Reading time four minutes
My legs are tired today. I am “feeling it” this morning. High pressure over Scandinavia is currently blessing us with some stable weather. I did not have any means of transport yesterday but i was eager to escape into the hills to clear my head. I jumped on an early train from Piccadilly to Windermere and decided to go for a run in the fells.
Arriving in Windermere i decided to follow my nose and head to Ambleside. I could not bare more transport so i ran the five/six miles down the road. I am not keen on running on pavement but it beats sitting on a bus.
Once in Ambleside my memory of competing in fell races came back to me. I recognised some of the old trods and paths and thought i would do a long version of the Fairfield horseshoe race (with a road section and some extra hills).
Short video (1) (Click on the orange link to view)
The weather continued to be favourable as i headed up to Fairfield ( at 873 metres). It is a common walk with great views of Windermere and over to Coniston and Helvellyn if you are lucky.
Stopping briefly just before i started to descend i feasted and soaked up the views.
Off the mountains now and arriving in Rydal it would have been easy to get the bus back to Windermere, skipping the last six mile road section. I thought i would run it as we would pass close to lake Windermere and it would be nice to see the boats.
Completing a full day of seven hours running i arrived back at the Windermere station fairly taxed. Waiting for the train i got through a litre of milk. I sure sign that it was time to stop and rest.
A grand day out with plenty of good landscape and a level of exercise i remember well from years of fell running.
Enjoy the autumn photographs.
Moored boats on Lake Windermere video (1)
Matt Dawson