A Reinvigorating Mudbath

Nala

9.8 km - 63,42 min. - pleasant, sunny, no wind, a perfect Indian Summer day in between a spate of grey rains.

For today's run took Leroy and Nala, the female golden who is slowly returning to good form after having given birth to eight puppies.

A week ago it was her first run after a year long break. We made the usual course in 69 minutes. Today it was five minutes faster. 

Nala did something extraordinary. When reaching a dirt-track which winds through a wooded area for about two miles, I often let the dogs off the lead so that they could run around, sniff and then catch up with me later. 

The track goes over a stream and there is always a big muddy puddle  there. I crossed the stream, bypassed the puddle and ran on. I heard the plash as the dogs waded through the puddle. Strangely, it was quite loud and long, too loud and long for what it takes to cross a muddy stream.

When Nala caught up with me I couldn't believe my eyes – her nice golden-blonde coat was grey and wet. She must have had a good roll in the mud before continuing with the run. But run she  did! She lead our pack all the remaining distance back home, about half the circuit as though the mudbath had given her new energy.

And as a bonus she got a good shower-wash when we got back. Clever dog! 

Whose Run Is It Anyway?

Strelka the Golden reflects on his masters running habits in Summer

by Strelka
1 hour 03.50 min - 9.4 km

These days the boss gets angry with me when I stop for a sniff or a pee.  I don't like him getting angry with me for anything and most of the time I run by his heel all the circuit, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind and most often by the side. It's good to go out and check what the others are up to.

And he is a great hunter too, the Boss. Think, bringing all those huge bags of dog biscuits every week from the hunt! Just for us! And yesterday he was especially lucky, he brought back a bagfull of fat bloody bits of pork - all for us. Don't know why he called them 'scraps for dogs', they were delicious!

Anyway, for some reason he insists on running on and on without stopping, even now when it's really getting too hot for a fast run. Yeah, okay, to be honest I sometimes pretend I want a pee when, in fact, I just want some time and space to enjoy the outing just for myself. Leroy the Setter is not like me, he would run on and on, but I know he would like it too.

I mean, I am okay with warm weather, I just pant more, and then, at the end of it, there is always a nice cool room with flagstones.  But I can't take off my coat like the Boss does. And honestly, whose run is it anyway? What does he think, it's all just for him?

I can keep up pace with him, or catch up if left on my own, no problem.  But give me some freedom, sometimes at least. I don't want too much of it, I'll catch up and generally I'm happy just lying on the mat or sitting by the house.

A Cossack Companion Dog

8 km - 44:37 min,  cold and windy, ran to the woods on the steep hill, first on paved road, then on a mud track.

I recently wrote a post about the famous Russian painting 'Cossacks Wrtiting a Letter to the Turkish Sultan' - and saw that there was a dog in the picture, who I hadn't noticed before. 

What is this dog? What's it doing in the picture? He looks very angry and more like a wolf, than a dog. While there is a lot to be said about cossacks and horses, there is very little about their relationship with dogs.

Maybe cossacks did ride with dogs running by their side, maybe they did have companion dogs?

Onomatopoetry: the Sounds of Silence

31 Dec 20009 - New Year's Eve - 12 km - 1 h. 6 min 18 - 12 km

Years ago I acquired a superstition: on the last day of the year you must do at least a little bit of what you wish to do successfully in the next year. I want to write and be published - the best human activity that makes me happy, second, probably, only to running with dogs (and one other thing).

So early in the morning I sit down and write a few hundred words. Then I publish an article I wrote earlier on my books blog, mooch about for a bit - and go for a run. I want to carry on running,  so I must run on the last day of the year too.

The day is perfect. It's very quiet, misty and mild. The kind of white winter quietness that makes all sounds muffled and soft. Silent sounds.

It feels  so good I choose the longer of my several circuits. There is a long steep rise in the woods. Far behind a lonely farmer struggles uphill in his rickety tractor pulling a trailer heavily loaded with the smelly mixture of manure and straw. At the top of the hill, when the road levels, he catches up with me and the dogs. We wave to each other, he turns into a field and I carry on, listening to the silence.

