Thursday 27 September 2012

A 9km run to Bottisham and Lode again this morning.  Weather was cool with a very slight drizzle from Lode Mill.  Not so quick today at 44'20".

A Green Woodpecker flying across the road in Bottisham was the only bird worthy of note.

Tuesday 25 September 2012

A good run this morning to Bottisham and Lode Mill.  Weather was cool and a little windy.  A new PB for this route of 42'41", almost 2 minutes quicker than previous best from earlier this month.

A large flock of House Martin over Mill Road in Lode and a Grey Wagtail at the Mill.  A Buzzard drifted slowly low over Station Road, Quy pursued as ever by a group of corvids.

Sunday 23 September 2012 - Bourn to Run 10k

My second time at this event.  Weather was dry and cool (about 11 degrees), with a light breeze.  The course started with a quick downhill "dash" through the village (4 minutes for 1st 1km), followed by a gradual climb up to the 6km mark.  Between 3 and 4km was the steepest part.  A good time of around 22:15 at the halfway mark. From 7km the course was downhill.

I managed to cross the finish line with a final sprint just before the clock ticked to 45:00 minutes and got a chip time of 44:53.  This is over 2 minutes better than last year's Bourn to Run and not far off my 10k PB.

A large flock of House Martins were flying around the grounds of Bourn Hall at the start.  A couple of Swallows seen near the airfield.

Friday 21 September 2012

A good run along the 5 mile route to Lode and back along the old railway line.  A PB of 39'42" thanks to a quick final 2 miles.  The weather was dry and warmer than it was on Wednesday.

Only 2 House Martins in the village this morning (in Station Road).  It looks like they have finally left for the year.  Nothing else of interest seen this morning either.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

A cold morning today (around 6 degrees).  I ran the Lode 10k route.  The grass along Quy Water was a bit dewy, but fortunately the grass between the fields after Lodestar had been cut (although already growing back).  A good time of 50'33".

2 Jays were seen flying from Quy Water towards the old railway line.  A Heron was on Bottisham Lode and a group of Roe Deer were seen in the field towards White Fen.  A Buzzard was seen sitting on top of a telegraph pole along the track to the Lodestar fields.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Another 17km run to Clayhithe and Baits Bite Lock with Joanna this morning.  Today we took the footpath across the fields to Clayhithe as the ground has now been compacted enough.

A Kingfisher was seen flying from across the fields on the west side of the river and then down the river towards the lock.  2 Cormorants seen flying along the river too.

Saturday 15 September 2012

Another good parkrun today.  I pushed quite hard but even so was still a bit short of my best, with a time of 21'33".

Friday 14 September 2012

A short run to Lode along Quy Water.  Grass is still long but fortunately was dry today.

A Great-Spotted Woodpecker was seen at the top of a wooden telegraph pole in Station Road, Quy.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

A 9km run this morning to Bottisham and Lode.  A new PB for this route of 44'32".

Sunday 9 September 2012

A very hot day for the Grunty Fen Half Marathon.

The course from Witchford Village College started with a 5 mile loop followed by a long 8 mile loop.  I set a good time for the first 5 miles in under 40 minutes, but then the heat took its toll and I had little energy left for the final loop.  I finished in a time of 1 hour 49'17".

Saturday 8 September 2012

No parkrun today as half marathon tomorrow.  A very short 3km run round Quy with my daughter this morning.  Weather was very warm.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

My second run to Lode and back along the old railway line.  This is a good alternative to the long grass along Quy Water.  A slower time today of 42'38".

A Grey Wagtail was sitting on a rock in the pool at Lode Mill.

Sunday 2 September 2012

A long run today in preparation for next weeks half marathon.  A 19km run through Bottisham, Swaffham Bulbeck, Swaffham Prior and White Fen.

2 Buzzards seen as I left Swaffham Prior.

Saturday 1 September 2012

A very good parkrun this morning.  A new PB of 21'17".

Thursday 30 August 2012

A shorter run this morning to Lode and back along the old railway line.  The railway line at the Lode end is very muddy as is the end of the bridleway where it meets Station Road, Quy.

In the field just after Anglesey Abbey 7 Grey Squirrels ran out of the stubble where they had been feeding into the safety of the trees.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Another run to Horningsea this morning.

3 individual Roe Deer seen in different places around the route.

Monday 27 August 2012

A bank holiday run with Joanna to Clayhithe and Baits Bite Lock on the River Cam.  A distance of 17km.  From Horningsea we ran along the road to Clayhithe as the field (where the footpath goes) was recently ploughed.

Moorhens and Cormorants seen along the river.

Saturday 25 August 2012

A quicker parkrun today in a time of 22'08", but still quite a bit off my best.

A Hobby and a Tern flew over whilst I was waiting at the start.

Friday 24 August 2012

A 9km run this morning to Bottisham and Lode in a time of 48'30".

Wednesday 22 August 2012

An 8 mile run to Horningsea this morning.  A PB time of 1 hour 03'29" about a minute and a half quicker than my previous best.  Not sure why the run was quick, but I seemed to have plenty of energy today.

A Buzzard was seen along the route and a Green Woodpecker.

Monday 20 August 2012

An extended version of the Lode 10 route this morning at about 11.6km.  A ggod time of around 53 minutes.

Saturday 18 August 2012

My 50th parkrun this morning.  The run was slow though, in a time of 22'48".

Sunday 12 August 2012

Another 10.5 mile run to Swaffham Bulbeck.  No time for today due to stopwatch failure.

Along Swaffham Bulbeck Lode a Hobby flew over, heading south,  possibly migrating buy may just have been part of its daily hunting routine.

Saturday 11 August 2012

No parkrun today as I had to take my daughter to a dressage event, but I got up early for a run to Bottisham and Lode.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

The grass along the Lode 10k route was still as long and dewy as last time.  The strech between the 2 barley after after Lodestar has quite a few stinging nettles at the start.  An average time today of 52'13".

Sunday 5 August 2012

In preparation for next month's Half Marathon I did a longer run today.  I ran through Bottisham, Swaffham Bulbeck and White Fen - 10.5 miles.  A reasonable time of 1 hour 33'.

Saturday 4 August 2012

I still have a painful knee, and with the bad weather this week no midweek run.  Today's parkrun was another slow affair at 22'48".

Sunday 29 July 2012

Today I entered the Spartan Race at Bassingbourn Barracks.  The run was about 5km but it took almost 2 hours to get through all of the obstacles, as there were long queues.  The 200m dark tunnel itself took almost half an hour.

Saturday 28 July 2012

A better parkrun this week, in a time of 22'07".  I still can't quite manage to beak 21 minutes though.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Lode 10k route.  Grass was very dewy and along Quy Water and after Lodestar was very long.  Will try to avoid this route for a while.

Sunday 22 July 2012

A run with Joanna this morning to Horningsea.

Saturday 21 July 2012

A dissappointing time for parkrun this morning at 22'48".

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Due to continued wet weather a road-based run to Bottisham and Lode Mill, coming back along along the old railway track.  Still muddy at end of bridleway.

An amazing sight this morning of 2 Red Kites by the recreation in Quy.