Knee update

When I hurt my knee in a race, but was able to walk back to the start with some support, I figured my injury wasn't bad. I hoped I would be back running soon! The next day some signs were good: there was very little swelling, but it did still hurt quite a lot. I did make a point of moving around, but it was rather hesitant.

The day after I wanted to try my bike. I know that when you bike, you do bend and stretch your knee, which is exactly what you need to do if you've hurt it the way I had. But you don't make any unexpected movements. And you propel yourself without impact. I managed to do a 5k loop. It hurt a little bit, but I was glad I did it. It also meant I was mobile.

Bicycle path festooned with goats: the venue of my trial bike ride 

I also kept taking ibuprofen, as I figured it would help with the swelling. But after a few days of taking the stuff, I realised I was extremely tired, and had a clanging headache. Would that have something to do with the ibuprofen? I felt compelled to take an afternoon nap, and I only do that when I am ill. And I hadn't done anything that would merit a headache. I stopped taking the ibuprofen. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence, but the day after I felt a lot better.

The day after my first bike ride I chickened out. It was horrible weather! I figured walking up and down the stairs was going to be enough exercise for my knee. But I did want to ramp things up, slowly but steadily, so the day after that I went for a slightly longer bike ride. And the day after that I biked to the base of Moel y Ci, and walked a loop from there, going over the top. That was okay as well! I was careful, of course.

At the bottom of Moel y Ci

At the summit

On the way down

I had hoped to do a little run, safely in a knee support, the day after, but my knee still felt a bit fragile and I decided against.

I have already missed one race: I had registered for the Fron Four race on the Saturday, but that was clearly not going to happen. I have no idea when I can start again. I suppose I am making clear progress, so one more week could make all the difference. I sincerely hope so! I had really hoped to do a lot of running over Easter, and that is clearly not happening. Bummer!

Time series analysis in R: part1

Every year we are expected to do a peer observation exercise, where we all have a colleague observe an aspect of our teaching, and provide feedback on it. You can have someone sit in one of your lectures, but you can also do something a bit more theoretical. Last year, for instance, I looked at the module website of one of my colleagues. It is actually quite useful; if you make one of those websites yourself, everything makes sense to you, but someone who looks at this fresh comes in with little expectation, and might find things puzzling.

This year I agreed to look at a computer practical one of my colleagues was providing. It is a practical in R. And I said that I was probably quite suitable to that; I am not a natural in R, so the assignment would have to be rather clear for me to be able to follow. And the practical was about time series analysis; that is such a useful thing to be able to do! I have done it in the past, with different software, and I thought it would be excellent if I would learn to do it in R. 

With the dissertation presentations out of the way, I sat down to make it happen. I downloaded his materials and started RStudio. Let the fun begin!

The practical came in two pieces. The first one was basically about familiarisation with wave functions and what alterations they can come with, and how you calculate and plot that in RStudio. The second was about actual data analysis. 

I didn’t mind that it starts simple. When it comes to R, I am self-taught, and also a sporadic user. Every time I use it I have to pretty much start from zero, so I'm quite happy to start simple here too. And I am very slow! But I was making progress. 

No rocket science yet, but something is happening

I started before Easter, but I continued in my home office. If it’s rubbish weather and your knee hurts you might as well do some work! Maybe you can then find some time for fun when knee and weather have improved a bit. And on Easter Monday I finished the first part. That felt like a triumph! And I don’t know how I will experience the second part. I suspect the science will be more serious, but will that result in much more complicated R scripts? Quite possibly not! But one way to find out…

End of part 1!

Leaking roof

I was pottering through my house, sore knee and all, when I noticed an unusual sound. It was the ‘pat, pat, pat’ of dripping water. I wasn’t sure where from. The previous time I had had a sound like that was associated with a blocked gutter of the conservatory, with water dripping on the plastic window sill. But this seemed to come from higher up. I hobbled up the stairs. And I heard it came from the right. So I opened the bedroom door. And there it was! 

There was water dripping through the hatch in the ceiling, onto the bed. Oh dear. I had hoped the sound would be coming in through the window! But that was clearly not the case. After having busted my knee the night before I was feeling like this was not my week. I went downstairs and got the washing up bowl. That would have to manage the situation for now. And I remembered that Sue and Dean had recommended a roofer. I quickly googled them. And Google said they were open 24 hours! So I gave them a ring.

