I knew from the moment I woke up that yesterday was going to be chaotic. I had dropped off to sleep the previous night with only one thing on my mind; tomorrow was going to be a long slow run day. Even before breakfast it became clear that the world had plans of its own for me. Mrs BC needed a lift into town to go to the eyelash parlour, parcel to collect from the post office, dog treats needed topping up and then Molly needed to go to the beach to fit in her walk before the tide came in. Lots of e.mails followed, people wanting information or advice, follow up phone calls required ...and so the morning slipped by. Then the pantry and fridge were bare; should we go out for lunch or go food shopping says Mrs BC. Barely discernible to the unattuned ear, but "go out for lunch" was definitely said with more enthusiasm than "go food shopping" ...so more time passed! When we returned more e.mails appeared....so it was 6pm before I started my pre run hot water bottle treatment on my knee. I was finally ready to go at about 6.30pm!Then I realised that the warmth of the day had suddenly gone, so I needed to find a warmer top, a rummage in the running drawer followed, and finally I set off, only to discover that asthma had decided to appear, so I had to return home for a spot of inhaling!!! It was starting took a bit gloomy; the sun was just a red disc dropping towards the horizon; did I need a headlamp?....no of course not, it's still summer isn't it? So off I went on my warm up walk to my starting point in the woods and I finally began running at 18.49.
If you can remember that far back, I was hoping for a long slow run before all of this faffage kicked in!!So off I went at a steady 7:06 average. I saw a few runners finishing their runs and the odd dog walker early on, but after that I was very much alone. The soft glow of evening descended into moonless gloom pretty quickly, as the sun dropped over the horizon/behind the hills. For much of the route trees create a tunnel over the trail, so it is quite a dark trail at the best of times. Night descended! I am perfectly relaxed in the woods at night. It throws up interesting surprises. At one point I saw the black outline of a largish creature on the path ahead of me; puma? lynx?........only in very fertile imagination. It was probably a fox or badger. Owls were hooting, bats were flying over the path, but Count Dracula was absent; probably having his own issues trying to get out of the house! It was one of those days.
By the time my watch said 11k I could just about see the ground beneath my feet and I started my cool down walk by the meagre light of my phone torch.
Still time for one bit of drama; what appeared to be a Dalek approaching rapidly from behind turned out to be just a cyclist wearing a head torch; somebody almost as mad as me! But, it was a good run. A good step back towards 10 miles, in fact only a Park Run short of target, and all completed with an average heart rate of 133 bpm. V02 max gave me back the point it deducted following my Monday hill run and my knee felt fine. So, I may even get to post again on the Marathon Running and Race Support site soon. I think I need to renegotiate my conditions of service, and I certainly need to dig out that head torch!!🙂 Happy running folks.
Its a lovely day
May The 4th Be With You....Jedi Academy Rebel Fun Run😎
