Today was the day for our second train run of the year, to Swanley and back. This is a very pretty route even though it's all on tarmac, roads and pavements. The sun was shining bright this morning but oh my goodness it was freezing outside! NaggyNeighbour knocked on my door just before the 07:30 that we had agreed on, it was a good job I was ready, I just had to put on my coat. I had three layers on, complete with my cap and gloves! I wished I had remembered to put my headband thing on that I got for Christmas, to keep my ears warm! I also was trying out my newest running purchase......my new running pants, underpants that is! I bought them at the Tri Expo, Runderwear, I am always thinking about running comfortably, having a 'hungy bum' is the most uncomfortable thing ever! Mind you, lately I have found some very comfortable 'high street' pants that I usually wear when running, but it's nice to have 'made for the job' pants. And look at this, while I was....well you know how it is when you got a long run planned, nature calls..... this made me chuckle
Naggyneighbour also bought some as well, so we were matching........but only we knew that! We drove up to the station at St Mary Cray and met up with this lot!
As usual there are two groups, one group getting off at Swanley and one group going further, Wrotham. There didn't seem to be that many this year, but we were all still keen and eager to get going.....mainly because its blimmin freezing, and it's still only 8:00 am! As usual I have to get the 'train shot' I am not sure if I managed to get everyone in.
Soon we were at Swanley station and we got off the train. The faster group set off first leaving just us, here this is us.
We started running and chatting, there were 6 in group 1 Swanley group, and we were chatting and running along. I think I said to Ruth about why we don't do this run in the summer time. We can still do the very early mornings, but this chill, brrrr! Maybe it's something I can think about and see if I can get something organised! I wasn't the only one thinking this either, Carole also thought about it too!
We were running pretty well actually, and we had covered a mile and I hadn't really thought about it! I was just chatting away. We had a little walking break, of course we did, we like a catchup, photo opportunity and everything, and then we carried on, I am sure this is where I took this photo, or it could quite easily have been a bit further on! I should make more of a mental note, or at least log it on my phone after I have taken the photo!
I was looking forward to seeing the Llamas or are they alpacas, they look the same to me, but I still find it totally amazing that we have these animals in fields by the roads, and not locked away in farms where they can't be seen unless you pay of course! I do like llamas, it reminds me of one of my fav animation films, The Emperors New Grove! Love that film. You can imagine my disappointment when we got to the top of the steepest hill in this run, where the llamas normally 'hang out' to find them not there! We did find sheep on the way though, and I took a picture of them, I was more interested in our shadows than the sheep though! Here, look!
We were more or less half way through our run with the lovely down hill to look forward to. IllustriousLeader was our leader for this run and her daughter has joined us, she says she hasn't running much, not for a couple of years, but my goodness, running must be in her blood because she was way in front, even going up that horrendous hill, she was way in front of us!
I couldn't quite believe how this mornings run was going, I felt totally comfortable with just under a couple of miles left to do, we were back in town again, I felt like I could keep on going, well, mentally I felt like I could keep on going, my legs were a little achy, still I wanted to keep on going!
We were going along the road, just before we went into the park when Ruth reminded of the very last little hill. I knew it was there, I know it's there, of course it's there, but you seem to just put things like that out of your mind. Fortunately we also saw a couple of ladies that run with PWR on one of the training runs, we had a little chat with them before we continued our run. We were nearly done now anyway, just through the park and then across the Nugent shopping Centre, which was still not open, it was still too early for the shops to open, I guess it is a Sunday morning! And then, well....then it was that cheeky fecker of a hill! The last one to the steps of the station. I decided that I was going to run it, all the way, after crossing the main road we started the short run to the turning where the last hill is. I am so glad that it is hidden! But as I was running along there my ankle gave way, it felt like I had twisted it, but I hadn't. I decided to just walk it out, I knew that was absolutely nothing wrong with it, maybe it is still cold, even after the 6 miles we just ran. But nothing was going to stop me running up the hill. We turned the corner and there it was, I started running again, all the way. There is a little reprieve of about 5 metres of flat road and then it continues. I walked the flat bit! I wished I hadn't now, but at the time I felt quite proud that I walked the flat bit but ran up the hills, the two last remaining hills! I took this picture of us all, just by the station, what a great run it was!
Oh and by the way, runderwear........felt good! Still a bit tight around my chunky legs, but I guess that is something I need to work on rather than trying to expect sports wear people to think about!
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