Emergency measure

Notice the droplet on the corner

They said they could come and have a look the day after. I figured I could manage with the washing up bowl, or perhaps a bucket, until that time. But shortly after we had hung up they phoned me back. They said they were worried my whole ceiling would get soaked and the plasterboard would come down. They offered to come right away. And it turned out they weren't coming from far.

A van pulled up and a young man came out. I showed him where the problem was. I also told him it was probably easier to get into the loft in the office; that has a much bigger hatch. But he didn't need that. He said he had been a climber, and he promptly vanished into the ceiling. And he spotted what the problem was. And in the meantime, his brother came in as well. I think it is just them who are the company. Nant Ffrancon Roofing, in case anybody wonders.

Franco hard at work 

Franco, the roofer, had quickly diagnosed the problem. The people who had installed my solar panels had drilled through the roofing slates, and put some rubber bungs in to make everything waterproof again. That is a temporary solution. They're not supposed to drill through people’s roofs. Franco said that he sees this a lot; by the time you find out that the panel installation had made your roof leaky, the work is out of warranty and you are on your own. But he had a resin gun with some stuff in it that could at least fix the acute problem.

When he had stopped leaking, the men went home again. They said they would be in touch for doing a more proper job. They figured they had to re-waterproof all the fixing points. I suppose I have to have that done. I am not keen on all the other bungs giving up one by one! I like my roof waterproof thank you very much.

In the end, the situation turned out to be a lot less bad than it could have been. It looked like my ceiling was still okay. The dripping has clearly not gone on for very long, as the bed wasn't very soaked. And there was a solution. Altogether, catastrophe averted. And I will report back about the men coming back for actually getting on the roof and doing more than an emergency repair!

Life with a limp

The morning after busting my knee in a fell race, I woke up. This was the moment I would find out how bad it was. It felt ok, but then I got up. Ouch! My knee was not well. I wanted to not use it at all. But I knew that would be unwise. I forced myself to potter through the house, including up and down the stairs. And I texted Susan. Could I get a ride to work? I could! 

Only mild swelling!

When we got to work, Susan sourced me a bag of ice to put on my knee. That was kind! And I got through the day. If I had sat down for a while, my knee sort of froze in position, so either stretching or flexing it after having done some work was difficult. But I wasn’t in a hurry.

Iced knee

On the way back, Susan suggested we pop by Tesco. I made sure to buy some Ibuprofen there! That might fight the inflammation. And some groceries I needed. She was worried I would struggle to get myself to a shop. It's good to have friends.

It was now Easter holiday. I had really hoped to do some hiking and running with my days off! But I suppose I had to change my plans now. I suppose that's life. I was just hoping that I could have at least some outdoor fun if my knee would heal quickly enough. But there are plenty of other things to do…

Tuesday evening series: Moel Lus

I had skived from Welsh class to go to the first race in the Tuesday Evening Series. I had skipped the second race so I could be back in class. But then after that, Welsh class had a two-week Easter break. That meant two weeks in which I could go racing on the Tuesday evening without a guilty conscience! I didn't let that opportunity slip. And I knew the route as it is also part of the Gladstone 9.

The organisation had stressed the limited parking near the start, and the need to not piss off the locals. So I contacted Ross about car sharing. He was already sharing, and I was welcome to jump in! And the person actually driving was Dafydd the running coach. We parked in a strategic location and walked up. There was a weather warning for rain out, but it was barely spitting! 

We registered, and chatted with fellow runners before the start. And then we were off! I was not too close to the front as this was a fell race and I am rubbish at fell racing. But that did mean I was in a crowd and couldn’t go full pace. There was quite some queuing on single track paths! Until I got to the top of Moel Lus. On the way down I am never stuck behind anyone. But then we looped around it, which is flat and a good path, so there I sped up again, until I was stuck behind someone again. 

The start

Shortly before things went wrong

When the path went downhill again I slowed down again. But not enough! I took one step that was wrong and heard my knee go ‘klonk’. And that was it. Someone helped me up, and I tried if I could walk. No! And around that time, two of the TNH runners appeared, and they supported me. That meant that they weren't racing anymore. It was very kind of them!

