Edale was still in the Peak District, Pete, when I visited it last weekend! :D
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Edale was still in the Peak District, Pete, when I visited it last weekend! :D
Indeed it is! Looks like my phone (or brain) chose to autocorrect Eskdale.Quote:
Originally Posted by Llani Boy
This is a reasonable guess - or at least, it would have been last year, when my fitness was such that I could contemplate such a race. But no, I have chosen something shorter, but which should still be fairly challenging.Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
Incidentally, I wonder how many AM enthusiasts will be doing Buttermere Sailbeck on the Saturday and then Kentmere on Sunday.
Last run before Friday's trail race. The route started off as the reverse of my standard Beacon Hill and Windmill Hill route, but after coming off Windmill Hill I went straight across the road and took the horse track up the side of Beacon Hill - because that's the way Friday's race will go up, on the second ascent. Compared to my usual routes on Beacon Hill, which climb quite steeply, this was a long grind at a mostly gentle gradient. I then visited the summit (which the race won't do), and went back home by a rather direct route.
I mentioned some weeks ago that the road between the Outwoods and the bottom of Beacon Hill Country Park was closed for works. Those works are now finished: they have been building a tarmac footway along this stretch of road. I'm not very happy about this: the trod along the grass verge was fine for me, and much better than running on tarmac. But the authorities were concerned that with the large number of ramblers using the road to connect the Outwoods to Beacon Hill, and the high traffic speeds along the road, there was going to be a serious accident.
A bit of a chaotic week so far, with massive work pressure due to some deadlines, and being on holiday tomorrow as heading over to Wales for the Holyhead MOuntain race on saturday.
As a result, missed tuesday's club session, and finally got around to doing it this morning, on treadmill in a very hot garage!
Two sets of 3/2/1minute efforts.... 1 minute between each rep, then 5 minutes between the two sets.
Originally planned to do three sets, but alas the phone didn't stay quiet enough for a 3rd set.... but possibly a blessing, as 3 sets would have made it very tough in the heat, and i'm probably not quite at 100% fitness due to recent injuries etc anyway.
Traditional pre-North-Wales race runout, over and around the Great Orme.
7.5 miles at no particular pace, with plenty of stops to have a drink and take in the views.
May have a walk up onto Conwy Mountain this evening.
A nice easy hour in the forest and round the Lake (Llyn Elsi) above Betws-y-Coed.
Interestingly this was the venue for the World Mountain Running Champs in 2015.
6 miles, 1250 ft.
Week comes to an end with 68 miles.
Feeling a lot more positive after yesterday's race, feeling like i'm back in the game now after some difficult weeks when i haven't been able to put in the required work due to a host of minor injuries and niggles.
Although tomorrow marks a shift in training.... for the best part of a year now i've done little, if any, steep work.... instead focusing on increased mileage on the flat... relying on the "base" built up over the years on the fells to see me through the races.... generally this has worked well with a string of decent pb's.
But 3 races in the next 9 weeks are all tough, steep, arduous affairs, and i have a feeling i'm going to get found out if i don't start putting the steep work in again. So it will be a lot more uphill work.
Current average for the year is 67.5 miles per week... will be interesting to see if i can maintain that whilst doing slower, steeper miles between now and mid-August... at which point my fell year will be over in anger, as i then switch to focusing on an autumn 10 miler on the roads.
Up to 3 miles now, all flat running but no AFib all looking good but legs are still tired :D
Club night and a very tough looking grass session.
2 x (5 x 1 minute, with decreasing rests. Rests starting at 60secs and decreasing by 15secs each time).
So for the mathematically minded, final rep of each set is done on 15 seconds rest.
Was again incredibly warm and humid last evening, and found myself sweating almost as much as during saturday's race.
Legs not entirely recovered from saturday, i found the first set especially difficult, with the closer runners in my group stretching away from me. 2nd set wasn't so bad as my consistency started to claw them back, and by the very final rep had passed a couple of them.
The final rep itself was very tough... 15 seconds rest is almost worse than no rest at all... it would be less painful to just run two minutes straight through. 15secs at that stage of a session allows about 4 deep breaths, and absolutely no chance of getting breathing/heartbeat back under control.
10 miles for the evening.
Track on thursday, with 3 sets of 600mtr, 300mtr.
Injury permitting, i'll be doing the track session on thursday with Horsforth, it's 3x5x30secs effort with 30secs easy running in between. Not sure how long in between the 3 sets. Never done that before, but it's probably an easier version of something you've done before. It'll be interesting to see if i can outsprint any of the people who will leave me behind on a 5min long effort.
