Tuesday 1 November 2011

Venice, St Ives, Essex...

That felt like a really well deserved half term break. After a busy few weeks at college, it was great to get away and get refreshed.

I flew to Venice for the first weekend of the holiday. A very pretty city, with the sunshine reflecting off all the water, making for many glittering, squint-inducing scenes (should have taken sun glasses). The water boat service worked a lot like the tube, but with superior views. I stayed in nearby Mestre, but went over to Venice each day, including for the Marathon on Sunday (a point to point route into the city, including going over may board-walked bridges and a trot around the historic Piazza San Marco). Another sub 4 run, but the road surface has wrecked my feet - I had very sore heels afterwards and didn't run for the rest of the week.I got home on Monday afternoon, then took the luxury of a berth on the sleeper train down to the Cornish coast, arriving in St Ives on Tuesday morning, where Jim already had camp set up. I'd missed the deluge of rain and enjoyed some sunny days with fantastic views and fresh air. The colours in St Ives are always impressive. It's just sand and sea, but somehow better than it should be.And to round off the week, I did the Brentwood Marathon in Essex. My feet couldn't have taken a road course, but the dozen laps on a hilly grass and woodland trail through a country park were just about okay. And it was another top event with a superb atmosphere, put on by the fantastic folk at GoBeyond Ultra.