A change of scenery

A very late blog but I've been away and then very busy since we got back, just time for a quick round up of week 12 before week 13 finishes tomorrow.

Week 12 was a good one, I did my 8 mile run all by myself and it was really very enjoyable (for a road run). The 7 mile coincided nicely with club night so that really took care of itself.

The main event was the long run. The plan said 8 miles so not that long a long run. As it was Easter we were on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales. The weather in the dales was really snowy, snow you measure in feet rather than inches. The roads were clear though so I could have done a nice 8 along the roads, I didn't though. In Reeth there is a brilliant shop called Swaledale Outdoors, they sell all sorts of fantastic running/walking/cycling gear and every Saturday they lead a run taking in the amazing local scenery. I showed up at 9.30 to find a group of very fit and experienced fell runners, as you often seem to find with runners they were all very lovely and welcoming. We covered the planned 8 miles, it was amongst the toughest runs I've ever done but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I fell over lots of times, sunk into snow over my knees too many times, kicked steps up a mountain and shared an Easter egg with my new friends. Without the snow it would have been a technically tricky fell run, with several feet of snow it was verging on the mental. But bloody brilliant.
I'd love to upload some photos but I can't make it work, there are a few on Facebook which are well worth a look.

Week 13 is two 5 miles (done) and 20 miles tomorrow morning. That's a long way and I think I'm a bit scared.