21st November 2020
Well here we are in Lockdown 2 and I think its week 2! anyway due to end on 2nd of December,if! the rate of infections go down, in my view this is never going to happen with so many idiots still not obeying the simple rules and gathering together to protest against Lockdown!! in large numbers, so that alone will put us back two weeks, it all makes me very cross and angry and us that are later in life are much more at risk of severe reactions should we catch it! I have to keep reminding myself, control what you can control not what you cant i.e. other people!!! and focus on keeping ourselves safe. which is easy as we dont go in shops, we use click and collect and obey the rules of using masks, gel and washing hands!! they say they have vaccine now and will role it out with a couple of weeks, but if its like track and trace etc I wont hold my breath, I can see the whole thing being in the same position in June and possibly this time next year!!!
Anyway to more important matters, I am now at 1347 miles running this year which is great but, expensive on running shoes!! my cycling mileage is way down on previous years.
I have had a great week this week despite a 'Ground Hog Day' blip in the middle.
Sunday I had a lovely run back up Brent Knoll, beautiful if windy morning, didnt see anyone else having the summit to my self I even did two circuits of the peak as it was so nice !!
Monday I ran from Berrow - to Weston Super Mare Pier 10 miles with a young lady from the running club, she certainly kept up the pace, weather was good except for a couple of showers, I have to say I was certainly tired by the time we came to the end!!! but it was a lovely run, all the way on the cycle path and seafront a challenging wind on the way back didnt help, I took a bladder this time but think I prefer the bottle !
Thursday after a couple of GHDs I decided to get my self out to the Quantocks, the forecast was good if a little windy ! in fact very windy! overnight rain cleared as I drove to Holford to park, I was the only one in the carpark, and I set off walking up Hodders Combe enjoying the peace and tranquility, as I gained height it still remained grey and very overcast and when I hit the ridge, the wind hit me!! so I descended quickly down Weacombe to pick up the Quantock Greenway along the base of the Quantocks to Paradise Combe, its been a long time since I mountain biked this route but it was thoroughly enjoyable and I met my first dog walker of the day!! I used my OS app to navigate in a couple of places as I was unsure not being there for a while, the leaves on the ground were quite drifted like snow and I found myself trudging through deep leaves up to my knees!! it was soon time after the roller coaster path to climb back up to the ridge, givinging stunning views as I climbed , the grey skies were now broken with a little sunshine occasionally, I soon got to Halsway Post and mde my way along the wide track to Frog Combe, scattering sheep as I descended down the steep Combe, hard to believe we used to cycle down there and cycle up it at times!! i dropped into the final combe and one of my favourites Holford combe, the streams were quite wide so it took time to negotiate them without getting wet feet, I arrived back in the car park which was now very full! after 8.5 miles and 1600ft of climbing, a cracking mornings walk/ run !! a wonderful route that I shall repeat !
Friday was another hill day, this time Brean Down with a friend from the running club, it was a damp drizzle/windy day when I parked up at Berrow village Hall, and we made our way to run along the Beach to the base of Brean down, we soon covered the 1.5 miles along the beach as we had a tailwind, the tie was well out but the sand was very wet, but at least firm.
We climbed the tarmac road to the first summit and a great view of Weston etc. before heading offroad to the summit trig point, as we got higher it was clear that the drizzle had got worse as we were now at cloudbase, descending Clive slipped as he had road shoes on having forgotten his off road shoes, so we gingerly descended down to the Fort on the end , now gladly sheltered from the wind and the rain.
We decided to run the access road back after Clives slip and of course we were sheltered from the bad weather.
we descended the Down to hit the beach again for the 1.5 miles back to the car, straight into the wind making running difficult, but!! strangely it was really enjoyable and we got back to the car after 6.23 miles and 493ft of climbing. a cracking run again with good company, sadly no photos as it was rather wet!
A nice end to a strange week, but with three hill runs I cant complain, nice rest day today and hopefully a few miles on my bike tomorrow to give my legs an extended rest!
