On box ticking

Guru Hal Higdon said I should do 3 miles today. So I did (nearly). I did my local River Loop which is 2.68 miles, on assorted sodden lanes, tracks and fields with 260-ish feet of ascent/descent. I did it in 26.05 (which might be a PB). So when I got home I was able to tick that particular box on my training plan. Yippeee!

On the run I had the weirdest experience of accidentally kicking a flying sparrow (though it could have been a chaffinch; not that this is particularly germane to the story). I was running on the right hand side of a narrow lane, close to a high hedge. The poor bird must have been startled by my arrival for it flew out of the hedge just in front of my right foot (I felt its wing on my shin). Unfortunately, it flew left across my body and got caught by my left foot as I completed the stride. It was a bit like when you hit a puddle with one foot, but it's the other one that catches the splash.

Smiley rating: 8/10 for the run, 10/10 for peculiar ornithological excitement.