Sunrise and Mince Pies

As planned, Ye Olde Winter Solstice Run took place on Saturday. As I drove to the Water Tower to meet Joss and Maureen there was frost on the ground, a temperature of -8, the sky was lightening and, looking east, there was a rim of pale orange around the horizon. We set off straight away towards the Suspension Bridge. Unfortunately we were too early so ran up to Ashton Court then came back to watch the sunrise, forecast for 8:10. We waited several minutes then finally saw the tiniest piece of the sun, growing rapidly behind Dundry Hill. Satisfied that the sun wasn’t going to disappear forever (even if we were a day early) we ran gently back to the Downs.

Another run today for me: Thornbury Running Club’s pre-Christmas run from Wotton-under-Edge. There were three routes of varying lengths and I opted for the shortest lasting about 1 hour 45. All the roads were icy so we were going carefully. The paths through fields and woods were frozen hard and deeply rutted in places so concentration was needed. We headed up to the Tyndale Monument, ran round it three times (no idea why!) and admired the glorious views across the Severn to Wales. http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks/walk_photo/125802/  Then it was back to the starting point in Wotton for coffee and mince pies. 

I could say what my pace was for each of those two runs but it wouldn’t be relevant. Somtimes it’s good just to have a run in good company with sights to store in the memory bank.

Happy running!