iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Answer is yes I can just bash out a sub 20min 5km still, just not sure it’s always been quite that hard work.

David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Threw a few steady kms into today’s run, as I was short on time to hit my target for the week, and I am rewarded by this sorry summary of a slow year. Can’t be having a year without a sub 20min 5km, only question is can I bash one out or do I need to do some speedwork first…

Fastest 5km of the year 20:44 and 10km in 44:23.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Welsh trails reminding me I’m old and slow 🤣 That’s a 7:19min/km and an 8:07min/km average pace for two runs. In my defence Welsh trails are fun but unpredictable, one minute you’re on a packed trail, the next you’re in the undergrowth or a boggy hillside with no discernable path to follow.

Strava summary with Sgwd Einon Gam in the background. 12.13km in 1:28.

Strava summary with a selfie at the summit of Fan Llia as a background. 16.82km in 2:16.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Today was Pen y Fan. I, obviously, ran there over Fan Llia and Fan Fawr, which was a lot of fun. Then we all traipsed up Pen y Fan from Pont ar Daf, had a picnic enjoying the view and watching the red kites, then back down via Corn Du to the Storey Arms. A solid 6+ hours outside, excellent day.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Four Falls Walk today. 5:30 to do a 10km walk 🤣 This one is a very well known gem and whilst it wasn’t mad busy there were plenty of people around. A well organised route taking in 4 very cool waterfalls. We saw them all then went back to the first one for a quick dip in the chilly river water.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

We’ve come to see some waterfalls in Bannau Brycheiniog, so I started with a run explore looking for this so called hidden gem. To be fair I didn’t see anyone else once I left the marked trails. Beautiful spot. Rest of the run was fun too but my legs didn’t enjoy the overgrown brambles.

Scwd Einon Gam from further downstream showing the high falls in the background and the second smaller falls.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Looking weirdly autumnal in the forest.

Forest floor with a blanket of fallen brown leaves on the ground. Green ivy and brambles poking through.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Went down the beach, played around in the sea for an hour, came home and got my nails done.

Bare feet with pink and purple nail varnish on alternate toes.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Watched the old eclipse at the local beach; it was packed and whilst the eclipse was cool, I did not enjoy all the people. Then off to a quieter beach to watch the meteor shower. Much more fun lying in the dark with the family, still a few people around but generally much quieter.

Tried to get a pic showing how busy it was, not sure this does it justice.

Peak of the eclipse as seen through my eclipse viewing glasses.

Walked off to sit on a rock by myself for a bit, Gurnard does do good sunsets.

Obviously couldn’t get a pic of a shooting star but so many stars out, you forget how cool the night sky is when you don’t see it without the light pollution much.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Becoming a thing to see smoke from fires on the horizon. This one is in the New Forest and can be easily seen from the island. Weather conditions mean the smoke is just sitting over the horizon like a big black cloud.

Sunset over the Solent with smoke from a wildfire in the New Forest forming a cloud across the horizon for miles.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Some stiles from today’s run. Rural Cornwall had them all.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

First camp of the year, bit late and a last minute Friday rush but yesterday was so chill it was worth it. Coffee posted today as no gas yesterday 🤦‍♂️

Black coffee in a blue camping mug looking at the downs in the distance. Dog hiding behind the mug.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

If my life was just drinking coffee outdoors with different views that would be ok.

Black filter coffee in a camping mug sat on the grass. If you look closely you’ll spot a sheepdog shepherding sheep in the field and the Sea Mark on top of the hill.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Borrowed my dad’s 600m lens on a recent trip to South Stack on Anglesey. A while since I tried to use a camera properly (and I claim no expertise even when I tried often) but quite pleased with some of the shots.

Razorbill. This one was in the shade of the cliff (as was I) making it easier to get a clearer shot.

Puffin. The reason for the trip and the only one we saw, good enough to confirm the sighting but that’s about it.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Unusually found myself in a nearby town 3 times in the last 2 weeks and visited a cafe (Goose) every time. Actually took the time to sit in today and on the barista’s recommendation had a Colombian pour over. It was great, very good start to an otherwise fairly boring day.

Pour over coffee being poured from a glass beaker into a pottery handle-less cup.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Ran a little bit of coastal path yesterday and found this new bridge. The river is quite small most of the year and easily jumpable on the beach but this is a welcome addition.

