2011 Streak Day 166/365: Run - 4.72 miles, Time - 43min 43sec, Weather - Overcast
At the moment most of my 3-4 mile runs are loops of a park. The repetition is not oppressive and I do not get bored. In a park there are always different things to see and hear and people enjoying themselves in different ways.
I always notice the birds, although I am rubbish at identifying birdsong. Blackbirds are fine, their song is distinctive but most other cheeps and calls I cannot place. When you are running you cannot look closely enough to see the birds to help identification; all you can do is enjoy the sound as a tapestry.
But you can look around and watch the different stages of the flowers - coming into bloom and then fading according to their own timetable. Some of the flowerbeds are fragrant and as you pass you catch a faint smell which comes as a small surprise.
Giving shape to the views are a number of mature trees,which at this time of year look magnificent in full leaf. Because of them you know that this is well established parkland.
People, of course, are milling around, amusing themselves. Today there was a big organised picnic with many mothers and their young children. You run past them and wonder what the connection is between them all. Did they meet at the school gate? Meet at ante-natal classes? Or are they a spontaneous group (friends and friends of friends) linked by having children at roughly the same time?
Over the other side of the park the bowls club was getting ready for a match and of course the age profile was towards the other end of the lifecycle. Every one of the women had steel grey hair. Nearby I noticed a cat stalking a bird and wondered if a match had ever been interrupted by a cat streaking across the green in search of prey.
These things float in and out of focus as you run. Today I did not have one coherent thought all I had was a succession of tiny impressions - but that was fine. After it was over I felt quite refreshed.
On my walk back ( I always walk the last bit as a way of warming down) I took this picture because I liked the texture. It is a headstone that has been cleared to the side of the churchyard.
1 comment:
They could well have been on a nursery trip. We had an 11am picnic lunch yesterday in the park, and probably looked like the same crowd of mums and children!
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