Beach Bum

Last weekend I went to Lahinch in the windy west of Ireland. It looks like this:

Source: James Horan

Sometimes it does this:

Source: Lahinch Surf Experience

Lahinch is one of Ireland's better-known surf villages. It's a lovely one-street village on the Atlantic.

Yes, we did surf, or at least try. I failed horribly but it was two hours of immense fun. The water was about 12 degrees Celsius but did not feel cold in a wetsuit. No, I did not pee in my rental suit, although I am certain many who had worn it before had done exactly that.

Before surfing, though, I ran. I felt like this:

 

Source: DogDays

I ran for about an hour. I accidentally closed Endomondo right after starting the run so I don't really know the distance but I'm going with 9km.

There were jellyfish on the sand who could not all have been dead yet so I picked up a few and threw them back in the water.

On Friday, we went to the Cliffs of Moher. It was raining and misty so the cliffs looked a bit otherworldly:

On the way I met slugs protecting their young:

Interspecies love:

A few fat slugs thicker than my index finger:

 And an eerie tower rising from the mist:

This is O'Brien's Tower. It was more eerie than it looks in the photo above. Just as we arrived at the tower, it started raining hard and we left, trying to avoid stepping on myriad adventuring slugs.

Saturday afternoon after running, surfing and rather indulgent milkshakes, we went to the tiny village of Doolin that hosts several tourist shops, a real Irish country pub and a wonderful chocolate shop where I spent less than I probably should have.

Doolin also hosts the Northern hemisphere's largest free-standing stalactite in the Doolin Cave. The stalactite is bloody enormous:

Source: Doolin Cave

The stalactite is about 7 metres long, weighs over 10 tonnes and is, if I remember correctly, 700,000 million years old. This stalactite has grown faster than stalactites normally do, which is why it has reached this size at quite a young age.

Before descending into the cold, damp and awesome cave, I met Bob the rooster:

Sunday it was time to drive back to Dublin. Roads in rural Ireland are epic:

Source: Car Rental Ireland

No one actually does 100km/h on these roads.

Ireland is small, one can get to any other point in the country within four hours. This drive took less than three. Once back in Dublin, I went to have my running gait analysed.

Good news! I already knew I was a forefoot runner, duh, but I found that I run with a neutral gait. This sadly means that instead of interesting, multiply-padded fancy shoes, I get to wear boring neutral shoes. I bought a pair of Saucony Kinvara 4s.

Size 44. I have freaky feet. My big toes are my longest toes and they need lots of space when running. Unlike what most people think, most people's second toes are actually longer than their big toes. I have lost two toenails because of socks and shoes that were too small. I can't wear sandals this summer, boo-hoo. Whatever, I have freaky feet, so be it.

In women's shoes I can be from 40 to 41.5 or even 42 in some that fit especially small. They don't make women's shoes in size 44 so men's shoes it was. The toebox is roomy and this is exactly what I need.

I took my new, big neon yellow shoes for a run yesterday and although I could only find a random pair of cotton sports socks, I had no new blisters nor pruney toes after the run. Epic shoes!

The training plan for this week has three 5k runs and 12k on Saturday.