With the three of us we hobbled down the path. There were some marshals ahead, and they came towards us. They told the runners supporting me to get running again; they would take over. And they did. And they brought me back down to where the start had been. I was okay walking with their help! Clearly, I wasn't badly injured. I have done this with my knee several times before, but the last time, I think, was 2007, shortly after moving to Norway. That was a lot worse! Then my knee was a veritable balloon. This time it kept its shape. And I knew the problem had solved itself. No medical intervention needed! And I also know that I need to keep using that knee. My instinct is to give it rest, but then you lose functionality. I didn't want that. So the walking was probably not bad.

At race HQ I found Ross and Dafydd again. They had wondered what had taken me so long. Now they knew! But they (and Johnny, the third passenger) were ready to go, so we made our way back to the car, which fortunately wasn't parked very far away. And Dafydd drove me pretty much to the front door. Very kind of him!

I knew that the proof of the pudding would be in how I would be feeling the next day. I hoped I would be more or less mobile! And my dreams of doing the Pen 3 Hills again this year were out of the window…

Ras Llyn Trawsfynydd 2025

Last year I had really enjoyed Ras Llyn Trawsfynydd. So it made complete sense to sign up again. The route is beautiful and I quite like the distance (14 km) as well. And it was quite nice to get a bronze medal. Could I do that again?

On our way to the last Borders League race we were talking about upcoming races in the car, and I mentioned this one. One of the runners, Anna, was interested. She said she hadn't signed up because she didn't want to drive there alone. I understand; I don't like driving a long distance on my own, only to run for a limited amount of time, and then having to drive all the way back! That feels wrong. But now that she knew I was going, and was happy to share a ride, she was keen to sign up. And anyway, that was good news and bad news; I really like car sharing to races, but Anna is very fast. My medal chances would drop considerably if she would run as well!

On the day, she got to my house and we got into my car. The hour flew by. It was already quite busy when we got there, but we were early enough to be parked near the start. We headed for the toilets that didn't yet have a queue, and went to get our race numbers. At that time, the juniors race was happening. And the commentator was beside himself with enthusiasm. I think he really gave these kiddies (the youngest were only five!) the experience of a lifetime. We then did some last minute eating and/or drinking, and got into our racing gear. We had a little warmup and then it was time to head for the start. We saw a fair number of other Eryri tops!

Three Eryri ladies

The weather forecast had been 70% chance of rain, but the sky looked clear. It was really lovely weather! Such is strong contrast with the previous year, which had been horizontal rain-tastic. And we set off. And Anna quickly vanished. I figured she would.

The start 

I wasn't quite running the ludicrous running high I had got last time, but I was still feeling good. And I was enjoying the views. And after a while I ended up at a seemingly fixed position in the field. There was a lady from Meirionnydd running club behind me, and unaffiliated men in front of me, and we kept our relative positions. Until, some 6 km in, my shoelace came undone. That set me back, obviously.

Early on in the race, on the dam

I then spent several kilometres trying to overtake Meirionnydd lady again. I managed that on the stretch next to the road. Now I just needed to make sure I stayed there! And soon we came off the road. That was the most trail-ish part of the race. I like it! The previous year, I had been battling it out with a man from Meirionnydd, but this time I was basically running alone. But I had enough race adrenaline to keep pushing it. When I finally approached the finish I saw I was faster than the previous year. I was staying below 1:06. 

Not slowing down before the finish 

Behind the finish I found Anna again. She had come second! That's so cool. Unfortunately, she said that a lady who had finished before me was also over 40, so that meant I was basically out both for a general medal, and a category win. Oh well! I had had a great time. But with Anna having come 2nd we absolutely needed to wait for the ceremony. So we first went back to the car to put on something warmer, as it was too cold to stand around in sweaty club tops. And we had some lunch. And our times were in: mine was 1:05:45. Twenty seconds faster than the previous time! 

We cheered on the late arrivals, spurred on by the tireless commentator (he won’t have had much voice the day after), and then waited for the ceremony. I had told her that here, prizes were not fixed; you could choose something from the prize table. I cheered for Anna, who had forgot to check what the prizes were and had to choose fast. I was surprised to get called forward myself. The faster lady over 40 had come third, and most races don’t give category prizes to people in the overall top three. Nice! I chose an Alpkit voucher. The 70+ males category was won by the fast octogenarian who had been there last year too. And then we could go home. Next year again I hope! 

Last full day training with NWCRO

I had announced my retirement from the cave rescue team by June, but it is in June yet. So when there was a full day training in the diary in April I decided to go. And it was nicely close by as well: Tanygrisiau. It would be a bit hectic; it was the day after the dissertation presentations, and the day before the Trawsfynydd race. So be it!

