Ephemiralisimo

Continuing yesterdays theme of made up words that arent and the nature of ephemerality todays run at the beach saw a low tide to explore. Over seven miles I took a poke around at things you can only see a few times a day if the tides are low enough.

On running matters it feels now like 7 or 8 miles is an “easy” run, the usual first few miles of meh I’m not feeling this and then into The Flow (TM Sergei)  So I’m guessing I’m slowly progressing even if I have no measurements.

So today I found the following things only seen around low tide

#spottedtherock  You can only see these two at low tide. Nothing special about them but I like the feng shui!

Seaweed! I keep meaning to bring a knife and big bag down with me to gather some to make some laver bread … but I always forget until I see it

#spottedthecave  This is gouged into the base of Witches Point so only visible at low tide. I’ll have to have a nose up there one day

At low tide you get the widest expanses of sand to run on

Friendship however is not ephemeral. I met my buddies again who gave each other a nuzzle and nibble

Can you see the stealth heron?

Sun & rocks & helicopters & shoes & stuff

This run was actually on tuesday after work but I’ve been installing a new HDD with Win 10 so I’m only posting now. Twas a lovely day in the month of September whence I ventured to the beach on a run whereupon I espied some sights to which I shall now avail ye.

Enough of twee! It was a six and a half mile run as the sun sparkled on the sea and made me forget any aches in the legs. The pace was actually good and the breathing does feel abnormally easy now. It’s always the legs that protest first. I think this is a good sign, at least it’s less likely that I’ll keel over from a heart attack these days (And if I do I’m fishfood anyway)

Oh yeah .. sparkly sea

What else did I promise?

Rocks! Well one in particular I hadn’t come across before. It’s covered in tiny white swirls of …. rock. Never seen anything like it before so if any geologists out there have any information I’d be grateful

Shadow clearly for scale not because I’m a crap photographer

Close-up – No it’s not toothpaste, its solid. If it’s solidified seagull shit I will cry.

On I went past the mystery rock and lo and behold a rescue helicopter hovering at the far end of the beach!

Sadly it flew off before I could get closer. It did some extreme low level hovering though above Witches Point, no idea why it was there

Stuff – I ordered new shoes as I have complete shoe envy since Sergei announced hers. I am awaiting their arrival and hope they fit. I also have a small tweak in my hamstring and a bit of foot pain so guess who’s being a good boy and resting a few days?

Low Tide – High Spirits

After taking four days off running with just some biking to keep fresh in order to let my body recover from the efforts of last week (Yes Sergei I showed common sense!) I waited today until a very low tide to get back out for a 9 mile run. Was out for around two hours but managed to do some rock scrambling at Witches Point and took a look around at the different features which can only be seen at the lowest tides.

Low tide between Monknash and Wick Beach

Thee rocks are covered much of the time – The erosion makes for interesting formations and a fun scramble

More rocks!

These slabs were fun to cross

Rock!

Low tide exposes …… sea stuff (TM)

Im not saying the snails here are slow but they even have mini limpets growing on them!

Coral type sea stuff (TM) – Not actually sure what it is – some sort of organisms building homes I think

The usual gratuitous shot of my playground

A break in the weather and some advice

The rain has stopped! Yersterday was dreaful but today just the wind remains – I wasn’t intending on running as I have to play cricket later but felt so lazy for not getting out so I did a quick 6 1/2 miles on the beach where of course I spotted some things!

First up though some technical training advice. On many of my runs I have to “step” up onto different levels of rocks. This means using (I presume) the hamstrings and glutes. For example these rocks.

Ok so the scenario is im approaching this step which is around 3 feet high I’d guess. When I’m fresh it’s not an issue as I have the strength to just pop myself up it but in the later stages of the run when fatigued I don’t have the upper leg strength to power myself up in one move or rather my leg muscles feel tighter and don’t allow me the range of movement to get up there easily. So what exercises are best to improve this sort of movement?

Onto the things I saw!

Someone made this …

A throne!  Of course I sat on it and waited for my loyal subjects to swear fealty. After around 5 seconds of this I also noticed they had built it far too close to the cliffs for comfort so abdicated.

Blue skies again – Admittedly they didn’t last long

More blue skies and actually turned out I caught the best part of the morning

Trail gear for horses!

The Romeo and Juliette of the equine world – This gate cannot stop our love!

Start as you mean to go on

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 seems

The 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 =)

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!

 

 

 

 

Of runs and rocks

Nice easy 5 miles down to and around the beach today.  As I wasn’t pushing myself at all I stopped to do some fossil hunting and found these!

Part of an ammonite I think

A Devils Toenail – Or Gryphaea

It’s not a fossil but its a cool little pebble  anyway

Also found this rock with crystals on top of it – too heavy to carry back though

Tides out lets hunt!

Love these rock formations lying at a 45 degree angle. Almost like natural bricks

So only 5 miles (2 of which I had to carry the rocks for extra strngth work) but a cool beach trip anyway. Plus foots not hurting! Today has been a result!