9 Miles? No biggie.

Today was great! Long, but great. We were invited to go on a countryside walk with some members over here. They led our whole group on a 9 mile hike through the hills, forests, fields, streams, canals, towns, farms, and lavender fields. I loved it! All of our pants were covered in this oozy mud, and the mud slushed under my feet the entire time. I loved looking up to the foggy horizon of the cultivated fields and untamed forests and breathing in the cool, fresh, misty air. About half way through, we stopped at Eynsford Castle to eat some lunch. The castle was positively ancient and only a few walls remained; it’s crazy the effect time can have on human structures. We were led by these three cute little grandpas; it was sad watching some of the girls struggle up the steep hill and comparing it to the flawless march of the grandpas up the same hill.


This was the view from one of the muddy fields we walked through. And below is a picture of us at Lullington Gardens Castle. It was closed; the pictures from Eynsford Castle are on Ramzi's camera, but I'll hopefully get them soon.


And after our 9 miles, I came home and went running! It was dark out, I had some music on, I had two of my friends with me, and we just ran our little hearts out down a nearby street. Brilliant! (They say 'brilliant' a lot over here..)

Runners in London are more common than LDS churches in Holladay. Anywhere you go, no matter how obscure or busy a street may be, and at any time of the day, one must just walk a few feet, and they can easily spot running shoes flashing down the street. Tonight I joined them. 9 miles wasn’t enough for one day, so I grabbed Ashley and Elise (future roomies for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter respectively) and we went out to rock the streets. We have a marathon runner amongst our London group of girls, and she has formed a small group that runs 7-10 miles every morning. Well, she inspired me. I have decided that when I return from London, I’m not going to be a dreadful runner anymore. Haha, we’ll see how this turns out!