Cornish Running

I've been on holiday for a week in Cornwall. Amazing weather, lots of eating and sitting around on beaches trying to shield myself from the North West wind. I also managed to do some running along the beautiful Cornish coastline. The first was a short run from Ayr campsite in St Ives. The views were gorgeous, but the path was something else. I know I rave on about running off road but I just got really frustrated with the rocky terrain and ended up walking or jogging most of the route. I guess I was feeling a little fragile, or should I say lazy. So rather than hurtling down the rough trail at high speed (wishful thinking) I soaked up the atmosphere and breathed in the sea air. Not so great for my running though. I needed something to push me to run harder.

It didn't take long. The next day I spent an hour or so contorting myself into various positions trying on wetsuits with the intention of dragging myself into the April sea. Brrrrrr. I tried on several winter wetsuits in a surf shop in St Ives, run by a number of cool-looking surf dudes. The whole process was all rather embarrassing to say the least because 1) I know nothing about wetsuits, 2) everytime I tried on a wetsuit I had to ask someone to extract me out of it, and 3) I looked like a complete frump. How I imagined I'd appear in a wetsuit was a world apart from how I actually looked. Looking in the mirror was a bit of a shock but it certainly gave me a kick to step up my running!

The next coastal run on the Lizard in Cornwall was inspiring and great running terrain. Hills, breathtaking views and soft grassy slopes. Perfect.

Did I get in the sea you may ask? Well my husband did. My eight year old daughter did. But I just dipped in a toe and that was enough. It was freezing. I like to think that the wetsuit will be a long-term investment. I watched some great body boarding action at Kynance Cove though. Amazing.