After a day spent power washing our drive (and generally clearing up the mess that I created by doing this) I didn’t really feel much like a run. However, I didn’t run last week so I managed to find the motivation to get out there anyway.
I’d managed to catch the sun a little on the back of my neck, so whilst I ran in the same direction as the last couple of runs, I decided to keep to the shade. The light through the trees was beautiful and I actually managed to get disorientated in the wood such that I ran along one path for five minutes before I recognised where I was… I really enjoy that feeling of seeing something with fresh eyes, not to mention the delightful ‘aha’ moment when you realise you know where you are.
At one point I tripped magnificently and went flying. I’m still unsure exactly how I landed (I wasn’t certain at the time either)… I had mud on my hands and back, so I can only guess that I let go of my phone and water bottle, tucked and rolled. The whole thing would have been quite funny for anyone watching, though there was sadly no-one there to see.
Later I took to the road to avoid a section of path that I thought might be thick with stinging nettles. As I rounded the corner so I found some medics treating a cyclist who had slid off his bike on the gravel, so I stopped to slow the traffic down until an ambulance was on it’s way and one of his fellow cyclists relieved me. The man being treated had blood right across his face and must have been in quite some pain with gravel burns, though I know from personal experience how much the head bleeds from even a minor cut. I hope that he views the experience as life-affirming and is soon back on his bike!
You can see my run on Strava at https://www.strava.com/activities/320200150 – 6.8 miles in 64 minutes, average 6.38 mph.
