It’s so easy to forget how lucky you are sometimes. We blow insignificant issues out of all proportion. I was thinking this as I ran the clifftops to the burial mound, one of my favorite places to sit and watch the channel as a break. The fields atop the cliffs are as beautiful as the beach itself I just forget to appreciate them. I guess having lived around here all my life I take much of the scenery for granted – and I shouldn’t. So this post is for the unappreciated parts of runs, the fields and lanes that piece it all together.
Run-wise it was a quick 5 miles, everything felt pretty good and I noticed my pace on the flat has naturally fallen back into the 8-9 min per mile pace that feels quite comfortable. Still blowing too hard on hills but who doesnt!? (rhetorical question)
Coastal path between Monknash and Cwm MawrBlue skies over the Vale – Looking inland towards WickSat pondering on the barrow mound looking out across the channelView back from Cwm Mawr to Monknash
Why do you have to be all wrong this weekend. I can’t really grumble as if I can’t run on the beach I can still get a great run in along the cliffs. Only around 4 miles and it felt harder than usual for some reason but took it easy and just let the body work it out for itself.
When the sun broke through over the Bristol Channel today it was beautifulRaysThe ramblers appear to be attempting to build some sort of bridge through the mud. I mean really what’s the point!?
Got back from West Wales on Sunday and the weather was beautiful and the tide was out …. So within half an hour of getting home I was back out on the trails. An easy seven miles down to Witches point.
Lots of fisherman – They must be biting or some such fishing jargon
There were unusual numbers of seagulls on Wick reef – Never seen this many together before.
Those white dots – seagullsMillions of the bastardsWhich I enjoyed making flap about as I ran towards themThis lot stood their ground – So I left them to it
I ran to the beach today. I had my GPS watch on. I was thinking while I was running on the beach – Could I draw something on the beach with my GPS?
As I am 43 years old going on 12 I drew a giant penis – It starts where the lines bisect – The testicles are waaaay to small but I ran out of beach – not bad for a first effort though!
I refuse to grow old gracefully!
Did 5 miles and really enjoyed it, hardly any foot pain anymore.
And I found a buoy!
From Josies Pride – If you know a Josie who has lost her buoy then I know where it is and will retrieve it for a price!My canvas!
Exhibit 1 – Half a surfboard – I’m kinda sad that it doesn’t have a semi circular break with teethmarks. Do sharks wear dentures?Exhibit 2 – Single flipper – No foot inside – where is the foot? In the shark?Exhibit 3 – Boat clearly showing shark damage to hull – I’ve seen Jaws – I know my hull breaching shark attacksExhibit 4 – I turned the boat over half expecting a mangled corpse but it was empty – Further proof that the shark is indeed man-eating!
As I have already captured the shark I am off to claim the reward. If by some chance it isn’t the same shark …. There may be a difference in the bite circumference between an inflatable shark and a Great White … It’s still out there … lurking
Oh yeah I ran around four and a half miles and it was beautiful and I felt great and my imagination kept me company aaaaaalllll the way
Have been taking it easy since last weds as I did this.
It’s still red but less swollen
But yesterday I thought let’s go – tide was out around 4 and the blazing sun buggered off (I prefer to be cool, sun is not really my friend)
So when did 6 miles become a “short” run for me. This has happened really without me noticing. It used to be 2-3 but now I don’t even consider stopping at the beach and always go further. It’s lucky as today it took me towards Witches Point. In a cave near the waterfall I spotted something bright red. I’m like a magpie when it comes to pretty colours and thusly distracted off I went to investigate.
The red? Well that was a boring traffic bollard thingy but what’s this I spy …..
SHARK! Still inflated too. About 5 foot long and as if it had swum there.What the hell do you do with a 5ft inflatable shark apart from photograph it. Well what you do is to spend ages learning how to deflate it and then run home carrying it in your beachcombing paws. I have long since to ignore the stares of people on the beach (MY beach you tripper types) as I hurtle (cough cough) past holding my latest bit of booty.
So now I have a a deflated inflatable shark too. Not sure what I shall do with it but I will think of something I’m sure!
Sadly I didn’t have my proper camera as I can’t find my flipbelt but I took this dodgy photo for you scenery types
Summer has officially started – I am off work for 6 glorious weeks! Ok now I’ve rubbed that in I shall continue. Got home from work and immediately into gear for a early afternoon longish run. As I intended on being out for longer and although the weather was …. weird it was still humid so I needed hydration.
