Wednesday 4 May 2022

The 58th Fellsman - Third Time Lucky!

 I haven't really mentioned it much as I didn't want to tempt fate and have it all go horribly wrong again. But I was up on the last two attempts as not only was I healthy and un-injured (mostly) I had also had time for breakfast and a poo before setting off!!


Ok, back up a bit. Get a cup of tea/coffee/GnT this is a long one...

Alan, Trudy and I set off after work on Friday to drive over to Threshfield ahead of the 58th Fellsman event. We got there in plenty of time and got our tents set up in a little strip of grass that had been made available (no indoor sleeping this year). We took our stuff to the school and got through kit check with no problems. I saw a couple of friends and exchanged hugs and nerves.
That very stressful thing down, we went back to the tents, it wasn't overly warm, but it was a fine evening and we sat around having tea and snacks before it was time for supper at the school after which we snuggled down in our tents for a very cold night. I didn't sleep very well at all, sharing a tent with Trudy. I was awake by 4am listening to the curlews whooping and gave up about 4:40am as I needed the loo. Other folk were starting to stir, so we got up and made brews etc. There was frost on our tents but it was lining up to be a glorious day.

We caught the bus at half 6 as planned, got our trackers, numbers and tallies all sorted, then it was a matter of the nervous wait for the start. I saw a couple more people I knew and we all wished each other luck.

Part of the Fellsman rules are long-leggings and long sleeves, it was by now already quite warm. Very soon after the start the route was littered with disrobing runners!

The three of us had set off together, our fourth friend, Gavin had got called away and never made it. However, before we had reached the summit of Ingleborough, Trudy was pulling away. Alan and I had suspected this would happen as she is faster and stronger than us, well, me at least. I did say to Alan he was to run on if I was too slow but he seemed happy to stay.

I have blogged about the route before, not a lot has changed! This year though, with the recent lack of rain, the course so far was very dry underfoot. Even the double stream/river crossing before Kingsdale was bone dry. It is normally at least half way up your shins!

We were a little disappointed to be presented with Tesco flapjack instead of the normal homemade stuff, but oh well.

On the vertical climb up Gargareth, I felt a bit queasy. I had tried to do the climb all in one go, but didn't quite make it. I decided to walk to the check point at the top to get my breath back before even thinking about running on. I caught Alan once more and we trotted along to Great Combe, keeping our feet completely dry the whole way - unheard of.

I took a poor line off Great Combe and lost sight of Alan for a while, he is much better at descending than I am but he waited for me at Dent as he was busy stuffing his face. I still felt queasy, but having a sit down for a little while with a cup of tea and a cheese and onion pasty helped a bit. We set off again on the long climb towards Blea Moor. We mostly walked this section as it was all uphill, not very steep, but enough of a climb to warrant walking. I was happy to spot the crucial turning point off the good track onto a little trod which took us to an enclosed area which leads up to Blea Moor itself. My good mood had been short lived after Dent and Alan was grumpy too. We declared the track shit, this bog was shit and Blea Moor in particular was shit as we trudged our way up rocky tussocks, over at least 3 false summits etc. We did see a couple of runners heading in completely the wrong direction, then realised it was Trudy plus one other! We shouted them back and pointed them in the right general direction.
Again, we took a poor line off Blea Moor but found our way down to the better path and wound our way down to the road which took us to Stonehouses.

It was clouding up now with the odd spot of rain. At Stonehouses, I forced some pasta into my reeling tummy. We put our rain coats on. I declared that while I wasn't giving up, I didn't have much running left in me and would probably walk most of the rest. Alan agreed this was fine with him and we stuck together. My feet were sore (the plantar fasciitis is still there) my legs were knackered and I still felt sick and was struggling to eat.

Anyway, pointless climb up to Great Knoutberry and back complete, followed by a relativly easy moor crossing to drop down to Redshaw. I only managed some soup here while Alan had a hotdog!
Up until now, I had been navigating from memory, but this is as far as I had got previously so I got my map out ready for the next section.

