Saturday 3 October 2015

Saturday is TISWAS!

Ive just read back the title and realised if your under 40 you wont have a clue what it means. TISWAS used to be a crazy and anarchic Saturday morning show for kids (and adults ;)  ) which launched Chris Tarrents and Lenny Hernrys careers (look it up on youtube its ace!). The acronym stands for This Is Saturday Watch And Smile!

I was at work Friday night and was quite tired when I got to bed. The whole family slept in until 9:30am, unheard of in our house.  So today felt a bit rushed, I was at work for 4pm and I had a lot to do including a half marathon. I took Oliver to my mums and returned home. After I had done all my jobs I set out for a run. I got home and had lunch, a dip in the bath and went to work. We had the comedian, Ed Byrne, on tonight and he was very funny. I wanted to watch a bit but there were lots of operational jobs to do for Sunday and Monday so it was a really busy night. I went home and straight to bed.

Running: 11.75miles   8:33/mi   1:40 hrs


I set off not knowing how long I was going to run for. It was about 11:30am when I set out and really needed to do 13 miles but time was against me today. I ran along the prom up to North Scale and along to the airfield. I used the path I ran on yesterday and crossed the island to the West Shore. I turned onto the small paths I had spotted yesterday and jogged along the gravel path. The trail led into the salt marshes that ran along the boundary fence of the airfield. In all my years living in Barrow and Walney, I had never been this far up the tip of Walney. It was really enjoyable, the paths easy and light took me further into the dunes. I get a great buzz from exploring, its like something is inbuilt into humans, questioning and curious; what's round that bend, what's over that hill, what's the view like from that mountain. Its perhaps why humans were such a prolific species, forever wandering the planet, nomadic in nature. I love the way running in nature makes me think, makes me wonder about the world around us and the bigger picture.

The sun felt really warm again as I ran along in the hazy afternoon.The path split in lots of directions, ready to take walkers and nature lovers around the Nature Reserve, but I headed forward into the sand dunes and heath, following the trail in the grass. It was a great bit of off road running, trekking through the sand and grassland, up and down the small hills. The sharp, needle like hay blades pricking my skin as I pushed past them, sharpening my senses. The path ended on top of a dune and I could see for miles around. There was still some of North Walney left to explore but to the west the sea was out, revealing a beautiful, flat and soft running track. I made my way down to the beach and ran out about half a mile to the still and peaceful sea.

I turned and ran back along the shore line, following the waves as the sea made its steady march towards the land. Although a thick haze covered the landscape, the sun was really hot, shining through the misty air directly in front of me. I took of my running vest and enjoyed the cooling effect of the gentle sea air on my skin. The ripples in the sand, left there hours earlier by the retreating wavelets, felt bumpy under my feet, making my ankles and calves work overtime. Its such a good workout, the soft surface reducing the impact of each step and for the same reason making you push harder to get forward motion, working my legs much harder. My quads were really screaming towards the end of the beach run. After a couple of miles the tide had pushed me into the shore so I rejoined my usual coastal path at the Caravan site, put on my vest top and carried on towards home.

It was another fantastic run around Walney. I loved exploring the Nature reserve and its opened up lots of training options for the future.

Food Diary:


Breakfast:
Oat So Simple Porridge with nuts and seeds.

Lunch:
Cajun Chicken Wrap with Asparagus, avocado and spinach.

Bio Yoghurt with Granola

Dinner:
Turkey Chilli with rice

Snacks:
Nuts and seeds, humus and oatcakes, Small bar of dark chocolate, apple, banana, 9bar.

No comments:

Post a Comment