Mr R and I went down to Devon this weekend to visit his sister who has recently moved to Brixham, and what a beautiful part of the country this is. We hadn’t seen her for a while and on arriving I realised it was going to be a “messy night” when she opened the fridge to make a cuppa and it was filled with bottles of wine and champagne.
Fortunately, before we go started, we went for a stroll and she pointed out where I might want to go for a run sometime over the weekend.
True to past form, and as predicted, the evening was rather alcohol fuelled, and included a few tearful reminiscences as well. And somehow, before we knew it it was 3am, much much later than my normal bed time, and I staggered to bed very doubtful that I would even be able to get up in the morning, let alone run.
But at 7am, as the sunshine streamed through the window, through my eyelids and pierced my brain, I woke up. There was no chance of getting back to sleep, despite feeling pretty grim. Mr R was deep in slumber and snoring loudly, so there was nothing for it but to escape.
I de-furred my teeth, dragged on my capris and vest, and was soon ready to go.
I walked down to the harbour and was greeted by the sound of over enthusiastic seagulls tucking into some scraps for their breakfast. I thought my head might explode with the sound, so I quickly plugged my earphone in and selected a 1990s playlist and started to run.
The uphill path took me through a shaded woodland, and before long I emerged onto the cliff heading towards some of the most beautiful coastline of Berry Head. My fuzzy head dissipated and I just wanted to run and run.
I turned around at 6km only because I thought it would be antisocial to leave Mr R and his sister waiting around for me for too long to have breakfast. And by the time I got back they were both up and looking a little jaded, while I was energised and ready for the day. I was pretty happy with my 12km too in the hour and 15 minutes including several stops to open and close gates, stumble over styles and taking photos.