A Sunday Morning Run

[CBDB]

My weather app had told me that Sunday morning would be a sunny and cold day, perfect for me and Mr CBDB to go on one of our run-walks. I run in my nico nico slow & joggle kind of way and he strides in his handsome, rugged speedy kind of way. (Yes, “reader, I married him” ❤️😉)

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I should note that he’s the original runner in the family. A former cross country, middle distance runner, with past HM time of 1hr16min, he has been haunted by various injury couch stints related to old injuries and finally resolved to simply keep walking rather than running until his calf muscles healed again. So during my past year of learning how to run, after years of feeling my limits were a 3k walk and him running 3 times/wk, I became the runner of the family. This is a thing which I find still hilariously funny, as he also really looks the part of a runner, and I really don’t. Not yet anyway.

So we have started to run-walk. I run and he walks, and it’s perfect in speed for both of us. Actually, it’s a tad slow for him. (When we used to still play tennis, he used to also play me left-handed at times, to give me a chance. He is a right hander, but even playing with his left, I lost. Every time. And I’m not that bad!)

So we set off this morning, enticed by a new route I had mapped out, passing fairytale sounding places called Swallowmoor Wood, Stone Cliff Wood, and Slum Wood.

I had had to do some mud-managing jeffing, but it was magical to find completely new public footpath-based routes that, although they were close to enterprise zones or housing estates, they were also remote, wild, natural and secreted away paths, left to their own natural state.

So of the magical 6.5k we covered, I may have run 5k, the rest navigating muddy paths, uneven fields or uneven steps.

But it was another magical exploration of an area that I had not known to possess these naturalised, hidden away magical paths.

So a perfect Sunday morning run-walk. To top it off, back at home I finally managed to open a package that had arrived the day before, and my 10k Festival of Running Medal emerged.

I am wearing it as I write, a completely different kind of medal, all wood, but beautifully laser-carved, representing my first 10k last week.

Another beautiful day made even more special by another Sunday morning run! (Now on to some family boardgames, another enjoyable activity for a happy Sunday)

Happy running, everyone!

[dijep Graduate10]

Lovely long post. It's great how running gets us out discovering new places that are literally on our doorsteps.I love the image of you two out together run / walking. 😊

The Runderwear medal is rather good isn't it mine arrived as well.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to dijep]

😊 Happy medal Sunday, it seems! 👍🏽🏅🌳

[GailXrunning]

Loved that. +A whole new take on the run-walk method!😉

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to GailXrunning]

Stereo-Jeffing, or Synchronous Jeffing? 🤣🤣

[GailXrunning in reply to CBDB]

😂🤣 ... or even Shadow Jeffing?

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to GailXrunning]

😂😂👏

[Cantstopmenow Graduate10]

A lovely way to spend the morning 😀

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Cantstopmenow]

👍🏽Indeed! 😃

[Littleoyellow Graduate10]

It was a beautiful day for a run, and you made the most of it CBDB! That new route you pioneered will dry up a bit as spring turns to summer and you'll enjoy it without the slip sliding 😁

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Littleoyellow]

😂😃 Indeed. 👍🏽

[Hidden]

Smashing report CBDB! Great read and I had to chuckle at you run and Mr CBDB walks🤣. You have a good system going there......for the moment after all eventually you will suddenly on day sprint away and he will still be walking! 🤣🤣. Lovely looking 🏅😀x

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

🤣🤣 I wish 🤔😴💭. I’ve got a lifetime of running (his) to catch up on, but am looking forward to this journey!

[LottieMW Ambassador]

Sounds like you both had a lovely time this morning.

It’s great to find new routes...a surprising benefit of lockdown, making us explore our local areas more!

Nice bling too! 🥇

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to LottieMW]

🙏👍🏽🏃🏽‍♀️

[Hidden]

Nice bli- eh wood! No bling, but it looks fantastic!

Also sounds great to have someone with you to run and handy that you both run / walk at the same pace (or almost). I wish I had someone like that around. I do like running alone, mostly because I am slow and most people are faster than me and I don't want to risk going too fast for my own good trying to keep up with someone. But in a situation like yours, that 's just perfect!

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean, worrying about holding someone else back (or pushing yourself too far). It took us around a year to make it work. Not perfect yet, but getting there. Of course the moment he’s off the injury couch, I’ll have no chance to catch up. 🤣🤣

But I couldn’t do this with anyone else. I had been asked to run with someone else on one of the breaks between lockdowns and I spent a few nights panicking until I had the courage to say that I’m not ready for that yet.

So my running confidence, probably as every newbie runner, is still quite fragile. And, I also love running alone to music, and/or the chatter of stories through my ears.

So Yey, for us slow solo runners!