Off the plateau

For a while now I've been stuck doing 5 or 6k and not really feeling like I was making much progress, yes I was getting a little faster and that was pleasing, but I was also getting a bit bored with the route.

What I didn't realise was that only running that distance (and therefore "only" for 30 to 45 minutes) wasn't enough for me. Last week I let myself run 8k for the first time and then topped it off by running for a full hour. I feel so much better about it now, it's like it was when I first started - I do hope though that this doesn't mean I'm going to plateau at 1hr/10k and need to do 90 minutes!

Anyway, today I set out in an easterly direction along the North Downs Way. It was great to run through Chantry Woods beyond where I've walked in the past and find my way through to the road that goes up the hill. This is the trouble with wanting to run on the tops, you've got to get up there to earn the fantastic view. So that right hand vertical bit corresponds to the steepest part, but really the first half is pretty much uphill then there's a flat bit then it's steeply downhill. But the weather was glorious this morning, bright sunshine but not too hot and I made 8k in about 55 minutes.

I need to wear a GoPro or something to capture some of the sights I go through, we're so lucky to have all this green.