Running, Dogs, Meadows

Revisited from August 28th

It’s been a simple life over the past couple of days. Some elements of this simplicity: running, dogs, and meadows. All interchangeably. Running alongside dogs. Running in the meadows. Walking dogs in the meadows. Running alongside dogs in the meadows. All in the beautiful backdrop of Cambridge.

It has a different flavour to what I’ve experienced the rest of this year. I’ve trekked the Kii Peninsula, explored the Seto Inland Sea, run through the Thai jungle, climbed mountains in China, whizzed around the Dong Van karst plateau by motorbike, and hiked various parts of the Spanish countryside, but meadows? Actually kind of a first.

Although not quite as green as you’d perhaps envision due to recent heatwaves, British meadows definitely feel like precisely that to me. Freely roaming cows, slightly muddy trails, plains dotted with chimneyed brick houses, plus the occasional small hill. Add in very agreeable Summer weather and you’ve got an amazing playground for free-running dogs, and free-running humans.

Walking the dogs is only an activity I’ve had the privilege of doing very recently this year. Of course, it’s beautiful, but ironically, I was reminded the other day about how painful it can be. Mabel, our friends’ gorgeous three-year-old, will happily leap into any body of water she sees. That becomes an issue when you walk along a river that she can’t climb out of herself. So, I didn’t let her off-leash, leading to a stand-off every time we neared the riverbank. She’d sit, then lie down, and just constantly shift her gaze between me and staring off distantly into the muddy water. Adorable. Frustrating. Alas.

Given how nice the route was, I decided to run the full loop the following day. It was amazing. I haven’t run in a while, truthfully. My fitness has definitely cratered as a result. But this was really nice. Just me, some friendly dogs, some cows, and wide open space. I’d been in a bit of a funk for whatever reason, but this run certainly helped. I sometimes forgot that the addition of some light cardio doesn’t just need to serve a training benefit—it’s also just good for your wellbeing.

I’d like to make an effort to run often now that I have more time and space to get out whenever, plus milder weather that makes midday running feasible, even. Perhaps through some more meadows, too.