Stability Through Motion

Saturday - 5 hour walk up the Black Hill to Hay Bluff and down via the silent Olchon Valley. The last time I was here I was running in the sunshine. I’d had thoughts about running it this time, but it would have been very slow going as there was ice covering deep bogs. I’m not sure I’m up to that yet!

Sunday - too lazy to map out a new route for myself, I decided to loop Port Meadow 4 times to make up 18 miles. It meant I could listen to music for the first time on a run in ages, which was a great change. There’s nothing like Laura Veirs when running along riverbanks. The little bridge near Burgess Field was completely flooded, so I had to wade up to my knees in floodwater each time round, filling my shoes with muddy grit. The wind was also howling a gale and a collie dog mistook me for a sheep and started nipping at my ankles to herd me to some unknown location. A typical Sunday long run then!

Will I ever feel the same about running in Port Meadow again? 15 miles (or less) up 2000ft to the end of the road from Rowen to Tal y Fan, the northenmost Carneddau moutain in North West Wales. The photo was actually taken the next day when walking, but the road gets you to within 150 metres in height of this summit view. I’d love to have actually run this last bit, but as it is, I’ll find it hard to run the flat routes round Oxford again. The next day (or the one after), was just a short run but up through some private woods - fantastic soft earth and quiet atmosphere with views over the Conwy river estuary.