I made a bargain with myself last night that I could have a long lie this morning if I went for an equally long walk this afternoon. So I had an hour to walk this afternoon and get as far as I could at a reasonable pace. No gentle Sunday stroll around the park with a wee stop off for coffee and cake this, oh no my friends, I am a woman on a mission to get blisters ! However this is the West End, so in order not to frighten too many people, I made sure I looked half decent, not jogging trousers or t-shirt in sight!
So the route today, for those who know the West End of Glasgow consisted of …
Great Western Road and into back Entrance of the Botanic gardens, found a quiet spot and did some stretches.
Then headed out of the gardens up GWR towards Park Road. Turned into Park Road and went straight across towards Gibson Street and the entrance to Kelvingrove Park and the first of the short steep hills.
This little sod below goes up towards the Park Circus area of Glasgow, I tried my best to keep a half decent pace going, listening to Simple Minds, New Gold Dream helped.
One of the good things about this area of Kelvingrove Park is the view, on a clear day you can see miles. Today wasn’t so good but I took a couple of pics as an excuse to take breath.
As they say what goes up must come down so back down we go towards the park, this hill is a lot steeper than it looks and the old legs felt a touch more wobbly going down than walking up.
I promised myself I could have a proper breather when I got to the duck pond at the bottom, but I forgot that as soon as you stop around here, you get mobbed with squirrels and ducks expecting fed. And being Glasgwegian and West End wildlife they expect nothing less than ciabatta and a half decent pecan nut!
So time to pound on, over the Kelvin and up University Avenue, another bloody hill!Then down towards Byres Road, onto Highburgh Road and eventually onto Hyndland Road and there in the distance, the torture chamber, I mean Gym!
Altogether it took me just under an hour, walking at a pretty good pace, listening to music definitely helps and I found a few toons that match my stride really well. Only problem is having to stop yourself having a wee boogie as you walk along. I confess I did break into a wee shuffle when Beyonce started to ‘put a ring on it’.
So today I proved to myself that I can get off my lazy ass when I want to and that I do have the ability to walk past coffee shops no matter how much my body cries out for caffeine.
Essentials for a good walk, good tunes, good shoes and lippy!
Gx
PS I am the proud owner of one blister caused by a sneaky wee stone that got into my shoe.
PPS if you don’t believe me follow me on Twitter and check my timeline ! Honest guv, I did it !