Luckily I had already bought a hydration bladder and hose online and tested it out in my racepak. Fits like an Altra! (slightly roomy and weird at first but when you’re used to it you don’t notice)
I also went left again. Look at me getting all adventurous. In fact I was heading fro uncharted territory! Loosen the mainbrace and splice the cat we’re setting sail!
First port of call – Sand – Lots of sand, enjoy it as it’s the last sand for miles in this direction!Rockfall! Looking pretty fresh. I now get to tag my post :p
For the first couple of miles or so it was plain sailing. The rocks were easy and plenty of sand, I knew that there were rocks lurking past Marcross so I was ready.
It takes a lot more effort to run on this, all dainty foot placement (ish) and having to really concentrate on not tripping.Atlantic College sighted! Whereupon it was rocks 1 dainty footwork 0 as I sprawled in a heap. Luckily I got away with a few bruised toes which insisted on throbbing for the next few hours. Of course they were on my injured foot but another advantage of Altras is the wider toebox – At least they weren’t squeezed in.The slipway at Atlantic College is the furthest I’ve run left so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. What I found was tricky to run on without breakages. A chance to slow up and recover. Experience is teaching this old dog new tricks.Whats that? More tagging? Caves! Like they were put there for a strange community of semi-aquatic villagers (You never know around here)Now the beach changed to IBB’s or Individual Big Bastards (TM) which require exquisite skill to traverse at any pace. Despite not having this I managed to get across without a single limb snapped in twain.Cave – And it’s a big bugger. Like the village hall for the semi-aquatic locals.
At this point I’d modestly like to step forward for a bravery award. I went inside. Basically I’m petrified of being in caves and underground. My mother took me to Big Pit once and I was terrified (to be fair we didn’t know I have this issue until we were down there)
But it was worth it – Take a look at the ceiling!
Nature is the greatest craftsman of all. I was awestruck by its beauty … at least I would have been had I not been shitting myself at the thought of about 2 bajillion tonnes of rock above me. Intriguingly there are little birds that live in there which cheeped at my intrusion. I figured birds are infinitely more attuned to nature than me and as long as they were in there I was safe.You know what I did? Just for my loyal readers I went to the back and this was the view out. Either that or I just got crushed by 2 bajillion tonnes of rock and am walking into the light.On I went over the rocks past the awesome house that lives right in a small bay by the beach. I would love to live there but I bet its rough in winter!Final destination, Llantwit Beach – Note lifeguard hut – Note how far tide is out – Note tiny weeny dots that are people. If they are drowning he A doesn’t know this and B will take so long to get there the poor buggers are fishfood anyway
My route back was different in that I shifted myself a hundred yards inland and used the coastal path. I was actually glad to get off the rocks and so I could run with proper form and stuff – mainly uphill or so it felt
I did find what I think is an old WWII pill box – tastefully repointed it seemsThe house I mentioned earlier? Oh it’s more like a mansion by the way. Look how close to the beach though! Bet it costs a few quid
I was starting to tire now, I think the legs had taken rather a hammering on the rocks earlier and I was into a CBH (Complete Bastard Headwind)(TM). My hydration pack was working fantastically though. the only drawback being the sloshing noise behind me (Like being chased by a particulary aquatic Dr Who bad guy) but after a while I was used to that too. No biggie.
It’s always nice to see the beach you’ve just run over from above. Lends a kind of perspective.Marcross lighthouse. Looked like there was a wedding going on judging by the VW Beetle with flowers on outside. I ensured I blew a particulary long stream of snot out as I went past hoping to get in the photos.From the lighthouse it’s a not so bad 2 miles on a steady incline. That seemed to be about my limit today. I was tiring more and the foot was starting to hurt. All that was left was for me to put a spurt on for my adoring fans on the other side of the stream and head home.
Altogether it was 11 miles in two and a half hours which seems slow but over that terrain (I wonder what its “worth” on road and with cave stops ‘m very happy with it =)
I did this route in google maps a while ago (and I think posted it agggges ago) and wanted to play around with it and see if it could be embedded in WP – which I think it can be it seems!
