Cycling instead of running

I haven't been doing my regular running in months! And it frustrates me. But I figured that if I run through my niggle, I am only going to make things worse in the long run. So I have started to do loops of the tiny parking lot next to my house. First day: one loop! And I got away with that. Second day: two loops! And that is my attempt to get back into running without forcing it. But that is surely not doing anything about my general fitness levels. And I pretty much only have my bike for that.

I only commute during the week, so this weekend I decided to give it a bit of welly. The weekend before I had been in Shropshire without a bike, so without exercise. The first day this weekend I decided to stay on the road. I had a lot of things on, and I didn't want to do elaborate things with mountain bikes. I decided to bike to the Dinorwic surge pond. That is about 500 m up; that is some decent exercise. And I had already visited Pwd in the morning, so that is an additional >100m.

It was quite lovely! It was good bike weather and the route is beautiful. And I felt like I had already done something when I got back home. Or rather; when I reached the top, because getting home from there is a doddle.

My goal in the distance

A cow trying to fool me

The view from the top 

Rain cover selfie

The next day was a bit less ideal; I had something on in the morning, so I couldn't go particularly early. But I knew that there was rain on the way. I hoped I could get my ride in before it would all kick off!

I just headed for Ogwen Cottage. It's not that high, but it is beautiful and very straightforward. And it was only raining mildly when I biked out. Unfortunately, it got serious when I got to the highest point. Oh well! Biking back down is never that much work, and I knew I had dry clothes at home. So I racked up another 300 meters up. That is less than a normal commute, but it was something.

Close to home

Approaching the head of the valley 

Heading for the clouds

View back down

I hope my little loops around the parking lot will extend into serious running not too distant future. But if not, I will have to keep myself ticking over like this!