I try to stop and enjoy the view at least once on all of my long runs. It's usually somewhere new that I haven't seen before or a view that I haven't noticed but today it was a sight that I'd seen many times. I love running in new places but there's something about the old routes that are so nice and comfy, like a fluffy onsie on a cold evening. Today i re-ran my first ten mile route that I used to do a lot when I was building up to my first half marathon last year. When I first started running I tried to do a 6 mile run with Warrington Road Runners, it was my first time running with others, but I was too slow so I ended up going to the old Victoria Park Sunday social run (mostly because it was just outside my house) with Tony and Lisa. The first route we did went up Red Lane and over the Canterlever, both of which defeated me on that first run (Lisa was so patient with me). I added both of them to my 10 mile route because I was determined to beat them. Now, every time I run up them hills it serves as a good reminder of where I used to be and how far I've come. So whilst today's shoe selfie might not be in the most prettiest location in the world it's a sight I've come to love because it represents everything I thought was impossible 18 months ago.
I haven't stopped to find a new perspective for a while. Today I found one by accident just by going down a different side of the street. I was running late (literally, I was running and I was late) to meet some Warrington Running Club people for a pre-club run. I ended up getting there five minutes late and so I had to do my own little run instead to fill the time so I went and explored a little. I had a nice run up to the top of the bridge (that I couldn't without stopping the first time I ran with WRC) and enjoyed the lovely view from the top on a perfect blue sky day. Then I went down the other side of a road I've ran up a lot and found one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen just hidden there in plain site. I don't know how to describe it other than as a pond/fishing hole but that doesn't really do the place justice. It's right next to the main road but the tree that surround it shelter it from everything around so it's perfectly calm and quiet and other than the one man that was fishing there was no one else there. There are signs up saying that you have to be a member of some fishing thing but I didn't think that anyone would mine if I just sat and enjoyed the surroundings for a few minutes (and took a shoe selfie).
I saw this picture on the facebook page for Runner's World last week. I really love the sentiment behind it and decided that I don't do that enough. I've been trying to do my long runs on Fridays which are a bit of a pain because I like to stay where there are pavements and people. I won't run on roads unless there are a number of people and even then I still hate it. I'd much rather have a clear boundary between where I run and where cars can drive.
I've noticed before that there are quite a few parks in Warrington. I've been to a couple but most I've just ran past the entrance if that and I've never actually been in. So I decided to see if I could do a long run using as many Warrington paths and parks as possible and I have to say that some areas are so pretty that I can't believe that I never know they were there.
I've done a few variations so far, the fist was 15 miles then 20 and today I'm doing a 10 mile version (because I'm not supposed to go over 40 miles this week). It is muddy (my pretty new Mizuno wave Inspire 11's got a baptism of fire last week) with lots of uneven ground which I do generally hate but it's probably good for me to be running on different surfaces because you work different muscles and there's less impact than running purely on roads. The thing I do like though is that you get a completely different perspective and see things you've never seen before (once you get past the evil swans). I don't do selfies, pretty much because I look seriously terrible in them, so I'm going to start a new trend. Shoe selfies, once a week from somewhere new on my travels that makes me look at the world differently.
