We ran, we flew, we trudged, our legs foamed, and we got wet, very wet.
Having MADE me do a ParkRun yesterday, it was my turn to MAKE HIM do some proper running today. This one we planned last weekend over beer, in a beautiful sunny pub garden.
I’ve always fancied doing Mount Caburn and Itford hill in reverse. Just to experience them in a downwards direction. It was a great theory… kinda forgot that we still have to run up them first.
Brilliantly, Out Along the River made a cameo appearance for the first 3 miles. His first run since March. He then peeled away to contour back home again leaving us CRAZIES to continue.
So the route… it started with a warm up from our respective places of residence to our meeting place, the bottom of Chapel Hill. A mile and half before we'd even started. Then up Chapel Hill into the Caburn Massif. Once we had cleared this, it was through Glynde, straight across the road and up the old tarmac road to the top of Itford Hill. From there we headed down Itford Hill to Southease and back along the river.
The highlights:
- Obviously climbing the hills… they are slowly, very slowly, getting quicker.
- Running down Itford Hill was one of the most magical running experiences I have ever had. With the rain pummelling our faces, we just took off, almost literally. With no heed to what might happen, I ran as fast as I could all the way to where the grass meets the chalky path.
- The goat discovering that his legs were foaming. It was very amusing until I discovered that mine were as well.
- The rain… I love running in the rain. Even when it hurts.
The tough bits:
- Running back along the river. The way the river meanders lulls you into a falsehood that it is only a couple of miles back into town, when the harsh reality is that it is a good 3 or 4.
- The last mile home was a real tough one. I looped thought the railway land and round the Priory, a) to add a little more distance, but b) to limit the amount of hard-top.
The weird bits:
- When we discussed this run last weekend, I estimated that it would be about 11.5 miles. Trying to follow MarathanDan’s advice, I thought it would be good to pull back following last week’s 14 miler. Bugger me… by the time I got home I had done 14.1 miles!
Today’s excursion was fantastic; great company, great running and occasionally, a great view!
My life, I realise suddenly, is July
