding you were not as tired as you thought, when just a couple of minutes ago your body had told you it had nothing left, is common.  It is a small part of the evidence that supports the theory of the central governor but even without such a theoretical underpinning it shows how much a run is governed by the mind.

2011 Streak Day 225/365 (Aug 13th): Slapstick

2011 Streak Day 225/365 (Aug 13^th): Walk - 4 miles, Time !hr 10min, Weather - still grey

It has taken three days to get to the canal. Usually when I return from holiday it is my first run - a form of touching base. Today however was a walk. My legs felt weary and told me that although I had done OK, I could do with some rest. But total rest is impossible in  2011!

The gentle walk was fine but on holiday such a walk would not even have been mentioned in the daily stats.

Along the way I saw three young men (twentyish), dressed in suits with ties loosened off, messing about on a row boat. They were trying to get from one side of the canal to the other but lacking oars they were using a lump of wood to paddle. Progress was unsteady but they reached the other side only to be berated by one of the boat owners, whereupon they abandoned the row boat.

I can only think that young men in suits on a Saturday lunchtime meant they were refugees from a wedding.

I can remember something similar from my youth. After a wedding, three of us decided to play golf in rain so hard nobody else was out on the course. Being drunk we did not care how wet we got and also being drunk we found every inept shot funny. My own low/high point happened when a three wood slipped from my hands when driving off (as I said it was very wet and the grip was slippy) but then I could not find the club. I looked all around but it was nowhere to be seen as I went through the classic ‘searching for something lost’ routine of looking again and again in the same place and being just as surprised each time that it wasn’t there. I had all but given up when I looked up and saw the club hanging from a tree like a long catkin. It had obviously flown up and the head had hooked itself over a branch - amazing. I retrieved it and carried on with a puzzled look on my face like Stan Laurel.

Sometimes I think I still see life as a never ending silent comedy.

2011 Streak Day 224/365 (Aug 12th): Another ending

2011 Streak Day 224/365 (Aug 12^th): Run 2.21 miles, Time - 21min 26sec, Weather - greyish and dull no enlivening characteristics

On holiday I managed to get up at 6:30 and go out for a run before breakfast. Could I carry on at home?  Sometimes I have done it but never consistently. Is it even worth the effort?

I thought I would would give it a go to see if I could establish a virtuous habit. At first it was good as I felt the flush of pleasure that comes from knowing that you have won a small victory. I enjoy seeing the beginning of the day and the town waking up and early morning runs are a grand thing.  I thought this for about a mile and then my stomach complained - all that joggling up and down was not to its liking.

Bugger! I managed a couple of miles but then had to walk, gently back home. 

From this point the experiment of early morning runs is formally abandoned. It is too hit and miss. Some days are fine but others are a disaster and I can see no pattern as to what would cause the variance. It is just not worth worrying about - so I won’t. 

The picture comes from later in the day when I walked in the park. It was full of people enjoying themselves in various ways. These kids were on their way to the skate park to do jumps and tricks.

The weather might be remarkably dull - but it is still the school holidays. People still need to get out to play.

2011 Streak Day 223/365 (Aug 11th): The riots were elsewhere

2011 Streak Day 223/365 (Aug 11^th):  Run 3.04 miles, Time 28min 40sec Weather - grey overcast and definitely much cooler than France

This run required a great deal of discipline. 

We arrived home about 9 am and after some unpacking there was a food shop and the gradual realisation we were back home and it was time to get back to normal.

It takes a bit of time to readjust after being away. I always come home and feel that things must be different because I feel different and am always slightly surprised that they are much as usual. The house is still standing and Hemel has not missed me - all is as it was.

However the news that there had been rioting and looting in other parts of the country is a great shock. Usually riots have reasons or a cause but these did’t seem like that. The only comparable rioting I could think of was Brixton and Toxteth in the early 80s but they they came after years of racial tension and unacknowledged grievances.

I spent time reading the coverage but coming late to the story I lacked the sense of an unfolding narrative.  After the action all that was left, alongside the sweeping up, was the analysis and the opportunity for everyone to pontificate on the sorry state of the nation. What an opportunity it was and still is!