As soon as we left the checkpoint, I regretted not putting on another layer. The wind was getting up and the spots of rain were more persistent. It was easy going from though from here to the next checkpoint and then on to the Cam Road. After this though, the fog started to drop and it was getting cold. We turned on to the Pennine Way for a short while, another runner joined us for a little bit here. We counted wall ends, and at the fourth wall we needed to take a bearing across open ground to the next checkpoint. The runner in green said we had gone too far, another lady appeared out of the gloom and said we hadn't gone far enough. I stuck to my guns and we took a bearing straight up the boggy hillside into the fog and pouring rain. After only a short while, but intense climb, a shape loomed out of the clag - checkpoint! I was so chuffed as it's been ages since I worked off a bearing like that, especially in those conditions. Then it got suddenly got properly dark.
We attempted another bearing, but the ground was getting dangerously steep and we realised we had to contour around to find a better descent. While contouring, the lady from earlier emerged from above, moving in a very confident fashion so we followed her, having to move quite quickly over very rough terrain to keep up. Eventually, we reached a wall and then at last the road. We picked up another disorientated runner and 5 of us trotted into the big tent checkpoint at Fleetmoss.

It was now freezing cold, windy, thick fog and raining. I was shivering so much I had to hide it from the marshalls. Lots of people were dropping out. We had tea, biscuits and bean stew. I put on two more layers and a proper hat on top of my buff and fresh gloves. Re-arranged my maps. Alan was busy eating everything in sight, I still felt sick. He didn't look too chipper really, I asked if was ok to go on and I just got a little nod. I think if either of us had mentioned pulling out, the other would have followed suit without hesitation. It wasn't until I looked at the splits later did I realise how long we had spent here.

After saying 'Right' in an enthusiastic fashion several dozen times, we finally got ourselves organised to leave. At this point, the disorientated runner, Alan#2, asked if he could tag along with us as his running buddy had dropped out and he didn't fancy his chances on his own. We said that was fine.

The next section was a long descent on road to avoid the now out of bounds area of Fleetmoss. It was a bit dull, but we made good progress on tarmac and we warmed up a little as we lost elevation. Onto a very pleasant path along the Dales Way to Yockenthwaite at midnight. We got to a selfclip-checkpoint only to find the clipper not working. FFS. We spent far too long messing about with that, trying to make enough of a mark on our tally to prove we had been there. Eventually, I had a brain wave and just took some photo's of the dam thing! Brain fail. We carried on up a steep climb, back onto the boggy, foggy, cold windy, wet moor to try and find the checkpoint at Middle Tongue. We came across some runners coming from a random direction, who declared the check point was gone. This seemed highly unlikely and we continued hunting round in circles in the mire until we saw a red beacon flashing away in the dark. We yelled to the other runners we'd found the CP (probably saving them from a DQ) and got checked in. The marshal knew about the broken clipper and double clipped our tallies. Now for the bit I was dreading, crossing the wide open featureless area between this CP and the next at Hells Gap. My bearing didn't work so well here, and the ground was just awful. I wanted to go lower, both Alan's said higher. A combination of the GPX on Alan#1 phone and my compass got us (eventually) to the northern fence boundary and we then followed that for what felt like weeks up and down hags, jumping bogs, falling over etc until at last we reached the moor boundary itself and tipped out onto a nice wide track. Thank goodness. There was a CP a little way down and we got clipped in. Easy fast hike down to the road and another, bigger checkpoint. It was actually warm in here! There were people asleep on the floor wrapped in blankets. I forced down some soup, could have quite happily thrown it up, but managed not too. My final layer, my down jacket went on. Gloves had been toasted on the heater, so although they weren't dry they were warm for a little while. We just had two climbs left. We knew that the first Buckden Pike was very familiar and this was a big mental thing, back on familiar ground. Also, it meant we had broken the back of the thing and were looking towards the finish. Still, the short section from the CP to the main path was an unknown area and again, we didn't take the best route. It was a slow trudge on rough grass (I am sick of fucking tussocks!) before we reached the gravel path. Even though I have been here a dozen times, it looked strange in the dark. I led the way, my still churning stomach dictating the pace, until at about 5:30am with a tiny bit of light in the sky, we reached the wind swept summit of Buckden Pike. We gave the marshal a hearty "Good Morning!" and he clipped us in.

This is the first time I have run right through the night, we didn't get a sunrise as such, it just got a little less shit, but it still lifted our spirits no end! Now on familiar territory, heading towards home and soon we could turn our headtorches off, I took off at a speedy shuffle across the flags and onto the boggy path above Starbotton. We almost missed the turning in our haste, but didn't go too far, and contoured along a section we had recently reccied. It was still cold, wet and windy and foggy all at once but it was good knowing where we were. A good track; a pleasant run on fresh legs; took us down from the moor to the last 'big' CP. Alan#1 had a 20 second micro snooze while we had hot chocolate with bread and jam. Pretty much the first thing not to make me feel sick. My tummy now had woken up and I was worried about needing the bathroom. Bad, urgent, cramps came and went.

