Busy Day

I have to psyche myself up for long runs these days and after this last week it would have been only too easy to have blobbed on my plan of getting the bus to Grassington and running back along the Dales Way to Ilkley. After giving myself a little pep talk I got down the hill and made the bus with seconds to spare. It took about 45 minutes and felt like a very long way! As it turned out, I went much better than expected, managing to maintain the planned pace for the entire distance, without too much stress and still feeling like there was plenty left at the end - until I started to run back up the hill, that is, and kept bumping into running friends, wanting to show some decent form.

It was a beautiful day for it too, not too cold, very little wind, and enough sun for me to be able to be mitless for good stretches! And a really beautiful route. The grassy sections are now soft without being muddy. For the record, between the two bridges on the Dales Way, it was 16.14 miles in 2.45, which, allowing for lots of short stops at the numerous gates and stiles, I'm very happy with. It's a good confidence booster at this stage. 

Back home, a quick shower and a bite to eat before dashing back down the hill to get the train to Leeds to meet E to watch The Brutalist, possibly not the best film - with its three and a half hour running time - to watch after a very long run! The fact that I stayed engaged throughout is testament to the quality of the film. It's about so many things that it's hard to say succinctly what it's meant to be about. There are so many ideas here, perhaps too many. I think it would have been a better film for fewer ideas and a shorter running time. I tend to think that if a film needs an intermission, it's too long. But, that said, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but then I tend to like these immersive experiences of long, slow, epic films.