Get out while you can!!!

This evening I had an almost spiritual experience, I ran 6 odd miles on a trail that was bone dry. This is a trail that is almost always muddy, slimy and covered in either weeds or debris from the overflowing river. The trail in question is the River Tyne walkway which leads from Haddington to East Linton. This evening Nethy and I ran it in reverse as Matt and Ruby were heading to North Berwick for bmx club. I always find running home is psychologically much easier than running away! Anyway, it soon became apparent that the trail had taken on a new lease of life. The dry weather meant the puddles and mud had disappeared and the cold meant that the Spring foliage that would usually have engulfed the trail by now was still only in it's early stages of growth. Hooray!

I'd decided to follow the old adage about not casting a cloot and opted for longs, but I was a bit sneaky and wore a running tshirt under my gilet with my armwarmers. They were rolled down at about mile 2 as the warmth of the sun cancelled out the chilly wind that was blowing in my face. My longs were rolled up at mile 4 and I made a mental note that I need a new pair of 3/4 tights for the Summer (I don't do shorts!). The trail was so green compared to last time I was out. The wild garlic smelled delightful (another mental note to pick some and make pesto before it's too late). The trees are still really bare but it won't be long before the narrow path disappears under knee high nettles.

There was not another sole on the entire length of the path so Nethy and I had a little chat as we ran (as you do!). She finds it incredibly difficult to run alongside the river as her natural otter instinct is constantly telling her to jump in. I told her she'd get her swim when we were back in Haddington so she relaxed a bit. By the time we got back to Abbey bridge in Haddington I had a huge grin on my face. How wonderful to be out in the sunshine running without being covered in dirt! Nethy got her swim and was a happy girl too. If there's a trail you've been trudging along all winter I'd urge you to get back out onto it now while the conditions are so good. God know what weather we'll get next. There are forecasts of heavy frosts at the weekend :/

I left my Garmin at home by mistake and didn't want to use my phone to track my run as I was listening to a Trail Runner Nation podcast so it would have zapped the battery too much. It was nice not looking at the time and how 'fast' I was running but I did miss looking at my route afterwards (although I've run that so many times I have it recorded) but I like to keep it as a record. I did take some pictures though that show the big changes in the path since last time we were running on it.

The Tyne path in January...

And today....