The evening run

We ran last night about 8pm.
The other half has been cycling during the week as a part commute and had already done 120 miles of that this week so his legs were a little tired but he still came along.

The river run

Our house is quite near the river so our road goes uphill to begin with ,then along the flat pavements beside a main road (usually quite trafficy) and then we can leave the road for a while ,go down alongside the river and plod along there.

People in their boats,peer out at us as they are eating their suppers. On one stretch of the river, is a restaurant boat, a sort of boxy wooden barge, so we have a larger audience just for a moment.

I can imagine the comments, they are typically, 'I used to run',or 'We should do that', or even 'If my back/leg/arm/head was okay,I would do that'.

It is raining, we are getting wet but it is cool too and refreshing.
We turn and come back the other way once we reach the curved footbridge that leads to the cinema.
The bridge gets slippery in the rain and there is no adjoining path along the other side of the river.
Once past the railway bridge that crosses the river,we rejoin the road and bumble uphill.
It is only a light uphill stretch but with the traffic alongside, it seems interminable.

A car honks its horn as it goes by ,making me jump. No one I know but I wave anyway.

Once I have passed the library and the turning down to my road, I continue alone for a little while.
My other half and our son have turned home wards.

A solo last half mile. 

The last part of the run is more hilly and I shuffle past some teens on their bikes.
None of them comment and I keep my eyes off them. If you make eye contact,they are likely to call out or even accompany you on their bikes. You have to become oblivious to them.

The hill flattens out and I pass the general store(we call it the 'top shop' because it is at the top of the hill).
It is closed now and the shutters are up.
Past the houses either side of it and after crossing the road that leads down into the council estate where you must be extra careful of cars with youthful and maybe not always sober drivers suddenly speeding up to beat you to the junction, past the next row of houses and the bus stop all surrounded by rose bushes. Then at the next turning,touch the lamp post and turn for home.

I always try to run to a landmark that I can see on Google maps so that I can estimate the length of the run. We used to time ourselves but I don't anymore as it becomes too obsessive..

This run is about 3.5 miles which seems quite short when I think of the long Sunday runs we did a few years back. We are happy with the length right now.


Other runs nearby

There are heaps of different ways we could go. Sometimes we turn away from the town and go towards the motorway, The run is hillier but the audience are fewer unless you count those in cars.
A lot of our area is on hills because of the river valley.

Our long run used to go from our house round in a big loop,cross the river entirely and right round to the other side of the town eventually where we would enjoy the down hilledness of the home straight. I think it was about 10 miles. Lovely on a light breezy day, miserable in the hot summer and freezing if you were caught in a downpour as it took so long to get back that your body started to lose heat more quickly than you could generate it.  The roads are not very well drained on long stretches and you have to stop running, edge up against the wall and walk until you pass the huge lake like puddles for fear of an unthinking driver causing a tidal wave .

We could drive to much prettier areas but taking the car out to go for a run seems like a fail.

Bike routes

About 10 years ago, we used to drive to the Sustrans cycle routes and bike along with the kids and a picnic. The routes are lovely and a lot of old abandoned railway is incorporated but they are such a palaver to get to. I especially like the crab and winkle way which goes to the seaside.

Our town has a route too. It is painted in red on the road. One stretch goes to the next town about 7 miles away and is nearly all uphill.  There are places where it is shared with the pedestrians and some where it is shared with bridle paths . We have never bothered to try it. The drivers here are uncaring of the safety of cyclists and quite likely to plough one down .  At least when running, you can use the pavements legally and avoid the madness of motorists with a grudge.