Training Log Archive: philm64

Indoor roped climbing, with Dan, the lodger.

I was fine, did a few good steep 6a+ & one 6b leads, plus the usual top roping training. Nice pump on and good & sore hands/fingers.

Dan got himself hideously run out on a 5+, and.... started wobbling, and..... I knew it. ... oh god! (20kg heavier than me) came flying off the wall; I couldn't even watch, I had to brace then got picked up, slammed forward, but luckily didn't hurt myself / break my nose etc. The whole wall gasped at Dan's massive pisser. the guy really needs to .... well I dunno. Everyone needs to be free to do what they want to do, right? 90kg of 6ft 4 muscle a good climber does not make.

Jeez.

Bristol & West Aztec Fast 5km - 3 laps of grim Aztec west place. Dark! Cool! Little breeze! (all unlike the previous mob match in June/July, where it was 28 degs & I did 19:30 & it was a struggle).

LIghtweight running / racing shoes. Started fast - felt good. Really went for it, yet was always losing ground to the super runners in my club - Vets Paul D, Tom Guest, (V50) & Will Smith.

Km1 approx. 3:30,
km 2 approx. 7:15 (3:45)
km3 10:53? (3:38?)
km4 no idea as dark, but really went for it dropping the tall B&W guy and trying to hold on, when nemesis Paul Jefferson eased past with 250m to go. Hoping for sub-18 but 18:10 it was!

Jog warm up & down. Very stiff after. Won 4 stubbies of Becks. Very pleased! Southville 1st & 2nd Vet50 (me 2nd); and 1st V45 (Paul) - Paul & Tom got pbs ; mine was an Over50 pb for me (18:04 at LIttle stoke last year was 2 months before I turned 50)

Knackered. Slept badly due to cramps & aches etc. Old!

Worth noting that I started with / near Antonia Burt, B&W (winner of Bradley Stoke 10km this year) and she did 18:45, compared to 19:28 (one place ahead of me ) in the summer - and she had to be helped out of the funnel then due to heat exhaustion!

C • Mark Burley 8

Stiff, sore & tired.

Wildrunning race - Paradise & back, 10k off road. 3rd overall in 10k, 1st Vet.

Leading 5 all went wrong way (two doing half marathon option); didnt' alter the end result tho.

Fsat start - hanging on the back, being dropped etc. got back towards Paul S from SRC, then we bunched up as some vandal had turned an arrow over the wrong way (sigh).

Ran hard behind the younger guys, no kms inside 4mins, best were 4:01 & 4:03. Going up big hill out to Leigh court I eased off as was clearly not going to lose 3rd place.

Won a sports massage. Lovely day.

Extra loop between 23:22 & 25:18, so suggests a sub 43 min time for 10km. Not bad with the trails & mud, but no better than 2013 & probably worse.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9112781...

Cheddar climbing with Lynne. 3 routes - vile. however, the sun was on us and it was a gorgeous September day, so we'll take it. Bagged it off & drank tea. Seconded everything, as knackered from 10k this morning.

Bought Lynne's mountain bike for £60! goodbye to my shipwreck of a bike..... going free, unlocked outside my house :)

It's a "Klein Pulse" bike. a bit like this: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/files/klein_left_...

NGOC league, Sheepscombe & cranham, Blue, quite a long one this time.

Gave Ben Mitchell (SBOC; now living in Bristol & at UWE) a lift - nice to meet a new face & clearly a very fast talented guy.

We started early so he woke up all the controls & I was 2nd thru.

Almost no mistakes on a easy, not too steep course, with a minute lost at no 10 due to being 15 m too low & not turning round - no biggie. long leg to 11 I probably was 30secs - 1 min down due to dithery route choice.

