Wednesday 14/08/2013 - morning
Quickish Cliffe Run
0:21, 250' (2.3 miles)
Grabbed a fairly quick run around the Cliffe just before dawn - beautiful morning with trails of mist in the wide Severn and Dee valleys either side of me and trees poking out above the sea of grey. Lovely sunrise too.
Thursday 15/08/2013 - evening
Pre-Committee Wrekin Blast
0:34, 900' (2.8 miles)
Squeezed a climbing session out on the Wrekin in between work and Mercia committee. Up the scree gully to Halfway House, down Beeches to the bottom, then up the BMX track and the main path to the summit. Down via my network of tracks on the east face to pick up the main track at the hairpin below Halfway House. Pushed fairly hard tonight, good session, climbing ok. Descended quickly but fairly easy.
Sunday 18/08/2013 - morning
Nav Coaching
0:45, 450' (1.1 miles) - walk
1:05, 1,600' (4.9 miles) - run
Coached basic nav skills to a group of 12 this morning.
Walk - trip to bottom of Hundred Steps, then Townbrook reservoir and return over hill in Rectory Wood.
Run - relays leg 1, followed this pretty much exactly with Kate W, Steve T and Steve B. Plenty of stops to practise map and compass work. Nice run with some quicker sections. legs a little tired on Yearlet.
Sunday 18/08/2013 - afternoon
Skyline Reccie
2:25, 2,050' (10.4 miles) - slow run
Cleared up coaching session and went straight over to the other side of Stretton to run a reccie of the second half of the Skyline with Zoe. All fine until Gogbatch, climbing quite well, then suddenly desperately tired and quite low. Dehydrated too. Found our way back to All Stretton via Plush Hill and a bit of the Batch Bash route only to discover the pub was shut. Walked back to Church Stretton along the road. Finally the blind blisters on my heels from the Hundred have moved forward a bit with one blowing up and tearing (the skin underneath is nice an hard though so it should be ok). I thought I'd done the job at Stiperstones, but it's taken another month and the use of an unusual pair of socks!
Summary
5:10, 5,250' (21.5 miles)
Another rather easy week, need to do some proper session planning. Two short relatively quick sessions, but were they hard enough? And was the running on Sunday easy enough? Evidently not in the conditions. Mileage a little low, but a reasonable amount of climbing. Would like to keep climbing >5,000' per week as I have found I go quite well off that. Distance could creep up a bit.
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Monday, 19 August 2013
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Training - 22 to 28/07/2013
Not much done this week because Zoe arrived back from a month in Africa on Tuesday and I took a few days off to enjoy a bit of time with her. We did however manage to take part in the Gritstone Tryal on Sunday 28th as a first run back for Zoe and a nice steady long run with a nav challenge thrown in for me.
Friday 26/07/2013 - evening
MAF Pace Jog
0:31, 300' (3.0 miles)
Three easy miles around Nesscliffe. A loop round the very outside of the school field is 400m, useful for future reference...
Sunday 28/07/2013 - morning
Gritstone Tryal
2:37, 1,650' (11.0 miles)
The Gritstone Tryal is a navigation event run by Ian Ankers of Staffordshire Moorlands AC. The format is simple - you're given a map with numbered checkpoints marked on it when you arrive and have up to an hour to decide how to get round the checkpoints (in order). The event then commences with a mass start. Zoe and I thought we had plenty of time to sort the route out, but in reality I was still marking my map up with ten minutes to go.
After a little footwear crisis (correct decision - trail shoes are nice and comfy and fine even on rough bits of the Peak when it hasn't rained much for weeks), we were on the start line and then away. We all took the same (obvious) line to CP1 with a few queues for the dibbers and a pair of kissing gates, then crossed the A53 and split.
We selected the better line for leg 2 but ruined it with some poor execution, losing the indistinct ROW and being drawn too far round the valley. We came out on the minor road instead of a slightly more major one, I forgot the road width coding on the map and we turned the wrong way to compound the initial error. I thus ended up doing the tough bit of my intended line (first half) and the tough bit of the other line (second half). Never mind.
Leg 3 was predominately across fields with three shallow valleys to cross. The first sunken lane we used was atrocious, boggy and rough under 3' high reeds. We then had to duck under trees for the next 200m and climb a fence where there was no sign of a stile (near Well Springs Farm). The uphill section to Colshaw was fine, although we use the field adjacent to the sunken lane as it was a lot easier going. We had to be careful across fields near Colshaw not to get drawn off our line by the sight of many other competitors over to our right who'd chosen a hiller but possibly slightly shorter line crossing the valleys a little further downstream. Our next valley crossing was gained by some desperate descending through another scrubby wood with little sign of the ROW on the ground. We found the footbrige OK though and the climb up the next field wasn't too bad. There was no ROW signing after Brand Top and nothing on the ground - a descent on a grassy spur gave onto 250m of hideous bog with neck high reeds: fortunately I found a way through on flattened sections to the final stream crossing. I did manage to get my head up on the way down and had noticed a nice newly mown hayfield roughly where the right hand option was for the final climb to CP3, so we cut across to that leaving some other competitors labouring on much rougher ground and reached CP3 ahead of a few folk.
The leg to CP4 was obvious and very runnable and we put in a good effort here past the HSE fire testing grounds at Turncliff. There were several burnt out tube carriages over to our left at one point. We also passed Stanley Moor Reservoir. This large rectangular structure was built over underlying material honeycombed by solution holes and caverns and was decommissioned about ten years ago under the supervision of one of my colleagues. The works removed a large wedge of the dam on the east side and used the material to partly fill the impoundment, creating a series of wildlfe pools. CP4 was another manned checkpoint - Ian had driven out here from the event centre to do the honours.
I'd looked carefully at the leg to CP5 and come up with an option which was about 3 km, mostly on trails. There was a road option which was nearly 4 km but it meant running 2 km along the busy A53 and a less obvious approach to CP5 itself across rough ground so I'd decided there was no advantage in it. Zoe hadn't trained at all while she was in Uganda and she suffered up the climb to the A54, feeling sick and with jelly legs. We slowed right down and I told her not to worry, she'd feel better in a bit. She forced herself to run most of the section over Axe Edge Moor, but we lost about 5 places on this leg. The checkpoint itself was easily found and we had a welcome cup of water there.
I'd decided to take a direct line from CP5 to CP6 across the moor but after 200m I could tell Zoe was really struggling so we cut back to the fence all our competitors were following and went down that until we were level with a small knoll on the right which was obvious on the map. As the others went straight on on a more circuitous route, Zoe and I took a bearing (which conveniently coincided with Shining Tor, clearly visible to the west) and we walked across rough moorland nearly 1 km and dropped in 50m north of the checkpoint exactly as planned. This meant we'd overtooken all of the guys who'd passed us on the way from CP4, so I was pretty pleased with the leg.
We had a cunning plan for leg 7 too. The more obvious routes used rights of way across farmland between Blackclough and Knotbury, but they looked navigationally complex, so I'd come up with a line to the west, using a byway which would lead up to the road and thence the checkpoint. As a further refinement we could cut a corner where the track zigzagged down a steep hill and save another 200m. The plan worked perfectly and by CP7 we'd shaken off everyone following except Jackie Keasley from Helsby RC.
Leg 8 was straightforward up over Wolf Edge and down to a checkpoint on the last wall before Flash vilalage. Even so we lost half our lead ovr Jackie as Zoe and I both missed a stile on our right near the top of the climb and had to backtrack 20m.
We clipped at CP8 and just had 400m of road running in to the finish, where we found to our surprise that Zoe had won a bottle of wine for finishing 2nd lady! Although the running was pretty comfortable for me I did feel myself getting into it around CP5 and feeling fairly strong.
A good morning out, great views, a good nav challenge and a decent long run for us both - thank you to Ian and all your helpers.
Friday 26/07/2013 - evening
MAF Pace Jog
0:31, 300' (3.0 miles)
Three easy miles around Nesscliffe. A loop round the very outside of the school field is 400m, useful for future reference...
