Like much of the UK we've had a lot of rain, wind etc this last week so the paths where I run have been getting very muddy and slippery. When I ran on Friday it was one of those runs where it felt like hard work, constantly jumping from side to side to avoid puddles and mire. There has been rain since then so I wasn't altogether optimistic this morning.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny, with a brisk westerly wind. We set off to do 3k as usual along the familiar route through fields, then cross over a concrete farm road to head towards the sea wall and home.
I'd promised myself I'd do a longer run this week and when we got to this point the prospect of getting off the mud and onto a solid surface was very appealing. My husband only wanted to do what we planned so he carried on and I turned left.
No headphones with me today, it always feels antisocial when I'm not alone, so, as there was nobody around for miles now I put on a BBC Sounds drum and bass mix. My youngest, who knows about these things, reckons it's a very well curated playlist and it certainly gave me the energy to set off at a decent pace, finally, after all the dodging from grassy spot to grassy spot.
The concrete ended and the surface changed to loose tar. It's been forever since I ran here, it's great, not too hard and pretty even. The puddles were few and easy to avoid.
At the end of this bit the path peters out onto open fields. If I turned right it would lead me to the seawall, a total distance back to home of around 6k which was very appealing as conditions were perfect. The downside was that this path is just earth along the side of the field, quite narrow and not particularly good even when dry, so I turned back. This was when the westerly wind hit me full force. I wondered if it would slow me down but checking my stats afterwards the effect here was minimal, probably because underfoot it was even.
Eventually I reached the turning back to the sea wall. I was hoping that if I ran below it rather than on top of it I'd be shielded from the wind but that didn't really work. It was OK though, I was just enjoying being out in the autumn sunshine. When I eventually climbed up to the path at the top the river was very choppy. If you had a sailboat you'd be blown to the Continent in no time!
By the time I finished I'd run a little over 5.5km, my longest run since March. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy a longer run when I'm in the right mood. With the 3ks I've been running over the summer it's as though I'm just getting over the toxic 10 and into my rhythm when I stop. Note to self: run further 
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
