Spring on the track

On Easter Monday it was lovely weather! Our main task that day was sorting out the big mattress swap, but we made sure that in between unceremoniously plonking the new one in the house and finishing the job we went for a nice walk. I basically showed Neil my weekend trail loop. And we had dinner in the garden.

The day after it was still nice weather. I made sure to wear a sleeveless vest for track training, but because pretty much all my runs this year had been cold (except the one in Birkenhead) I put a T-shirt over that vest, and a jacket over the T-shirt. But I didn't end up wearing either T-shirt or jacket for even a meter of running! It was so warm.

Some of my fellow runners were complaining that it was so hot. I said that was quite the contrast, as recently we had been complaining about that it was so cold."Yes, literally last week" was the response. It was true!

During these recent Baltic track trainings I had been quite aware that it is technically spring, and that the moment we would be quite hot doing our sessions wouldn't be far off. And then it suddenly came! And it gave me more of an overpowering spring feeling than the day before had done.

The day after, the weather turned. It didn't stay that warm long! But it wouldn't surprise me if from now on, complaining about the heat on the track is going to be more common than complaining about the cold, for months to come. And at some point it will be difficult to deal with, but for now I'm actually quite glad I'm not freezing my arse off when I appear at the start line!

Easter garden work

Around all the adventures I also found some time to dedicate to the garden. It was high time! So much needed doing I was getting overwhelmed.

I cut the grass, and weeded, and added more plants to the bed I had emptied the year before. I took some of the oregano running wild out and planted some other herbs in that bed. 

I bought some shade-resistant plants and put them in pots by the front door. Some old plants had died there. 

There is still an awful lot to do! But a start has been made. And it already looks considerably better. 

One of my new plants at the front of the house 

Some tomato plants and suchlike in the garden. The first to grow big gets the big pot (now full of weed) in the back 

Some new herbs keeping my ornamental cabbage company 

Bed improvements

I have no strong opinions on beds. If it’s meant to sleep in you can sleep in it. So when I bought my current double bed, I wasn’t fussy. Nor, as it so happens, when I bought my single bed. They serve me fine. 

Neil is fussy. He wants a firm mattress. He doesn't sleep well on a soft one. And by coincidence, mine is rather soft. You can see the problem.

I was quite happy to go and buy a firm one for him, until he said he wasn't sure if it was actually the mattress that caused him to not sleep very well when he is at mine. Maybe it is the room! Maybe it is the cat! It could be all sorts of things.

We decided to go for an easy solution. He has a spare bed he doesn't sleep in it. It's for guests. Guests might have all sort of preferences. In order to verify if it was just the mattress, we decided to just take that mattress to my house. If he would sleep well from then on, it wasn't the mattress. Problem solved!

When we were juggling with mattresses anyway, he addressed a different issue: my bed is a bit squeaky. And he figured he knew what to do about it. The cause must be different parts of the bed rubbing against each other. If you put some rubber in between them, it should stop. So he identified where the squeaking happens, and put strips of old bicycle tube between the various parts. That didn't take very long.

Then we put the mattress on, made the bed, and were ready to try it out. And the result is: no squeaking! And a happy and well-rested Neil in the morning! It has only been one night, but I have faith this was actually the problem, and he will sleep well in my place from now on. Fab.

For some reason, he wasn't keen to take my mattress home with him. Maybe he objects to soft mattresses in his entire house. This is a situation that we should resolved later. For now I will just see if someone in the community wants it. And if not, it will have to go to the recycling centre. There's nothing wrong with it! But few people can keep something as big as a double mattress in store without issues. But sleep is very important. If that thing can’t offer that to Neil, it is not fit for purpose, no matter how good it is for anyone else!

Old mattress for now hiding behind my single bed 

Ps someone in the community did want it! It now lives in Trefriw. 

Book: Tadwlad

It took me several months! In January, we started reading a book for Welsh class: Tadwlad (Fatherland). I often struggle to find time to read books, and this one turned out to be written in South Welsh, which is sufficiently different from North Welsh to make this book decidedly less easy to read for someone like me. It was a bit like running through treacle. 

Warning: spoiler alert.

At the very beginning of the book, in the first sentence even, the main person finds out that his father, whose funeral he is just attending, was adopted. He never had any idea.

The main character, Dylan, is working with refugees. It is specified that he used to have a much more lucrative career, but something happened, and he ended up losing his job in his wife (with whom he has a son). But he now has that other job, and a new girlfriend. I expected the thing that made him lose his initial job would be elucidated later on in the book.

Of all the refugees he works with, two are specified. One is Nabil, a Syrian medic. He is the second narrator. He comes across as alone and rudderless. And he is wary of Hadi, an Iraqi barber. The latter tends to have a small group of acolytes around him. Nabil finds them intimidating.

The book mainly trundles on with the daily life of both main characters. Not much happens. Somewhere halfway down the book, Dylan finds out that his father was born in Lübeck, after the end of the second world war. And that his grandfather was there.

It then trundles a bit more, until a big thing (in the context of this book) happens: Hadi plants suspicion in Dylan's mind about that Nabil has a wife, but never mentions her. Does he have something to hide? Dylan asks, and Nabil retreats. This was a moment of suspended disbelief for me; would anyone working with refugees really be so blunt? People flee for a reason. They might not necessarily want to talk about all the losses they have suffered before they reached the UK. 