Sunday 28/07/2013 - morning
Gritstone Tryal
2:37, 1,650' (11.0 miles)
The Gritstone Tryal is a navigation event run by Ian Ankers of Staffordshire Moorlands AC. The format is simple - you're given a map with numbered checkpoints marked on it when you arrive and have up to an hour to decide how to get round the checkpoints (in order). The event then commences with a mass start. Zoe and I thought we had plenty of time to sort the route out, but in reality I was still marking my map up with ten minutes to go.
 |
| Event map - my mark-up in blue |
We selected the better line for leg 2 but ruined it with some poor execution, losing the indistinct ROW and being drawn too far round the valley. We came out on the minor road instead of a slightly more major one, I forgot the road width coding on the map and we turned the wrong way to compound the initial error. I thus ended up doing the tough bit of my intended line (first half) and the tough bit of the other line (second half). Never mind.
Leg 3 was predominately across fields with three shallow valleys to cross. The first sunken lane we used was atrocious, boggy and rough under 3' high reeds. We then had to duck under trees for the next 200m and climb a fence where there was no sign of a stile (near Well Springs Farm). The uphill section to Colshaw was fine, although we use the field adjacent to the sunken lane as it was a lot easier going. We had to be careful across fields near Colshaw not to get drawn off our line by the sight of many other competitors over to our right who'd chosen a hiller but possibly slightly shorter line crossing the valleys a little further downstream. Our next valley crossing was gained by some desperate descending through another scrubby wood with little sign of the ROW on the ground. We found the footbrige OK though and the climb up the next field wasn't too bad. There was no ROW signing after Brand Top and nothing on the ground - a descent on a grassy spur gave onto 250m of hideous bog with neck high reeds: fortunately I found a way through on flattened sections to the final stream crossing. I did manage to get my head up on the way down and had noticed a nice newly mown hayfield roughly where the right hand option was for the final climb to CP3, so we cut across to that leaving some other competitors labouring on much rougher ground and reached CP3 ahead of a few folk.
The leg to CP4 was obvious and very runnable and we put in a good effort here past the HSE fire testing grounds at Turncliff. There were several burnt out tube carriages over to our left at one point. We also passed Stanley Moor Reservoir. This large rectangular structure was built over underlying material honeycombed by solution holes and caverns and was decommissioned about ten years ago under the supervision of one of my colleagues. The works removed a large wedge of the dam on the east side and used the material to partly fill the impoundment, creating a series of wildlfe pools. CP4 was another manned checkpoint - Ian had driven out here from the event centre to do the honours.
I'd looked carefully at the leg to CP5 and come up with an option which was about 3 km, mostly on trails. There was a road option which was nearly 4 km but it meant running 2 km along the busy A53 and a less obvious approach to CP5 itself across rough ground so I'd decided there was no advantage in it. Zoe hadn't trained at all while she was in Uganda and she suffered up the climb to the A54, feeling sick and with jelly legs. We slowed right down and I told her not to worry, she'd feel better in a bit. She forced herself to run most of the section over Axe Edge Moor, but we lost about 5 places on this leg. The checkpoint itself was easily found and we had a welcome cup of water there.
I'd decided to take a direct line from CP5 to CP6 across the moor but after 200m I could tell Zoe was really struggling so we cut back to the fence all our competitors were following and went down that until we were level with a small knoll on the right which was obvious on the map. As the others went straight on on a more circuitous route, Zoe and I took a bearing (which conveniently coincided with Shining Tor, clearly visible to the west) and we walked across rough moorland nearly 1 km and dropped in 50m north of the checkpoint exactly as planned. This meant we'd overtooken all of the guys who'd passed us on the way from CP4, so I was pretty pleased with the leg.
We had a cunning plan for leg 7 too. The more obvious routes used rights of way across farmland between Blackclough and Knotbury, but they looked navigationally complex, so I'd come up with a line to the west, using a byway which would lead up to the road and thence the checkpoint. As a further refinement we could cut a corner where the track zigzagged down a steep hill and save another 200m. The plan worked perfectly and by CP7 we'd shaken off everyone following except Jackie Keasley from Helsby RC.
Leg 8 was straightforward up over Wolf Edge and down to a checkpoint on the last wall before Flash vilalage. Even so we lost half our lead ovr Jackie as Zoe and I both missed a stile on our right near the top of the climb and had to backtrack 20m.
We clipped at CP8 and just had 400m of road running in to the finish, where we found to our surprise that Zoe had won a bottle of wine for finishing 2nd lady! Although the running was pretty comfortable for me I did feel myself getting into it around CP5 and feeling fairly strong.
A good morning out, great views, a good nav challenge and a decent long run for us both - thank you to Ian and all your helpers.
I've attached a scan of the event map showing our plan, and the actual route taken is on Strava:
Summary
3:08, 1,950' (14.0 miles)
A much easier week. Nice to spend some time relaxing and to have the practise of navigating under (some) pressure in the Tryal. I need to try to get some more consistency in my training for the next three weeks though...
Friday, 2 August 2013
Training - 15 to 21/07/2013
Monday 15/07/2013 - evening
MAF Pace Climbing Reps
0:53, 750' (3.5 miles)
Got out with the dog on a slightly less hot evening. I'm trying to work on my climbing after the issues I had in Norway controlling my HR on the ascents - and I realise I hadn't done much structured fell work since well before the hundred, so it's probably been three months. Tonight I stayed local, jogging over to the bottom of the steepest sustained climb at Nesscliffe, the one I call "School Gully". I tried to climb well within myself, powerhiking and breathing through my nose every two paces, slowing down if I started to get out of breath or felt my HR creeping up. At the end of each climb (about 3.5 minutes) I jogged down the easy steady descent (about 5.5 minutes) ready for the next climb. Four reps tonight, but that was because the dog was getting hot and tired :-) Felt good, got to try to do this session or something similar more often. Probably didn't gain full fat burning effect though because I was starrving when I got in and had a Twix just before I went out to run...
MAF Pace Climbing Reps
0:53, 750' (3.5 miles)
Got out with the dog on a slightly less hot evening. I'm trying to work on my climbing after the issues I had in Norway controlling my HR on the ascents - and I realise I hadn't done much structured fell work since well before the hundred, so it's probably been three months. Tonight I stayed local, jogging over to the bottom of the steepest sustained climb at Nesscliffe, the one I call "School Gully". I tried to climb well within myself, powerhiking and breathing through my nose every two paces, slowing down if I started to get out of breath or felt my HR creeping up. At the end of each climb (about 3.5 minutes) I jogged down the easy steady descent (about 5.5 minutes) ready for the next climb. Four reps tonight, but that was because the dog was getting hot and tired :-) Felt good, got to try to do this session or something similar more often. Probably didn't gain full fat burning effect though because I was starrving when I got in and had a Twix just before I went out to run...
Tuesday 16/07/2013 - evening
Rest / X Train
Resisted the temptation to run. Mowed the lawn and walked the dog instead. Stiperstones race tomorrow.
Wednesday 17/07/2013 - evening
Stiperstones Fell Race
0:37 plus warm-up, 1,250' (3.7 miles)
I hadn't done a short fell race for too long! They are fun, even if you're not properly trained for them and you are tired. Primarily this was a good opportunity for some intense training, and I decided beforehand to work as hard as I could for as long as I could without risking damaging myself. I should have started a little quicker on the wider section as I got badly held up on the first climb and descent but by the second climb I was pretty much in the right place in the field. At the top of the steep section of the second climb, the character of the route changes completely, from singletrack to an ATV road, which continues to climb at about 1:10 for nearly a mile. I struggled up here and did a deal with myself to keep running. I did manage to run the route out, only Paul and Val passed me up this section and they are both considerably quicker than me on the flat. I held position on the steep technical descent but by the road my heels were burning hot (it was a very warm dry night) and I eased off for fear that the damaged skin from the ultras would give out altogether and I'd have a recurrence of the foot problems I had after Three Peaks in 2011. In the end they just about held together and a dunk in the stream at the end saved them! I lost about 7/8 places on the final run-in but wasn't bothered, and given the lack of any specific prep I was quite happy with 37:09 and 34th place of 79. My previous race was not a good one (in 2011, after no sleep whatsoever the night before, I'd run 43:41.
