I ran on Christmas Day, and now I have run on New Year’s Day as well. I had plans to run in between but as ever, they didn’t quite work out. Already, amazingly, the daylight is creeping in of an evening. As soon as we had the shortest day, it felt like the difference could be seen - but perhaps that is a psychological thing.

I have found a route filled with street lights and such, so I may be able to run during the week sooner rather than later. I make no promises on this front, but it is my intention to up the once-weekly schedule!

However, today’s run comes seven days after the last, and I was trying out a new route. I’ve been moaning about the hills in my last couple of posts, and so Mr C suggested a new park-style route I could try. It’s pretty straight, and consists of some lovely even tarmac, and then some rather more broken up stuff as well. I ran in the wrong direction a couple of times, so you can see in my run below some rather slow peaks where I was turning around and heading back the way I’d come.

When I got back, I was dismayed to find a Runkeeper email congratulating me on a new elevation record. That wasn’t entirely the plan when trying to search out a less hilly route. However, it’s a much more gradual incline and then decline, compared with my regular haunts. The pace wasn’t too bad either, despite going wrong several times.

I wasn’t sure about it when I first got back but having seen the numbers, and the graph, it looks like it could actually be a better choice. It has to be more fun running a hill that you don’t really notice than facing a couple of steep inclines with a gulp, doesn’t it? Anyway, at least I now have some options.