We woke to a beautiful day and sat in bed looking out at blue sky and sunshine. I wanted to run, we ran with Jo yesterday which was lovely but the next time we can meet for a run is Sunday after work, that feels too long away and I don’t want to just run when Jo does, she went twice on her own last week when I couldn’t.
Willow didn’t want to run today so I got ready and went out the door. Most played on Prime music in my ears and Coach Bennet talking over the music, I’d chosen 40 minutes nike run. one and a half kilometres along the road and my ear buds ran out of charge so it was just me and my shadow! 😀
I was heading north and there she was plodding along in front of me, gently going up and up til I took a right turn and wondered where I’d go, as I ran east I glanced at my shadow and thought about the run, it’s slow, it’s comfortable, it’s warm, shall I turn next right? that’ll be about 40 minutes and not quite 5k, nah I’ll run to the end of this road then turn right.
Now I’m moving south and my shadow is behind me, every so often she pokes me in the back to make sure I’m still awake and keep moving, it’s ages since I’ve run this long without walk breaks.
And OH here I am, on the seafront, more questions, turn right, shall I cross the road? or just keep going? crossing the road entails waiting for the lights to go red, oh they are red, quick and over I go, across the green and along the path now going west with my shadow to the right of me. I take my phone out, snap a quick pic and run on but now I need to cross the road again, ooo a break in the traffic and I go for it, but it’s widened here and four lanes, I see cars coming thank goodness I can speed up, phew, safe and on I go, once more travelling north following my shadow home, 5k passed, shall I walk home? nah, even though by now I could walk faster I keep plodding on, and 6k so walk the last few minutes. I’ve said hello to many people on the way round, I’ve looked into many front gardens, nearly popped into a charity shop to ask if they need books, and I ran every step apart from the briefest pause to snap a photo
Thank you to everyone here who’s encouraged me over two and a half years to get to this place where I can just go out and run, could I have gone further? yes but not today, have a good day all x
Written by
SueAppleRun
Graduate10
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Sometimes it’s annoying when the earphones run out of juice, but not so bad if the sun’s shining! Last time, it made me think of solar powered earphones, maybe run by a solar panel on my hat. 😁
Sola powered earphones would be good, I could do with a hat to shade the sun a bit but it’s so lovely out there and who cares if i can’t see much at times as long as i keep going
I was enjoying a 2nd outing in my Max Cushioned new kicks - which, amazingly, smell of marzipan. Can't remember when I ever had such nice smelling shoes. 🤣
You are very kind to your shadow taking her for a nice long run. I have been a taking mine out running after dark recently. She hides and then pops up when I go past the lamp posts!
24th April 2019 I joined and wrote my first post, yes time does fly although i think last year passed in a haze of fear and best forgotten, I see people start the programme then 6 months later are running 10k or HM and so fast but hey, still running here and that’s what counts, I like the idea of running with Jo once or twice a week and if only once running the second one with Willow then going out on my own about once a week and running for longer, time rather than planned distance though
So, running every day now are we Sola?! That was a lovely description of your run, you must be feeling so proud of how far you’ve come in the last couple of years, don’t stop now! London Marathon next year?!
A HM when I retire maybe but want to work a bit longer, could retire in January, I don’t often run every day but after being unwell I wanted to have a longer run, Willie likes 20 minutes two or three times a week and Jo is happy now to run 20 minutes at a time but I like to run further and will all the time i can even if very slow
Hi well done you and your shadow on your run. I do t think I Would see mine at 6.15 am walk/jog shadow will still sleeping 😴 and too dark. Another great post from you Sola very descriptive.😊
Well done, that's a great run over a good distance. All your runs with Jo are obviously paying off as you seemed to be running with ease on this lovely run. I won't be surprised to hear that you run further in due course as I also sensed your enjoyment of just being out there. Best wishes ☺️
Thank you, I really love the long runs but Willow likes a shorter outing, Jo is getting stronger and she is much faster I have to put effort in and love it
Thank you for this beautiful post. I saw the title in my news feed this morning. It caught my eye as we have just said sad goodbyes to our lovely dog.I wasn't looking forward to venturing out, running on familiar roads and lanes, when I knew she would never walk them again.
However, your post cheered me up and as I ran this morning I was aware of my own shadow and also of being shadowed by my little 4 legged buddy.
"May the road rise up to meet you
May the sun always be on your back..."
Thank you
(Ps I have seen your run on strava now - well done 👏👏) R x
Oh thank you so much and sorry to hear your sad news about your dog, I think about my dogs as i run all running over the rainbow bridge for many years now but happy memories linger
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
