Training Log Archive: philm64

Travel to Gatwick & stay in Horley at the favourite haunts!

Walked to Frome gorge to the tunnel by crags, where i'd seen chalk yesterday, & did some bouldering. I wont be doing this again - it's really crap, actually, but couldn't face going indoors & paying £8 when I could be in the sun outside instead. for free.

One hold broke later - at the worst looking sport climbing area imaginable - and i fell to the ground, at which point i bagged it all off, as i have a few races coming up.....

Stunning day. Walked about 3-4 miles.

Gentle run out as hamstring felt squiffy , & wanted to give myself peace of mind. 12 mins round the blocks, no garmin.

All ok, but hamstring still weird on return! (the one I pulled on Christmas Day - Crappy Christmas)

Stunning day - had to go out - steady run / looking at 2002 Eastville Park BOK map, plus Ben Mitchell's embryonic Glenside urban section - got nicelly lost inside there!

Being charged by two large brown dogs ("puppies"), wasn't very nice.

Some of the crags by the river were nice, but the tunnel on the map isnt' really OK unless you're 3 ft tall....

LH calf makign strange sensations, & back quite shit today, so hopefully nothing. NO MORE TRAINING for 2 weeks???? (POM; Interland).

https://www.strava.com/activities/2176689935

Still completely beaten up. Yikes! Rest.

Apparently I'm going to Interland in 2 weeks' time.

Best stock up on painkillers then! Not sure who's dropped out (injured), but I've been called up, so I'll get another chance to be beaten by Clive at a major event.....

Genuinely wasn't expecting this.

C • Well done 8

Sport climbing. Wye Valley.

Back horrendous this morning, plus beaten up badly from 2 races yesterday & a bad night (related).

Had arranged to climb with Steve tho & the weather was stunning, so even tho I felt ghastly, headed out to Wyndcliffe quarry- 60 people there? Tops off, full sun, February. Global warming.

10 pitches, from 5+ to 6b+ (the 6b+ I seconded with one rest) - everything (mainly 6a/+) clean on lead.

Very good day but in pieces by the end as was Steve! Top.

Howling in pain on one route where you had to pick your feet right up - back not letting me do this. I need answers. Each morning I'm like a 90 year old. It's TERRIBLE.

Chipping Sodbury parkrun - paced it well & glad to do 5 in a row under 4 mins/km . 11th. 19:14 officially. Painful but i've had worse! No pace. nb.wore racing shoes..... gravel & tarmac with grass on 3rd lap due to lapped joggers.

kms 3:44, 3:54, 3:42, 3:58, 3:45

result. http://www.parkrun.org.uk/chippingsodbury/results/...

https://www.strava.com/activities/2168550622

NGOC Blue course, Danby lodge, Ben Mali also on Blue due to him also doing Parkrun earlier - he won his in 17:33.. 5.7km / 180m

Beatuful day, the FoD was stunning. A delight.

One big miss - no 8 - in wrong large depression? Assumed i was in the wrong due to sloppy attack point, but several agreed (John Simmons suggested it).

Very knackered, glad to slob on sofa & watch Wales beat England later!

http://www.ngocweb.com/results/results_19/L2res.pd...

https://www.strava.com/activities/2169300749

Had intended to go bouldering but a workman turned up late in the morning & by the time he'd gone I could not be arsed as Liz etc would be finishing up.

Oh dear.

(back bad again - more exercises.....)

LH knee sore from O yesterday (old "Gower" injury?)

Also beaten up & DOMS. Brown a bit much at my age?

apart from cycling to town & some walking around, a rest day. Back awful first thing, but serious stretches sorted it out for the day. This time...

MLS Brown course, Bulford ridge, 9.3km / 235m. Long & hard!

Back bad in morning, did a lot of stretches. Scene of disaster last year, as I went with a really bad back (...), and felt terrible at start, & not surprisingly RH calf pulled in 1st 10 minutes, and I was OUT of the JK, and most of the season. Bad back.... same area..... superstitious? Come on then.

Wore dobs - error , as ground quite hard so got sore feet by end.

no 7 2mins - many on Blue course messed up here - unmarked cycle track pulled us all off line. Had to relocate.

no 8 - 1 min - went down the slope idiotically as had not looked carefully enough at map. And veg printing was a bit weird.

no 11 - 2 mins? - don't count this, the brambles were so bad, it was be torn to shreds or lose time, so i lost time. Veg mapping inside the wood was suspect. Hmmm.