I made sure to get my kit ready the night before, as I had to be there at 8:30, and it is a 45 minute drive. I made sandwiches and packed cake. And I got there right on time. I could even still squeeze my little car in a tight parking space!

When we, controllers and aspirant-controllers (although I don't see myself like that anymore) were as complete as we would be, we were told the scenario. Two people had been in Rhosydd, and one has fallen down a slate slope, and the other one has run out to alert the emergency services. The person who had fallen was injured but it wasn't quite clear the nature of the injuries were. And we would have assistance from Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue. The people who had to sort this were Sharon, who had now also become an aspirant-controller, and Ed, who had already been that for a while. So they decided on sending a fast party up, with first aid kit and comms and a runner to do the comms before we would have the technology set up. A second party would bring big heavy things such as the stretcher. And independently from the two parties we would have someone with a walkie-talkie go to the top of the hill. The mine breaks through to the surface in several places, so radio works!

Controllers discussing on the parking lot

It seems that someone who had been expected was not coming, so Dewi, who had set up this scenario, asked me if I was willing to do the owners of being the casualty. I wasn't overly keen given that I had already done that the previous time, but I saw the logic in it. I didn't need to practice really! But that meant I was going up with the first party.

We got a lift partway there with the vehicle of the mountain rescuers. That was nice! And then we carried our stuff the rest of the way. Gethin he decided that he wanted to do some bolt testing, so he had brought his tester kit. That stuff is heavy! And it was a hot day. It was a sweaty expedition. And that didn't even change very much when we got in. After the horizontal entrance adit it is uphill all the way.

We got to the chamber where I was supposed to have fallen. I first sneaked to a quiet corner to have a leak, and then I decided where I had landed. I made myself comfortable. Quite soon, the first member of the search party ‘found’ me. He asked me how heavy I wanted to do the role-playing, and I am a rubbish actor, so I said not heavily. So we just had a chat about him doing a medical survey on me. I tried to help him remembering what all the acronyms meant that are involved with this. And sometimes I didn't quite know what my symptoms were. What would my breathing rate be given the injuries I was supposed to have? And my heart rate?

My view (notice rails at bottom of chamber)

After a while the second party arrived. I looked forward to that! I was lying on slate, and getting cold. And they had the casualty bag. But they first wanted to do a proper handover from the first casualty carer to the second one. That took a while! And they also had to ponder how on earth they were going to get me in that stretcher, given that I was lying on an awkward scree slope and claimed to have a broken arm.

They got me in, and that was quite an improvement. I was a bit disappointing acting out how much pain that caused; this scenario was based on a real life incident, where the person with the broken arm seems to screamed down half of North Wales. I did not do that.

When they had me in the stretcher, they had to get me ready to be hauled up a pitch, and then down a tyrolean.  That involves a bit of faffing, and I was totally immobilised in the stretcher, in the dark, and I actually dozed off. But then they hold me up, and traversed me over the tyrolean, and that woke me up. But I knew where I was; we had done the same route with Ed in the stretcher. So I know there was another scree slope ahead. But I was getting quite uncomfortable, tightly strapped in, so I asked if perhaps I could get out now. I knew that the plan for the exercise did involve stretchering someone out of the adit, but I also knew that it was unfeasible to do the whole way with someone in the stretcher. Too time-consuming!

Being hauled up (pic: NWCRO)

Having been hauled up (pic: NWCRO)

They let me out. That felt good! And the controllers decided to put someone else in it for the next section. I then got involved in carrying all the bags towards the exit. We always carry a lot of stuff as a rescue team.

Daylight, and a mini waterfall (good for refilling water bottles) in tyrolean chamber

All the bags at the bottom of the slope

We got the stretcher, with casualty, to the next tricky section. There we called it a day, and we all made it back down to the adit on our feet. But there was the stretcher-on-a-wheel of mountain rescue was waiting for us. So we packed a third person into the stretcher, and got that into their contraption. That involved having to re-inflate the tire! But we got it done, and we had a try moving this guy out without having to actually carry him. I think it was a success.

Aberglaslyn MRT’s wheelie stretcher device

Then we got out back into daylight. So now we had to carry all the gear back down to the vehicle. And then we could walk back without all that clobber. 

