Soft cheese at Tebay

Spent Friday doing some work in Alderley Edge. It was a cracking spring day. I had a cheese pasty for lunch and bought some smoked cheese and coffee, squeezing my way out from between all those fancy cars and glamorous folk.

On the way home I opted for the M6 and let my mind slip into neutral as I cruised up past Kendal. I thought I really should do some miles when I get home, but after a 3 hour drive, I thought I'd probably just crash out in a slovenly heap with a can or a mug of tea. For many years now I've been up and down this road, and, as you near Tebay you can't miss the plump, rounded Hills (I think their the Howgills) that I've always thought would be good for a weekend run. I checked the temperature and it was still up around 15 degrees so it didn't take long before I was swooping off the motorway and parking up near the Barnaby Rudge Pub, shovelling on the Walshes which were a bit tight and setting off for a jog in the late afternoon sun.

The wall of noise from the M6 was soon replaced by warbling bird life up on the hill as I climbed the grassy slope before reaching the top and running along what looked like an old droving road perched on the rolling ridge southward. The route was grassy with a lot of damp sedge which, had it been wetter, would have made for a boggy run, but today it was spongy and easy underfoot.

Ran for around 30 minutes before turning back. The path went on ahead to some bigger hills and I think I'll be back and a little more prepared to spend longer on them. The fell shoes stretched as they became wet and I stopped for a few snaps and made my way back to the car, making do with the cheese that had been slowly simmering on the dashboard, a smoothie some time later from the local store in Carlisle and Pete Tong to accompany me on the way home.

Up this morning for a park run. I can't run first thing but it's a week now before London so hauled myself out of bed just to see how far off the pace I am. Scraped in just under 19 minutes so still about 6 or 7% off my usual pace so expecting to finish around 3:15 to 3:20 next week but at least no pain or niggles in the legs and actually looking forward to a nice day out next Sunday.