Then more trundling follows, until towards the end of the book, everything suddenly accelerates. We find out that Nabil’s wife drowned during the Channel crossing. Nabil has always felt inferior as the son of a day labourer, found out he has a knack for being charismatic and entertaining, and also, for hairdressing, and manages to establish himself with a business in Mosul. Until the religious authorities disapprove of the modern hairstyles he cuts. He strikes to deal with them, and is then seen as a traitor. He flees. And is wary of privileged people, such as middle-class folk with a good education.

Then, Hadi is attacked by racists, but manages to stagger back to the refugee centre. There, Nabil applies tourniquets and saves him. Slightly too convenient for my taste, but hey ho. 

In the last chapter you suddenly hear the voice of Dylan's father. He travels to Germany, talks to someone who has gone through the archives in order to find out about his mother, and is told that there is no mention anywhere of his father. The archive lady suspects strongly that his mother was raped by a soldier of the Red Army, and was never keen to talk about that with anyone. The father then decides he is also not keen to talk about that with anyone. And then the book ends.

I suppose this is all about the secrets we keep, and that we might have particular reasons to keep them. It doesn't have to be anything malicious. I found it quite elegant that we never find out what happened to Dylan. 

I suppose another theme is refugees. If you live in Western Europe in this day, having to flee might well look like something that happens to distant people. But it might be closer than you think.

As dénouements go, I found the rape story a bit obvious. I suspected that as soon as I read about the war and Lübeck, but I had the impression it is supposed to come as a surprise. Maybe I'm wrong!

So what did I think about it altogether? I must say, I am glad I read it. I would really have preferred it to have been written in North Welsh, but you can't always get what you want. I quite like that there wasn't much going on. I thought book would have been stronger without the blunt tool of one person saving another person's life after a violent attack. But if the book really would have been as pedestrian as I like them, I suspect it wouldn't have been chosen for a project such as this. This book had been recommended to Welsh classes all over the country, and in the end there was an online event in which you could ask the author questions. I wasn't even halfway by the time that happened, so I didn't participate in that. But this was bigger than our Welsh class. Maybe a bit of blood helps inclusion! 

Now this book can go back to the library. And what is next for me? I am well over halfway in Jacko’s book about breathing and running. That may be the next review! And I am flying through a small book about historic Llandudno. But on my list is also the latest book by Peredur the linguist. At least that will have been written in North Welsh! 

Nantlle Ridge on Easter Sunday

On Saturday the weather had been rather changeable, turning into solidly atrocious in the late afternoon. But the day after was looking a lot better. And after a whole day of doing useful but not really enjoyable things, we wanted to do something a bit more fun. And I proposed Nantlle Ridge. Neil was up for it!

We would do a two vehicle hike. We independently drove to Rhyd Ddu, and then we left one car behind. In the other one, we drove to Nebo. And there the adventure could start!

How it started

It was a bit windy, but it was dry, and partly sunny. We walked past Llyn Cwm Dulyn to Mynydd Graig Goch. There was no one else there. And the hill is not very high, but the views are lovely. And it had got sunnier along the way.

Mynydd Graig Goch

On Garnedd Goch we stopped for coffee and a snack. There was still nobody around! And then we approached the narrower part of the ridge. We decided to have lunch by the obelisk. That meant doing a steep saddle in the ridge first. We came across one walker before we got there! 

Neil on Garnedd Goch

While we were having lunch there, a couple and a dog showed up. We had a nice chat. The dog was wondering if there was any food to steal, or whether Neil was up for any physical intimacy. He was really funny!

When we moved on we were clearly on the busier part of the route, and we came across an entire group of people. No problem! And after not much time, after the last scrambly bits,  we reached the start of the final descent. I don’t like that descent at all! It’s steep and has a choice between slippery grass or loose slate chippings. But I got down without problem. We were surprised to see it's already 4 pm! We had started quite early because we figured you need to do do that in order to be able to get a parking space in Rhyd Ddu in a bank holiday weekend with nice weather.

Neil’s car was parked close to where we ended up, and the reverse two vehicle manoeuvre went fine as well. It had been a long time since I had done such a large part of the Ridge! I had done a small part with Claire and Katie last year. But it had been years since I had done anything resembling the full trip. I was glad I had done it again. Is it such a beautiful walk!

Ecosystem saves the day

My 19-year-old little car (aka the Ecosystem) is not very glamorous, and admittedly not very well maintained. I sometimes am a bit negligent with maintenance, and sometimes that causes trouble (like here and here, although the latter was in a way because of maintenance, not a lack thereof). And I don't clean it very often on the inside, and never on the outside. One would think that all cars around it outperform it. Not necessarily so. 

When, after our cleaning spree, Neil  wanted to go home, his car was having none of that. It treated him like a burglar. It wouldn't let him in, and the alarm went off. And, quite eerily, there was strange thumping sound by the boot. 

He first wondered if the battery of his key fob might have been empty. But that wasn't it. A bit of googling got him in. More googling suggested maybe it was the car battery. If that was the problem, he should be able to jumpstart it. So I drove my little car as close as possible to his. He has jump leads.

It worked! My geriatric little car had enough power in the battery to jumpstart his engine. If the weather wouldn't have been so atrocious, maybe I would have taken a picture of the situation. Neil could drive home, where, just to be on the safe side, he charged the battery further using a plug-in charger. And the next day, everything was fine again.

We still have no idea at the time of writing what the scary thumping sound was. What on earth was that, and why would an empty battery cause it? I'm sure someone knows. Not me though. But I was proud that my little old car could revive his much, much newer, well-maintained and gleaming Ford! 

