Today’s run was a joyous affirmation of the sensory delights of being alive and experiencing at first hand the richness of the Devon landscape, that I am lucky enough to live in. After an overnight torrent of rainfall, I opted for a largely lane based route to avoid the inevitable sticky mud that evolves remarkably quickly down on the popular, off road, riverside “home” 5k round, which has featured in most of my running over the years.
As I headed out, dark, rain bearing cloud scudded rapidly eastward revealing a crystal blue sky and a warm sun, which was a relief on the first morning of cooler Autumn air that I have experienced this year. Low in the blue, its light glanced through the towering limbs of a leviathan roadside beech as I gazed upward in awe at this monstrous form……….the largest and most majestic life form that I will witness today.
The wheat fields are now golden stubble and the dead, antler like prongs protruding from the still green crown of a hedgerow oak bear testimony to the fact that it has been encroached upon too tightly by cycles of ploughing, planting, spraying and harvesting……...but still it fights on for survival.
The gentle autumnal chatter of the songbirds, preparing for a coming winter, will be replaced, come the Spring, with the incessant chorus that fills the air with the urgent rejoicing of their drive to perpetuate their own cycles of life.
It was deliberately a gentle run, to preserve my gently ebbing energy reserves and I was repaid a thousandfold with glorious views across the valley landscape that I am so familiar with, through all the seasons, which I could drink in, rather than just glimpse, had I been pushing hard. I had a chuckle to myself when, on a downhill section, I felt a very slight twinge from my left knee and realised that my precautionary knee brace was on my right leg……...the wrong leg. No disasters ensued.
Nearing the end of the run, an ominous grey, blue bank of cloud filled the Western sky and a bejewelled rainbow arced spectacularly across it. The sycamore leaves rustled in the lifting breeze and a mist of drizzle fell lazily through the sunlight, then became cooling spots of rain as it intensified.
The other reward for my gentle pace was that after I completed the planned 5k, I managed to continue just a couple of hundred metres up quite a steep hill and stopped running at the landmark of the welcoming bench by the side of the path……..the furthest I have managed up this hill this year and a small personal victory.
I could have gone to the gym this morning and ran 5k on a machine in the testosterone laden air and the tasteful lighting, with numbers and stats to occupy my brain and the ultimate satisfaction of just surviving, what to me is, mind numbing monotony. Treadmills are great if they satisfy you, but would I exchange my run in the glorious green countryside for the gym alternative?……...no, not in a million years.
Feeling at one with nature, with no tech, no music to distract me from its glory, allowing all my senses to be filled to the brim with the wonderful world that we are all a part of, warm sun on my back, wind in my hair, rain running down my shoulder blades, is why I run and why I will continue to run .............for as long as I possibly can.
Keep running keep smiling.
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IannodaTruffe
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Such a beautiful photo & descriptions! I have been to Devon with friends and can confirm that it is indeed breathtaking and in some places surprisingly tropical! I think treadmill running maybe why I don’t look forward to each run as yet so I’m looking forward to being brave enough to run outside! The benefits sound amazing!
That's exactly how I feel about treadmill running IannodaTruffe . I hugely admire those who have the determination to do their running that way, but it's absolutely not for me.
Great post - the outdoors remind us to be ever present in the moment and thankful for the body (however old, worn weary or abused) that struggles so faithfully to transport us through the world. ☺️
What a super run report lannodaTruffe, one of those special rainbow runs, which make the heart sing. Your perfect description of the wheat stubble brings us all to the edge of that field too, watching you glide along...Thank you for sharing this with us, a reminder to enjoy the nature around us and the joy of being able to run through the ever changing landscape.
My appreciation of the environment within just a couple of miles of my home, through all the seasons has grown exponentially since I started running.
So many of the worlds' ills are because such a large proportion of our populations are engrossed in screens rather than observing, respecting and understanding the wonderful planet that we live on.
The trees are still remarkably green and the first frosts will see them begin to shed their leaves........but then they present us their magnificent sculptured frameworks to wonder at.
Just yes!This is a huge part if why I fell in love with running, through the woods and across the fields I'm fortunate enough to have right on my doorstep.