If I was depressed by the riots I was also depressed by the quality of the analysis. All it involved was a parading of prejudices and pet hobby horses. Grim, grim reading.

The problem is that it takes time to find out and evaluate the sequence of events and all the circumstances. During that time everybody else has made up their minds. The old saying that a lie can travel around the world before truth has got its boots on is never more apt than in the wake of something like this.

I emerged from my reading feeling tired and confused, at which point I could easily have abandoned the idea of a run and settled for a day of fuzzy minded mooching. But no! we are made of sterner stuff than that.

The run was nothing spectacular - just a standard loop done at at a standard pace. I cannot think of a single event worth recording, except I passed this phone box and saw the empty larger cans. My first thought was “Humph! Welcome back - street drinking and litter it is so much grimier here than in France!”  but my second thought was “Actually as litter goes, that is quite neat”, however my third thought was more interesting “Wow! a phone box, I’ve not noticed that before. How many of them do we still have?” 

My first reaction had been a rather grumpy, huffy, gut reaction but my last thought was about an aspect of social change that could be investigated. Perhaps with the riots - we have to wait for the third thoughts.

2011 Streak Day 222/365 (Aug 10th): Leaving

2011 Streak Day 222/365 (Aug 10^th): Run 2.5 miles, Time 27min  Weather - a clear blue sky and fiery sun bringing in a hot clear day. Perfect weather, except we are leaving.

The run was good and it was impressive to be up and out by 7, given the amount we drunk the night before. 

There was a sadness that this would be the last run of the holiday. Nevermind the holiday this is perfect training country, with empty roads that undulate. Running is fine at home but it feels better here. But all things must end and it is time to be going back. Although I thoroughly enjoy my holidays in the back f my mind I always have the feeling they are an interlude. Although I appreciate the remoteness, being cut off from all news, the feeling that the rest of the world is a million miles away, it does not feel like home.  When all is said and done I still feel part of England. It is the place I understand. 

Morning was spent packing and cleaning then away at mid day. It is a long drive to Caen so we decided to break it up with a visit and picnic at Venise Verte. This was a good idea as it is a lush, relaxed area, full of people idling about on bikes, eating, or punting on the canals. In other words a great holiday area.

There is little to say about the rest of the day. Roads are roads and driving is driving.

We arrive, eat and then board. The photo is of of our last wistful look at France. 

2011 Streak Day 221/365 (Aug 9th): Cognac (not the town)

2011 Streak Day 221/365 (Aug 9^th):Run - 5 miles, Time 47min, Weather - A beautiful morning with a mist rising over the fields

My last solo run of the holiday so I decided to go by the beehives. It was a beautiful morning and as I looked over the fields at the rising mist, I made a point of appreciating the view. This run is only for enjoyment I told myself - just go with how you feel, and if tha means a little rest, then so be it. But funnily enough, having given myself permission to ease back, I didn’t. I trotted along at my standard pace and felt good.

The main activity of the day was a walk along the Charente from Jarnac to Bourg Charente and back, probably about 5 or 6 miles. With the river on one side and woods on the other it was lovely. I do not mind out and back routes because everything looks different when you are facing a different way.

We passed many things of passing interest, like a nursery for vines with thousands of the young plants packed closely together; or two red, classic sports cars, with two silver haired couples pulling out their picnic hampers - the English middle class on a touring holiday; or a Nike trainer floating downstream - for a shoe it made a very fine boat; or the way French fisherment take their lunch far more seriously than their iEnglish counterparts - full picnic with table and cloth as opposed to the grabbed sandwich by the canal bank; or the size of some of the riverside houses and the wealth that has come from cognac.

Talking of cognac today’s picture is of Braastad, a cognac better known in Norway than the UK, probably because it was founded by a Norwegian. As far as the UK market is concerned I would guess there aren’t many brands sold beyond Hennessy, Martell, Courvoisier, and Remy Martin (perhaps also Hine, which can be found in Waitrose and Monnet, which make the Marks and Spencer own label could be added). But there are many more cognacs than that.