Saturday 20/07/2013 - afternoon
Very Easy Run on Snowdon
1:51 (moving time), 2,100' (7.6 miles)
My friend Mel got her first England cap today, in the Snowdon International Mountain Race. I went out to support, setting off up the hill 20 minutes before the start of the race after a natter with some of my many friends who were running. I jogged up to about the 1,250' point and waited for the lead runners. I stood chatting and taking photos as most of the field came up. Mel looked great and very happy in her shiny new England kit! Then walked gently on up with some of the back markers - it would have been rude to run past them... At 2,200' I met Al Tye, and stood with him for a while as the leaders and the first third of the field came back down. I then headed off in the extremely strong sun and heat, picking a nice line down into the valley under Cloggy cliffs, then diagonally up steep rough ground to pick up the Snowdon Ranger path above the Cwm Brwynog - Cwm Clogwyn col. From there a still over the fence leads to a sketchy but lovely traversing path under Moel Cynghorion. I cut across the Afon Arddu valley and climbed up to Hebron Station to pick up the main Llanberis path as the tail enders were finishing the race, and stopped at the ice cream barn for a 99 and a Fanta on the way back to the event field. Paul Jones of Mercia had won the V40 open race and Mel had done great finishing between Pippa Maddams and Helen Berry as second counter for the England ladies. A meal in the Corn Mill in Llangollen on the way home rounded off an excellent day.
Sunday 21/07/2013 - lunchtime
Burway Hill Climb (Coaching Session)
0:42 (moving time), 650' (3.6 miles)
Did our first Mercia summer coaching session this morning. Mostly on uphill technique. Afterwards 19 of the 23 students, plus Tom and myself, went for a run up Burway Hill putting some of the technique into practise. Mostly back marked and coached.
Wednesday 17/07/2013 - evening
Stiperstones Fell Race
0:37 plus warm-up, 1,250' (3.7 miles)
I hadn't done a short fell race for too long! They are fun, even if you're not properly trained for them and you are tired. Primarily this was a good opportunity for some intense training, and I decided beforehand to work as hard as I could for as long as I could without risking damaging myself. I should have started a little quicker on the wider section as I got badly held up on the first climb and descent but by the second climb I was pretty much in the right place in the field. At the top of the steep section of the second climb, the character of the route changes completely, from singletrack to an ATV road, which continues to climb at about 1:10 for nearly a mile. I struggled up here and did a deal with myself to keep running. I did manage to run the route out, only Paul and Val passed me up this section and they are both considerably quicker than me on the flat. I held position on the steep technical descent but by the road my heels were burning hot (it was a very warm dry night) and I eased off for fear that the damaged skin from the ultras would give out altogether and I'd have a recurrence of the foot problems I had after Three Peaks in 2011. In the end they just about held together and a dunk in the stream at the end saved them! I lost about 7/8 places on the final run-in but wasn't bothered, and given the lack of any specific prep I was quite happy with 37:09 and 34th place of 79. My previous race was not a good one (in 2011, after no sleep whatsoever the night before, I'd run 43:41.
Saturday 20/07/2013 - afternoon
Very Easy Run on Snowdon
1:51 (moving time), 2,100' (7.6 miles)
My friend Mel got her first England cap today, in the Snowdon International Mountain Race. I went out to support, setting off up the hill 20 minutes before the start of the race after a natter with some of my many friends who were running. I jogged up to about the 1,250' point and waited for the lead runners. I stood chatting and taking photos as most of the field came up. Mel looked great and very happy in her shiny new England kit! Then walked gently on up with some of the back markers - it would have been rude to run past them... At 2,200' I met Al Tye, and stood with him for a while as the leaders and the first third of the field came back down. I then headed off in the extremely strong sun and heat, picking a nice line down into the valley under Cloggy cliffs, then diagonally up steep rough ground to pick up the Snowdon Ranger path above the Cwm Brwynog - Cwm Clogwyn col. From there a still over the fence leads to a sketchy but lovely traversing path under Moel Cynghorion. I cut across the Afon Arddu valley and climbed up to Hebron Station to pick up the main Llanberis path as the tail enders were finishing the race, and stopped at the ice cream barn for a 99 and a Fanta on the way back to the event field. Paul Jones of Mercia had won the V40 open race and Mel had done great finishing between Pippa Maddams and Helen Berry as second counter for the England ladies. A meal in the Corn Mill in Llangollen on the way home rounded off an excellent day.
Sunday 21/07/2013 - lunchtime
Burway Hill Climb (Coaching Session)
0:42 (moving time), 650' (3.6 miles)
Did our first Mercia summer coaching session this morning. Mostly on uphill technique. Afterwards 19 of the 23 students, plus Tom and myself, went for a run up Burway Hill putting some of the technique into practise. Mostly back marked and coached.
Training - 08 to 14/07/2013
Monday 08/07/2013 - evening
Caer Caradoc
0:54, 850' (3.6 miles)
Stopped at Church Stretton on the way back from Gatwick after the Norway trip. Yomped up Caradoc past Three Fingers Rock with Bailey. Skirted around the rocks a bit then down fundamentally the same way.
Wednesday 10/07/2013 - evening
Wrekin
0:55, 1,150' (3.8 miles)
Bits of the Wrecker and some new trails, trying to link up recent discoveries and avoid the main path. Some of this was at an easy pace, but I pushed on in one or two places, particularly the top half of the Goaty path. Feeling ok considering, some tightness at bottom of hamstrings and slight soreness in right ankle after Hornindal.
Thursday 11/07/2013 - evening
Sports massage
Went to see the ever-brilliant Dianne. Good release of my back between the shoulder blades, probably from wearing the running sack all weekend (inc.l as had baggage for flights). Worked quite hard / deep on the shin muscles (tibialis anterior). Need to keep working on the flexibility stuff I think - I'm considering a one-off physio appointment to get an assessment and some kind of training / stretching plan. Nice two mile walk along the canal towpath with the dog afterwards.
Friday 12/07/2013
Nesscliffe
1:07, 600' (5.0 miles)
Quite warm very gentle jog around the Cliffe, Hopton Hill and Nesscliffe Wood with Em. The emphasis was very much on the social aspect tonight, so I had a nice easy run. Felt ok after yesterday's massage: thankfully no adverse reaction in my shins! Di always seems to get it just right :-)
Sunday 14/07/2013
Longmynd Longish Run
2:47, 3,050' (12.6 miles)
Started at 9:30 am which was way too late on one of the hottest days of the year. I was going to go round the Longmynd Valleys route, but realised as I reached the top of Jonathan's Hollow that, with many of the streams almost empty, water could be at a premium today. A change of plan was to drop down Ashes and if there was not drinkable water in the stream to go all the way down to the campsite, then cross Yearlet / Ashlet and do half of the Cardingmill Canter route to finish off. There was water in the stream in the hollow, so I went straight up Yearlet on an experimental line, right up the vague ridge between the west and south faces which is a pretty direct line to the top. It eases after a while and on a cooler day the top half of the climb would be runnable. Coming off Yearlet I bumped into a Newport/Telford AC trio - it was nice to see them after a while. Went round onto Ashlet and then down the Green Path and the ramp to the cafe in Cardingmill. Filled up the bottle and grabbed a salt sachet, which I ate half of on the start of the next climb. I tried the path which goes round the back of the bungalow and takes Bodbury on pretty much direct. It's steep, unrelenting and compsed mostly of slippy gravel. I had to stop a couple of times and really felt I was running out of steam. I managed to drag my weary carcass up to Haddon Hill, then did the Canter descent and jogged round the pipeline to New Pool. It was heaving with sunbathers and swimmers. After a quick swim / cool down I jogged down the valley to finish off. Some good climbing, but I felt pretty weak today. Maybe it was just the heat?
Summary
5:43, 5,650' (25 miles) and a massage.
A start in getting back to training properly and specifically for fell running. After the problems at Hornindal on Saturday I managed to get some decent climbing done. I'm also thinking it might be an idea at this phase in my cycle to get a bit of physio support to sort out a few niggles and weaknesses: a slight left side groin strain I've had for months, the under-activated glutes and psoas muscles, sore/overused shin muscles and the stiffness in my lower back which can lead to tightness down my glutes, hams, calves and Achilles. That's quite a shopping list!
Monday, 15 July 2013
Training - 01 to 07/07/2013
Wednesday 03/07/2013 - evening
Bits of Batch Bash
0:41, 800' (3.3 miles)
Gentle jog (in reverse) around the east side of Novers Hill to the Cwmdale cattle grid, then following the route up to the golf course fence and down the ridge to the big junction of valleys in the Batch. Jogged back down the valley from there rather than going up towards Jinlye. Took the dog and was a bit time constrained...
