Sunday 13 July

For the first time since I finished my adventure, I've got itchy feet to go out for a run...haven't tried going faster than a walk for the whole week so unsure how I'd actually feel. Although the puffiness round my ankle has gone and I've got no pain there anymore I decided to run round the Throop Mill footpath so at least most of the route would be on grassy tracks to give some cushioning underfoot. The first mile or so was really weird as I felt I was leaning all over the place and quite unbalanced and it took a while to realise it was probably because this was the first time in nearly 3 months that I run without the addition of 6.5kg on my back (by the way, that's how heavy my backpack was as Tricia and I had weighed it on the scales at Inverness airport!). At first I couldn't get a running style and was plodding quite heavily down the road towards the Mill but after a while I seemed to remember how to do this running stuff properly and by the time I'd got half way, was really enjoying striding along the lanes and tracks. We'd had a load of rain last week and despite this being July and today being quite muggy, there was standing water on some of the path and one of the lanes was totally flooded. I definitely was not going for a repeat of the bog wading that I'd done on my trip so shimmied under a barbed wire fence and trespassed over the farmers field (wouldn't have been so had I been in Scotland!).

By the time I got home I was really enjoying myself and decided to go out straight away for another run! It's addictive this running lark and I love it!