Eased off in last 20 mins due to tough off road 10k next day; enjoyed the day with stunning weather. Finish was 1.2km jog from car park so a decent warm down was had.

http://www.ngocweb.com/results/results_15/L8res.pd...
http://www.ngoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#76

Small operation on my back, in the BRI, to remove a "lump", a cancer but almost certainly not dangerous, from my shoulder. Local anaeths. used. It's now worn off.....

Wiped out really, part from that. part from hard run & lots of climbing the past two days.

Sport climbing in Wye valley with Dan, lodger, pretty good, short single pitch sport routes from 5c to 6b, plus an esoteric E1 with only one thread for protection, which was quite spicy!

A good day - sore at end. - elbow, shoulder & finger skin.

Band practice. Fingers .. not too bad really :)

Fartlek, up Malago, to Whitchurch, over to KNowle West, then back to Windmill hill.

Utterly brutalised myself on some of the efforts, was in pieces by the end.
"Broke" my "record" for a mostly gradual uphill 800m segment that I've done in 3:02 before. This time, no idea how, 2:57. Still, this isn't as fast as my clubmates, so a long way still to go.

Very good quality sesh - the main one for the weekdays. Rest needed.

TCA indoor bouldering. 90 mins worth as usual. did several blues, pleasingly. Improving.

Very knackered - left upper shoulder getting sore, and right inner elbow. neither feel like serious issues tho.

Decided against SRC hard session tonight now. Not as fit as I'd thought!

Steady run round Vict park / totterdown. Decided to miss SRC intervals.

Felt pretty crap, but not all crap. Earlier bouldering session certainly took its toll.

Hope I feel perkier tomorrow. But not too fussed.

Left calf , left Achilles & right inner shin both a touch niggly. Due to oldness?

Yep. Quite tired & a bit sore.

WIM SW galoppen, Ibsley common , Brown.

Nice day. Nice area - open , so easy. A bit rough in places, with bracken etc. But generally good.

No big errors, tho a bad start with marsh/out of bounds & stuff, plus no 2 & 3 I was clearly not yet into the map as was rather slow.

Got into it after that & just banged it out, passing Charles Old Daniel at no 16 and keeping the pace going. Got lost between the last control & finish. Didnt' affect the result. Seemed to tire in last 15 mins but that's just being out of forest O for months. otherwise, fine.

http://www.wimborne-orienteers.org.uk/wim/15%20Ibs...

http://www.wim.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#56&cours...

Clmbing in Wye Valley, with Steve, Very hard time (both of us) on Wurlitzer E1, I led 1st pitch, took ages, quite epic, wet, he dogged second, very epic, wet & desperate.

Shattered after. Did one warm up route & two sport routes later. Climbing doesn't normally leave us so knackered!

Not a "rest day". Cycled in evening to Clifton & back - 40 mins.

C • Climbing 2

4 pitch "V Diff" in avon gorge with Dan, the lodger. Yet again I make a misjudgement . Just.... awful. Mainly due to my gear being stuck. And he getting more & more uptight about his inability to get my gear out etc.

Was up at 7am Saturday & got it on abseil.

Never again. and that includes getting a lodger.....

I need to wise up.

Mentally knackering, physically, quite easy. Rest pm.

Steady ashton court / leigh woods run with map, gentle really, left calf twinge in last 500m, no biggie. Felt within myself & good/ fit / skinny.

Then sauna / steam room with a lot of stretching, as still stiff from Tuesday nite.

Tired. Slept badly due to pain in legs & hands from double efforts yesterday.

Diabetes HB1AC results - best since started in Dec 2013. 44. probably due to the Alps, draining all sugar & carbs out of me. also the small amount of drugs I'm taking now. (for type2 diabetes, people, not EPO or owt!!)

Ate chocolate to celebrate!

indoor bouldering TCA - another really hard full on session, aided again by my being very light. (65 kilos now, apparently).

Very knackered at end. Excellent.

