Callow Hill Intervals - 07/08/2011

View along Wenlock Edge from Flounder's Folly on Callow Hill. We ran our intervals up
the path along the edge of the woodland on the left of the photo.
© Copyright Jeremy Bolwell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 Every so often we have to do something a little less fun in life. Hill interval sessions is one of those times. It's good for you, but no-one likes doing it.

This time, though, it wasn't so bad, as Em had a go first and I had a target to aim at. I did five hard efforts each of 90 seconds on about a 1:8 to 1:10 graded forest path, jogging back down and resting so there were two minutes recovery between each interval. Each interval was about 250 yards of uphill, for an uphill pace (not sustainable!) of about 10:30 min/mile.

My second and fourth efforts were a little limp: I hid a little bit midway up. The first and third were ok and the fifth was pretty much full on. That said, the distance covered on each effot varied by less than 10%.

Need to try to do this more regularly now the legs are recovering, and my aerobic fitness is coming back.

Afterwards we went up to the top and were able to go up the Folly which has been restored by a local group (the Flounders Folly Trust) with Millennium Lottery money. They've rebuilt the top of the Folly which had collapsed, using a concrete ring to strengthen the structure, and put in a new staircase with a glass "lantern" at the top to provide light and keep the folly weatherproof. When the flag's flying the folly is manned and you can climb up inside. It was nice to see a local friend and fellow fell runner, Nick Kingston, manning the tower.

After a chat, and a look at the view (which included a pretty nasty squally shower), we headed off, running down the steep but direct path to Moorwood.

© Copyright Jeremy Bolwell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

We ran down the steep path from the Folly