Mrs Noel's birthday run

It was Mrs Noel's birthday over the weekend. So we decided she needed a more special run than our usual circuits. So we ran from Bingley (where my parents live) via Saltaire, to Ilkley. I think it was about 7 miles. It's amazing how much ground you can cover when you're only running in one direction. My parents had very kindly agreed to take the kids over to meet us.

Our imagination was somewhat fired by the idea that we would be running past the twelve apostles stone circle.

We had high hopes of something wondrous (like the picture). But instead, what we actually got was quite small and it seemed some of the apostles were lying down.

It was also pretty murky as you can see in the photograph. It's not a complicated route but we had to check a few times using my compass. We eventually got to Ilkley and had a nice pub lunch and a pint. Birthdays are made for this. We tried our best to get Mrs Noel to buy something. But despite being led into her favourite clothes shops and even the running shop, she was uninspired. Feel free to make suggestions as to what she might like, as I was hoping to get an extra something for her in Ilkley.

Then after Saturday's murk, it was glorious on Sunday (but I didn't take my camera out - sorry). I was trying one of my local loops at race pace. I always do this when it's early season and convince myself I'm running really quickly and have somehow changed into some sort of fell running god in a kind of boyhood superhero style. Then comes the first race and I realise (a) I have not been bitten by a radioactive fell running spider without knowing it, or hit by a strange comet-like thing from the planet Fell Running, and (b) those people who I used to be close to in races, but who have trained over the winter, are now a bit faster than I am. The first race is this weekend, all being well, so I'm looking forward to going through this cycle of naivety and mild disappointment all over again during the race.