Sorry folks.... it has been a long time since I rambled... I simply had to 
Thick fog and a chill in the air... not the most auspicious beginning for my first solo park run... A real change from the first week, when my son in law ran with me, and last week when I ran in the company of several Bridge to 10K friends thanks to Flaraflarkin .
A slow drive, but arriving in time to see the fog slowly lifting... and just in time too, to locate the lovely lady who picked up Jay66UK 's glove last week..
I am, as many of you know, a solo runner... I have run on my own for over three years... but I have never run alone.... I have friends on the forums who have been with me from the start. Friends who are still here, still supporting me encouraging, cajoling, sympathising and inspiring...
I have those old friends, they know who they are, and I have new friends, recently made, friends, who are taking me forward to yet another level in my running.
But with my first HM coming up.. time to get used to people and running... so third Park Run this week... getting used to the folk and the flat.... I am improving on both counts!
Starting line and not too many folk... standing on the grassy sideline, I chatted with a young lady from London... folk around, chattering and laughing... that frisson of excitement, this morning, sharpened with the cold air... breath rising into the mist above us... The welcome chat,the instructions and notices, and we were ready. Determined to start slowly, I tucked in at the middle and we were away.
Within the first K.... the runners thin out... I was already, comfortable... slow and steady, and able to begin to look around... In three short weeks, the countryside is changing... those first tentative hints of Spring... the sound of the birds ; hidden choristers in the vaulted branches of the canopy above me.... out of the narrow tree lined pathway, and to the left, The Doxey Marshes stretch in silent, wetland wonder, away into the distance... No evidence at this time of the birds who inhabit its many hidden haunts. The sun, now finding a little strength, touching the pools and the mown walk-ways which navigate the floodplain of the River Sow.
I am running easily, breathing gently and the legs are clearly finding that they remember some of this run... trying to take my own advice, landing lightly, kissing the ground with my feet. Rounding my ankles, un-clenching my fists and relaxing as I run...I am enjoying this... moving on, and overtaking folk. I tuck in behind a chap and his daughter... she runs with the wonderful enviable joy of the young...long legs, like an excited foal... bounding and abandoned... Father reining back and keeping pace with his delighted child... The pace is steady... children move quickly, and it is enough for me until I am almost at the turning point.
Taking a deep breath now, the air is less like iced wine, and I turn to the,
“ Well done”, from the Marshall at this point... and I am, much sooner, than the last weeks, on the way back... The runners have spread out.. the speedy runners have all made it home in record time I know... and now I am one, on the return journey, passing folk still heading outwards.
The views this side, are so different, the backs of industrial buildings with sounds and scents to match... my feet echo on the pathway as I move onwards. Time now for some glute work.. courtesy of my lovely friend Bluebirdrunner ... I do find the 5K a difficult distance, as it is 6K before my legs start finding their truly happy pace..but I am improving.
My breathing is steady and even my feet are landing gently. I overtake several folk and I am on a stretch, with no one ahead of me...This is fun... the pathway is opening out again... the sunlight is pressing through the larger branches...of the winter trees... touching some burgeoning buds and gilding the tips of the twiggy fingers with a pale golden filigree. I can tell my pace has increased.
I determined this run ,not to look at my Garmin... I see the marker for the 4K and I pull in tighter, using my arms and my glutes to take me forward... the marshals on the final stretch encouraging, smiling...as I round the corner to the finish line... a final push for a sprint finish... plenty left in the tank... chipped and scanned and hardly out of breath ! No one more surprised than me.
So.... another run done... after my 12 K on Thursday... this was a welcome flat leg stretcher... and I am learning all the time. My friends, as ever, you all ran with me...and, aliboo70 , the waistcoat. keeps me so snug... and Sassy Sali snail sits in the car waiting for me... My beautiful snail brooch... Dexy5 ...pinned to my tee shirt along with Runningroni 's Team snail badge, thank you. I feel good.
Thanks everyone for keeping me running ...
Flossx
PS
I retrieved Jay's lost glove and wore it as I ran...
#Finish for Matt 