Track session tonight, another warm one.... although peferable to being windy and wet on the track... conditions which persisted until 5 or 6 weeks ago.
3 x (600mtrs, 100mtr jog, 300mtr)
1. 1:59, 56secs
2. 1:56, 54secs
3. 1:56, 53secs
Finished off with 5 x 60mtrs
Very pleased with that... my last session on the track also involved 600mtr reps and was a bit of a disaster, so it was pleasing to be consistent... was just at the back of a group of half a dozen, which was just about perfect giving me a pace to hold on to.
11 miles for the session, along with 4 miles AM.
Have been assigned a session for the weekend of 2 x 20mins, which i'll most likely do on the treadmill to allow me to do the session entirely uphill.
This weeks RATRun was from the Norfolk Arms at Ringinglow, the new home of the Tigger Tor Fell Race. Seven of us set off on a hot and humid evening on a revised version of the race route.
Up through Lady Cannings Plantation to the TP at Ox Stones and over to Burbage Edge on a lovely peaty trod. Down through waist high bracken into the Burbage Valley and across the river. Through the knee deep bog and up onto Higgar Tor. Over to Carl Wark, where we picked up the race route proper back to Ringinglow which took us back down to the river and up the other side to Burbage Quarry. From here it was mainly all narrow single trod through scratchy heather over to Parson House, across Houndkirk Road and on to Houndkirk Hill. More heathery trod to Houndkirk Road again, and along it back to Ringinglow.
Wonderful views on a lovely evening run of 7.5 miles, 1,238 feet in 1hr 17mins. Back in the very busy Norfolk Arms delicious chips were washed down with Farmers Blonde 4% from the nearby Bradfield Brewery
We have tended to move away from melted cheese on our chips of late as some of the cheeses have been of the over processed heart strangling type. Recently, Mayonnaise and occasionally Aioli,(now there's posh) have been our favoured accompaniments!
On thursday night we were assigned our session for the weekend....
A lot of the group being track runners, there were a lot of 5 x 2mins, or 6 x 150metres being dished out.
Which made it all the more amusing for everyone when i was given 2 x 20 minutes. But i was looking forward to it, deciding to do it on treadmill at a gradient of 8% to give a hard session of fast uphill running.
First rep went by ok, didn't really know what pace to go off at, so found i pushed harder at the end to maximise distance.
2nd rep the challenge is to match or beat the first one.... realised to have any chance i was going to have to start off at a faster pace and just see it out through what would no doubt be a grim last 10 minutes.
And so it proved... started to feel the build up of fatigue at about 13mins in, and by 15mins i was checking the time every 30secs, praying for the end.
Ended up doing 120mtrs further on the 2nd rep, so mission accomplished. 8 miles for the session, and 4 very easy miles this evening, to round off a very good week of 77 miles.
If i could put this last week together into a block of training over several months, i would no doubt be a considerably fitter runner at the end of it... however its not always so simple... will just concentrate on trying to keep the quality high over the next couple of weeks to bring me to the start line of the next couple of races in good nick.
Club night and a pyramid session on the grass.
1min, 1min, 2min, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1......
rest periods were equal to the preceeding rep.
Considering the weekends activities i seemed to cope quite well, and my usual performance of dropping off the early pace and then coming back through the group towards the end, didn't really happen... stayed on the back of the group and even starting picking a few people off as early as the 3rd or 4th rep.
On the 4minute rep i went off on my own, not fancying 4 minutes trailing round a football pitch, and headed off on a hilly loop to add some variety.
Session was rounded off with 5 x "flying" 30mtr sprints (ie build up to full speed prior to the start line, and hold it for 30mtrs before decelerating).
Not quite as warm as the past week.... but was very humid and by the end we were all drenched in sweat.... i was covered in a film of salt in the fashion of someone who had just completed a long summer fell race.
A big day.... 12 miles for the session, on top of 5 steady miles AM.
Last nights RATRun was from The Anglers Rest at Millers Dale. Six of them did a 7 mile loop around Millers Dale which took in Wormhill and Tunstead.
I decided to save my legs for Warslow tomorrow so did a gravel bike ride up and down the full length of the Monsal Trail. A lovely sunny evening for 21 miles, 475 feet in 1hr 23 min.
Back at the Anglers we sat outside by the River Wye where there was just enough breeze to keep the midges away. A combination of cheesy and non-cheesy chips were washed down with a fantastic Indian Runner 4.1% from The Wincle Brewery.