The final climb now stood before us. Alan#2 watch and phone had both died, I said it was ok as I had been this way loads and knew the route. Then promptly lead us to a dead end path. FFS. Cut across country and found the path. A stiff climb into the gloom ensued, I was worried I had gone wrong again as it just looked so different in the fog, until at last a large outcrop of rocks loomed out of the clag and I knew we were in the right place. The top was very wet underfoot and we pressed on until we could see the dark shape of a small tent right near the trig point on Great Whernside.

It is literally all downhill from here.

Another fast shuffle ensued, I knew there was a feint trod here and we found it. The downhill portion wasn't so clear and in the still thick fog we decided to stick to the fence line rather than cut the corner (on the day I reccied this section, it was bright and clear and quite dry underfoot so you could see your destination over in the distance making it fairly safe to cut across the open bog. Today, we cold barely see our own feet.) We over took two slower runners, carefully picking their way down, and in turn a solo runner bounded past us at speed. at last though, we reached the wall marking the boundary between moor and pasture and turned left along a good path. Another little tent in the gloom appeared and we got clipped in although the marshalls had obviously had a long night and were struggling to count to three...

We followed the wall still on another feint trod, down down onto a hard-packed track. Again, it looked so different to when I reccied it, we had to stop and check Alan#1 GPX a couple of times, but it all went ok. We wound our way to a green lane with the aid of some beacons and flags.

The green lane went on FOREVER. Legs completely mushed. Still slightly queasy with the occasional wave of gut cramps thrown in for good measure. We kept a slow but steady pace going.

Eventually, we reached the road and the very last CP. We decided to turn down the offer of tea and biscuits and press on for home. Just two miles to go.

As I have been streaking and most of the day's pace was very slow indeed, I had decided to try and run a mile here to make sure it counted for the streak. Both Alan's were up for this and we forced our legs into a slightly faster shuffle. It was possibly the longest mile of my life, besides the ones I did while ill with Covid-19.

Slightly annoying, but not all together surprising, Alan#2 carried on running after the mile was done and ended up beating us by several minutes. To be honest, he would have been faster without us, but completely lost as he lacked the navigational skills and seemed inexperienced in bog-crossings. I could get annoyed about it, but were the situation reversed, I hope someone would look after me.

After 26 hours and 38 minutes, Alan#1 and I crossed the threshold into the school and could finally call it done. Trudy was waiting for us along with her husband and Alan's wife who had come to take us home.

We had some food, finally I could eat! Yeah, thanks body, would have been more helpful 24 hours ago. Got showered and into clean dry warm clothes. Trudy's husband kindly dismantled our tents and gear while we did that and at last we could go home, job done.

Trudy had a good run to come in 80th in 20 hours 48 mins.

Alan and I were joint 126th in 26 hours 38 mins.

All my friends, including Flanker, that I had seen at the start had finished which I am really happy about. One even coming away with third Lady.

I had hoped for closer (even sub) 24 hours. While out on the course as I looked at my watch and saw that finish time slip away, I felt disappointed, but actually, I'm very pleased with what we achieved on a very rough night. Out of 204 on the start line, only 135 finished.

And, most importantly, I never ever have to do this again.

Sunday 9 May 2021

Foss Walk Adventure

 A while back, on a run with B through Oulston we spotted a finger post pointing the way along the Foss Walk. It had a cute little frog on it.

Later that same day, while scrolling through Strava I saw that one of my other running friends had been in Oulston that same day running the Foss Walk! It was like fate...

A little research told me that the Foss Walk was a 28 mile route following the River Foss (funnily enough) from York to Easngwold. Ideal for a mini-adventure. I put it to the gang and we started planning.

Unfortunately, despite it being a recognised route, there was no map or route description available, however there was a GPX downloadable from the LDWA website so A downloaded that to his phone for navigation and we were away.

LDWA: Foss Walk

The day we picked was Saturday 8th May and it soon rolled around. The forecast was pretty rubbish, but it's often wrong, right?

It was clear when we got on the train in Thirsk, drizzle on the way to York and chucking it down by the time we were rounding the city walls on our way to the river side start point.

Rather wet on the city walls at York!

Start line selfie - B, Me, T, R and A

I can't really tell you much about the actual route as I didn't know where we were 99% of the time! We followed the river side footpaths, through houses and pasture. We saw a kingfisher, a heron and lots of cattle. We passed under the York Ring road after a few miles.

