I love my random additional days off! There are a couple of bank holidays where we also get the Tuesday off from work and there is always something really nice about that additional day. It feels a bit indulgent in a way annual leave doesn’t. The plan for today was just to try out the calf a bit. Nothing silly but after yesterday’s gym session all is still well and it seems like the obvious next step is to see how it fairs out in the wild. So we went to Bolton Abbey. Kath went off on her 5 mile loop and my plan was to walk a mile which would take me almost to the Strid and then on the way back I would throw in a few little jogs to see how everything feels. The loop went like this:

• Ooh it’s lovely and cool under these trees
• Squirrel!
• Bye Kath as I waved her off on her run
• Hm, high path or low path? High path
• Wild garlic smells lush
• What’s that? Oh just a pigeon
• Everything feels ok, good
• Oh person, ‘hello’. No hello? Rude
• Oh I am at the Strid already. Lovely. That was nice. Should I run now?
• Little jog, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee downhill
• Ok nothing hurts, did my knee just niggle? Nah, that was a brain niggle not a knee niggle
• Ok, back we go. Little jog, body scan, all good
• Slope, walk. But I could try and run. Stop it, be sensible!
• Weeeeeeeee down the slope and on a bit. Ok all good
• It’s kinda hot
• My eyebrows are sweaty
• Little run, all good. Keep going to that tree. No not that one, the other one. Which one? You know. Do I? Oh slope, walk
• And run down the hill and keep going, keep going, yes it’s hot, keep going. Fuck that’s a big dog. Walk
• ‘ Hi dog’ (and human). Aw friendly. That’s nice. Walk the hill though
• And last little run down the slope to the Cavendish Pavilion. Ooh is that tightness? Niggle? Brain niggle or real niggle?
• Doesn’t matter. I am out of the wood, too hot to run in full sun. Walk to car
• Grab go bag with change of clothes, gym towel and deodorant and head for toilets
• Thank goodness I am getting changed because these lycra pants are not coming back up after having a pee. Also, I think I have an actual puddle in my bra.
• Good outing that. Happy

So that’s another 3.7km added to the Berlin Wall virtual challenge. Well, I continued along the road I was on and then turned right where I will have walked along a stretch planted with 45 cherry trees as a memorial. I continued along the Wall route past more remnants, a tower and then I hit the river Spree. The river also acted as a physical border with underwater barriers. There is a lot online about this if you are interested and on the Mauerspuren website you can see the various locations. After crossing the river I will have come to the East Side Gallery. We have been to that Gallery – the longest Open Air gallery in the world and the longest continuous stretch of Wall remaining. The 1.3km of that stretch will have taken a third of my run/walk today and I am sure that if I was doing it for real, I would have lingered. We probably have photos but what you can see online is probably better. After that I went onwards along the route, past more bits of wall. I’ll soon head left over the river again but that’s for next time.