I thought you'd junked cheesy chips due to unreliable cheese quality? The way of making crap cheese is to modify the whey with synthetic additives after the curds are removed to make real cheese with. It's a similar process to the catalytic cracking of lower, heavier crude fractions that are left in the bottom of the fractionating column after the goodies have been boiled off. My mate used to work in a curry and pizza takeaway, on the side of the cheese bags was a label that read, '60% cheese, 40% cheese substitute'.
I have junked them but one or two RATRunners are looking for an early meeting with their maker so we have a few bowls of each!Quote:
Originally Posted by mr brightside
Beacon Hill, Broombriggs and Windmill Hill: 75 minutes, which is still not long enough if I want to be ready for Turnslack in 4 weeks. The path over Brrombriggs goes round the edge of several cattle pasture fields, but today the cattle in one field were all crowded on and close to the path, so I had to divert round them; but the grass wasn't tussocky enough to prepare me for Turnslack.
A combination of working late on thursday, and not being fully recovered from tuesday's efforts, meant i missed the thursday track session.
So onto this morning and another tough treadmill session...
5 x 5 minutes at 15% gradient (5 minute recoveries in between).
Despite being on the treadmill this session is definitely no soft touch.
Didn't quite feel as gruesome as last weeks 2 x 20mins.... mainly because at 15% incline the pace is by necessity a little more manageable than what i was knocking out last weekend at 8% incline... but it was still a very uncomfortable session to complete in a quality and consistent fashion... i was absolutely drenched by the end.
8.5 miles.
Another solid week of 75.5 miles.
My scribbled records show me we've reached week 26 of the year, and at half way i'm averaging 68.25 miles per week (last year's average was 69 mpw)
More of the same next week.... basically grind it out for another week and a half, then a few very easy days before the Four Fans.
Grass session tonight.
5 x 90 secs.... first 60secs at a decent pace, followed by 30secs very hard.
This summer i've been enjoying dong these grass sessions without regard for pace... nice to run hard without the pressure of timed track work.
However i sneaked a look at my last few reps, and was averaging 3:19-3:22/km pace.... this is a bit of an improvement over last summer when i recall doing the 60 second reps in about 3:25/km if i was running well.
Session finished off with 5 x 60mtr sprints... which i use as an opportunity to look at technique rather than outright pace.
9.5 miles for the session, plus 4 miles AM.
Thursday we're on the track for a mix of km's and 200mtrs... quite looking forward to see how my km pace stacks up as i haven't done that distance rep on the track for some time.
Track session last night.
3 x (1km, 200 jog, 200mtrs)
600mtr slow jog between sets.
My target was 3:15 for the km's and 33secs for the 200's.
Having never previously done a km rep below 3:18 i was somewhat sceptical that i'd get anywhere near the target... but gave it a good go.
km's
3:18
3:19
3:21
200's
34
35
35
Only really fell apart on the very last lap of the last km, where despite throwing everything at it, i dropped a couple of seconds. But overall very pleased with those km times.
Was a tough session mentally... due to racing commitments, and others doing a different session, there were only three of us doing this... one was going close to 2:50/km and the other close to 3:05.... so i found myself adrift at the back, and it was quite windy as well... i generally prefer shorter reps on the track, but once get to km and above i think they are easier to do on the road.
11.5 miles for the session. Weekend session is 3 x 10mins but remains to be seen whether i'll do it uphill or on the flat, or road/treadmill.
A sunny evening with a nice cool breeze for yesterdays RATRun from one of our favourite venues at The New Inn at Flash.
Only 5 of us set off over Oliver Hill to Axe Edge End. Across the dampish moor to Cheeks Hill and then a lovely traversing path that carries the Dane Valley Way to Reeve Edge Quarry, Danebower Chimney and down to the Pack Horse bridge at Three Shires Head.
Apparently, in the old days, this area was rife with criminals as with it being the meeting of the Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire boundaries if the local lawmen turned up the criminals would nip over the relevant border where the lawmen had no jurisdiction.
Slightly uphill along a rough bridleway to Hawks Nest and then steeply back up to Flash. just over 7 miles, 1,074 feet in 1hr 13 min.
No food is served inside the New Inn but the owners allow us to eat our own picnic inside which was washed down with excellent Indian Runner 4.1% from Wincle Brewery. This is currently my favourite real ale by a long way.
First run outside of Teesdale since returning from a week's backpacking down sarf.
Bowderdale - The Calf - Calders - Great Dummacks - and back. 13.31 miles 2398 ft 2hrs 41 mins.
Hot and hotter, especially on the return leg with the breeze behind me.