The road is wet and, in places, muddy. I try to separate the sounds of silence. After a while I can hear the sound of dogs paws and my trainers. Sounds, you can describe them in many different ways. Words imitating sounds are called onomatopoeia (onomatopoeic or onomatopoetic).

And there we go without stopping in the woods on a winter morning, dogs going

chompety-tap, tappety-chomp, 
chomp-chomp, tap-tap

and me going

chompety-clop, cloppety-chomp, 
chomp-chomp, clop-clop.

Cats Love Dogs

13.07.09 - 6 miles - 54.55 min. - a slow, easy trot, quick showers, but hot and humid in between.

You may also want to read 'The Russian Barking Brigade' (with clip from Dogs and Cats)

Like cats and dogs... My tabby Vassily is very sociable and sometimes even tries to follow me and the dogs when we go running, but falls behind quickly and goes back home to wait for his best friend to come back. Then Strelka, the male golden, lies down to cool himself, and the cat gives him a good lick over.

How to reduce grumpiness in farmers

19 June - 6 miles - 53.48 min
A very pleasant light run today. Bright sun, lots of clouds and cool breeze. Perfect.

I mostly run at lunchtime when most of the country is at their tables and all is quiet. But because the weather is so good a lot of farmers seem to be cutting on their lunching time and are out on the roads and in the fields.

I am wary of passing tractors. Quite often they pull machines much wider than the tractor itself. But generally the farmers are careful and I wave cheerfully as a kind of thank you/how are you.

It's easy to ignore a lonely runner on the road, but it's not so easy to ignore a runner with two dogs. So quite often - but not always - I get a smile and a wave back from the man in the tractor.

Farming is a lonely, stressful work, even on family farms where you are guaranteed free training and job for life. I think that's why so many farmers are grumpy.

Me and my two running buddies are on a mission - we reduce farmers' grump.

Enlist your dog as a donor

27 April
50.59 6 miles rain, wind, cold/

Outside looked miserable today, cold April showers non-stop. I teetered a lot around the house, trying to make up my mind: to go or not to go. In the end I go with just the setter, Leroy who is a steady loyal runner. Wonderful! Got warm, calm and ready to face all the problems of the Universe.

Here is something I'd like all readers of this blog to consider and, if you can, to support: take part in dog blood donor programme. Find out if there is a local group or programme, or contact the people who started the dog donor appeal here in Normandy, France. Thank you all.

Below is the letter from readers of the Rendezvous magazine I publish here for the English speaking people in Normandy.

Dog donor register

Several weeks ago, our vet told us that our 12 year old dog, William, was in desperate need of a blood transfusion but warned that finding donors is very difficult. He rang around his clients and we approached acquaintances - who turned us down. Dog lovers will understand our desperation.

Then we turned to the Rendezvous [magazine] for help, contacting anyone whose contact details had appeared in the magazine. Everyone knew someone who had a dog and eventually donors came forward.

Sadly William died but we would like something positive to come out of our loss and want to set up a register of willing donors in Normandy to distribute to vets in the area. Such a register could save the lives of other much loved pets.

The owner of the dog who donated most of the blood for William did so because she knew how she would feel if her dog were to need a life saving transfusion. Ideally, donors should be five years or younger and not overweight. The dog is sedated and is not distressed during the transfusion.

Anyone willing to register their dog or help us set up the register can contact us on
00 33 (0)2 33 37 41 50
or write to us at
La Perronnière,
61330 Ceaucé
FRANCE

With special thanks to the Rendezvous and all those who rang round on our behalf and to would be donors as well as a special thank you to our vet, Dr Pierre Rogue of Domfront.

Mike and Debbie Bowes.

Vita breaks her record

23 Nov 2008
4 km - 27,45 min

It's a cold and windy Sunday with prickly rain and gusty North-West. My daughter has been nagging me to go for a run all week, but I didn't feel fully recovered from my cold and wanted to build up running slowly. Today we go, putting on thermal shirts and windbreakers with hoods.

It's not that it is difficult to run in the rain, it's not hearing approaching cars that is the problem. With a hood on and rain gear rustling and crackling when rain and wind smash into you, you can hardly hear anything. So we rely on the dogs to alert us. Over the years I trained the two Goldens to weer off on the verge when a car approaches. The adopted English Setter quickly learned to do it too.

