Yesterday's canal run

As my family are away for the weekend, yesterday's canal run had a few possibilities.  For one I decided to run a different part of the canal and secondly, there was no rush to meet Hannah at a set time.  I drove Marsworth on the Grand Union canal and ran south from there.  It was glorious. Here's the run in numbers:

Miles: 8.3
Pace: 9:17mins/mile
Pee/poo stops: 0
Friendly cyclists riding the towpath: 3
Friendly runners: 2 (one was super fit and over took me)
Indifferent runners: 1
Boats on the move: 3
Temperature when I set off: -3c

A few observations:

• the canal was mostly frozen
• the first boat through sounded and looked like it was nibbling its way through the ice
• the ground was mostly frozen solid, with some stretches of frozen ice/snow which slowed me down a little
• the boaters were mostly friendly, liked being photographed (below)
• another elderly lady said "you be careful now, mind you don't slip" as she puffed on her cigarette, hacking and coughing
• I loved it being cold once I had warmed up properly; in fact I was as "warm as toast" inside, almost over dressed
• I felt in good shape for the rest of the day, not particularly achey or tired
• because the scenery was new, perhaps less thinking time for myself.  I love seeing where my thoughts take me as I run on a kind of autopilot 

Here's some photos: