I went along to the barn this morning at 8am to run with the Lostock lot but nobody was there (I later found out that they had gone racing somewhere). I wasn't intending to do the full route with them anyway so didn't mind that I was on my own and I set off in the beautiful, albeit it very cold, sunshine, heading towards White Coppice.
The weather was very deceptive this morning as it looked so nice and warm but the wind made it pretty chilly. I had got all the way over to Watermans Cottage before I removed my long sleeved top and even after that, there were points when I felt a bit of a chill. The route I had intended to take was along past Yarrow and Anglezarke into White Coppice and then back via Healey Nab but as I ran back out of White Coppice I was on autopilot and found myself running back through Anglezarke woods. By the time I had realised that I didn't want to go this way, I couldn't be bothered turning back around and so continued on my merry way. When I got through the woods and was on the path by the side of the reservoir a little terrier came running up yapping at me. Piece of advice for runners who aren't dog people - if you stop running the dog will stop chasing you. Once you're stopped, you're boring to them and they lose interest (obviously there are some rare exclusions to this rule). The owners did say to me that he always chases runners and cyclists which did make me wonder why they had him off a lead in a country park on a sunny day when there were quite a few runners and cyclists around, even at 9am. Though I haven't really got room to comment on that seeing as I had Ruby off her lead the other morning at 5.45am and she attacked my friend Clare's dog which I didn't notice until it was too late. By the time I got over to her she already had a chunk of fur hanging out of her mouth. I had been playing ball with her in the field and when Ruby has her ball she's not at all interested in other dogs however it was when we were walking the 100 metres back to the house that she saw Clare's dog, Rivy, and because I was no longer throwing the ball for her, attacking a dog seemed like more fun for her. I really do need to stop trusting her and just accept the fact that she's a menace!
Anyway, after the terrier had got bored of me, I carried on with my run. I was pretty pleased so far as I had been pushing myself a bit more than I usually do when I'm on my own and if it wasn't for all the kissing gates and the stopping for the dog I would have got a decent pace on the go. When I neared the barn, I realised that I wouldn't manage my goal distance for the day of 8.5 miles so I had to take a little detour into the woods to add a bit extra on.
Even though it had been hard work getting out of bed early enough to be at the barn for 8am, it was lovely getting home for 9.30 and having the rest of day to relax in my beautifully tidy house before Duncan comes home from his trip tomorrow and wrecks the place!
Total distance - 8.5 miles
No comments:
Post a Comment