Spring Haiku

Late showers falling.
Tiny blossoms open and
greet the new warm sun.

Thought a bit of poetry might bring a bit of class to this evening's instalment and convey well the training mood; another lovely spring run tonight taking in a particular favourite of mine, the 'Lob Wood loop'. It starts with a steady climb from the village up to Draughton windmills via the golf course then a steep descent to Bolton Bridge. Taking a sharp right following the banks of the river Wharfe brings us back in a full circle to the village. It was a 'haysi fantayzee' kind of evening (fellow wrinklies will appreciate my 80's reference); warm & clear with a bit of a magical, hazy blanket across the valley. The river bank was dotted with tiny, new born lambs, some pure white, some with very sweet speckles. It was all very story book after the grime and urgent pace of work in Leeds today.

Am still working on strategies for the 'Tom & Barbara' set up (sorry, more 80s). A combination of running with baking home made bread and cakes. Have yet to experience any moments of inspiration to move this on from just a daydream; they're a tricky combination as a basis for a new career.

Ran an easy 5 tonight and felt surprisingly strong on the hills after feeling so tired from the race on Sunday. I think my plans to take it really easy this week are well laid. It's partly led by wanting to run reasonably well for the club at the Northerns this weekend but also recognition that I might be suffering a bit from over racing; I think I'd benefit from some down time and give this old chassis a chance to catch up after all my recent races. Have also been reassured to see after the disappointment of Sunday that I've not fallen too much in the national rankings now that we're a quarter of the way through 2009 - still 4th in my age group for 10k and hope to eat into that PB a bit further this year. A sub 35 is a major goal for this summer and should be viable on the back of some good speed work, which I've not really given much attention to this winter. Anyway, it's great to be enjoying the runs and give some time to 'smelling the roses' as our local wise man Terry L likes to regularly to remind us.