I had a beautiful run today. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the paths have defrosted and were much nicer to run on. I headed down the hill in my warm up walk, got to the park gate and headed off...first on the proper sandy track past the rugby pitches, then through a woody patch running alongside allotments on one side and a river the other. I saw a heron and what I am going to believe was a water vole and not a rat (!). The vole dived into the water as soon as it heard me, but the heron just stared for a second then went back to watching the river very intently. At this time of year, the allotments are mostly under black plastic, although someone has a beautiful bay tree in theirs- it pokes through the fence so I always brush it as I go past to get the scent.
Then a jog once round a small formal garden bit, before heading back towards home. Laura told me I'd finished, so I looked at the mapping gizmo-I only had 100 metres left to a full 5k! So I ran on with the phone in my hand counting down with a big silly grin on my face (my granny would have told me off for not looking where i was going). Fortunately I didn't fall over ...and I ran 5k in 31minutes and twenty seconds. Amazing!
So..I'm off to get my graduate badge, going to join the wild party in the graduate pavilion, and then get ready for park run....
Thanks to everyone on here. The positivity and warmth leaps off the screen, and has been so helpful. I wouldn't have got this far if I hadn't been able to read about other people's struggles and triumphs, so thank you all!