Running vest: an evaluation. Part I

Early on in my running career I bought a running belt. It fits a small water bottle, a camera/phone, keys, and if you make a specific effort, also a few gels. And if you are more nervous about temperature than hydration you can use the pocket for water to hold a garment. It suited me fine so far! If I needed more, I would run with my small backpack, that normally comes with me to work. 

A lot of runners use running vests. They often have a pocket on the back, and can carry a bit more. Kate has one that can hold a lot, but she runs ultras. When I ran a recce for the Gladstone 9, I needed more than fit in my belt, but I also wanted my phone within easy reach. That inspired me to use my day trip pack, as it has pockets at the front, unlike my commuter backpack. It wasn’t a good idea; the bag swung from side to side and chafed my back. And I know you can have your phone in a case around your arm, but it is a complete faff to get your phone in and out of those. I didn’t want that! But it did inspire me to go and look for running vests.

I found a second-hand one online, and bought it. It arrived pretty much at the same time as my new road shoes. But it was only the vest that made the trial run. It went really well! I thought it was very comfortable, and it allows you to bring a little bit more than my belt. I did figure I needed these soft bottles that tend to go with it. I was just using a rigid plastic bottle and that isn't ideal. It’s also not much; you can’t always rely on possibilities for refilling. 

Close-up of the pic used before, with emphasis on the vest with a rigid bottle (and yes I need to clean that mirror) 

When I later ran with the vest again, in the Netherlands, I started struggling with bra rub. I was wondering if that was still something to do with the rigid bottle. Bra rub is very uncomfortable. I like still having my skin at the end of a run. After the first run I used tape to protect myself but I just ending up rubbing somewhere else. Would soft bottles solve this? Nothing had rubbed on my first run with it, rigid bottle and all. I’d have to do some trial and error. So I bought some soft bottles. And I even went gadgety and bought a bigger vest for longer runs. I had run out of water a bit during my road training. That can happen again unless I increase my capacity. 

Doesn't look dramatic, but it's quite annoying

The soft bottles arrived soon. They barely fit in the vest! When I took one with me on the Thursday run, I quickly put it in the back pocket. Not quite where it should be! This is a vest for short runs, where a 250ml bottle is enough, clearly. 

This quest is not over! I’ll now await the other vest. So expect another blog post like this again soon! Hopefully with a more positive evaluation on the vest’s performance on longer, thirstier runs…

Making my milk habit more sustainable still

I had just drank the last milk my milkman had delivered before I headed for the Netherlands. And it’s a long journey! Plenty of time to use. And in the train I saw an advert for oat milk in powder form. That sounded ideal! Why move all the water in oat milk around? I can get that from the tap. The environmental footprint goes down a lot if you only transport the solids around. So I immediately ordered a sachet. 

It arrived soon. So what do I think? I would say it is a winner. It just makes oat milk! But you end up with less packaging. What’s not to like. Even the cat approves of it. 

Making milk

Two species product testing 

The one thing that is a bit of a snag is that the cartons you buy liquid milk in our recyclable, but my county does not accept the LDPE This stuff comes in for recycling. I will probably have to bring that to a collection point in a big supermarket… but that's doable. So that's me on oat milk powder from now on I think! 

New running shoes - at some point

When I ran my knees into oblivion (or at least thought I had done so) I wondered if I would need to buy new running shoes. My road shoes are quite old, and not very bouncy. It might have had something to do with it. The physiotherapist said the problem was somewhere else entirely, so I put the thought of new shoes out of my head. But then there was this promotional event by Hoka, where we could borrow a pair and take it on our Thursday run. These were trail shoes; I don't wear out trail shoes very fast. My Sauconies doing just fine. But these were REALLY comfortable. And I started to think of a pair for on the road. And the next time I was in the shop where we had borrowed our Hoka’s I had a look, but they only had trail shoes. Maybe that's what you get in Llanberis.

Susan had noticed a nice pair of Hoka’s one of the members of the Mountain rescue team that came to Tim’s aid. She had bought a pair straight from the manufacturer’s website. She recommended that; if there's anything you don't like about them, you can just send them back without problems. And she liked her pair a lot. And I fell for the temptation. I ordered a pair of Rincon 4s, size 5. I’ve always had running shoes size 5. The Hoka trail shoes I had borrowed had also been 5s. 

You see it coming. They arrived, and I wanted to try them out, on a run that didn’t start at the front door. I drove to the start, but I wasn’t even out of the village when I concluded the shoes were too tight. They shouldn’t already be uncomfortable before you’ve even set off! Maybe afterwards, when your feet have swollen with the effort, but not beforehand. I decided to turn back and change into my good old Asicses. And I ran on these. 

The run was also the first one with my new running vest. But more about that in a separate post!

The new kit

The kit in situ

When I got home from that run I organised the exchange of the shoes. I went for size 5.5 instead. I would think that should be big enough! And I decided to go for a different colour as well. The ones I had initially chosen were not quite to my liking. I went for black instead. And the next working day I brought the Hoka’s back to a drop-off point. The pick-up went ok. But then I got an email that indicated Hoka considered that a return, not an exchange. I had to go back to the site. 

I decided to scrutinise the sizing guidance. Maybe what I needed was not a size bigger, but the wide model. Some measuring suggested that. So I took a punt and went for that. It required a more expensive model as the Rincons weren’t available in wide. I chose the Bondi 8. 

Now I have to wait for them to arrive. Hopefully they will make it to the trial run stage this time! Although the trial could be an actual race…

In the Netherlands, august 2024

If you go to the Netherlands by ferry, you either stay only a short time, or you’re away from home forever. You’re travelling for 48 hours! And I didn’t stay long. And I had to see the people I would see rather rapidly. 

I started with my mum. I got there around lunchtime. It was good to catch up! And I fit in a nice run before she opened a bottle of wine to celebrate Friday with a friend. 

Sunny run in the woods

At my sister’s place everything was happening. One son was moving out as he had found a place to live for himself. And half the rest of the family was busy buying a new (second-hand) harp. Not a trivial purchase! And my brother-in-law was dynamic again, after having sustained a rather serious sports injury earlier in the summer. And my sister was getting ready for the Alps. The cat, with whom nothing unusual was going on, provided some balance. 

Sister selfie

I also visited Roelof. He had just had a change in job description a few weeks before. And Viking joined us. We spontaneously made swamp hike plans! Stay tuned for that. 

I was hoping to organise another trip with Monique! But we might have to await improved health. But at least conditions were fine for a short walk on the moors and a drink on a terrace after that. 

A good place for a drink

Another selfie

I also visited my dad. I could report to him that the plant he had evicted from my gutter was doing well in its new home in the garden. 

On the last day I had another coffee session with my mum. And a last run. I stepped awkwardly on a tree root! It wasn’t bad and I could keep running, but I was painfully aware of only being six days away from a long trail (+ fell) race. Bad timing to weaken your ankle even the tiniest bit! But then it was time to pack up and leave. My visit had come to an end. Home and cat were waiting! 

To the Netherlands by ferry, again

Going to the Netherlands by train is better for the environment, and faster. But it’s a twelve hour trip if all goes well. And the entire time, you’re very restricted in your movement. I can feel solidly done with trains by the end of my trip. So I wanted to go by ferry again. And then the trip is 24 hrs instead of 12, so you’re away from home for longer for a similar duration trip, but if you have a cat-sitter that’s not much of a problem. So after my last trip, which involved being cooped up in an airlesss space at Bruxelles Midi station for four hours, I booked this one on the ferry from Hull.  

I took the train just after 11AM. It meant I could do the final preparations, like the final packing and changing bedsheets for the cat-sitter, in a relaxed way. And on to Chester I was. And from there to Halifax. I rode through very pretty Yorkshire towns. But slower than intended. I would miss my connection in Halifax! What was the next option to get to Hull? That seemed to be staying in the train to Leeds, and changing there. 

Pretty Yorkshire town (I forget which one)

You see this coming, I suppose; the next train from Leeds was run by a different company, and my tickets wasn’t valid on it. I had to wait for the one after that. At least Leeds has a dedicated water refill point. 

I got to Hull in the end, took the bus, walked the rest, and checked in. It had taken a while, but never had it been stressful. And now I had my cabin.

Approaching the ferry

I had purposely booked a cabin with coffee and tea making facilities, but I had been downgraded due to overbooking. That was a bummer! But I had travelled in with two flasks of boiling-hot water, and only used up one. The other one would be for breakfast. 

I had brought dinner, so I just ate in my hut, got some fresh air, and went to bed. It would be an early start the next day! 

I was woken up by the tannoy. I got some fresh air again, but not too much; it was so breezy it wasn’t straightforward to stay upright on deck. Then I had my improvised breakfast. And packed up. 

Europoort

This time I had the shuttle bus to Amsterdam. It was late, but it’s the only option. And from there, it was easy to get to Amersfoort. Where an end had just come to weeks of travel disruption as there had been work on the rails. I’d made it! And door to door had been 26 hours. Let’s hope I can do it in less on the way back…

Cleaning the house again

I wanted to go and see my mum, and other relatives, again before term would hit. And I picked a weekend in August. And decided that I would travel by boat this time. It takes twice as long, but it’s more relaxed than doing all of it on the train. The last time had been very tiring. And I also decided I should see if I could get a cat-sitter again. I would be away for long enough to make that worth the faff. 