Friday 05/07/2013 - afternoon
Ytrehornssaetra Reccie
about 1:30, 1,850' (4.0 miles)
I'd travelled over to Norway on Thursday for the Hornindal race (a long day, setting off from Buckinghamshire at 04:45 Norwegian time and arriving in Hornindal at 18:00). I needed to shake the travel out of my legs, so I walked up to Ytrehornssaetra from Grodås by an obvious but very steep and rough path through woods to come out at a twentieth century standing stone overlooking the valley and village. On the way up I met Mattias Gärdsback and his girlfriend Caroline from Sweden, who were staying in the room next to mine at the B&B, and Moritz Maus from Cologne. Just above the standing stone was Ytrehornssaetra. A saetra is like a farmstead or mountain hamlet. A lot of them are abandoned now, or just used as summer huts, but years ago shepherds would have lived in the huts for much of the year. One new addition at Ytrehorn is a mountain hut, open to the public. It just has two benches and a small table but it was a welcome place to duck out of the breeze for ten minutes at the top of the climb. I ran carefully and fairly gently down, trying hard not to injure myself for the following day. It took me 30 minutes at a very laid back pace to the finish area, the following day even the elite runners would be taking a lot more than this (due no doubt to tiredness and finishing in the strange half light of a Norwegian night).
Saturday 06/07/2013 - all day!
Hornindal Rundt Fjelløp
8:48, 9,800' (25.0 miles)
See separate post!
Sunday 07/07/2013 - afternoon
Høgenibba / Kviven and Otredalen
4:36, 4,900' (14.0 miles)
I had a great walk up from Grodås (60m ASL) to the col where the full ultrafjelløp checkpoint 17 would have been (manned checkpoint), then carefully climbed up to the summit of Høgenibba (1191m) piecing together the route by following the race markings (but in reverse so I had to keep casting about a bit and looking backwards). There were a couple of steep pitches up to the summit, and an amazing view. I ran the descent and then on across the col with a view down to the Kvivsvatnet lake. From here the running was on a lovely traversing path for a mile before a steep climb up to the summit plateau of Kviven which was mostly boilerplate rocks. The descent to Otredalen wasn't particularly steep anywhere but followed the usual Norwegian mode of picking a sketchy line from marker to marker until well below the col and down into the valley where I picked up a little path which took me down to a few huts and two lovely new chalets at Otredalssaetra (checkpoint 19 on the race). From here instead of following the race route over the peak of Svarthamrane and down via Ytrehornssaetra onto Friday's route, I dropped down the very steep ATV track to Otterdal and then along the road back to Grodås. The road had washed away in large part and some of the going was quite rough on the newly placed rock forming the formation for repairs. A thoroughly enjoyable outing which I hope will be a useful reccie of most of the tail end of the full ultrafjelløp race for future.
Summary
15:35, 17,350' (46 miles)
I really reconnected with the bigger rougher mountain environment I love to be in this week, despite not completing the long race in Hornindal. I'd been wondering what to do about my (over) packed programme for the late summer and autumn, and I'll be concentrating on training for and taking part in events in the bigger hills of the UK. I was going to take part in the WOW 50 mile event on 21/07/2013 but I think I'll limit my participation to doing a long run of maybe 25 miles with some of my friends to celebrate Terry Davies' 60th birthday. I'm leading the first of three coaching sessions to following morning so I ought to make sure I arrive for that in reasonable state!
Coming up after that my likely targets are the Nant y Moch fell race on 17/08, and the Lake District Mountain Trial on 15/09 before the RAB Mountain Marathon at the end of September.
Bits of Batch Bash
0:41, 800' (3.3 miles)
Gentle jog (in reverse) around the east side of Novers Hill to the Cwmdale cattle grid, then following the route up to the golf course fence and down the ridge to the big junction of valleys in the Batch. Jogged back down the valley from there rather than going up towards Jinlye. Took the dog and was a bit time constrained...
Friday 05/07/2013 - afternoon
Ytrehornssaetra Reccie
about 1:30, 1,850' (4.0 miles)
I'd travelled over to Norway on Thursday for the Hornindal race (a long day, setting off from Buckinghamshire at 04:45 Norwegian time and arriving in Hornindal at 18:00). I needed to shake the travel out of my legs, so I walked up to Ytrehornssaetra from Grodås by an obvious but very steep and rough path through woods to come out at a twentieth century standing stone overlooking the valley and village. On the way up I met Mattias Gärdsback and his girlfriend Caroline from Sweden, who were staying in the room next to mine at the B&B, and Moritz Maus from Cologne. Just above the standing stone was Ytrehornssaetra. A saetra is like a farmstead or mountain hamlet. A lot of them are abandoned now, or just used as summer huts, but years ago shepherds would have lived in the huts for much of the year. One new addition at Ytrehorn is a mountain hut, open to the public. It just has two benches and a small table but it was a welcome place to duck out of the breeze for ten minutes at the top of the climb. I ran carefully and fairly gently down, trying hard not to injure myself for the following day. It took me 30 minutes at a very laid back pace to the finish area, the following day even the elite runners would be taking a lot more than this (due no doubt to tiredness and finishing in the strange half light of a Norwegian night).
Saturday 06/07/2013 - all day!
Hornindal Rundt Fjelløp
8:48, 9,800' (25.0 miles)
See separate post!
Sunday 07/07/2013 - afternoon
Høgenibba / Kviven and Otredalen
4:36, 4,900' (14.0 miles)
I had a great walk up from Grodås (60m ASL) to the col where the full ultrafjelløp checkpoint 17 would have been (manned checkpoint), then carefully climbed up to the summit of Høgenibba (1191m) piecing together the route by following the race markings (but in reverse so I had to keep casting about a bit and looking backwards). There were a couple of steep pitches up to the summit, and an amazing view. I ran the descent and then on across the col with a view down to the Kvivsvatnet lake. From here the running was on a lovely traversing path for a mile before a steep climb up to the summit plateau of Kviven which was mostly boilerplate rocks. The descent to Otredalen wasn't particularly steep anywhere but followed the usual Norwegian mode of picking a sketchy line from marker to marker until well below the col and down into the valley where I picked up a little path which took me down to a few huts and two lovely new chalets at Otredalssaetra (checkpoint 19 on the race). From here instead of following the race route over the peak of Svarthamrane and down via Ytrehornssaetra onto Friday's route, I dropped down the very steep ATV track to Otterdal and then along the road back to Grodås. The road had washed away in large part and some of the going was quite rough on the newly placed rock forming the formation for repairs. A thoroughly enjoyable outing which I hope will be a useful reccie of most of the tail end of the full ultrafjelløp race for future.
Summary
15:35, 17,350' (46 miles)
I really reconnected with the bigger rougher mountain environment I love to be in this week, despite not completing the long race in Hornindal. I'd been wondering what to do about my (over) packed programme for the late summer and autumn, and I'll be concentrating on training for and taking part in events in the bigger hills of the UK. I was going to take part in the WOW 50 mile event on 21/07/2013 but I think I'll limit my participation to doing a long run of maybe 25 miles with some of my friends to celebrate Terry Davies' 60th birthday. I'm leading the first of three coaching sessions to following morning so I ought to make sure I arrive for that in reasonable state!
Coming up after that my likely targets are the Nant y Moch fell race on 17/08, and the Lake District Mountain Trial on 15/09 before the RAB Mountain Marathon at the end of September.
Friday, 4 January 2013
Christmas and Training to 06/01/2013
A trial run of embedding pages from my Garmin Connect site to create a training diary quickly. If it doesn't work I'll go back to just covering events on here...
Week commencing 24/12/2012: I mostly concentrated on relaxing after Tour de Helvellyn and enjoying the Christmas holiday. We had a nice run on Boxing Day from Coln St Aldwyn to Bibury in the Costwolds, watched the charity duck race (our duck didn't win), dranked mulled wine and ran back. Then it was out on the Mynd on the Sunday for 8 miles (the easy 8) of the Longmynd Valleys race route. The headwind on the usually runnable Portway section was a bit unwelcoming but we had a great time. A mere 2 runs and 3:05 of training: 14 miles and 2,500' of climbing almost all on trail or fell.
Week commencing 31/12/2012: Another rather limp start to the week due to New Year's Eve and the aftermath, but I got in a good hill reps session on Wednesday 2nd and ran a hard road tempo run the following day (albeit a bit interrupted stopping first because Zoe tripped badly on a deep pothole, and then because I needed a pee). On the Saturday I did a fairly rapid whizz round one of the suggested routes on the Nesscliffe Permanent Orienteering Course. With the trig points race this gives me 4 runs lasting a total of 5:19, covering 31 miles and 4,000' of climbing. I'm looking forward to getting back to some decent climbing sessions as Tuesday night runs start again for me now.
