Back with a Vengeance

Patches of snow and ice still litter the grass. It is still freezing but the north easterly wind has subsided; this makes it feel a great deal warmer. Learning from my mistake of yesterday I left off the extra vest. Setting off alongside the main road we were surprised to see three Deer grazing contentedly in the field. They were feasting contentedly on the farmer’s crop of winter barley and took little notice as we ran past. We soon turned into a country road which after two short but sharp hills slopes downwards into a village. Across the main road we continued in a right handed arc, passing some twenty bee hives that have been over wintered sheltered beside a hedge, in a field waiting to be moved to a more suitable position when spring arrives. They should have been in their new quarters by now but bees do not work when it is cold. They stay in the hives swarming together to keep warm. They also need feeding on a sugar solution to keep them alive as winter rations that they had stored are nearly exhausted. On we went to the next village before crossing the main road once again and heading up the track on route home. On the track we met a couple with what looked like a Husky puppy. It was not on a lead and the owners did little to catch hold of it although they could see us running towards them for some distance. It did not respond to their calls and wanted to run alongside of us. I was tempted to keep going and let them retrieve it for themselves but we were heading towards another main road. It was not the dogs fault just thoughtless owners. I caught hold of its collar, pointed it in the right direction and gently propelled it in the right direction. I uploaded the days run onto the Garmin Connect website and was pleasantly surprised to find that despite our distractions it was one of our faster efforts. We may suffer tomorrow as a result but it appears the training is going in the right direction in spite of the weather interruptions.