All that meant it came quite soon after Lydia’s visit. So Lydia had barely left and I was washing bedsheets, removing cobwebs, sweeping floors and whatnot. This is the second time in a few months I am getting my house ready for a stranger. And I don’t enjoy cleaning, but I am starting to think that maybe this will get me into a habit. I should just keep this up a bit more. I don’t lift my hygiene standards to ridiculous levels. Maybe I should keep them there? Except the washing bedsheets after maybe only one night…

The cat thinks a drying duvet cover is a blanket fort

Invisible women

When ‘invisible women’ came out and got attention in the press, I figured it was right up my street. I bought it. And then didn’t end up reading it for a long time. 

This year I’ve been on a reading spree. I started with books that I had lent or been given. And when I got through that pile I started on this one. 

So for those who haven’t heard of it: the front of the book sums it up. It’s all about data about women not being gathered, and therefore women not being taken into consideration. And this spans many fields. Maybe the most obvious one is medical research; a lot of it has historically been done on men only. And then you get a medical science, fit for men only. I think many of us have heard of the worse outcomes for women if they have a heart attack; if only men are studied, the symptoms are only recognised in men. And delayed diagnosis is bad. 

This book goes into countless examples more! Everything from public transport to pensions and public toilets and disaster relief. And because she covers so much, she has to rush through it all, but she has an extensive bibliography, so you can see what it’s based on. 

I suppose all women have felt examples like this in their lives. When people think of ‘people’, you often realise they were thinking of ‘men’. (And straight white able-bodied cisgender ones at that, but that’s a bigger topic than suits this post). If there is PPE available, it’s often in one-size-fits-blokes. If you get a race T-shirt, it’s always a man’s cut. One’s line manager who walks into a meeting, sees three or four women sitting together, and immediately comments the women are banding together, and should he be worried? He’s seen three or four men sitting together countless many times, but that never solicited a response. I saw an interesting advertisement for volunteers for research on fitness. Then I read on and noticed they only wanted men. That was soon followed by a more inclusive one! Maybe there had been so much backlash they had to redesign their project. Phrases like ‘the world and his wife’. Or ‘there was a fire, and somebody’s wife died’. And so on. 

It was an interesting read! Not happy reading, obviously, but good to get an idea of the extent of the problem. And I know the bibliography will be aging, but once you have one article to start with, you can follow the trail. 

I would recommend this book to everyone! Especially men. They are more likely to not quite be aware of this. And it’s a good read! 

Long road run

Train longer and slower, the physiotherapist had said, when I came to him with my sore post-half-marathon knees. And he had given me exercises to do. I’m still doing them, and they work, as I have very successfully run on road and trail since. But I hadn’t done anything beyond 16km yet. And on the road, nothing beyond 10k. And I had registered for a road half marathon to see if I could still do it. I had better do that slow long-distance training that had been recommended! 

I tried to think of a nice route. I really like the road to a side entrance of Dinorwic Quarry. Could I make a loop with that? And I could. I would start in Mynydd Llandegai. Road running isn’t the most exciting but I wanted to be ready for this race. And at least these were nice roads. 

I hoped to do them on new running shoes, but that didn’t happen. That will be its own blog post. I did try out a running vest I had bought after having done a run that required more luggage than fits in my running belt, which I had then done with a backpack that chafed. 

It was good running weather. I set of, plodding towards the quarry. After a while I noticed my Strava didn’t think I was moving. I stopped and restarted it. Was my watch playing up? I had had to switch that off and on again at the start of the run. Hm. But now it seemed to work. 

I ran up the asphalt road to Dinorwic, and enjoyed the views for a bit before I started my way back. Most would be downhill from now. And I enjoyed running the little road that had been the target of my run. It also provided a water refill. I also kept myself topped up with my hard-won jelly babies. Good running food! 

Difficult to avoid big road

The asphalt road to the Dinorwic surge pond

Dinorwic Quarry

The little road to Dinorwic

When I got back to the car I decided I was still feeling good, and hadn’t really run any further than my Gladstone recce run. I decided to hit Moel y Ci as a bonus. I wanted to at least run 18 km! 

Moel y Ci was lovely, but I was running a bit low on water. I didn’t encounter any suitable streams for a refill. So after a few km I turned back. 

The view from Moel y Ci

I had done 20km. That is practically a half marathon! And it had been slow, but my knees had held. I had only started to feel my right knee in the last kilometres. I think that’s a good result. And the running vest had been very comfortable! So that’s a keeper. And when I get new running shoes they will appear here! 

Improvising poison

I had been at war with the Japanese knotweed on the riverbank since the beginning. And not with much success! After some research I decided to inject it with Roundup. It seems to be the only poison that works, and if you inject it, you do not affect anything other than the plant itself. And Rose, the previous owner of the house, had left me some. So I got active with that for a few years until I realised it was past its sell-by date, and not very effective anymore. Then I bought a new tub.

In the meantime, the neighbour had got impatient and had just sprayed Roundup on the riverbank. Not very kind to the river, but there wasn't much knotweed appearing the next spring! But more than none. And I decided I needed to act on that. It would be great if we could exterminate it!

