Just another run

Seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment – well as fast as I let them be

Home before I turned into a gremlin or something

I appear to have put these in the wrong order as the sun is rising!

Quicksand!

Wind sprints & leg wobbles

I’m caught up! Kinda – So this was thursday!

4 miles along the beach followed by some more hill work (4 not 6 this time as I’d already done a longer run) so plenty of leg wobbling!  The wind was giving it a good blow and made for some interesting training, wet sand and a headwind equal muscle tiredness.

Always beautiful

The wind was making cool swirling patterns in the sand which I’ve completely failed to capture here but you get the idea I’m sure

Sea being chopped up by the wind – did I mention it was windy?

How green was my waterfall

Took 7 more miles and a sunny day to finally catch up with my posts! Only to Witches Point and back but totally worth it if only to realise my body is so happy at the shorter distances its building confidence for the longer ones.

I of course saw some stuff ™

Spring weather means algae! (and waterfalls) Look – I have discovered purest green!

I found quicksand – Not necessary to throw myself flat as it was contnet to stop at my ankles – There are shifting patches of this all over the beach, running into one is a bitch as it suddenly stops you and pulls all your legs muscles at once.

Of course there were beautiful views

And a little boat braving the sea between the shore and Nash sands, I wayched in hope for a while but it didnt sink

 

To think I almost didn’t

Got home from work and it was cold, blowing hard and looked like rain. I was sooooooo close to staying in the warm and having soem food, maybe do some stretching, take it easy. But I knew deep down I wanted to go out and would love it once I did. It’s the first step. So off I went into the wind for a quick 4 mile run.

The bridge building continues apace, now they’re chucking rocks in because its better to break an ankle on an unsteady rock than get your precious shoes and clothes muddy…. sigh

Anyway there was just about enough sand to run the mile stretch before the tide swept me away

Note narrow strip of sand – GO!

I found I can now cruise even into the wind at around 9 min miles on the sand. On the way back I was doing 8 no problems.  I’m only doing short stints like that as I don’t want to blow up anything in my legs so don’t worry I’m being careful and listening to my body!

Some cool clouds for SRG

The view back from the fields on the way home

Thats gotta be jelly as jam just dont shake like that

A 7 mile jaunt after work. It’s so good to see the evenings brightening up fast.  Can get a nice longer feeling run in now and the sunsets are of course beautiful as per usual.

Down in the wet for a low angle. Love the granularity of the sand in this one.

It was clouding over slowly but the sky was a beautiful shade of blue inland

Hmmmm a jellyfish the size of my fist

Hmmmm another jellyfish

The size of a wok!

This dude was the biggest I’ve seen so far and mighty heavy from the feel of it. I’ve looked it up and its a barrel jellyfish.  The tide was coming in but I wouldnt fancy its chances of not getting stranded again as they just float around a bit.

It’s an ephemeral thing

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 wildlife

Marcross – 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 shelter

My route off the beach and up to the clifftop! 

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)

Inov8 X-Talon 200

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

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.

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.

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)

Uber cool horsie

Badgers, bees and beheadings

Now before you get too excited I actually only saw one of these on my run today.  However I did get four and a half miles done in the dunes at Merthyr Mawr. We also had mizzle – which wasn’t as bad as it sounds as it was kind of cooling. I was taking the pace slow and today that felt a bit more natural. However this may be because running through soft and damp sand is much harder than i’d anticipated right now. I’m not sure how long it takes to recover from injury and get the fitness back but while the rest of my body was going wheeeeeeeeee! the legs were going fuuuuuuuuuck!

Soft sand uphill is the leg killer

So badgers ……. If you’ve followed this post a little while you may remember my last visit to Merthy Mawr and the killer badgers

Which admittedly don’t exist but …. tracks!

Badger or dog …. you decide!

Bees! Ok lose the plural

Bee!

Big, buzzing bugger

Beheadings ….. Ok so you need a little imagination on this one. While running I came across this …

Chopping block

Which reminded me of those blocks you see in medeavil films for chopping heads off etc and then I noticed the arrangement of logs creating a small semi circle facing the block.

Log seating for the executions!

Ok so I admit I have a vivid imagination but it’s still kinda intriguing. They must have been placed here for a reason and the ground is worn in the area.

I moved on (as I was now scared of both badgers and axe murderers)

View of the Bristol Channel from the top of the dunes – The chopping block is down there somewhere.

Looking across to Ogmore by Sea

I was delighted to find the tide was out and so I managed a circuit of the very sandy beach here. And when i say sandy I mean soft and sandy!

Altras make great footprints!

Note the wide toebox :p

All in all a great run to ease back into it all. there was a small bit of niggle from the foot which is why I kept it short, slow and sensible (Not like me I know)

Finally Happy Birthday and Fathers Day to my dad who I think will read this at some point! In fact I’d like to say a huge thanks to both of my parents who have always backed me 100% in whatever I’ve done … even when they haven’t been sure its the right thing.

Cheers all! Happy sunday