Training Log Archive: philm64

Support Sian at LittleStoke parkrun (she did a pb but only 23:30 - hmm). HObbling on walking stick.

travel to Newbury - RWC final in pub; pictures with the lads; curryhouse ; pub - total 4 pints - travellodge (managed to not be ill unlike certain CapMen I could mention!)

Physio - James ross as usual .My go-to man!

Ligament tear, grade 1 only, cruciate & cartilage all fine, thankfully; not *too* bad, but he strapped it up for support - which will stay on til sunday eve - and said do as much as you can, out for "2-3 weeks". In 2 weeks Ill be in Mallorca, so I will rest up til then & do some gentle walking there.

Wonder about climbing (easy) & cycling (always easy, as I'm shit at it), maybe starting early / mid next week?

So this is my yearly rest, then, well if I had a job I'd probably have had some forced rests due to lurgies caught of sick fuckers in the office anyway, so , I'll take it (no choice) ....

Was the OMM worth it?

Yeah. (just) (ii'll remember it long after lots of other race victories / successes have died down in my memory, eg. winning NGOC Cleeve hill Blue isn't exactly earth shattering, is it? No).

See no 6:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/remeepatel/if-motivational...

Thigh stiffness subsiding massively; feel almost fine again. Apart from eating like a horse.

Knee still bad - walked with stick / walking pole to local shops.

Feels like it's torn at tendon insertion point. This has happened before. It could be not too bad as that took 3-6 weeks, and once healed, it was good to go (climbing injury to knee - yes really).

Feel quite positive tho clearly I won't be running in the next week or 2 or 3.

More RICE

Spent most of day in the fallout from the BBC radio Bristol's coverage of the outrageous artcle in the Telegraph today. I was on live radio - not *quite* a first, but.....

C • Daily Telegraph 3

Saw GP.

tendon or ligament tear.

Probably looking at 4-8 weeks.

CAnt' walk down windmill hill without a walking stick......

Made physio appointment

RICE.

Drove back from Nottingham. I can drive, but I can't walk down stairs.

Knackered.

the OMM has broken me!

... but it didn't defeat me this time as in 1981.

OMM D class day 2.

Knee BAD. I mean, BAD. Up at 5:30am

Took painklilers, had knee support on. No 1 steep uphill so walked - fine.
No 2, it became apparent I couldn't really operate on downhills.
Mark carried my bag on down hills.

Tried a road leg option but to my dismay I couldn't run AT ALL on the flat road! oh shit, this is serious. Mark had to CARRY MY RUCSAC ON THE ROAD. Going up the next steep, steep hill was fine for me - but misery for Mark (I had my bag back now).

After 3hrs 15 the 2nd place team caught us 3minutes. Wow, that took them a long time! They seemed to be running worryingly fast, whereas any attempts by me to run led to agony. Happily, they only got a couple of minutes ahead before they started walking too.

I slid on my arse (a preferred descent method) to no 6 then all bets were on as Mark jogged & I limped down the track towards the end.
Last hill a killer but in fact, this was fine, as no one could run. Team 3's older partner suddenly "bonked". I wasn't bonking. Adrenaline took over.

Run in was fab, and emotional, and the 3rd placers followed us in. I collapsed. Blimey, it happens! You finish and your legs go from under you and you literally can't even stand up! another 4.5 hour day.

Straight to First aid (after tea, more tea, food & cake), advised to ice, / ibuprofen / rest / elevate for 3 days.

That's this week sorted , then.

Delighted and another 2015 "first" for me; Mark's support of my ailing self during the race is notable too; he nearly broke himself trying to carry my bag and deliberately making his heavier. Thanks, Mark, & glad we made it!!

https://www.theomm.com/omm-2015-tweedsmuir-scottis...

Mark's GPS on RouteGadget: http://www.omm.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#79&cours...

I somehow omitted to move my whistle into my race bag - a last minute rucsac change decision. So I had to go round tents at the camp begging a spare whistle. I ended up with two - both of which I carried on day 2!

Additionally, I somehow failed to move the meals (all of them) from one rucsac to the other. One of my meals wasn't there. So I was a meal down. Like I need to get any thinner! Supper on Saturday night was muesli & hot water. Breakfast on Sunday was a few mouthfuls of mine, and Marks (thanks Mark!), and cereal bars, urm, scabbed off the neighbouring tent.

I also had no ibuprofen with me, so was going round tents cadging spares off people- someone kindly gave me 2 x 400mg ones.... oh boy!

Finally, I "decided" that my Ron Hill yellow cagoule - bought for £38 on JK Sunday last year, due to bad weather - would be adequate for the OMM. Urm, no. Not a chance. So we had to divert to GO! Outdoors in Penrith for me to spend £130 on a (fabulous) Montane Minimus cagoule. I wore it for the whole event and it was excellent. lots of £, yes, but I don't care....

