The end is nigh.....Countdown.....

Return to Wednesday training she did! Dawn that is.  Wanting to try and complete the longest route of 11 miles I pledged to run with her.  My pleasure I'd said as I now wanted to take it really steady as the race of the year draws near.  Out and back on the canal seemed a good bet as I had said to Dawn if we got to a point where she felt she had had enough we could just turn back.  We were pleased to reach the turn around point, no turning back, so to speak, we had now committed to the full distance.  We happily set off back towards our start point, Apperley Bridge, chatting away about one thing and another.  Suddenly it became dark, we were under a cover of trees and looking beyond them I could see that the sky was still fairly light, I reassured Dawn who by now seemed a little worried.  We carried onwards, it got darker and darker all around us.  I tried to focus ahead, occasionally a light would appear and turn out to be a cyclist, no doubt caught out as we had been.  Every so often I would spot what I thought was a figure in front of us, hoping it was a friendly one, only to find my fears were unfounded, the dark does play tricks!

Finally, our dark journey was over as we arrived at Dobson Lock, Apperley Bridge, back to civilisation and street lights! Within the next couple of weeks we will be returning to our Winter training base, until then we will seriously need to stick to road running!

On Friday I wondered if the weird and wonderful weather is keeping club runners at home, or maybe they are turning into opportunist runners and getting themselves out of the door when it's dry outside!  Numbers on Friday certainly plummeted as only five of us turned up, or was the uphill start to Yeadon maybe? Puzzle I did as I must admit I hadn't relished the thought of running in the pouring rain but as always once you get going you don't notice when it actually stops! Back after our 5 miler we all agreed although it had been quite tough we all enjoyed it, having got the flowers out of the way first this time (albeit that they were for a less than happy occasion this time) all round it was great start to the weekend.

Flowers for a memorial

Speaking of which I was pleased to play a part in the Eccleshill hosting of the Saltaire YVAA relay in Robert's Park - much respect to Ian our Membership Secretary for diving in there and doing what most of us would run a million miles from, albeit his nerves are now in tatters! All seemed to go very well and the feedback he has received has been positive so who knows what''s next?

Gaggles of geese, one flew over Robert's Park as another grazed!