19 Wet beach

 

Ours was the only vehicle on the parking place for the beach entrance.  I'd pulled my running clothes on this morning but was prepared to abort the run if the rain got too bad.  It was drizzly by the time we got to the car park and I thought we'd at least run up the dyke to get a glimpse of the sea.  By the time we were there it was as good as dry so we ran along the sea shore till the next exit and back along the bike path in the 'hills' back to the van.  Got a bit wet on the way back but nothing too terrible.  

18

 

Uneventful run.  Wind against me on the way home but warmer that it's been lately and I felt sufficiently warmed up to do some sprinty bits in between shouting for the dog to catch up.  

17 Frozen Sea

 

Freezing east wind meant that despite the sun and the just under freezing temperature the edges of the sea had a layer of slushy ice on it.  I noticed some crows pecking at a fresh bird carcass and clambered down the dyke to have a closer look. Very slight squeaking from my lungs on the homeward straight as the combination of the cold and the length of time since my morning asthma drugs started to take hold but nothing too drastic.   

16

In the background a group of swimmers are about to go into the water.  It was just above freezing but no wind so felt less cold than it's been recently.  

 

15

 

Less wind today so the chill factor wasn't so fierce and my hands warmed up enough to take my gloves off on the home run.  Did a couple of speeded-up-from-plod-mode stretches.  (I hesitate to dignify them with the word 'sprint'...) 

14

 

Very low tide with the east wind pushing all the water from our wee cove out into the North Sea.  Gentle plod down to the Kuitje and back.   Much more mudflat visible than usual.  Luckily Ragnar is never keen on getting his feet wet and stays mostly on the higher drier grassier part of the shoreline where he can read all the weemail other dogs have left behind and post the occasional no doubt well-considered reply himself.  

13

  I'm glad I postponed my run today as the dawn was dull and grey and when I went down to the canal with the dog and my first coffee there was a stilletto sharp east wind coming off it (the canal, not my coffee! tssk) and rather than spending a few minutes watching the cormorants and ducks like I usually do I turned around before even reaching the water. Few hours later there was at least some more light in the sky (even if the actual sun didn't put in more than a few short token appearances) and we got our run down to the sea and back done. In hindsight I should have had my winterweight running breeks on as the chill factor of the wind was high and my thighs and bum never did really get warm. Also kept my thickish gloves on for the whole way there and back and was glad I'd remembered to put some vaseline on my cheeks and lips. Because of the lack of any sort of feeling of my major muscles having warmed up significantly on the way out I didn't try any speedier bits on the way home.

I've upped my frequency for February from every 3 days to alternating 2 and 3 day gaps. (So 2 runs in every 5 days.)

12

 

 The sun was well on its way up and when I checked my phone at the half way/turnaround mark when I took a photo it was a heady 8 degrees! I even had my gloves off. On the way out I was overtaken by a man in a speedy wee electric wheelchair and we met him again on his way back and he stopped for a chat as he wanted to pat the dog.

11

 

Ragnar and I were down on the beach 3 and a half km away before the sun was properly over the horizon this morning. Great run in the freezing, windstill dawn. White ripe on the grass but the cycle path I was running on wasn't slippy at all. It's quite unusual to have no wind at all here so I was enjoying its absence. I quickened my strides slightly on the way home and was pleased to note that I did indeed have negative splits. (Faster second half of a run.) Not that it was really much of a 'challenge' as my pace was even slower than usual as I took care to let my muscles warm up slowly in the cold. 38 min there, 34 minutes back. Roughly. And I only know this as I took my phone out of its pocket to take the photo at the furthest point and saw how much of the programme I was listening to was left. And there are various unscheduled stops and turn arounds to clip the dog onto the lead if I spot a car or bike.