Kim and I have had the pleasure of a full house over Christmas with the number of diners ranging from 3 to 10 and up to eight of us sleeping overnight… and occasionally during the day too.
Alas for me, Kim wasn’t one of them: she spent a wonderful Christmas with her family instead and I only got her back in time for the end of the year!
Suffice to say that between delightful guests, kitchen duties and the icy remnants of the snow, I didn’t really have the inclination to go out running.
On Saturday however, I decided to get out and force-feed my lungs with some fresh, New Year air. In answer to Cliff’s comment, I have only now got around to posting, as today is the first lull in visitation!
It was a comparatively mild day with a little light drizzle and I ran out past Oldlands Mill and Lodge Hill to Ditchling Beacon, returning via Sporting Cars of Brighton, East End Lane and Ditchling High Street.
At Ditchling Beacon I was, for a few minutes at least, the most elevated man in the area… although technically speaking I was standing about four feet above the ground on the top of the trig point.
As I neared the end of my run, the sky cleared to allow the sun to stream through, like a spring day and this was equally as uplifting.
I was only moseying along and taking in the surroundings and it took 53 minutes to get to the Beacon and a little less to get back once I had taken in the airy view. Overall I completed 10.2 miles in 1.47, 5.7mph.
And so 2011 began…
Have a great Gregorian year… and if, like me, you favour the older, Chinese calendar, then enjoy the last month of Tigerishness before the Year of the Rabbit begins on the 3rd February.