Might start doing a few more of there to geographically locate runs and things I come across … until I get bored of it :p
Last night I was off to the beach, covered six miles and was out for over an hour and it felt great … up to a point. My foot was aching a bit. Probably been overdoing it a little since the injury I thought …. This morning it’s more swollen and painful to walk on.
Hmmmm so this is where the realism comes in I guess. Hard to admit but i think I may have jumped the gun signing up for the ultra in Cornwall in now only 5 weeks. Being realistic instead of blindly optimistic my spidey senses tell me I can’t train hard enough without screwing my foot again and I really don’t want months off running again.
I can defer the race til next year and I’m starting to think its the only sensible option. Which does indeed make me feel a bit of a fool for getting all excited about it and then postponing it almost immediately. It’s not in my nature to give up and this feels a bit like giving up.
I’ve read back through my blog and this stood out – I wrote it just as the injury was healing “ I’ve spent some time considering things while off injured and have come to realise I can’t hammer my body at this age (which does makes me sound old) when it’s not really used to it. If I want to run at all I need to run smarter, lower impact and run slower.”
Guess I may need to be smarter ….
Anyway yesterday was a lovely run in the sun! Apologies for the poor quality but i forgot my camera.
Rocks! This is as far as I got as the tide was coming in and my new found sensible nature decided I didn’t want to get trappedHeading back – Still enough sand to run on!But wait – I’m hot and need cooling down – Run in the waves!Testing the drainage qualities of Altras – They drain really well but do let a bit of sand in tooJust a beautiful view
How do you keep an idiot in suspense goes the old joke. I’ll tell you later.
Anyway today it was time to see exactly how much fitness I’d lost through injury, there was a reason for this test but first the run. As I knew I was likely to be going at least 10 miles I knew I’d need water and fuel so I cracked out the salomon squishy bottles and made myself some new fuel – I hereby announce to the running world the invention of the Honey Bomb!
Working on the principle that you don’t eat with your eyes I present the first batch of Honey Bombs. I swear they taste so much better than they look … honest
Ingredients – all chucked in a bowl with no measuring.
Raisins, dates, flax and chia seeds and a dollop of honey all mixed together and placed carefully in scientific manner on a baking tray and then wanged in the freezer.
Result? I have discovered purest energy! Well I ate three of them on my run and they certainly kept my energy levels topped up. The only drawback being their incredible stickiosity. I wrapped them in silver foil so when unwrapping them I must have looked like the worlds healthiest junkie.
I was also glad to have taken a litre of water too as it started to get hot towards the end although I did actually hydrate myself all the way through which I’m disproportionately proud of. All this I packed away in my Inov8 race pack 4 which is just so comfortable I don’t even notice it’s there. The salomon soft flasks work great as once you’ve had a gurgle out of them they fold up and can be carried in a pocket until empty.
Anyway I managed just over 12 miles which didn’t feel like a struggle until the hill into Wick to my folks (another shout out to the folks) near the end which just felt like it was going on forever, plus it was half road and as we all know I hate roads. My body felt fine above the waist, the legs simply haven’t got the miles back in them yet but I’m sure that will come.
The beach was as usual beautiful even though I was going into a headwind on the way out and I managed to remember to breathe through my nose pretty much for the whole thing. This is becoming second nature which I’m especially pleased with as I know I’m no longer blowing myslf to bits early on.
Enough text they cry! Where are the photos?
Outward bound – I tried to capture the headwind but failed :pCliff stack – I’m waiting for this one to come down (as long as I’m not under it at the time) Also spot my superb accidental capture of a seagullGreen! I knew I’d get some green in for CeeJayKay. This is actually a very rare phenonemon called cliff snotView from the cliffs again plus some greenWARNING! Rockpool ahead!View running back along the cliffs (more green plus fluffy clouds for SRG)Foresty bit (included for its greeniosity)Field of unripened corn – Note colour!
Oh yeah so the news ….
I’ve signed up for a race in August. In Cornwall! It’s a trail run along the Cornish coastal path. A friend of mine and I are going to camp down there for the weekend as there is a bar and DJ and stuff to entertain him while I run on the saturday.
Thing is … the 20 miler I was originally going to do was full so I kind of ….. signed up for the 32 mile option. I have 6 weeks to prepare. I may well die (note to parents this is a lighthearted throwaway line I won’t really die)
Ultra or bust! Probably bust but I’m going to give it my best.
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Blue Green Gold Grey, Awyr Maes Tywod Aarreg 