Saturday today and I haven't run since Monday, the weather has just been so very uninviting. I don't mind running in the rain if it starts when I'm already out and running, and I can just about tolerate setting off in gentle drizzle if it looks like it won't get worse, but heavy rain and a temperature in low single figures, forget it.
Well, today was still chilly, my phone told me 0C, but the sun was out. I half heartedly suggested a run, knowing we had a lot to do, fingers sort of crossed that the answer would be no...but it wasn't. Instead, a short run before our chores. Off we went, for 3km along the coastal path.
There was a very chilly easterly wind and for the first half of the run it was on our faces. I'd put on a merino thermal top instead of my usual rather chilly nylon Nike one, plus a running jumper and a hat too. I debated gloves but decided I could do without. I didn't miss them but appreciated the extra warmth (it must have been cold, I usually take the jumper off less than a km in!)
The path has chalk cliffs on one side and the sea on the other, with a waist high sea wall. It's a good, flat surface, except today there were so many stones along the way! Their sizes ranged from small pebbles to fist shaped rocks. This was in addition to all the chalk fragments that had fallen from the cliff. We realised that the sea must have carried them there when the waves broke over the wall. Terrifying, those chunks could seriously damage you! Now I understand why there are the signs warning not to go there in bad weather.
We turned at the halfway point and for the return leg the wind was at our back, much nicer. Most of the other runners we saw were friendly too, lots of 'hellos' and 'good mornings'
I wasn't deliberately running fast but my pace was a bit quicker than when I do 5k. Maybe the interval runs are helping or perhaps I wanted to get back and have my breakfast.
This was one of those runs where I was glad I'd made the effort