Scenic routes make road to our goals more memorable

Apreciate the beautiful part of the world you live in.

We live in a beautiful part of the world but it's not often that we truly appreciate it. This past weekend I decided I would take my phone on our run so I could capture some of the scenic beauty around us.

I very rarely do this but often find myself wishing I could capture just a snapshot of our runs for posterity. Every so often I would reach for the phone, take a snap while on the go and put it away, all while maintaining some kind of form.

Of course, when there are great spots they lend themselves to a quick photo session, so our run was interrupted a few times. This photo shows our pack, aka Flash Mob, on the jetty at Green Lake. If you look carefully, you can see Zac, our four-legged mascot.

I posted some photos of our training run on Facebook and quickly friends who have never been to New Zealand, let alone Rotorua, were commenting on how beautiful our running training ground is.

And it really is, we are quite spoilt in comparison to other runners.

We ran to Tikitapu (along the forestry road) and then to Green Lake and back through Whakarewarewa.

There were no highways, no traffic to worry about and very few other people (except for all the other running packs out for their Sunday run).

When you're running in such surroundings it's so easy to just get on with it. You forget about the little niggles, the tired legs and the cravings for the couch and some comfort food.

And at the end of it? Those thoughts reappear but they are accompanied with the joy of being out there and nailing the run.

Only two more big ones to go and then we'll be tapering down.

This past week I went for four runs and covered approximately 45.5km. This included a new personal best at Trout Fly, the fortnightly 5km organised by Lake City Athletic Club. This was the final for the season and my goal all season was to break 30 minutes, and I did.

This running lark is obviously working.