We bought our bottles two days before from a small producer with an estate near the village of Bréville (which interestingly has used wood carving to regenerate its fortunes).

Monsieur Boutinet is a grey haired man, probably in his late sixties, with the comfortable shape of a patron. At some point he must have had a throat operation of some sort because of the quality of his hushed, gravelly voice. His wife was a little younger, probably early fifties. She was an artist, who has exhibited in Russia and England as well as France. Her studio was in one of the side buildings and we started the visit with a view. Her main interest was movement and the blurring of space around figures in crowds or people performing athletic (in its broadest sense) activities - meat and drink  for a running blog. But although I could relate to the theme and recognise the skill they weren’t quite to my taste. 

After that it was the main business of the day, a degustation.

A big old barn was laid out with a table, chairs, glasses and array of the different cognacs. We started the tasting with Pineau, both red and white and then went onto the brandy - a VSOP, followed by a Napoleon, then an XO,after which was an Extra followed by a Cigar  (it was a blend of XO and Extra as a complement to an after dinner cigar - not my style at all). Finally we were given a taste of a 60% cognac, which was a very different drink that made the lips feel numb.

It was fascinating to compare the different flavours, make judgements, and notice how the taste became richer and more complex with age.  I won’t go all poncy and try to describe those flavours with exotic analogues - not through any fear of seeming pretentious but because I really can’t do it, I don’t make those associations. On the website, however, there is a wonderful sentence: “Napoléon, XO, and Extra reveal their richness and complexity only after a tender moment of complicity in your hand.”  

I just love the idea of a tender moment of complicity; it perfectly described what is happened here. We had the full attention of the proprietor of an estate which has grown vines for two centuries and willingly drank the idea of tradition augmented by the sense of the old buildings with each sip of the brandy. We wanted to find something special. 

It is not a bad thing and I am still delighted with the complicity and more than happy to have blown the souvenir budget on XO.

2011 Streak Day 220/365 (Aug 8th): Wash house

2011 Streak Day 220/365 (Aug 8^th): Run 2.4 miles, Time 27min, Weather - cloudy cool and beginning to rain

Yesterday was beautiful and we thought the weather might have settled - but no. As we left the house the sky was full of rain clouds that we hoped would hold off long enough. In a way it did  as we were only caught in the spittings but there was a huge compensation: we ran into a rainbow. It was lovely - a dramatic arch, right in front of us, almost in touching distance, but try as we might we could not find the pot of gold.

At mid-day we went to St Jean to eat at a vegetarian restaurant. It was mainly out of curiosity because the definition of  vegetarianism in this part of France is not eating beef. So we wanted to see how it would work. The conclusion was OK ish but it was somewhere we would never revisit.

The whole eco/organic vibe was good and obviously if you are a pioneering venture you have to go the whole hog (perhaps that is not the most felicitous turn of phrase). We particularly liked the tables with tops  made out of papier mâché and legs from cardboard cylinders you find in carpet rolls. The decoration was bright, airy and fun. Unfortunately the food was boring and bland. My main course was roasted vegetables, whose main flavour came from a splash of balsamic vinegar and basmati rice. OK but you expect a little bit more from a restaurant.

So not an outstanding success but never mind there were other things to keep us amused.

Today’s photo is of an old wash house, by a stream on the edge of a small village.  It is quite evocative to see these reminders of what life used to be like.

2011 Streak Day 219/365 (Aug 7th): In the best of all possible taste

2011 Streak Day 219/365 (Aug 7^th): Run - 6.5 miles, Time - 1hr, Weather - beautiful, As I ran the sun was coming up causing the mist to rise from the fields. The rest of the day was one of blue skies and white fluffy clouds.

A good day. The first intimation was the weather: blue sky with the sun rising causing  a mist to hover above the fields. It was beautiful and a day of rain could be considered fair payment for this early morning view. Not only that the running went quite well.

My section up the Beauvais road was the test. I had done this on day 215 when I was surprised at how tough it was, dragging on for over a mile. So tough I had to stop and rest when I reached the crest. Today I wanted to keep going, which I did by trying to kid myself by saying “Ha better than last time!”. As I passed the point of giving-up it changed to  “Oh much better than last time!” and as I went a bit further “Much, much better than last time!”.  Then I went further still until I was back into a rhythm and and could carry on till home.

