Another run today...again, since Graduation ( I love saying that), just for the joy of it.
A beautiful morning this morning although the sky was only just beginning to lighten. So mild and unseasonable, with only the slightest chill in the breeze, I set out for the lanes. So many thoughts in my head this morning...
Having read a few Couch to 5K posts before leaving, my mind was filled with the bravery and calm determination of some of our running friends who are currently going through sad times. Their confidence in sharing their feelings and taking comfort from, ostensibly, total strangers is humbling, In the times we find ourselves living in, it heartens me to think how many kind and caring individuals are still around.
With all these things churning in my head, I started to run an old favourite route from a few weeks ago.
Down the hill and along by the station. the lights twinkling outside the hairdressers and someone, even at this early hour, being cut and blow-dried! Not going into the village this morning, I decided to turn up the lane towards the fields. A few early morning high school students made their way along the road in front of me... crossing over the level crossing, a van driver shouted " Happy Christmas" and the children laughed, at the prospect of a shorter school day and the holiday to come.
Up past Rookery Wood...not a sound this morning, up past the leaning wall and for the first time in many weeks... turning towards the field. The track was dry, surprisingly, pitted with potholes, filled with soggy brown leaves. The sky now, tinged and streaked with pinks and purples... a winter sun beginning to brighten the sky with the clear purity so peculiar to this time of the year.
I am finding that my pace is becoming very steady now and has got a little faster. I seem to be running with more of an easy style...on reaching the edge of the field.. I could see it was still very muddy, so turned and retraced my steps back to the lane and onwards and upwards!
The trees are nearly all bare now, the last of any Autumn leaves stripped off by the wind and rain at the weekend.. twigs and the weathered branches stretch out across the lane.. the hawthorn hedges, intermingled with holly and rose hip... the glossy green leaves of the holly bejewelled with bright red berries, as yet uneaten by the birds, who still think winter has not yet come.
Running is so uplifting, I felt my spirits lighten as I made my way around the further village square and turned back for home. I am trying to improve my running style and am finding, slowly, that it is all starting to feel 'right'. Up shovel hill and round by the Bridle path... bright sunshine now, the birds chittering and chiding in the under hedge...the sheep...bundled in their winter wool, some clearly, heavy with what will be the early Spring lambs... I was just running for the sheer joy of it. I was reminded of the children I used to teach, and how at playtime, they would just run up and down the yard, time after time, after time.
They ran, and they laughed.. it made them happy.. and this morning I understood it!
Back down the lane... the rooks awake now and flapping and fussing in their tall towers...across the level crossing and back up the hill to home. A gentle walk- warm-down, with my heart lighter; grateful that I have my loved ones, close and safe, and that I have the health and strength to be out there, taking advantage of every precious moment.
Couch to 5K is about so much more than just running.
🏃Virtual 5K Run 2 -- A Tale Of Two Hills🏃
