Beginner - No Ups & Downs

[thof]

Hi!

First of all, i'd like to say hi to everyone and appologise for this post as i'm sure these questions have been asked may times before.

I, like a few people it would appear (having read their similar posts) would love to fell run but are crippled by their unfortunate geographic location.

I live north of london (near luton) and therefore dont have the "ups and downs" available to make for good training.

My questions are:

1) What do people do for training? (is it as simple as lots of road running and excersing the quads in the gym, or running with weights etc?)

2) Whats the best way to get started?
(My running experiences are currently a few 1/2 marathons and marathons, I also love hiking (Wales and the Lakes), My navigational skills however will need working on)

3) Any general tips would be greatly received and appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

P.S I was in the Lakes over the weekend and saw a good number of fell runnings coming down RedPike at a fair old pace. Well done to all of you, as the weather was awefull.

P.P.S sorry for any typos, gramatical errors,

[TurboTom]

Hi!

First of all, i'd like to say hi to everyone and appologise for this post as i'm sure these questions have been asked may times before.

I, like a few people it would appear (having read their similar posts) would love to fell run but are crippled by their unfortunate geographic location.

I live north of london (near luton) and therefore dont have the "ups and downs" available to make for good training.

My questions are:

1) What do people do for training? (is it as simple as lots of road running and excersing the quads in the gym, or running with weights etc?)

2) Whats the best way to get started?
(My running experiences are currently a few 1/2 marathons and marathons, I also love hiking (Wales and the Lakes), My navigational skills however will need working on)

3) Any general tips would be greatly received and appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

P.S I was in the Lakes over the weekend and saw a good number of fell runnings coming down RedPike at a fair old pace. Well done to all of you, as the weather was awefull.

P.P.S sorry for any typos, gramatical errors,

Ive only been doing this for 18 months but il try to help
1) Road running for short speed work, long runs out on the fell
2) Do trail races and short fell races and move up the distance and ascent as you get more experienced
3) Hill reps build up leg strength and make sure you are always enjoying yourself

[thof]

Hi TurboTom!

Thanks for the post and very useful info, so thanks once again and thanks for taking the time to reply.

My general thinking at the moment is to joing a local running club for general excerise (its finely got too lonley running on my own), and then join a fell running club in probably the Peaks (as its only about a 2 hour drive from where i live) and travel up there when i can.

And as you pointed out, start with some small fell runs and build up. I've been thinking of starting for quite a while now, and having seen the people coming down Red Pike (Buttermere, The Lakes) i'm now going to get started.

The only issue at the moment (ignoring the obvious issues surround me living nowhere near a hill / mountain) is finding some fell running footwear available in a UK14. As my road running shoes will obviously not be fit for purpose

What training do you undertake yourself?


Tom

[TurboTom]

Ah your onto my training.
I have done very little since i stopped track running.
A decent summer week last year was

Monday: 1 or 2 mile swim
Tuesday; Club Run
Wednesday; Race
Thursday: Hill reps
Friday: Rest
Saturday; Race or long run
Sunday: Race or long run

That was only maybe 2 months of last year but im getting back upto that level the day i officially leave school. Thursday

[ZootHornRollo]

thof, I am in a similar position, living in sw London

I got pretty fit last year by taking up british military fitness training - the advantage of that is that as well as raising CV fitness, there's a lot of squats, lunges, tuck jumps, burpees, etc, which really strengthens leg and core muscles. (I reckon good core strength is useful for fell-running.)

Then I take myself off on the train to the North Downs every Saturday morning to get a long hill run in. There are surely hills not far from Luton - it doesn't have to be mountains!

I also do a couple of speed sessions / interval runs in the week to raise the CV fitness.

I find fitness isn't a problem, but there are two areas where lack of fell-time does cost me in races:
a) ankle strength - I've rolled my ankles a couple of times in both races I've entered and that slows you right up, particularly on ....
b) descents, which I have yet to gain confidence and speed on - I reckon I was passed by 40 people on descents towards the end of the Duddon race.

Hope this helps.

[thof]

hi ZootHornRollo,

thanks for the info, I'm currently running about 10k every other day (with weights) and then a gym swim on saturdays, sundays.

I'm currently missing out on my longer run, but i run for 2 hours at the gym to try and compensate. My main area for improvement will be the navigation side of things i recon.

my 10k (ish) run is usually from work to Finsbury Park station, so its a not flat. But its not providing the incline required to prepare for a large hill.

Are there any fell running clubs in your area?

Thanks for the info once again.

[Pacifier]

Although I live in Lancashire, I come from Portsmouth and I would love to see people from the South compete well in our sport. Getting to races is the drawback but I don't think training ought to be.

I am absolutely convinced that you don't need a big hill in order to train for fell running; a little hill will do - maybe a hundred and fifty feet climb with a run in, and you run up and down it lots of times. Sometimes put the efforts on the downhill.

My own favorite hill is at Kingley Vale in the South Downs near Chichester.

Chris Smale

[Multiterrainer]

As another southerner up north I always find it good to see folk/clubs from down south competing on the fells.

Although not your nearest club but not too far away, Tring running club have an active fell running section while I'm sure I've seen someone from Saffron Striders in recent results.

As for local hills you can't be too far from Ivinghoe beacon area which while obviously not offering the ascents of the peaks northwards its a start!! I also remember stopping off at Therfield Heath near Royston for a surprisingly hilly run en-route to Sussex 3 or 4 years back.

[thof]

Hi all!

I would just like to say a huge thank you to the people who have replied to my posts and provided their thouughts / views. Working in the IT industry people are usually less forthcoming with useful replies, its appears however that fell runners are happy to provide useful comments.

Its amussing that Portsmouth has been mentioned, I originally grew up in the midlands and moved to Portsmouth to attend uni. Now i find myself working in London so i'm quite restricted on where i can live.

What i'm not restricted is how far i travel at the weekends to race. So my plan of attack is to get some trail running and cross country experience which i can do locally and join a fell running club in the peak district (the closest "ups and downs" available) and get cracking.

How do you all find the navigational aspect of fell running? I've read that you cant use GPS (which makes sense), how have you all found this part of the sport?

Finally found some fell running trainers which will fit (issues with big feet) so waiting for them to come back into stock. Once they arrive I'm going to find a nice gental fell run to break myself in!

Are you guys in the south associated with a fell running club? or do you just enter yourself into races?

I dont intend this to be a one way question / answer post, so if you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask.


Thanks Multiterrainer & Pacifier for your advice on local hills, they are all actually quite close, which is very encouraging.

T

[fellgazelle]

My main area for improvement will be the navigation side of things i recon.

Have you tried orienteering? I got involved with a club when I was at school. It certainly improved my navigational skills and running fitness to boot.

I also don't live near any big hills and never have done. I've found that devising the roughest/toughest cross country courses I can find in my local area has worked as well as anything else.
Running over ploughed fields and chewed up bridlepaths works wonders for strenghthening the ankles in preparation for the rough grass tussocks you'll meet on the fells.