Coming out of the adit

The walk back to the cars

I was glad I had some food in the car. I tend not to bring too much as I am aware I will probably be carrying lots of club kit. It seems selfish to bring too much personal stuff. But now I could eat and drink whatever I wanted. And in the debrief I thanked everybody for making me feel I was in safe hands on my last full day practice with the team. And then we could go home! Which was about time. It was already 6 o'clock or so.

I think it was a nice training day to almost end with. I'm not sure if I will be attending any evening trainings before the AGM. Maybe not! My tenure is almost over. And then my kit can go and gather endless dust…

Cyrdle

I like words. So when Wordle became a thing, I jumped on that bandwagon. What's not to like? I still do it most days. And I also fairly regularly do the Octordle.

Then my sister mentioned Woordle; the Dutch version. I had a look at that, but it seems that you needed to create an account, and I didn't want to do that. But when I was thinking of Wordle-equivalents in non-English languages, I of course also thought of Wordle in Welsh. Surely that would exist? And yes, it does! called Cyrdle, after Cymraeg, of course.

I found it hard in the beginning. My vocabulary is not very well developed! But to my surprise, I did tend to get them all. You could argue it is actually easier as there are fewer letters in the Welsh alphabet. Cyrdle doesn't consider Welsh letters such as ll and dd letters; it sees them as doubling up of existing letters. So you don't get any additional ones; you only lose some such as V and K and suchlike. 

Somewhere in the beginning I started a Cyrdle and then forgot about it. Obviously, I didn't get that one. But that is the only time I wasn't successful. I’m better at it than I expected! I quite like my little Welsh vocabulary habit now. And sometimes I just guess a word that I don't even know, but that sounds plausible. And if it is the correct answer I look up what it means. So it's even educational. I think I’ll keep going. 

Back into the hills - for real this time

With the clocks changed, the evenings are light long enough for us to run properly in the hills. The previews week we hadn't really done that for reasons of an upcoming wedding, but this week we could! We would start in Llanberis as usual.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it, what with the dissertation presentations and all. But I did! When my session was finished, I could do some small tasks that needed doing, and then I changed into my running kit. I got to the meeting point in good time.

We started quite traditional: through the fields, onto the old road to Bwlch y Groes, then right and onto the spoil heaps. And then I lost track a bit. We headed quite far in the direction of Waunfawr! And we were all very impressed by the views everywhere along the way. We knew the weather wasn't going to stay like this, so we were all keen to enjoy it while we could.

Early on

Further out

On the way back, I think everybody lost track a bit. The path vanished, and we ended up sploshing through a boggy patch. But then we found a path again. And got back through the Glynrhonwy area. Very scenic!

Running into the sunset

Colourful people in slate quarrying area

Back by the lake a bit late

It had started out quite warm, but we weren’t back until 8:30, and by that time it had cooled down a lot. I was glad I could put on another layer. Altogether we had done 13.4 km, with 470 m of ascent. That's a decent evening run! And it was exactly what I needed after the (almost) week I’d had!

Nominated for a teaching award

This never happens. I have been teaching here for donkey’s years, and every year there are teaching awards, but I never get nominated for anything. And this year an email pinged into my inbox with the nominations. I had a little look, and the usual suspects popped up. But entirely at the bottom of the list, there was my name. What? 

The categories are: teacher of the year, student voice, dissertation supervisor, support staff member, outstanding pastoral care, unsung hero, and digital innovation. Guess which category I was in? No you guessed wrong. It was digital innovation! I have no idea what that refers to. Me, being great at digital innovation? I am a clanging troglodyte! 

I suppose at some point I will find out on what basis I got this nomination. I am really curious. And I think this also means I am expected to show up at the dinner for nominees. I have obviously never been. It could be good fun! And then I will not win that prize. It would be ludicrous if I did.

It is nice to get recognition, but it is really baffling if you haven't got a start of an idea of what inspired it. I will report back…

Actual dissertation presentations

When the preparation is over, the actual dissertation presentations tend not to be particularly onerous. And that was true this time. And this time was unusual: we have been doing this in Reichel Hall in the past years, but that had been booked out. This time, we just did it on the Ocean Sciences campus. We have two big and one small lecture room there, and a huge teaching lab, and several rooms for master students. One of the big lecture rooms, and the teaching lab, can be split in two with a temporary wall, so these both count as two rooms. So even without using the masters rooms I already had six spaces at my disposal. In Reichel I only get three! And I managed making a schedule without getting in the way of the master students. 

