On champagne and cuckoos

Perhaps the third glass of champagne last night was a mistake. Still, it was a special occasion. We met my Dad's new fiancee, who's lovely, and we felt all celebratory.
So, heading off on this week's 'long slow steady' of 9 miles, I was perhaps more lethargic than normal at 6.45 in the morning. I decided to do my familiar Home/Potter Fell/Stavely/Home route which starts with a nice lollop along the river, then climbs about five hundred feet in a mile before contouring along and then down again.
I enjoyed the nice lollop along the river.
I was hopeless on the climb and then began to get worried that the route wasn't going to be long enough. I didn't want to get back home with, say only 7.4miles in my legs. So I devised a cunning plan.... Part of the route goes three quarters of the way around a lonely fishing tarn with the peculiar name of Gurnal Dubbs. My cunning plan was to go round it twice, so giving me an extra 0.7 of a mile. To anyone observing I must have looked lost at best and a nutter at worst! Ah well, the skylarks didn't care. They just serenaded me with their fabulous, carefree song which I shall always associate with the wild moorlands. On the way down off the Fell I heard my first cuckoo of Spring coming from a copse and that's the end of today's ornithological update!
I never quite got into the run, but it was pleasant enough. I enjoyed having done it.
For the digitally minded, it was 9.86 miles (so I needn't have gone twice round the tarn) with 1,220 feet of ascent/descent. My moving time was 1hr 47, at a pace of 10:54. Max HR was 163, average was 141. And I burnt 1051 calories which meant a day of cake.

Smiley rating 6/10