Long run done 4 Haddie!

I got up this morning hoping and praying it was going be a better day than yesterday weather wise as I had a long run to do for my running buddy Haddie - come what may!

I was delighted when I drew back my curtains to see blueish sky and a little bit of sun!

Before the truly unpredictable weather could change I was ready and heading out the door sporting for the first time my new "Aftershokz open ear headphones" that the big man in the red suit very kindly brought me.

I do a lot of running on narrow country roads and therefore don't like wearing headphones as I can't hear the traffic coming behind me but these solve that problem! 

I was a little unsure about them as they seemed a poor fit and I had visions of me constantly adjusting and tweaking them. 

Aftershokz open ear headphones

However, once in 
position they never moved and I actually forgot about them completely!  They did the job perfectly and I could even pass niceties with other runners and hear them instead of rudely running past smiling, as I would have done if I had "normal" earphones in blocking out the world! The quality of the sound was excellent too so all in all I am a happy bunny! 

It was a fairly weird experience at first listening to music but still hearing surrounding sounds too!


Anyhow, off I set with 12 miles in mind, and decided to have an off-road experience just to mix my training up a bit!  

However, my first obstacle appeared after a mile and a second not long after ... trees blocking my way!  Obviously the high winds yesterday had caused some damage to the countryside! I managed to get past both these obstacles and was happily on my way again!

It was very wet and muddy in places so I had to take it slowly. At one point the field I was going through was flooded so I was tiptoeing my way around the outside but got it sooooooo wrong! 

"Something"  that was disguised as a stone which I trusted fully promptly gave way under me and I ended up up to my ankles in thick gooey mud!  

My trainers felt like they had doubled in weight! I quickly looked around hoping I had no witnesses, luckily I was alone!!!

However, other than this I really enjoyed my run although I found it totally exhausting!  I'm not sure whether this is the off-road influence or this being my first post Christmas run!  

I made it home after just 10.8 miles but there's no way I was going stay out to do the additional mile or so! You can view it here!

Once I had stretched I headed for a shower! When I had to sit down in the shower to wash my hair I realised that perhaps I had pushed my self a little too far!

After some food and coffee I made a surprisingly speedy recovery and was soon out walking the dog! I did an additional 4.32 windy miles walking - that's the weather not me!!!

All in all not a bad effort I don't think!

My trainers are now stuffed with newspaper and I'm hoping they dry out OK.

It's a good job I have more than one pair of trainers!  

Which ones shall I pick tomorrow?

The ones on the bottom right are how the ones up above used to look!!!