Oh the places you’ll go ….

Yesterdays long run went well, only another 11 miles but felt really good and in control of my pace so I finished it feeling quite similar to the start.  Up along the cliffs to Nash Point and then the length of the beach up onto Witches Point for a few climbs. A circuit of Southerdown beach then a scramble over Witches at low tide and then a run home via the ladders and my folks. I love saturday mornings!

First up – I think these are barrow mounds and Nash Point. There was a Bronze Age hillfot here

Steps – Lots of steps. From the cliffs you can see the stepped nature of the rocks on the beach. This is why beach running hurts sometimes. No wonder my ankles and knees protest.

Low tide and a part of a shipreck (I assume) is uncovered. Kinda cool but then ….

….. when you see it in context of being in the middle of the sand here you can only imagine everything that lies underneath ….

Someone stole my rainbow!

The grass covered cliffs of Southerdown beach

Witches point looking toward Nash Point. This is a fun scramble across which can only be done at low tides.

I found this in a pool left by a fisherman (along with other litter – arseholes) Not sure what it is but I was attracted magpie-like to the bright green and so I tied it to my pack and ran back with it anyway.

Spotted the ship!  Good blurry photo this – I can tell you it was big and white!

First lamb of spring battering for milk! Good luck dude

Oops

I completely forgot to blog sundays recovery run …. Which definitely felt like a recovery run as starting off things were certainly stiff and aching from 13 miles on saturday. After the usual First Two Miles of Complete Ass ™  though everything loosened up and I enjoyed another seven or so.

Plus random finds!

And when i say random I mean false leg random! I’d love to know it’s story …

And more rusted ironwork from ship wreckage.  I’m not sure what part of a ship this would be.

Any ideas?

It was of course beautiful and so worth the painful First Two Miles of Complete Ass ™

Transparent blob dodging plus tags

Bit of a grey morning weatherwise but tide was out and I had a plan …Turn left!

I usually go right when I hit the beach, not sure why I just prefer it that way but today I was went left as I was looking for something …. but more of that later

Because today I had to use my quickness of feet to avoid the jellyfish invasion. A few jellyfish have been popping up on the beach of late but this morning there were hundreds nay thousands everywhere.

Jellyfish advance party!

Now as all you trailrunners know your gaze gets nearer the more technical the terrain but usually on the sandy stretches of the beach I can look up and around without fear of tripping …. or stepping on a jellyblob. This morning I had to concentrate on not stepping on the little guys. I suppose if I was a complete git I could have splattered my way from one end of the beach to the other but no way was I crushing some of the worlds little marvels no matter how dumb and squidgey they are.

I therefore have decided to crown myself the world authority on trailrunning on technical jellyfish terrain. I fully expect my inbox to be bulging with such missives as “I have just got into trailrunning but find I have difficulty traversing jellyfish on rocky terrain, how can Improve my form in this situation?”

Note correct foot placement, not on but between jellyfish. This is known in the trade as a jellyparade where they all order themselves in a line. It is best if you can run perpendicular to jellyparades but if terrain forces you to run parallel then run with short dainty steps to avoid The Squish(tm)

So hopping all over the place I found what i was looking for – rusty machinery! On the beach I hear you cry?  If you know where to look and I do having spent years on this beach there are the rusted remains of an old shipwreck buried on the beach. Depending on the tide and coverage of sand and rocks you can find different sections.

Rusted ship part 1

I was happy to find this as it often gets comepletely buried. Most of the parts are scattered and small but this seems to be a complete section of hull still intact and buried.

You can still see the individual rivets

This piece is actually loose and just about liftable but much as I’d love it I’m leaving it here. Many peple have lost their lives in wrecks on this coast and to my mind this is where the wrecks should stay.

I took photos of more pieces but as one rusty bit of metal looks very much like another i won’t post them all here :p

Also I round another fossil. Altra for scale

So it was a great 5 mile run alrogether and now I get to play the tagging game! (If you don’t know what i’m on about check out this post from Sergei)

Happy days kids!