My charger, not Neil’s

Blitzing the house

I have mentioned before that Neil is a lot cleaner than I am. He really likes his environment clean. And my house isn't! I mean it's not disastrous, but there is quite a lot of dust, and there are many cobwebs. And we decided to do a bit of a reset. Admittedly, he did most of the work. But I will try to maintain the level! It's a bit like when I have a catsitter. Then I spend quite some time cleaning the house, and thinking I should really keep that level of hygiene up. So far it hasn't worked. But maybe a regularly visiting Neil is better motivation than just me, after the catsitter has gone.

Time will tell how this will pan out. But the intentions are good!

I dusted a shelf with lots of stuff on it - we were that thorough. More impressive maybe that Neil moved all the furniture for hoovering! 

TNH goes off the road again

The Thursday Night Hill runs had been on asphalt since the clocks changed last autumn. And that’s fine. I enjoy it! But the views are a heck of a lot better when we are in the hills again. And now the clocks have moved again. We had long enough evenings to come off the Llanberis streets. So we did.

I had been tempted to run in shorts as it had been such a gorgeous day. But it got a bit gloomier so I chose tights after all. And, of course, the new shoes. I was glad, as when I got to the parking lot, it was freezing cold. I was glad to get going. 

We headed for Glyn Rhonwy. That is beautiful whatever the weather! Running up there got me a bit less cold. And i missed my hat as it was raining. The shoes were fine. 

At some point I lost track of where we were. We ended up pretty much in Waunfawr! But then we turned back. I was glad for it. I like these runs, but I didn't really have my day, and I still was a bit cold. 

On the downhill I realised at some point I was bringing up the rear. Some jokes about me needing a lot more of these downhill sessions, and about the Dutch being generally rubbish at descent, ensued. It is all true!

When we got back to the cars I didn't waste any time and just headed home. The quicker I could get out of my wet gear, into the shower, into dry clothes, and then to the fire the better it would be! I know it is now officially spring, but I think I have learned I should nonetheless not underestimate the weather…

Taming the hedge

When the neighbour and I had the top of the hedge chopped off, you suddenly got a rather good view on it from above. I noticed just how asymmetrical it was! My neighbour keeps it rather trim, but I had let it grow out way more. And that is not itself surprising; my neighbour is a lot more meticulous at matters like that than I am. But now it became glaringly obvious!

It irked me, so on the Thursday of the Easter holiday I decided to do something about it. I was aware it was spring, and the beeches would grow leaves soon, and I would be cutting off a lot of buds, but I am sure there will be sufficient left. I have faith it will manage to grow a fine set of leaves. 

In the future I might even cut it back a little bit more. But for now I’m satisfied. And it also means I have gained more access to the raised bed next to it. I am thinking of moving a big shrub out of it. If I do, that would be a lot easier now with the smaller hedge! 

Not sure it is obvious in this pic how far I cut it back

Lots of branches

Downhill training

I am scared of speed! You should see me skiing. And I'm scared of spraining a knee or an ankle on uneven terrain. So if you combine both, running speedily downhill on uneven terrain, you have several of my fears combined. It is not surprising I am absolutely rubbish at it. 

One night on the track I heard that the club training on the Monday night would organise a session on downhill running, led by our youth trainer Neal. That sounded amazing! I don't normally go to the Monday evening training, for a session like that I would make an exception.

When I saw the announcement I immediately registered. There is no good way of avoiding downhill running! You can, of course, do only flat races, but I like going up. And unless you are doing the Snowdon Twilight, or an uphill-only leg of the Welsh Castles Relay, what goes up must come down. And it does annoy me that I am so slow downhill. But I also have such a strong history of spraining knees and ankles it is only natural. 

The announcement came quicker than I expected, and I was glad I had bought my new shoes on time! They would come in handy. 

There was a good crew of us. And when Neal figured we were all there, we ran up to a field that is part of my standard off-road run, and also contains my hill rep incline which is also the finish of Ras Moel Wnion. And we did some general exercises that we could also do ourselves. Things like standing on one leg and then doing balance challenges like touching your knee with your nose. And at the same time, Neal talked us through a bit of theory. And then it was time to start properly. We were asked to pair up, and I did so with a lady called Tina I didn’t know before. 

Group pic by Nia

Neal orating; pic by Nia

Balance exercise 

We started with running some loops. One half of a pair first, while the other observed, and then we swapped. First just without instruction. Then when making a concerted effort to lean forward. Then with long strides. And short strides. And variations on that. 

It was quite useful to have an observer. We saw things the other person was not aware of. She mainly saw my fear! And that was exactly why I was there. But she said I was going faster with the passing of time. Maybe I was gaining some confidence! And then we moved to a deeper bit of terrain. Then we did some more running down. But it was scarily steep and I stayed within my comfort zone. I didn't want to sprain anything!

We then did some exercises with what looks like a rope ladder. This is for forcing you to take very short steps. And then Neal started to add little cones to restrict where we could put our feet. There was a lot of skipping going on! That was fun. The one thing that scared me was if I was behind someone with big feet, and they struggle to keep their feet between the rungs of the ladder, and kicked it. I don't want to be pulled over by a moving ladder!

It was getting late and we moved to do the final exercise of the night. We went to the incline. We all trundled up, and then we ran down. I normally walk down it! I did run, but with my familiar very short steps, and low speed. That thing is steep!

The only thing we needed to do was run back to the cars. An evening well spent! I think my spotter was right; I did build a tiny little bit of confidence. If I do this sort of thing a bit more often, I might increase it a bit further still. Who knows! I don't think I'll ever be really confident; I can't really forget decades of spraining my knees. But I think I can reasonably gain a bit of confidence without endangering myself! 