My Hilly Twin Skin socks - about only 4th time of wearing - decided to strangle my big toes, feeling like cheese-wire, as the toes gave way and the inner skin of the sock tightened. So I spent the return half of the run sockless (surprisingly refreshing!) and the Hilly's were consigned to the bin on return- GrrrrH
Did a hole develop or did the 2 layers just separate in a big way?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mossdog
I am still wearing my Dexshell waterproof socks - and if my toes get a bit tender I add Injinji toe socks underneath. I dare not change from what works.
Definitely holes - and I'm quite fastidious when it comes to nail cutting too ! Merino seems to work better for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike T
3 x 10 minutes today.
Having not fully recovered from thursday night, and being aware that doing three sessions a week is pushing the limit for me... made it a tempo session on the treadmill... not pushing as hard as recent weekend sessions which have been my toughest sessions of the week.
A good runout. Longer run tomorrow and then final session on tuesday before a couple of races.
Have invested in a pair of XC spikes for the coming winter... usually run in my fell shoes but think i'm at a point where wearing the correct footwear when its really muddy might actually shift me forward a couple of places.
An easy run out today, to view a local 10km race. So the run was spaced between various stops to spectate.
So despite clocking a solid 15 miles today, it has felt like an easy day.
Total for the week 77.5 miles.
Just got to grind it out until tuesday, then a few easy days before two consecutive weekends of racing.
The excellent Four Fans race next week. Feeling confident and ready to really attack it, will be going all out for a pb and a good placing. But really with not racing so often this year, i can't be 100% sure where my form is, but i'm surely in better nick than i have been for the last couple of races.
Beacon Hill and Windmill Hill; seemed rather laboured, but the time was reasonably fast. My last training run before racing in the Lake District. And I can now reveal that the race I have entered is . . . not on the FRA calendar. But it is on SIentries, and it's the Swirral Grind 850, organised by someone who never mastered subtraction at primary school. The start at Patterdale is at 150m, and the finish on Helvellyn summit is at 950m, and there's no downhill. 950-150=850? Anyway, 46 years after my first fell race (which was actually a hill race, since it was in Scotland), I am eventually doing an uphill-only race (assuming that it isn't cancelled due to lightning danger, torrential rain, etc; the weather forecast hasn't been looking good).
There are 22 entries so far (entries close on Wednesday), and I think I will have my work cut out to not finish last. I may well be the oldest runner there (there is one other M60, and the only F60 is definitely younger than me). Just looking at the four female entries, three are established fell runners who are faster than me, and the other one is on runbritain and has done a sub-20 parkrun last year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
I spotted this race only a couple of weeks ago... as you rightly suggest, not being advertised on the usual channels, it was hard to find.
As someone looking to get into uphill races a bit more "seriously" next year, it really appealed... uphill races are quite hard to come by. However i found it too late.
I notice they also had a similar race on the Langdale Pikes earlier in the year... i'll definitely be keeping an eye on their website next year.
Personally i'd have my money on you avoiding last place... the lineup isn't full of recognisable names, and your experience will count for a lot.
Yes, the race up Harrison Stickle was on my radar as well; in fact, these days I might do better on a short, brutally steep race like that than on the long drag up Helvellyn (whereas the latter would have been ideal for me in my younger days). I had even been contemplating having a very long weekend in the Lake District, combining the Harrison Stickle race with Blencathra 5 days later; it's a good job I didn't plan that, since I ended up with Covid the previous week!Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
Its been a stuttering start to this week of training.
Monday due to work commitments meant i had that rarest of things... a full rest day of zero mileage.
Yesterday a combination of a trip to the opticians (from where i returned considerably poorer), followed by another emergency dash to the office, meant by the time evening came round i had not eaten properly all day.
Couldn't have felt less like training if i tried, however keen to get the session done as it was my last one before the next two races.
Grass session.... 3 x 3 minute efforts, with approx 5 minutes rest between... however that 5mins of rest included 3 x 100mtr uphill sprints.
A short sharp session, and in the end very worthwhile... first rep was poor, 2nd rep better, and final rep was more like the pace i feel i should be hitting as a minimum on this type of rep/session (3:45/km)
11.5 miles..... hard work done now and just got to concentrate on getting to the start line on saturday feeling as good as possible.
Last nights RATRun was from a new venue that has recently reopened, again, after a turbulent few years. The Devonshire Arms in Peak Forest never looks inviting as it always seems to be covered in limestone dust/spray from the constant stream of quarry lorries that fly past its front door on the A623 between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Chesterfield so it was good to see it spruced up and with all the crappy advertising rubbish removed from outside.