I'm not able to run at the moment, and getting increasingly grouchy as a result but your post has given me a warm glow inside to know that you felt today all of those things that make every run special.
Ain't that da truffe!🤣 Just been to the gym and did a treadmill run, it is incredibly dull! I use it as a last resort just to get the Kms in so if I've missed a days run il catch up on a night when I go to the gym to train.
Treadmills are not for me, but I appreciate that for some it is a better option than no run at all.
That said, I think so many people who struggle with running could do with focussing on a natural outdoor environment and becoming part of it............rather than dwelling on time, distance or pace.
Running should be fun in its own right, not a means to an end......... in my opinion.
Agreed, anyone who thinks running is hard or dull should certainly try slowing down and run somewhere with at least a bit of natural beauty (even us townies have parks 🤣) an early morning run, seeing the sun rise above the trees, is good for the soul 👌🏻
A glorious photo, and a glorious description. I’m glad your knee was ok! How wonderful to see the autumn, and you’re right, you won’t see that in a gym. 😊
I have to make a confession about the photo...........it was taken last week, about two miles from where I ran and in the afternoon..............
...........I am sure with the tech you can probably have a video playing in the gym of a run through autumnal New England on a forest trail............but it is not the same.
I used to do the stair climber and one thing I quite enjoyed was a virtual trail around Panama City! And another was a zoo in Puerto Rico with some snoozing sloths. But they never differed, unlike our own local landscapes with real air and real nature. Can’t beat it 😊.
I was thinking afterwards about your post too and it is often while driving along our country lanes I get the motivation to get out again..... often I'll drive somewhere, think "I want to run this" and I do. Great nature motivation. (It is currently pouring which is less motivating!!)
As much a poem as an enthralling run report - just lovely to read. When setbacks due to illness or loss takes much from us, a greaterr appreciation of life and our beautiful planet often comes to us, as if to balance the score. Running is a great way of connecting with that heightened sensitivity to all that is around us and as you say, nothing whatsoever to do with images on screens and tech, just there for the taking.
That is profound and oh so true. My circumstances have made me reappraise my place in the universe and come to terms with my own mortality, which certainly heightens appreciation of all that is so wonderful in this world.............conversely, it also increases my exasperation with the careless, sometimes cynical, approach that our politicians take to the survival of future generations..........so I need to go for another run, just to calm down.
Thank you for that, I took advice from here last week to not get uptight about time, distance or speed and just go with the flow, turn off the app and listen to the outside World. It made a huge difference to my run in terms of enjoyment, I slowed down and appreciated my surroundings and reminded myself of the great pleasure that it is to be able to run, even at my speed (slow) 😂Your descriptive writing is beautiful, I am sat at work reading it (shh)and my breathing has slowed so thank you, nature is very healing
We can rush through life and miss the beauty around us, or we can pause, observe and appreciate the wonders of our world........it would be a shame to miss it.
I needed to write something personal, beyond the fact based FAQs that are my staple, and express that joy of running that has in no way diminished, despite my diminished performance........... perhaps it is because of that diminished performance.
There is no harm in tracking a run, but on that run I have no idea what my pace was nor the duration. I am very familiar with that route so knew exactly when I had covered 5k. I was intentionally slow and knowing just how slow would not have added anything useful to the experience.
So agree with you about the gym, and treadmill, i went out on tue evening, 5k, and was soaked within minutes, but to be outside, has to be done, while we still can! 👏👏👏😀
Being stuck indoors will probably come to all of us eventually, but by exercising in the fresh air, while we can, we can help push that date back as much as possible...............and enjoy the joys of the big outdoors.
Well done Ian. It is indeed a special gift. Thanks for your encouragement with my own running journey. Over the summer I did one of my favourite runs here in Hertfordshire. Running along one field in the sun I stopped to listen to skylarks singing from high above. Just me, empty countryside and some skylarks. Truly special. Take care now! John
Yes, John, I gave myself permission to stop earlier this year, while picking my way through some brash that had been cut out of the hedgerow and I watched a wren hopping through the debris about three feet from me for at least two delightful and magical minutes.
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