But fate and the weather opted to change that plan. And, after all, isn't Sunday meant to be the day of rest anyway?
On Sunday morning I got up early and headed out around 6:30 a.m. to walk into town and then try my hand at a footpath route in the area. At that time the weather was just slightly damp and drizzly.
The walk from Beryl down to the Cathedral was direct and easy, about a mile long. From there I planned to walk to the Bishops Palace, and then strike out on a path that would theoretically loop me back around to Beryl.But once I got down to the Cathedral in the center of town, I decided to stroll about a little and have a look. There I saw two things that would change the course of my day. The first was Starbucks. I was slightly shocked, I admit, because I hadn't seen a Starbucks since London. But yet I was exited—I craved a latte fix.
Even more excitingly, just before I got to Starbucks I saw a banner promoting "Wells City Fun Run May 27"—today, of course. This was the first I'd heard of it—I hadn't thought of looking for races on this trip—but how could I resist this one, if it were at all possible to get in? I decided to look it up on the internet when I returned to the hotel (I was thrilled to discover that Beryl has free wireless internet—no more trolling the airwaves for random wireless connections).
Then I began to follow my walking path, beyond the Bishop's palace and entering into a wooded area marked National Trust, called Tor Hill. I followed the wooden trail markers through the park to the other side. Then I lost the nerve to go onward—I didn't want to lose my way too badly and end of late to breakfast! Although I had an ordnance survey map with all the paths marked, I didn't have detailed directions like I did with the planned walks in my various books... and I just didn't feel familiar with the area as I did up in the Cotswolds. So I turned back and traced my way back through Tor Hill, to the entry on what I believed was Tor Lane. I took a leap of faith and headed down Tor Lane, hoping that I would find the marked footpath that I believed would lead me back to Beryl, or at least in the right direction. There were a few minutes of confusion as I found myself in a section of a development that seemed to be all dead-end streets with no outlet—but a lady pointed me in the right direction and, blessed miracle, I came out at the intersection with Hawker's Lane, and headed back up the hill to Beryl.
I quickly found the Well City Fun Run on the internet, learning that it began at 10:30 and registration closed at 10:10. That would give me plenty of time to have breakfast and get back down to the Town Hall near the Cathedral for registration and the run. There was a 3-mile run and a 10K (as well as a Junior 1K for children). I decided to stick with the 3-mile run, in consideration of ten days of scones and clotted cream, and also because the 10K race repeated the 3 mile course twice, and that did not sound like double the fun!
Normally I would not want to eat a big breakfast before a run. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't come back and have breakfast later. I decided to go ahead and have breakfast between 8:30 and 9:00, and hope that the hour and a half time would be enough to digest it. So I had a typical English B & B breakfast of fruit (they had a lovely fresh compote of berries and currants), poached eggs, bacon, toast and tea. Just a little something to get me going.
Then I quickly changed into running clothes and jogged the mile downhill to the Cathedral (my first warmup). After purchasing my registration and commemorative tee shirt, I spent the next 20 minutes or so running laps around the Cathedral Close and Bishop's Palace. It was still raining lightly, but luckily not so hard as to be an interference.
Shortly before 10:30 everyone gathered in the marketplace by the Town Hall (near the Cathedral) to wait for the start. First the 10K runners went, then, a couple minutes later, we were off! Down the High Street and into Wells, along roads and onto cycle tracks, to Dulcote then back into Wells up Constitution Hill (a pretty long stretch of hill), then to Tor Hill (a somewhat familiar area from early that morning), to the finishing stretch in front of the Bishop's Palace (see map of route). I could feel my breakfast heavy in my stomach as I pushed myself to run faster than my comfortable pace. As I slogged up Constitution Hill, I reminded myself I had run longer, steeper, and more hills in both the Portland 15K and the Whidbey Half Marathon—this should be a piece of cake in comparison (though perhaps cake is an unfortunate term, given all the cake consumption that was probably slowing me down!).
