This one was unexpected. I’ve been a bit crap of late with the ol’ “run with”. Truth being that it’s a big commitment. It takes time and planning, factored with my rather gung-go approach to entering races, changing jobs and running with larger groups of people, I haven’t made the time. Time found me on this occasion. It presented me with opportunity, means and the company…
I needed this, and I’m so glad it happened. We were both down in the New Forest with Xendurance EU and a group of runners they’d bandied together through Kieran. Running was on the agenda and we were hoping the day would give us a chance to have a group run once all the filming was done (more on that another time). Jacob and I found our selves with a spare hour or so whilst the others continued with the filming, so off we went.
It was enlightening. For many reasons. Firstly, I was in self-diagnosis mode. I was still nursing my feet and ankles back to full health after Lavaredo and hadn’t run in over three weeks. Every step I took, every feel, I was monitoring. Looking out for signs and signals and warnings to be worried. It felt ok, good even. No alarms were set off and I’m giving myself the green light to continue the recovery and get back on it. Secondly I’d never been to the New Forest before and it is beautiful. Stunning trails with free roaming cattle and horses. So so beautiful. And then there was Jacob… a complex and incredibly articulate gent of a man! As we ran we continued, and delved deeper into, some of the conversations we’d started as a group earlier. We talked all things from running, our motivations, experiences running journeys and ambitions to social media, mental health, bodily functions and self-management, race organisations, work life and the balance of managing running with personal commitments to recipes for coffee concoction to get that perfect early morning wake up!
With the stunning backdrop of the lush green New Forest trails, I could have continued for hours listening to Jacob, nodding my head in agreement and forgetting my pains and worries. Thank you Jacob!!
Jacob paraphrased a quote to us this day, one I’ll always associate to him and which so perfectly sums up my love of trail running and the feelings it gives. It went something like “the city takes its energy from you, but the trails give you energy”.
Run With Dai 