Yesterday was a post-Gathering recovery day and a run in the afternoon. In previous years the Sunday has generally been blitzed as a day thanks to the excessive enjoyment of the previous two evenings. Planning ahead we had thought of using an extra day to get back on track – plus it happily dovetailed with taking a long run and then for me to head to Chester to meet up with my brother, Pete, and my Dad for an evening out on Monday.
So we spent the morning doing touristy things, going up the Great Orme and then going for a long drive to Denbigh.
It was windy at the top of the Orme. Windier than I’ve ever known anywhere to be. Ever. It was just about possible to stay stood up by leaning into the wind. We didn’t stay too long. Just about long enough to get a couple of snaps and decide to head back down. You’ll see in the photo that I’d thought that it would be a good idea to wear a lovely wide brimmed hat (that I got at Glastonbury last year). This was a mistake and felt like I’d attached a kite to the top of my head. That I was able to stay standing is a miracle.
Our original plan had been to run around the Orme and head back into town around a back route. I’d put the details into walkjogrun and everything. However, it became apparent as we drove that I had completely forgotten quite how hilly it was. It’s possible that we might not have survived if we had gone that route. Sense prevailed and we decided against it.
Instead we drove over to Denbigh to visit the castle there. Normally on the Gathering long drives we’ll head in to Betws Y Coed and through Snowdonia, but this time instead of turning right, south, we turned left and headed over the moors. The scenery is as beautiful as always there. I’ve got many happy childhood memories of driving over the moors and of playing at Denbigh castle. It was a real treat to take the children there a couple of years ago.
They’ve now got visitor’s centre (albeit a small one). They even had a woman telling stories and playing the harp. When I was a lad, you basically rocked up with your friends and did your own interpretation of the ruin – which was to clamber over the walls, run around the centre and generally play. Nowadays it’s fed to you on a plate by someone dressed up in a traditional Welsh costume. This is what they call progress.
That said, it was lovely. Doubly lovely to potter down to the High Street which I hadn’t seen in well over 30 years.
On our return to Llandudno we stepped out for our eight mile run. We found another route around the town which would get in at 13km/8m, but hopefully with fewer hills. We discovered that there are really no runs in Llandudno of any reasonable distance without hitting some slopes somewhere. Althought we *did* consider running up and down the promenade three times.
So after some food and cribbage we had resolved to not do a marathon later this year. This seems very sensible. Instead the plan is to do the MK half marathon and the Birmingham half marathon in October. My target of running a marathon before I’m 47 remains and so I’m on the lookout for a decent marathon for next Spring.
Oh, and we played some cribbage and I lost 2-1 – the games went with the dealer. I will put something in a sidebar somewhere so that we can keep track of the tally through the year. There’s plenty of time for me to catch up.
So today I’m at the Village Hotel Chester St Davids to see my Dad and my brother Pete this evening. Not likely to be a night of high jinx as we all have to get stuff done tomorrow, but I expect that it’ll be lovely. Plus there is a gym somewhere in this hotel, which I need to find and get a teeny tiny bit of exercise in.
