Back in black

I was well beaten today. Well beaten by the weather. With the rain coming down steadily from lunchtime it was around three this afternoon that I thought it might ease up so I grabbed the dog from her sleepy corner and saddled up for 6 miles through the woods. I couldn't find my Walshes so I borrowed the young 'uns black Salomons. Very snug and hardly used...but it began to bucket down as me and mutley made our way through the puddles which had formed along the track into the woods and after 5 minutes we were both soaked and sodden.

We passed a couple of women out with their dogs. They were stood, head down, pulling their black cagoules close around their faces. As I passed one looked up and shouted nervously 'we're mad..!'. As I passed I nodded and thought 'mad, yes; and alive'. This sort of extreme weather changes the usual routine, changes the ground and the landscape and it's quite exhilarating to run in.

As I ran along the ridge among the dense green woodland and ferns, much of the foliage was sagging against the onslaught from above and I had to duck in some places to avoid the thin wilting branches and dripping leaves. I tucked my cold, wet hands into my tracksuit sleeves as I ran. The dog looked up at me and gave me a 'you must be mental' look just as there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder almost immediately afterwards. Now, I like a challenge but I draw the line at dodging lightning strikes in the woods and it was sharpish back to the car with a princely total of a mile and a half in the running bank and a pile of wet laundry.
Strangely it was so wet the shoes remained clean as a whistle, but the dog says she's not my best friend any more. Its still raining.