Two quite contrasting days to report. Yesterday, the running day, was another bleak and bitingly blustery chug along the empty seafront. Cheerless and forlorn, it seemed like a quite unnecessary voluntary torment while I was out there. But the dutiful deed got done, and afterwards, as always, I was pleased I’d stuck to the plan.
Talking of plans, the estimable Tom Roper mentioned on the group Facebook page that his personal fitness guru had recommended moving from 5K to10K by increasing long runs by 500K every three weeks. There’s mileage, as it were, in this idea. I’d already been mulling over the fact that both the 5K and 10K plans I have in my spreadsheet deal only in minutes of running rather than distance. It’s easy to see the attraction of this, especially for new runners. But a point must come when any aspiration to reach a distance destination must start using the right currency to measure progress. Metres rather than minutes. Otherwise I might reach the ultimate time target (60 minutes in the case of the 10K plan) and find that this doesn’t actually get me to 10K (though as it happens I suspect it wouldn’t be far off). The point at which I fancy having a go at a 5K Parkrun could be a good moment to switch to metres — presuming that I survive the Parkrun intact.
The run marked the start of week 6, and meant another 22 minutes of running chalked up. Two minutes of running to warm up, then 2 x 10 minutes with a short break in between. Something I literally couldn’t envisage when I set off on this unknowable expedition in early February.
In sharp contrast to yesterday’s dismal weather and hostile temperature, today has been gladdeningly sunny and even sort-of warm. After the grim grey plod, I fancied another good airing somewhere but a turn around the cemetery didn’t seem to reflect my elevated spirits. So instead, I made my way to Birling Gap, a National Trust visitor centre and hiking hub, less than 10 minutes’ drive from where I live. Apart from the shop and café, and the incongruous red telephone box, there’s a set of steps down to the pebble beach where one gets good close-up views of the Seven Sisters cliffs.
On a day like today, it draws a lot of day-trippers, for the same reason it drew me. The scenery is spectacular, the air bracing. Many of the visitors are Korean and Chinese. It seems that the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head have featured in social media posts by a number of Asian pop stars and influencers, which apparently makes it a must-visit-and be-photographed-at location for their disciples..
The paths are steep and uneven, which is why I’ve no plans to run in this area, though some people do. Were I to attempt it, I’d be giving new meaning to the term: fell running. For me it’s strictly hiking territory, forming as it does, the final stretch of the South Downs Way, a 100-mile walk from Chichester to Eastbourne, and a long-standing entry on my to-do list. There is much more to say about this sensational stretch of coast but I’ll leave that for future visits.
Today I wandered up the slope towering above Birling Gap to Belle Tout Lighthouse, which perches on the edge of the Beachy Head cliffs. At my age, there can’t be many better ways to spend forty minutes or so than to stroll up to Belle Tout in the sunshine, take in a few lungfuls of sea air, and wander back down again, and I should do it more often. I did join the Beachy Head Ramblers Group a while back, and I should make use of their expertise, and join the regular hikes in the area, and across this part of East Sussex.
Tomorrow, another run.
