On the road again

I had intended for today's run to be on the forest trails but one look outside at the sunny and sparkling day and  I knew, just knew, that the woods would be filled with irresponsible dog owners and their vicious, unleashed hounds.  And I really really couldn't bear to have yet another unpleasant encounter with either human or dog...but, while I chose not to confront that particular fear today, I did confront another one. 

I ran 7 miles on the road.  That's the furthest that I've run on the road by 3 miles since the Aviemore HM, and it felt fine.  My knee only twinged occasionally, which was clearly due to overstriding; as soon as I shortened my stride, the twinges disappeared.  There were a couple of steepish downhills on which I practiced keeping my feet under my hips and a couple of uphills, including almost 1.5 miles uphill at the very end, which I managed with much less huffing and puffing than I did when I last tried this route several months ago.  Nice to see results!

It was also nice to remind myself that road running, at least where I live, can have views that are just as lovely and just as good for my soul as those that occur off-road.  And it's dog free.  I can't ask for much more than that.

Farm lane five minutes from home

Looking across the firth to Cromarty