Nice one, sounds like you're sharpening up.
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Nice one, sounds like you're sharpening up.
Just under 5m with about 1300' yesterday, up to the trig on Birks Fell from Buckden. I followed the route of the Litton Birks Loop past the shepherd's hut, which would make a great bothy if it were renovated, then followed the wall down open fell back to Buckden. The Buck Inn was the venue for a light snack, and i have to say they have the dirtiest cutlery i've ever seen. Whether they wash by hand or in a machine i don't know, but it's surprising how many previous lunches are still visible. It's a shame because the food isn't half bad; people just aren't fussed for details any more these days.
3x 1 mile reps off a fairly strict 2.30 rest this evening. Never done mile reps before, kept going but really felt the fade and was blowing very heavily on the last one.
Times were 6.14, 6.13, 6.17.
That old sage coach guy was there again. I don't know why, but he talks in very hushed tones and seems quite secretive. He reminds me of some of the die hard trade unionists I work with, whispering quietly in small groups.
The track is turning into a bog again, red muddy puddles everywhere.
Mile reps are incredibly difficult to pace well, so you've done a good job there.... even if you were struggling, they are very consistent.
They're probably my favourite rep distance. I'd imagine on a flat mile you could make 6mins when sharp.
I could do one 6min rep no problem, but not three.
We've got mile reps tuesday night....
I think we've only got 2 fast ones, with an easy mile in the middle.
Today was a test of whether i can make the distance for the Castle Carr Half, so 6.8m. The forecast was poor for the dales so i reluctantly took on Otley Chevin, and a run around part of the WNTTAC race. 6.8m/1965' of dodgy, greasy trails and lots of daytrippers who don't think you ought to be running in their presence. Managed to avoid the dogs eggs, but my legs suffered quite a bit. I haven't entered it yet, but i've drawn up a plan to try and get there in such as state as to effectively defend my vets record. If i can hang onto it for another year it'll be a miracle.
Attachment 8924
There's a map if you feel like a really uninspiring morning out.
A light strength session this morning, 250 consecutive good form squats followed by 20 reps on the inclined leg press at 150kg.
Different session tonight as I felt I needed a steadier run out, so it was my first ever track 10k at a steady zone 2/3 pace. Went through 5k at 23.30 and crossed the line in 46.40, so a good level paced run. My calves are killing.
The old sage coach guy was there with his runner and asked how many slow sessions I do, I told him none at all at the moment and I prefer to race a lot when fit anyway. He was quick to point out I won't get any better this way and should be doing only 15 percent of my training at a fast pace. People keep leading the old horse to water like this, but alas it refuses to drink!
Also occurred to me later that i'm almost certainly a sub 1h30 HM runner, as i found the pace quite pleasant and with preparation could keep it going. My old bones wouldn't put up with 13.1m though, my back was starting to give me trouble at 8k.
He is of course right - if our slow twitch fibres are under-developed, they call on our fast twitch fibres to help them out at too low a work rate, resulting in lactic acid leaking into our system which limits performance - we can only cope with so much lactic acid for so long. It is not just about "slow runs being too fast making us tired so fast runs are too slow".Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
But - but - if other issues significantly limit our mileage, then the rules need to be bent a bit, if not broken.
50m ride up to the craven arms and back today, the legs were a bit weak but the fire was lit. I nearly got taken off the bike on the way back at the Devonshire arms roundabout. Some guy came flying down from kex gill and only checked for cars before entering the roundabout, luckily I saw it coming and didn't go over his bonnet as he screeched to a halt, but turned gracefully away in a full circle and round the back of him. So, always ride on the hoods around traffic, and expect the worst.
7m/2215' from the Queens Arms in Litton today, tried to keep the pace under control, but may have failed there. The weather was very damp, but strangely very warm, i had to de-robe at the sheepfolds after the first descent into the wharfe valley due to excess sweating. I sought refreshments at the Queens Arms afterwards, which thankfully had clean cutlery. It was tomato soup with double bread and a pint of lamb pale ale. The staff at the pub say the fell race is on for this year...
Attachment 8925
An easy 5k round the woods last night, felt like junk miles to me.