York Ring Road


The rain just continued the whole time, varying in intensity but never actually stopping. It was also rather cold and occasionally the wind would whip up and chill us in our wet gear, quite miserable at times if I'm honest.

Keeping our spirits up! No idea where this was...

We had been promised cake at 28km (17.5 miles) and B had pre-arranged for his wife to collect him here. As the cake shop seemed further and further away, we began to wonder if it was real... At last though, 19 miles in, we turned off the route and down the road towards Stillington at the Pop-up Cafe at The Mill. Hurrah! Here we found tea/coffee and cake a plenty. We hogged the log burner for the best part of an hour, warming our bones and drying our gear while we ate lots of cake. They also brought out Flannigan the puppy for us to fuss, which he seemed quite happy about. As tempting as it was to stay here, we had to carry on as this was R's first ultra - but of course she needed to complete! Eventually, it time to push on, on legs that had seized up! Shuffle!

Pop up Cafe at Stillington


The rain eased a little in time, and we shed the extra layers we had put on at the cafe. We had a tangle with some horses this time instead of cows, flighty things. Eventually the rain stopped altogether and we were suddenly too warm in our rain coats! As the weather had improved, so had our spirits and we were noticeably more chatty than we had been in the freezing cold rain earlier in the day.

Smiling at Oulston Res.

Easingwold seemed even further away than the cafe, we couldn't even see houses in the distance. We rounded Millfield Park on the outskirts of the small town, we had long crossed the 28 mile mark. At last, the green lane we were on entered the town and we found the main market place! Hurrah!


Foss Walk completed! A, Me, T and R at Easingwold.

End of the route


We had rung ahead for our lifts and they were waiting just round the corner, we wasted no time jumping into nice warm cars and heading home for hot drinks and baths.

30 miles complete, in 6 hours 51 mins (not including time at the cafe) R had completed her first ultra and I had a sub-6 hour marathon.

Overall, very pleased with how it went. Navigating from the GPX on A's phone worked fine, the frog signs were better in some places than others. The route is almost totally flat - only 1000ft of climb over the whole 30 miles and all of that in the last 5 miles or so. No new injuries and no real mood slumps apart from being fed up of being cold and wet. I ate more than I would normally manage, cheese and onion pastry roll things from Tesco worked well and the mid-run tea and cake definitely helped. What did I learn? Cheap dry bags are no match for 5 hours of heavy rain! I should have used the better ones AND put ALL my stuff in them.

The route from FetchEveryone - mucho squisho


Monday 3 May 2021

Another Year Complete

 The pandemic continues and so does my streak! Two full years (and a few days as I am behind on posting.)

Just making a post really to see if photo uploading has improved at all, is this a viable platform etc?




Hmm, it does work all be it slowly.

These pics are from yesterday's walk from Hutton-le-Hole.

Route map from FetchEveryone.


In running news, yes, 2 full years done, 500 mile for the year so far. Many more to come I hope!

Monday 3 August 2020

Montane (Virtual) Lakeland 100

Sunday 19th July.
Three weeks ago, driven by peer pressure, FOMO and half a bottle of rose I had signed up to another ridiculous adventure - the virtual Montane Lakeland 100. I had spent the time since fretting and planning, but mostly fretting! Trying to work out how on earth I was going to fit 105 miles of running/walking around a 40 hour working week, finding routes I could run from home that were easy enough for when I was tired but not so easy I'd be bored. I came up with a plan to do 12 miles per day Monday to Friday then have a big back-to-back high mileage weekend. Now I was having an early night, with all my work clothes laid for the week and next to those all my running clothes and the first two days worth of pack up made ready. I was dreading the week to come and cursing myself for being so impulsive! The real Lakeland 100 wasn't even on my 'races to do' list so I'm not sure how I got drawn in...

Monday 20th July.
The day started early with a walk before breakfast. The dog joined me for part of it until she realised there would be no time for scent marking and sniffing! Only a short distance covered but it got the ball rolling in my mind.
After work, and a snack, I put my first set of running clothes on and headed out into a beautiful sunny evening. I ran along footpaths and country roads taking in the villages of Kirby Knowle and Boltby, I met some gorgeous cattle outside Boltby before climbing over the Mount St John and finally enjoying the long gentle downhill all the way home.
Day 1 and a total of 13 miles covered. I felt pretty good, but was only 1 day in...