Few errors from there, long dead running no 17 & 18 (8 mins!) (a 4:32 km), then shuffling round top controls, trying to hold it together, which I did. Pleasingly spiking controls & execution good, esp. 23-24-25-26. LH calf "snitching", or am I paranoid? It survived; dry hard slopes down to finish I wasn't able to run freely on tho, due to back pain & sore feet. Ouch.

A bit peeved to have Kev Fielding just ahead, but this wasn't a top flight Phil day. 54 mins by Harrison McCartney. Jamie Parkinson 57, but he was clearly walking/jogging some legs. R. Mawer took me out again, by 3 mins. Sigh. Not fast enough!

Result - 8th! What a load of crap! http://www.baoc.info/sites/default/files/2019/02/2...

RG: https://www.baoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#181&ro...

https://www.strava.com/activities/2162649774

Steady nice Frome valley Potteresque run . 2 hills. first one quite stiff (out to Oldbury court)

Back pretty shit today, but otherwise, mostly acceptable.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2160260423

Back bad but no worse. Very tired!

Basically had 12 hours horizontal 8pm - 8am - yesterday's Brown course really kicked the stuffing out of me!!!!

Had to be done.

We're all so crap!

https://youtu.be/y_xa4japYT4

SBOC Brown course, Mynnydd Y Garn, 9.8km/200m - don't believe the 200m bit. Planner: Ben Mitchell. OK, this is going to be a tough day at the office.

Bad weather on arrival, so wore cagoule/gloves etc, & Pete Ward (also in cagoule) came back from starting to swap compass but then disappeared. No 1 i was v cautious, but no 2 was just - WHAT??????? I vaguely headed the right way then when i turned the "corner", nothing made sense, and tho i saw the cairn, I failed to locate it on my map despite the line being cut to incorporate it! Lost 6 minutes, IMO. I'm not an orienteer..... one of the hardest controls I've ever attempted. no linear or clear attack point anywhere near the 100s of depressions around it. Out of my depth!

Ben Mali turned up and was also a headless chicken. I found no 3, so back to no 2 I went, then Ben missed 3, then he missed/undershot 4 badly.... still with him at 5, when he woke up & fairly promptly drifted away from me, but i benefited from sight of him at no 6, & no 8 (a lot), & no 9 (where Eoghan Wiles, cagoule now off, also led me in).

Fine on no 11, but huge misjudgement on the "easy" no 12 - 4 mins lost, then small miss on 15 (20m too far right), missed 17 as did a few others including Megan, we all looked right & couldn't see the depression! Dominic walker of DEVON arrived and so I was right behind him & Eoghan now. And cross!

From here, I decided enough was enough & to pretend it was a JK or British relay, and i would win, which, being an obstinate, embittered, somewhat cantankerous old fart , I did, getting fastest run in split as as result. (big wow). plus some fast splits here.

Oh - I "won" no 16 too, but the credit has to go to Eoghan here.

Superb event, brilliant practice, with a pea soup it would have been just outrageous, in fact i'd still be out there now. Hardcore O - the TVOC level B would have taught me nothing.....

Result - Marcus must have been jogging/walking? Pete Ward really good. Ben M could have won, I can personally vouch for that! But good to see Megan at the top! :-)
https://sboc.org.uk/results/20190217MyG_WL6results...

https://www.strava.com/activities/2156388550

https://www.sboc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#33&cou...

C • ........ 15

Steady morning run on Stoke park. Stabbing twinge in left calf in 1st minute, but hopefully nothing as fine from there.

Back not great - but haven't done enough rehab the past 48 hours, bad of me.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2152461537

Indoor roped climbing at UCR with Lynne, not bad, did 3 6b's in one, which is 3 more than I've done this year to date i think! Yet I ran earlier..... hmmm.

Totally ruined for the last 2 routes, 6c (mistake - read it as 6a!), & a gnarly 6b that i had no fingers left for.

RH shoulder hurt when pulling rope up to clip - that was about it. So it's NOT going to be a climbing injury. Relief!