When I got back I felt good as if it had been some small breakthrough.

The morning was spent at the brocante in Matha. When on holiday I enjoy going to these as they are relaxed and sociable: friends bump into each other and stop to have a chat.  They are a great attraction.

I never buy anything as I have no eye for bargains. To me it is all stuff, heaps of stuff, and I am not too interested. However I take some small pleasure in spotting the worst pieces - and there are some truly horrible pieces: junk and bad taste. Today the junk prize was won by a broken vase where only the neck was whole. It was on the same stall as an old gramophone player in a smashed wooden case (why would you even bother to bring things that were so badly destroyed?). As for bad taste, I really couldn’t decide - there were many awful paintings, many overly ornate objects but i had to give the prize to the thing that amused me most: a mermaid jug. She is modelled laying down, cupping her ample bosom in her hands - pure class! i have a horrible feeling that these might be collectable. 

Afterwards we went for a coffee and were next to a group of two families, with young children, who were obviously sharing a gite. On of the mothers reminded me of the character in ‘Outnumbered’, on edge and reacting to any hint of bad behaviour from her children. One of the youngsters asked “Why have we come to France?” and she replied quick as a flash with that machine gun rattle designed to kill off any dissent: “ Because we like it here - good food, good wine.” I have the feeling that good food and wine are not high on the priority list of a four year old.

2011 Streak Day 218/365 (Aug 6th): The quality of peace

2011 Streak Day 218/365 (Aug 6^th): Run - 2 miles, Time - 23 min Weather - light rain, low grey clouds

As you can see from the photo it was another wet day, however running first thing has saved us. So far there has been no significant rain at daybreak. Is this a general rule? Does the early morning have less rain than other times off day? All I can say is that on this holiday that has been the case.

Later we went for a walk and got very wet.  During the walk we talked about the quality of peace tto be found here. At home we have no easy access to the same openness of landscape, the same sense of quiet. It might seem strange to say as we live in pleasant countryside with nearby woods and quiet country lanes - but it is in the South of England, a densely populated area.There may be many nice vistas but the traffic is never far away.

However, as with everything, for every up there is a down. There is a fine line between quiet and boredom and in winter an open landscape, which in summer is rich with crops and wild flowers, can be empty and bleak.

We talked with an English couple who live in the village full time and they find winters hard, with nothing much to do. This year, as an experiment they are renting a villa in Spain from January to March to be part of a bigger community. It will be interesting to see how that works.

Which only goes to show, I think, that peace is not actually in your surroundings but in your attitude to them.

2011 Streak Day 217/365 (Aug 5th): Beehives

2011 Streak Day 217/365 (Aug 5^th): Run - Run - 4.96 miles, Time - 45min 07sec, Weather - When running it was overcast and beginning to drizzle, later in the morning the rain set-in and fell like it sometimes does in Wales.

Again the run was harder than it should have been and I took a couple of walking breaks. At the moment I am at a loss about my fitness - it should be easier than this but it isn’t. It is  a test of my basic philosophy of running being primarily about honesty and continuity. You have to be honest about your capabilities: the state of your fitness and abilities, but within those limitations you just have to keep carrying on.

So at the moment we are carrying on.

The run was not without its pleasure however - I discovered a small wood alive with beehives. Why that gave me so much pleasure I do not know, after all beehives are not exotic and a French hive looks exactly the same as an English hive, but there was something about the discovery that put a smile on my face. I immediately thought things were as they should be - crops need to be pollinated and local honey needs to be made, the natural balance was being maintained.

This is an agriculturally rich area.

As you can see from the photo the day was overcast and rainy, which was a bit of a shame for the village picnic, which instead of being in the open in the Marie Gardens took shelter in the salle des fêtes. The idea is simple - everybody brings their own food and socialises. Much wine is consumed. That is all.