Tuesday 21st July.
Double run day! Another beautiful morning and on half a jam sandwich I set off to run the 5 mile route I call Gold Lane Loop. I felt good and the run was smooth.
A busy day at work ensued and I was glad of being organised as I headed over to Kilburn to join some Harriers for a social run. I got there early and David T joined me for a couple of warm up miles before joining the main group for a guided tour of the proposed Mountain Masters route. I still needed another mile so headed back in to the woods as everyone else set off home.
Day 2 and another 13 miles under my belt, everything still works so that is a bonus!

Wednesday 22nd July.
Third early start in a row, not my bag normally. Just took the dog for a relaxed walk before heading to work.
That evening, Gavin joined me for a (relatively) pacey run around Bagby and Thirkleby. The route was mostly flat on good farm tracks, but I had not been this way for some time and had to consult the map a few times. It went well until we hit a field of oil seed and the path disappeared under the crop. That was annoying on tiring legs near the end of a long run, but we made our way around and got home in one piece.
Day 3 and again 13 miles down to stay just a touch ahead of target. My appetite was now being affected, I struggled to eat my dinner when all I wanted to do was go to bed.

Thursday 23rd July.
Despite being so tired, I had a lousy sleep and another early start! I took a power walk to Felixkirk and back, managing to cover 3.5miles in under an hour.
Just about stayed awake at work, so tired, more mentally than physically as my legs still felt pretty good.
I left work and went straight to Osmotherly, once again arriving early to do a lap of the reservoir before joining the social run. I let them all run ahead, I was slow and didn't want to spoil thier run. It's a route I enjoy so I just trotted along on my own without any problem (other than nearly getting stuck in a squeeze stile!!)
Despite my lack of speed, I made it back to the village in plenty of time to get fish and chips. My appetite still off but they were very good and I ate most of them before taking a gentle stroll back to the car.
Day 4 and I was now over 50 miles for the week.

Friday 24th July.
Tired was not the word. I'd decided last night to re-set my alarm to allow just enough time for breakfast and had a mini-lie in instead of walking or running anywhere. It was the right decision and I felt much more awake at work.
Later though, I ran down from home to Sowerby and around Thirsk. I'd done 5.5 miles in an hour and was feeling ok, but it was short lived and by mile 7 I'd had enough. I worked out that if I ran home from that point, I would have still done 10 miles which was enough (as I was a little ahead). So that is what I did.
My appetite a little better, I also inhaled a take-away pizza!
Day 5 another 10 miles brings the total to almost 62.

Saturday 25th July.
First long run day of the weekend. I had arranged to meet Alan S at Sutton Bank at a civilised time and we set off on a very simple out and back route to Black Hambleton. It had to be simple as my brain was no longer functioning! The weather was mostly fine, apart from the fact it poured down on the summit of Black Hambleton! We made good time on the route, averaging 12 min/miles which I was very happy with, given I'd already done over 60 miles for the week. We had a tea stop at High Paradise and the hot drink was most welcome. We pressed on, I was getting tired now but walk breaks were still fairly minimal, then had another refreshment stop at the cafe at Sutton Bank visitor centre. We'd done almost 18 miles by now (my target for the day was 25) but weren't finished yet! We dropped down the bank, passed Gormire Lake and 'dropped' Alan at home. I carried on, just walking now, towards home. As I walked, I ran the maths in my head and realised I'd only need another 2 miles to make my target, so once I got home I deposited my pack and collected the dog and my partner and we did those last two miles round the fields at home.
A long day, 25 miles done and now things are hurting but I am still mobile.

Sunday 26th July.
The last day! Another fairly civilised start. This was the one day I hadn't planned in advance. Gavin met me again and took me around town! We went to visit the Buddha then on to Sandhutton and Carlton Miniott taking in paths I've not really been down before. I felt good for about the first 8 miles, then started flagging. Taking on sweets and a banana helped but I was running out of energy. My legs hurt, but that is to be expected and I could ignore that, just didn't have the energy to lift them! At about 14 miles we decided to re-route back towards the town centre and get some refreshment from Greggs! We'd reached 16 miles by this point and I'd run out of 'run'. I also knew that if I just took a slight diversion on my way home, I could reach my target of 19 miles for the day. Gavin and I parted company and shuffled back to our respective abodes. My watch clicked over the 19 mile mark shortly before I reached my house and I arrived home - triumphant.
Day 7 and 105 miles complete! In fact, 106 as I wanted to be sure I wasn't short.