All of the above = one seriously incompetent OMMer. I am *not* organised enough, and it really showed .

Can. Do. Better.

OMM D class day one.

very good 1st 2.5 hours.
Then found it all rather hard going, including tussocks.

Minor bonking going on later, and having to walk up the hills. Generally very good though.

Left knee packed in totally in the last 10 minutes - Mark had to carry my bag.

Staggered into overnight camp at 12:50 and spent the rest of the day resting & experiencing the OMM for the first time properly. Sought medical advice. Cartilage & cruciate ligament tears ruled out.

Found out later we'd won the day by 41 minutes 8 seconds so would be off at 7.00am along with other class winners. Against my better judgement (ie. I'm injured here), I decided, after serious consultation with Mark, to risk tomorrow and start and try to win the D class OMM. Early night.

Mark's GPS on RouteGadget: http://www.omm.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#74&cours...

Travel to Scotland for OMM

https://www.theomm.com/the-omm-2015/

C • Cool 2

Easy run from Gym to suspension bridge, & back, felt very bouncy & fit.

Then 12 mins on cross trainer as a warm down - watching the TV's.

Did 2 miles on that; then called it a day. OMM next.....

Felt tired & no motivation so did nothing.

Had planned to do either a run, or climbing, but did neither.

Body telling me to ease off.

Climbing in Goblin combe - nearly had a bad accident on a severe I was soloing - a huge block came off. 2/3 of the way up. I couldn't descend, so had to lever it off, and then the choss behind it - earth shattering crashes & sparks, smell of burnt rock etc etc. Awful. Kept head together & soloed up the HS next to it - solid rock - I don't fall off this stuff, but....
http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/c.php?i=42078

Also soloed a VDiff earlier - very nice. Lovely day. Glad to have survived.

Did 15 mins fingery bouldering at foot of crag, but stayed close to the ground from then on!!!!

One life (of nine?) gone...... no more gambling.

Run + Goblin Combe map, lots of checking so got brambly, scratched, etc. No real "running", just thrashing around really, red pen in hand, making corrections. Fun checking the previous (2011) map out, tho. Some dodgy interpretations! Also, some vile "vegetation". (brambles).

Note to self: full leg cover at all times when "mapping" / planning etc.

Quite enjoyed it really, as nice day. My event is 23rd January - Saturday series. I can't now retain my Cup, as I've missed too many races. Whatever.

Needed. Knackered.

in bed for 11 hours, bloated, snorers everywhere (Patterdale YHA).
Room emptied at 7:30, but for some reason, I didn't get up, choosing instead to roll over, and shut eyes again.

Next thing I know, it's 7:57 and I'm all alone and the coach departs at 8:30 sharp.

SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.............!!!!!!!!!

gobbled down my YH breakfast in double quick time. made the bus . Had to clean teeth etc at event.

Whatever.

SROC CompassSport cup final. Helsington BArrows, Blue Men Cup,

Long wait for late start - helped me focus, drink coffee, stretch etc.

Timed start. Nick L 3 mins ahead. Made careful note of his direction & his O top.

No messing - str8 to no 1, then no 2 , passed by fast Scandi type (prob in his 30s) - he was insanely fast. so nailed no 3 , no 4 good too, then no5 had a momentary pause, - Clive cocked this one up - before finding it and breathing sigh of relief. (At this point, amazingly, I had a 3 second lead on the entire race. Had I known this, I'd have probably thrown up with nerves). But Clive was about to move into his usual gear. Ran HARD to no 7. Come on! I'm fit enough for this.

Caught sight of Nick L en route to 9, so had a breather & let his increasingly-large form "lead" me through that one, got alongside him before 10, both of us a bit stuck in bracken, he claimed he was deliberately "leading me astray"! - ha ha! Off I went.

11, & 12, good, small pause on 13, then biggest cock up, didnt' notice no 14 was high, so was way to low. 30 seconds. but then redeemed myself on 15, bang on, then lost 10 - 15secs to last control by LOSING the path thru the green I'd made sure I found - IDIOT. (made no difference tho).

Run in - left calf - need to watch it - felt like it could have pinged. 51 seconds, to the 38 sec winning Golden boot, Clive 50.

Knew I'd had a blinder & was not at all surprised to see "2nd" on slip - 2:15 down - and I knew who THAT would be! happy to be only that far down on Clive.

Tim & Charlie clearly out of sorts thru injuries, but very pleased & that I would say is my best run this year equall to Midland Champs in Feb (pre-tearing my hamstring), where I was 3rd behind Clive & Charlie.