Llandudno 10 miler

The first day of the Easter break I could just relax. And the second day I would have the biggest race in my diary! The one where I had been asked to race for North Wales. I took that seriously.

It was not going to be an easy race. The distance and the route were fine, but the weather forecast was atrocious. A lot of rain and wind! But so be it. And it probably wouldn't help that the night before, the clocks would go forward, and it had a morning start. 

I woke up in Llandudno. The clock change hadn't affected me. And it wasn't raining! That was good news. But there was a lot of wind. I had my breakfast, and Neil and I walked down to the start. That was some 30 minutes. I first went to the loo, and then I went looking for Paul, the NWRAC official, who would have my race number. The rest of the team also flocked to him, so I got to meet them. There had only been two that I already knew; one from the club and one from the track, and now I heard there had been an addition to the team: very fast Menai Track and Field runner Steffan. But we had lost a lady; she had fallen ill the night before.

I did a little warming up with two others from the team, and then I got ready. When we were lining up by the start I found myself, again, starting next to, and expecting to be left in the dust by, Olivia. And now it started raining.

The team before the race (minus Jane who was on the loo)

Because of the heavy wind we would run an alternative route. This race was supposed to incorporate the Llandudno pier, but that had been changed. I'm not sure what the safety considerations are that made them take that landmark off the route, but off the route it was.

A view we didn’t get. Neil and I recce’d the Pier the (sunny) day before

We would first run over the promenade in the direction of the pier, turn around, do most of the Pier to Pier route, turn around again, run back to the the start and beyond, turn around one last time, and then run approximately a kilometre back and then finish. 

Right at the start, a lot of people run away from me, including the entire rest of the team, and Olivia. I didn't want to start too fast. After the first turn we had the wind approximately in the back. That was nice! And I happily trundled towards the little Orme, and down on the other side. I could still see Jane, another lady in the team. She was the other 50+ runner.

Someone else I could see was Gruff, a young Harrier. He must not have had his day. Normally, he is faster than me! I could remember the days when he was so young that that wasn't the case, but these days are definitely over. Nevertheless, I overtook him close to the turning around point, but he was not having that, and just accelerated enough to stay in front of me.

I had a feeling he was getting in my way, so I overtook again. This time he let me. And that brought me close to Jane. Then there was a little repeat. She wasn't having me overtaking her! But she sped up sufficiently to get ahead of me, and start increasing the distance.

With not much distance between us we ran over the Orme again. And we bumped into Tony, the decorated Harrier. He was not in the race; he was just doing a normal Sunday run in the other direction. I got a high-five!

When we had run down the Little Orme, we lost all shelter from the wind. It was quite a battle fight against it! Jane was doing better than me and increased the distance. And I was really looking forward to the turning around point. It seemed so far away! 

When I finally reached it, things got easier. I now had the wind in the back and could accelerate. And I did! I really wanted to run a personal best, and also, I could now throw everything out that I had. Exhausting yourself is fine in the last kilometre!

Almost there

There was still disruptive wind. It was largely behind me, but sometimes it came from the side. At some point I was blown several litres off course by some serious gusting. But I could tell that personal best was within reach. This could be the first 50+ PB of which I hoped I could achieve a whole list. It wasn't a tight PB at all; there are few 10 mile races around, and it had been set last year when I was mainly trying out my knees. But on a flatter course in better weather. My time then had been 1:16:13. I now came over the finish line at 1:13:42. Success! And 18 seconds after Jane.

Neil immediately found me, and together we quickly went inside. I wanted to get out of that wind and rain. Venue Cymru was race HQ and it was warm in there. Together we waited for the presentation.

In a way, it was a highly unsuccessful race. Since moving to the 50+ category, I had won a category win in every regular race so far. Now I was only third! And Jane, obviously, second. But I was still chuffed. And as this was a North Wales championship, and the fastest woman over 50 wasn't based in Wales, I did nab a silver NWRAC medal.

What about North Wales team? Well! The men came second after Staffordshire and before Cheshire. We as women came third and last. It turned out we had lost a very fast runner to an injury. So there were only four finishers; the first two had done really really well, coming 2nd and 5th, and the other two were Jane and me, bringing up the rear of the entire team. Not that we weren’t doing well! As 14th and 15th woman (out of 150), and 10 years older than the others, I think we did fine. Staffordshire had 5 runners in the top 10, including on the top spot. With a 55+ coming 3rd! That’s impressive. Not sure about Cheshire as their fastest woman came 6th as far as I could see, but I’m sure it all makes sense. 

It turned out I had been 46th person overall, out of 258. I was quite pleased with that!

I now only had one race in the diary for the next month: the Trawsfynydd race. I hoped there would be some last-minute additions. And if not, maybe I would have to do Parkrun again to get my fix!

 

Reaching Easter

It had been a couple of very full-on weeks. There is a sizeable amount of background work to do, and if you have to squeeze it in between practicals, student presentations, field trips, and even a PhD viva, it's hard work. There is, of course, the work that you know you need to do, like providing students feedback, doing journal reviews, and organising the dissertation presentation conference, but sometimes you get such a load of emails while you are away from your desk for several hours, all demanding more work, that you start lagging more and more behind.

All the last Friday before the Easter break, when we don't teach the students, I was walking from lunch back to the office with a colleague, and he asked me if I had some running injury. I asked if he thought I was limping. He just said he thought I was very slow. That was just how tired I was! And I'm sure he was worse, but at least I could not detect it in how he moved from building to building.

