Home » Outdoor Articles » Spring and the Gnat Diet…

Spring and the Gnat Diet…

By Dave Roberts   

on March 29, 2011    No ratings yet.

Posted in Outdoor Articlesrunning

Spring and the Gnat Diet…

It’s definatley summer now. No, not due to the daylight savings on Saturday but the fact that the average runner can now complete a 12k run and sustain themselves, much in the manner of plankton filtering whales, on the content of the air. Gnats and suchlike are high in protein, and even if you need a fair few to keep your energy levels up, you’ll have little problem finding them.

Of course, you don’t notice them swarm until you’re about ready to run past another runner, stomach pulled in and breath controlled, despite the fact you’ve about had it. You want to look like the run’s effortless, and you could up your pace to six minute miles if you really had to. You’ve got the sweat wiped off disccreetly, your back’s straightened and you look down at your Garmin and smile smugly to youself as if amused by something you alone can fathom, when you inhale an entire cloud of them. Instead of running past smiling, appearing fit and as if you’re not in pain you’re pulled over the side of the trail like a bronchitic cat bringing up a particularly troublesome furball. You swear that even if you do look like a pirate wanna be (and you’re a ninja at heart) that you’ll have to dig out the buff for the next run.

With all the dignity that you can muster, which is probably very little ar this point, you’ll carry on in a few minuites, in all likelyhood with one eye glued shut as most of the little blighters made it for the pupil of your eye as if they were rebel fighters trying to destroy the death star. At least, you mutter to yourself, you wont need to crack open that gel for the last 8k…

Please rate this

Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

More Posts By This Author