After the exertions of last weekend, I spent a couple of days descending stairs sideways, one at a time and generally walking around like a 90-year old. I’d been looking forward to getting out running again today, but I guessed that, with a day of heavy drizzle yesterday and a night of torrential rain, all my favourite paths would be waterlogged. Whilst I love running in the mud in the winter, I’ve been enjoying dry feet for a few months now and sploshing didn’t really appeal today.
So I drove back to Jack & Jill, planning to see how I was feeling, but probably run to Blackcap, more or less, and back again. For some bizarre reason I was like a racehorse out of the gate and I found myself running hard all the way to the top of the first hill where last week’s tank tracks go off left. Then I slowed down… I think I had to!
It took me 17 minutes to Ditchling Beacon (I have made it in 15 before) and then I stopped to chat to a guy who was out walking with his young family. Part of the joy of running for me is the camaraderie of chatting to other people who are out enjoying the fresh air, runners or not. Paul Beadle turned out to be visiting from Dubai where he said the runs are pretty flat. And hot too, I guess. He’d certainly chosen a great day to walk on the Downs… windy with lots of clouds flitting around and taking the edge off an otherwise hot, sunny day.
I ran on towards Black-cap and there were loads of people out, enjoying themselves on bikes, in prams and like me, in trainers. The white section of the route, which a like a ground chalk path and reflects the sun, was spotted with big puddles and I was glad that I’d chosen the top to run on, as the Weald would have been a quagmire.
I’d not seen Mark Johnson for a while, but I often think of him when I’m running along the top here. I had thought that if I saw him before Blackcap, I’d turn round & run back with him. Bizarrely, there he was, just before Blackcap and right where I imagined he would be… probably because we had bumped into one another in the same place last October.
I’d only been out for 40 minutes, but I turned right around and we ran back together. It’s a real pleasure running with him as he keeps up a good pace… and a decent conversation! And since he too has entered the Brighton marathon, there’s a good chance that we’ll now do some (planned) training runs together over the winter months.
We reached the car-park at the 1 hour 20 mark (for me… he’d been out for 2 hours 40!) and I had run about 8.5 miles. This was not as far as I had intended, but still far enough to knock me out on the sofa for an hour this afternoon. Well, it is a lazy Sunday, after all!