The lure of the forest

There really is something very special about forests.  Sure I love hills and mountains and valleys and fields - the whole countryside actually.  But the forest is mysterious, changing, exciting and definitely mind refreshing. My running friend and I went out for a forest run this evening and as ever, the forest didn't disappoint.  The nights are drawing in now and it has been raining all day so everywhere was glistening with the last of the heavy rain drops. There was a slight drizzle which just caught us through the trees and kept us refreshed.  The puddles were just deep enough to enjoy running through and the mist hung over the tree tops like a warm blanket. In the deeper parts of the forest we both made a mental note to remember head torches next time but even the darkness gave us a sense of adventure.  It was so good to be back out running and I remembered how much I enjoy it, something you tend to forget when you aren't running.
I now have five days of work, including a weekend on so quite busy and probably no time for running with all the other things I am juggling but will manage something next week.
The other nice thing which happened this week was a visit from my big sister and some of her family. It is lovely to spend time together, even if it is only a few days and 12yod especially loves her big cousin and gets on well  with her.  Family is very important and we should cherish them as much as we can.
Nearly the end of August already - autumn is on it's way but I love all the seasons and look forward to each one with a sense of anticipation and adventure.

I Can Still Run!!!!

Just come back from a wee run in the forest to see if my legs still remember to run!  They do, and I did around 3 miles of lovely running in the shade of the forest, and even the midges didn't bother me.  It sure feels good and I am off again!!  Plan is the just do short runs for the next few weeks and start our big winter plan in October!

rings, rain and races

After such a good time at the wedding and holiday it should really have been time for us to have a calm period but we don't seem to do those very well in this household!  We had a busy time unpacking and washing etc and then I worked a 12 hour night shift on the Sunday evening.  After having a sleep on Monday morning and then doing housework and packing we headed off again on the Tuesday morning, back to the Lake District.
This time it was for a very exciting reason. We were meeting the family of our 23yos's girlfriend, he was also bringing her up for a surprise visit and was planning to propose to her there.  It was a great couple of days but definitely all the more exciting because of the proposal - she said yes thankfully, so next year we will have a new daughter.  All very exciting.

Josh made the ring and it turned out really beautifully.  It is really lovely silver with an emerald stone.  It is totally unique and it so she has a beautiful ring of which there is no copy anywhere.  Lovely.

We also had a really good time playing some team games with all the others and one of those included dressing up a team mascot.  Two teams used our very patient dogs!!

We also went to Coniston Water and swam/boated over the Wild Cat Island.  Max managed the swim with the others which was really impressive. Good times.

Sadly while there we heard of the death of a dear friend who has been part of our lives for a long time and that was really sad.

Then I was worked on Thursday and Friday.  Half day on Friday then we headed up to Tyndrum as Rick was running another ultra marathon.  Just he and I went as Josh stayed with the children.  We camped overnight in a very wet and windy campsite.  Didn't get much sleep despite settling down around 9pm!

We got up around 0430 to walk to the registration centre.  Rick registered and then the race set off at 0600. 

 It was a 43 mile race over very tough highland ground and the weather conditions were awful.  It was obligatory to have your own support crew as there were no facilities for drop bags so that was my role for the day.  I managed to meet Rick at all the places he needed me and followed his instructions to the letter.  It quickly became apparent that he was running really well and was going to be in the top 8.  At some points it was very wet and windy and visibility was very poor.  By the time I caught him at the steep climb called the devil's stair case he was in 5th place.  He came in eventually in 4th place in a brilliant time of 6hrs 22min. SOOOOO proud of him.