BOK didn't deliver really, 4th place, having won the past 2 years. A big effort for a mediocre result. Well done FVO, well deserved.

Very long boring coach trip back, M6 traffic v bad. Had to put iPod on eventually to stay sane.

Very glad I have no "job" to do tomorrow, I 'm knackered!
http://www.sroc.org/menu7/menu7_1/2015/SROCgen/181...

C • Good run 2

Up at 6:40 and left house 7:25, on coach at 7:45, longggggggg day......! Sleep deprived. Felt grim.

Near back seat of coach with BOK junior posse yakkering away. Do they not know that there are other verbs in the English language other than "like" ? ;) <----- note the wink! :)

C • But like is like so like da... 6

PFO Tockholes Blue course, after 4 hour coach journey.

Treating it as a warm up for the main event tomorrow, but to my horror / dismay, could not find no 1 (compass work not accurate enough), and indecisive. then unforgiveable error to no 2 (wrong valley ) - do I even know how to orienteer? no 3 OK, no 4 spot on, ah OK then. no 9 - map must have been suspect as I had not climbed far before I hit the path, but even so, I was clearly lost for 2 minutes. Ran up a track til I relocated, then back down again - 5 - 6 mins lost already.

Decided to "be good" at orienteering from here on, but still my route to 11 was suspect, despite me thinking it great (tho unmarked bracken I got stuck in didn't help - 30 secs).

Fine really from there, apart from the misery of 14, but it was vile for everyone, so no worries

Michael Hallet apparently caught me up at 15, but as I was finishing "strongly" (running within myself, tho - saving for the big effort tomorrow), I reckon I dropped him immediately.

61:30, 4th, rubbish, Charlie 56:50-ish, not good either, but less rubbish than the rest of us. http://www.pfo.org.uk/results-archive/2015-10-17_T...

Routegadget: http://www.pfo.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#80

Glad I went, & ran, tho, as was a rude awakening to my complacency at O.

Nice easy relaxing coach ride to the beautiful Ullswater. And the YHA at Patterdale, a pub meal and 2 pints of Theakstons, which left my stomach feeling utterly ghastly. Retired to bed, early, alone.

TCA indoor bouldering - + Liz, very good, 2 hours. nothing too hard - just cruising lots of steady problems. A bit like an hour's run at 75 - 80% . Hands trashed by the end.

All good. Then sauna/ steam room / stretch, in prep for Lakes w/e of probably slaughter & beasting. Southern softie :-\

Bed too late - midnite - after going to see band featuring Steve from up the function on drums, on Gloucs road. 2 pints & dancing, and loud. a bit silly having the second pint.

Cycled on "new"-ish MBK, to cinema & back to see "Everest" - brilliant film .

Easy loosener round park. Nice slow jog.

Knackered. Still. Hmm. Slept badly - pains.

walked to shops, quite a way, & had sauna / stretch, steam room etc. Really not feeling great.

Listen to body.

Hard session for the week, reverse route I often do on a Tuesday, hills early on, then did the 800m stretch - mostly downhill - in 2:56 (best UPHILL is 2:57, which is vastly better than today's "effort").

Felt tired after about 40 mins, hmmm. Several "efforts" but legs not feeling great, and tripped TWICE - both times on the leg I tore in the spring! need to work on that. It could *ping* again at any time....?

Taper now for CSC w/e - two events, & Level A plus BOK's defence of Cup - quite important. Shame i'll be shit on the terrain, though. as I'm running well.

http://www.mapometer.com/running/route_4183843.htm...

C • CSC terrain 9

Walked round BOK Moseley green Yellow course with Becky.
Nice day, nice wood, perfect conditions - would have been good to have run & might have beaten Clive, given his cock up near the end!

http://www.bristolorienteering.org.uk/sites/defaul...

C • Becky? 4

Aspire Events Warmley 10k off road, Warmley park, Bristol

Entered late & so was on last wave - wave 3.

V tired warming up from 15 hour climbing crazy day yesterday.

Started OK, one guy ahead, but he clearly wasn't going to maintain that pace so I eased alongside & he promptly gave up as soon as he saw me. I opened up quick gap. Garmin decided to not work, saying 8:40 at "lap 1" - 1km? Hmm.

Course was undulating but not steep, off road with grass fields, woods, tracks etc & some gravel & tarmac. This *really* suits my long, loping style and I felt great. I stretched out and by halfway round 1st 5k lap I was way out front & catching backmarkers from wave 2. This proved to set the scene for my entire race (gaining confidence from charging past slower runners who'd started 5 - 10 minutes earlier).

