Looking for a Fast Road.

Five years ago I switched from cycling to running and at the time I trained on the country roads around Thirsk, Fellow club mate Alan Somers invited me for a run near Helmsley and off we went on a trail run, after seeing so much of the roads around North Yorkshire with cycling and the small amount of running I did at the time this new world of training in the countryside was like a drug to me, I just couldn't get enough of it. Through the week I would plan and map new training routes and at the weekend off I would go on a new adventure. Due to having to navigate myself around the routes speed never got a look in. Three hour runs seemed so easy and the next day I was ready to train at full tilt seeing as I hadn't pushed myself so hard on the long run. Then as time passed I gradually ran more of the routes I had already done and stepped into the danger zone of trying to get around the routes in a faster time than last in pursuit to be better, faster, stronger, harder. This is all well and good at first but after years of letting yourself slip down the fast road to nowhere, the runs become more of a must do rather than the great pleasure it was once. That is until I found the end to the fast road to nowhere today.
Today I set off with map and compass in hand to recce the Gisborough Moors Fell Race route, after checking and re running some sections to see which were easiest plus whilst I was in the area I checked out as much of Guisbrough Woods as possible with the time I had. By the time I got back to the car park at the bottom of Captain Cooks Monument three hours and ten minutes had vanished. I didn't feel too tired and I had hardly touched my energy drink. Now I remember why I enjoyed running so much. My aim now is to never run the same route twice in a 4 month period, plus at least once a month map myself a new route.
Work tomorrow followed by a steady run, then Tuesday it's Lanzarote here I come. The problem with being a maintenance technician is people only ever bring you problems, little problems, easy problems and mind bending near impossible problems. But all problems bring satisfaction as each one is resolved, but at the expense of mental exhaustion. Time now to recharge before I become the problem that needs fixing.