So, despite my navel gazing about etiquette yesterday, I’m completely smitten with running in the UK. I had the pleasure this afternoon of finding both a linear park – an abandoned rail line, paved and what we’d call a “Rail-Trail” in the US, and realizing that it was tied into a network of paved pathways that essentially ran through everyone’s backyard. Absolutely amazing network.
Which somewhat explains why I haven’t seen as many runners, on a per capita basis, over here. Back Stateside, we’ve pretty much got no choice but to take our exercise on the road or the sidewalk, so, if there’s a runner in the area, you’ll see them from the car.
The other bit that I’m sure plays a part is that a lot of folks actually walk as a form of transportation. So, they’re generally fitter based on lifestyle, and don’t need to run so much.
Anyway, today’s run was great. I’m becoming a pretty big fan of “overtraining” while on business travel – turning some of the commute time I save into mileage doesn’t seem to hurt. 4.5 miles today, and 5+ yesterday gives me one of my biggest running weeks in a while, and it’s only Tuesday.
In other news, the folks I’m over here visiting took me out to a quite literally ancient pub – there’s been a building on the site since Roman times, and the building we were in dated to Tudor times, which, if I recall, came somewhere in between the Stone Age and Dutch Modern periods in interior design. The pub also featured Real Ale, which was one of my personal goals for this trip. Absolutely fabulous – all of the taste of quality homebrew without the downside of having to deal with two cases of terrible beer when a batch goes wrong.