Local running on the coast path

It doesn’t always go according to plan!

Since I’ve got plenty of free time at the moment I decided that I would run from home to Mordialloc along the beach path, and I did that yesterday. It was great, and there was quite a bit of the coast path beyond Ricketts Point that I have not run for a long time so I had forgotten what it was like. I think they have even built a new surf club building down at Mordy. The path was a bit busier than I expected for a Monday, not just dog walkers but runners too. Between Black Rock and Ricketts Point you have to run by the road for a couple of kilometres and beyond Ricketts Point the path is quite discontinuous until you reach the nicer part at Beaumaris. The part I looked forward to the least was the long flat beachside kilometres through Mentone and Parkdale; that’s a great place to run but the timing of that section when it comes towards the end of a long run is difficult, as it’s so flat and seemingly endless.

I went to Main Street for breakfast (bacon and eggs in a Turkish sandwich) - I’m sure there are other cafes but I always go there - and then got the train/bus combination back home. It was just a touch under 20 kilometres of running.

I liked that run so much that I wanted to do something similar today but not quite as long because I have a marathon coming up this weekend and didn't want to overdo things. So I planned to run to Black Rock, do a short loop around a bush reserve and then go back to Black Rock for breakfast and get the bus/train home. It seemed a good plan.

I ran down the coast path to Black Rock, today detouring down to the beach by the Cerberus so I could get in a hill climb. The path was way quieter than yesterday. I had a nice tailwind most of the way. When I left home the weather was awful, really gusty wind and it had been/was going to rain. Yesterday I ran in tights and wrapped a sweatshirt around my waist; today I carried my tights and sweatshirt in my ultra vest to keep them dry in case of rain so I would be able to put on dry clothes when I stopped running and be comfortable for breakfast and the trip home. 

So when I got to Black Rock after 15.5 kilometres I put on my clothes (it hadn’t rained and the sun had been wanting to come out) and went to an extremely popular cafe for breakfast (scrambled eggs on toast); in fact it was so popular it was hard to squeeze inside.

After a very leisurely breakfast I ambled over to the bus stop, well actually I had to amble over to several bus stops before I found the right one, and unfortunately the bus had just gone; the half hourly, maybe hourly bus. So what does one do in this situation? One runs home. 

It was a novelty to run after eating eggs on toast and sitting down for well over an hour. At first I felt sluggish all over but then I just felt tired in the legs. I kept my tights on and that was a good move because I had a big headwind which was also cold. I know this is useful training for long ultras, both the eating while on a run and the long distance. But I took a short cut to get home sooner, making it 10 kilometres exactly. On the plus side I am 10 kilometres ahead of schedule for the week so I can take some easy days.