Felt smooth at 5k (lap 1) - 19:55 - but knew I was too tired to maintain this, & therefore would fail to break 40mins, plus my gap was now enormous (A field!). Carried on catching earlier waves, banged out a 3:55km and then some 4:01 ones, to get to 9km shattered. Caught two blokes, both destroyed me on the run- in, tho one was surprised when I told him I'd been wave £ ! :) 40:18. Not bad.

Won overall (hen all times were in from earlier waves) plus Vet50, so two paperweights won, but no vouchers for shops, which was the plan .... to keep me in shoes! :)

wam down - knackered. SPent afternoon on bed with laptop & BBC iPlayer. Properly tired...... rest needed (tomorrow).

Result http://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=54556&...
Garmin (wrong!) https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9236416...

Insane climbing day - up at 5:45am, at north Bristol 7am, (I wasn't driving), got to crag (Pembrokeshire) at 10:15am, climbed a very full on route (E1 - luckily I was seconding!) , picnic, to another crag, led a route, soloed a route, to another crag, 2nded and led t2 3-star HS slab routes. Burger van in Pembs town at 8pm, home 11pm.

Hopefully some of the pics taken of me & my partner for the day will appear in the new forthcoming Pembrokeshire select climbing guide (out new year?) - fame?

COMPLETELY KNACKERED.

C • Any classics? 2

Easy run, nice pace, felt bouncy, round the parks & streets of BS3 & up to the avon gorge (flat bit!).

Slight twinge in right inner calf/shin. Bothered. should be doing more flex work. too lazy. Own fault.

TCA indoor bouldering, plus cycle ( on "new" bike there & back.

Pretty hard sesh, including flashing a 6a+/b (6a+ max for me, I'd say, being tall) circuit - felt easy. (on steeper wall).

Some hardish problems. generally just more mileage tho.

Bored of the place now tho. Need to find somewhere else to climb. Or maybe get a job.

Hands sore afterwards.

very very easy run with SRC, took Lynne, my climbing mate, her 1st time, so jogged with her group at about 10 min miles. we did 5 miles.

Painfully slow - literally - my left Achilles was sore. other sore parts, eg right inner shin/calf, were fine. sociable, but boring after about 3 miles - just tooooooooooo slow.

WHen I ran home after, at about 7.5mins/mile, there was no pain in Achilles.

this week is kind of an "active rest" on advice from Liz, who think's I'm overcooking it.

More rest needed. Apart from cycling to town to drop off bike, then walking back, walking back later, and riding it home. All in the rain. Grim. £145 spent on new brakes, gears, cables etc.

Hope it's worth it. Last spent £100 on bike in 2004.... I'm cheap.

C • November Classic ? 19

Bed about 3am following mad party, DJed til midnite (only about 30 mins tho!), then indulged & danced & .... yeah, well.

Whatever..... ;)

Sunday papers & tea in bed. What's not to like? (... the hangover)

HOC Urban Level C event, drove up alone, easy drive. 90 mins.

Did Green not blue, due to more competitors entered on Green (24 versus 14). 4.7km in 30:02. Not bad?

A late start - 2 mins behind Adrian pickles (didn't recognise him at first). No 1 was tricky, only lost 10 secs, then opened up and felt like the 18min 5km road runner I am! :)

Caught Adrian at no. 7, then dropped him before (I wasn't the only one!) running into a yard that was marked as a dead end, en route to no 10. a minute lost. Ran Adrian down again (Still unaware of who he was), then really put boot in on a flat road section to kill him off for good.

Small route choice error at no 15; 20seconds? then home safe, knowing Chris McCartney's time before I started, I was going to beat it.

Jog warm down, and both legs felt a bit battered from this rather fast full on race. but nothing major. Now for a planned rest period.

Result: http://www.harlequins.org.uk/results/20151003_redd...
RG: http://www.hoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#27
Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9171358...

Indoor TCA climbing with Liz & Nellie. 2 hours-ish.

Not so full on, but felt a lot more tired / wiped than usual. Did d few good problems tho - light & strong.

R inner calf / shin still sore..... did some stretching.

think I've been overdoing it.

rest needed - starting sunday?

Steady long run from gym to Leigh woods via avon gorge. Stupidly, chose yellow mud claw - what was I thinking? I mean, please???? left Achilles & right inner calf / shin rather sore at first. Hmmm.

Hills all fine, did lots of thru- woods bits to practice O (had map too - tho I know this wood too well really).

No compass, so got disoriented by MBK tracks later.

Stopped for a massive sh1t in the woods - effing hell! Moss has its uses #toomuchinformation. Felt fine tho, fitness wise - just hot & tired & sore feet on hard surfaces last 20 mins especially. Idiot.

Straight to Clifton after for my free sports massage at Bristol physio - Andy someone - will post link later. Useful, tho he made my inner right calf / shin even more sore noooooo!

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9154107...