Under The Cover Of Trees

Juneathon day 28: run 11.67km 1hr 10min

The best place to run when it is hot is in the woods, where the trees not only provide plenty of shade they also cool things through evapotranspiration. So off to Ashridge.

This is one of my favourite place to bike or run but strangely, so far, during the whole of Juneathon, I have not been there. I can’t think of a good excuse except that it is a bit further away, so that to go for a run I first have to go for a drive. But nevertheless it always repays the extra effort as there is a contentment to be found in mature woodland. I also love the way everything changes with the seasons, from week to week things look slightly different. At the moment the bracken is particularly fine and as the photo shows, there is also the odd, random foxglove.

The route I run takes me into Berkhamsted Common and alongside the golf club. It looks a tricky course as any deviation from the fairway means you are deep in the undergrowth. As I was plodding along the pathways I saw a group of golfers searching for a lost ball. As a mental diversion I started to look as well and there it was nestling next to some tree roots. Well thats my good turn for the day I thought - except it wasn’t. It wasn’t the ball they were looking for. I merely managed to give someone who is probably golf ball rich another spare.

Anyway it was a bit of interaction, something that doesn’t happen too much round here. Most people avoid eye contact. It might not be quite the same as London, where you would be seen as a little weird if you tried to offer a greeting, but a lot of people want to stay in their own private world. To me the odd “hello” can make a run cheerier but I tend to look carefully to see if the other person looks as if they would want to respond.

Juneathon statistics 28/28
Run 20/28
distance 155.39km
time 14hr 45min
Cycle 5/28
distance 81.8 miles
time 6hr 16min
Gym 3/28
time 2hr 05min