The day before, I had already put the documentation in the various rooms. Everything was ready to roll! And my own session was in the afternoon, but Jaco and Martin had a session in the morning, and Jaco had had to abruptly go to the Netherlands for a family matter. So I stepped in. For most of the session, Jaco was there via Teams, but with me there the full session was covered, and I think it was good to have a person physically present.

There was plenty of time for lunch between the morning and afternoon sessions. And then I had my own session. All of my students except one showed up. The one who didn't got in touch the day after, to say they were in the process of suspending their studies. So in a way, I was complete! And I was doing the session with my colleague Mollie, and all her students showed up. A successful session.

The next day I didn't have to be in any of the sessions. My work was mainly making sure that in the lunch break, I updated the documentation in every room. And I still fielded some questions from staff and students. And at the end of the day, I made sure that the teaching lab was in pristine condition again. That wasn't much work; staff and students had left it quite tidy, and the technical staff was also keeping an eye on things. Over the weekend there would be an Open Day, so it had to look spic and span! But at 5 pm, all that was done, and I could take my tired body home. It's done for another year! 

Afternoon documentation ready for distribution 

The next big job now, of course, is the actual dissertations. That is just the students uploading their documents, but there is a fair amount of herding cats involved, to make sure all staff mark the work on time and in the right way. And document what they have done. 

I personally think it was quite nice to do it on our own campus. I will see if School management is OK with me keeping that set-up. I also suspect that next year we might have so many students we would have to hire Reichel Hall for three days if we want to fit all the presentations in. I struggle to imagine the School would look forward to the cost!

Pre-dissertation conference guest

My conservatory is full of Martin’s plants. Martin has now moved away from the area, and it will be after Easter that he can move back up. But that also means that if he has to come into the office, he has a very long commute.

He had to be there for the dissertation presentations. And it is not feasible for him to travel in on the day, so I had told him he can spend the night at my place if he wants. And he took me up on that.

There was one complication with this arrangement! It basically meant I had to be ready with all preparations by the time he would show up. I wanted to be able to just put my feet up with a beer once he got there. But I managed it! And that did involve me, other staff, and students finding mistakes in my preparatory work, but so be it. All the work I was doing was not about making the dissertation presentations possible; that was already done. What I was doing now was make them run smoothly. And well, the occasional small bump is acceptable. 

I was knackered when I left the office. On the way home I popped by the shop for emergency Martin supplies. I live on instant coffee and oat milk, and he sure doesn’t! The real products were required. And when I got home I had time for a shower. And only minutes later he appeared. 

His suggestion had been that he would just get us a curry. I figured he saw it coming that I wasn't going to be home early, and that I would be tired, so that not having to cook would be a blessing. And he appeared with beer and snacks. So we first ordered some takeaway on his laptop, and then retreated into the garden with the beer and the snacks. And then we went to get the food.

It's actually really nice to round off a lot of hectic work with sitting in the garden with a beer and a friend, and have lovely food afterwards. And we made it even better still. Martin had basically spent all day sitting on his bum; initially, in trains that would get him from the Southeast to Blaenau Ffestiniog (don't ask), and then in his car, his office, and his car again, respectively. So he was really keen on stretching his legs. We did a nice Moel Faban loop, the latter part thereof in moonlight. Lovely! 

Watching the sunset from the flanks of Pen-y-Gaer

 

After the stroll I needed tea, of course. But then it was bedtime. And it was also time for an experiment. I had noticed that my cat really likes him. She rather insultingly sat on his lap before she ever sat on mine. So I figured if she would ever have the opportunity of sleeping with him, she totally would. So I suggest he leave the bedroom door open so we would find out. He was willing to do that.

When I went to bed there was no cat to be seen. She later showed up, but I noticed she was coming from inside the house; not through the cat flap. Suspicious!

The next morning I got up before Martin, and made sure I got ready for everything: make my packed lunch, get my running kit ready, buy breakfast from the cornershop (a guest merits fancy breakfast). It was nice to have an opportunity to have a fancy breakfast! And I found out that indeed, as soon as he had gone to bed, the cat had been with him. But she has strong opinions of what behaviour is acceptable at night, and he had moved too much; hence that she had decamped to me. She has trained me better!