Loving this lifestyle. Apart from Lodger. whose Chinese wife arrives in my house around the 1st Oct - til 17th October. FUCKING HELL. and yes, his bedroom is above mine. oh god.

another UK trip.....? ;) anyone got any spare bedrooms or want to tempt me with a weekend orienteering away from the SW?????

C • Welsh Champs 4

SRC intervals (Chris Hopes) - jog to Vict park, then 3-4 laps on the paths, between bins - very tough, surprised at how the others left me for dead. A lot of work to do.

Jog back, then home - legs very sore ! not used to running at 3 mins/km pace. Mind you, that's world marathon record pace, so ..... I'm past it?

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/8999423...

- check out speed on some of the efforts. Ouch.

one of the guys burning me off (Tom Guest) is older than me, too. Mark ducker, Paul deaton, and young Dave Cousins , also Johnny Evans, all had me on most efforts. Sigh.

more speedwork needed.

Travel back from Geneva.

Watching GNR in Geneva - why is Mo not knighted?

UK records 1500m - half marathon.

English record at marathon.

If its SIr Brad, it should be Sir Mo?

Surely ?

SUnbathed by lac for a bit. Legs tired.

C • Sir Mo 2

Lagginhorn, 4010m, big full on day, all went well & we summitted at 12:30 4 hours after starting, took 3.15 to get down (start height 3100m), and we made the last gondola with 5mins to spare!

Very tiring, obviously......

Very pleasing, a proper PD (peu difficile) route with slab rock climb, and steep exposed snowfields above 3800m to contend with, 5 people died on there in 2012.

6 hours reccying the Lagginhorn , 4010m, got to about 3580m, fresh snow making the rock difficult & slow, and the weather was turning. Great day - one of my best in the ALps. very enjoyable romp back down.

Decided to go for summit tomorrow..... same start time - 1st gondola up at 8am!

Travel to Saastal, 2 nights attempting a 4000-er (Lagginhorn) despite v mixed weather forecasts.....

Felt a bit shit in morning, possibly from hard Hash run then booze & too much food, or the 600m altitude it was run at .....

Fine later.

Geneva Hash, above the lac / Nyon, good fun, was sent the wrong way several times, so ran & climbed a lot more than some others.

at least 6.8 km before my Garmin died. lots of climb in the woods. Dark near the end & bonking! starving.

Held off the fastest runners, including a 23 yo Oz girly. Quite a quick end! predictably I was 2st back by about 1second.

beer & nibbles at the end - then a full on curry with wine & pudding etc! at a lawyers' mansion above Geneva. Overindulged. suffered in the night as a result.

Part Garmin!
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/8987207...

indoor bouldering at TCA. Quite full on but good. Felt light.

Cycled there. Then cycled to Gym - 20 mins cross trainer, 5.5km, level 12! (due to beign only 66kg), then sauna with a lot of stretching. Bit worried about inner shin / calf - sore to prod.

Off tomorrow for 5 days but planning on running Geneva Hash tomorrow nite.... for a laugh.

Cycled home. Enjoying being "retired" . Not so keen on the way my heart sinks when I hear the key go in my front door though. Kind of cancels out the whole point of being "free" in life, I reckon. Eviction (ie. give notice) day minus 13.

Very sore inner r mid calf (soleus) - from parkrun or heavy walk (or both?)

wiped out too. rest.

Very nice sunny day. tired & a bit hungover, and sore from parkrun. no one to climb with as all my crew went on Saturday.

decided to do a final Alpine training day (trip coming up - wed - sunday)..... so loaded up rucsac with ropes & gear etc & set off. Bit, crampon-taking mountaineering boots on which probably looked silly in central Bristol but who cares.

rested every hour, walking was 3.5 hours, also soloed Easy Route (Mod) in avon gorge in mountain boots (no rucsac!), and did 45 mins bouldering at New Quarry (which was god-awful - YUK YUK).

Last 30 mins was v tired & had had enough. Still. Should see me right..... now need a rest.

http://www.mapometer.com/walking/route_4162382.htm...