That afternoon I came home and I was very relieved that now I would get three weeks in which I could catch up on the backlog. And organise my time the way I see fit. There is very little timetabled now. 

I suppose one of the most important things I need to get out of the way now is organising the student presentation conference. I hadn't got very far with that yet. But I can start with doing something about that straight away on Monday morning. I'm sure I'll be making good progress with that.

Reaching Easter is always an important milestone of the year. And I've done it!

New trail/fell shoes

I started running more than 15 years ago, but I'm still only on my second pair of trail/fell shoes. I suppose there are two reasons for that. One is that you just don't wear them out so quickly; mud and grass are hardly as abrasive as asphalt. The other one is that I am predominantly a road runner. I have worn out so many road shoes over the years!

I bought my first pair of off-road shoes in a shop. I just bought the ones with the biggest lugs they had. But later I developed a habit of buying my shoes secondhand, and my second pair (bought just before a trail 10k) was a bit less luggy. But I really like grip. So when these shoes were showing signs of old age, I decided my next pair should be more grippy.

I am in the position to try several of them out. On a fairly regular basis, there is a demo event where we can borrow a particular (new) model of trail shoes and try it out on the hill. I had really liked the Inov8 mud claws. I hadn't bought a pair at the end of the event, as I wanted to try both the regular model and the wide one. Maybe they could have provided me with that, but among the shoes I could see these options are not available. I probably should have been a bit more proactive! 

With spring well on its way, I figured we would soon go back off the road on the Thursday nights. I should be ready for that, with new shoes. I intended to they just get to Llanberis early enough one Thursday to get there before the shop close, and sort out my mud claws. But then there suddenly was a demo event of Altra. The shoes were fine, but not quite what I wanted to buy. But after the run but before the prize draw, I had a mooch in the rest of the shop. And I noticed that there was a sale going on with running shoes. And there were some seriously grippy models! And they had my size. I suppose everybody in the world has bigger feet than me.

I tried the two grippiest shoes. The pretty one didn't have a good fit. The ugly one did! And prettiness doesn't matter. And the people in the shop were totally fine with selling me a pair of shoes that were not Altras. So now I am sorted! Sorry Inov8. Maybe next time. And wish me luck in the new off-road season!

To the physio for unusual reasons

I've been going to the physio for almost two years now. It normally is something to do with some part of my legs. My ankle, my knee, my hip… but now something was different. 

For some reason, I had been feeling a niggle in my elbow. No idea where it came from! But then again, I had no idea where my hip issue had come from either. Maybe I'm just getting old. And it wasn't a big problem, but I had a caving weekend coming up. That could involve a fair amount of rope work, and for that you need your arms. I thought I had better get me some exercises before that would happen. Luckily, Adam could fit me in.

He seemed to find it funny that I turned out to have a golf elbow. It certainly has nothing to do with golf! But he must've seen this many times before, and he knew what exercises to give me. Most of them involve a rubbery cylinder I had borrowed from Neil, because he has been struggling with the same injury in the past. So now I can try to get myself back to normal before the caving weekend hits. Or at least part of the way! 

One of the exercises: the metronome 

Beach trip with better weather than expected

After the beautifully sunny and calm trip to Cwm Idwal, the trip to Red Wharf Bay could almost only be a bit of an anticlimax. And the weather forecast was rain and wind. One of my colleagues even emailed me the day before to check if it would even take place. But I thought it would be OK. 

On the day, it was actually sunny when I arrived on main campus to wait for the coach. That was a bonus! And it was still sunny when we arrived on location. It was rather windy, and the wind was quite cold, but it was quite doable. 

I had a rather responsive group, but I was a bit worried to notice they hadn't remembered an awful lot of the material. They would have to do a lot of revision before the exam in May! But maybe that's normal.

We talk to them about all the evidence of the tectonic and sedimentary processes from the Silurian to the Carboniferous you can spot there, and then some from the last Ice Age. And then we were basically done. A little bit early! The weather had held the entire time. And the coaches hadn't gone anywhere, so we could just go back to campus a bit earlier than timetabled. I had been a bit worried about this trip, but in the end was lovely!

Lovely rock

Heading back

Trying to get to Borders League

I was looking forward to this Borders League race! It was going to be quite far away, on the north shore of the Wirral, but we were going to drive up with three of us, as we had done before. And I would drive. So the day before, I did a bit of a car check. I had already checked the tires the day before, but now I did oil and coolant. The coolant was a bit low. I still had some, so I topped it up.

On Sunday I happily set off to where I would meet the others. And at some point, the temperature warning light of the engine came on. Oh dear! But I had just filled up the coolant? But it went off seconds later. Maybe a fluke? Maybe, I don't know, an air bubble in the system or something? Because of the top-up?

A bit later it came on again. Just after a roundabout. There was no layby. And really shortly after that the whole engine cut out. Oh dear! I was glad there was a slipway to some maintenance yard or something. I cruised to it and stopped. And I was safe there.

The first thing I did was phone Helen, to tell her I had broken down, and couldn't pick her (and Anna) up. She did offer to come and get me, but I wasn't on a layby; she wouldn't be legally able to get to me, and I couldn't legally leave the car there. I had to sort this out first. I wished her all the best for the race. She would have to drive herself and Anna! 

I then contacted the AA. They would send someone soon. And then I phoned Neil to tell him this had happened. But the AA was there so quickly I had to hang up on him.

