Continuing yesterdays theme of made up words that arent and the nature of ephemerality todays run at the beach saw a low tide to explore. Over seven miles I took a poke around at things you can only see a few times a day if the tides are low enough.
On running matters it feels now like 7 or 8 miles is an “easy” run, the usual first few miles of meh I’m not feeling this and then into The Flow (TM Sergei) So I’m guessing I’m slowly progressing even if I have no measurements.
So today I found the following things only seen around low tide
#spottedtherock You can only see these two at low tide. Nothing special about them but I like the feng shui!Seaweed! I keep meaning to bring a knife and big bag down with me to gather some to make some laver bread … but I always forget until I see it#spottedthecave This is gouged into the base of Witches Point so only visible at low tide. I’ll have to have a nose up there one dayAt low tide you get the widest expanses of sand to run onFriendship however is not ephemeral. I met my buddies again who gave each other a nuzzle and nibbleCan you see the stealth heron?
One of the reasons I love running coastlines is that they are dynamic and ephemeral. The tides ensure this, changing the patterns of the beach every six hours. You could run twice in the same day on the beach and cover the same path yet the terrain will most likely be different. Where there was rock there is now sand. Where pebbles lay in a heap there is only a rockpool. It makes every run unique and special.
I managed 8 miles of ephemerality (Warning – made up word) yesterday despite not feeling at my best. The legs were tired too soon for my liking but I kept on going doing a figure of 8 loop including a jaunt back along the clifftop. Hopefully I’ll be back in full form very soon.
Yesterday was rock – today sand.I discovered at Marcross huge swathes of snails. All multicoloured and making running on the rocks even trickier as it breaks my heart when I accidentally tread on wildlifeMarcross – More sand! Very rarely do you get sand here. Where’s it all coming from?Inov8 XTalon print – Hey look I’m not heel striking!Humans create the ephemeral too – Like this driftwood shelterMy route off the beach and up to the clifftop!
But it’s half term week and its just Trouble the cat and I in the house together. We are approaching that episode of Steptoe and Son where they divide the room with a painted white line
Trouble – I dont think Koko has much competition in the cuteness stakes
So despite not feeling great I had to get to the beach and actually managed 7 miles. Wasn’t the greatest run physically but it certainly picked me up mentally. Thats what running does for you folks!
Kinda grey but who caresI also discovered a new kind of fungi which I shall call discarded chewing gumgi
Been laid low all week with man flu type snot based illness. It comes with the territroy of working in schools, multiple schools with multiple coughs and mobile snotbags. Some of the kids are ASD and for some reason they all want to hold my hands and/or touch my face and hair (I’m growing my hair at the moment and it fascinates them) You can’t really prevent them but germs are gonna get through eventually no matter how many times you wash your hands. Price you pay for a job you love doing I guess (Plus I love the kids no matter how infectious they are)
So it’s basically been work and sleep all week but today I just had to get out and run, still feeling pretty awful but needed something to clear the head and maybe blast some fresh air through the pipes! To the beach!
Tide was in but I wasn’t feeling like going much further anywayFuck me its the Matrix only with cows!
Strangely there were no seagulls today …. Incoming storm? However check these dudes out! My parents broughtthem back from holiday. Cheers guys you get the best presents! Sod boring t-shirts I get gulls!
I did 3 miles and had a hop around on the rocks to cheer myself up =) Was good to just get back out and I feel batter for it now. Luckily it’s half term so a week off, hope I get better for the rest of it so I can get out and do some proper running.
Catch you again after I’ve done some more sleeping!
Yesterday I had planned another longish run of around 10 miles, I questioned why I was doing it – Or rather a friend questioned why I was doing it which in turn made me wonder. There’s always the small improvements each time I run which have led to a 20 mile run last week.
My next event won’t be until May next year though, I’m looking to move up from the Presceli Beast half to full race which will be tough as it’s part fellrunning. So what am I training for now? Perhaps I should be letting everything rest before a fresh assault in the new year? Perhaps I should just be enjoying running full stop? In fact I am so to hammer this point home to myself Sundays run wasn’t focused on anything but running all over the beach and enjoying the technical terrain.
