Hi all!
Welcome to my running blog!
Today’s run was a real adventure! I tried a new path and found a beautiful open field very close to my regular route.
Why had I never seen other runners take that direction? Well, that became clear after 15 meters, the route was filled with thistles and thorns well above my knee hight - while wearing running shorts I was both running aswell as jumping around in order to avoid larger bundles of stinging plants. Despite not completing the route unscratched - I loved every second of it - and will definitly go another time (but will use thicker clothing for that haha)
The run itself was a bit of a rollercoaster - I started with 2.5km very low zone 2 heartrate on a paved route after which I went to an unpaved but stable terrain. Here I could maintain an easy pace but my heartrate was a little higher as I was running more concious due to the holes in the ground that I needed to avoid.
From there on I went to the area behind the fences.
While in this season you are allowed to go there, this area is given back to nature - so there are no roads, and the plants can grow how they want. Finding a route between all the plants is lots of fun especially as you often see loads of animals such as wild rabbits or pheasants.
At most places, you can not see the ground. So you have to be a little careful, but as I have ran this part countless times even at night - I am a little confident where (not) to place my feet!
After finishing this part of the route I was looking for a new loop in my route, so I just went into a different open field that was given back to nature - this was very beautiful as there was nobody to be seen around me, lots of different collors and different animals - it was also a very uncomfortable route. The plants were well above my knees (wearing shorts) and there were a lot of stinging / thorns. The thorns went through my shoes, into my calves and scratched my knees. - so next time I be better prepared! Wearing longer pants and thicker socks. But it was fun! I made some errors due to the wrong clothing and the thorns - that I tried to avoid them - jumping around - while it was a great workout - I did make a misstep and folted my right foot, quick stop to notice no real damage and continued the route!
Last 2.5km I could relax on steady asphalt, noticed my foot and ankle were fine - so did a few short sprints before reaching home again!
Happy running!