Wood Panoramics

I'm lucky to have sizeable local woods less than 5 minutes from my house still well inside Sheffield's city boundaries. I thought I'd try out the panoramic mode of the Sony RX100, it's a neat function - in some ways easy to use, in others not. I'll give some proper feedback in a review post in a week or so. In the mean time here's a few images from a walk with my daughter this morning:

Why run?

Since my brief trip to the Alps a month or so ago I've been unable to climb due to nerve pain in my left hand. I think it's been brought on by the battering it got holding the hammer head of my axe for 10 hours across the Midi-Plan Traverse so I'm christening it 'plunger's palm'

In the mean time I've been running even more than ever. Running is one of those activities that divides opinion in a love-hate way, so I thought I'd explain a little of why I'm I love it so much.

The first and main reason for me is that it is that it keeps me sane - running is a guaranteed safety valve for surviving modern life. I'm sure there is a complex physiological reason involving various chemicals being released in the brain as to why it works, but the simple act of heading out for even a short run seems to de-clutter the mind. I suspect the rhythm of running helps and of course the fact that you can concentrate on one thing without having to be distracted by the bleeps and buzzes of the daily grind.
Secondly there's the health benefits - my family has a history of genetic heart disease with many of my relatives dying from heart attacks, so anything I can do to delay that is obviously great. You could argue there are health problems from running too - my knees definitely aren't wild about my return to running and most of my mates have opted for road biking as their middle aged fitness escape route. However biking doesn't have that.......direct connection with the land. There is something magical about moving on foot at 'speed' over the land. I'm sure it's a deep rooted memory of the great travels our ancient ancestors must have undertaken. But (particularly as you get fitter) naturally right about sweeping across interesting terrain. As well as the rhythms and contours of the land there's the simple little discoveries I come across my early morning runs. I'm lucky enough to have my local wood within a couple of minutes from my front door. 6.30 runs have brought the glittering crystals of snow highlighted in my head torch, the echoes of woodpeckers, racing squirrels and Spring's carpets of wild garlic and bluebells.

I think most impotantly running more than any other activity gives me a sense of 'freedom' A sensation of release, limitless possibilities and a reminder of the simple joy of being alive.

Lucky

Even though I live in a big city - Sheffield, within 300 yards of my house lies Ecclesall Woods. The more I run in it, the luckier I realise I am to have such a superb resource so close. The stats say its 350 acres of woodland with 15km of public footpaths but I bet this is only the main ones, as there are hundreds of small tracks branching off in every direction. As I discover more of these pathways I'm gradually building up a collection of circuits ranging from 20 minutes to an hour, all through rolling woodland with only a single road that needs to be crossed once out and once back. Terrain ranges from wide even bridleways through to rough sinuous tracks slaloming through the trees.

I've a couple of mates I run with, one who, again luckily, is up for dragging me out at 6.30 most mornings, but I also often head out alone. My last solo jog was accompanied by the echoing rat-tat-tat of woodpeckers throughout the forest. I'm hoping to take my camera out on a few runs over the next week to see if I can post up something that captures the experience of running through this beautiful spot.