I checked my poison injector and realised it didn't work. That had happened before! Then I had asked the neighbour to fix it. He's got skin in the game too. But I felt embarrassed to ask again. I have no idea how to fix that thing myself! And I decided to go the simple way. Just drill a hole in the stems, and use a little funnel to get the poison in.

I had recently bought some gimlets, and these would do the job. And the nozzle of a resin gun can function as a small funnel. I only had two stems to deal with! So it wasn't a big job.

I really hope this helped! I am not normally hostile to vegetation, but there clearly are exceptions. And the knotweed is exception number one…

Improvised measures

The knotweed I was attacking

CRTT (sort of) with Lydia

Lydia sent me a message saying she wanted to come back to North Wales and do the Croesor-Rhosydd extension. Would I be willing to join? And when would I be available? I was! And we picked a weekend in august. And she asked if she could stay at my place. She could.

She had sent me a description of the extension. It contained zip wires, awkward traverses, and exposed bits. It sounded challenging. The zip wires as they are done with a tandem pulley, and Lydia doesn't have one. I do, but sharing one is a complete pain in the arse. The awkward traverses I was more comfortable with; I train my upper body strength exactly for that sort of purpose. If the kind of seasoned people who had written the description call something exposed, I probably find it VERY exposed. I have a healthy respect for heights you can fall off. 

I also remembered close to the day that the cave rescue team had removed the fixed rope at the start of the traditional trip. We would have to bring our own. My rope was too old! I retired it. But we wouldn't have any alternative. Lydia hadn't organised any additional people, and neither had I, as the people I had asked were not available.

The evening before I checked if I had enough paracord to be able to share a tendon pulley. I didn't. I took some shoelaces out of hiking boots. With that addition we probably would have enough!

We got up, got ready, and set off for Croesor. As I was bringing my rope I suggested we go there, go to the entrance, rig the first pitch, do the through trip, walk back to the Croesor entrance, retrieve the rope, then walk back to the car. And there was plenty of parking space still. Not bad for a summer Saturday!

We walked up and in. On our way to the first pitch Lydia confessed she had only done through trip once. Once? That meant she couldn't be relied on to know the way. And I had done it more often; most recently in April, but the previous times had been so long ago I only had vague memories of it. So basically, we were two people with effectively one useful experience in this system each. With some additional knowledge from me of the extremities, as we are often going in a modest distance from one of the entrances, either for cave rescue training or an actual rescue. I didn't think that was enough to do the extension. We have to rescue people all the time who are just doing the standard through trip. And there are two things that tend to go wrong. One is that people can't find the exit. On the other one is that there is a problem with the boat. 

The thing with this mine is that it contains a lot of flooded chambers that historically have had bridges through them, but many of these bridges have collapsed. So then you have to get to the other side in a different way. There are many different solutions. One chamber has a zip wire. Another one abridge improvised of ladders. Another one has traverses bolted into the wall. And one chamber is so big it has an old canoe in it. It is fixed to a rope, and that rope is attached on either side of the chamber. So if you get to the chamber, the boat is often on the other side. Just pull it towards you, descend into it, and pull yourself along the rope to the other side. But the rope has a tendency of snagging on something. If that happens, you have two options; swim, or turn back. But mining-related water is notorious because it is very deep, very cold, and often found in spaces with very steep sides. So swimming is not trivial!

If you decide to turn back you have to do all the obstacles in the reverse order, and that often means you do them slower. And you shouldn't be in this system if you haven't told someone by what time you should be out. If you are not out by the time they should phone the police. So if you get to the chamber with the boat, and you have to turn back, you need to have enough time to make it back to the entrance so you can tell your contact you are safe. You really want to avoid having a call-out for a spurious reason.

With these considerations in mind I said I was not willing to do the extension. There were two zip wires in there; imagine that one of us does the first one, and the second person tries to pull back the pulley, but the cord snags somewhere, and it doesn't work. Then we are somewhere in the middle of nowhere without a tandem pulley. That would be a major complication. Nothing we couldn't deal with; I also have a single pulley and I am sure I could do these zip wires with that if needs be. I have done zip wires on a karabiner. But it would be very time-consuming! And then if we would get to the chamber with the boat, and there was a problem with the boat, we probably wouldn't have enough time to get ourselves out of that situation before my contact would have to call the police. I was not willing to take that risk. Lydia had not asked me to lead this trip; she had just asked me to join, so I figured she would have the experience to fly through everything other than the extension. But it turned out that wasn't the case. I was okay leading a trip of the traditional route, as I turned out to be the one with the most experience, but not to do the extension. You shouldn't be careless with mines, or with (voluntary) rescue teams.

