North Berwick and Bass Rock

Here are a couple of different views of North Berwick. I've been going to the Art Group there for a couple of months and getting to like the place more than ever. There's such a variety of things to look at. This water colour takes in the harbour and North Berwick Law. The boat in the fore ground is called 'The Girl Pat.' I was told by someone in the Art Group that the owner named it after his daughter. There are some sail boats outside the harbour, no doubt associated with the local yacht club.

 My daughter, Sally is well into surfing. That's her on the left with one of her Joxy club  friends and a big Bass Rock in the background.

Running at North Berwick and a surf drawing

Yesterday saw me running a nice varied route starting at North Berwick sports centre. From there I ran to the North Berwick Law car park and anti clockwise around the Law. There is a narrow path which winds its way around the Law and has a tendency to fall away to the right. This is quite tricky when you have road shoes on, particularly when it is damp underfoot... there tends to be some slipping and sliding. The path levels out and runs along the top of a field away from the Law. From then on its free running down the hill through the Glen and onto the beach. The next half hour was resistance training into the strong wind. I put my head down and worked my way along the East beach and then the West beach until I reached 45 minutes, somewhere near Yellowcraig. Heading back to North Berwick was blissful, the wind pushing me along. I cut up onto the High Street and towards the Train Station. There is a steep uphill section of a path to the road where the sports centre is, so I put in an effort up it and on to the end. An enjoyable run of 1hour 12 mins.
Today turned out to be a rest day with an over indulgence of pizza...  better put in some training again tomorrow!

I spotted a nice card of a surfer in a big sea in Sally and Craig's place (naturally.) Here is my take on it:

Surfing at Belhaven

Image via Wikipedia

Spent some time on Belhaven beach on Saturday, trying out surfing! I was given a surf lesson for a birthday present about three years ago and for some insane reason I took up Sally’s offer to give me a lesson.

First thing to say is that the waves were pretty high, so getting the long-board through them was no easy task. But after getting through them I was instructed to jump on the board, lie down and look over my shoulder to see the huge wave coming up behind me and then start front crawl with my arms so that I caught the wave and got carried along on the crest of it back to beach… then battle my way back through the waves. It was great fun and you move at quite a speed, but I was taking quite a bashing from the waves, so I decided that Harvey needed some attention. He is getting to be a bit of a sea dog now, and from not liking water and being scared of the waves, he is now throwing himself into the sea and swimming after the ball like a good un.

The next part of my lesson involved getting my right knee up on the board and my left foot and leg up and at right angles  to it. I managed the right knee, but the left leg and foot will have to wait for another day.

After all that Harvey and I were quite knackered and retired to Dunbar for some well deserved dog biscuits and  coffee (and cake.)

While there I popped down to the harbour and tried out a sketch with my new Stabilo pens and pen brush on a boat that took my fancy.

This morning I met Tom Harley's running group near Ormiston and my upper body was aching all over and especially the arms where the waves had been pummelling me as I tried to get the long board through them. You may think that you run with your legs and that’s true but this morning they came out in sympathy with my arms! At least it made me forget about my Achilles tendon.