On arrival I nipped in to check it was OK for us to use the car park and get the last order time for chips. It was clean and tidy inside too, and Yes and 8.30 were the correct answers from the friendly lady behind the bar.
It was warm, sunny and sometimes sultry for the six of us who crossed the A623 and headed up to Dam Dale Farm, Dam Cliff and on to Mount Pleasant Farm where we re-crossed the A623 and picked up the Limestone Way. A lovely grassy bridleway past Adam's Well and then a short climb, off the LW, to the TP which sits between the disused Starvehouse and Cop Mines on Bradwell Moor. Across OA land to pick up the LW again and also the route of the Peak Forest Fell Race.(which we continued on to the finish).
A sharp left at Cow Low, up past Rowter Farm and across rough pasture towards Conies Dale but before dropping into it a sharp right onto more OA land and a thistly/tussocky traverse before a steeper but runnable climb up to Eldon Hill. After admiring the great views from here it was a tussocky descent, followed by a couple of fields to the house at Sweetknoll, and the fly in the ointment which was a half mile of tarmac, some of it down hill back to the Devonshire Arms.
A lovely mainly off road run of 7.5 miles, 1,025 feet in 1hr 11mins taking in most of the PFFR route. To the rear of the pub is a nice covered seating area where excellent chips were washed down with a very tasty session IPA, Delaying the Inevitable 4.2% from Wilde Child Brewing Company in, I believe, Mr B's neck of the woods of Leeds.
Only open Thursday to Sunday, the new licensee seems to be making an effort so hopefully they'll be successful although I have my doubts when winter comes. There is a small campsite at the rear and as we were leaving at 10pm eight blokes with large rucksac's walked in and ordered some beer. They were walking the Limestone Way.
8.5 steady miles on the treadmill today, followed by a lot of stretching and some light leg-press work to try and shake my legs out a bit after yesterday's ordeal.
68.5 miles for the week.
Next week its just about getting myself fresh for next weekend's English Champs counter. May possibly do something slightly speedy on wednesday, perhaps 5 x 2mins or similar, subject to the legs being fully recovered. But i won't lose any sleep if ii have to drop that one.
Looking at the number of entries for next weekend, and the nature of the race, its undoubtedly going to be my best chance of champs points.... in fact its last-chance-saloon really... with the final race in August being a combined English/British counter at Sedbergh Hills, and me not really doing the necessary training for such a long race, i think Chapelfell Top this weekend is all or bust.
3.5 miles today, had my first 5 mile run yesterday since my AF ablation feel like I’m getting stronger, biggest issue is weak legs but getting better every run :)
The Master is serene in the midst of chaos.Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
Evil cannot enter his heart.
(Tao Te Ching)
Well done, glad to hear it's going well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stanley
Can't say my latest come back is going so well, as it has stalled. My basic problem is I can't co-ordinate my surgically altered leg, and find that it's like running with someone else's leg attached to your body. Very difficult to describe what this is like; it just feels alien at the moment.
As always, however, I have a plan. I have discovered that I can run around car parks pushing a loaded shopping trolley, (leaning forward, quite a bit of weight on my arms), and I have been taking advantage of any such opportunity. I have also discovered a local gravelly 1 in 8 hill (with a monster 6 metres of altitude gain :)) on open access land by the side of the A38. At the top of the 'climb' it gradually levels off, so I can then continue to run on the flat - this is important as it's the very first couple of strides where I struggle to get going. I think my co-ordination is improving, but it looks like it's going to be a long 'journey' to anything resembling normal running.
I don't know about loaded shopping trolleys, but at the trail race that I did on Beacon Hill last month there was a bloke pushing a buggy with a baby in it. You see this quite commonly at parkruns, but I hadn't seen it before at a race. He came past me on the first downhill, but he seemed to be really struggling when I passed him on the second uphill, and I didn't see him after that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
So if you want to go for runs pushing a wheeled object, maybe you could find an exhausted mother near you who would welcome an offer to take her baby out for a run in its buggy - but preferably not up a steep hill next to the A38.
Cheers Marco, onwards and upwards (we’ll upwards eventually I hope) looking at your shopping trolley training could you get the same effect with poles??Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
I don't believe so. When I started, I was putting probably half my weight on the trolley. Even if I could have put this load through my arms, I'd have had to concentrate on co-ordinating them and my leg that I'm struggling to co-ordinate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stanley
I think I'm about through the running-with-a-shopping-trolley stage, now I have found a hill steep enough to use a running-up-stairs type of action.