As ever at the end of an ultra or multi day event, there's no party just a quiet satisfaction. Physically, my body held up pretty well - legs are stiff and sore but that is obvious, but I am not broken at all. I think this is due to pacing myself well from the start and of course being able to spread the miles out over the week. Appetite and sleep have been very messed up which led to a greatly reduced energy level which has been more of an issue than any physical pain. Not sure how to work around this, but I'll keep practicing.


Tuesday 28 April 2020

Chasing Ron Hill

Yes that's right, 365 days in a row. Because... because why not?! Ron Hill ran every day for over 50 years, I keep saying I have a long way to go to catch him up :) 

Ok a little bit about me.


I was never a runner when I was younger, didn't really like sport at all really. I still shudder when we do 'team games' during a warm up at Harriers!
I was however still active, going hiking with my dad and doing my Duke of Edinburgh Awards as well as horse riding as a teen.

It was Peter Wragg and Catriona Gaudie, both former Harriers who suggested I was 'tall and skinny and looked like a runner' and Peter said I should contact Rob Burn at Harriers. At this point, I had done a couple of the Cancer Research Race for Life and was almost thirty. I was in to long distance walking and had recently found out that long distance running was a thing, I'd never heard of it before but it peaked my interest. Specifically, I had read an article about a chap who had run the Cleveland Way in under 24 hours. I had hiked it in a week, it seemed incredible.

I contacted Rob and he talked me in to coming down to a training session, I'm not sure I even owned any lycra when I first turned up at the school sports hall, I certainly couldn't run very far, I had been practising a little and could manage a half mile chunk before needing a walk break. The Harriers took me under their wings, I was made to feel very welcome and I was hooked straight away. I completed my first Christmas Handicap a month later, running the full two miles without stopping and came in second place! By February 2011 I was competing at Cross Country. I enjoyed the muddy fields more than tarmac and I was learning more about trail and fell running, although I was yet to try it out.

It still took a long time to learn to love running, it was hard. It still is hard, but I enjoyed the physical effort and gradual improvement. All the time making friends and getting involved in the social aspect of being part of a running club. I was also involved behind the scenes as Club Secretary for 7 years, only stepping down in 2019. 

Gradually, I was doing more off road stuff and that it where my passion lies, I don't know when it clicked, but suddenly I loved running! Getting the typical running grumpiness if I couldn't get out and exercise.

I did my first fell race, Gribdale Gallop, in the summer of 2011. I was so nervous, I remember shaking like a leaf on the start line. But I got round in one piece and never looked back! But I wanted to go further. I'm not fast, never have been, so distance and technical ground became my 'thing' relishing big hills and muddy terrain. A year later I completed my first marathon the Osmotherly Pheonix, a pretty tough route to start with!!

From there, with a lot of help from the Club and my running friends, I have gone on to complete multiple marathons and several ultra races, the longest so far being 55 miles and all off-road. I have made attempts at a 100 mile race, but a finish at that distance so far eludes me. The training involved for that is long and gruelling and takes over your life.

Currently, I have been 'streaking' which doesn't mean running with no clothes on! No, following in the footsteps of the legendary Ron Hill, I've run every day for just over a year. The rules are simple, it has to be at least a mile, and it has to be quicker than a 15 minute mile. I've done this before, but been stopped by injury, or illness or just 'life' getting in the way. This time however, I am pleased to make it to (and now past) 365 days. I'll keep going until I am forced to stop, but I am enjoying the challenge, every day is a new opportunity.

The running community has introduced me to things I didn't know existed, I've been to places not seen by many and experienced such highs you'd think I was on drugs! The friendships that evolve from running with someone for hours on end, through the night and seeing each other at our most vulnerable are without comparison. 

And all because I made that phone call to Rob one evening to 'ask about running Club'.

Tuesday 26 June 2018

Sunday 24th June. Last day of annual leave

It promised to be another warm one, so we walked the dog early, down to the Concrete Road and along the edge of town. I wanted to go that way to eliminate quite a few FetchPoint bugs, 12 as it turned out.



We then tried to go to what we thought was the garden centre at Baldersby, but it's not, it's a wholesale place. So that was no good!
On the way back through town, Paul called in to get his hair cut, came out with a new 'do'! Then on to the Thirsk Garden Centre where we bought compost and plants.

Lunch at home before spending the afternoon in the garden. It was very warm, getting up to 30 degrees on the patio.

I did the first day of Adriene's 30 day yoga programme.

It was too hot for the planned roast dinner, so I cooked the chicken and we had salad instead, it was the right idea!