On such a bright and sunny January the first, it was easy to get out and get running and I quickly found myself on the way to the Downs. It wasn’t exactly an early morning run however… it was midday before I emerged, mainly because I was hoping the temperature might rise a little from its sub-zero start.
I ran out towards Oldlands Mill on a very muddy track, taking a left before I reached the mill to drop down into the north end of Ditchling. This meant that I could run down the high street with its pretty shops and cottages, before taking the Beacon road & track.
Each of my runs seems to represent an ordeal to be overcome and I was happy that I was able to push on up the steep Beacon track with little problem. I didn’t feel particularly on form however, as I remember trying to work out what was painful… I was happy that it was not my legs, nor my lungs.
It was a joy to be on the top of the Beacon on such a beautiful day and I took these pictures to share the view with you.
Deciding which way to go back was difficult as all ways were appealing and I chose to run along the top to Jack & Jill, where a glider slid gracefully past overhead, before I turned northward. It was cold enough on the top that I had to put my second beanie hat back on and drag it down over my ears and the temperature didn’t exactly rise as I dropped out of the sun!
I descended the steeper of the two paths into Clayton and ran through the Eastern end of the village and north towards Halfway (on the map). Here I stopped to read the path closure notice and it was as if my energy, till then finely balanced for the estimated return distance, suddenly started to evaporate. My new route took me through Butcher’s Wood, inadvertently via someone’s woodland-like back garden… if you are the owner, please accept my apologies.
At the one-hour forty mark, having run through Hassocks and onto the path at the north of the village my energy-meter suddenly hit zero and I found myself walking. I realised that the elusive but pervasive pain was from my lower back so I allowed myself to walk for about ten minutes until I got to the the bottom of the lane to Oldlands Mill, eating out my entire small emergency stock of Jelly Babies as I went. Whilst I really hate having to walk on a run and also really beat myself up about being so weak-willed, I know that I must have been feeling pretty pained to have resorted to it.
After my ten minute walk I was well chilled (and I don’t mean laid-back!) and I forced myself to start running again when I reached the lane to the Mill and then took the muddy track towards home, pausing only for a minute or so when I painfully twisted my ankle. Despite this I still managed to run all the way home.
I had covered 12.4 miles in two hours 18 minutes… a pretty slow 5.4mph… and I arrived home like the walking dead, but it was good to have a tough start to the year and I seemed to recover fairly quickly which is a good sign.
It really felt like a Sunday yesterday… but it has just dawned on me that it’s actually Sunday tomorrow and that I’ll have to get out and do it all again! Now I feel tired!
