Ine in UK!

OK - as you may or may not know - I am not a blogger, but I am going to try so if you are interested in my run, you can follow my progress.

I am now in England. The weather is nice (for England - ie it is not raining). After a whirlwind arrival, I made it to the National Shire Horse Show on the weekend. Lots of lovely horses, and being outside during the day certainly helps with the jet lag - I hardly felt it at all!

I went for a little run, but really spent most of my time at the show.

Monday and Tuesday were a bit wasted. I went for a good run on Tuesday, but have to be careful where I go because I am not familiar with the area and get lost easily! I had a few bad experiences with the footpaths here (which are not like ours down the side of the road, but cut across the fields willy-nilly). I spotted a well signed one with a worn path, so thought I would be safe. I headed off down it (all good), over a few stiles (still good) and then out into a field, where the path promptly disappeared. This wouldn't have been too bad, except for the fact that the lovely green grass was hiding a BOG! I sank up to my ankles in mud - great. Not to worry, I decided, but I'll keep on anyway. So, I slogged it out over the field, but of course when I got to the other side I couldn't find the path. So I slogged it back and headed back to the road.

This happened TWICE. You would think I would have learnt the first time, but I guess once your shoes are covered in muck it doesn't really matter h0w many times you go through it. Anyway, I figured bog-running has got to be good training for sand dunes :)

Today I went to a Shire Horse sale. I was not tempted to buy anything, but found the constantly offered drinks (brandy and coke!?! Actually not as bad as it sounds) difficult to refuse. By this afternoon I was quite cheery and having a great time. The show and sale were handy, because it meant that I managed to catch up with EVERYONE here in the Shire scene without having to trip about much.

Tomorrow I am off to visit my best friend Joey. Can't wait! I'll have to go for a run in the morning before I set off though.

see you!

ine