2011 Streak Day 216 (Aug 4th): The governance of Belgium

2011 Streak Day 216 (Aug 4^th): Run - 2.4 miles, Time 26min 56sec, Weather - a little overcast, with a mackerel sky. During the day there periods when the clouds cleared and it was hot.

It might be just a wild guess but I don’t think “the governance of Belgium” is a common title on a running blog. In fact unless anyone can prove otherwise I will claim it as a first. I may only be a mediocre runner but I can sure as hell make up for it by inventing uniquely boring headings. I don’t believe very many people will be lured in but nevermind.  I learnt something about Belgium government today and would like to report it.

But first some background:

The great thing about having a house in rural France is that you become part of a community. It maybe mainly the community of other outsiders who have renovated or are renovating the old properties but nevertheless that is a fair proportion of the village. One of these people is a senior Belgium civil servant who spends most of his summer here. He is free to do this because of a rather wonderful employment arrangement: if you have worked sufficient years and are approaching retirement and have an understudy who you are training-up as a replacement, you can have three months holiday a year. A very civilised arrangement.

Today he came round for chat and topics did include the government of his country, or rather the lack of one. It is a sign of the narrow interest in foreign stories in our news outlets that little has been written about the way Belgium has fractured and been unable to reach a political consensus and sustain a government. Nevertheless it is still a democratic country as it has an elected parliament and it still has a functioning civil service. So life goes on and the state still functions

Not only did I find this interesting in itself, I found it interesting that we could have this conversation in a remote village as part of the randomness of a holiday.

Today’s photo comes from a walk around a nearby village, which had a stream with a mechanical weir that could be set at varying degrees. The photo shows how it has acted as a barrier and collected the plant life upstream, whilst below the water is clear. What interests me is why this stream needs controlling in this way. There seems no obvious reason and even now I have no answers.

It is one of the great things about walking around, trying to pay attention - sometimes you are left with nothing but questions.

2011 Streak Day 215 (Aug 3rd): Walking towards lunch

2011 Streak Day 215 (Aug 3^rd): Run - 5.00 miles, Time - 46min 35sec, Weather - overcast, relatively cool

Walk - 11.94 miles, Time - 3hrs 20min, Weather - overcast at first after which the sky cleared and it was hot

The run was a figure of eight with a stretch that was a long steady uphill. This countryside is open and undulating but deceptively hard. A long gradual slope might feel OK at the bottom but after a mile your legs know they have been fighting gravity and you want it to end. When I got to the top of the hill today I felt in desperate need of a breather and cursed my weakness. The run was much tougher than I though it would be (or indeed it should have been).

The main activity of the day was a walk for have lunch. Matha is 6 miles away and the restaurant there was our destination. The walk was through open countryside, past the variety of crops and clumps of woodland. There are no hedges in these parts just division by crop: vine, sunflower, corn, and fallow. Along the edges and in the fallow areas there is a mass of wild flowers. Above are birds and a buzzard patrolling his area looks majestic. 

When we arrived in Matha I was once agin struck by how deserted French towns are at lunch time. Everything is closed and nobody is about so the streets are an eerie quiet.

Contrasts and comparisons are what make a holiday. Today had shown us field patterns, crops, and a social pattern that values a lunch break. All very different to back home.

Usually, when I come here I take a picture of a sunflower, all happy and bright. Today’s picture shows what happens afterwards - they become heavy with seeds and bow their heads.

2011 Streak Day 214 (Aug 2nd): Didn’t it rain!

2011 Streak Day 214 (Aug 2^nd): Run - 2.4 miles, Time - 27min, Weather - in the early morning there were intimations of rain.

We left the house at 6:45 when the rising sun was obscured by clouds. As we ran we felt a few drops and the clouds looked ominous; would we be  caught by a deluge? No we were fine it never got heavier than a few drops - a little warning of what was to come later. 

The main amusement of the morning was watching a big articulated lorry trying to turn into the road to reach the Moutarderie. (Probably another satnav misdirection, as a look at the map would have shown that the obvious route was to approach it from the opposite direction). Anyway he tried to make this turning a few times before realising he was stuck and it was totally impossible. He then did something that made we want to applaud the skill of professional lorry drivers: he drove past the turning and then reversed down the narrow road, with all its snaking bends, to make his delivery. Bravo!

