Category: Short run

I awoke to yet another glorious day, though the passing of the autumn equinox means that the nights and early mornings are starting to get demonstrably colder.  I sat in the teahouse contemplating to the sound of the waterfall while I supped my quadspresso, then got out into the warming day for a run.

I had a clear sense of my route for a change, with one particular path through the woods in mind.

Compared to last week’s lack of energy, today I felt invigorated as I trotted off merrily down the road… it’s October and I’m still wearing shorts and t-shirt.  It was lovely to see evidence of good land stewardship on the fringes of Ditchling Common, neglected for years.  It must have involved considerable hard work (WELL DONE to whoever undertook it!) and it suggests that locals will be able to make use of a huge additional area that was previously impenetrable scrub.

I ran out to the fringes of Wivelsfield and along through West Wood on the path I had been thinking about.  It was a simple pleasure.  At the far end of the wood is a nice sharp hill and then I ran on along Hundred Acre Lane and back across farmland to Ditchling Common.

With the stile at the end of Janes Lane now negotiable (I’ve always thought it odd that it was there at all, given that there was no way through the sharp & matted stuff on the other side) it seemed rude not to use it and I ran through the newly cleared area with a smile on my face.

Then it was back to base with energy to spare.

According to Strava, the 6.8 mile run was completed in under 62 minutes, which I think is the fastest I’ve run this particular loop to date.  At an average of 6.58 mph, it was only marginally slower than my run with the Bok at the beginning of August!

It was a beautiful day, so I drove down to my folks place, ran the lawnmower around the garden and then ran down to the sea.

But first I met lovely new neighbours who, out of a world of choice (they moved from Shanghai) had chosen this place to bring up their child.  I reflected on this as I ran.

I knew before I had even reached the ridge path that I was low on energy compared to normal… it was tough going even three minutes into the run!  But the views were glorious.

I ran down to the bottom of the Ovingdean valley and then along the Undercliff Walk to Rottingdean.  Exhausted, with only the downhill and level bit completed, I then had to fight hard to make my way back up the hills without stopping.

As I ran back up the ridge path an unusual thought occurred to me, prompted by my conversation with the new neighbours.  I’ve seen lots of beautiful villages, towns and cities in this country and around the world, but as places to come from (I was actually born in my parents house), this really is a rather lovely one.

According to Strava my 5.9 mile run took me 1 hour, the slowest time to date… though bizarrely the fastest time is only 2.5 minutes less.

Of course, when I got back home later, the first thing I did was not to sit & recover, but rather to get the lawnmower out and cut the grass and the green… doing my bit to keep the area lovely for those people who come from (or simply live) here.

It was a flat grey morning and I decided it would be a good day to drop in on my folks and run from there.  Sunny days are lovely on the coast, but there’s something about a grey sky and flat water that really appeals to me.

I ran down the ridge path from Woodingdean to Ovingdean and then down to the valley floor and out to the seafront.  At the top of the steps to the Undercliff Walk there’s a real vantage point, so I paused momentarily to take in the view.

Then I went down the stairs and along to Rottingdean, pausing to take photos each time something caught my eye.

From Rottingdean I headed back to Ovingdean past the windmill.

And then, having got all the really steep climbs out of the way (and got a hearty ‘Well Done!’ from a lady who lives on the steepest section), I took the ridge path back to Woodingdean.

Despite the grey, it was a really lovely run and warm enough to be comfortable in t-shirt & shorts.  According to Strava, I completed 5.9 miles in 58 minutes, an average of 6.1 mph.  I’ve run this same route four times now with Strava since January and there is surprisingly little difference in the times… 30 seconds faster, 3 seconds faster and 69 seconds slower.

Big man Daren and I had agreed to meet at Jack & Jill windmills this morning for a run and it’s fair to say that the weather was very kind to us indeed!  It was a glorious day, with a slight mist making the place look nicely atmospheric and (since I’d forgotten my sunnies) usefully taking the edge off the bright sun.

Our runs together are infrequent enough that we tend to run the same route each time… but it’s a good one!  From Jack & Jill it drops down into Pyecombe ahead of a long slog up to the top of Wolstonbury, with it’s amazing views.

Then there’s a big downhill to Clayton that has a steep vertical kink (a bank that is almost too steep to run up) in the middle… today this left me gasping for air!  Towards the bottom end of this path is a section that is notoriously muddy, even in summer, but not today… workmen had laid a new section of path which we ran down, despite it not yet being officially open.

The mist provided us with a nice view of the Windmills on the hill from Clayton Rec.

The route then takes us along Underhill Lane to the bottom of a section we call the Tank Tracks… the path goes directly up the scarp slope to the top of Home Hill.  We have a rule that pausing is not permitted, so we have to run the whole way and I really suffered on this today!  We’re never speedy, but I note that on Strava this section took us 11.25, putting us way down the leaderboard compared to the ‘course record’ of 6.16!

