"country road, take me home..."

A close friend of mine from high school is back at her parents place for the summer which is about a twenty minute drive from the city. They have a plot of land with these gorgeous gardens, a couple horses/ponies/etc; their place even has a name, which, I guess, makes it more of an estate?? (But without being pretentious as "estates" generally tend to be.) Anyways we've both been getting into going for runs this summer and so last time we met up for lunch we decided we should go for a run together!

After spraining my left foot up in Auckland (an unfortunate combination of 10hours in a new pair of 10cm heels + daily hour-long runs around the Domain), I've been easing myself back into it. Yes, I went to see the Urgent doc; no, I couldn't "diagnose" myself... I tried, believe you me. All I got was: tender, warm swelling with pain on walking indicates an inflammatory process, due to some [strain?]. And that was it. At least I picked up on the "inflammatory process" part, right? Anywho the doc gave me some diclofenac and told me not to run for a week, then I could start easing back into it gradually, making sure to stretch out and ice my foot afterwards. So that's what I've been doing this week and it's been going good. In the very least, I'm back to where I was before I went up to Auckland.

Which brings me back to my run this afternoon. It was AWESOME. We did the "block" around their house, a big section in the countryside. I think she said it was around 6kms and the weather was perfect for running -- cloudy, but warm. And it was great running with someone else too because the chatting back and forth really has a way of distracting you from any tiredness, etc., and before you know it you're done! Plus it was so peaceful out there. No cars, just farms, cows, country road. I can see why people would want to live out of town in a place like that.

I think I'm having one of those "I can't believe how lucky I am to be living in a country like New Zealand" moments. But seriously, I can't believe how lucky I am to be living in a country like New Zealand. :)

[Pictures from Auckland... not the countryside from my run today, but unbelievably gorgeous nonetheless.]

Random afterthought: You know what else I can't believe? At least SIX of my classmates have gotten married this summer. SIX. And I'm gonna stop that train of thought right there.