Back to it …

Work and running that is. I don’t mind my job, in fact I actually quite like it. However I must admit I do prefer the freedom to run when I like. At this time of year the early dusk means that runs must be squeezed in. Luckily I was home early enough to get out for a while.

The last two days the rain has been torrential so it was a good time to rest the legs and let them recover anyway. Apparently its a good idea to rest them every other day. I’m not sure, run when you can I think because you never know what will happen tomorrow. Maybe it’ll rain, maybe you’ll be stuck in work, maybe you’ll get run over by a bus (make sure you’re wearing underwear apparently)  Well the running when possible seems to work for me anyway, I can tell when my body is saying no, it said no at the start of this week – probably due to last weekends milage and mud – the muscles were a little tight i’ll admit.

So today was four and a half miles to Nash Point and back via the road. I try to keep from the roads but it seemed sensible today to avoid the worst of the mud and darkness was going to fall so I need to get back fairly sharpish.

Todays Route (Manually edited as Runkeeper had a flipout halfway)

I did discover something interesting on the road, in some of the reading i’ve been doing people talk about runners “form” as in the posture of the body while running. Normally off road my stride is based partially upon terrain – apart from sand. But on roads I found I can increase my stride length and almost bound along at greater speed rather than my usual trail running which requires the constant adjustment of pace and stride length.

It was also easier to concentrate on form on the road as there are no obstacles to negotiate, trail running often requires an eyes down fierce concentration to avoid falling, thus the running is more natural, you run as best you can. In some ways I envy road runners who can bounce serenely from foot to foot with elegance – then again I prefer the technical aspects and sheer dogged endurance for offroad – different strokes and all that.

Mentally today has been better too, my head felt clearer and perhaps knowing i’d be running after work helped a little too.  I’ve been through this enough to know there are good days and bad, enjoy the good and try to keep them coming and not assume that every bad day or setback is the end of the world. Easy to type now, I wont believe it when i’m dipping, even if I read this. But it’s true enough. It’s hard to judge whats level when you dont know how solid the ground you’re standing on is.

 

 

More mud, more aches and shoe thoughts

Woke up this morning to rain but thankfully it brightened and legs felt ok after yesterday. A quick run intended but led to 7 miles along the cliffs to Witches Point near Southerndown beach. I seem to do this more and more. I feel bad for the first few miles and think ah well I’ll just come home a short route and end up feeling fine after three or four and then go mad.  It was fine today until the slog uphill through the worst mud yet from Cwm Mawr (Wich beach ladders) This time I really felt it in the legs, everything was aching and I was worried on the road part of the journey home that I was going to pull a muscle in my arse or hamstring.

Still, having done over 13 miles in the last two days I feel better about going back to work tomorrow. It’s back to trying to squeeze in runs after work until it gets lighter, well at least we’re heading towards spring!

I’ve been trying to work out which of the trail shoes are better in the mud.  I have 3 pairs (One of which I havent been out in yet).  The Adidas Kanadia 6 I bought from Run and Become after they checked out my gait etc and they felt best overall. They aren’t waterproof to any degree at all, they’re designed to let water in and then straight back out so it doesn’t stay in the shoe.  Works fantastically on the beach but when wading through mud they just stay wet anyway.

Today I ran in my Asics Gel Trail tamboura 4 (picked up from ebay but thats another post for another day) which are better at keeping water and mud out – up to a degree but it cant get out as well. Today it wouldn’t have mattered which I wore as the mud and water flowed over the top anyway.

After yesterday when I was slipping and sliding on wet paths which have seen far too much rain and use this xmas, I was hoping the Asics would provide me with more traction but they too left me sliding around. To be fair it would take something special to provide grip with the trails the way they are at the moment. I’m spending a lot of time running alonside them as much as possible to keep going without slipping.

I’ll probably get through to this spring but try and pick up a pair of better lugged shoes like the Inov-8 X Talon 200 which might deal with mud better.

Sun finally peeking through at Wick beach

Looking back at the path over the cliffs at Dunraven

View from Dunraven over the three bays I mostly run. The furthest end of this is Cwm nash leading to Monknash and home. These bays cover around 2 miles

Kicking off the new year…

….. a day late.

Yes indeed, new years eve celebrations went on  a touch too long and yesterday I felt awful and didnt make it outside. No excuses, my bad.

At least I made it out on day two and it felt good.  A 6 and a 1/2 mile jaunt to the beach, to the lighthouse at Marcross and then down to Atlantic College and back through the woods and road home (up that bloody neverending hill).  The paths though are atrocious after all the trippers wading through ankle deep mud on their festive walks. Still it does actually feel good to not bother staying dry and powering through the mud and water.  Technical note here – I discovered that “rock hopping” or jumping from stone to stone over a stream or from dry patch to dry patch is A) not worth the effort, you’re going to get wet anyway and B) You’re more likely to injure yourself. Just wade on in there and embrace it!

Todays route

A misty start with the tide in looking towards Marcross from Monknash side

Looking back at the Cwm – These hills are killers even though only a mile in

Mud, glorious mud – I’m sure its doing my legs some sort of good though

Turnaround point – Atlantic College

 

 

 

Trails and Tribulations

A little bit of history.

2015 was hard. Very hard. I spent much of it with my ailing and beloved dog Soaky who was slowly deteriorating. For much of it I spent indoors keeping her company and looking after her.

 

Thats her, having a sleep on my chest. At this point I had to lift her onto the sofa. I’d been hand feeding her for a long time. I’m lucky enough to be in a job which gives me the school holidays off. So when it came to the summer holidays which started at the end of July I decided I needed to do something to get me outside again. I couldnt walk her anymore as her legs were going and I now I had the time off I could spend it with her and get outside too. So I figured that as I live in a beautiful part of South Wales right next to the heritage coast I would go walking.

After a few walks to the beach for some reason and to be honest i’m not sure why, I decided to have a little attempt at running back home. I’d toyed with the idea of running before and had tried a few short distances the year before along with a bit of cycling. I didn’t stick at it – see excuses above I guess.

So at the end of July I ran … I ran the length of one of the fields on the way home and was knackered. I was unfit, so so unfit. I had realised this earlier in June when playing cricket. I only ran a few lengths of the wicket while batting and I was breathless and felt terrible. This scared me i’ll admit.

Over the next few days and weeks I gradually increased the distance I was running back. I would run a field, walk a field and I set myself a goal that at the end of the summer I would be able to run back all the way from the beach, its only just over a mile and uphill but I felt that this was an achievable goal.  I can remember thinking, how will I ever complete the bottom part which is the steepest and is a rocky track not fields or road.

I completed that run back 3 weeks later into the holiday. My goal was complete early and I was proud of something for once.  A mile doesnt sound much but starting from nothing it felt good. I didnt stop there though and started logging my runs on runkeeper and tracking them with my phone which I would carry in my hand for music and now gps tracking.

I progressed to running to the beach (downhill!) and then running on the beach itself. I found I loved running on the rocks. Skipping from rock to rock was a challenge and my balance improved, I loved running on the sandy half mile stretch between the bays.

With scenery like this who could blame me?  The first time I completed the run to the beach, the rocks and then this stretch all in one go (around 2 miles) I was elated. I was almost on my knees but elated. I can still remember passing two people walking as I ended the sand and thinking Christ I must look awful but couldnt stop then and managed to get there.

Through all of August I kept going out, I was running in some old Reebok trainers I’d had for some years, road running shoes i’d never really worn. I had some old tracksuit bottoms and cotton tshirts (which got sweaty and heavy)

The school holidays ended and I was back in work in September but I didnt stop running. Now it was becoming something I loved to do. As much as I did love it I didnt always feel that way before a run and would sometimes make excuses not to go. Once I was out doing it I was fine. I always need to give myself that push. Throughout September I would run after work, by now I could do 4 miles or so, a few breaks in between, especially because if the tide was in I would run along the cliffs and to get up there I would have to slog up one of the hills at either side of the Cwm (Welsh for small valley) – The first time I went up one of these I thought my lungs would explode and my legs were like jelly. Now it still hurts but it doesnt completely wreck me for the next 10 minutes!

At the start of October Soaky died, the brave little monster was 16 but it got too much in the end and I had to do the hardest thing I have ever and probably will ever do and took her to the vets. Afterwards I ran, I ran and ran and havent stopped running. Everytime I go to the beach where we used to walk (in 2005 we did 190 trips to the beach together – I counted) I think of her. Sometimes, out on the sand I shout “I love you Soaks” at the top of my lungs while running, I hope she can hear me, I think she can. Im welling up with tears just typing this, I miss her so much but she gave me so much and she is my inspiration to never give up. Every step I take out there, no matter how hard it gets, no matter the wind and rain and hills, every slog through the mud she is with me.

This is the sun setting on the beach the day she died

In October the weather was fine but the nights were drawing in making running after work harder and harder. I tried running before work but my body didn’t seem to accept it at all, it was painful and I was scared of picking up an injury which would stop me altogether. At that time the thought of not being able to run terrified me. I was in a bad place mentally when not running. The feeling of completion, of beating down something in myself when I finished a run was something Id come to relish. no matter how bad I felt inside at least I had that.

I got a little more serious. I bought proper trail running shoes (and road ones which I admit ive only used a few times because I dont particularly like road running – feels almost like cheating)  I bought proper running kit to wick the sweat out of me and running jackets to keep the cold out.  In october I ran 100 miles. I did less in November as the nights draw in and the rain was relentless. I dont mind punishing myself but inflicting pure misery is another thing!

I completed 50 miles in November and another 60 in December (thankyou xmas holidays) the day before yesterday I did 10.5 miles up and down hills and through mud along the cliffs as far as the deeps at Ogmore where I used to take Soaks to throw pebbles for her to fetch – one of her favourite games. When i got there I realised how tired I was and the 5 miles or so home was a real challenge but i made it.  Ive done 11 miles before and thats my best – on the flat of the beach its not so bad and the rockhopping maybe isnt as bad as hills and mud.  Whatever the terrain im always proud, today I did 4.5 through mud

And it hurt like hell, probably I hadnt recovered from the 10 miler but hey ho. As i’m typing this right now I feel good that I did it. I ran over 300 miles up to the end of this year. A goal I set which I thought I could never achieve. I did. A word keeps recurring here … Im proud, for once Im proud of something i’ve achieved and i’m not ashamed of that.

I’ve signed up for a trail half marathon in february which will be my first event, I hope to do many more in 2016 and ultimately a trail half marathon. We shall see. I have no idea how running with others in events pans out, whether i’ll enjoy it or not or whether i’ll prefer to run alone. Not that i’m ever alone –  “I love you Soaks”