I had a light lunch early at 12:00 and texted my neighbour to let him know that I was still on for a run at 3pm. He texted back to say that he had far too much on and would have to give the run a miss.
I got ready for 3pm as usual and drove to Sutton Cheney Wharf to park the car. There were not very many cars there and I thought well it must be down to the weather as it had been raining in the morning and was due to rain again later in the day. I took a windproof/showerproof jacket just in case it did rain.
I walked through the car park and past the café to a gate, where I set the Garmin Forerunner 610 and started off on a slow running pace. The path follows the canal for a short way then disappears in to Ambion wood, the path is not too bad and becomes quite wide while in the wood. After a half a mile I went through a gate across a narrow field and through another one which leads up to the Bosworth Battlefield Centre, which is where I turn left along a path.
The path heads towards Ambion wood again, passing the ‘Richard III well’. Running through the wood is nice and peaceful, all you can hear is the wind blowing through the trees. The path comes to an old disused railway track, I turned left and ran along it to an old railway bridge which crosses the Ashby de la Zouch canal.
I joined the canal and ran North bound watching where the pot holes where, twisting the ankle is the last thing you need! I got into a steady run at 6mph and settled in to a nice breathing pattern. Some parts of the canal footpath get very bumpy which messes up the running rhythm so you have to try and get back in it again.
After about a mile I passed a slowing barge with a couple of people aboard looking at another barge in the middle of the canal. As I ran past the barge I noticed that one end of the barge had come loose which is why it was in the middle of the canal. I thought shall I stop and pull the barge in and continue with the run, I then thought sod it I will leave it for the people in the barge approaching. Knowing me I will pull my back or twist an ankle and that will put me out for some time, I’m sure the people in the approaching barge have more time. I carried on running and didn’t look back to see if the people were shouting or not as I did feel a bit guilty.
The canal winds around through the Leicestershire countryside which is really scenic. It started to rain and I thought ‘oh marvellous, I’m not even at the point of turning around and I am going to get soaked’. Luckily there was a high hedge that I was running past which went the length of a field, the hedge was high enough for me to run close and not get wet. It was only a very short shower so I felt very lucky and relieved.
I reached a bridge which was just over 3 miles away from my starting point, I was fairly tired at this point. I turned back walking along the canal to try and recover a bit. I found it a bit strange not to have my neighbour with me as we have a little chat which makes the time go quicker.
The run back along the canal didn’t seem to take too long, I must have had a lot on my mind to pass the time away. I had to slow down in to a walk on a number of occasions to recover and before I knew it I had reached the disused railway bridge, so I thought should I carry on along the canal and if I do will that make the distance 10k. I decided to take the same route that I had come along knowing that distance would certainly make the 10k.
When I got back to the gate where I started off from I stopped the Garmin and looked at the distance, it was 6.6 miles so I was happy to have coved the 10k distance. I sat on one of the benches at the side of the café (Sutton Cheney Wharf) to recover, my leg muscles were aching.
I aim to do this route again soon.
Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth
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