And what better shoes than the Inov8 Xtalons for this, I’m amazed by how grippy these things are, the rubber cleats hang on to rocks like the Boston Strangler to a neck. Someone asked me for a closeup of the soles the other day and I forgot so here you go.
They also grip superbly on slippery mud too, the only drawback being that they can clog up if the mud mixes with grass and sheep shit which does bind up and cling to the soles like thus.
Pit stop required to remove 4 pounds of wet mud from feet
Overall though I’m absolutely loving these shoes and even better the foot is healing well now, I actually covered 8 miles on the beach just running about like a loon with no pain despite the rocks.
Check out the wiggles!
The run was of course beautiful, less beautiful I suspect was that it was so warm I had my top off :p Hey it’s Enjoy Yourself Sunday so I can do what I like!
Tide going out revealing the playgroundWaterfall powered rainbows!
So yeah, lifes short so find your rainbows wherever you can!
Up with the proverbial lark (if this particular lark got up at 9) and headed straight for the beach as the sun was shining and I wanted to get a 10 miler done. I have plans for another tomorrow but will see how everything feels before making a decision (plus its just started raining).
I started towards Marcross and had no idea which way to go so I decided to do a figure of eight, 2 beaches, 2 cliffs which work out at around 10 miles. It’s definitely getting easier slowly, I’ve noticed that at the end of 10 miles I’m not particulary tired though then again I stop to take a load of photos 😉
As usual it was a beautiful and peaceful morning to run, didn’t meet a soul for the first hour or soUp the hill of doomFor at the top of the hill of doom you get the view of lovlienessNot the same beach as photo one – they just look similar due to the headlandsView from above the beachThat dot is a kestrel – It hovered without moving an inch for around five minutes (while I munched on a honey and raisin thingyMet this beauty who came so say hello. Haven’t seen her before …Or her Hannibal Lecter like friend – I guess this one’s a biterHowever they were the best of buddies!
Runs like that make all the aches and pains just fade away
Then just for you guys a chance to sit back and relax. Today at the beach, tide drifting slowly out at sunset. Filmed from halfway up the rock scramble at Traeth Mawr halfway through a quick 5 miler.
So I need a new watch. Not because it’d not working (an update fixed that problem) but it seems like the battery life is limited to around 4 hours …. And yesterdays long run went over that. Yes indeed, probably closer to 5, sit back and I’ll tell you all about it.
I knew it would be a long run so I took my energy bars and hydration pack (Pro tip from a non-pro: If you’re also taking a lightweight jacket then wrap the bladder in the jacket which helps stop the water warming from your body heat)
The tide was right in so no choice but to run the cliffs which meant more climbs, in for a penny!
Above Traeth Mawr there are some Bronze Age burial mounds.From the mounds you get an elevated view of the beach with the tide in.
Onwards!
Sensible warning – Keep dogs on leads around livestock. Simple enough but so many people think their darling dog couldn’t hurt a fly, perhaps they won’t but chased animals also miscarry or fall off cliffs so don’t let Fido get blown away by an angry farmer and keep it on a lead around livestock people!
So the descents … and ascents are kinda scary, exhilarating and painful at the same time
What goes down must sadly go back up
Shot through Southerndown and Ogmore like a raisin fuelled rocket and normally I would turn here to return home making it 13 miles. Today I had bigger fish to fry, I was off to Porthcawl! Thing is when you get to Ogmore there’s a wide rivermouth and the only place to cross is a few miles up the road meaning I would be on a big detour. Ah well It was a nice day, detour me up baby!
In case you were wondering why I didn’t try and cross the river – Its a bit wide 😉
The detour happily led me past some swans – One of whom clearly thought I had bread so sailed close before paddling off in disgust
No bread no interest
I reached the stepping stones where I could finally cross the river next to Merthyr Mawr castle – Or what’s left of it
Merthyr Mawr Castle in all its stony gloryStepping stones – Note woman freaking out on far side as she simply couldnt make a 12 inch hop to the next stone. Had to wait a good five minutes here til she finally cleared the stones. Of course I showed off by running them in around 20 seconds – Should wear trail shoes my dear!
