Well that was a run and a half!!

[unfit]

On Monday I ran w8r2. It is a lovely circular route from my front door. I did the 5 min walk and then the fun started. I was running through a field used by young cows and that plus all the rain had turned the field into a mud bath, and I found myself literally ankle deep in mud and having not only to run but to jump from one grassy clump to another. After a few minutes I was in another field, no cows this time but crops, and the farmer, bless him, had decided that the footpath was not important and so this time I was running and jumping over tall crops that were hanging over the track. Finally a stretch of good dry track until I turned off into the small wooded area. Here the track was now a swamp and I found myself running with my feet about 2 feet apart, straddling a narrow muddy stream!! On I ploughed, with by now, black rather than white trainers, wet feet, and mud splashed up to my knees. at the end of the woody path is a small meadow, usually occupied by sheep but this year left empty, and therefore with the grass literally up to my shoulders. At this point I just had to walk for a few minutes as I hacked my way through the jungle. Then finally a proper track, wide and dry,and I was able to run again. This lead me back to the lane and a final downhill run back to my house. I ran for the 28 mins apart from the 2 mins in the jungle but the amount of energy I had used getting to that point made up for that, so I am counting it as w8r2 done!!

Yesterday , Wednesday, I did my normal route and it was all quite staightforward so w8 is now complete.

[RhonaL]

I think what you did was trail running!! Well doen for sticking in there ...on to the final week and graduation. Great!

[sfb350 Graduate]

Ooh, that sounds wonderful and I'm rather envious.

Well done !

[Grammadog1947 Graduate]

Wow! Fell running at it's max! Great job getting through that one!

[wilmacgh Graduate]

Much more interesting than a treadmill. Well done for sticking to it.

[Greg_M Graduate]

Aren't those runs brilliant?

[poulet Graduate]

Have you read the children's book 'We're going on a Bear Hunt'?! Sounds like it inspired that particular run... well done though - I still balk at the idear of hills!

[mandywes Graduate]

I had a similar encounter when I did W8R2 this morning. I went to go on one of my normal routes which entails running along the local river and canal, only when i got down to the area (having been running for 10 minutes to get there), the river had flooded with all the rain, so i couldn't get anywhere near the meadow or path that runs along the river and canal, so I took back to the streets, only I hadn't really thought about where I was running, and needless to say, my last 5 minutes of the run were mainly uphill, I even managed a bit of a faster pace to get up the hill, so like you unfit, I too say that's W8R2 done! Hopefully the rain will subside and the river too, so normal practice can be resumed on Sunday morning for the final run of W8!!

[unfit Graduate]

It was rather fun. Never used a treadmill, mainly because I'm too mean to join a gym when the great outdoors is free!! Cant believe I only have one week left to go. I shall really miss my weekly chats with Laura, yes I talk back to her, especially when she tells me I should be finding it easier now and to quicken my pace, and my legs are like jelly. think I shall just keep listening to week 9 even when I've finished. Can this be me, talking about graduating next week????

[pingle Graduate]

Great blog. I think you deserve a medal for keeping going in spite of everything nature could throw at you! You'll be out there in spikes in the snow like Oldgirl in a few months. Well done!