May the 4th be with you

[Charliecat5]

May is a month to chalk up to experience… 

Stupidity led to forced recuperation for a couple of weeks, and in that couple of weeks I have lost form.  Add to this mix a nasty bout of hay fever (although this morning it felt more than just hay fever) and what was meant to have been an enjoyable jaunt with Billy Goat Gruff this morning turned out being a full-on slog trying to keep up with the big man.

I knew as I laboured up Sweder’s hill to meet him at Jill’s pond that things were not going to plan.  Half way up my lungs were shredded… by the top, oxygen was simply not getting to the places it was meant to be.  We joked that we should take a quick selfie and head back home for a coffee… but neither of us being the sensible types, we pushed on.

I have lost count of the times I have run to Blackcap… but today’s 3.5 miles were the hardest I have ever done.  No springiness in the legs, breathing was difficult and for the first time in a long time I had to follow his arse to the top.

Still… we had a few miles of gentle downhill ahead of us, so having downed a gel and slurped some water, I managed to stand up again and we headed west to the South Downs Way.  Sadly I only managed half a mile before a bout of dizziness set in.  We walked a while and then decided to explore a new track, which hopefully would provide a shortened route home from the planned expedition.  

I like to think I know the Downs around Lewes pretty well, but this morning we discovered a fantastic new route though dappled woodland, flower strewn meadows and a hill so steep that our noses where only inches from the ground.  I will be back.

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful, we found the track home we were looking for and through a combination of slow running and walking we made it home.  8.5 miles and a juxtaposition of suffering and loveliness. 

It wasn’t happening this morning, but I enjoyed being out there; and without these kind of runs… we cannot enjoy the goods ones quite as much in all their glory.