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Sunday 5 April 2009

360 Degree Sunshine

What a fantastic day. If a day could be perfect then today was it. Started with a great sleep; straight through until 8am when I was awoken by the sun peeping under the bedroom door. I scrambled out of bed to check out the weather and was faced with clear blue skies with not a cloud to be seen. The plan for today was a real treat, our favourite scramble from home; across the suspension bridge and straight up the face of Beamsley Beacon before running from the cairn on to Roundhill summit. A long grassy descent took us back past the reservoir and right at concrete square leads us on to the final drop returning into Addingham. I wish I'd had my camera on the run today - really wanted to catch the gorgeous day in a box. The skies were clear, blue and bright; picking out every detail laid out in the valley whilst sunning the rugged shoulders of the surrounding hills.

Not sure what to do about my camera dilemma, it's a tricky one. I'm wondering how I can manage to lug about my lovely new D-SLR in a jolt free fashion for runs such as this. I'm wondering if I can find a modified bumbag on the market. The run today was particularly inspiring as Roundhill provides an unusual 360 degree view of the local scenery and is a great spot for capturing impressive panoramic shots of the surrounding valleys; you can see for miles in every direction.

The run was an eager and alert 10m at a nice steady pace despite the climbs and rough patches underfoot. I felt frisky, free and feather-like. It was great to wear shorts and a T-shirt as this always seems to add to the sense of freedom on a run like this. Felt overdue for a full 'heart' rather than a head run, (do you know what I mean?). Knowing my propensity to be v obsessive & intense about stuff I can get a bit focused on the 'session' and forget why I got into the sport in the first place. Today was a very welcome reminder of how wonderful running is. I'm also very lucky that I share it with someone I love. I came home feeling very elated and ready to tackle anything (except the clematis now taking over the house - must get round to it). Back with a bump though as spent the rest of the lovely sunny day doing chores and finishing off a paper for work tomorrow. A grim contrast to this morning but you have to have the lows to appreciate the highs ...a short week ahead and 4 lovely full running days to come.

6 comments:

kate said...

what a great day! sounds like one of those runs where you can't understand why everyone's not doing this.
...have a look a some mtb bags they seem to have a lot of camera bag additions

markh (Rothwell Harriers) said...

Hi Sarah.
I got round Blackpool Marathon in 2:58.
The last 3 miles were torture ! but at least I've got my GFA place back for London which was my primary aim.
Looking forward to a nice long rest now.

jumbly said...

Sounds like a great run! Check out the lowepro range of camera bags, you might find they do something you can run with. I have an Olympus mu 790SW camera that I bought specifically with running/biking in mind, it's drop proof, waterproof etc I think I'd find the SLR a bit bulky for taking out running.

Runningbear said...

Thanks for the tips guys, will have a look online for a nifty sac, have a birthday on the way so could be a good time to be doing my research.

Just to say well done to you Mark, what a fantastic run! Comfortably under 3 hrs. What's next on the calendar? Will we be bumping in to you at any local races? I plan to do your local 10k on May day. Well done for a brilliant effort. You couldn't have had a more beautiful day. Have been waiting for the results on John Schofield to check it out.

Markh said...

Thanks Runningbear.
I'm on holiday so won't be at the Rothwell 10k this year.
I have no races planned at the moment but hope to do a few 10k's in the summer.
Good luck for Salford.
I hate 10k's ! much prefer the longer stuff.

Runningbear said...

Thanks Mark. Enjoy your hols, you've definitely earned your break after your marathon performance. Keep in touch and will keep an eye out for your future races. Salford is a bit of a toe in the water - hoping my running mojo will be back soon!

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