Lydia was briefly unhappy, but recovered. And we just proceeded the usual route. There was a fixed rope in position again! That was great, that saved us rigging. I would just leave the rope by the pitch and retrieve it on the way back. That saves a lot of weight. We descended. 

Descending the first pitch. Pic by Lydia

It took us some wandering to find the next pitch. That strengthened my resolve. If you can’t walk straight to the second pitch of the traditional trip, you have no business on the extension. 

After the second pitch all went smoothly: the zip wire/wire bridge, ladder bridge, balancing bridge, traverse. All good! Then we got to the chamber with the canoe. Lydia pulled on the rope and nothing happened. There clearly was a snag somewhere. Now what? There are two options: swim, or return. And the swimming is complicated by the fact that the water is at the bottom of a vertical pitch on this side. So you have to get into the water in SRT gear. Only on the other side can you walk into and out of the water. 

The wire bridge. Pic by Lydia

The bridge that doubles as a balance beam. Pic by Lydia

I wasn’t feeling it. I voted for a return. And Lydia wasn’t keen either. So back it was! And that means our intended Croesor-Rhosydd Through Trip never reached Rhosydd. It was just a Croesor trip! 

We got to the chamber with the zip wire and wire bridge without issues. Lydia said happily she could do the zip wire again. I reminded her that for us it now was an uphill zip wire, and I was going to use the wire bridge again. She saw my point and decided the same.

I’m not sure how it happened but at some point things went wrong. There was a scream and Lydia pivoted backwards, dipping her bag into the water. Then her feet came off the lower cable and she was in the water up to her waist. Not good! But she pulled herself to the shore again, and out of the water. So a lot of wet clothes and gear, but nothing worse. 

The second attempt was more successful. And then we made it without issues to the top of the lower pitch. There we found another party. We told them about the canoe. They needed a bit of time to decide what they would do with that information! We left them to it and went out. There I could let our call-out know we were safely at the surface.

Me texting our call-out.  Pic by Lydia

It had been an ok trip! Maybe not quite what we had in mind, but it’s a lovely mine. And the walk to and from the entrance is gorgeous. And luckily the weather was good! Which was a blessing, considering Lydia’s wet clothes. 

I would love to do the extension one day, but then in a more experienced company. And everyone should have all the required kit. How likely is that? Not sure! But if and when it happens it’ll end up here…

No more milk

I’ve broken up with the milkman! I got one five years ago. I liked the idea of getting organic full fat milk in glass bottles. But I sort of knew I had to steer away from dairy sooner or later. The carbon footprint is too high! And even with organic milk, I’m sure there are animal welfare issues. And I sometimes buy oat milk, mainly for vegan baking purposes, and I had occasionally also been using that for my breakfast. Oat with wheat sounds dull, but it’s ok, and I think I can do it long term. And I will just up my dose of vitamin B12 supplement. 

I did check out the merits of the various kinds of plant milk, and my conclusion was that oat is the best option. Although I can't quite remember now why that was. Soy and almond use too much water, I think. It makes sense! Oat is, as far as I know, endemic in north-western Europe and that's what you want.

Then the milkman left a letter in an empty milk bottle. He was retiring! That might be the moment to bail out. I emailed the dairy company. To no avail. And the new milkman took over. I had to sort it with him!

I’ve texted him now to cancel my order. And I’ve left the final cheque out. Plant milk, here I come! 

Out with the old, in with the new! 

Swampy hill training

I said something about not blogging about every single Thursday night hill training I do! But this time I again think it was so memorable that I will dedicate post to it anyway.

This time we will meet by the gate on the road to the Marchlyn reservoirs. That made me think we might do the loop on the ridge around the big one. I think the last time I did it was two years ago, with Lionel. That is quite something when running! But I wouldn't put it past this group. Even though it had rained all day, the hills would be slippery, and we would be unlikely to get a view.

I got there and had a chat with the other runners, and one of them said we would not go up into the mountains. And he was right! As soon as we set off, we went through the gate on the left, which leads straight into the boggy land by Mynydd Llandygai. This was going to get soggy! 

It sure was soggy, but also pretty, as the clouds lifted and the entire landscape emerged. And after a while we hit Mynydd, and headed for Moel y Ci, like Ras y Mynydd does. But we didn’t loop around the hill; we headed for Rhiwlas, and from there we went between Moel Rhiwen and Parc Drysgol, and then through the farmland to a little road that got us back to the cars. It was a gorgeous route! Just under 12k.  And we had only done 300m up, so I was quite fresh. Or maybe it had something to do with the jelly babies (won in a race earlier this summer) I had eaten beforehand. So a lovely night. Worthy of a blog post! 

Very gloomy in the beginning 

Sun breaks through! 

Among the trees

Beautiful route

Postcard-worthy I’d say

Dealing with students' own dissertation topics

One of my more unusual summer tasks is dealing with students who propose their own dissertation topic. I always encourage that; it is cool to see what people come up with, and it is good to practise setting up a research question yourself, and the students end up with exactly the topic they want. Only advantages! Almost.