We never stop - it's just to cold to do anything, but run as fast as we can. We get to the village and turn back. By the time we stop by the gates of the house we're dripping wet, all four of us. I rub the dogs with towels and as we go through stretching on the verandah I check the time - wow, Vita has broken her record by nearly a minute.

Why running?

16 March 6 miles - 50:30 min Warm, sunny, very quiet - not a whiff of wind. Just the kind of day to contemplate...

Why running? Why do I run? What for?

You can never run away from yourself, your worries and things you have to do, but running as a physical activity is probably the closest you can get to it. Put on shoes, hit the road and as the blood starts pumping through your body you get that incredible feeling of lightness which is often described as ‘runner’s high’.

It’s a perfect me-time, when you run alone, or a wonderful social and family occasion, when you run with friends or when children join you. If you are not a runner you may not believe it, but if you are, you would know how much chatting and socialising goes on during a run.

Don’t forget your dogs - they love running and it’s good for their well-being too. There is even a recognised sport now - cani-cross, with clubs and federations in France and the UK. And if you are trying to cut your heating bill, remember that half an hour running will keep you feeling warm for the whole day.

Running is a vital activity to us humans. It started when a first hunter-gatherer had to escape a sabre-toothed tiger, but as a mass pastime running-jogging really took off in the 70-s, when physical work had become a rarity and heart disease made us into endangered species.

You don’t need to be Paula Radcliff or Usain Bolt. Just get a pair of well-cushioned trainers with good grip - and start at your own pace. If you do football or tennis, you have to win or lose. If you run, you don’t. Running is for pleasure and fitness. But as you stop noticing your breathing (after about two-three weeks of regular runs) and when your muscles tone you’d be tempted to take part in a formal race. In France you will need a certificat medical from your GP to be allowed to run in a race. It makes good sense to join a local running club. Good for networking, improving your French and clubs often offer discounts on race entry fees and employ professional trainers. I run with USM Athletisme Vire, but check your local list of associations to find a club nearest to you.

Lunge lead or bungee lead

17 March 09
6 miles - 51.59 min
It's a sunny day, a warm pleasant breeze blows, first dandelions appeared in banks and lawns, farmers are busy ploughing.

I saw a neighbour running with her foxterrier on a proper cani-cross bungee lead attached to a belt. I don't use them even though they are supposed to free your hands while running and protect you from sudden pulls. What stops me is length of the lead - about 150cm (5 ft) of it seems not enough to me. With a dog too close there is always a risc of tripping over or hurting him. I use an 2.1 m (7 ft) pleated horse lunge with a double lead attached to it. I keep it looped to keep the dogs closer and extended when we are on a quiet stretch of road. If dogs pull I let the loop slide through my hand and then tighten the grip to stop them. This is similar to bungee effect, but, I think, more felxible.

Lunge is also called longe, from the French allonge - elongate, lenghten out.

How much can you achieve by undressing

13 March 09
6 miles - 51:40 min - 16ºC (60ºF)

...well, apparently there is a limit to how much you can achieve by undressing.
It's a warm sunny day today, real Spring, primroses, crocuses and daffodils are suddenly blooming everywhere.
So, instead of leggings I put on shorts.
The other day I took off sweater and improved my time nearly by two minutes running with just a t-shirt on. Today I took off leggings, but the time didn't change much.

I note this to myself with amusement, not concern.

When you run regularly and time your runs for whatever reason - out of habit, to monitor training progress, to try to hit a certain target, to make use of an expensive birthday present - it's easy to become a performance freak. You make yourself work harder than you want, you get upset over a split second lost over yesterday's run, you start worrying about every little ache in your body, you get tired and you don't relax - and in the end you lose what you started running for - enjoyment, the pleasure of physical and mental release running gives humans (and dogs) like very few other sports. Usain Bolt, the Beijing Olympics champion from Jamaica, wouldn't be such a star if people didn't see clearly how much he enjoyed running.

Photo by Richard Giles

Undressing for Spring

11 March
6 miles - 48.52 min

First time in t-shirt this year, first daffodils of the year came out. Strelka, the male retriever, looks unusually fluffy and rolls on the gravel again and again. He is peeling off his winter coat too.

So, peeling off just one layer of clothing takes off more than a minute off your usual time?

Find and get what you need for running with dogs

Get fit to survive the economis crisis

10 March

6 miles - 51:48 minutes

Strange. Same strong North-West is still blowing, but feels pleasant. And somehow the run was easy and my feet felt light.

Below is the Editor's Blog by Miranda Ingram from the March issue of the Rendezvous, an English language magazine published in Normandy, France. As a rule I only publish my own original content, but since I have become a character in Miranda's article, I decided to make an exception to the rule.

ever noticed how men swim the same way they drive -
over-taking, cutting in, then
holding everybody up

It’s that time of year when a glimpse of daffodil cheers the heart and hints that maybe - who knows? - the sun will put in an appearance this summer.

It also reminds us, however, that lardy winter bodies will soon be unwrapped and put on show.
Making a stab at getting in shape makes sense and it’s not just about how you look, or the fact that looking better makes you feel better.

This year, more than ever, we need to be physically and mentally robust.

There may be little we can do about the global economic crisis. What we can do is look after ourselves well enough to be able to cope with its effects on us and those close to us. Being in poor physical shape leaves you more prone to despair.

So, time to peel away from the wood burner and sniff the air outside. I can preach! Some, of course, are irrepressibly active and naturally subject their woes to a punishing physical regime. Others among us are more inclined to escape via a glass of wine and a good book, curled up on the sofa. The invention of cars, we feel, surely made legs redundant.

Can those of a more static disposition morph into active types? Apparently so. You only have to do something new - drink tea without sugar, go for a walk, for example, - 13 times or for 2 weeks for it to become a new habit.

Take my husband. One day he hit forty, drained a last bottle of vodka, stubbed out his cigarette and announced he was going to run the London Marathon. He took to crawling out of bed in the dark, donning a miner’s lamp and dragging the dog out of her basket for a morning run.

The following April he fulfilled a life long dream when he crossed the finish line on the Mall.
He has run it again several times since and yes, running is a new addiction. He gets twitchy if more than a day passes without the mental release of a 10 km run.

Me, I prefer swimming. When I say swimming, I mean actually swimming, not the palaver of going swimming.

Not the business of getting undressed in a tiny cabin, balling up your clothes and then finding that you have crammed them into the one locker where your token doesn’t fit or the lock is bust.

Not the dash through the freezing foot-bath nor the eyes of the life-guards summing up your excess pounds; not the knee in the stomach as you try and pass someone in a swimming lane laid out for stick insects.

Ever noticed how men like to swim the same way they drive? Compulsively over-taking, cutting into the gap in front then holding everybody up.

When lanes are organised from fast to slow, men will always pick the fast lane even if they can barely muster a sluggish breast stroke while women, even aspiring Adlingtons, opt for the slow or middle lanes.

You see these men on the pool side, limbering up and gulping energy drinks. Natty little swimming trunks, bodies waxed and tanned, go-faster goggles: you just know they’re going to throw those testosterones into the Man-Butterfly - the one-man wave-machine.

So you let them go first, then they run out of stamina half way down the first length and you have to stop dead to avoid a kick in the face.

(OK, OK, don’t all write in. Women can be just as annoying. I mean, if you want a gossip, why not meet for a coffee and a fag rather than catch up in the shallow end?)

But, if you treat yourself to a jacuzzi afterwards, (the whole point of going swimming, surely?) there’s Mr Man-Butterfly again, draped across the tub so you have to sit sideways with your knees bent. Either that or he’s in the sauna cranking it up to extra hot.

Then at the end of it all, there’s the timed shower which peters out just when your eyes are screwed closed and full of shampoo, trying to put socks on when the floor’s sopping wet and finally emerging into winter with wet hair.

So when I say I like swimming, what I really mean is that I would swim at least daily, possibly more, if I had a private heated indoor pool of my own. Sadly, it is a renovation project which will have to wait.

There’s always a good excuse to put off a new exercise regime. Banish it - and get moving!

************
Once again, we have been rewarded for being too lazy to pick up the last of our apples in autumn. On cold days, the garden is a sea of birds come to feast on the rotting fruit. And there’s more than enough to go round so they don’t even have to fight over it.

