Juneathon day 28: cross-country adventure around Coleshill

Written Jun 29, 2014, tagged under post,amersham,chalfont st giles,Chilterns,Coleshill,juneathon,microadventure,running,Spyridons,vibram

I had two main ideas in mind when planning today's Juneathon activity. First, I've been absolutely dying to have a proper test run for the new Vibram Spyridons I bought about a week ago from Ten Point in Chesham Bois. (I really love my old Vibrams, but they are more aimed at road running with barely any tread and very thin soles through which you can feel every stone.) Secondly, I've been reading Alastair Humphrey's book "Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes"...

It was evening, and I realised that there was nothing stopping me from just setting out on a run with a vague idea in mind, and to see what happened. I had seen on the map what I thought would probably be a circular route through our local countryside between Coleshill and Chalfont St Giles. Also, helpfully, it finished near Tesco, and I had some shopping to do... So I popped on my Spyridons and a rucksack with a coat in it and set off.

In the end I had a lovely run of about 6 ish miles through spectacular Chilterns countryside, crossing through fields full of cows and battling through many overgrown paths. The rain mostly kept off, and the shoes performed admirably in traversing our varied terrain of stones, mud and vegetation.

With a more open attitude to what I might find, I somehow found it easier to stop occasionally to enjoy the views and take some photos. I hope that some time soon I might even be able to do the same sort of thing but with a bivi bag in my rucksack rather than a coat.

So, after my run, I had a quick dash round Tesco then a walk up the hill back home for a late bite to eat and bed... An enjoyable day!

I took a few photos of the sights from this run, if you have time to burn...