The Moutarderie is an interesting example of the type of food business that can be set up in a small village but yet attract visitors from miles around. It is on the map as one of the attractions of the region, selling not only its handmade mustards but also cold pressed sunflower oil (from the local sunflowers), local honey, and other gifty things. It is an example of how you need a combination of technical skill and business drive; something that might require two people. Originally it was just one man making his mustard and it might have stayed like that if he had not married someone with the drive to expand the range of the business and see the possibility of making the shop a destination.

Every year we have visited here the Moutarderie has expanded and is doing just that little bit better.

But back to the rain. I don’t want to leave you with the impression that the day was just heavy clouds and a bit of rain. It was far more than that.

In the afternoon we were returning from Cognac when a thunderstorm struck and the heavens opened - and that is a precise description. it was as if someone had taken a knife to a water bladder and sliced it so the water gushed out in one heavy lump. There were no raindrops it was a solid sheet. The windscreen wipers at their highest speed could not cope and it was difficult to see the road ahead as it had become a shallow stream. The wind came up and at one point a twig was wrenched from a tree and hit the car with an almighty crack. 

The journey was shockingly difficult. We couldn’t even stop and wait for it to pass as we were heading in the same direction.

Eventually it passed but later in the middle of the night there was another heavy storm that battered the roof and made sleep impossible. We later learnt that the rain had been so heavy that a barn roof had collapsed.

These holidays are not all about peace and relaxation - there is drama as well.

2011 Streak Day 213/365 (Aug 1): Problems you might have on a run

2011 Streak Day 213/365 (Aug 1): Run - 2.34 miles, Time - 21min 34sec, Weather - hot

On some days running is easy and everything flows, and  you come home feeling refreshed with the world full of possibilities. On other days you struggle and and it feels uncomfortable or hard work (or both).

There can be all sorts of reasons for a bad day. The most frustrating are the mysterious ones where there is no obvious reason. You have not been overdoing it, you have not changed your patterns, you have had enough sleep, you have eaten well, you are otherwise feeling fit, you are not trying to do anything extra. It just happens. Your muscles feel watery and there is no power. All you can do is write them off and say they are ‘just one of those things’. But although you know that is what you should do there are always nagging questions about what went wrong.

Other days are more explicable. You might for example be ill. The feeling of inner weariness is quite distinct and you know what is happening but there are then complications in deciding how much to keep going. If it is a proper full-on illness like traditional flu then there is no debate - you are unable to do anything; but many viruses don’t knock you out, they just make you feel sub-optimal. The usually advice is that if it is not a chest infection you can keep going but how much you want to is a different question entirely. There is always the thought that allowing the body to rest will clear things up more quickly and it is better to have a short break rather than drag out a longer sequence of poor quality runs. There can be no general advice. It really does depend on how well (or bad) you feel.

Some days can be marred by twinges - the mysterious pains that can come and go without leaving a trace. The problem here is that you have to know the difference between a twinge and an injury and that is something I find really, really hard. I go through a couple of stages: the first is to carry on and some twinges just go away quickly. If it persists then I will stop, perhaps walk, perhaps stretch, perhaps do a few loosening exercises, depending on what it feel like and then carry on. If it goes - good. If it stays it is probably best to adapt the session by either carrying-on gently, or aborting as a precaution. 

The most uncomfortable days though are the ones when you get the ‘runners’ trots’, when everything is reduced to one simple question, that dominates the whole of your mind: ‘can I get back in time?’. Once the problem has been sorted, it is sorted and everything is fine but those moments before are pure agony.

I was thinking about this, this morning  on what should have been a 6 mile run. A couple of miles out I realised I would not last and the only thing to do was walk home (and a most unpleasant walk it was). 

It was a shame because wind and limbs were ok and it was a beautiful morning with the sun rising in a clear sky and the promise of a hot day ahead. It should have been one of those good days when everything felt easy.

But it was not.

Today’s picture is of bird damage.

The old buildings in the village are built in the traditional way with rubble walls covered with a lime render. For some reason birds seem to like to eat the render. Many a time we saw a flock of them perched on the stones, pecking away at the lime. 

