..........to another Half!

Three jolly runners!

 So fast forward a couple of weeks to  Cardiff. And it was a good 10 degrees  warmer than Cyprus for the four times postponed Cardiff University Half  Marathon, the biggest race in Wales; this year it was designated the Welsh Half Marathon Championships, so everything to run for, at least for an aged runner from North Wales! Ruby, Isaac  and myself  finally located each other in a huge crowd milling around near the start on a fine sunny morning.  Ruby was very well  prepared, I thought I was well  prepared and Isaac knew he wasn't, especially as he was hunting for safety pins to fix his number on his shirt.  We found the Welsh Athletics tent where our friend Eva kindly took this photo and she directed us to a reliable source of safety pins for Isaac. 'Comms' problems left us hanging around on the start line for over twenty minutes, an enthusiastic announcer ran out of encouraging things to say but eventually, like coiled springs, we reacted to the gun and charged off. And we all finished which was the  principal objective, Ruby had a  wonderful run finishing well under two  hours, Martin struggled towards the  end (Recovering from a cold? A poor  excuse though! But I was surprised to  finish in 1:40:00 - first V70 and Welsh  Champion.) And Isaac thoroughly  enjoyed his trot round - sore legs for a week but he's now aiming for the Newport Marathon - star man.

Bracing!

Just four days later and that brief window of warm weather was gone. On the very last day of March a bitter wind accompanied by snow had banished the' Fool's Spring' and we were well wrapped up again for our weekly Nordic Walking session on the Clwydian Hills.  This reversal of the seasons happens so often at this time of year - maybe this is the original April Fool that the weather provides us with on a regular basis. It's not just a North Wales phenomenon as all over Europe it's chillier than usual - for the second year running the vineyards of Bordeaux are seeing fires lit alongside the vines to save the new growth from being nipped in the bud by frost. It's not helping me with my attempts at spring gardening with my spinach, lettuce and rocket showing no signs of sprouting so far. I'm just glad I have a  greenhouse and my tomato plants are developing just fine. I am growing Roma tomatoes for the first time - these are Italian style tomatoes used for paste and other culinary purposes. I didn't know until after planted them that they are 'determinate' (I've read up on this!), in other words the tomatoes all ripen at the same time - just as well we have a big freezer. And just as well I'm growing Alicante tomatoes which are a more regular salad style variety which keep on producing through the summer - so I've determined that Alicante are 'indeterminate' tomatoes!

Roma at home-a! Don't they look good.