As I neared the finish line I put on a final burst of speed so I could finish in a sprint, and saw my dad cheering me on at the finish line (so, apparently he had found his way down the hill). I crossed the finish line, feeling grateful that I wasn't facing the second loop for the 10K.It was about 11:00 or a few minutes after, and by now the light rain had changed to a moderate rain. I was so warm from running that I didn't mind, and I had a hat on, so we wandered around the shops by the Cathedral while I recovered. Of course we found ourselves in the National Trust shop, where I picked up a couple of books on walks in the Somerset area. One was Somerset Teashop Walks, which seemed like something that might be fun to try on a future trip.
We were sort of passing time until both the races were done and the results were announced. At 11:45 we wandered back to the Town Hall just as they began to announce the winners of the 3-mile run. Somewhat to my surprise, when they got to Female over 35 (up to 45), the first finisher was me! Of course one might speculate that perhaps I was the only entrant in that category, but I have since determined (by looking at the list of finishers) that there were only a handful of women finishing before me (and lots afterward).
I also noticed that the woman finishing first in the over-45 category finished before me (by 18 seconds). So I beat all the women age 36 to 45, but not the one who was 46+! Oh well, that should be quite pleasing for her, anyway. (My time was not too good, at 28:17 it was as much as 30 seconds slower per mile than my pace in longer races, but again, taking into consideration the clotted cream, the morning's breakfast, the cold weather, and just the reality that I never do as well in short runs as I do in longer runs, I'm not dwelling on the time! Really, I'm not.)By then I was starting to get really cold. The body heat I had generated running had totally dissipated, and it was raining steadily. I was ready to head back. But first, I had been waiting since before 7 a.m.—Starbucks! I picked up my drink and it helped warm me all the way back up the hill.
The rest of the day was a relaxing day at the hotel. My mother had spent the time we were gone alternating between her luxurious room and the sitting room downstairs.
We came back bearing a few groceries from a store down in town, and after I had taken a long, hot shower and dressed, we set out a lunch of rolls, cheese, sliced ham, and apples. I came to my parents room just in time to hear the story of how Clementine (the black cat) had just come through the bathroom window from the second story ledge outside! My mother speculated that she had gotten trapped in the room next door (she likes to wander into the rooms) and was making her escape. 
Now she was in the room demanding milk, which my mother got from the refrigerator down the hall and poured into a saucer. After her milk, Clementine was ready to leave.I decided to take my computer downstairs and work in the sitting room. I started out in a chair in the bay window, looking out at the garden. Holly came in and turned on the fire, and when my mother appeared later, I moved to a sofa by the fireplace, a much toastier spot. Throughout the afternoon the weather had turned progressively rainier and windier, even stormy. Through the bay window we saw little Clementine sitting outside, her mouth open wide in a silent demand. Though the window muffled her miaows, the message was clear—"Let me in!" We struggled to open the big window, then after the cat slipped through, struggled even more to get it shut. Then I heard my mother say "oh no"—and I turned to see a trail of muddy pawprints across the creamy carpeting. Of course we should have known better. It was a rainy day, the garden was muddy, and I had made some dirty footprints of my own in my room before I realized I'd better take my outdoor shoes off before going in. I ran for some towels and we dabbed and rubbed at the marks until they disappeared.
That was probably the most excitement we had for the remainder of the day. I spent the afternoon writing, and my parents read and rested.
Clementine, all dried off, joined me near the fire. It was really quite lovely, and a luxury after all the busy days so far.
I tried to order takeaway fish and chips for our dinner, but the shop had the answering machine on, so perhaps it was closed. Instead we just ate the rest of our leftover rolls and cheese. Funny how you can think of bread and cheese and biscuits (cookies) as a "light" dinner! I haven't even tried to seek out vegetables and salad since we left the cottage. At least I ate a couple of token apples with the bread and cheese. And it was definitely cheap eats, if not the most well-balanced meal!
1 comment:
I have enjoyed your blog.
Susannah
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