The picture shows a small activity, repeated often enough, by many birds can have a dramatic effect. Quite a big chunk of the wall has been exposed and mortar removed. If allowed to continue, over the years it could become quite a problem.

2011 Streak Day 212/365 (July 31): Seaside

2011 Streak Day 212/365 (Sunday July 31):Run - 2.41, Time - 27min 09sec, Weather - The sun came up a fiery orange into a clear sky.

Being forced to run more slowly than normal is great. I really don’t know why I can’t discipline myself to do this alone; instead the pace always creeps back up to normal. The great benefit is that I come back feeling fresh and ready to start the day. Just what is needed before a trip to the sea.

We started by visiting Rochefort, a place we had only driven through before. In the Eighteenth Century it was the base of the French navy. A place where ships could be built, supplied and defended. Now you can see the remains of the infra structure, wander around the impressive, terraced, dry docks and see the Corderie Royale and in one of the docks they are building a replica of one of the great wooden warships, the Hermione. The naval history is quite evocative.

As a boy (about 13 or so) I used to devour the Hornblower novels and so have vague recollections of daring raids up the heavily defended river and around the fortified islands  (I can recall no detail; it was a long time ago). Nevertheless I have a strange, undefined feeling of “Oh so this is what it looked like!”. It is rather satisfying.

The afternoon was spent at the seaside. Obviously this wouldn’t be a good choice if you were looking for solitude and a chance to commune with nature (it is the first weekend of the traditional French holiday when everybody goes to the beach) but that is not what we wanted. For one afternoon we wanted sand, sea and the hot, hot sun, with ice cream kiosks and lots of other people relaxing and enjoying themselves. It was exactly what we found.

211 Daily Streak Day 2011/365 (Saturday July 30): Too slow!

2011 Daily Streak Day 2011/365 (Saturday July 30):Run - 3.66 miles, Time - 33min 58 sec, Weather - sun coming up in a clear sky with the promise of a hot day

Another day and another sunrise with the pleasure of being out in the empty countryside. On the run I am passed by a single van and the driver is the only person I see.

Sometimes on a run you feel enough at ease to look around, breath deeply and enjoy the scenery. On others you are more inside yourself as you struggle to keep going. Today was a mixture. I started out slowly and enjoyed the open spaces until I started to vary my pace: fast then slow. Breathing deeply very quickly became breathlessness.

It made me realise how unfit I am. With every increase in pace I felt heavy and clunky, and weak. I can only hope things get better in the future but for some reason I don’t have too much faith.

The main activity of the day was a 6 mile walk, which went through the village/town of Beauvais. As I had a blister I stopped to buy some plasters. Although there were two people serving and only two people in front of me it took an awful long time. One of the customers was an englishman, who spoke no French, struggling to explain the background of a complicated prescription to the pharmacist who spoke little English. The other was an old, very frail lady who needed a long, long conversation with her medicine.

I didn’t mind waiting, I appreciated the fact that here the pace was slower and things could take as long as they took. I was in no hurry.

When the old lady went to leave she walked towards the door and tripped the infra red signal to open the automatic door. Unfortunately she was so slow that by the time she managed to reach the door it had closed again. All she could do was wail that she was trapped. (It was a very short entrapment, someone rescued her by waving at the sensor).

I had to work hard not to laugh. I know it is a sad thing to be too slow for an automatic door but I couldn’t help thinking of it as a comedy sketch.

There are only three things in today’s picture: blue sky. a power wire, and swallows, but each has something to say about the village. First the wire - recently the power feeds in the village were buried, as part of the sprucing up that has happened over the past few years, however there are still wires connecting some buildings and out-buildings. It is part of the rough, rural look to the place, which is part of its charm. Secondly there are the swallows - this time of year there are always plenty of swallows. One of the small pleasures to be had is sitting out of an evening (wine or pineau optional), watching the swallows twist and swoop as they hunt their flying insects. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is the blue sky, which is emblematic of the region. In summer time the light is usually fantastically clear with the sky a deep colour, making everything look better.