Cold on the Cliffs

There was a strong north-easterly wind blowing as I started my run at lunchtime yesterday from Stinky Bay, though going up the path it was hardly noticeable I was well aware that when I got to the top and ran along the cliffs, I was really going to feel it. I was wearing a vest, trackies and gloves which was probably not the best plan but last winter I had run in Krakow when it was -20C wearing the same kit and ended up sweating in the sunshine.

Wrong!!! Jersey has a very different way of dealing with people like me, the wind is cold, strong, damp and sucks the heat out of a body at unbelievable speed, I had forgotten that or just thought I was tough enough not to notice. Anyway it felt colder than the Carpathians, there wasn’t another fool about and I had to keep moving as fast as possible to keep moderately warm, that part at least was good.

To be honest, when the weather is like that there is not an awful lot to feel inspired about, there were no birds around either, more sense than me. I had to stop a few times to adjust my leg which was squeaking because I hadn’t adjusted the ‘O’ ring seal properly before I started (impatience is something I thought I’d been cured of but it comes back to bite me every now and then :) and I found myself looking for a boulder to sit behind just to get out of the worst of the wind.

Well, I went as far as Gronez Castle then looped back next to the race course, no-one there either, the model airfield was deserted but there was one person sitting in a van, wearing a coat with engine and heater running.

When I reached my car I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to have just climbed Mogielica in the snow, I was much warmer last January when I was there ;)

Oxygen Debt

While I’m house & cat sitting for my sister Jo in Trinity, every other day I’ve been going for a dawn run. I’d forgotten how many valleys there are around this part of Jersey, how steep the sides are and that in order to get anywhere using the lanes, the only way to go is by crossing said valleys several times.

I was climbing up a very steep hill from le Moulin de Ponterrin this morning and rounding a sharp bend where the lane gets even steeper I was thinking that when I reached the top I was just going to to need a minute to recover. Getting into an oxygen debt rhythm after a few minutes of steep uphill is painful, legs and lungs burning, the thought of a rest at the top is just tempting enough to keep me going though.

This particular hill has a point where the climb gets less steep but still nowhere near flat and on reaching this bit I willed myself to keep going. It only takes about thirty second before things get easier, but it seems a lot longer and very unfair that the pain doesn’t go away when the worst of the climb is over. The reward of such perseverance this morning was that, once my breathing had recovered and the oxygen debt repaid, it seemed like I was flying :)

Val de la Mare re-opens

After an extended closure while the Val de la Mare reservoir was drained and the dam wall repaired, not to mention a serious lack of rain & plans to bring water by tanker from a Norwegian fjiord, the paths were re-opened recently.

Starting from the Watersplash I ran along the sea wall in a wind that threatened to take my legs from under me a couple of times, then across the marsh & past the pond going up the escarpment to the church, through the fields of La Petite Cueillette along a footpath that leads to the eastern end of Val de la Mare.

What can I say? It was a real pleasure to be allowed back as it is a lovely place to go for a run, it’s not an easy trail along the northern, St Ouen side, but everything looked the same, the dam was full and I met only a few walkers along the way & thoroughly enjoyed myself :)

Getting Fit – Losing Fat

A healthy mind in a healthy body, you’ve heard it before & it’s the basis of enjoying life to the full. There’s nothing better than getting back to nature in order to feel good & mixing that with excercise is the formula for success!

Want to know how to ditch the excess fat?
Burn more calories than you eat.
How do you do that?
Burn lots of oxygen with aerobic exercise.
How many calories can you eat?
Calculate your BMR then apply Harris-Benedict equation.
Can’t be bothered with calculations?
Just eat a good, healthy, varied diet, be aware of what you’re eating & drinking, which means don’t eat or drink too much.

What we do at OuenLife is alternate walking, running & body weight exercises to keep that heart rate elevated to 80% over an extended period. Interval training for 60 minutes will not only burn more calories during training but will elevate the metabolism to keep burning those calories!

So what is OuenLife EcoFitness?

So what is OuenLife EcoFitness?
Training outdoors in St Ouen enjoying the splendour of nature & amazing history of the largest & most diverse of Jersey’s parishes.

What are the advantages?
You’ll enjoy getting fitter, healthier & losing excess weight. Training on the cliff paths, headlands, beaches, dunes, marshes, escarpment, heaths & in the woods is great fun & gives you a full body workout, not to mention improving co-ordination, balance while boosting your confidence & leaving you with a real sense of satisfaction & feeling of achievement.

What do you do out there?
We walk & run, we do body weight exercises, we take in the magnificent views, feel the history, every training session is a new adventure.

