Janathon Day 2: 10% less wind, 100% more sea

January 2, 2014 by Steph 20 Comments

I considered going out for a run this morning.  Consideration was as far as it got, as I managed to do my favourite ex-student thing of procrastinating by doing some housework.  The living room has not been so clean and tidy for a considerable amount of time.

Not only was the housework done (ok, I still have the bedroom and hall to finish tomorrow), but with the help of my sister, I also managed to put a budget together for this year.  I am sure that it is meant to be me teaching her things, what with me being the eldest and all.  Nevertheless, I am very grateful for the help as I have done my best ostrich impression for the last six twelve months.

Eventually though, it was time to go out.  I had another 3.5 miles on the plan for today.  I didn’t want to run the same route as yesterday, so I planned a new route.

I was advised by M that it definitely wasn’t base layer weather (when are you going to arrive, winter?!).  Again, I decided on the coat.  As I was about to leave, I heard M shout something at the TV, so I stuck my head round the door.  Apparently the South West is at significant risk of coastal flooding as we are due a tidal surge, and the Environment Agency has issued severe flood warnings.  It is at times like these that I am grateful we live two floors up.  It isn’t due to hit until 5am though.

Off I went on my merry way.  I started at my usual point, being beaten up by the wind slightly less this time.  I started up the new leg of the route, but abandoned it quite quickly as I had not counted on the gradient of the hills.  I don’t think the headwind helped much, but it has identified a need to get some hill work in (just not today).  Off I toddled back down the beach.  Normally I run on the path, but the weather has been so bad lately that much of the sand has washed up on the path, so it was exactly the same as running on the beach.  The sea was magnificent – the white horses really were spectacular.

It was about 2 minutes later that I experienced my first impromtu fartlek session, by attempting not to get drenched as the waves came over the sea wall.  Yeah.  I wasn’t quick enough, and I ended up having a premature, mid-run shower courtesy of Mother Nature.  Having misjudged the timing of the waves and subsequent sea wall breaches, I decided it was time to cross the road.  I looked down to step off the kerb and realised that the drains were full of sand and I would need to leap about 6 foot from a standing start to avoid the small river in the gutter.  I managed about half, and landed splosh right in the middle.  Yuck.  Soggy feet.

As I squelched my way along, I decided that I would call it a day.  A soggy day.  Today’s run was a disappointing 2.28 miles, but I did manage to get to the neck breaking speed of an 8:14 minute mile (please bear in mind that my average usually lies between 13 and 14 minutes).

My trainers are now drying out next to my other trainers that I soaked yesterday by landing in a puddle with one foot and promptly kicking the splash with the other foot…  And who said running isn’t fun!

I am glad that tomorrow is a non-running day, as I would have to go bare foot, having now run out of dry running shoes.