Bulls are quite big . . .

Last week was a rest week: a 4 mile run along a beautiful sandy beach while on holiday in the Outer Hebrides was all I did, other than some core stability work (which is key to helping with the weight of the rucksack on long runs/walks). I knew the coming three weeks were going to see some hard physical work so I wanted to ensure I was as fresh as possible.

This week (total miles 34.2) has seen the usual couple of short mid-week runs: usually faster or "speed play" sessions to try and keep some semblance of basic running speed at between 9 to 10 minute miles.

This weekend has seen a good back-to-back:

Saturday
Distance: 21 miles
Ascent: 2089 ft
Rucksack weight: 2.5kg
Calories burnt: 3090
Time: 4h36m

Over and around the Dales. I started a bit too late in the day bearing in mind how quickly the dark comes in at this time of year. It was cold, some warmth in the sun, crisp, dry and clear. The ground was though very boggy in places because of heavy rains this week.

The highlight today was coming across a field full of cows and an extremely large bull. The route I needed was on the other side of this blockage. A high stone wall to my left didn't make it easy to go any other way.

It'll be fine, I thought, they're usually placid and I'll walk around them. They had other ideas: the bull, who had been standing at the back, pushed his way through the parting group of cows and walked proudly to the front. Still I thought it would be fine so slowed a bit and kept walking around them, hugging the stone wall to my left.

A little bit too close for comfort the bull stood square on at me, raised his left leg and stamped it down hard on the ground . . . twice. And then started moving forward.

Survival instinct kicked in! I scrambled over the rough stone wall and the annoying wire fence that was on top of that . . . only to find myself in another field with another group of cows and a bull. I figured I could probably run to the northern wall ahead of me faster than the bull in this field could reach me so I legged it, coming round the back of the cows and bull in the other field to the safety of the path I needed to get to!

A few miles later I looked to the horizon and realised this was taking me longer than I'd anticipated: I had about an hour of light left. I stepped up the pace to finish where I'd parked the car in the almost-dark, feeling okay but tired.

Sunday

Distance: 4.1 miles

Ascent: 618 ft

Rucksack weight: 6.7kg
Calories burnt: a couple of Mars Bars

Time: 51m

The legs felt surprisingly good but with the rucksack soon tired going up a steep hill. The cold bath at the end was more of a shock than usual: I'd forgotten that if the outside temperature has dropped then so has the temperature of the water coming in to the house drawn from the mains! I got out once the legs started going numb and felt better after a hot shower.