At the top we did pause!

Then there’s a gentle run back down to the Windmills.  Our run was 6.4 miles and according to Strava, our running time was 71 minutes, giving an average of 5.4 mph… not bad considering the 1082 feet height gain and the fact that we were deep in conversation the whole way round, even on the steepest sections..

For all the challenges that we each face, I think it’s fair to say that (especially on a day like today) life is good!

I was not on great form this morning.  I’m still suffering from dull hearing and I absent-mindedly wondered if this was making me feel old, in the same way that psychologists can invoke people to walk more slowly by getting them to talk about the physical effects of ageing.  Either way I would have happily not run… especially as it was humid and the forecast was for rain.

I eyed the darkening sky as I supped my espresso and completed a work task and then, despite all of the above, got out for a run.

I’d not even got to the end of the road before it started to drizzle, but it was sufficiently humid that this was actually quite nice  Even so, I opted for a tree-covered route… and a short one to boot.

I took my old route out to Wivelsfield, stayed out of the deepening rain by sticking to paths going through West Wood and then came back along the Magical Path.  The sound of rain on leaves was really lovely and the flat light made it easier to see through the trees.

According to Strava I ran 5.8 miles in 57 minutes, an average of 6.1 mph… slow, but not as slow as it felt!  Though after my 58 second sprint last week, I covered the short end section in more sedate 96 seconds.

One of the benefits of feeling older is being able to confidently get mixed up about stuff.  For example, I’ve just realised that it’s less than 10 days to my 15th birthday, which is awesome… I can feel the spring in my step returning already!

Once again it has been two weeks since my last run.  This, combined with a warm day and a stiff shoulder/neck, made for a slow run, even by recent standards.

My legs might have been heavy, but I still managed to extend my run a little, rather than do the minimum.  I ran out to Wivelsfield and then continued to the far end of the wood where there’s a steeper track up to Hundred Acre Lane, which I then ran back along.   I cut through past Ditchling Common Industrial Estate and ran back along the main path, parallel to the Magical Path.

As I neared the edge of Burgess Hill, I turned left to run along the side of the Common to the pond and then back around onto the normal route home.  Sad to report that a new housing development reaches right down to the Common… the sad bit is not that there’s a development there, since change is inevitable, but because, based on the record to date, it will consist of another couple of hundred anonymous, accountant-designed shoe boxes.  What a missed opportunity by the planners and the myriad of council folk (Burgess Hill Town Council, Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council) to inspire the townsfolk and step into the 21st century!

On a much lighter note, we were privileged to host a Japanese official from Ashikita Board of Education the week before last.  Our esteemed guest Tatsuya was one of the adults looking after a delegation of students who were staying at South Downs Language School, organised by friends Nikki and Ian in Ditchling.  It was a really fun week and lovely to be part of such a small and meaningful initiative.

Todays run was 7 miles in 73 minutes, an average of 5.75 mph… you can see the route here on Strava.

I was sitting in the tea-house writing this, listening to the burble of water falling onto stones and enjoying the cool evening breeze.  However, something went awry and now I’m inside, nearer to the wi-fi connection and writing the post over from scratch.

This morning I was in a rare weekend mode, supping a quadspresso and deep into a very thought-provoking book on reinventing organisations.  Then I realised that it was Sunday and that I needed to go out for a run.  Such are good habits that it’s okay to skip your given task on occasion, provided it’s a good reason, but I’d done that for the last two weekends so skipping was not an option!

The good reason for missing two weekends was a short trip to the Amalfi coast in Italy, which was beautiful but way too hot to run!

With no reasons sufficient to miss a third week, I got on my gear and got out there.  It was a simple run, out to Wivelsfield, up through West Wood and along Hundred Acre Lane, then back via the Magical Path.

I wasn’t out to break any record, so I was running along, looking at the fields and the trees and, at a certain point in time, singing my latest song out loud.

Clearly, in retrospect, looking around and singing meant that my focus was not on the ground in front of me… one minute I was singing, the next on my hands & knees on the ground having tripped on a protruding root.

Nothing damaged, other than my pride (I would prefer to have tucked and rolled rather than landing in such a clumsy way), I dusted myself down and carried on, singing even louder to scare any other have-a-go roots away!

The run was 6.12 miles and according to Strava I completed it in one hour.

There, finished.  Though I’m not sure that writing it a second time improved it any!

The forecast for today (on BBC weather, yesterday) was overcast and 65 degrees max, so I was surprised by the far hotter and more humid morning that turned up (though, to be fair, the forecast was correct as I sit here now).

I opted for a short run through the woods and even then came back more physically and mentally exhausted than I expected… hence a rather short post!

According to my Strava record I completed 5.75 miles in just over 57 minutes… an average of just over 6 mph.