Last weekend mutated from two days of hard running (prep. for LAMM) into a Saturday afternoon bimble, but a very pleasant bimble it was too.

After visiting friends and family along the North Wales coast, we wound our way up the Conwy valley as far as Trefriw, before turning off to Llyn Crafnant. I left Becs and mum to walk the dogs while I ran along the north side of Crafnant, over Blaen-y-Nant to just shy of Capel Curig (beating two mountain bikers in the process), and then through the Gwydyr Forest as far as another reservoir, Geirionedd. Keeping up my efficient style (ahem) I tried – unsuccessfully – to take photos as I ran, resulting in such beauties as this:

The sun shone all the way around, and I even managed to give a civil response to the couple who seriously suggested that my slog through the forest might be last-minute training for the London marathon 18 hours later! I also used my iPhone to navigate for the first time, having downloaded 1:50,000 OS maps of all the National Parks of Great Britain using Anquet mapping. More of that at a later date, but it’s definitely convenient to have a big arrow pin-pointing your position at all times. From Geirionedd I passed Becs and mum and contoured around Mynydd Deulyn back to Crafnant. Total distance was a hair under 15km, and it’s definitely a part of the world I’d visit again for running. If only I was a competent enough photographer to show you all just how lovely it was…