Running this weekend was never going to be great - if great means long distances, fast speeds and PBs. But I have been looking forward to it for a while because it was going to add another place to my ever-growing list of "places I have run". The main purpose was a gin-tasting evening, staying overnight in a boutique hotel with 3 other like-minded couples. All in Kufstein, Austria, in the Alps.
Now I've walked in the Alps and stayed overnight in hotels in the Alps but I've never run there. But since I've been bitten by the running bug I LOVE running in new places and I was just as excited about going away for the weekend with good friends as I was at the thought of running up steep hills.
The gin-tasting was great, there were 811 to choose from! And I wasn't really at my fittest this morning, but the woodland tracks were calling and at 8am I was off over the cobbled streets of the Old Town, steadily climbing, past the Town Hall, quaint little hotels, huge great mansions (we've decided we're going to buy one and all live there together when we retire), up towards the forests and steep paths that mark the beginning of the mountains. Then I was off the road onto a narrow path past a waterfall, climbing up on steps and tree roots, crossing over mountain streams on wooden bridges, always going up. Where it was really steep I walked. The sun wasn't out but it was still very warm, I was sweating now. A few mountain bikers were also out - how they manage I don't know! - but mostly I had the place to myself. It was all well sign-posted though, there was little risk of getting lost. Dark gloomy trees were everywhere, and again the crystal-clear stream, sometimes babbling on my left and then my right. The track was now quite wide and used by the foresters, there were the occasional stacks of logs piled up on the side. Up ahead I saw a truck parked in a clearing and my imagination started to get the better of me. Here was I a lonely female, half way up a mountain and miles (well probably about 2k) from home. What if there was a mad Austrian rapist / axe murderer / kidnapper / robber / insert nasty male of choice in that truck? Then the horse-flies started to buzz around me and that decided me - back home. I'd been out for about 25 mins and now it was downhill all the way. Lovely! I was flying and feeling great - the horse-flies were left standing (probably hovering). I took a different way back, trusting to my instincts and sense of direction, loving being in a new area and looking at new things (they have a fantastic exercise park on the edge of town). A dog barked at me and was called off by his owner "You scared him" he called "because you're running so fast!". He was taking the piss, but he made me laugh. And now I was back in town, near the hotel, where by chance I zoomed past 2 of our group heading out. They were suitably impressed and were able to do my bragging for me later. I ran past the hotel and trotted along next to the River Inn for a while before calling it a day and heading in for my well-earned breakfast.
A run in a new place is such a great way to start the day!
( Irishprincess has first dibs on axe murderers by the way!) Horse flies, horrid, the man and the dog... I bet you were going that fast!!!
Severn Bridge 10k - long post warning ⚠️ 
Update
GOG on tour (and back, *sigh* )
Tourist Run in Manchester 
Paris
