it also down to your personal styleOriginally Posted by Stolly
same 3 races PB's for me
1. 133rd
2. 92nd
3. 29th
As Stolly say 1 and 3 and worlds apart
it also down to your personal style
same 3 races PB's for me
1. 133rd
2. 92nd
3. 29th
As Stolly say 1 and 3 and worlds apart
nph
I think that the big factor is leg strength.
Extended and multiple climbs require alot of it.
Descending quickly requires even more (plus a good deal of skill and confidence)
Good road running technique tends to be a higher cadence, lower strength running style and I think cross country is largely similar.
Fell running however tends to lower cadence higher strength, particularly on a climb, but also on rough/ soft terrain.
climbing and terrain running will tend to demand a longer, but powerful muscle contraction. Running against higher resistance (gravity or soft ground)
Its just very different
Many thanks for all the encouragement and advice. I think the general consensus is that the leg strength i have from cross country is no where near that required for fell running. I will certainly stick at it. Skill and confidence descending is another big factor. I just didn't really appreciate the different demands of Fell and cross country thinking it's just running. It's not it's a completely different discipline.
Third fell race, the Three peaks! Thought i started slowly up Pen-y-ghent 39.52,Ribblehead 1.40 still feeling ok. Up Whernside 2.25 several passed us on the climb but felt i was still going ok. Hit the wind on top of Whernside and the energy just ebbed away. Finished in 4.55, even managed a 30 minute mile! coming down Ingleborough! not helped by deciding to remove a stone from my shoe getting cramp and struggling to get it back on. So back to thinking it's leg strength that's holding me back ?
Well done, both at a successful Three Peaks, and stunning the Forumites into silence!
Love this post. In what other sport could a 30-minute mile in extremis be met with nods of respect from fellow competitors who know exactly why this was a big achievement. Lovely, inspiring story and my favourite so far from the PPP. Big respect to you.
I started off road running and then converted to fell, and also just completed the 3 Peaks in 4.48, so not too dissimilar to you. Here's my tuppence worth:
Road, cross country and fell are completely different sports. On the road I'm fairly fast, I've won a couple of smaller races and can comfortably finish near the top of the field. Fell running is completely different however, as you can see by my 3Ps time I finished much closer to the end of the field!
The more fell running you'll do, the better you'll get! I've been working on it for the past year now and slowly but surely I'm finding the uphills easier and my legs are much more comfortable enduring the rough terrain.
If you're struggling to get out into the hills I always find cycling compliments fell running quite well.
Sam, it would be interesting to know some of your road times.
Apologies for the slow reply, only just noticed yours! Here's a few of my PBs:
1 mile: 4 mins 45 secs
5k: 17 mins
10k: 35 mins 30 secs
Half marathon: 1 hour 25 mins
Doubt I could come anywhere near those times at the moment though, that when I was doing proper speed training (intervals and the like). Have been focusing on fell running recently and as such my road running has slowed right down! The races I've won were a couple of 1 milers and a 4 mile trail race, all with fields around the 100 mark.
Last edited by Sam Harrison; 27-05-2011 at 07:31 PM.
Sam, your times suggest a lack of endurance training - you are much faster over the shorter distances. I suspect your "problem" is different from Nowton Park Harrier's.
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