The thing is that someone needs to approve (or otherwise) these topics, and that would be me. And it is very rare that the students get a proposal past me in one go. General issues are that the research question is too wide, and/or that they not specific enough about where the data is going to come from. Sometimes what they propose is enough material for a career, and therefore too much for just one dissertation module. And I need to know they have the data sorted, and the project is feasible, before I approve it. If they only say that the data is going to come from peer-reviewed literature, that's not specific enough. Give me the references, and tell me exactly what data is in these sources. And what you are going to do with it.

At the time of writing, I have had 13 proposals, from 8 students. One has had approval already. The others are still working on it. 

Experience suggest that there will be a flurry of these closer to the deadline. I hope in the end we have a lot of students who get the OK and can do a project of their own design! That's worth some extra work for me…

The word cloud Microsoft helpfully made of the first 11 applications

Post-hike mammoth watching

There was a fortunate coincidence going on with my hike with Jitske in Shropshire. I had to get there, and get back too, and that might not be easy. On the way out I had met her only some 15 minutes from a railway station, but it had taken me almost five hours door to door. On the way back I would have no railway station so conveniently close by. So I would somehow have to get to one further away. And public transport in Britain isn’t very impressive. 

As it so happened, I had been approached on a dating site by a man from Shropshire in early July. I told him I had seen his profile and figured I would ignore it. Shropshire is far away, and he had kids. Forget it! But we got chatting, and that went well, so in spite of the impediments we met up twice. And now I would be in his neck of the woods anyway. So I suggested we meet up when I'm there anyway. He was up for that! And he offered to pick me up from wherever I would be and deliver me to a railway station. And I accepted that.

When I was having lunch with Jitske we decided on a time and place to propose for the pick-up. The path was going to cross a road anyway! And there was a parking lot there. And there were picnic tables I could use for waiting if needs be. So that was agreed. And my date asked me if I was interested in watching some mammoth bones. I didn't really expect that question, but I said yes, why not, mammoth bones are cool!

When my date showed up he explained that in the area, mammoth bones had been found, and that the town we had just come through, Craven Arms, had a museum that seemed to have been put there specifically to host replicas of them. And if you have those, you might as well expand a bit, and put the entire history of the area in the exhibition. So the museum was grandly called the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre. And that's where we were headed.

It isn't a big place, but it was quite cool! I love geology and I love history, and they had both. It was quite quiet; we practically had the place to ourselves.

From the Iron Age section

When we had seen it all we decided to financially support the place, and have food there too. I had had lunch, but I knew I wouldn't be home until 8 pm or so, so another meal would have to be slotted in! And this would work out quite nicely. They also served ice cream, but my date suggested we go somewhere else for that; there is a gorge near Church Stretton (Carding Mill Valley), and that's where he used to go for ice cream. So we went there.

I was keeping a close eye on the time; I had a train to catch. Because of that, we didn't get very far into the gorge. We had to make sure we were back at the railway station on time. And we made it happen.

We both enjoyed this. We already have the next meeting in the diary!

Hiking Shropshire

I was scanning the farmer’s fields that doubled as a campsite for a small grey tent. I spotted it just as I saw an arm wave in the air. I had found Jitske, and she had found me. Time for a hug! Then I plonked down my bag and sat down in the grass. It was a lovely evening. Jitske had been to the shop so there was beer, crisps and grapes. Lovely. 

The first things I got out of my bag were her new shoes. They were important! She showed me the state of her old ones. I could see the urgency of their replacement. And she tried the new ones on straight away. They were good!

She gave me something in return: a bilingual poetry collection! Her route had taken her through Hay on Wye, and she had noticed on the blog I only read prose in Welsh. So she thought she was in the right place to fill a void in my life. That was really sweet of her!

I pitched my tent and we caught up over the foodstuffs. It was a really nice evening. And after a shower we went to bed. 

The next day we got up at a reasonable time and had breakfast. We were off about 8am. The hike began! We started in the shade, but were soon in an open field. In the sun. That was a bit hot! I was soon hiking in a singlet, even though that makes the shoulder straps chafe a bit. But it was beautiful. Jitske navigated on her Cicerone LEJOG guide. 

Hiking in the Shropshire fields

Shropshire is a bit like the shire. Rolling fields with hedgerows, and cute villages. Very well-maintained villages. A well-off county, by the looks of it! 

We had coffee at a random picnic table. And later, lunch by Hopton Castle. That was a nice bonus: a pretty ruin only a stone’s throw from the route. And over lunch we discussed options for the rest of the day.

Hiking selfie

Hopton Castle 

When I go camping I’m always wild camping. It’s the best way! You only need a flat spot the size of your tent, and a stream. But that’s in Eryri. We were now in Shropshire! There you can’t assume you can drink the surface water. So we decided to find a camping again. There seemed to be loads of them on our side of Craven Arms. That would do! 

