First up… no it’s not Sunday yet, don’t worry! But may I remind you that the clocks go back tonight… and for some reason, possibly inflation, they are due to change at 2am.
And it’s for this reason that I ran today rather than tomorrow… I was going to trim a hedge for some friends tomorrow afternoon, but they reminded me that, with the clocks changing, it would be dark by about 2pm so I’d better come earlier.
And it was lovely and sunny earlier so I got out and got going. Being a Saturday I thought I would run somewhere different, so I decided I would stick to the roads and started by running down to Wivelsfield Station.
Here I realised that I’d left my drink in the kitchen, but rather than return I carried on along Leylands Road, where the skies opened for about 5 minutes and soaked me through.
It was warm enough that I was wearing shorts, and my two top layers kept my body warmth in so I didn’t feel the need to unfurl my Gore jacket… yet!
Fortunately I had remembered the last of Cliff’s orange energy beads, so I rationed these out all the way round to keep at least some energy flowing in.
I turned left, South, onto London Road and followed this all the way through and out of Burgess Hill to Hassocks. As I nearer the Stone Pound crossroads, the heavens opened a second time, but with WAY more gusto! On went the jacket and just in time for a serious soaking… in fact I was forced to swim through the air for several minutes otherwise I would have been sunk.
Although I had pondered about running on and up to Jack and Jill, the shower persuaded me otherwise… I’ve run down that next section or road in heavy rain a couple of times before and it hasn’t left me with fond memories! So I turned left and ran through Hassocks, Keymer and Ditchling instead.
At the other side of Ditchling I turned left onto Spatham Lane, fully expecting the rain clouds to envelope me, but as it happens I managed to get away with it. It did provide a lovely background for some autumnal colour though.
Meanwhile, I capitalised on a large puddle.
From there it was an easy run back across the Common and down Folders Lane to the town again…. and to my patiently waiting energy drink!
An easy 10.95 miles in 1.38, 6.7mph. The sun is out again now and it’s still only the start of the weekend!