Hungover - 3 pints of Gem.

Dodgy barrel, i guess

Bought a microwave yesterday & lugged it into car, up stairs, out of box with difficulty (back pain etc), onto kitchen top. then later last night my right shoulder starts hurting. Still in pain today. WTF?

What's interesting is my back , whilst still bad, isn't feeling as bad as "usual". This is an interesting psychological response, IMO, as whenever another "injury" appears, the "other" one diminishes in it's apparent severity / pain.

Let's see what the next few days bring. Cancelled climbing today, anyway, as no way am I climbing with my shoulder in this much pain (&it's the diminished side of my chest, too, more worryingly).

The police came round this afternoon. They've had a complaint against me for harassment registered by the tenant upstairs (the one who hoovered at 2:30 am then got very cross when I dared to knock & "complain".)

Still, life could be worse, i guess.

those who know me on facebook can see a post about this including some of the shit I've had to put up with since buying this place. Mainly, thru cooperation, we've been ok recently, but ME daring to complain about HER 2:30am housework (and 6am music) has led to a total breakdown in communications, and i now speak through her landlord.

Happy days.

Happy days.

Despite grim shoulder, lovely sunny day so lovely sunny run, in Terraclaws, as wanted to be off tarmac as much as possible, which almost worked.

Found some new grassy bits near my home which were new to me! pottered along & decided to just explore & if that meant dead ends, what the hell, a nice day to be out trundling around. Back did not affect me too much.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2148653619

Back bad in morning; could have been worse. Some worrying stabbing pains at base of lumbar spine. God.

Cycled to town again. 30 mins-ish, opticians etc; get bike tweaked post-FoD bashing.

Fed foxes & walked briskly "activating glutes" later, as sitting down most of the time is probably why I'm in a bad way in the first place. Slightly sore from efforts last night, but not much - surprisingly. But back is NOT happy.

Back pretty awful & have pulled out of tomorrow's MLS army O race.

cycled to town & back for essential stuff - hmmm.

BOK intervals, Downs, not the most sensible session for 1st run back after a mini break, & lower back well dodgy on several occasions.

5x 2mins with 1 min rest, then 5 x 1min with 1 min rest. Tough. Tommi setting pace on most of the 2min efforts, then I took over with some vigour.

I reckon i'll be sore tomorrow.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2142131369

Flyby's say it all: https://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/#2142131369?c...

Cycle ride - not sure how lower back will cope with this, see what tomorrow brings. Needed the cardio, anyway.

Edit: back pretty bad afterwards. Maybe cycling's not a good idea.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2139377286

Amazingly, back not terrible after playing gig on painkillers & getting in at 1am & having to lug stuff around before & after.

(slept on floor in bedroom).

Climbing with Lynne, UCR, probably a daft idea but it went OK as I'm fit. See how things pan out now. Yesterday was a real nadir, I really found the pain debilitating and it affected not just my energy but i also felt terrible inside. & I have a serious issue here. I need my MRI results, and soon.

Back awful this morning. Pain has spread to RHS of bottom of back.

I have to wait 4-6 weeks for the result of my scan - even then, what then?

If this is the new normal, I've got big life problems. I don't care how much I race "well", smile, play guitar etc etc.

Each day i wince as i get out of bed, put on socks. trousers/shoes, and the fridge is now becoming a massive challenge as i cant' get anythign out of it without wincing in pain.

I'm not moaning.

I've getting really down now. And yes i do do exercises every day - I HAVE to - sometimes they help; sometimes they dont' ; sometimes they help a little.

Help.

C • Scottish 6 days 2019 9

Back still quite bad, but not as awful as past 2 days.

Climb? - no - gig tomorrow - save fingers.
Cycle? - have you seen the weather?
Run? - no, ran past 2 days.
Swim? - have plumbers & workmen coming at 1pm to try to fix the leak from the flat above which was a disaster yesterday. https://youtu.be/7R5mEZqOle0

Do anything later? - no; Paul G's 50th drinks & meal.

Result? - REST DAY

Note: my SIAC has arrived. I'm now bang up to date (if it was 2015).

I have absolutely no idea how to use it, any tips?

I think there might be an instructional video somewhere?

#clueless

C • Advice 12

Back pretty bad yesterday, and no better this morning.

