Some lifting of lockdown, but! keep on running and cycling

Saturday 23rd May

Well there has been some lifting of the lockdown, people are now allowed to travel where they like in England, but not Wales or Scotland ! which I have to say locally has caused real problems as people flock here to the coast in large numbers. The implications for us runners and cyclists are that we now have to dodge more cars and more people trying to keep the 'distance' to avoid any contact, otherwise the last ten weeks will have been a waste of time!! it does make me very angry that people are so inconsiderate not staying local, even one of my friends I notice on Strava drove to Saunton sands to go surfing!! which is a good 70-100 miles, irresponsible in my eyes and unnecessary. especially as the roads were jammed and nothing was open.
 Anyway enough of the virus more about running and cycling along with the campervan, sadly I had to charge the battery on the van as it had not been out on a long journey regularly, I daren't go out as locals think you are an outsider giving you horrible looks as though you shouldn't be there!

On the beach at Berrow

Burnham low lighthouse

Cygnets on a local Rhyne

wreck of  SS Norgen 1897

Running wise I have now managed to complete 621 miles or 1000 km since the start of the year, I now need to complete my 1000 miles by the end of the year. I have been running regularly either early mornings on my 10 k route or in the afternoons round my 9-10 mile route that is away from crowds and has some lovely off road sections but! has no hills and over ten miles I can have a maximum of 60 feet! which is probably over the train bridge and up from the beach. Although I did include the ascent of Brent Knoll last week, on my long run, the weather however has been very hot making long runs very sweaty! the wind has been a constant niggle and chilly at times. I did manage a good time for a 10k last week recording 56 min 43 secs which I was pleased with. I have been heart rate running this week trying to keep it down in zone 3, difficult at times when running into the wind.
Although I can now drive the 20 mins down the road to the Mendips, or the Quantocks, I have made a decision to avoid until we are all released and the threat has subsided considerably, at 69 I wish to do everything possible to continue life for a good few years yet!

It is a wonderful area for wild life and over the past few runs have seen goslings, cygnets and baby ducks, sadly I have the photos on my ipad and unable to download at the moment.

Cycling wise I have managed a few rides when the wind has dropped and my 'sore' bum has now recovered!! the roads getting busier each week both with cars but mainly cyclists. I am surprised my cycling fitness is still good although I havnt tried many hills yet, the local Polden hills are not really a challenge and I don't feel at the moment I want to venture on the Mendips and Cheddar Gorge which by accounts is very busy with cyclists and people visiting now we have all been 'let out'
The running club have been proactive in trying to keep spirits up with a daily challenge of wearing a different tee each day you run that matches the colour of the rainbow, to celebrate the NHS along with a runner spotting competition, where you get a point if you see another Harrier and photo them :-) with a league each week . this combined with a weekly quiz via the Face Book page.

I cant believe its nearly 3 years since my Manche to Med cycling trip

That's brought the Blog up to date, not a lot to say but I am trying to keep it uptodate and also keep a diary of this extraordinary time .

 

life goes on.......

Sunday 10th May 2020

Here we are 7 or 8 weeks into lockdown and life goes on, trying to avoid contact with other people and the weekly grind of getting food without spending time in a supermarket queue! using farm shops, local campsite shops [as campsites are shut the onsite shops are open to outsiders] and we did manage to get an AS|DA delivery last week, even though one of the subsidies was a 20 packet pack of prawn cocktail Skips!!!
I finished April well ahead of my target for my 1000 miles run by the end of the year with 515 miles run since January 1st, April saw me run 123 miles whilst I also managed to start cycling again in April getting another 238 miles in. so a successful month of activity, then the weather has been lovely, long sunny days, and somedays with a gentle easterly breeze meant a fast cycle back over Tealham moor. Running wise I ran nearly every day,the longest run was 10.60 miles, the route very flat with only 67 feet of climbing! taking in Brent Knoll village, Middle Lane which goes into a lovely bridleway part way along followed by crossing the Dunes at Berrow, which are remote, making the beach very quiet at the moment, very deserted! before running back along the lovely flat, hard sand for 3-4 miles before crossing the dunes back to the road. A great multi terrain run, which keeps the interest more than general road running. Its also nice to get away from the sea front as in the day time now it is getting busier as people are taking their 'Boris exercise' or taking the dog for a walk! I did manage a couple of very early runs 6 am starts! which were god for lack of people, beautiful sun rises etc. but! I haven't managed to keep them up, my preferred time to run being late afternoon.
I have been lucky with no injuries and generally feeling good on runs and cycle rides, my pace is way down at present, although the multi terrain run is not easy to go fast as its good ankle twisting terrain, and the beach slows you up. but! I did manage 58 minutes for a 10k run! I did no hill work in April so when I did Brent Knoll hill the other day, it was a shock to the leg muscles, finding myself walking rather than running at times, whereas, training for the Grizzly I was running all the way up to the top!
The Harriers have been proactive in keeping things positive with a daily  challenge of wearing a rainbow colour each day when you run and there is also a 'Harrier Spotting' contest where if you spot a harrier and photo you get a point! which goes towards a weekly score. We have also had a quiz each week through the Harriers FB page, it was our turn this week to present the questions, it went well and all enjoyed it [I think].
Cycling might be curtailed for a couple of weeks as I have a sore, in an inconvenient place for cycling! I need this to heal before I do more as its very uncomfortable, even with two pairs of shorts, I suspsct the hot weather and frequent wearing of lycra etc has contributed to it!
But, cycling has been good with quieter roads, and more courteous drivers, as there are a lot of 'new' cyclists and families out on bikes, who aren't the most road aware people! There has been no 'resurfacing ' yet, either which is good new, I am hoping the Covid 19 delays any of this as its a real problem for cyclists. I did a couple of hilly rides taking in 100ft which for a 40 mile round the levels is very good, without going on the Mendips is would be hard to get much climbing in. Besides its best to stay very local with this virus about.
I am hoping with another month or so we will be able to meet up with other runners and my cycling friends again, I don't thing Parkrun or other events will be back before October at the earliest, just fingers crossed they might.
The campervan is well and truly stuck on the drive! I daren't drive locally as people think you are a visitor and give you grief!! now I can decide if its better or worse to start it up and run it.
No hill or Fell walking either!
All we can do is stay safe ourselves and be optimistic the return to some normality wont be too far off.
Still no photos added as I am typing this on the laptop and photos are on the ipad or phone, so sorry its boring text!
I am quite pleased I have done another blog in a short time!! I hope I can maintain the momentum !!!