Day 17 - Long grass and bovine encounters!

Chase me!!

I awoke this morning only to find my lip had swollen considerably from the sting it received yesterday. It looked someone had given me a good left hook! As I was working from home today I had planned a lunchtime run, although having seen the forecast I was expecting it to be a rainy affair. The rain didn't materialise and the sun was even out, I might just get away with this!

The planned route was mostly off road with several field crossings. Off through Booths Park, busy at lunchtime with the occasional runner going about their own routine. Then across the first field and a herd of young cows spotted me and rushed over to have a look. I stopped to say 'hello', they stopped, I carried on and now they were right behind me, I stopped again and they stopped! I think they were enjoying themselves!

Over the stile and through the farm whose actual function I wasn't entirely sure of. There were many outbuildings containing a 'graveyard' of office filing cabinets. This was complemented with an array of broken cars in varying states of disrepair! Skirting the edge of the next field I now had to spend the next mile or so wading through knee (and occasionally waist) high grass. So as not to get entangled in the said grass I had to adopt an ungainly running style by bringing my knees up as high as my waist to clamber through!

I was glad to get out of this field and so on to the next, this one another 'cowfest', this time 50 or so of them and much bigger. I had my sights on the exit stile and had to weave my way through the bovine obstructions. The further I progressed the more they were circling and running behind me. 'Show them who is the boss and keep going!' Eventually at the stile I turned round to take a group photo but they seemed disinterested now that I was on the other side of the fence and went about their grass chewing!

A couple more field crossings, short grass, no cows and the sun was out - perfect! I was now at about the 5.5 mile point so once back out on to the main road I decided to go straight through Toft woods which would take me 1.5 miles back to home and round it off nicely at 7 miles. The woods are pretty dense and overgrown and need careful circumnavigation, especially around the 'damp' bits, which even in all the dry weather resemble some sort of 'primordial swamp', you should see it in Winter!

Swampy...

A nice 7 miles done and no rain in sight, nearly up to 150 miles now for the Juneathon (Yay, go me!). Maybe a 12 miler in the morning and who knows on Sunday. Sunday will be a very early one as my wife is doing the Race For Life 10K, which we have to be there for 9.30!

Stats

Distance: 7.30 miles
Time: 1:04:57
Juneathon Total Distance: 148.22 miles