UpTheStanley and I are on a little break in the New Forest again to celebrate our wedding anniversary and yesterday we decided to go for a long run. As breakfast would be over by the time we got back we brought trays back to our room for later.
The weather has been very changeable over the last week with a mixture of sunshine, showers and thunderstorms with lots of localised flooding, so we didn’t know what was in store for us, but the forecast was better in the morning than in the afternoon.
We walked from the hotel to the common land and then set off on a route which would take us near to where the New Forest Marathon is held each September . Unknowingly, but appropriately, we had both packed our NFM shirts which are a very bright green. We ran past the village allotments until we came to one of the many gravel footpaths and kept on running. There were lots of muddy puddles to negotiate and I know it’s daft but I tend to run round them or leap over them rather than splash through and soak my legs with muddy water. We were very glad we had trail shoes on, but UTS still managed to fall and cut his thumb on a stone as he landed. He rinsed it with some water and I had a packet of tissues in my belt so we wrapped one around his thumb and continued on. New Forest ponies were grazing in groups and not at all fazed by us running along.
We then headed into the bluebell woods, and the heady scent wafted through the air. Celandines, speedwell, dandelions and violets were all in flower and the deciduous trees were in fresh leaf, the colour of our shirts. The paths were soft with leaf mould and easy on the legs and moss covered the lower trunks of the old trees like emerald velvet.
The birds were singing high above us and we could hear the tapping of a woodpecker in the distance. Groups of ponies were hidden in the trees, and we came across cyclists and walkers, all exchanging friendly greetings. Then a couple asked us if we had seen the deer. Apparently we had run right past them in the woods. We came across a couple of dead ends where the tracks turned into camping and caravan sites so turned and took another route, knowing just the general direction we were heading for. It was very wet in some patches when we took a path through the trees and decided to walk that as we navigated our way over the streams. stepping on wobbly well placed logs. We ran past a patch of dead trees in a flood meadow. It looked really eerie - perhaps the remains of a forest fire a long time ago.
We then emerged from the forest back on common land on the other side of our village. Here we spotted Shetland (I think) ponies like they’d stepped out of a Thelwell picture, alongside their local pals. We stopped when we reached the village and had a well deserved coffee. It was just over 10km in 1hr 25 mins, which reflected the photo stops and ditch hopping.
What a lovely start to our day and hopefully it cancelled out some of the calories we were to consume that evening. As I write this, we are sitting on the patio in the early evening sunshine, having just had full body massages. This must be be what heaven is like.
Happy running everyone.
Today's Run, Bought To You by the Phonics P, B,M
A more gentle Club run
Bring back the frost! 
Hello sunshine ☀️ and a Jeffing run to the top of the hill
