Easter Sunday Run Joy

 

 

Well anyway, today is Easter Sunday.

A special day that we have looked forward to.

If only for the ice-cream that we gave up for Lent and would get our spoons out for today!

To celebrate this feast day, my dear husband Stephen and I woke up a little before 6 am.

After our lifesaver coffee, we slipped into our running kit then drove off to the start point of our Sunday run.

It was, as forecast, quite cold when we started off, ten minutes before our running friend of many years would start off behind us.

We have not been able to meet together for sometimes and that all needs no explanation any more.

She is a slightly faster runner than us, and in the past has always caught and past us somewhere on the route.

This means that we soon start glancing back now and again to see if she is in sight.

 

Today was a really special run and not just because we were going back to old habits.

Doing the run the opposite way round to usual, meant that we would be starting with an uphill section

that is more often, a heavenly downhill toward the end of the run.

 

After only abut fifteen minutes we saw a white deer watching us as openly as we watched it.

It stayed stock still, slightly up the slope to our right at the edge of a wooded area.

Steve and I are totally besotted with the deer that roam freely in the Angmering Park Estate.

 

 

They seem to have been a little thin on the ground during a period when many more people than usual have been going out in the country side.

Some for a breath of fresh air or simply to amuse the children, when there has not been any school or jobs in the for the parents.

For a while we thought the estate had had a cull and the lack of sightings was because of that.

We even asked some of the estate workers but they said that the animals had simply gone deeper into the woodland because of the huge increase in walkers and mountain bikers.

So it was in the light of everything that has happened during the Covid days, that we were so delighted to see loads of deer this morning.

 

 Just after the half way point, when our friend had still not caught up with us, though we had seen her in the distance once or twice, that we were stopped in our tracks.

There a little way below us down the slope of the hill were a large group of deer huddled together, again at the edge of a stand of trees.

There were five white ones at the back of the group closest to us and many more of different types, colour and size.

We had stopped to take photos since it was such a startling sight.

At roughly the same spot two hares went bounding by which is equally unusual.

 

We dragged ourselves away even though the herd had not dispersed, because we were after all supposed to be out run training.

The Easter treat was not even finished after that encounter, since during the last two miles running to the west along The Monarchs Way,

we still saw more groups of three or four small deer bounding through the woodland to our left.

We saw some dog walkers who had also seen lots of deer this morning and were as happy as we were.

I am not saying that our spirits were lifted by this heavenly run today but even after a couple of stop and stare moments

our run was still faster that any time over the last few months, though the fact that much of the mud had dried up must also have been a contributing factor.

 

Our old running mate however, who has entered a virtual half marathon for next weekend, did not catch up with us until almost at the runs end when we had stopped to speak to other friends that we had not been able to speak to for some time.

Treats galore of this special bank holiday weekend.

 

Our morning did not end there because we drove to the spot where we had seen the White-Tailed Eagles a few days ago but they were not around this morning.

We always take a spin in the van around Arundel centre after our run and the town was already looking like the tourist town it always was which was our cue to go home.

 

 

Dark corners

 

Flower in Concrete

 

Unbelievable to see that it was even there

growing freely, but tight in the concrete stuck.

All around it, in great strength where

regularly drives an articulated truck

travelling the busy town thoroughfare.

 

question always, how this can possibly be,

a tiny plant that one can press and squeeze.

Such inexplicable strength one here can see,

we cannot pass through stone if we so please

yet minute flora sets itself wildly free.

 

It teaches, through all tribulations severe      

to remember you’re no loser until you quit.

When everyday difficulties to us appear,

face life full on to fight for every little bit.

everyone is a winner if they persevere.

 

Through it is years since I write these words, I still very much feel like this tiny flower.

I am still trying to push against the impossible forces that surround us in everyday life.

Struggling to maintain my fitness through all the setbacks of the last year or more.

It has been an almighty battle.

There have been times when I have thought that it was a hopeless task.

There have been troublesome nightmares and times when tears fell.

 

The mind can be a dark cavern where who knows what lurks in the corners,

or hide in the deep cracks there.

They were most annoying thoughts in those moments where depression slid in uninvited.

The many facets of my life that I struggle to give equal time to, also work against me a lot of the time.

 

The most often question asked of me during my 30 odd years in the sport of triathlon,

has always been, and very often the first thing people ask me is,

“When are you going stop doing all this”?

“When are you going to start acting your age and not your shoe size”?

The other remark, that is often a parting shot has been “You’re mad you are”!

This last one is sometimes said with a smile but quite often muttered seriously.