4.5m/580' XC tonight, another easy one, picking up where i left off before my ankle problems. I don't really expect to see any difference from doing these sessions, the cumulative milage will be too little. Normally i'd cover less than 20mpw, and i can't see how adding another 10 easy miles is going to add much to my fitness. I don't expect to see any change in my parkrun times.
Fast session last night, 3.2m/350' fartlek in the woods, usual route. The session felt fast and very good, the fast legs were strong and didn't tail off like sometimes, there is a conker tree en route which bombards you from above when you run underneath it, unfortunately it's on one of the slowest legs. Might do parkrun on saturday.
Shocking parkrun this morning, 21.17, towing my bag out all the way and got beaten by all the guys I normally stay ahead of.
50m ride up to the craven arms and back afterwards, which was 1min shy of a sub 3h, so a comparatively strong session compared to my crappy 5k efforts. The air was hot and humid, and the lanes were full of flies which were desperate to get down my throyt. I limited myself to 2 pints as I have a fell session planned for tomorrow and want to actually get some sleep this time. Watch this space for route details.
Same route as last week today, 7m/2215' from the ale house in Litton. I followed the ridge path along north for a bit longer then came back, i'm fairly sure it will lead you to horse head if you carry on going. It's a lot wetter and stodgier than the path past the firth fell trig. I had the soup with extra extra bread in the pub after; i couldn't bring myself to have a sticky toffee pudding on account of them not having any custard. It's an arrogant cheffy thing you see, ice cream for the summer and custard for the winter, it's not down to what you like.
Attachment 8925
Yes it does lead to Horsehead, lovely quiet area. I bivie’d up there just after we were allowed to travel post lockdown. A very fine night with a bottle of wine.
Glad the fell race is on. Hope to do it, shouldn’t be too hard to beat my last years time.
I can't find any trace of it in the calendar, or on sientries. I don't know if it's confirmed.Quote:
Originally Posted by MattPo
Straight 5k tonight up at 'the track', otherwise known as southway. The college track is out of service for resurfacing. 19.44 for the distance give or take a bit, the usual dramatic drop-off kicked in at 3k.
Half castle carr today, 6.6m/1540', even saw the castle this time. It was a stronger field and difficult to keep track of who was the leading vet, I had to run really hard just to stay in touch in the first 30mins, but predictably got dropped.
Steady 6m with horsforth harriers on tuesday; boring. Tried to make it live a bit with some conversation about who thought it was a good idea to have Jews and Palestinians living in each other's pockets, as i'm not of the right vintage to know these things. It didn't go down too well.
My group is a real mix of ages.... with our club runners ranging from early 20's up to myself at 41. Then the uni students who are i guess 18-21.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
Sometimes i find myself waiting at the start with just the uni students, and by golly it can be hard to get conversation out of them.
I'm by no means the most outgoing person in the universe, but its hard to remember that some of them are just out of school really. Usually once they're back for their 2nd year they start to chat a bit more. Everyone is really friendly but there's still a little bit of social grouping of the Godiva lot and the two universities.
50m on the bike today, up to the craven arms and back. I'm full of fresher's flu so it was one of those days where everyone is a wanker, just an ill tempered drag of an outing. The craven arms is hosting a beer festival so there were about 25 beers to choose from. Lots of stones on the lanes and nearly got taken off by another not very observant driver at the Devonshire arms roundabout.
7.5m/1500' yesterday on the bolton abbey estate, a recce of the run bolton abbey 10m route which i think i'll have a crack at; though it looks to be 9.5m according to MMap, with an extra 500' climb. The low path between the pavillion and the strid was a total disaster; heaving with people looking at objects in trees and filling out flipping score cards. I hope the races aren't going to be hampered in this way.
Kenyan hills with horsforth harriers last night. 3x8min up and downs all held at a comfortable 3 strides/breath pace. Total of 4.5m in all, hit my calves quite hard.
No Thursday session this week, calves not recovered fully. Bramley parkrun this morning, 21.04, another underwhelming run, but I felt like I set off at a good pace and kept it level, even overtaking the guy in front which is strange as I'm normally the one getting overtaken.
