Standing in a stream in your pants

Only about 15 miles, but lots of quality short sharp sessions. Using the gym has been a reasonable change, given the weather and wanting something different while my foot sorted it self out has worked quite well.

Foot appears to be on the mend, but taking it slowly.

Monday : warn up plus 20 minutes hard on stair climber. 1st time in Gym for a year or so, so some orientation required. Session cut short by need to pick up kids from school

Tuesday : Bike ride. Leg burner near Nant-y-Arian as fast as possible. Most out of breath I have ever been expect for ramp tests with Coach Jon.

Wednesday : 35 minutes hard on stair climber

Thursday : 35 minutes hard on stair climber plus 3K on tread mill to see if foot has recovered enough to run on

Friday : 4 miles easy local run

Saturday : 8 rough miles in hills north east of Aberystwyth. Blowing a gale on tops and very wet. Just under 2 hours out, lots of hill and some very rough ground. 1st real outing and foot was OK apart from a slight niggle.

Sunday : small boy birthday party and then some travel, so won't have a chance to write up, but expect to get some hill reps in late afternoon.

So not the week I would have wanted, but lots of useful training. Foot still has a niggle, but it is OK to keep running on it and I am going to gradually increase the miles. I think I learned this week that either a gym or bike once or twice a week is really useful. I had been struggling to run more than 5 days a week, but maybe a hour bike or gym cross training when the weather is crap would be a useful addition.

I have started using cold water to aid recovery after longer runs. Most of the places I run are quite remote, so you just find a stream, take your leg cover off and stand in a stream until you can't stand in it any more. The more remote parts of mid Wales the chances of someone passing as slim. So after the run on Saturday, post run, I wondered down to a stream by a bridge, took my tracksters off and waded into a stream. After a minute or so a Land Rover appears out of the forestry and stops on the bridge next to where I am stood in the stream. The old boy winds down his window

• Farmer : are you all right boy
• Clive : yes fine thanks, horrible day
• Farmer : What you doing standing in the stream in your pants, boy?
• Clive : It helps your legs recover after a long run, helps the micro-fibers repair more quickly.
• Farmer : You local then?
• Clive : Yes, 2 valleys over
• Farmer : I thought it was only people from away who stood in a river in their pants in winter

I came out of the stream, put my tracksters back on and we had a short chat about the farm I used to work on as a kid. Any farmer in North Ceredigion older than 55 knew or knew of (now late) Gatty Lewis who ran a agricultural machinery dealer in Aberystywth until about 1975 (unsure of this, must ask brother to be sure). He also ran a farm which I spend my formative years working on and he was a Dyfed County Counciler, including a term as chairman. There are 2 responses from hill farmers when you mention his name, either a change in the tone of voice to relative warmth or a slightly sheepish. The latter may be explained by a conversation I once had with Gatty about the difficulties of debt collecting from hill farmers who would run out of their farm yard into the hills when they saw him coming. In the end he hired 2 debt collectors from south London who he said looked like gangsters, even if they were more legitimate and they collected the full debt from every farm they visited. He did mention he had far fewer problems with bad debt after that, I guess the thought of a return visit by the Cray brother clones was not that attractive. I suspect either the sheepish farmer or his father had a visit from Ron and Ron.