Weather, walking, and running

It's official, summer has abandoned us in England.  We gave up and turned the heat on for an hour in an attempt to take the edge off the chill and yes we are bundled up in hoodies and socks.  Out of curiosity I checked the weather back in Arkansas and it is currently 34C(94F) with a real feel of 42C(108F)...here? Slightly cooler at 13C(55F) with rain and wind.  I'd settle for something halfway between that :-)

A running friend spotted this not long ago, wonder how it ended up in the middle of England

The temps are nice for running however, a small group of us headed out for a mid-morning run yesterday and I wore a long sleeve shirt for the beginning of it although it ended up tied around my waist mid-way through. Except for the nearly mile long uphill to get to the meeting point it was a great route. The leader yesterday knows the area quite well so we went on some trails I hadn't ran before and it was all mostly spontaneous "Should we go left or right?" decisions, my favourite sort of run.  

We didn't stop here though

I'm sure you've noticed the frequency I've been mentioning Nordic Walking lately, it's something I decided to learn on the spur of the moment last January and I absolutely adore it. I've gotten to meet some fantastic people and it's amazing cross-training that's low impact.  If you're a new ex-pat that's looking to get to know the area you have moved to it can be an invaluable source of information for things like the best butcher, shops etc--little but important things like for me yesterday, where to buy fresh okra.  The British Nordic Walking site has some great information and you can search for groups and instructors nearby.  Running clubs and Ramblers groups are also excellent for meeting up with like-minded people that you wouldn't necessarily have a chance to get acquainted with otherwise.  

Don't we look like a fun group to hang out with?