Why St Ouen?
Because of what you can see and experience on this fantastic peninsular. St Ouen’s Pond, les Mielles, Grantez, les Landes, Plemont, Greve de Lecq beach, the Escarpment, the woodland, Val de la Mare, great cliffs pounded by the Atlantic waves, the Pinnacle & even a Neolithic cave. There are forts, a castle, dolmens & roman ruins, German bunkers & towers; the list of things to see & places to explore is just incredible.

Is EcoFitness really better for me?
Yes, you’ll work harder to achieve real goals, feel the joy of conquering barriers, the pride of overcoming the obstacles that you’ve been avoiding. Breathing the fresh sea air, feeling the sun & wind on your face, forgetting everything but the thrill & excitement of being with & part of Nature.

New Year Plémont Run

I parked at Plémont and getting out wished I hadn’t, the wind was cold, wet and strong. Anyway, after a few circuits of the car park I set off along the cliff path towards Gronez where it was sheltered at least and the view across the bay of the waves breaking on the rocks of Plémont Point was awesome.

It’s quite a challenging run but very enjoyable as the views are spectacular, on reaching Gronez Castle and after being stopped dead in my tracks by a really good gust of wind, I went down to the lighthouse to look at the waves breaking below. It was very sheltered down there and I enjoyed a few minutes admiring the view. It’s a lot of waves breaking onto rocks again but if you like that sort of thing, which I do, it was a very impressive sight.

All in all a good start to 2012 and especially so as it didn’t start to pour down until just after I reached my car at about 11.00 :)

Woodland Waterfall

Maybe not a giant waterfall but it was big enough on Christmas Eve as the stream dropped down a couple of metiers over the rocks, big enough to make a slight roaring sound. Big enough to stop to watch, mesmerized and fascinated as it swirled, tumbled and poured into the little pool at the bottom.

By the end of November there was nothing here but a trickle but now the stream had come to life after weeks of relentless rain and it’s a sight and sound that I always find stirring here in Grève de Lecq woods.

This stream runs down a little spur valley that starts up near St Ouen’s Village, it’s a valley that has everything; the stream of course which runs over rocks, in places is sandy and is filled with debris from the storm of last weekend. There are ferns and spring flowers, moss and lichen growing on the fallen trees, some of which refuse to die, just start growing again from their new location across the gully. In some places the ferns are doing well up in the trees, growing from where a branch meets the trunk. The Ivy here does well.too, as thick as my wrist on some trees, sometimes hanging down as a vine that you may be tempted to swing on :)

To describe this place as a little paradise might be a little OTT but it certainly is as magical as it is beautiful; at any time of the year :)

Gales and Spring Tides

This morning was one of those mornings that I really should have taken a camera with me. I went down to Étaquerel at 08:30 to see the high tide and the scene was fantastic. Huge waves were breaking out on the reefs to the west and pounding their way onto the rocks where I was standing at Le Pulec. Here there were surges as the sea level dropped by two or three meters then the next set of waves combined and pushed into the little bay like a tsunami.

Foam was flying through the air and up the cliffs, every now and then huge plumes of spray erupted as a wave hit one place or another in just the right way.

Looking north to the Pinacle Rock a giant wave crashed into the base and spray rose at least half-way up it’s 70 meter vertical western face, the same wave then running along the bottom of the cliffs and clawing it’s way high up these then leaving cascades of seawater as it passed.

I must admit I didn’t run, “today is a day for Grève de Lecq” I thought :)

River Lecq (Almost)

Saturday and the rain was still pouring down at 08:00 as we went down to the beach at Grève de Lecq. The stream that recently has been only a trickle down the sea wall was a torrent that cut a couple of meters down into the sand before pouring into the sea.

Here it was sheltered from the worst of the westerly gale, although training in the sand made it hard going but at least we were warm even if soaking wet.

Grève is one of those rare coves that is always lovely no matter what the state of the weather or sea, so it’s always a pleasure to go there, especially when, as yesterday, there is a big swell at low tide.

Plémont Beach

The fantastic November weather we’ve been enjoying didn’t fail on Sunday with sunshine, light winds from the south-east and a huge Atlantic swell rolling in from the west.

Plémont Bay is one of those fantastic places that, at low tide, gives such an impression of size and grandeur that it’s honestly impossible to describe.

As you get to the bottom of the steps and walk down the beach, the whole place just opens up, it’s massive, the cliffs are awesome,  just overwhelming.

The enormous waves breaking onto the rocks along the point and then onto the beach just made the whole place perfect and as we trained in the sand, around the rocks and caves, the sights and sounds made the whole experience quite special.

This to me pretty much sums up the concept of Eco-Fitness, just getting in tune with nature and enjoying the wondrous variety that St Ouën has to offer.