Tuesday 18 March 2014

Running in my view

Odd title but it does say what I mean.  Rather than just enjoy the view from my window on Saturday morning I actually got up, got my husband to drop me off at Wentworth and ran home through the view that I usually just enjoy from my bedroom window.

So I set off at Wentworth Woodhouse.  On a clear day I can see this big house from my attic window and these lovely views are the main reason we actually bought our house back in 2011.

It was a lovely sunny day and there were quite a few people out enjoying the peace and quiet, later in the year this is a really busy path with lots of families heading up and down, enjoying picnics at Greasbrough dams and there are a number of geocaches hidden around the area too - though I've only managed to find one!

The problem with running along such a lovely route is that it is too tempting to stop and take photos, to try and capture the lovely stillness that you can feel as you wander along.  And so I ran my first ten minutes okay but my second ten minutes was kind of hit and miss.  I also don't like running past people with dogs who aren't on leads so that was another reason for stopping occasionally.  I'm sure there are very good dog owners out there but how can someone who can't even keep their dog to heel expect me to trust them when they say "He won't hurt you"?!


So I got photos of all the Wentworth Follies (that I can also see from my bedroom window) but from a different angle and then this lovely photo of the first glimpse of Greasbrough Dam (complete with finger in the top corner - I never said I was good at taking photos just that I like it!)

And here is where I tripped myself up a bit as in my foggy memory I kind of thought my route would hit the road here but actually there is obviously the length of a full dam to run / walk plus a bit more and that's not even including the walk home once I did hit road.

It wasn't a bad morning though - I did my first 2.5k in 24mins and then my second 2.5k in 41mins - in my defence the second half of my route was all uphill and along a busy road with no pavement so I had to keep stopping for cars as I was scared they wouldn't see me pressed into the hedgerow.  Then I rang my husband and he and my daughter met me on the ridge above our house (where I ran last week) for a slow meander home.   It was a lovely start to the weekend and one I definitely will repeat.