Wooden bridge over a small river on to Thorness Bay beach.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Is there a Strava award for getting your run incorrectly flagged? I briefly managed 3:09min/km pace for a whole 50m looking at the graph, speedy but not exactly unbelievable. Would be a very slow car.

Screenshot of an afternoon run on Strava that has been “flagged as a vehicle”

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Managed to break waiting mode (one of the kids had their bday party at 12pm) by popping for a short walk. White Tailed Eagles ✅ Osprey ✅ Seal ✅ Haven’t had a walk that full of wildlife since Australia. An Osprey is a once every couple of years spot here.

SD card reader is broken so a pic of the camera view screen of an Osprey.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Guys, I dunno why but I reckon it might all be alright after all.

Selfie with the Sea Mark in the background taken on the first proper sunny trail run of the year. Completely unrelated to this post.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Solid day of annual leave. Haven’t run that far in a long time, took it pretty easy with plenty of walking breaks. Met my wife on her walk with the dog. Ate lunch at top of a hill. Home before school finished. 10/10

Pic of my watch after the run showing 50.07km in 6 hours 50mins.

Lunch with a view. Pic doesn’t really do it justice.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

My hayfever has been the worst it’s been in ages today. I’m assuming birch tree pollen isn’t my friend.

Screenshot of tree pollen levels in my local area.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

The update to the coastal path along this stretch is a mess. Looks like a lot of it will just become a pavement next to a fast derestricted road. The one bit they have made away from the road has been blocked off by the landowner.

Other end of the blocked off section. It’s probably 100-200m long and is a clear fenced off path, not being used for anything else. Apparently just blocked off due to spite.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Some stiles from this weekends Isle of Wight coastal path walk. All redundant due to land slips.

Kissing gate with no fence, been like this for a while.

Used to be a cool stile with a wooden sculpture over it that was part of the coastal path, then the path slipped and it just became a cool sculpture. Now it’s just looking quite sad.

Fairly new kissing gate but recent land slips mean the fence is gone as the path has moved in land.

Path is supposed to be between this fence and the cliff edge. Reckon the fence is less than a year old and they’ve already had to cut a hole in it to allow detour further in land.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Lols. I’ve watched it all the way through twice and am on my third run but got distracted by something else. Don’t worry Netflix, I’ll be back 🤣

Email from Netflix reminding me to finish watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

I often find it difficult to guess the severity of meaning behind public warnings. Exhibit A: the sign.

East Hide closed. Due to storm damage there is no entry to East Hide as it is unsafe.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Enjoying a coffee listening to the wrens, blue tits and robins (according to the Merlin bird ID app). Also my kids bickering and the dog whining (familiar enough with those sounds to identify them myself from a mile away).

Metal camping coffee mug in the foreground. Green field, tree line in the distance and blue skies in the background.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Found a rock to sit on and drink coffee. I prefer a warmer spot higher up but you can’t beat the sound of the sea lapping the shore.

Coffee in a blue cup with a pebble beach and the sea in the background.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Did not need to see this to know I was ill, although I’m quite impressed by just how out of range everything is. The downside of being able to WFH is I’m tempted to work despite feeling like shit.

Screenshot from HRV4Training app showing a very low HRV and a very high HR (for me).

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Needed this guy to complete the Johto dex, completely failed to get it on the dynamax day so it was my man goal for this raid day. I mean glad to finally have him but I did t even realise shadow legendaries could be that bad.

Screen shot of shadow Lugia from Pokémon Go showing one star IVs.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

White tailed eagle klaxon! Spotted it in the car so turned around and parked up. Luckily had my camera in the car so wondered along the cliff and it drifted over my head. Very happy with that.

White tailed eagle silhouetted in the sky. Phone pic of my camera pic shown on the camera screen.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Imagine seeing this meme and modelling yourself on it.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Just because I missed this when it happened a couple of years ago: Northern lights visible from the Isle of Wight but only with a camera (which barely counts).

Red and green aurora in the sky seen from the Isle of Wight.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

It’s really difficult to get my brain around how mad the world is.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Took the eldest for a sunrise from one of the higher spots on the island and was rewarded with the most amazing fog below us, you can see it rolling out over a nearby hill and then out to sea. Sunrise behind clouds on the horizon was pretty cool too.

