At last, return to running

I haven't run for ages. Months, I don't know how many. I have lots of excuses:

1. my knee was hurting when I ran
2. I didn't have time to do the physio exercises I had paid money to have provided to me
3. The weather was too wet/cold
4. I had no time
5. ...

I think I had just got out of the habit. I think of myself as a runner but lately I have been kidding myself. So yesterday morning, when it looked bright and fresh (in between the hailstorms, that is), somehow I remembered that I'm a runner and actually went out and ran. Only for half an hour, pretty slowly, but it wasn't too hard, and nothing hurt, either then or today.

I remembered some things I'd forgotten:

• that I'm always glad when I'm out, however little I wanted to go
• that running is my least painful form of exercise (I hate most forms, especially team games)
• that it gives me time to think, if I want to
• that it also gives me time just to be, outdoors, and not think - maybe more refreshing

More than anything, I find myself musing about how different my intentions and my practice are when it comes to being outdoors. This blog has really clarified that for me, almost a year on from my first post. As in most things, the habit of noticing what's happening provides an impetus for change, and I'll be musing more about that as this blog reaches its first anniversary.

Catkins at dusk

Couldn't resist a walk along country lanes as dusk approached. This tree, with its seasonal crop of catkins, hangs over the River Dane near Swettenham, and when I was last here, the area was mobbed with squealing swallows hunting for flies above the river. A little different today, but it won't be too long before the swallows are back.

Magpies and buds

Glorious blue sky, and on the beech tree, the buds are now russet red, waiting to appear. Frosty this morning, but surely Spring can't be long now. I can't remember a winter I've been so glad to see the back of.

Snowdrops at Rode Hall in Cheshire

Rode Hall is a small stately home which opens especially for its snowdrop walks at this time of year. I'm no expert on snowdrops, in fact they all look pretty much the same to me, but it was an excuse for an outing with family of all ages, and the weather was nice enough (if chilly) to make it a real pleasure.

You can't tell from this photo but it was possible to see herons nesting in the trees on this island in the lake. There's something quite mad about a bird as big as a heron landing in the fragile twigs at the top of a big tree, but they manage it.

Snowdrops in my garden at last!

What a joy to see some flowers in my garden after this, seemingly the most dispiriting winter weather I can ever remember. And I wasn't even flooded.


To see new growth, and of such a cheery kind, each day as I leave my house is so uplifting.

Not all that wet then...

This is a small reservoir which I pass once a month or so. Having a little time spare on this particular day, I decided to check out just how full it was after the winter rains. When I visited last summer, the water levels were quite low.

Amazingly, it was not, as I expected, full to the brim. Judging by the state of the banks, there has been more water at some time in the past. I could hardly believe it, and I really hope this is not a sign that all that water will not avoid threats of hosepips bans in the summer.

The Alsager 5 - as a spectator

Out for a walk before the start of my local race, the Alsager 5, I'm really wistful that creaky knees are preventing me from running at the moment. It was exciting to see the runners making their last minute preparations, the tables of drinks lined up ready at the finish, and the St John Ambulance medics ready to cycle round alongside the runners (never seen that before). Maybe next year...