My detour now led me to Merthyr Mawr dunes which I’ve run before but only after driving to them.
Yay I’m 10 miles into a run and I get 1:3 gradients of soft sand. Thank you Lord for your kindness to all trail runners :pSoft soft soft sand
Running through the sand was a leg killer, I could feel how much work my calves and hanstrings were doing to get me up these hills. Felt like running in glue. There were a class of youngsters there with some endurance school logo on the back being trained to sprint through sand – That should put them off endurance sports for life nicely
The dunes lasted around 3 miles and put a few dents into my previously unquenchable confidence. Should I turn back, I knew I was now going to be in previously uncharted distance territory by the time I got near to home so I obviously plugged on, I was determined to reach Porthcawl.
Top of a dune and looking back towards Ogmore
I got to Porthcawl – Where back in march I met up with my family for a day and we wondered how far it would be to run back along the coast to home – 12 miles (including detour)
Porthcawl had joy of joys an ice-cream van! I had a can of coke and huge icecream as I figured I needed all the help I could get on the return journey. I followed the beach back before turning back into the dunes for some more punishment
Oh look the beach has soft sand too – Glorious!
I found a sandy track back in case I wasn’t fed up of sand. This is now around 15 miles in and the legs were really starting to suffer. Nutritionally I was fine the muscles in my legs were just getting wasted by the sand. I knew from here on in it was just going to be a painful grit your teeth and guts it out effort to get home.
I did see some purty flowers though.
At this point the photos appear to have stopped being taken with any regularity. I think this was as much because I had to keep going as stopping and starting just hurt more. I followed the detour and then changed course to trevel up over St Brides common before dropping into St Brides itself. I was bringing myself back on the roads but knew that it was pretty much all uphill from here as I was headed to Wick which sadly for me is the highest point in the Vale of Glamorgan (Ok its not Everest but it felt like it yesterday)
By the 18th mile my legs were pretty much gone and I was walking most hills – It’s trail running we get to do this right! (Another pro tip form a non-pro to new trail runners – Walk the hills if they are going to leave you blown up. Everyone does it and its nothing to be ashamed of. Wish I’d known this at the start)
The rest of me was fine just the calves, hammies and glutes had very little bounce and just felt dead. Strangely I was still enjoying it, the foot was playing up but then again I had been out for over 4 hours and nearly 20 miles.
Then I had the watch battery warning which surprised me but at least I had the sense to note the time and distance it finally died – Which as it turned out wasn’t too far from the finish.
This rather boring photo though will always mean a lot to me – its where I was when I hit the 20 mile mark for the first time ever
Those verges actually saved my foot from tarmac, in fact the last few miles I didnt have to go on the road – Thankyou verge cutters everywhere from teh bottom of my heart.
At 21 miles I reached my destination – Not home for once, I had decided to reward myself …
My hydration pack ran dry just at the end so I had to refuel at the Star in Wick. And why the hell not!
I had a couple with some friends here who didn’t seem to mind the sweat and then finished off by running home – Amazing how the legs start to recover immediatley after cider 😉
So all in all a tough run. Proud of it though, my previous best was 15 miles and I did 21 miles (not including the jog home after pub) and over 4 and a half hours on my feet. Ran through a lot of oh crap moments and pulled it together.
Gotta love those hills right at the end! The figures are slightly off due to watch dying but not by much, just tipped me over 21 =)
Found it down the back of the sofa, made it fix my Garmin which it kindly did then took them both to the beach. Seven and a half miles in around an hour and a half with plenty of rock hopping and general zooming around. Mojo and I are friends again and the sun came out to celebrate.
Hello sunshine
If ever you need a happy song try a dose of this. Plus they’re Welsh!
Blue Green Gold Grey, Awyr Maes Tywod Aarreg 