monknash – Blue Green Gold Grey, Awyr Maes Tywod Aarreg

More fog

The fog continues ….. Just a short run today but glad to report everything in working order. Even did some speedwork for variety

The old monastery at Monknash always feels special in the mist. As if the 21st century has drifted away and we’re back 900 years

This one’s for the soul

Screw the body which didn’t really want to go anywhere and was happy to sloth around. My mind let the two fight it out a while and then the soul won and said I wanna see the beach.

So seven very tiring miles later I was feeling awesome just as I got home … go figure!

I think the photos explain why the soul usually wins

Capturing the scene was an artist painting away happily to herself

Sometimes you don’t need words

10 beautiful miles along the cliffs in bright sunshine. No pain in foot tho chest still lurgied. Can’t complain about what running gives you …. except crap photographs …. I suck at photographs. These are the best of a blurry bunch.

Unfotunately the roads are paved with leaves not gold

Do whatever fills the hole in your soul

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 anyway

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!

I’m back with shoe report!

So a week off running and it wasn’t too bad, I must admit it was tricky to not go out when the sun shone on the way home but I stuck to it for a whole week. And today I got to try out my new shoes (I had to hide them this week in case my will broke)

First impressions – very comfy, at first they felt a little snug but they are so soft – like a baby deers furry ass – that they soon felt like they were already worn in.

The reason I got these was for better grip as the weather turns and I’m going to be spending much of the next six months sliding around in mud. I also wanted something for wet rocks on the beach, It’s not like I ask a lot or anything.

It’s been raining all week and so I was sure to find mud

sam_1128 — Mud glorious mud – Sheep track in fact – And the shoes handled it superbly. The bigger lugs certainly grip this kind of stuff. No loss of traction.

sam_1130 — Next test – Wet slippery rocky path with fallen wet leaves. There were a few hairy moments here but then there always are in the wet. I did feel more confident in the Inov8s compared to say the Altras especially on downhills.

Sand test – Well lets be fair even i cant fall over on sand but and I was delighted to discover they kick up cool little spurts of sand behind you. I spent the next mile runing while looking over my shoulder.

They really come into their own on technical rocky terrain, they feel very nimble and precise and covering these rocks was loads of fun. Plenty of spring in them for bounds and leap and they grip superbly even on angled rocks and slopes.

sam_1127 — Water – I was very surprised by how water resistant they were, nothing got in at the beach but this made me a little concerned, I wasnt expecting them to be waterproof and alas if water does get in (to be fair I was sloshing around in a stream) it doesnt drain out very well.

So overall I’m more than pleased with the Xtalon 200 – They are definitely going to become my technical shoe of choice and I expect to give them a right hammering this winter. The grip is fantastci on mud and rock and they provide an immense feeling of confidence and stability. My only worry is the drainage but with some care there shouldnt be too much water getting in – basically it has to go in over the top anyway.

Oh and I have new shoes but this dude has a new coat – With chickens on! How cool is that (I was kinda jealous)

The birds!

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.

Which I enjoyed making flap about as I ran towards them

This lot stood their ground – So I left them to it

Last week …

I kind of promised myself that I would journal every run even if it was short and nothing really happened – Well that was last thursday and I’ve only just got around to blogging it due to circumstances.

It was short – Just the 2 and a half to the beach and back – But I saw a sheep!

Happy accidents

You know that feeling when you plan a 5 or 6 mile run to shake the legs out a bit and it feels gooooood ….. and so you end up running 13? That was today. I was prepared though! After fridays disaster I had my pack with me with water, banana and my homemade energy biscuits.

The tide was in so I was happily tootling up and down the hills and along the cliffs. The sun was shining and I felt good so hey why not!

I ended up going as far as the rivermouth at Ogmore and though I’ve run this route before today I definitely felt better throughout it. I had also squeezed a fresh lemon into my hydration bladder – electrolyte city! (PS if you do this do NOT let the pips go in too – they block the bloody valve)

After a 5 minutes break to let my legs sieze up nicely I headed back and approaching Southerdown wondered if my friend Swampy was working in the Cups as it was Sunday lunchtime – He was! So I stopped for more refreshment

This may not have been the best idea 8 miles into the run

I’m happy to report that although cider is not a PED wolfing down a pint in 15 minutes then running again does mean a fair amount of sloshing in the stomach. Nothing too bad though and was nice to have a change on a run.

sam_0970 — There were surfers in the sea at Southerndown too – I think I need a zoom lens

Sign of rain? Or just lazy cows. Check out the one on the right with the eye patches – mean bovine!

So after 8 miles last night and 13 today I’m off to rest the limbs in the pub with more cider which I won’t be runing home after (I’ll take the bike)

Happy weekend =)

Sunset and a night run

Thought I’d change things up today, as I continully miss dawn due to bed related incidents (Ie sleeping) I decided to go running at sunset. Never thought I’d be choosing to do this on a saturday night!

After the sunset I ran back to the other end of the beach so I could run the rocks in the dark with a headtorch – Soooooooo much fun! Bit tricky to take photos of it though.

However I did take a video – sadly I had the camera the wrong way up so you have to tilt your head :p Then again i was concentrating on not killing myself so I think I did ok

Hey cool – WordPress auto inserts youtube vids, who knew!

I actually did 8 miles, around half of those in the dark (and back up the spooky path) and I had a blast! I’ll definitely be back out for more.

Nature looks after its own

“Ill-preparedness, carelessness, lack of concentration, poor maintenance of tools. Oh. And overconfidence sir.” – Terry Pratchett, Pyramids.

This quote from the book actually sprang to mind yesterday. I blew it. Mainly overconfidence. I was flat out all day in work and although I never stop for lunch anyway I usuallt just eat fruit throughout the day whenever I feel hungry. I didn’t really feel hungry yesterday so when I got home I went for a run having had no more than an apple and banana all day. Which is why within 3 miles I had what could only be described as a mini bonk. The usual signs were there, lightheadedness, weird vision (like running through powerpoint slides – stuttery) and a general feeling of weakness. I realised what it was and needed food (and roundly cursed myself for running with no food in me or on me) but had none and was on the far end of the beach. I knew it would be a long slow jog back although the symptoms did ease once I slowed it was tricky to do anything technical safely.

Lovely view but not easy to traverse feeling like shit

When I got off the beach though Mother Nature came to my rescue. Yet another benefit of running trails, especially at this time of year. Fruit!

I ate a few handfuls of blackberries and a few minutes later I was pretty much rocking again. Amazing how quickly the body recovers with just a litttle of what you need.

Plus sloes – Not to everyones taste as they are very sharp but I quite like them

So yeah I was ill prepared, overconfident and complacent but this is all a learning curve. I wouldn’t drive my car on an empty tank, I won’t run again on one either.

However this run clocked up my 800th mile since I started, I won’t forget that milestone 😉

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