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Monday 27 March 2017

Walk, don't run......

      I'm still resting - from running - and starting to feel some energy seeping back into the system. The 'Arizona' pills have helped me sleep longer with no noticeable side effects other than requiring a little more effort to get out of bed each morning.
Resting in the sun...     (Click to enlarge pictures)
  I'd intended spending a month resting and recharging the old batteries but warm Spring weather has got me chomping at the bit and rarin' to go again after only a couple of weeks.  Fifteen miles of walking at the weekend was quite enjoyable but I'm missing that natural rhythm of running.
Ring ouzel country...Mossdale
      I walked over into Mossdale in search of ring ouzels. Last year the first male arrived on March 13th, the earliest ever recorded there. This year, and twelve days later, I sat around for a good while by the shooting hut, watching and listening, but none came.
A splash of colour in the garden
      Gardening has been demanding my time. Work in the local cricket field, just over the wall, eventually persuaded me it was time to mow the lawns. Ready for lying on. Bees were busy on the flowering currant bushes and a cheeky robin was flitting around in case I unearthed some tasty morsel while hoeing round the Spring flowers.
Heather burning on Grassington Moor
      There was much activity on Grassington Moor as a gang of gamekeepers were burning vast areas of heather, supposedly to encourage new growth.  I just hope none of our ground nesting birds have already begun laying eggs.
Away from the crackle and smoke
      I found a sheltered spot to lie in the sun, well away from crackling fires and acrid smoke, to doze for a wee while in haunts of curlew and lapwing.  Far from the madding crowd.  Peacock butterflies were spreading their wings on warm stones for the very same reason I was spread out on the springy turf, to take our fill of healing ultra-violet rays.
Geese and oystercatchers by Mossy Mere
      On a rare visit to Mossy Mere, beyond Scar Top House, a colony of greylags were fraternising with oystercatchers among the reeds at the waters edge.
Getting closer to the greylags
 Geese took to the water as we approached while their black and white tuxedoed friends flew around noisily before landing a safe distance away.
Mossy Mere
      Warm weather has lambs frisking in the fields, leaping like lunatics, racing around or playing king of the castle, as they do. Below them in the ghyll coltsfoot and primroses are dotting the banks.  Jackdaws are making new homes in a rocky outcrop overlooking the beck, with a great deal of arguing.
Coltsfoot in the ghyll
      All this energy and activity in the natural world, the warm and colourful and noisy pageant of unfolding Spring. It really doesn't seem right that, of all the times of the year, I should choose Spring to be resting.
      Where are those running shoes....

12 comments:

  1. I find the different pace of walk vs run to be quite interesting - in how I view the landscape I'm moving through and how my thoughts tend to wander (or not). For me, running is much more ephemeral and although I notice the lambs and flowers, my mind is also soaring away somewhere entirely different. Walking meanwhile is much more immediate, more noticeable pauses to look - how this shade of green is ever so slightly different to that...neither is better or worse, its just different.
    Hope your energy levels continue to improve and you get back to your running ASAP :)

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    1. Thanks for your good wishes Hollie. The spirit is rarin' to go but the old body isn't quite ready yet. I think I know what you mean about 'the mind soaring away somewhere entirely different'. For me, running alone in beautiful places can be very Spiritual and uplifting, like taking Communion, with lambs, flowers, birdsong, vivid landscape, etc. all adding to the experience. It's wonderful, and I never want to stop...

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  2. I read always your post, you are an inspiration to many runners , best wishes for a speedy recovery . From Antonio Otley AC.

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    1. Great to hear from you Antonio. Trust you're running into Spring and winding up for another go at the Burnsall 10 in August. Hope to see you there. Sending you best wishes.

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  3. While being injured wasn't good for me, the forced rest was! I can feel the body on the whole is in a better place... rest is so important!

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  4. Agree with you there Coach. If you don't afford your body enough rest it will eventually force you to do. Just hoping mine too will 'be in a better place' after a few weeks rest.
    Great to see you back blogging again. Cheers!

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  5. So happy to hear that you're starting to feel like your old self again!

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    1. I'm not quite there yet Karien but things are looking up. Cheers!

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  6. Rest is the hardest thing to do - but it works. I'm having a day off today (feeling knackered, knees hurting and so on) but I just know that tomorrow will be a better day.
    Trouble is, I'm wandering around like a spare part today....trying to find something to do!

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    1. I know what you mean about trying to find things to do JJ. I've had to resort to such necessary evils as gardening and tidying the loft space. At my age!
      I'll be glad when I'm back running....

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  7. Yes, as a runner rest and even walking cannot be easy.
    But it is a lovely time of year to enjoy a walk in the Spring air.
    Lovely selection of photographs you've shared.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Aye, got bored with walking and broke into a jog on my way to the village today. It's a start and should be back in action by Easter.

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