This is a footpath/cyclepath under the M1 and is a big improvement - as it should be. If you are going to £21 million a mile widening the road there ought to be some benefit.
It is on the Nicky Line, which used to be a rail link between Hemel Hempstead and Harpenden but was opened as a footpath in 1985. Previously the tunnel was horrible - dark, rutted and quite scary. Now there is a flat gravel surface with lights and I don't feel depressed when I run through it. It is still a bit eerie though because the noise of your foot as it scratches away the gravel echoes off the corrugated casing and your footfall sounds very loud.
Today I ran it as an out and back and it was a pleasantly peaceful . In fact I hardly saw anybody, just two cyclists, three runners, and four walkers. I actually prefer more activity and it is one of the reasons why my stock runs tend to be along the canal rather than here - on the canal something is always happening and every day is different. When you are running by yourself, for a longish time, distractions are always welcome.
One of the people I did meet managed to make me feel inadequate again (actually not a tremendously difficult thing to do). He was a runner who pulled-up and so I asked him how he was doing. He told me it was the achilles, which was a problem because he had a race on Sunday. I commiserated and walked with him for a bit during which time I discovered that the race was one of several triathlon he had plannned for the year, including a double ironman! I have no idea how people do a standard ironman never mind doubling the distance. It is beyond my imagination . He said he did it last year and it took him 29 hours - Bloody Hell!
So I carried on my merry way, content with the fact that I was running 22 km and trying not to think of the endurance of others.
I have combined my report for days 8 & 9 due the fact that yesterday was a yoga day, so there was nothing much to say.
Juneathon Day 8 stats:
Homemade Yoga: 30 min
Juneathon Day 9 stats
Run distance: 22.25 km
Time running: 2hrs 4 min
Running music: none
Recovery music: Mark Lanagan I'll Take care of You (first track on the album is here)
7 comments:
Those Ironman people are amazing. Fell runners are also a breed apart.
Your running some long distance yourself these days.
I was going to say that too 22km on a school night is not to be sniffed at, although I can coz I've got a cold (did you know that ;-) )
There's a big (ish) tunnel under the A12/A14 interchange near me that I wish they'd improve - I've been under it a couple of times but it's quite creepy on your own so I tend to avoid it!
That's a long run for a Tuesday! Well done! Inadequate indeed, pah.
I'm in awe, that's all I can say. I think my weekly mileage is one of your 'inadequate' runs...
Double iron man. Nuts.
Nice cycle path, all £21m of it...
22k is avery respectable distance to be doing in the midst of the madness we call Juneathon.
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