Kate and I set off this morning in glorious sunshine to celebrate Samhain, the feast of the dead, with a run through a sacred landscape. So many souls we both know have passed this year that it felt right to traverse this ages old route and commune with the ancestors. The actual drive there was beautiful, mellow, and the countryside around echoed to times beyond memory.
My chest is still bad and the route is undulating, so even these two short runs tired me, yet my pace seems to be improving. I think if I’d been completely well, I would have picked it up faster still.
The Ridgeway is undulating and rutted, muddy in places and studded with large stones, so we had to pick our way carefully. I was glad of my trail shoes. It was bitingly cold too, but sunny and bright and clear. You could see sharp detail for miles around. The trees were alight with green, gold and coppery orange, especially the beeches round the Neolithic stones and burial mound at the Smithy.
The place was peaceful today, very still yet vibrant with rising earth energies. If you walk along the top of the burial mound, you can feel yourself pass through some sort of unseen gateway. Everything looks the same, but it feels different. A special place, and today, on the eve of the ancient festival of Samhain, very healing.
The return run was tougher as the wind was against us and running the uphill sections was a struggle. I was pretty knackered by the time we got back to the car.
Then the drive back through more beautiful old villages. We ate a huge bowl of pasta then lit candles for our beloved dead (mostly cats in my case!)
That’s two runs recently off road across beautiful landscapes. So special. It’s returned me to my favourite kind of running - trails with lots of photo stops- after the months of hard training for Oxford half. I may be a bit rash running with a chest infection, but it’s been so healing in other ways.
WEEKLY CHAT 22-28 NOV ☕️🍰 Do you always run the same routes?
Beautiful 4K run at Shotover
Every run that makes you better is a victory