We walked on; Jitske doing the last part of it on Crocs, as she hates walking in hiking boots on asphalt. But the boots had done a fine job! They got Jitske’s approval. I’m glad as they have to carry her a long way.  And we hit Broome, where the campsite of our choice was. It wasn't scenic like the previous one, with its ancient farm buildings, but it had an empty field with a view over the hills. And, of course, drinking water. Good enough! We pitched up. 

Our home for the night

When the tents stood we decided to check out the local(ish) shop. It was in the next village along, but it was closed. Bummer! We walked back and I got my mini bottle of whisky out. And then I looked at the weather forecast. It looked like it could start raining any time, and then it wouldn’t stop. So we decided to have a shower and start cooking straight away. A good call! After dinner we had two short chats when the rain wasn’t all too heavy, but otherwise we just retreated into our respective tents. So it was an early night! 

The next day I woke up at 5:30, probably because we had gone to bed so early. I didn't think Jitske would appreciate that sort of time to get up so I dozed for a bit. But I thought 6 am was acceptable. She had mentioned leaving the campsite at seven, and in order to do that you pretty much have to get up at six. So I got out of my tent and woke her up. And I started water for coffee.

It was a bit grey but dry, and fine walking weather. We had breakfast and packed up, and were gone by 7:15. The fields soon took us to Stokesay Castle, which was gorgeous. We had hoped to be able to go in, but it was 8:30, and it wasn’t open yet. So we kept walking.

The landscape

Stokesay Castle from the adjacent cemetery 

We walked to Craven Arms, where we had coffee and biscuits by the river. From there we made our way to Wenlock Edge; basically it’s a Silurian coral reef tilted a bit, with its western side eroded off and the eastern side vanishing into the subsurface. So we made it up the steep edge, and then had an easy ridge walk from there. 

The ridge is forested, so you don’t actually get much of a view over the much lower land on the west. And you don’t see much limestone. But it’s pleasant enough! And I wanted to at least have experienced it before I would swing off. I had to make my way back to north Wales! My next visitor was imminent. 

On Wenlock Edge

We had lunch in a sunny spot, and then we followed the path until it crossed a road. And there we said goodbye! That road would take me back to the railroad. And that would take me home. It was only 12:30, but we had done 15 km already. Jitske would do a that again, and then some, in the afternoon! She’s tough. 

It had been good to see each other! We’re all caught up now. And now that I’d left she could do her usual 20-mile-plus days again. I can do that, but I would end up with very sore feet, and quite unlike Jitske, I mind. She just keeps going. She’s done much tougher hikes than this. 

I’ll keep an eye on her progress, and vicariously hike along, through her blog. So if you want to know how she experienced these two days (days 34 and 35 for her) you can check yourself…

Meeting up with Jitske

My old housemate and hike mate Jitske got in touch. In the nineties we shared student accommodation in Amsterdam (where Frank lived too!). And my group of friends there would do several hikes per year; often both of us joined. And if we did we were often tent mates. We got along well! 

Jitske has been coming over before; she popped by in 2018 when she had been hiking in South Wales anyway. We hiked for 2.5 days then. The first one had been horizontal rain from start to finish! That had been tiring. But the next day was nice and sunny. It had been good to see her.

This time I had an extra responsibility: she was hiking from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and her hiking boots had started to collapse before she had left the Southwest. Oh dear! And she seems to have one particular model she likes, which is unlikely to be stocked by outdoor shops she would pass. So she bought them online, and had them sent to my address. And I could deliver them to her in Shropshire. 

It would work out I’d travel up on a Monday. I got my bag ready. I was out of practice; we had had a cold wet spring and summer, which is crap for camping, and which had also resulted in many midges. That is also crap for camping. I hadn’t been out with my tent all year! But I think I got it done. I drove to Bangor, parked up, and got the train. And four hours later I arrived in Knighton. She had decided to stay the night in a campsite just 10 minutes on foot from the railway station. The adventure could start! 

Arriving in Knighton

Conwy rendezvous with Tim

Tim had been speaking of taking Sue, Dean and me out for dinner, as thanks for our support when he broke his ankle, for a while. And now it was going to happen. We had figured somewhere like Conwy would be a good option; fairly central, and posh enough for some vegetarian options. Although not many options were brought up by search engines; the best thing seemed to be a pub that did vegan burgers. But that would have to do.

In the days beforehand, the pub entered the news in not such a positive way. Oh dear! But it might be a fluke. 

When Sue, Dean and I got there, we saw there was a bouncer by the door. Oh dear again! But we went in and found Tim. It was good to see him again. And he was as good as recovered! You couldn’t tell anymore he had been injured. We ordered drinks and then found out they didn’t do food that day. This wasn’t going well.