After breakfast we headed for the office. There were presentations to attend…

Preparing the dissertation presentations

It's the last big task before the Easter break! The dissertation presentations are always a lot of work for me, given that I have to organise them, but this year they fall in the last two days before Easter.

The first thing I need to do is find out what the availability of the staff is. Then I need to sort out a schedule with that information. I need to book the venue, order catering, collate all abstract into conference booklets, and print these. I also make sure all presentations are ready in folders on OneDrive, and give the required people access. I also print marking sheets and feedback forms and make sure these are available in every room. It's a lot of work!

One of the rooms (nr 3, obviously) we used

I can't really complain; the second semester so far hasn't been overly busy. That is quite weird! So that I am working frenetically now is not a big problem. Although making the booklets is heavy on my (RSI-affected) arms. And that is something I do take seriously.

I hope it will go well this year. I will report back soon!

Last Borders League race

I had really enjoyed my first Borders League race, so I was looking forward to the next, and last, one. I didn’t think I would perform as well; it would be my third race that week! But well, I might be needed to make up the numbers.

On the day I drove to Llanfairfechan, where I would pick up Sam (who I had given a lift home last time) and Anna. I got there at 8AM. It was an early start! But that was ok. Together we drove to Conwy where we picked up another passenger: Helen, our XC officer. And then we proceeded to Mold. The host was the Buckley Runners, but they clearly didn’t prefer Buckley as a venue. 

We parked up, went to the loo, got what we figured we’d want at start and finish, and went to the start. There we gave our jumpers and recovery drinks and bananas and whatnot to the Eryri supporters, and got ready. And then we were off!

At the start, with fellow Harriers Tony, Helen and Steve

Looking relaxed shortly after the start 

In the beginning, the field is always crowded, so you just run in whatever tempo everybody else is running. But it spreads out fairly soon.

I was feeling good! Better than expected with all that running in the past few days. I will slowly overtaking people. And I try to keep an eye on my watch, which gave my speed, but that was complicated by the fact that it was a bright day. If we were running with the sun in our face I was wearing my sunglasses, but these are prescription glasses, so if I wear those I can't read my watch. But we were running a loop, so sometimes I didn't need the glasses. And if I didn't, I could see I was on schedule. 

When I knew we were not far from the finish site try to overtake one last woman; again, from Chester Triathlon Club. It worked! And then we turned the corner finish in front of the school. I had kept a bit of an eye on the Chester lady; I wanted to keep her behind me. But then I saw a whole bunch of Chester runners roar in enthusiasm. She was probably throwing it all out in the sprint trying to get past after all! I sped up as well. But I was too late. She stormed past right at the finish. Bummer for me, but deserved for her. I was a bit miffed, though, when she ignored my congratulation.

Sprint finish

I got my token, I went to see the other Eryri Harriers who had already finished. And cheered on those who were still coming in behind me. And then we were all there, we did a group pic. And then we went back to the cars.

The group pic

There is a final event; a relay where all runners only run 1 mile. But that’s at the same time as a rather attractive race, so I don’t intend to go. So that’s it for this season! 

When the results came in I saw I had actually run faster than the previous time. And done better compared to the other women running. I was chuffed with that! The only time I had ever managed to run this fast was during the Bangor 10k, and that is a flatter course with only 2/3 of the ascent of this race. I had been going like a rocket! 

Next year I suppose I will go more often. As it so happens, we the Eryri women will be promoted to the first division. But in the first division, you need six women in order to not get penalty points. In our current division, it is only four. So there will be more demand for Eryri women in this league. I think I can hear that call!

Ras Moel Wnion

Last year I had noticed a bit later there was a race on Moel Wnion. That's my back garden! I regretted that I hadn't run it, even though the weather had been pretty bleak. But now that I am an Eryri Harrier, I find out about these things. But it is a fell run; I am rubbish at those. So I decided to do the decent thing and offer my services as a marshal to Ross, who organises it. Ross is not only a Thursday runner, but also my former classmate in Cymraeg +. 

To my surprise, he didn't need my services. And then I thought I might as well run the thing. I like running in that area! And I would be able to bike to the start in about 10 minutes. That is a luxury. I felt a little bit guilty about it, given that the day after I would run the last Borders League. And you're supposed to take it easy (or "taper") in the days before a serious race. I'm not sure if a race with 476 m ascent counts as taking it easy. But I couldn't resist!

