Geography never was my strong subject!

Busy day today! Shopping in the morning with the children. How can a trip to return a £40 bag (unwanted birthday present for oldest son) cost so much money? I must remember that the answer to the question 'Mum, can we just go and look in Game?' is always 'No, absolutely not, don't even look in the window!' I did sneak a copy of Zumba for the Xbox Kinnect thingy into the pile of games. I shall be interested to see if it is as good as everyone says it is, I was very unimpressed with Wii Fit, but would like something I can do on the days I don't run!

After a quick lunch at home (sandwiches in the garden, so almost a picnic), I took three children to see a friend for a quick run around in her garden, then home again. Husbando had taken a car into work this morning, and the plan was that I would run down and pick it up at some point during the day.

If I run straight to the shop it is a 2 mile run. I wanted to run 'about 3.5miles,' so I put my thinking cap on and decided to run up Brockham Hill and down Old Odiham Road. I thought this 'two sides of a triangle' route would possibly take me to just under 4miles, I also thought that as we had just had a rain shower it would be cooler outside, so I grabbed my water bottle, iPhone and off I set!

Half way up Brockham Hill, with the sun blazing down on my, I was struggling, and decided that if I was going to get to the top of the hill, let alone to the shop, I'd have to walk for a while! I walked (quite briskly) for 2 minutes and told myself that this was the first time I have run up that hill in months, and that it is bloody hard work at the best of times! Getting to the top of the hill was, as always a huge relief, but I then realised that what I thought was two sides of a triangle was actually three sides of a square. I wasn't worried - I thought I was about half way there, so may as well carry on.

The rest of the route was 'undulating' and it was a really enjoyable run, but Old Odiham Road seemed a lot longer when on foot than when whizzing along in the car! Before I knew it I'd covered over 4 miles and still had a way to go. The last mile was downhill all the way - there had to be some compensation for the fact that I'd climbed 437ft! Brilliant fun, and relaxing as I ran down the hill meant I had energy left for a final sprint to the finish. I covered 5.65miles, and the time wasn't too shabby, given that I'd walked for a couple of minutes. I felt as though I could have carried on running for a while longer too.

Runs this enjoyable, where I exceed my expectations, don't happen every day or even every week, so I am really enjoying the smug feeling. I want to go out and run again right now though - which is not terribly practical at just gone midnight!