Powerlines and waterlines

Another new route for tonight's bipedal excursion, which meant some brand new trails for me to run within just a few miles of my house. Since necessity is the second cousin of "where the heck am I gonna run tomorrow?", I'm still quite glad that I set a private Janathon goal of not running the same route twice, as although I may end up with a sprained brain (let alone everything else), I'm considering my surroundings a little more.

Like many people, and probably most runners, I can be a creature of habit. My main reason for running is to unwind, and I like to be able to zone out and let my feet follow familiar trails. However, since I moved house in the summer, all my routes are really extensions or rehashes of my previous ones. I've never really stretched myself from my new address. I'm feeling stretchier everyday.

With today's work day lasting a little longer than hoped, were it not Janathon, I'd have foregone a run completely. As it was, I left the house at nine, and within half a mile was off the tarmac, and winding my way uphill onto the military training area of Caesar's Camp. I followed the perimeter as close as I could on vehicle tracks and deerpaths, with the main road never more than 100ft away. Passing the hidden trig point marking Beacon Hill I clattered down the steepest section of fireroad I know to exist (known a the "Ski-jump" by local runners), and picked up the overhead powerlines that cut through the woods.



Mmmmmmm....... new shoes

I remember trying to follow these lines as a kid on a bike, and giving up within a few hundred metres of each road intersection. Back then they were heavily overgrown, as people tended to stay off the military land. Nowadays the whole area is a wealth of criss-crossing paths used by dogwalkers, runners and best of all, kids on bikes.

I'd seen the swathe cut by the lines of poles on GoogleEarth (where would we be without it?), so tonight, I linked together all the sections across Caesar's Camp, Tweseldown Racecourse, and into Eversley Woods. Eventually as they entered the town, and I turned on the trails to pick up the Basingstoke Canal for the return, a few miles east, to Aldershot Military Town, then a final tarmac slog over my hill, and home.

I would love to include photographs of the many deer and foxes that accompanied me tonight, particularly as some of them just stood firm while I passed within six feet, but even though I can spot their eyeshine from almost half a mile with my Ay-Up headtorch, my camera prefers to focus on spots of rain, and the blurry brambles two feet infront. So here's a photo of my new roadshoes instead, fresh from the postman this morning. Spoil yourself, scratch the screen for that new-shoe smell.


Summary:
Today: 11.4 miles, 1:28 hrs, 1607 cals
January: 57.1 miles, 7:56 hrs, 7860 cals