After a really fun but quite intense week at work, I have pretty much collapsed this weekend. However, I was up at six this morning and sitting in a chilly tea-house by half past planning for next week. In stark contrast to last weekend, I did not want to run and this was reinforced by how incredibly clunky I felt when I finally did jog off down the road.
It had been raining and I was not in the mood for mud, so a plan formed to run round a few pavements and go back. I was soon enticed off down a little path however and ended up running on the paths that frame the south-west ring road.
For a small town set in beautiful scenery, there are fewer paths than I would ideally like. It’s easy to follow paths from Ockley Lane (and all points to the east of the town) to Malthouse Lane, but then it all goes wrong. There is no way for a runner to safely get from there to Isaacs Lane, other than coming in to town or going for miles out into the country in a most convoluted way. It’s a double shame, as the Triangle Leisure Centre is in the middle of this section, which means that more people drive to it than is absolutely necessary. Just one more mile of pathways here would make it possible to circumnavigate the town and encourage a much more outdoorsey culture.
I did not have the energy for the alternatives, so I ran along the verge on the ring-road, dodging onto the road where necessary to avoid the low signage. At Isaacs Lane I cut through the industrial Estate, behind the football club and across to Valebridge Road, going round behind Steve & Maria’s place. I then took a detour to run past my old house, looking in amazement at the overgrown garden, before running home up Junction Lane.
My one hour 12 minute, 6.5mph run had only been 7.8 miles, but I was worn out as if I had run twice that distance. Still, at least the sun was out, a real bonus on a day that was forecast to be gloomy. Unless of course you were running the Seaford half marathon and wishing it were a little cooler! Hey ho, can’t please everyone!
Have a great week everyone peops!