As some people know, I get a bit laxed with my running over the winter season, but try to keep it ticking over at the very least. This year I jumped at the chance to "book" in for a run over Christmas, and tried out the Stokes Scurry on the morning of Christmas eve. This is a free event, running either one lap (2miles) or 2 laps (4miles) around the fields belonging to farmer Tom at Stokes Farm, near Wokingham. Some friends had been before and I liked the look of it, but the dates (it it held once a month on a Sunday at 10am) had never been convenient, so now was my chance to do it along with some other fellow parkrunners, which meant we all had great fun together and I was lucky to be able to get a lift too (big thanks to Pete :-).
For some strange reason I was excited about using my new trail shoes for doing a "proper" cross country/trail run, and the extremely muddy conditions didn't seem to bother me as they normally would. Maybe because it wasn't actually raining despite being wet underfoot? Or perhaps because it was an "Christmas attire" opportunity and I love the chance to dress up a bit?! My friend Jo had kindly leant me a great outfit - can you guess what it is??
Yes, it really was that muddy all the way round!! This was probably the toughest run I have done to date... after about 2km my legs were really struggling. For someone who regularly runs over 5km relatively easily that was a real shock. Of course I am used to road running rather than running on grass, and the mud really seems to sap all the energy from the legs, not to mention feet and legs getting completely numb from being wet and cold! As a result it was a slow run, and I even had to walk a tiny bit.
But, after all that I did really enjoy the experience, and I don't suppose it will very often be quite that muddy again! After the run we all went into one of the barns for mulled wine / tea / coffee and mince pies /biscuits and chocolates, what a lovely way to spend Christmas eve morning - I highly recommend it, and I shall definitely be back at the Scurry in 2013, possibly on slightly firmer ground!
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| Muddy trainers AND legs!! |