At least we could catch up over our drinks. Tim explained he had rather intensive physiotherapy, and was already jogging. He figured it would only be a few weeks before he would be capable of full speed running. And other than some stiffness in the ankle he seemed to be fine. That was good to hear!

On the food front, things were not so well. We were in Conwy on a sunny Saturday night in summer. No way any hospitality would be able to accommodate us at such short notice! We tried a few places and then decided to just settle for fish and chips. And found out we were the last people to be served by the chippy. That was a close call!

We took our food to the seafront and ate it there. At least we had a great view. And by coincidence, the leader of Ogwen Mountain Rescue, who hadn't been involved in the actual rescue but who had received us when Tim and I went back to their base to thank them, walked past. We had a nice little chat. 

Our view while eating

When we had finished the food we walked a bit along the seafront, because it was such a nice evening. I had suggested we go for another drink afterwards. I didn't have any water with me, as I had assumed we would be catered for. And I can't eat fish and chips without drinking something! And we just settled for an outside table at a seafront pub. It was a bit rowdy there but within limits. They even served tea.

Looking back on Conwy

When we had finished our drinks we decided to call it a day. The midges had come out and we were being bitten. So we retreated to the parking lot.

This was not how I had imagined it would go! A night out in Conwy sounds very glamorous. This hadn't been glamorous at all. But at least we had had a nice dinner with the four of us. And Sue and Dean have finally met Tim the way he should be: upright and mobile!

Doing a recce for an upcoming race

The Eryri Harriers have a race on their website, so when I became a member, I spotted a race I had never heard of: the Gladstone 9. It was mainly a trail race in the Penmaenmawr area, and it is beautiful there. So I registered.

The race information says it is not a marked route; there are five checkpoints along the way that you have to hit in order, and you are free to do what you want in between them. In most cases, there is one most obvious option. But not always!

Only racing day, I didn't want to be struggling with maps and compasses and walnut, so I thought doing a recce would be a good idea. So initially them Saturday I put on my running gear, and packed a bag. I brought water, some food, an emergency bag, a knee support, my phone, my power bank, two A4-sized printouts of the map, and a compass. And I drove to Penmaenmawr. 

The start of the route was very easy to find. It's a small path coming off the road. It has some hostile vegetation quite early on! And it also quite early ends up in thick bracken. Not really how I like my runs, but so be it. And at a junction I could get onto a small path that was quite kind to the legs. And then the path got wide again, and there even was a small section on asphalt (where the first checkpoint would be). I didn't mind that at all! Because right afterwards I was back on a very narrow path through bracken. With the usual brambles and gorse mixed in. I walked most of that!

Really close to the start

Soon after the awful bracken I ended up going past Llyn y Wrach to where the Cambrian Way runs. I really like that section of the route. The path is wide enough to keep the skin on your legs, and the views are amazing. And I could basically follow that all the way until I hit the flank of Tal y Fan, where the second checkpoint would be. There is no path there for a kilometre or so, until the Cambrian Way catches up with you over the ridge. The weather was briefly nice and I sat down for some water and a piece of cake.

On the Cambrian Way

Recce selfie

The wall that runs all the way over Tal y Fan; the weather is still good

The weather surely wasn't nice higher up on Tal y Fan. I didn't linger there! Not for the first time. I quickly started making my way down. And I know that now I need to largely navigate on my phone. There are no paths on the map there to the next checkpoint. And it was too foggy be able to aim for anything. But I had made a point of using my maps whenever possible, and thereby saving my phone battery. It worked! I could keep myself on track with my phone, and soon the clouds lifted and I could see the next checkpoint in the distance. It was the stone circle I had visited with Tim.

Not very good weather at the summit

Lots of moorland and not much in the way of paths between Tal y Fan and the stone circle 

From there the navigation was very simple. There was a very clear path in the direction of the next checkpoint: the summit of Foel Lûs. And from there a very clear path (with a lot of loose stones, so very good for falling over) lead back to the junction on the way out I had taken the small-and-kind-to-the-legs-path. So then I could just retrace my steps.

The path can be a bit hostile 

After some three hours I was back at the car. It is only nine miles! But I had to stop regularly to check the map, then I had stopped for food and drink, and there were plenty of places where I chose to walk in order to minimise the chances of spraining my ankle, or falling over on a muddy path in the rain, or just because I didn't fancy dashing at high speed through hostile vegetation. And I had been wearing a backpack. I don't intend to do that on the day of the race; I have now ordered a running vest. The backpack was swaying in an annoying way, and it also chafed my back. And I knew that risk was there, but I did not want to compromise safety. But on race day I should be better equipped, so I am confident I won't be that slow then.

I think I will be okay with the navigation now. Depending on the weather I might or might not need a little bit of help from my phone between Tal y Fan and the stone circle. But otherwise I think I'm okay! Bring on the actual race!