The weekend of the 2nd and 3rd Feb Mary had warned me she was off elsewhere and I'd have to make my own entertainment. I got in touch with Nick to see if his calf injury would allow him to run. It would and so we jumped on a train to NB. The original idea was to end up in Dunbar, at the station bar to be precise, but since the 2 single train tickets would cost nearly a tenner more than a return to N Berwick we opted for that. And to invest the extra tenner in rehydration.
I didn't start taking pics till we got to Balgone curling pond. We had skipped the hike up NB Law to avoid aggravating Nick's calf and been so busy chatting I hadn't got the camera out till the pond. Which was spectacular. The ducks had a small watering hole up the one end but the rest was frozen over with thick ice and a light covering of frost.
but would it take any weight?
I took my pack off and put down my camera. If I was going swimming I didn't want to get everything soaked. Then (from the safety of the new jetty) stamped as hard as possible on the ice. There was slight cracking but it felt solid enough to take my weight. I wandered onto the surface feeling like I was walking a tightrope but in truth there wasn't any flexing or cracking and it felt like you could have driven a car onto it. Nick got my camera and took photos. He also put a large stone nearby which he said was for breaking the ice if anyone went in. Then we swapped places. The light cover of frosty snow stopped it being that slippy. It wouldn't have been much use for curling or skating until swept or polished. Much later I saw photos of folk curling outside on a frozen pond near Penicuik. And reports of someone going through the ice there and being rushed home before hypothermia set in.
Wildlife enthusiast George had spotted goldcrests recently and pointed out they make a Si Si call, often in conifers. I told Nick (since we were passing through several woods) and we adopted this as today's wildlife spotting task. There were lots of small birds, chaffinches and great tits mostly, chattering in the trees. Tricky to get photos of as they like to put some branches between them and you.
I hadn't been round the far ponds at Balgone for a while; there has been tree felling and maintenance. The path was mostly frozen and so not too bad for mud. From there we headed along the JMW to just before Stink Farm turning left (East) to go through Newbyth Woods into Binning Woods.
Newbyth Mansion House
There were no sign of the usual geese and ducks at the Newbyth Pond. Although frozen it looked less solid than Balgone and I felt there was no further need to test our luck on thinner ice. Across the road and into Binning Wood and we followed the same diagonal I took last time to reach the North East corner and the more pleasant road (rather than the long and dull Lime Tree Walk) and trails along to the log cabin above Tyninghame beach.
Just at the conifers near the log cabin we heard a Si Si birdcall. Nick had chicken fajitas I think while I had a sandwich. All the time looking into the tree-tops for Britain's smallest bird the Goldcrest. The image above is as close as I got to a photo. Can't quite see the small yellow hat it wears, but that is the right shape of tail. A bit frustrating and I could sense Nick wasn't as keen as I was to hang about in the cold. You could see where the sun cast a shadow on the beach that the night frost hadn't melted, and the brackish water of the Peffer Burn was frozen over at the estuary. Great running weather though.
frost in the shadows
When we got to the Peffer Burn we went inland. After my last run there mid-Jan I had looked at alternatives to the last 4 miles. Because it is on concrete and tarmac and never really matches the off-road joys of much of the previous 12.5 miles. I had outlined a route that came more inland and also avoided the barky black lab next to the stables. But it wasn't perfect and needed finessed. We were both feeling adventurous so headed up the road that goes West just before Auldhame and Scoughall. I couldn't remember exactly what I had planned so when we reached the junction of the A198 we crossed over into the fields opposite and kept going round the perimeter of a field. The original plan should have been to turn right (North and then left (West) a quarter of a mile along. However it was cold and the mud was pretty dry and eventually we should come across the JMW.
yellowhammer (or canary?)
heading across fields towards NB Law
On the upside we saw a couple of potentially great ponds for dragonflies in Summer as we skirted the Whitekirk Golf & Country Club. On the downside there wasn't obvious tracks to follow until we got near to Whitekirk when we picked up Becky's Strip which might have been waymarked as John Muir Way. It then became very delightful running though we should have headed west on the C138 or the wee trail before that, to take us towards the real John Muir Way and back round the West side of the Law, rather than just back to the main coastal road which I'd been trying to avoid. However it was such a nice day we crossed that and golf course to skirt the beach and arrive in NB just at the Ship Inn. Result!
We had a couple of pints here while the rugby started then ran (floated) along to the station and onto the arriving train. At the other end we stopped at the Black Bull for one then the Windsor Buffet (pronounced Winsome Beauty) for another. There was talk that if Nick's calf was not trashed we might meet again to do the PRC Sunday run. The Hell to contrast with Saturday's Heaven.
And indeed we did. And sure enough it was pretty hellish by comparison. First, quite an early start. I wasn't hungover but wasn't exactly fresh, or thrilled to be leaving the flat at 8.20-something to cycle along to the Quayside for the 9am start. I arrived there at 8.50 which gave me plenty time to notice there were no runners there and that it was probably because they were meeting at Tumbles. Or Shambles as Mary called it. I raised the pace and belted along to the gym for 8.58 and quickly padlocked my bike. I had about 1 minute to decide how many hats gloves and layers to wear and fire up the Suunto. It was all a bit of a rush and the camera option got ditched as it was a bit grey and we were running the ugliest 18 miles of East Lothian today as opposed to some of the best yesterday. Who wants photos of an old guy sweating in Preston Pans?
Just as we were about to set off Nick arrived. I assumed he would be partially ruined today but couldn't have been wronger. Although he did complain a bit about the pace on the way out. The distance was to be 18 though some were turning at 7 or 8 in case they hurt their little leggies. General abuse was called out to David and Chris for turning at 7. Nick, myself, and Roy formed the next group and when we turned at 9 we were joined by Craig and Donald. A mile or 2 later and Donald slowly upped the pace. This was confirmed when Nick reported a 6.40 mile around mile 12. Well that would explain the discomfort. Donald continued to stretch out ahead and Nick seemed to get a second wind and increased his pace too. I stayed with him for a while then threw in the towel and by the last mile was nearer 8 minute pace and dying. Which lets me know I need to do quite a bit of work like this for marathon training. Since then I have bought new road shoes.
Saturday's 19 miles (plus 1+1 to station and home)
experts will notice I forgot to switch off the Suunto for the first mile of the train journey
No comments:
Post a Comment