Finding the joy?
Yes... Ramble time again... and here I am, doing the rambling, and what rambles I have had...Since my last, lost my way, post, thanks to the original wake up call from PeggySusi , I have been running regularly and I have been doing exactly what I intended.
It is interesting too, that over the last week or so, I have noticed in many posts, the word, joy, cropping up time and time again. I intended writing this report sooner, but was struggling to find a way to encompass all I wanted to share, in a run report! All the thoughts in my head, all the images floating before me and a title for my run, and then clicking onto a post written by our friend linda9389 on Fun Beyond...it seemed like Deja Vu!
So... after a day's full workout with a small, knowledge thirsty whirlwind... I re-titled my post and got it in order. So. here goes. I have been running, not far and certainly not fast, there is a regularity in my running, but each one has an added frisson of excitement, as I allow my feet to take me, to pause and to pursue that hidden joy.
My runs have been ones where time or distance had no place... I have run here and there, in drizzle and dry, at home and away, each run bringing my hidden friend within reach.
When I look at Strava... my Run headings tell their own story...beginning with;
* The one where CB went quiet...
* The one where the sun shone...
* The one where the wind took me...
* The one with Buttercups and bounce...
* The one with a twingle...
* The one where it wasn't raining...
* The one with a lovely little hill start...
* The one which I could...
* The one with serenity and sunshine...
The last run, taken in the depths of the glorious Shropshire countryside epitomises my current feelings about my running. If you can bear it, I shall ramble about that one.
Serenity and Sunshine.
******
After a few weeks of profitable, but hefty, garden re-vamp work, cycle store building, shed dismantling and greenhouse moving, Mr OF and I headed for the luxury of a cosy cottage, in a stunning location, to peace, quiet and a chance to recharge, refresh and relax.
The weather was unseasonably chilly, but the sun shone, not all the time, but most of the time, the mornings were bright and clear, dew-sparkled with sunshine-glimmer and the evenings, breathtaking, in hues of crimson and gold.
Setting out, on Sunday, for a final run before heading home, I woke to windows blurred with condensation, ( a Listed Building with no double glazing), but with the promise of a good day beyond. Running gear laid out ready... and after the normal cuppa, courtesy of Mr OF, morning yoga and stretches completed, I headed out, through the stable yard into, what had over the week become familiar territory.
Down the drive and onto the narrow, high hedge-bordered lane. Thick, lush verges, burgeoning with flowers of every kind. My feet light, breathing easy, my pace steady, as I turned up the short hill towards the Wrekin view. I did, over the week, name all the different photo points and , passing a huge copper beech tree, the gate appeared and I paused to take yet another photograph.
Making the brow of the hill with little effort, I continued. Past the long drives of the very few homes bordering the lane. Gardens full of huge trees and shrubs and beautiful stone houses , Sunday slumbering in the morning light. Turning and gently heading back down, I turn and run through the green cathedral corridor of huge branched oaks.
Out into the early sunshine and into the tapestry glory, which took my breath away in my first outing.
Endless fields, a sky that stretches from edge to edge...cotton wool clouds, sheep grazing in the far distance and... poppies... everywhere, poppies...a Monet in the making...
My senses are overpowering me. This is the third run I have had here, up the lane, down the lane but always making sure, I run along this beautiful trail through the fields. Each run brings new delight.
Steps are light, heart is lighter and my mind, free from any stressful thought. I am at one with the world and the world is at one with me.
The distance covered, matters not...the speed, matters not, the pace, not at all...the only thing that does, is, I am, moving, I am running, my legs taking me onwards and forward.
All too soon, the run must end, I come to the turning point and make my way back, past the poppies and the strangely evocative lawn-trimmed enclosure, where an memorial seat stands testimony, to a soul who remains, forever immortalised in such beauty... down past the trees, down the lane and turning into the drive, I take one final photograph, of an ancient stone wall. Clasped in the heavy, scented embrace of old fashioned roses... the darker rain clouds are moving in now, but nothing can dim my inner glow; the run is done.
For me, right now, this is what I want to do. Take the runs as my body tells me too.., some will be short as these were, some will be longer, I feel they are coming...and the joy?
Yes, the joy is here, the joy was here , right beside me... all I had to do, was to give myself the chance, the breathing space and of course, the time, to see it.
Thanks you for sharing my joy.
Oldfloss x
This run … for Annie x
The lines above...
Leisure.. by W. H. Davies
Mr OF's favourite poem.
First Official Running Event 🏅 
Years of Running Wasted...