Sun coming up behind a line of clouds on the horizon out to sea.

Looking down into a valley filled with fog, which goes on as far across the island as you can see.

Eldest child walking down the hill with the fog rolling over a hill in the distance. If you look closely you can see a line of fog flowing out to see like a little river.

Coffee on a gate with fog rolling over a hill in the background.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Honorary mention for this fun hole in the fence.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Full set of completely unnecessary stiles/gates on today’s run. To be fair 3/4 have fallen victim to coastal erosion. Yes I did use them all. Obviously.

Stile with a drift wood arch, remnant of a bit of coastal path claimed by the sea.

Gate on a footpath but the attached fence has fallen victim to coastal erosion making the gate pointless.

Another gate without enough fence attached to make it worthwhile.

Gate on a footpath next to an open driveway. Suspect this one is functional occasionally when the driveway is closed.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Don’t normally buy Nutella for a variety of reasons but felt this was an ok one off. Asda own brand is better though tbh.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

I cannot suitably express how amazing this coffee was. From Osoto Coffee, roasted by Dak. Described to me as Christmas crack; orange and panettone tasting notes absolutely spot on.

Takeaway coffee cup with a rabbit drawn on it containing liquid heaven.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

After I got the family to drop me off near the AirBnB so I could get a little jog in. 12km in 2 hours still counts as jogging right? That’s 1500m elevation today, looking at Strava I’ve only broken 1000m in a week once in the last 3 months.

First ascent was very wet, steep and without anything resembling a path. Felt like it went on forever.

View from Moel-yr-hydd. I’m letting myself off looking a bit tired 🤣

View from Moelwyn Mawr. Proper panoramic views from this one, I did take a panoramic pic but it’s so wide you it’s pointless looking at it on a phone screen.

Descent from Moelwyn Mawr, no making up time here. I was gonna go up Moelwyn Bach in the distance but I was conscious of time and on 8% phone battery so cut back down to town instead. Managed to do some running once I was lower down too.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Today was the only day with a decent weather forecast so started with me and the eldest walking up Elidir Fawr. Wanted to take her above 3000ft.

Eldest child climbing the first ladder stile.

Enjoying the view from another ladder stile further up.

Eldest child stopping to admire the view (and catch a cheeky rest). Pics really don’t do it justice.

The summit was in cloud 95% of the time but we got a little break when we got there to see the view over the other side. Again the pics don’t do it justice, it was beautiful.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Popped to Wales for a few days to escape the humdrum. Forsook running today for two walks with the eldest child. 10/10.

View out from a walk up high with clouds in the sky, mountains in the background and the sun breaking through right onto a lake.

The eldest child making her way up a path past a pile of slate.

View across a tarn we stumbled upon with some hills in the background and more water beyond that. Moody clouds in the sky.

On our way back down, the eldest walking between to walls of a ruin with the sunshine breaking out below the clouds and above the distant mountains.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

The extra storage did not offset the items from levelling up 16 levels in one go 😳

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

When I’m ill is the only time I look at the stress section (can’t remember if it’s called that on Garmin?) and it’s usually a really good visual representation of when my body is fighting and when things are on the mend. Think it’s basically just a heart rate graph with colours.

Screenshot of the stress screen on the COROS app from Tuesday when I woke up still unwell after feeling rough Monday evening. Really shows when things started to improve later in the day.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

All my metrics are back to normal today but I still have an impressive headache. And my house on a Saturday is not the place to be with a sound sensitive headache.

Screenshot from HRV4training showing HRV and heart rate back in my normal range. Advising I can “proceed as planned” with training.

This week’s resting heart rate data showing back in the low 40s today, which is my normal average.

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David @iowrunner.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Still not quite recovered. Once I know I’m ill I find heart rate a much more useful measure of recovery than HRV. Technically my HRV is back in range today but my RHR according to my watch is still ~10% raised.

Screenshot from HRV4training showing my HRV just back in the normal range. Still advising me to take it easy because I told it I was sick.

Screenshot of my resting heart rate over the last month from the COROS app, showing a big spike a couple of days ago and still not quite back to normal (48bpm today, normally in the low 40s).

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