Tuesday 12 May 2020

ssshhhairsteaks


When Mary and I ran to the Pentlands from our flat it was about 8miles to the top of Allermuir. We had a nice view of the hills but had to turn around and run home again. Not the best run "in" the hills ever. More just a glance of what we were missing. By this time I think we had seen the latest guidelines were saying there wasn't a time limit or maybe it was the BBC site said there was no time limit on exercise; there was so much misinformation. Best to use your common sense and constantly keep in mind the guidelines and advice.


So I knew if I wanted to see Green Hairstreaks in the Pentlands (a late April joy) I'd be best cycling to say, Hillend, locking my bike there and running over Allermuir, contouring round Castlelaw and going to the site near the army firing range. Thing is, could I navigate through this activity with my moral compass? It would be a victimless crime and there was next to zero chance of catching or spreading C19 to the people I'd run to within 20m of. So where's the harm? 

On the other shoulder the angelic voice was saying it was against the "rules": not really local, 2 forms of exercise, over the disputable hour and for once, could I not just put my hobby on the back burner and respect those people who are dying because they couldn't be bothered to look after themselves and... hang on is that the devil on the other shoulder again?

I tried to weight up the scales without referring to the people I knew ran from homes nearby to do whole skylines then run home. Or the hill runner cycling to the Pentlands to then run over a few hills before cycling home. (And posting it on strava like a boss, I mean someone who doesn't even think this is worth concealing.) Or the dudes who cycle to the Pentlands, then cycle over the Pentlands and go for an open water swim in a reservoir, then cycle home. Or Jo Pavey's (yes Olympian Jo Pavey's) husband running a marathon in Dorset, yes 26.2 miles over glorious empty countryside near their country home for some sort of charity online thingy, or the chairman of XX doing a 13 mile walk into the Pentlands. (Best not be too specific even though he posted it on facebook.)

So yes, trying not to let all that figure in the mental scales because 2 wrongs do not make a right. So after a lot of cogitation I thought the best thing would be not to go.
































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