Week commencing 24/12/2012: I mostly concentrated on relaxing after Tour de Helvellyn and enjoying the Christmas holiday. We had a nice run on Boxing Day from Coln St Aldwyn to Bibury in the Costwolds, watched the charity duck race (our duck didn't win), dranked mulled wine and ran back. Then it was out on the Mynd on the Sunday for 8 miles (the easy 8) of the Longmynd Valleys race route. The headwind on the usually runnable Portway section was a bit unwelcoming but we had a great time. A mere 2 runs and 3:05 of training: 14 miles and 2,500' of climbing almost all on trail or fell.
Week commencing 31/12/2012: Another rather limp start to the week due to New Year's Eve and the aftermath, but I got in a good hill reps session on Wednesday 2nd and ran a hard road tempo run the following day (albeit a bit interrupted stopping first because Zoe tripped badly on a deep pothole, and then because I needed a pee). On the Saturday I did a fairly rapid whizz round one of the suggested routes on the Nesscliffe Permanent Orienteering Course. With the trig points race this gives me 4 runs lasting a total of 5:19, covering 31 miles and 4,000' of climbing. I'm looking forward to getting back to some decent climbing sessions as Tuesday night runs start again for me now.
Monday, 19 November 2012
Penmaenmawr Fell Race - 17/11/2012
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| At the top of the initial climb, Irish Sea behind, off to CP1 in the sunshine! |
The route really suited what I wanted to do which was an easy to steady effort of around 10 miles - it's hard to believe I haven't run this far since the Vrynwy Half Marathon in early September!
It was pretty cold in the valley at Capelulo before the start, but very warm indeed in the community centre where I changed and annotated an map extract with the route (this was precautionary just in case of a deterioration in the lovely cold sunny weather). Zoe and Bailey saw me off with the rest of the field of just under 200 runners at 10:30.
Chris Near runs the race is run in alternate directions: this year it was anti-clockwise, so we started with a steep climb up a zig-zagging landrover track for the first half mile, before heading off towards Cefn Coch across beautifully soft grassy tracks. Al Tye was stood just past the top of the first climb taking pictures and we shared a friendly "hello". There were great views right to the sea and half left to Foel Fras (still topped with cloud) on this section. Having started at a steady but comfortable pace I let a fair number of runners pass me in this section - as I said the objective was a long easy to steady run, not a racing pace effort, and I was really enjoying the nice going and the view.
A bit of a traversing climb from Cefn Coch brought us into sight of the first checkpoint at the south edge of Penmaenmawr Quarry. At this point the route almost doubles back to drop down to the Afon Maes-y-bryn. This is great running to start with, but quickly became very boggy. I concentrated on keeping my cadence relatively high and doing nice short choppy strides to counteract the bog, and caught and passed a few folk here. The climb from the bog to the Pylon line which crosses Bwlch y Ddeufaen was good too, grass with those scattered protruding boulders which require a lot of concentration. At the top I took a gel and a few sips of water as we crossed the stile onto the Roman Road. This place is better known to a lot of runners as the start or finish of the Welsh 3000ers.
I didn't mind the road, being passed by runners on the flat bits and repassing them on a couple of short downhill sections. Keith and Pauline were out to support, and again we shared greetings and some encouragement. This and the gel geed me up a bit and I climbed well as we started up yet another lovely springy grassy track from CP2 at Cae Coch, gradually catching and overhauling a couple of runners. I kept it steady though and didn't respond when passed by another couple.
The route then traversed north for a mile and a bit with great views of the Conwy estuary and still the wonderful grassy tracks to reach the first flagging on the route which led in to CP4 (Fords) where Al was once more taking pictures, this time of runners fording a stream and climbing a short sharp climb which led to the final descent.
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| At the Fords, not far from the finish, happy and comfortable! |
I'm reading Boff Whalley's book "Run Wild" at the moment and whilst Boff races (and in the past has raced at a pretty good level), it's the quality of the running that excites him, not so much the racing. If it's a nice route and good company you get the impression he's happy to turn up to a race, but he obviously is uncomfortable with the idea of running round city streets with 40,000 other people. This race was a good experiment, I like the company and I'm happy to go on attending and running in races for training as opposed to having to race full-on in every race I go to. It's for me to know which my target races are and to marshall everything I'm capable of on those days, and I just need to have the discipline to not be upset / excited / whatever about results on days like this when I'm running with the attitude that results don't matter but enjoyment does.
We've just had a discussion on the Shropshire Fell Running Facebook page about this - I think I might be in the minority with most folks saying they go flat out every time they do a race, yet there is a recognition there that if folks raced flat out a bit less often they'd be able to get better results when they did. Whatever.
On Sunday, Zoe did a very creditable 1:42 (29th lady of 650) at Conwy on relatively little training, and we both had a really nice relazing weekend. Good times.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Kind of Callow - 16/05/2012
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| Sunset over the Mynd from Callow - well worth waiting for |
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| Church Stretton from the start of the Yearlet climb |
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| Tree and Ragleth Hill from the rocky start of the climb up Grindle |
Legs were a bit tired on the way up Yearlet, but they got back into gear nicely for the remaining two climbs. 4.8 miles, 2,400' in 1:26:37 on a fairly easy effort level.
Tuesday Night with Bluebells - 15/05/2012
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| Ben, Roger and Phil on the top of Helmeth Hill |
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| Debbie and Naomi at Three Fingers Rock |
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| Paul, Tom, Rob and David at Three Fingers |
Training to 02/05/2012
Just a few brief training notes to bring things a bit more up to date:
17/04/2012 - Tuesday Night Run
Up via Snatchfield Farm, then traversing under Hazler Hill to Gaerstones. Ran along the spine of the Bowdler Hills to Battle Stones, then skirted the head of the valley, running over instead of around pt 334m for an extra hundred feet of climbing. From the Old Cardington Lane, we went up the steep side of the Caradoc and then came down the Three Fingers Ridge
6.3mi; 1,351ft; 1:15:49 (moving)
18/04/2012 - Burway Hill
Met up with Pauline, Charlie and Em on club business for a bit, then I decided to go for a jog up Burway Hill. Ran up the Burway from town to the cattle grid and then managed to climb to the top of Burway Hill and on to Devil's Mouth at a steady slow run. I then traversed round into the top of the southern arm of New Pool Hollow (I was really aiming for the western arm which has a nice path in it). Anyway the southern one is well gnarly and I had my oldest pair of fell shoes on so I had to take it easy at the top. Nice run back to the car via Rectory Wood.
3.6mi; 809ft; 0:45:55 (moving)
20/04/2012 - Bluebell Run Reccie
Ran round the Bluebell Run race route with Em, Roger, and Mark B. Nice night for it, but a cold wind on top. Stopped for a comfort break at the bottom of the valley between Yearlet and Ashlet (usually referred to around here as "The Ramp") and then ran steady all the way to the top trying to catch back up to Em. I had a grand time down Townbrook trying to keep up with Mark, who's astonishingly fast.
4.9mi; 1,180'; 0:54:26 (moving)
23/04/2012 - Corndon and Stiperstones
Finished work nice and promptly so I headed over to Shelve (via the excellent shop at the Stiperstones - they now sell a few bits of Torq gels and bars). I ran the Hike route from Shelve over Corndon to Nind, then used the track which skirts east of Black Rhadley to reach the shooting centre driveway and climb on up to the Bridges - Bog road. I crossed straight over here and the mixed weather turned quite nasty as I headed up the Stiperstones. It hailed the whole time I was on top, and in the end I was getting pretty cold so I headed back down on the lane which comes out pretty much where the Hike leaves the road at Tankerville to go to Shelve. I followed the Hike route back to the car, just about getting warm again by the time I got there.
12.5mi; 1,885'; 2:25:28 (moving)
24/04/2012 - Big Climbs for a Tuesday Night
This week the group went for a big climbing night to keep the Newporters happy! We went up Townbrook Valley and then turned left to climb the steep east face of Yearlet. From the top we went straight on down steeply into Ashes Hollow and then used the sheep track traversing along the south side of the valley to reach the Grindle spur. 10 minutes of effort got us up to the top, and we descended by Nills to the footbridge. We climbed the Ashlet fence to the corner and then used another new bit of route, traversing the east face of Ashlet above Hopes Wood to reach the top of the Hundred Steps and return to Stretton through the Rectory Field.
4.8mi; 1,838'; 1:11:02 (moving)
25/04/2012 - Wrekin Streak Marshalling
Not really a run but I did do a fair bit of running around, marking out the juniors race and then marshalling it.
About 3 miles and 700'; not timed
26/04/2012 - SyTri Track - Sqauts Session
Another murderous session from Sam, the master of pain! This time it was a series of efforts and squats. We did a series of 1 min easy, 1 min hard, 1 min easy, then squats! It was a bit grim really, especially when I realised the squats were a pyramid: think we did 8-10-12-15-15-12-10-8. Good fun though, very well coached and a good stretching session after. I had pretty heavy calves for a few days afterwards though, and once again didn't run at the weekend.
01/04/2012 - Tuesday Night from Little Stretton
We've decided to mix it up over summer a little with the first Tuesday night run of each month being from Little Stretton not Church Stretton. This should enable us to get over into Callow Hollow and Minton Batch, places we rarely go on a normal Tuesday because it either means long routes or huge amounts of climbing.
We started off with almost an Ashes skyline, mostly sticking to paths as it was pretty misty up top. The route was up the valley for a couple of miles warm up, then using the Valleys ascent ramp to Barrister's Plain (Cross Dykes). From there it was good paths round Round Hill and along the ridge to Pole Cottage and Pole Bank. The return was via Boiling Well, the col at the top of Townbrook Valley and the summits of Yearlet and Ashlet, then a headlong plunge down to the footbridge in Ashes and back to the cars. I felt ok and had no problems with the calf.
6.9mi; 1,338'; 1:18:07 (moving)
02/04/2012 - Hilly Tempo Road Run
First time out on tarmac since the Regency 10k! Nice little run up to Dinchope and then down to the B road from Wenlock to Bridgnorth. I took a right there and ran down to the Halford turn, and came back through Halford and up the climb to Ireland Cottage. I concentrated on a nice fast turnover and ran a decent time considering the hills.
6.4mi; 606'; 0:51:44 - average pace 8:05/mile
Friday, 13 April 2012
WOW Reccie - 13/04/2012
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| The Wrekin, from the Sheinton - Wenlock road |
I started with the latter, leaving the car at Sheinton and following the route up and across the Sheinton - Wenlock and Buildwas - Wenlock roads, then along the course of the old railway until a mile short of the finish, where the route joins the outbound leg to pass Wenlock Priory into town.
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| View across the valley dropping into Farley - this will be about mile 98! |
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| Halfway through mile 99 - Wenlock Priory |
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| Set into the pavement about 200 yards from the finish - should we amend it to say "Wenlock Olympian Walk" just for that weekend? |
From there it's a cruisy, fast (but muddy today) descent past the power station to drop onto the course of the old Severn Valley Railway, which is followed past the Iron Bridge. I cut back across the new bridge and road ran along the wharfage to the Museum of the River. You can follow trails along the river most of the way back to Buildwas then. I was feeling fairly comfortable and kept running easily (10 min / mile pace) right through to Buildwas, and then on the road to reach the edge of the woods on the Builwas estate where a steady climb (and the only place I ran fairly hard) leads back up the hill to Sheinton.
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| River Severn at dusk |
Friday, 6 April 2012
Training to 10/04/2012
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| The track leading down from Flounders Folly on the Hills and Dales Hike |
First a nice very gentle recovery run with Em on Wednesday night. It was pretty cold and raining on and off and I really couldn't be bothered, but Em got home from work and came out the bath with her running kit on so I felt obligated really. And I'm really glad I went out. We had a really steady run to Halford and then back across the fields and through the woods. I concentrated on good running form - short strides and up on my toes, trying to do it easy like Caballo Blanco used to say: "Easy, Light, Smooth, Fast". Caballo may be gone but as Em reminded me his inspiration lives on. We cruised round for a very gentle 4.7 miles and 550' in almost exactly an hour.
I meant to get out and run all day on Friday but didn't manage to leave the house until half past five. I grabbed Em's Shropshire Hills Visitor Centre leaflet on the Hills and Dales Trail which was supposed to be about 6 miles. I thought I'd cut up onto the route at Lower Dinchope and then run the end (into Craven Arms) first, then the remainder of the route, finishing from the bottom of Callow Hill via the bridleway back to the house. The run to CA was pleasant, only disturbed by a few brambles in Berrymill Wood.
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| Ireland Cottage from the edge of Berrymill Wood |
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| Lower Dinchope, with Caer Caradoc behind and to the left |
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| Flounders Folly at the top of Callow Hill (locally known as The Tower) |
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| View across Hopedale from Callow Hill. The Wrekin is just visible centre right. |
I came back down easy but fairly quickly via Moorwood Farm and through Strefford Wood. A lovely evening run: 8.2 miles and 1,250' in 01:24.
On Saturday morning (07/04/2012) I headed over to Ironbridge to meet Em, John and James for a bit of WOW (Wenlock Olympian Walk) Reccie. The section for today was the first and last few miles of the second 50 mile loop, so it's part of the hundred, but not the fifty.
In wetting drizzle, we ran from Ironbridge over into Coalbrookdale then up the Rope Walk to join the Tinsel Trail route to Little Wenlock. On over to the Wrekin and a slog to the top. This is going to be tough, long climb (it's continuously uphill from Coalbrookdale to the top of the Wrekin), especially 90+ miles in. We ran down through Garmston and Leighton then via fields to Cressage. There's a pretty long road section from here to Sheinton. At Sheinton, Em and I both had aches and pains and decided disgression was the better part of valour, so we cut the route short and left James and JT to head up towards Much Wenlock.
Em and I ran down to Buildwas (walking a lot of the road sections) and returned to the car via the footpaths on the north bank of the Severn and then up the Wharfage past the Tontine. The rain finally stopped about five minutes before we got back to the cars. 17.3 miles and 1,800' in 03:28.
Over the Easter weekend I didn't run but had a couple of nice short walks, around home on Easter Sunday and at the head of Lake Vyrnwy on Easter Monday (rain again). I went to the point to point meeting at Upton on Tuesday and left a bit late to get back for the whole Tuesday run. However Tom came to the rescue, texting me the rough route, so I knew I could intercept the group at Little Stretton.
As I pulled up the first runners came down through the campsite, so by the time I'd thrown a fleece and some jog pants in my running pack and put a shirt and a pair of shorts on, it was time to play catch up. Luckily for me the guys had given themselves a good working over coming across Ashlet, so I didn't have to go too silly to catch them. We went on up Ragleth Hill, then along and via the lane to Gaer Stone. I climbed pretty well and descended nice and easy, but fairly quickly down to Cwms Cottage. From there we cruised on down to Stretton via the Hike field. 5 miles and 1,100' of climbing in 00:58.
Big Climbing Snowdonia Day - 02/04/2012
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| Me and Andros on the way up Glyder Fawr |
We set out from Pen y Pass, climbing Glyder Fach and then dropping down via the Devil's Kitchen to Ogwen Cottage for a cup of tea.
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| Andros on the summit rocks of Glyder Fawr |
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| Looking down from the north west face of Glyder Fawr to the Devil's Kitchen |
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| Em and Andros at the tricky stream crossing under Idwal Slabs |
After a quick cuppa (slower for Em and Andros, they weren't collecting their scattered equipment), we headed down the pretty path along Nantgwynant, past the lake. The sting in the tail was the massive (ok, massive for England and Wales) ascent of the Watkin path. I was flagging at the bottom and we stopped for a final feed, before I trudged the whole thing in one big slow heave. Em and Andros stopped to gear up half way but beat me to the top by a few minutes. For some reason I was just in grind mode.
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| Running along above Llyn Gwynant |
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| First view of Llyn Llydaw on the way down from Snowdon |
Training to 31/03/2012
After the Edale Skyline, I ran with the group on Tuesday night, feeling strangely very strong. I've noticed this has happened once or twice after big recess, but I don't know why. Anyway we did a recce of the Mynd Mac race, adding on a run through the Rectory Wood in each direction. I climbed very strongly and did the final descent down the gully to the bungalow strongly too. 6.7 miles and 1,950' in 1:20.
I felt a bit tired the rest of the week and was very busy with work, so it was Saturday 31st before I ran again. The plan was to go out with Zoe and do 24 miles on the roads around Corvedale and Apedale. I started quite well and we maintained our target pace of middle 8 minute miles for the first seven miles until I started to feel a bit sore in my psoas area again. I kept at it and felt better dropping down into and climbing out of Beambridge. Another mile and a half though and I knew I was struggling. Zoe and I decided to cut the route a little shorter, and to slow down, so we jogged up the bridleway to the head of Hopedale at Wetmore Farm. I managed to jog down the road to Middlehope, and then we walk / jogged to Westhope. We walked the last two and three quarter miles home. 18.8 miles, 1,500' in 3:14.
I felt a bit tired the rest of the week and was very busy with work, so it was Saturday 31st before I ran again. The plan was to go out with Zoe and do 24 miles on the roads around Corvedale and Apedale. I started quite well and we maintained our target pace of middle 8 minute miles for the first seven miles until I started to feel a bit sore in my psoas area again. I kept at it and felt better dropping down into and climbing out of Beambridge. Another mile and a half though and I knew I was struggling. Zoe and I decided to cut the route a little shorter, and to slow down, so we jogged up the bridleway to the head of Hopedale at Wetmore Farm. I managed to jog down the road to Middlehope, and then we walk / jogged to Westhope. We walked the last two and three quarter miles home. 18.8 miles, 1,500' in 3:14.
Training Update to 15/03/2012
An interesting couple of weeks!
Started off the day after the Circular (Sunday 4th March) with a nice run around Little Stretton with Lucy. We ran over to Little Stretton along the woods path from her house, then up Ashes Hollow as far as the Valleys Descent. Then we climbed up the south side of the valley a hundred feet or so and took Andros' Trod round to Small Batch. We took a nice little traverse out to the Callow / Grindle col and then the path up to Barrister's Plain. Lucy wanted some descending practise so I led down the Valleys ramp fairly quickly - she made a good fit of that despite it being pretty cut up and wet, and then we sailed down Ashes via the ravine rather than the easy higher path and back to Lucy's for a well earned cup of tea and a warm up. 6.5 miles and 1,200' in 1:11.
Tuesday night's run was a trip through the woods to Little Stretton, then the climb up Ashes, but forking left near the top into one of my favourite side valleys to come out at Pole Cottage. We ran over Pole Bank and back via Boiling Well, the top of Synalds and Townbrook Hollow. 7.5 miles and 1,450' in 1:25.
On Wednesday 7th I made a bit of a training cock-up. Em's been experimenting with minimal foot ware, so I got my beach shoes out for a short run, heading up the bridleway from Affcot and then along the road to Upper Dinchope and back down to the ford, thence home. Unfortunately it was all going swimmingly in the woods and I went a bit too fast on the road to Dinchope (about 7:30/mile pace) and got a twinge in my left calf on the way down. It got worse, I stopped and stretched it and jogged the rest of the way, but the damage was done and it was very stiff and sore the following morning. 3.4 miles and 350' in 0:33.
So the rest of the week and the weekend were a write off in terms of running, I didn't even really get out on the bike, but the calf had settled down enough for a trial run on the evening of Monday 12th. I headed up to Dinchope and then down to Halford in my Peregrines (the kindest footwear I have for my lower legs and feet). On the way back I lost my way in the fields a bit and ended up on a 2 mile steeplechase, but not to bother too much. I passed a few bonfires near Strefford where the landowner was burning brash. Why don't the offer it to people as fuel / kindling rather than just torch it in the fields?? 4.9 miles and 400' in 0:44.
On the Tuesday night, we headed out to Pole Bank via New Pool Hollow, Synalds and Boiling Well. I climbed well up the Hollow, quite pleased with that. On the run out along the Portway we missed the Haddon turning altogether (how do 30 people miss an obvious junction?) and ended up doing a couple of bonus miles, returning to Stretton via Jonathan's Hollow (we missed the top of The Batch by about 50 yards), Cwmdale and Madeira Walk. 8.7 miles and 1,450' in 1:37.
I had a massage session with Dianne on Wednesday 14th, and managed a quick run around and then up Middletown Hill on the way over. Just jogged really, but felt quite pleased with my climbing. I got a bit disorientated on the way down and had to ask a guy at the quarry directions. Moral: take a map even when you go for a short run somewhere you don't know that well. 3.5 miles and 850' in 0:39.
Finally I managed to get to another Sy Tri track session on Thursday. This one was 3 sets of 3 minute, 2 minute and 1 minute intervals, with the 3 & 3 done at 5k pace (whatever that is for me - I did sort of 5:50 to 6:20/mile pace) and then the last one "flat out" (for me this was 5:05 to 5:20/mile on the first, 5:40 to 5:55 on the second - who did the first set too fast again? - and 5:00 to 5:20 on the third, pleasingly). Another excellent session, must try to get up more often, although this may not have been best prep for the race coming up on Saturday. Total of 6.6 miles in 0:51.
Started off the day after the Circular (Sunday 4th March) with a nice run around Little Stretton with Lucy. We ran over to Little Stretton along the woods path from her house, then up Ashes Hollow as far as the Valleys Descent. Then we climbed up the south side of the valley a hundred feet or so and took Andros' Trod round to Small Batch. We took a nice little traverse out to the Callow / Grindle col and then the path up to Barrister's Plain. Lucy wanted some descending practise so I led down the Valleys ramp fairly quickly - she made a good fit of that despite it being pretty cut up and wet, and then we sailed down Ashes via the ravine rather than the easy higher path and back to Lucy's for a well earned cup of tea and a warm up. 6.5 miles and 1,200' in 1:11.
Tuesday night's run was a trip through the woods to Little Stretton, then the climb up Ashes, but forking left near the top into one of my favourite side valleys to come out at Pole Cottage. We ran over Pole Bank and back via Boiling Well, the top of Synalds and Townbrook Hollow. 7.5 miles and 1,450' in 1:25.
On Wednesday 7th I made a bit of a training cock-up. Em's been experimenting with minimal foot ware, so I got my beach shoes out for a short run, heading up the bridleway from Affcot and then along the road to Upper Dinchope and back down to the ford, thence home. Unfortunately it was all going swimmingly in the woods and I went a bit too fast on the road to Dinchope (about 7:30/mile pace) and got a twinge in my left calf on the way down. It got worse, I stopped and stretched it and jogged the rest of the way, but the damage was done and it was very stiff and sore the following morning. 3.4 miles and 350' in 0:33.
So the rest of the week and the weekend were a write off in terms of running, I didn't even really get out on the bike, but the calf had settled down enough for a trial run on the evening of Monday 12th. I headed up to Dinchope and then down to Halford in my Peregrines (the kindest footwear I have for my lower legs and feet). On the way back I lost my way in the fields a bit and ended up on a 2 mile steeplechase, but not to bother too much. I passed a few bonfires near Strefford where the landowner was burning brash. Why don't the offer it to people as fuel / kindling rather than just torch it in the fields?? 4.9 miles and 400' in 0:44.
On the Tuesday night, we headed out to Pole Bank via New Pool Hollow, Synalds and Boiling Well. I climbed well up the Hollow, quite pleased with that. On the run out along the Portway we missed the Haddon turning altogether (how do 30 people miss an obvious junction?) and ended up doing a couple of bonus miles, returning to Stretton via Jonathan's Hollow (we missed the top of The Batch by about 50 yards), Cwmdale and Madeira Walk. 8.7 miles and 1,450' in 1:37.
I had a massage session with Dianne on Wednesday 14th, and managed a quick run around and then up Middletown Hill on the way over. Just jogged really, but felt quite pleased with my climbing. I got a bit disorientated on the way down and had to ask a guy at the quarry directions. Moral: take a map even when you go for a short run somewhere you don't know that well. 3.5 miles and 850' in 0:39.
Finally I managed to get to another Sy Tri track session on Thursday. This one was 3 sets of 3 minute, 2 minute and 1 minute intervals, with the 3 & 3 done at 5k pace (whatever that is for me - I did sort of 5:50 to 6:20/mile pace) and then the last one "flat out" (for me this was 5:05 to 5:20/mile on the first, 5:40 to 5:55 on the second - who did the first set too fast again? - and 5:00 to 5:20 on the third, pleasingly). Another excellent session, must try to get up more often, although this may not have been best prep for the race coming up on Saturday. Total of 6.6 miles in 0:51.