In the blazing sun I biked to the school where registration was. That was a quick process! I also saw that there was a route map. There had been none on social media. But I knew what the route map had been a few years ago. I thought I recognised the route as starting like one of my weekend runs. And I thought I saw where the start was. I clearly should have looked a bit longer! 

I biked to where I thought the start was, and saw only one other person. He said that the start was further back on a small asphalt road. That would be close to where the start had been these years ago. I went there. And indeed! There was a sign saying "Start”. But there were only some three other runners there. I clearly wasn't the only one who was a bit confused. I locked my bike and got ready.

More people then turned up. It was going to be okay! And then we started. Initially, it was quite busy, but the field spread out quite quickly.

Start of the ascent

After a while everyone suddenly headed right. What was that? Weren't we going to go straight ahead? There was no marshal. Normally I just run after everybody else, but this time I decided against it. It's a fell run, after all! If you just hit the checkpoints it doesn't really matter what you're doing in between. I went straight ahead. And that changed everything.

I had the hill to myself. Which is nice, but not what I had expected. I just pootled on. The route was even marked! But maybe that had been for the juniors? And this time, I headed straight up the hill to the summit of Moel Wnion. If I just run that as a leisure run, I run over the big path to the pass and then take another big path to the summit. But this was a fell race. So I just picked some sort of line over the slope. And eventually reunited with all the other runners. I had clearly not been very efficient! But that's okay. I wasn't here to do well. 

Looking at y Gyrn from the flank of Moel Wnion 

From the summit of Moel Wnion we headed to the summit of y Gyrn. That is something I never do! There is a block field there and I avoid it. But not today. Then from there we went over y Llefn, down Bwlch ym Mhwll Lle, and then up Moel Faban. And obviously The uncomfortable way down. The finish was right at the bottom of the incline. That thing is too steep for me to run down at any speed whatsoever. I don't normally get to finish with so much breath to spare! Even last Tuesday they had been so polite as to make the finish uphill. Not here.

Approaching the finish 

The finish

Looking back at the incline

I cheered on some more runners and then went to go and get my bike. Then I went to registration; there I handed my number back in, and got me some soup with bread. And then it was time to go home again. And that was all downhill!

The day after, the logistics would not be anywhere near that convenient! But the race would be on the road. So then I would be sure to reach the finish satisfyingly out of breath…

Spring

The clocks have changed! The sun is out! The trees are getting leaves! It is clearly spring. 

I personally really like bare trees, so I suppose I like spring a bit less than most people. But I really enjoy the longer evenings. I can already see Jenny, my Welsh tutor, on Friday after work, and then still bike home without needing bicycle lights. You can do evening runs again without needing a head torch.

I already have meals in the garden. And I suppose the first barbecue of the season can't be very far off now. And the cat and me are often found in the conservatory. I like winter; I love sitting snugly by the fire with a pot of tea. But this might actually be even better!

Thursday Night Hen

The clocks had changed, and we would finally do our ThursdayNight Hill sessions on the trails again! Not that we necessarily were kept away from these in the dark, but now we could finally do a trail session in comfort. But as lovely as it was, that was not the emphasis of the night. One of our regular runners, Lucy, was about to get married, so this was a bit of a hen night run. 

On the parking lot where we gather she was given a veil, an ‘L’ plate (this is a British tradition), a ‘bride to be’ tiara and a sequinned clutch. And then we set off. We went north of the lake. And the second time we stopped to regroup, Lucy was told to open the clutch and get a piece of paper out. They all had tasks on them. This task was column run backwards for one minute. So she did! Which turned out to be surprisingly tiring.

Hen having to run backwards 

I think we improvised the route a bit. We had to see how much time would be taken up by the tasks, and we had to be back by eight as we would go for a pizza afterwards, and had a reservation. So we just ran around in the vicinity of the quarry. It's beautiful there!

Steep bit

Lucy got a lot more tasks. Such as high-fiving everyone, do squats or push-ups, dance for one minute to "Dancing Queen", et cetera. It was good fun!

Low sun

Even lower sun

Then we got back to the parking lot. Some people went home, but we had to tables’ worth of pizza eaters. I don't really like eating this late, but I had been strong-armed into joining by some of the runners who had been there on Tuesday. And it is nice to spend time with lovely people.

I hope Lucy will have a lovely wedding. At least she seemed quite chuffed with her hen night run!