23rd-29th December Run notes

Tuesday

'Twas the run before Christmas and so a little bit of speed work was had.

Thursday

In the spirit of Boxing day this was an easy run. Keeping it easy all the way round with a brief detour into Grafton to make up the miles and a peek at Poetry post to see the poem of the day. I'm rewarded with a little Christmas-ey poem which I snapped before turning round for the final Cranford run of 2024.

Sunday

Holiday long run! I'm on holiday and rather than plot a route I let Strava do it for me. It came up with a pretty reasonable road route from Centre Parcs Whinfell forest to Penrith and back. The start of the journey is a couple of kilometres down the A66 to start with, not something I relish. There is no footpath provision along the stretch I'm on and I whilst the road is quite wide, it requires attention. I'm grateful to escape off towards Brougham castle and enter Penrith properly. I wind my way through the old town up to Penrith castle before crossing the railway line and coming back through a industrial estate with a large animal feed factory. I rejoin the A66 briefly although for a stretch with actual footpaths before passing through Eamont Bridge and out towards Cliburn. These country lanes are much quieter and I'm rewarded with long stretches just to myself and the peace of the countryside. Before reaching Cliburn I take a track past Cliburn Moss nature reserve which seems a favourite of local dog walkers and climb the hill back up into Whinfell forest. I chalk the final long run of the year up to 25k and feel pretty dang good about it.