Today's Training

A little late but out of contact for a while last week. 3 good but not overly long runs in the Southern Highlands over a long weekend. Weather generally appalling with gusts up to 70 mph and a wind chill factor of up to minus 20 on the tops. Day 1 easy run up and down Scheihallion. day 2 14 miles to achieve just one summit. that of An Stuc. So much unconsolidated snow and winds to knock you off your feet I didn't really run other than the 5 mile approach and 5 mile return along forestry commission tracks from Tombeck. so cold that at one point whilst messing around with my micro spikes I got seriously cold hands and couldn't do up the buckles on my pack afterwards. Weather was severe and stopped any hoped for ridge running to connect to other munros.
Day 3 sunshine but coldest yet and wind that knocked me over on several occasions. Summitted Ben Lawers, but man, was it cold! Quick escape on Sunday due to snow settling at lower levels and a hair raising drive as far as Stirling. Good trip with 4 new summits and about 30 miles and just shy of 11000 feet.

I'll add my meagre endeavours - my first ever road run. As mentioned over in the Beginners thread, I have barely started running and it's been a war of attrition as I force my joints and tendons to adapt, finally coming off the rails with sore tendons in my left knee. Physio prescribed me some exercises and cleared me to run on the flat.
So off I wobbled, 5km in and I was actually enjoying it, knee felt okay(ish) and ignoring orders I turned off the road up a steep concrete climb. Felt the knee then, but on descending again, running was impossible and down I limped.
It's the descending which I think has taken its toll on the knee (tendons on the front). I am always 'braking', miles slower than anyone else, but unable to go faster on weak ankles. In a recent race I passed plenty of much better runners on the first climb, only to go backwards as the gradient evened off and I found myself in an off-camber rut - hobbling along it barely above walking pace.
Someone said it takes a year or so before the tendons acclimatise, so digging in for the long run.

Ducked out of last night's club session, feeling the strain from a couple of hard sessions earlier in the week, and keen to get a full day of rest before this weekend.

Tonight did a fairly hard 6 miles/2500ft.... tomorrow a few easy miles, ready for the Stretton Champs race on Sunday.

Hoping for a pb Champs placing, ideally breaking into top 150. Although a scan through the entry list shows at least 80 names which I simply will never compete with... which means I need to try and finish in the top 25% of the remaining 300 or so starters...

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Originally Posted by Travs

Ducked out of last night's club session, feeling the strain from a couple of hard sessions earlier in the week, and keen to get a full day of rest before this weekend.

Tonight did a fairly hard 6 miles/2500ft.... tomorrow a few easy miles, ready for the Stretton Champs race on Sunday.

Hoping for a pb Champs placing, ideally breaking into top 150. Although a scan through the entry list shows at least 80 names which I simply will never compete with... which means I need to try and finish in the top 25% of the remaining 300 or so starters...

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So how did you fair Travs? Hope you reached your goals.

In terms of my target, was mission well and truly failed today! I'll post more in the race thread itself, but I was thereabouts up until the final cp, then poor route choice appears to have cost me about 3mins.... (which equals a lot of places in a short Champs race!)

I was looking out for you on the live results as they came in Travs but once the first 100 were in and you were not amongst them I suspected that you had had some sort of snag. Never mind, onwards and upwards and I'm sure The Howgills will be more your cup of tea.

It'll be a long time before I make the top 100 in a Champs race... but top 150 is certainly there for the taking.

A really good club session tonight.

Road session.... 8 x 800m, starting with 2mins rest, which decreased by 10secs each rep.

The first two reps were at about 6:05/mile pace, then a noticeable increase in pace to around 5:40/mile pace, which I managed to sustain right through the session (despite really suffering on the final two reps).

Managed to stay with a couple of guys who usually pull away from me in training (although in the competitive heat of the xc races I usually get the upper hand)..... so it was good confidence to be able to stay with them, and even push the pace and make them uncomfortable on a couple of occasions.

A very hot and sweaty stairclimber session.... 1 hour, 4250ft.

A beautiful morning out enjoying the sun on the Shropshire hills. Basically did the Stretton 6 summits route with an excursion on to Minton Batch. About 14km and 1000m ascent though at a rather leisurely pace.