Some days, just thinking about being outdoors will have to do

Today I didn't manage to make it outdoors at all but I had an exciting encounter with it through a book, which might sound odd.

I was dashing through the library to return some overdue books in a brief window between appointments when a book on a display stand called out to me: Run Wild by Boff Whalley. That was this afternoon and I'm 6 chapters in already.

In it, he writes of how running in nature has kept him grounded on international tours with his band Chumbawumba ('I get knocked down but I get up again...'). He describes wild running as 'replanting our feet in the soil' and 'rediscovering our roots'. He argues that we evolved to run, in order to hunt for food, and that 'historically and physiologically, it's part of who we are'.

I was especially interested in his story of running up into the hills from Ambleside as the sun started setting (although concerned about how to get back down in the dark!) as my last visit there saw a late afternoon walk up Loughrigg with magical views over the surrounding hills.

I just might try a (daylight) run on my next trip there in the summer...