Arcadia - Queen square - £40, plus about 5000 other "revellers".

Glad I went, the show was good but only 30 mins!!!! (for £40!!) and the DJs for 2 hours after were not playing "good" tunes.

So many young, very wasted kids, ie. under 30, on their smartphones all night and shouting and whooping. I'm DEFINITELY getting middle aged. Tho Liz & Nelly with me were good company.

Drank too much - will suffer for this I think.

Pomphrey hill parkrun - for a change, and to test my altitude fitness, despite no running training except the past 6 days.

V good run. 6th. 18:51
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/pomphreyhill/results/lat...
(....sort on.. age/grade ;)

kms: 3:33 (v surprised)
3:49 (hill)
3:58
3:53 (hill)
3:37
3:53 (hill)

Start seemed fast but I was fine, stunned at 3:33. Oops!

A very weird incident with the 4th placer,, Stuart Wilkie, of B&W, in a 50 parkruns t shirt, took massive exception ( and I mean massive, I've done 100s of races in my time) at me "sitting on him" at <1km (we'd barely got into the race). He dodged, weaved, ran sideways, ran diagonally across the path, to avoid , urm, , yes, me, until I said, "mate, that's a weird way to run" at which point he launched a tirade about me not "sitting" on him, to "run my own race at my own pace" blah blah. I replied, "it's only a parkrun, no one cares, it's not even a race!!!"; I moved ahead but he said something else in retort so I turned round & said, "mate I've been racing 30 years & I've never seen anyone behave like this". Moron.

Here he is, the "hero": http://mudcrew.co.uk/ultra-team/member-6/

I dropped him, quite annoyed in fact, tried to hang on to the guy in front ("sitting" - urm, no - hanging on, being dropped, getting back, being dropped again etc - ie., a normal running race, people).

Sadly at end we caught the B&W guy in 3rd and a mighty burn up ensued, I took the lead at about 500m to go but the other younger guy's pace took them away from me & meanwhile my "friend" came sprinting up and took nearly all of them. He then shook my hand and said "be a man and shake my hand". thanks. I ran like not a man, then. I was 1st in age / grade, so in fact I was the BEST runner at the whole fucking race/event.

But apart from that, very good. Very pleased. Lungs great, legs great, heart great, recovery fine. Clive did 19:11 here 6 weeks ago. Then 18:47, so let's call it a draw....! Recovered v quickly, unlike my previous "races" since Easter / before my Alps trip. Can def improve on this. I will def. improve. Actuaries beware! :)

My friend Sian took 1st woman so we were both happy!

Note: I suspect this is what it feels like to be on EPO. I spent 5 weeks in the Alps, often sleeping at or walking with heavy rucsac, above 2500m, and at times, above 4000m, plus sleeping at 3200m once, and 2800 once. Imagine what that does to red blood cells. Doesn't last for longer than 3 weeks tho..... sadly.

C • EPO 2

Really tired. Bed am after shopping. Overcooked the last 2 days!

walked to gym & back for a sauna / steam room sesh - with lots & lots of stretching - walked back. good compromise.

Climbing (sport) in wye valley with Liz - 8 pitches, including 2 x 6b's, one worked, the other onsight, plus repeats of two 6a+. A bit tired from yesterday but otherwise fine.

Very pleasing session, but utterly knackered by the last one. Just scraped it. Ouch.

Band practice later - tired for that - 1st in 2 months?

Climbing with Dan, the infamous lodger, in CHeddar gorge. (Easter island)
About 8 routes / pitches, including two hard ones (6a+ & E2 6a). the last one top roped.

All good, no falls or rests.

Definitely fit & lean, great , unlike the lodger who was flying off stuff & struggling - too heavy, eats 6 eggs a day , what does he expect? :)

Dear me.

Steady run post climbing & cycle into town. Vict. Park loops.

Felt bouncy & legs frisky again. blimey. time to do something with this ....