Deep mud and green sand

So the laptop appears to be holding up, so I'm blogging while the illusion is maintained.

Great run this evening. A few weeks ago I'd looked into a circular trail run starting from Tom's house in Godalming. Trouble was, I couldn't find any decent trails to get us back to his house. However, running along the Wey towing path a fortnight ago, I realised we could simply bolt the final part of that onto the loop, do a bit of mappery to get the ends to meet, and hey presto, a beautiful looking twelve and a bit mile run.

So tonight we ran it, in temperatures hovering either side of freezing.

Private - no access!

I have to say, the start wasn't particularly auspicious. We found some amazing running across a wooded hillside, but not on the trail we were looking for. An early glitch never bodes well, and by the time we found the place we should have been, and ominous sign warned that a key footbridge across Busbridge Lakes was closed. Just two miles in, and the route would have to be detoured. Thankfully, Tom suggested we go for it anyway.

Half a mile further along the trail, we started to run past remains of the old footbridge, and with the sound of running water coming from far beneath our feet, we came upon security fencing with signage stating "Private - no access". Since Tom and I are both quite private people, we figured this meant we could go ahead, so we squeezed past the barriers and tiptoed across the semi-constructed scaffolding that had been erected in the bridge's place. Fortune favours the brave.

Running continued, mostly using well worn, and incredibly muddy bridlepaths, south over Hydon Heath, and the highest point on the route, Hydon's Ball. Seizing the opportunity to guest-bag another trig point for my running buddy Pyro, we had a quick squint at the view, and starry sky above.

From this point we picked up the Greensand Way, which is predominantly very poorly waymarked bridlepath. We alternated between stop-starting with map and compass to determine which of many tree-littered micro-trails we should be taking, and slogging uphill in steep sided, hoof-poached gullies. I kept thinking how depressed somebody like me would be if they'd included any of these trails in a biking route...



Extreme Trig Hugging

The Greensand Way turned us north again, and the running finally picked up, as wooded trails became enclosed footpaths between level fields.

Edging towards Bramley we saw our third owl of the run, swooping ahead of us between the natural archway of beech trees, but kindly perching on a branch to our left, to let us have a better look at him. I don't think it's any coincidence that we saw no rabbits tonight.

Eventually Tom recognised our position as we honed in on Godalming, and picked up the pace. Including half a mile of faffing about at the beginning, we'd been out a little longer than planned, and our wives were beginning to wonder whether we were going to make it to dinner.

Tom and I are both running early tomorrow morning, in different places. As much as our wives support us in our foolhardy endeavours, with what they already put up with, we know better than to bug them for a lift home.


Summary:
Today: 13.0 miles, 1:58 hrs, 1757 cals
January: 293.1 miles, 32.44 hrs, 36792 cals