The AA man said that in all likelihood, me topping up the coolant had probably actually been the problem. He said that it was a known issue with old Corsas that you had to tighten the cap of the coolant reservoir well beyond reason; if you didn’t, it wouldn’t seal, and when your engine would get warm and the pressure would rise, all the coolant would come out, your engine would overheat, and it would cut out. That was probably what happened to me.

He brought a huge jerrycan with coolant, and filled up the reservoir. Then he checked the engine. It was fine! Then he topped it up a bit more, and said I was good to go. He said he would follow me home to make sure I got there OK. And I did! There I gave him my email address and then he was off.

I noticed I had some adrenaline still in the system. It hadn’t really clocked it was in there in the first place! But I had a nice big cup of coffee next to the cat, and then I was ready to fill  my day with something other than a Borders League race.

I was a bit sad. I had been looking forward to this! Travelling with three ladies is quite nice, and the travel becomes part of the event. But it was not to be. At least I have learned something about my car now. I will be really careful with that cap in the future!

It may also have been my last Borders League race of the season. The next fixture is at the same time as the Trawsfynydd race, and then the only thing left is The relay with presentation ceremony. That is on the same day as the Rhostryfan 10k. I think I prefer that! So a really sad way of bowing out of the season. But it will have to make do!

XC at Vaynol

On the club social media accounts, there was a call for marshals. This concerned some cross country (XC) championship. I've marshalled for that sort of thing before; my first marshalling was actually for XC. And I would have a busy weekend; on the day after that, there was a Borders League race. But if the club needs a hand…

It turned out to be nothing to do with the club. They were advertising for a third party! I was a bit miffed at that. I am struggling a bit combining a busy job, running, and a relationship. The weekends are just too short. But well, I had put my name down now. But then there was no communication from the organiser. At some point I got annoyed and I asked them if they could confirm they still needed me. No answer! I decided to not go. But then, the evening before the actual marshalling, they did get in touch. So I decided to show up.

It was an absolutely glorious day, and the venue was also amazing. It is the estate of the old owner of Dinorwic Quarry. That's quite glamorous!

Attempt at arty shot of the mansion 

I found the tent that was HQ. There we got a radio and a hi-vis vest, and we were assigned positions. The route was some distorted figure of eight, and I was right next to the top loop. About as far away as you could be from start and finish.

I made myself comfortable there there. I had brought a mat to sit on, clothes for if it would be either warm or cold, a book, and materials to do some hair maintenance that I had fallen behind on quite severely. And, of course, lunch.

As a traditional, the races started with the juniors. First the youngest ones, all locals, that only did one full loop. Then the slightly older ones, running for their perspective countries, that did two. Then a relay, with only four runners on the field. One for England, one for Ireland, one for Scotland, and one for Wales. And that tended to be the order they came in. I suppose that may reflect population size! If you have a large population, it is easier to draw strong runners from it.

I didn't have much to do. The whole route was demarcated with tape, so there was absolutely no ambiguity about where they had to go. I just cheered them all on. I suppose I was mainly there in case of emergencies. We all had radios. And I could hear that some of the other marshals sometimes asked for first aid. I suspected some sprained ankles. I saw two runners misstep a bit, limp for a bit, consider their options, and then decide they were good enough to keep running. It would be easy to imagine that sometimes they wouldn't end so well!

The rather uneven ground the runners were running on 

Talking to the organisation afterwards it turned out that first aid was mainly called for kids who had dehydrated. It was marked! And they ran such short distance! What would happen to them in summer?

Anyway; my radio was basically in use for keeping headquarters informed on which runners were in the lead. There was an announcer with a very loud sound system, and they could keep everyone informed.

After the juniors it was obviously time for the seniors. These were running for their clubs, not their countries. I recognised many local clubs. There weren’t many Harriers running! But Helen had changed from a marshal to a runner. And the runners had their age on their back. There was a man in the 85+ category! I don't think I had seen that before. He wasn't fast but he was going for it.

Then the last race, with faster age categories, was run. They ran five loops. And the front runners did it in no time! I had lots of déjà-vus. The last runner wasn't very fast, but he was steady. And when he came past the last time I knew I could pack up. I have read four chapters of my book, and used all the thread I had for hair maintenance, and eaten all my lunch. Time to go home!

I could really have done with that day for myself, but as marshalling days ago, this was perfect. Lovely venue, perfect weather, and I could use the time between races for something useful. And I always get vicarious joy out of seeing other people run. So it was as good as it could've been! But as a club we have now decided to not advertise for marshals for third parties anymore. There is only limited enthusiasm for such tasks, and we need to save some for our own races! 

Film: how deep is your love?

Bangor turns out to have its own film festival.  Or at least; be part of a Wales-wide film festival. The WOW festival. I had never noticed! But this year I got an email about a specific film being screened. It was about the deep sea. I suspect they made sure to send it to everyone in Ocean Sciences. And it looked interesting!

On the day I was quite knackered from a heavy week, but it started at five. It was tempting to just stop working at half past four and bike to main campus. And I did. And to my surprise, the cinema was packed! 

The film is basically about the Clarion-Clipperton zone, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean;  the largest known field of manganese nodules. These are lumps on the sea floor, roughly potato to sugarbeet size, that are full of the sort of metals industry wants for mobile phones and solar panels and whatnot. But they are also non-renewable; it takes millions of years to form them. And they are quite possibly crucial for the deep sea ecosystem. 

The film was basically report of a scientific cruise with the James Cook, on which I sailed some ten years ago, which aim to go there, and to do as good as possible a job of inventorising what life is there at the bottom of the sea. If you don’t know what’s there, how can you effectively protect it? 

