Well, there's no two ways about it, I had a very lovely run this evening. I knew where I wanted to go, or end up, it was just a question of which way. And at the end of the road I was still undecided. Straight over down past Chris's or left through the village. So I went right, and immediately knew I had made the right decision. Sun on my back, a shadow right in front of me. Lovely. The heat was a wonderful thing to feel, and served as a reminder for my new posture regime, shoulders and neck back, head up. No more Mr Slouchy for me...would you remind me of this please? I then dipped down onto the Bollin, crossed the road over the bridge and ran into my first of many obstacles. Cows. Inquisitive cows.
I'm not sure who frightened who first, but there was a bit of kerfuffle at one point until we all settled down and I could make my intention of passing a little more subtle, but the cows seemed keen to herd me into the river. I was strong! The next field brought the delightful sensation of your worst hay fever nightmares you could imagine. One of those machines that tosses up the long cut grass, shakes all the pollen out of it, and directs it right into your nose. I was a tad sneezy, I must say, but still, it's good to embrace the fresh country air as it's presented to you, so I took it like a man. Badly!
Must bring tissues next time as no end of snotting through each nostril did anything to arrest the tide of what was just like a river of water streaming out. Or a couple of corks, yes, corks, not tissues. Eventually, I made it to my vantage point and sat up on the fence to admire the view. No sooner had I made my self comfortable, then along comes Malcolm. Malcolm is organising the Wizard 5 Race which runs tomorrow evening, and he was out checking the course and reminding the farmers to lock their dogs up!
So there we were, two lone men, running around with quite different agenda, but each enjoying the beautiful sunny evening for what it was. My final climb took me through the slammy gate and out to where I sometimes park the car...on some kind of auto pilot. I then realised that in fact I had to run back, so down the road into Alderley, something I've not done in this direction for a while in daylight. I had time to contemplate the road sign...only 10% gradient, and then watch the look of the cyclists who were nearing the brow of the hill on their way up...and almost the brow of their physical limits. A tough climb that, heads nodding to each other, acknowledging the effort that each of us had made. A good run, good to be there in Spirit, and in Body.
Well, there's no two ways about it, I had a very lovely run this evening. I knew where I wanted to go, or end up, it was just a question of which way. And at the end of the road I was still undecided. Straight over down past Chris's or left through the village. So I went right, and immediately knew I had made the right decision. Sun on my back, a shadow right in front of me. Lovely. The heat was a wonderful thing to feel, and served as a reminder for my new posture regime, shoulders and neck back, head up. No more Mr Slouchy for me...would you remind me of this please? I then dipped down onto the Bollin, crossed the road over the bridge and ran into my first of many obstacles. Cows. Inquisitive cows. 
I'm not sure who frightened who first, but there was a bit of kerfuffle at one point until we all settled down and I could make my intention of passing a little more subtle, but the cows seemed keen to herd me into the river. I was strong! The next field brought the delightful sensation of your worst hay fever nightmares you could imagine. One of those machines that tosses up the long cut grass, shakes all the pollen out of it, and directs it right into your nose. I was a tad sneezy, I must say, but still, it's good to embrace the fresh country air as it's presented to you, so I took it like a man. Badly!
Must bring tissues next time as no end of snotting through each nostril did anything to arrest the tide of what was just like a river of water streaming out. Or a couple of corks, yes, corks, not tissues. Eventually, I made it to my vantage point and sat up on the fence to admire the view. No sooner had I made my self comfortable, then along comes Malcolm. Malcolm is organising the Wizard 5 Race which runs tomorrow evening, and he was out checking the course and reminding the farmers to lock their dogs up!
So there we were, two lone men, running around with quite different agenda, but each enjoying the beautiful sunny evening for what it was. My final climb took me through the slammy gate and out to where I sometimes park the car...on some kind of auto pilot. I then realised that in fact I had to run back, so down the road into Alderley, something I've not done in this direction for a while in daylight. I had time to contemplate the road sign...only 10% gradient, and then watch the look of the cyclists who were nearing the brow of the hill on their way up...and almost the brow of their physical limits. A tough climb that, heads nodding to each other, acknowledging the effort that each of us had made. A good run, good to be there in Spirit, and in Body. 