Meanwhile, the red squirrel makes a daily visit to add another walnut to her collection.

© the Rendezvous Media

Against the wind

9 March 09

6 miles - 52.08

Strong cold North-West hits the face and makes me gasp as I struggle over an open field. It gets easier when we go down the Vire river valley and follow on through hedged chemins (lanes)

Strange, dogs also seem to be out of breath for a while and look more tired than usual.

How to tell when you are tired

6 March 2009

6 miles - 54:35 minutes

I am really tired today and drop five minutes against yesterday's run.

It's cold and sunny and I just can't miss a day like this. Nala, the female Golden has been pining to go for a run for days. I have been leaving her behind because she still looks weak after having puppies.

Today, I give in and take her with me, partly because runs with Nala are slower than with the other two dogs. Which is what I really want - a slow run, just to relax.

Trouble is, now, that I've done the run, I'm not sure if it was Nala who slowed me down or was it because of tiredness. Annoying.

Happiness is a good run

5 March 09

49:06 - 6 miles
Happiness is a good run made faster. Lopped off three minutes from yesterday's run.

Why?

Nothing new: same weather, same shoes, same pair of dogs, same 6 hours of sleep, same glass of wine with supper, same number of cigarettes, only one day difference in my age.

So, what's happened?

Running is a wonderful stress buster - when you're feeling down, just stop everything and go for a trot. You'll feel better.

But it works the other way round too. Something good happened in your life - and you run better.

We've just had a helpful grant approved for our publishing company to develop a new project. The approval was largely based on the good impression produced by our first guide that only this morning came from the printers. For the past few weeks we worked flat out to finish it in time for presentation at the grants committee meeting. And did it!

So, my spirits were high when I set out to do the usual 6 mile circuit. And even though it felt like my normal pace, when I looked at the stopwatch it was, in fact, three minutes faster.

Listen to Happiness is a warm gun by John Lennon here

Couldn't find Ray Conniff's Happiness is different things to different people anywhere.
Can anyone help?

Dambusters theme is here
and Ghostbusters theme here

How to recycle dogs

6 miles - 50.03 min.

I found a small bird's nest in the garden. It must have been blown off the tree by the wind, or my cats had found it and disposed of the eggs.

The texture of the nest looked strangely familiar. I looked at it more closely - and what do you think it was made of? Beautiful blond hair with bits of moss. I never had a dog when I was a child, but I know that in families with dogs they often brushed hair out to make their own home-spun yarn out of which beautiful warm jumpers were made.

Now I see birds can recycle dogs too. My dogs. They love rolling over on the grass under the apple trees - and the birds must have picked up the hair left there.

Beating General Petraeus

1 July

6 miles - 47,36 min.
Wonderful cool day, night showers cleared the air of dust and pollen. Me, my Golden Blond and Freckled Beauty pound a fast and happy 6 mile circuit today.

General Petraeus, the commander of American forces in Iraq, recently ran a 10 mile race in 64 minutes according to the interview published in the Sunday Times this week. Petraeus is known to be a passionate runner. He often challenges younger officers for a 5 mile dash. Even in Iraq, the Sunday Times article says, he runs 4 times a week.

But 10 miles in 64 minutes is simply incredible! His time for 6 miles at this pace would have been 38,4 minutes. He is 56, I am 51, my time for today (with dogs) is ten minutes slower. My all time best for 6 miles is 39 minutes (without dogs). I can't beat Petraeus.

At his 10 mile pace Petraeus would have done a marathon in 2 hours 46 minutes. I've looked up this year London Marathon results for 55-59 age group. Only one man was faster at 2:45 and the second best was 2:47.

I have grave doubts about Iraq, but firm belief in runners.

Long-legged beauty with freckles

5 June 08 - 6 miles - 47.58 min

We have recently adopted an English Setter, Leroy, abandoned by his owner and left on a chain for weeks. Leroy is quite big for his breed, a three-colour setter with large head and lots of light brown freckles. He is a handsome long-legged dog with loads of energy and beautiful soft stride. I have started taking him on runs with one of my blond retrievers and leaving the second behind. The blonds can only just keep up with Leroy.

On my usual 6 mile circuit I regularly improve by more than 5 minutes when I take him. And he doesn't even pant when we are back.