Footage of the cruise was cut through with footage of negotiations about whether to mine or to protect the area. I can imagine people are keen on these metals for the energy transition, but at what cost? 

The cruise also tried to find the traces of some trial mining in 1979. That sounds so hard! But they did it. The sea floor looked like it had been churned up yesterday. 

The cruise had a robot with lights, cameras, a grabber and a hoover, and could therefore see and film what life was down there, and grab them and bring them to the surface. The scientists clearly had bleeding hearts when they decided to bring a creature up. They don’t survive it. But about 90% of the species there weren’t known to science, and you can’t legislate protection for what you don’t know exists. 

A new species needs a name. The important one is the Latin one. But they get colloquial names too. And these speak of the weirdness of the animals found. The gummy squirrel. Barbie pig. Headless chicken monster. And a lot more! I was hoping to see a purple sock but that didn’t happen. 

It was quite a long film and I was tired, and I skipped the Q&A session afterwards. But I was glad I had come! You don’t get to see footage of such a remote and deep ocean floor very often. And it was poured into a great narrative form. But I think everyone left that cinema a bit sad... 

A crinoid (sea lily); they still exist! 

A Barbie pig, and the shadow of the grabber that tries to sample it

New computer, new troubles

The good news is: I now have a computer that runs on Windows 11. The bad news? I can’t dictate to it. 

New desktop! 

I had Dragon voice recognition software installed on the old PC, and the new one obviously didn't come with it. When I raised this with the bloke who had done the transfer, he first said he would be able to move it across, but then he changed his mind. And the old license I had didn't allow me to install the software on any new machines. I had had it for years!

I figured it had been worth a lot more than it had cost; I had had it for years. I raised the matter with Stuart and he agreed that it was worth buying a new license. But he wanted it at the lowest possible cost. That makes sense. I relayed his to IT, who should do the purchase. 

There hasn’t been a response yet. I hope one is imminent! It’s a pain to not be able to dictate. I get around it by dictating to my phone, and then emailing myself the text. It’s a bit cumbersome. And it’s not helping my RSI to take these detours! 

PhD viva

I suppose I came to chairing PhD vivas is a bit late. The first one I did was only 2024. I suppose I was quite old when I became academic staff. And my very limited experience was also not typical; the one I had done had been online. The candidate was living quite far away.

Now I was asked to chair one in person, of a student based in the UK. She was modelling the climate in the Archaean. Interesting stuff!

Getting there on time was a bit of a challenge. The only availability of Mark, the external, was on a date when I was in the field with the students in the morning. I would have to pretty sharpishly get to our campus, make myself presentable, and then show up for lunch.

When we were done in the field, Jaco and I left in his car, and he dropped me off home. There I had a bit of a scare; my little car was parked in, but that was easily resolved. The vehicle was associated with Neuadd Ogwen, and they had made sure to keep the back door open so I could just walk in and ask the people there to make space for me. Which they did!

Note what you want to see if you have a place to go to. But it worked out!

When I got to Menai Bridge I decided I had time to have a little shower. Then I put my smart outfit on. Then I filled two flasks with hot water; these vivas can last a long time, and I need to look after myself. I was ready!

When I got to the room, Mattias (the supervisor), Dei (the internal examiner) and Mark (the external examiner) were already there. They weren’t looking as smart as me! Maybe I could just have showed up in my field outfit. But that was too late now. I dived into the lunch as I was hungry now. Mark and Dei discussed examination strategies. Mattias left. 

Then it was time. Anya, the PhD candidate, came in. And it started!

As the chair I basically only had one job: to keep the internal and external in check. But they didn't need that. So I was largely furniture. I think I only came in use twice: once when Anya couldn't think of a word, and I had correctly guessed which word she was looking for; and at the end, when both men had asked sufficient questions, and then asked her if there was anything she wanted to discuss. Then I told her that it was highly unlikely she would ever have these two men at her disposal again, so that I thought she should take this chance.

Altogether it didn't last very long, and in the end the external told her that she had passed with minor corrections. A great result!

When it was over, Anya met up with people of her choice, and Mark, Dei and me waited for Mattias to come back from the teaching engagement he had had. And when he was back we first went for a little walk over Church Island. It is only a small walk, but with lots of views you don't get in London, where Mark is based! And then we headed for an Indian restaurant for a curry.

A view on our walk

It had been a bit hectic, but it ended up being a very good day. The field trip couldn't have gone any better, I had made it to the viva on time, and that had gone really well for everyone involved. What more could you want! 

Cwm Idwal in gorgeous weather

If the weather we have for it is great, Cwm Idwal is my favourite trip with the students. The landscape is beautiful, the science interesting, and the stress low. What’s not to like! 

This year, the weather was ideal. It was sunny there was barely any wind. So it was perfect! But I got there in an unusual way.

I had to chair a PhD viva straight after the field trip, so I had to leg it from the field site to the Ocean Sciences campus. The most efficient way of doing that is not going with the students on the coach, which goes to Bangor. And I decided to car share with Jaco, who was also not travelling on the coach. That worked out well! Because he wanted to be sure to have a parking spot, he picked me up quite early, but we had both brought some work we could just do sitting on a low wall in the sun, waiting for everybody else to appear. Very efficient!

We were one staff member down, so we had bigger groups than we ideally would have, but it was still quite manageable. And if there is no wind, it is easy to be heard by sizeable group. I had a really good time! I hope the students did too.