50m ride up to the craven arms and back for the afternoon. I'd planned on only having 2 pints, but sacked it off and had 3. I might not bother with Buttermere shepherds tomorrow, the forecast is crap and the valley floors will be flooded, I can't see the rain stopping until the evening, the further north you are the worse it will be. A training run for the Bolton abbey 10m will probably be a dry one.
I love it how some people just shout and ball sometimes. I parked up in my usual spot at storiths, just above the final s bend down to the ford, in a layby on the left. I got out and as I was acclimatising myself I heard a faint yell ring out over the dale, it sounded like "you can't park there". Half a minute or so later it happened again, and I noticed some guy with a dog in the distance. I paused my preparations and got ready for whatever he had planned. He stopped about 10yds away and carried on yelling that it was a passing place, I said "no it's not it's a parking place". This exchange went on for another few repeats before he claimed I was selfish and having collected his wife, set off back up the hill. I waited around in case he came back in his car, but he didn't.
So anyway, 9.5m/1650' round the full route of the Bolton abbey 10m. My calves are constantly killing for some reason and it was a bit of a drag. Afterwards I had tea, cake and 3 eggs scrambled on 2 toast at the all new buffers. They have bikes upstairs now not trains, and 2 wood burning stoves. The shouting man was not seen again.
Wish I'd been there.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
If memory serves there are Passing Place signs on that road. Presumably installed by the Duke so his peasants are not delayed whilst attending to their duties.
So one might conclude - No sign. No problem.
I was involved in a bit of an altercation today at the half marathon re vehicles...
There's been signs up around Cov about road closures for over a month... and still people just driving down closed roads the wrong way and getting stuck, then having a go at the poor volunteers. Saw probably 20 incidents of it in my wanderings today.
One guy decided to get out of his car and have a real go at one volunteer who was in his 70's.... i decided it was time to step in, and reminded him that he'd clearly gone through a road closed sign back down the road, as i'd just ran past it 10mins previous, and its hardly the volunteer's fault that the council have closed off all the roads.
I also took a mouthful of abuse and i think he was weighing up whether to have a pop at me... however he eventually got back in his car and turned round.
Funny people car drivers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
I was pootling though Ilkley today - at around 15 mph which is as fast as one can go with all the tourists looking for parking spaces so they can visit the plethora of charity shops - behind a Mercedes AMG 6.3 CLS coupe. Now being a small coupe it obviously needs a V8 6.3 litres engine.
And the driver kept revving said engine.
So my technical question to someone who knows about cars, perhaps Mr B., is, do these 500 HP engines stall if you let the revs drop having to pull all that carbon fibre along at 15 mph?
/
Presumably if he had decided to "have a pop at" you, you might have remembered some of your Muay Thai skills . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
It's the strange triangular layby after the longish steep hill down from Buffers. I've been training in that area for over 15yrs; it's never had a passing place sign. No sign, no problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Breeze
Probably from Bradford.Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Breeze
Funnily enough i was clearing the attic out of my old Muay Thai stuff last night.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
Hundreds of pounds of various gloves, shorts, pads, etc, which i'll never use again. Thankfully i've managed to find a good home for a lot of it, so it won't all be consigned to the bin.
My glutes are really killing me today, for some reason they got used a lot yesterday.
6x450 last night with a horsforth harriers group, my calves cooked very quickly and i had to call it after 6 reps. Times were...
94, 94, 95, 96, 95, 96.
I've been thinking about a race plan for next weekend's bolton abbey 10m. I've divided the course up into a parkrun, followed by a BM fell race 7.5m/1650'. I can't take the parkrun too fast, but really i need to have the leaders in sight ready for the fell race. It has some open fell loops and some tricky descents which i can use to my advantage. Hopefully most people there won't realise they can dust me on the flat 2m run in to the finish if they go deep.
50m on the bike today, up to the craven arms and back. It was raining hard when I set off, but it eased off slowly and I managed to get all my gear dried in front of the fire. My computer got waterlogged and quit after an hour. On the way back I was overtaken by an old git on an audax who was impossible to keep up with. Quite a few of these competitive old gits are now stalking casual riders along the lanes of lower wharfedale, they pounce unnoticed and rob you of your dignity, they are like highwaymen.
Your dignity?Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
Wasn't me. Honestly :)Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside