After the last couple of runs had stressed me out what with having to dodge people on narrow paths I decided to take back control of the situation. No-one was going to ruin my runs for me!
I went on to Google Maps - there is an option on there to measure distances - so I plotted a few new routes around my neighbourhood. I managed to plot a pavement course, leading to a park field, then pavement back home.
Goodbye lake, it was nice knowing you, but I need to see who is walking towards me!
So this morning, the sunrise was golden, there was frost and a chill in the air, my knee was complaining slightly from some heavy strength workouts yesterday but after a few minutes I had reached a comfortable pace; it was slower than usual but, slow and steady is the name of the game, especially with my iffy knee and the challenge of harder pavements (I usually run on mud!).
Only saw a few runners, who smiled too! What a joy to run the deserted streets. Even when Google Assistant managed to turn itself on again and mess with my music (I had even stuffed a blob of blu-tack in the microphone port in a vain attempt for it to not hear me!) I somehow got things working again but had to hold my phone for the whole run instead of hiding it in its pouch.
Back home for a hot shower, freshly ground coffee and home-schooling my kid!