Glorious weather 

The chance that we will have equally good weather for the second field trip is small, but we had one amazing trip in the bag. I can't complain!

New and old practicals

The students who do the trip to Lleiniog do a practical afterwards, and I have never been a part of that. But last year, Mike thought he could improve on how this module was run, and suggested changes. We thought they were amazing, so they were implemented. And that involved a practical session on our Ocean Sciences campus, where the students describe a core that was taken as a part of his PhD project some 20 years ago. And given that I have done core description exhaustively, it would make sense to have me involved in that. So on the Monday after the beach trip, that kicked off.

The core is beautiful! And there is enough to see. Unfortunately, Mike, who doesn't have an awful lot of teaching experience, just told the students to go and describe it. If you've never done it before, you don't quite know how to start! So I found it quite tiring to look over their shoulders and check if they were doing everything the logical way. Apparently, it doesn't speak for itself that the top of the core should also be the top of the core log. Or that a core log has a linear depth scale. I think Mike is open to providing a bit more guidance next year.

The core. Pic by Mike

That same week I also had my own practical, that I have been doing for years. That was a lot more relaxed! I suppose all the difficulties have been ironed out over the years. But it did mean quite many hours with pretty much the same students in the same teaching lab in one week. But that's it now for this academic year! 

Eryri Harriers presentation night

After a lot of preparation from the committee, it all came together on the actual night! And you should see "night" here in a wide sense. Activities started at 4 pm, with a run we had tagged onto the night in an attempt to attract more people. I'm not quite sure if it worked. There were seven of us (and a dog) lining up in our fell running gear. I think all of us would probably have attended as well without the run. But at least we would get a nice run out of it!

The idea was to run the route of a new race in the Tuesday Evening Series. That's a series of short fell  races. This one will be quite long in that context. The furthest point would be Gyrn Wigau. 

In spite of the predictions, it was dry when we started, and we happily headed for the first public footpath into the hills. Mary, who was leading this run but not the race, was keeping an eye on the map. Where would the checkpoints be?

Soon we started to cross the valley. We were on the western range, and had to move to the next one along. The ridges are quite dry, but the valley is not. It was inevitable we would be coming out with soaking socks and shoes. Doesn't matter! We had dry clothes waiting for us.

View during the run

I was glad to reach the other side. Then it would just be a long ascent. That is what I am best at. But at some point I heard Mary shouting behind me. I waited for her to find out what that meant. We were running out of time! We had to cut the route short. So we did not actually reach Gyrn Wigau. It meant downhill pretty much the rest of the way. I am slow at that! But so be it.

We both got back in time for dinner, and before the rain started. Success! And it turned out that the cricket club, which was our venue for the night, had showers available to us. So I grabbed my dry clothes and headed for them. The first changing room was full of men, so I headed for the second one. That one turned out to have urinals! So I figured the men were actually in the wrong place. I went to go and tell them that before they were all in the showers.

Most of them left. One was reluctant as he was already far in his preparations. He politely asked if I was ok with him just staying. That was not very British of him! But I am not British at all, so I was fine with it. And there were two shower cabins so plenty of space for both of us.

When we were clean again we went into the room where the event took place. Time for some socialising and a drink. There were lots of lovely people! Neil had come too. We settled on a table with Borders League veteran Tony and his partner Lesley. 

Soon there was food. I was peckish! And then there were the awards. And handing them out was done, in my opinion, with a lovely balance between attention for the individual winners, but not dragging it out for the audience.

They started with the juniors. I don't know these, but it looks like we have some smashing kids in the club. And then we went onto the adults. And they were awards for the third, second and first finisher in the road, cross country and fell championships. I'm only competing in the first. And I had come second! So I got a little memento. In a way, the road championship was the most exciting, as all winners were actually there. Quite unlike the cross country and fell awardees!

Road championships winners

We also have special prizes: special achievement of a woman in fell running, most improved male, special contribution to the club, and outstanding athlete. The lady who had won the fell prize was away, but her mum was there to pick it up. Tony had Juan most improved male. I knew he knew he was up for an award, but also that he didn't know which one. It turned out to be this one I could see he got emotional. I thought that was sweet. He deserves it! But I could imagine that he had imagined that award would go to some young up and coming runner, while Tony is almost 60. But he has been in great form in spite of big medical problems. A worthy winner!

Special contribution to the club went to Helen, who has been our cross country chief for years. And he is also a Borders League stalwart. 

Outstanding athlete this year was Tinka, the superfast Dutch lady wins races like there is no tomorrow. A big one she won for instance was the She Ultra. She had been nominated a lot!

After the awards, our guest speaker took this stage. This was David "Jacko" Jackson, who turns out to be a former professional rugby player and now leading coach in breathing for runners. But in my circles, he is more well known for being my former colleague Suzie's brother. He did a great talk! And he was quite convincing saying that breathing is an under-emphasised aspect of running, and a lot of improvement can be made via that route. He also asked for a volunteer at some point, and I stepped up. It turned out he wanted the volunteer to shove a cotton tip into his nose. Well, if he's sure?

The club has arranged with him that he will do some sessions for us at mate’s rates. I sure will try to get a place on one of them! And I also bought his book.

That was the program of the evening over. There was a bit of time for socialising, but then everyone went home. It was a Sunday evening, after all.

I had greatly enjoyed myself, and fortunately, so had Neil. I know a lot more people, and I even got an award! So then it's easy to enjoy yourself. But it has been so well organised that it was for the likes of him as well. Success! And I will try and get first place in The road running championship next year. With Anna being pregnant, this would be the year to do it!