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Training update to 23/02/2012
Right! So the week after the Pilgrims' Challenge was pretty much a write off, I really tried hard to stay off running as I didn't think it'd be a great idea after 2 x 33 mile ultra marathons...
Finally on Saturday 11th I managed to get up for doing something. I needed to get my coaching supervised practise sheets signed off, so I volunteered to help Colin with the Saturday training session for his kids' groups. We did a good warm up (1.5 miles), then the kids did two one mile efforts at 5k pace. I joined in the next element, which was four 100 second hard efforts with 150 second recoveries. I ran about 520m on each effort. We finished off with another mile round the field to warm down. (approx 5 miles in 43 minutes moving time)
On Sunday 12th I ran on the Mynd with Tom, Naomi, James, Noel, Paul and Dave W. We did a variant of Andros' route from a fortnight earlier, popping in and out of Ashes Hollow and Small Batch before crossing Callow Hollow and running up Minton Hill. We turned towards Pole Bank and I left the group at Pole Cottage running down to Medlicott and Bridges and then doing a loop out to Ratlinghope as I was a little early to meet my friends for lunch. Found it hard going today... (11.2 miles and 2,420' in 2hr 20mins).
On the Tuesday night (14th) I ran in Birmingham with Zoe, doing a good steady run of 5 miles with about 200' of climbing in just under 40 minutes. I felt quite tired still but wasn't moving too badly according to the Garmin track.
The following day, I had a real head cold, but managed a run home from work. This is around 4 miles with again about 200' of climbing. I felt pretty bad but pushed on and got my reward when I checked the watch and had made it back in just over 30 minutes, so 4 x 7:34 miles which is a really good pace for me.
On Thursday 16th I had a gentle jog around the Ercall with James and Em by way of recovery from all the fast hard miles on the tarmac. We did a very easy 3.6 miles and 630' of climbing in 42 minutes.
After all the relatively flat runs I needed something hilly at the weekend, and I had to get out early, so I was pleased when Gareth posted on Shropshire Fell Running that he and Nathan were planning a run over the Valleys route (but in reverse) starting on Sunday morning at 7am. I set the alarm and woke at 5:30 to a blanket of snow. I'm glad I decided to get moving and go anyway, the snow was worse in Donnington than anywhere else and when I got over to Stretton we had a great run in lovely snowy conditions that didn't really last into the afternoon. Again I didn't feel tip top, but who could not enjoy being out on such a fantastic morning with bright sunshine and soft trails in the snow. We saw Noel and JT out on their Mistletoe Meander run off in the distance, and evidence of David on his dawn Canter recce, but no one else was out until we'd pretty much finished. 12.5 miles and 3,680' (more probably, that's the Garmin) in a nice steady 3hrs 5mins.
21/2 Grindle and Yearlet Tues night
23/2 SyTri Track sesh
Finally on Saturday 11th I managed to get up for doing something. I needed to get my coaching supervised practise sheets signed off, so I volunteered to help Colin with the Saturday training session for his kids' groups. We did a good warm up (1.5 miles), then the kids did two one mile efforts at 5k pace. I joined in the next element, which was four 100 second hard efforts with 150 second recoveries. I ran about 520m on each effort. We finished off with another mile round the field to warm down. (approx 5 miles in 43 minutes moving time)
On Sunday 12th I ran on the Mynd with Tom, Naomi, James, Noel, Paul and Dave W. We did a variant of Andros' route from a fortnight earlier, popping in and out of Ashes Hollow and Small Batch before crossing Callow Hollow and running up Minton Hill. We turned towards Pole Bank and I left the group at Pole Cottage running down to Medlicott and Bridges and then doing a loop out to Ratlinghope as I was a little early to meet my friends for lunch. Found it hard going today... (11.2 miles and 2,420' in 2hr 20mins).
On the Tuesday night (14th) I ran in Birmingham with Zoe, doing a good steady run of 5 miles with about 200' of climbing in just under 40 minutes. I felt quite tired still but wasn't moving too badly according to the Garmin track.
The following day, I had a real head cold, but managed a run home from work. This is around 4 miles with again about 200' of climbing. I felt pretty bad but pushed on and got my reward when I checked the watch and had made it back in just over 30 minutes, so 4 x 7:34 miles which is a really good pace for me.
On Thursday 16th I had a gentle jog around the Ercall with James and Em by way of recovery from all the fast hard miles on the tarmac. We did a very easy 3.6 miles and 630' of climbing in 42 minutes.
After all the relatively flat runs I needed something hilly at the weekend, and I had to get out early, so I was pleased when Gareth posted on Shropshire Fell Running that he and Nathan were planning a run over the Valleys route (but in reverse) starting on Sunday morning at 7am. I set the alarm and woke at 5:30 to a blanket of snow. I'm glad I decided to get moving and go anyway, the snow was worse in Donnington than anywhere else and when I got over to Stretton we had a great run in lovely snowy conditions that didn't really last into the afternoon. Again I didn't feel tip top, but who could not enjoy being out on such a fantastic morning with bright sunshine and soft trails in the snow. We saw Noel and JT out on their Mistletoe Meander run off in the distance, and evidence of David on his dawn Canter recce, but no one else was out until we'd pretty much finished. 12.5 miles and 3,680' (more probably, that's the Garmin) in a nice steady 3hrs 5mins.
21/2 Grindle and Yearlet Tues night
23/2 SyTri Track sesh
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Training Update - to 03/12/2011
Just three activities to report for the week between the Time Trial and the Cardington Cracker.
The Tuesday night run was an ascent of New Pool Hollow, followed by a run up to Pole Bank and back over Haddon Hill, with a descent by the gully next to the Valleys ridge, which was pretty darn slippery!
7.3 miles, 1,540' of ascent and 1 hour 16 minutes.
On the Thursday I took the morning off and ran a really nice recovery run all around (but not up) the Wrekin. Em had planned this one and it turned out to be a great route on a lovely clear morning.
7.8 miles, 1,200' of climbing and one and a half hours.
Finally on Saturday I felt I needed to turn my legs over so I got out for half an hour on the Tricross and cycled 7.3 miles.
The Tuesday night run was an ascent of New Pool Hollow, followed by a run up to Pole Bank and back over Haddon Hill, with a descent by the gully next to the Valleys ridge, which was pretty darn slippery!
7.3 miles, 1,540' of ascent and 1 hour 16 minutes.
On the Thursday I took the morning off and ran a really nice recovery run all around (but not up) the Wrekin. Em had planned this one and it turned out to be a great route on a lovely clear morning.
7.8 miles, 1,200' of climbing and one and a half hours.
Finally on Saturday I felt I needed to turn my legs over so I got out for half an hour on the Tricross and cycled 7.3 miles.
Time Trial Recce - 24/11/2011
Nice steady run over my normal route with Em.
8.8 miles, 1,910', 01:42 (pleasingly pretty much the same time as last year's race time but much easier and with a couple of stops).
8.8 miles, 1,910', 01:42 (pleasingly pretty much the same time as last year's race time but much easier and with a couple of stops).
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Tuesday Night Run - 22/11/2011
Well I wasn't exactly in the best mental state, and my achilles hurt before and until well into the run, but I had a really energising night out and felt a lot better for it.
Tonight we ran up Ragleth the steep way (some call this the Skyline or Hike descent), then to the post and back. We continued on by way of the track through the woods under Hazler Hill to reach the Hope Bowdler Road. We went up to the Gaer Stone and then on along the ridge of Hope Bowdler Hill before descending and coming back by way of Cwms Farm (new path on me) and the track down which comes out by the Hike starting field.
7.1 miles; 1,450' of ascent; 1hr 41min
Tonight we ran up Ragleth the steep way (some call this the Skyline or Hike descent), then to the post and back. We continued on by way of the track through the woods under Hazler Hill to reach the Hope Bowdler Road. We went up to the Gaer Stone and then on along the ridge of Hope Bowdler Hill before descending and coming back by way of Cwms Farm (new path on me) and the track down which comes out by the Hike starting field.
7.1 miles; 1,450' of ascent; 1hr 41min
Late Night Yearlet - 17/11/2011
 |
| At the summit of Yearlet, just after midnight |
3.6 miles; 1,090'; 46 minutes.
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