I do need to find answers.

Leak from flat above into my bathroom - not happened since early October. Bloody hell. Can't be investigated without ripping my false ceiling down. Tenants above wont' talk to me, either - which makes life even harder. I hate them.

Tim Tett turned up en route home from Wiltshire, *just* to go running. So i went with him. He did 10 mins more than me, cos he's mad & I'm not.

Lower back awful, esp. bad on road descents. Sigh.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2130688172

MLS Army race Barossa, Brown, 8.9km/ 180m, 56:12, 5th

I like Barossa & I've done well here (winning the Concorde Chase in 2016), it's runnable & today was lovely. The course was easier than the previous races I've done here, so I felt increasingly confident. Flags were hung high too.

Almost no errors. The "A" team turned up as i prepared to start so my "never win at MLS ever" record continues, as Ben broke 5 min/kms (44:24) and Adam was only 3 mins slower having binned a load of time at no 2 (which I found easily - but others struggled on this control, including Geoff).

http://www.baoc.info/sites/default/files/2019/02/0...

RG: https://www.baoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#179&ro...

https://www.strava.com/activities/2128334945

Cycled to hospital for my MRI back scan, for my persistent early morning lower back misery. Was weighed - annoyingly, am nearly 70kg now. Racing weight is closer to 67kg. What a blubberhouse!

First time on bike since FoD with Chas. The bike isn't happy! gears muddy & front brakes sticking / wheel sticking a bit. Gah!

MRI results will take 4-6 weeks. oh well. best do some yoga...

C • Bike maintenance 4

WIM Brown race , Godshill, 8.9km / 180m. Many errors; 65:28, 4th? Felt fit, quite frisky & more energised than, say, Stock Hill.

Lovely area in the sun & snow ,but the map really isn't good enough. I made so many errors, some my fault , some not, some 50/50. At one point, i was standing still, laughing at myself. Hard to spot some paths / clearings due to snow, but even so.

Map "based on" 1984 map by the venerable Nigel & Jenny Thompson. Updated 2018 . Clearly contours are from 1984. I'm afraid I'm used to better contour representation than this now. 35 years ago isn't LIDAR.

no 5 - light green veg north of river hard to see on map - 20 secs.
no 6 - had my line, looked at hill - should be obvious - why wasn't it? I could not make the hillside fit the map - WHY NOT? (hint: see above) 1 minute+, too far left.

no 7 - huge unmapped path en route, no loss.

no 9 - What? cruising round hillside, heading for gully, wrong gully, how does this happen? 2 mins. up & down & up wrong gully. When I found right gully, it was huge. Apart from being a *little* bit too high, this was crazy.

no 10 - 1 min - part my fault - crossed bridge then thought i was higher up (!), but line was drawn all over the paths leading to the control. Was actually "lost" on this leg.

no 15. Pete Ward & others (I think someone had a word with the controller) think this was too high - it was on the flat bit. Both Pete & I carefully contoured in from the re-entrant. Nothing. Quick spin around, it was on top of slope. 1.5 mins? 1 min?

no 21 - bingo - lucky to only lose 30-45secs? Happy with that & my relocation & judgement.

Roger Thetford was 27 seconds quicker, as was Pete Ward. Mark S. just 75 seconds behind (I kept expecting him to catch me, as he started about 2 mins after me), having been 14 minutes behind me last Wednesday. Never mind.

http://www.wimborne-orienteers.org.uk/19%20Godshil...

https://www.strava.com/activities/2122099518

(Back v bad this morning - agony - both sides lower back)

UCR (the church) roped indoor climbing, with Lynne, 1st time on a rope since Spain? Went OK, didn't complete a single 6b properly but still had fun & pulled some good shapes .

Lynne left knackered & I did two steep circuits at 6a, 30 moves each, as extra training. Core core CORE core core!

Lots of snow, so on with the dobs & out I went. Cycling or swimming today were NEVER going to happen LOL! To be fair, Liz, Nellie & Lynne made it to the bouldering wall! Fun steady run, quite hard work in softening snow, over Stoke Park.

Couldn't bend over to take shoes off afterwards - whatever.

Scum upstairs had me change rooms 4 times in the night. they made the final noise at 4:20am. Oh my life.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2117210617