The Other Arf has volunteered our rescue puss to be a model for the RSPCA Christmas catalogue. This will apparently involve an official photographer, Christmas trinkets on our mantelpiece, Lily the cat... And an open fire. This is all happening tomorrow, on what will be one of the hottest days of the year so far when the temperature is predicted to go up to 24 degrees. Poor Lily will want to be outside chasing flies, not curled up on a hearth rug in front of a roaring fire, so to tempt her to stay put for more than a nano-second I thought I'd better go to the local petstore and stock up on cat nip and treats.
Across the road from the store there is a New Park, ie not the one my usual trots/Parkrun happens in. So I gave it a whirl and it was great! I ran there and ran around it- I've avoided it so far because it's hilly and a bit of a trek. But all the blossom was out and it's higher up and more open than My Usual Park. I just had tunes, no Garmin or mapping so I had no idea how far I'd gone, but I felt so good I just kept going. The hills were a piece of cake and my legs felt strong and it was only when I remembered about the pet shop that I thought I'd better stop and go and do some boring old chores. Catnip, check. Treats, check. Cooing over baby bunnies and hamsters, check.
Back home and with my usual post-run enormous cup of tea I got all old-fashioned and got out my old map of Brighton and Hove and some thread. I'd run for 18 inches! Which is the same as 4.5 miles, or just over 7km. That is the furthest I have ever run without stopping. No idea how long it took but I don't care. I reckon that with the MapmyRun lady telling me how I was doing I would have stopped earlier and found it harder as well. I might just carry on running by myself for a while!