Running by the beach

Last week I was fortunate to get a break from work and we headed away for our first (last minute) break of the school summer holiday.

We were off to Andalusia, in particular Marina Duquesa, a resort on the Spanish coast near to Gibraltar. It was to be a chilled holiday with few excursions booked so I took the opportunity to throw in my trainers and kit in the hope I’d get out once or twice.

On the day after arriving I kitted up for the first time. Opting for an afternoon jog i was soon to regret the choice. I think I set off at about 5pm and was running in a temperature of 30+ with the sun overhead and very little shade. Needless to say it was HOT. I ran along the coastal path for as long as possible whilst having to do detours around numerous dead ends. I called it a day at about 4 miles @ an average 8min/mi pace. I saw little point in killing myself in the heat.

A couple of days later I set off in the morning, aiming for 10 or so miles, I was out of the apartment by 8. At the start the temperature was manageable but by 830/9ish the sun was climbing and the heat rising. I cut my run short at 7miles. I figured that would make up for the missed serpentine 3 parks this week . My average pace was quite slow but I’m going to put this down to the heat again. Running in that temperature is certainly more of a challenge than our climate!

The final run I did was an interval session along the beach. Laura had packed her shoes and wanted to use them so I thought intervals would be the best idea. Whilst we wouldn’t be running together, at least we would be within a few hundred meters of each other. This time it was even later in the evening, about 730pm, fortunately the temperature was falling and running seemed easier. I set off doing interval lengths based on objects along the promenade we were running on. However after 15 mins of warmups, I decided to try out my new audiofuel interval track(review to follow). It was a brilliant session in the end. Heart rate tested and whilst only 3 or so miles were covered it was a great challenge.

Running in Spain was great, whilst I may seem to be complaining about the heat I don’t think it would take long to acclimatise out there. It was great to put on a vest and shades and run with the sea right next to me. I love running abroad as it’s totally different scenery and I find I see places I wouldn’t normally go. It’s not long till my next abroad session which I’m really looking forward too!