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Yesterday’s run was the usual mid-week shorty, just 3.5k. I almost messed it up by going too fast at the beginning, but in the end it was ok.

The Monarch’s Way is a long distance footpath that roughly follows the escape route of King Charles II after his defeat at the battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Brighton. Today we’ll pick up the route in Shifnal and follow it in the direction of Boscobel House, where the King famously hid in an oak tree. It’s a nice day for a walk.

The whole of the 615 mile walk is marked, though I wouldn’t want to try it without a good map.

We pass some lovely properties along the way. This one is alongside the M54.

Stopped for lunch at the Bell at Tong. Good food and service despite its awful TripAdvisor reviews. Eventually we reach a fingerpost which tells us it’s time to go south towards Cosford. This aircraft touched down, did a lap of the airfield and took off again.

From Cosford it’s just 5 minutes on the train back to Shifnal. A good day out. Distances are in km.

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It’s the beginning of the week, and that can only mean one thing, a long run. Today’s challenge is to run 7 kilometres, something I’ve never done yet. I’ve planned a new route in an attempt to stave off the boredom as I run around the village.

I’m quite pleased with that, as it only took me a couple of minutes longer than the 6km that I did last Monday. Heart rate was ok too.

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We had a good day out with Rob yesterday – a nice walk to Ironbridge, during which we got a bit wet, and of course some stops at pubs along the way.

We rounded off the evening with a curry and a taxi back to Oddies.

This morning we’re up early and off to Telford town park for the parkrun. This is a timed 5km run which takes place every Saturday morning at 9am. Over 500 people turned up.

We’ve not done this before, so Val and I went to the beginner’s briefing just before the start.

After all that it’s a nice run around the lake. Our times were: me, 36:14 and Val, an astonishing 48:10 – walking! It was good fun, and we’ll do it again.

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We had a nice evening out last night with Robert and Jeanne, just a few beers and a curry and it was nice to catch up.

This morning my running programme wants me to run 3 kilometres. This is a relatively short distance, and the unwritten rule with these is that you are expected to push as hard as you can. I was really pleased with the outcome – all 3 splits were comfortably under 7.30 which is pretty quick for me.

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Unfortunately it’s not so green at the moment. We had a nice walk to the Mason’s Arms at Kemberton for lunch.

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It’s still blazing hot, but it’s Monday so off I go. Starting a new running programme today with the aim of getting to 10 kilometres. It wasn’t bad considering the heat, in fact it was a new distance record for me.

By the time I got home the postman had been, and he had delivered my Couch to 5k running top. Very nice.

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Went to Oddies last night for a few beers and was complimented on my weight loss. Yay! Today it’s Friday so it’s time to hit the road again. I had assumed that our local lanes would be easier than running in the Alps. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The humidity is just crazy.

Anyhow I completed my 5km, but as you can see I didn’t exactly break any speed records. Heart rate was much better though.