Today I learned that going for even a relatively short but brisk walk in new DMs can be tough on the feet.

I had planned an afternoon walk looping around County Road, Green Lane and Burscough Road, tucking in and out of the side streets to make a ladder effect. I think as a pattern it needs some work.

There’s a slight problem when walking around Ormskirk in that it’s possible to meet people that you know. The pause that is identified about 1km in was when I bumped into Maurice George, our regular local Green Party candidate, and prior to 2003 a staunch member of the Labour Party.

It was good to catch up, and I was invited to their meetings, which was very sweet. I doubt that I’ll be going any time soon.

However, it’s interesting to hear people’s motivations. Those standing under the “Our West Lancashire” banner are concerned about very local issues, while speaking to Maurice, the Greens are very motivated by international issues. In Maurice’s case, the Iraq War was the reason for leaving. Both are valid and to be honest, more appealing that the usual local party infighting that we see from both main parties. The one relief for me is that we still don’t have any real Lib Dem organisation in the area, and given their term in office, we may never see them. I can only hope. The other relief is that I don’t really have anything to do with local politics any more. Phew!

After our chat I charged off again, down Burscough Road towards Ormskirk and after about another km I felt a flash of pain through the little toe on my left foot. It turns out that it was the skin finally being pulled off. A few minutes later I felt a blister develop on my right foot. It was all I could do to stop myself from heading straight back home, but I cracked on – to the shops at Hattersleys, reaching them just on 30 minutes. I’d managed three km, so it wasn’t too bad a walk, nothing much to write home about though. My feet were a bit of a mess when I got home, but they’re better now that they’re covered in plasters.

Nothing much else to report. It’s a Sunday, so it’s mostly been planning the week and making sure that we have everything for dinners, school, etc. Jude is away on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings so the rest of us will eat like kings. It’s a good job that the running schedule and gym schedule has been plugged back into the calendar! Walks shall be walked, weights will be lifted and runs shall be attempted.