Training Log Archive: philm64

Easy run with Helen from Liz's house, up towpath & back. Helen tired a lot in last 4km.

plus 1.5km there & back.

Left hamstring / calf packed in. But worse, a sore throat started to hit during the day.

AShton court parkrun

missed pb by one second ARGH! #edit - results say I equalled it.... OK, i'll take it. Garmin said 18:48 tho....

fast start - fastest 1km to date on this hilly start course.
not up to it on the flat middle km. turn in 10:30.
big effort down hill, dropped paul Jefferson (!). Andy Malloy got me with 600m to go

Pleased! tough - quite hot.
kms:
3:55 (2014 pb : 4:01)
4:33 (4:25)
3:49 (3:49)
3:17 (3:20)
3:08 (3:10) (18:41 for 5km)
last 7 seconds for 0.04km.

Results sort on age grade & I'm 1st! :)
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/ashton-court/results/lat...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1279624...

Steady pleasant run around viccy park.

some nice hills .

felt bouncy, despite 3 hours in TCA climbing bouldering gym in morning, with Anne Tim & two nieces who didn't stop for hours......

fingers sore - in fact burst blood vessel in one finger - scary, luckily not a guitar finger....

no longer "ill".

Family staying from Canada! House FULL!

fluey / gastric / wipeout / burning up.

Bad pint, or dodgy wrap.

Not pleasant.

CROESO day 3, Margam forest north, Long, 6.6km, 285m

High hopes for this, as not too hard? tough physically? (I'm fit), etc.

no 1 OK, no 2 ok too. no 3 found descent hard, very slippery. Clive took 50% out of me here, and also on the next 2 legs, even tho I only made what I consider to be one mistake, plus another small-ish one.

Steep climb to 7, I was ok, then fast to 9, then not bad to 10 where Clive ran off the map.

no12 made a gamble which backfired - tried to "go up fence" - no way! total fern & nettle fight. had to turn round. 2 minutes, at least.

seemed ok from there, then the killer sadistic leg of no 17, I couldnt' sem to find a way down the very steep, brashed slope to the path by the reservoir. 10 minute leg - Clive 7:30.

Matthew owen beat me for 1st time - Clive caught him twice! (before & after his run-off-the-map error). Robert Campbell also over 3 mins up on me, plus the Finns I beat yesterday.

I am disappointed. I thought my fitness would favour me today. I was wrong. I was weak thru steep, scary terrain, and not able to use my fitness effectively when confronted with steep, slippery, muddy, and overgrown / brashed terrain. I guess I've not done it for a while.....

Routegadget: http://www.sboc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#13&cour...

Results: http://www.fabian4.co.uk/results/croeso2016/day3/p...

Course results - oh dear! http://www.fabian4.co.uk/results/croeso2016/course...

Splits:
http://www.fabian4.co.uk/results/croeso2016/splits... (58) Voided legs: 212-215, 229-230

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1273526...

CROESO day 2. (my 1st day)
Middle race, 5km. Kenfig burrow north
Technical dunes, not my thing really, and few lines features. Not done proper O since my disastrous Brit Sprint & Middle w/e. Gulp.....

Fun, going pretty well to no 8 - only 30 secs down on Clive at that point. Jim Hayward was caught, but no 9 I went too far east (so did many..) & found no 15 instead. not that I realised it - but corrected & lost 90 secs.

no 10 worse - rough NE bearing over gap, (path), then - WTF? a huge green unmapped vegetation area, which was not on the map. I allowed this to throw me completely, and wasted about 90 secs working out which hilly bit was which. 3.33 on a leg that took Clive 1:36 as he saw this area yesterday... dammit!

Got hot , sweaty & thirsty after this (should have worn shorts & vest), but was OK in the main - a few scrappy legs but others also scrappy, eg no 18, I had fastest leg at the time, but both Paul G & Clive messed that up badly, going east.

Near finish, was concerned that my balls-ups meant I would struggle to match the fastest when I set out (Martin ward & Katie Reynolds, 34:07-34:10). Usefully, caught Scrappy Doo as he left no 20 so just "ran at him" at full pelt, passing him literally at the last control/stile, then total sprint up run in to match Katie's time & beat Martns' by 3 seconds!

Clive 31: Robert Campbll 31, Bill (M45) 30. I should have been about 32:00

Really enjoyed the whole day! hamstrings stiff after - due to big run in 44 second sprint. (200m? I think not).

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1273526...

http://www.sboc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#12&cour...

http://www.fabian4.co.uk/results/croeso2016/splits...

C • 9, 10 2

Minging hangover.

Best night out in central Bristol for years last night (Rocky Horror show)

7 hours door to door. a lot of beer.

Sport climbing in Cheddar with Fenella & Steve.

5 routes, from 5 to 6a / 6a+.

All good fun; rested & grabbed draws as needed.

was supposed to be going indoor bouldering but too sore, plus had pranged car to sort & also solicitor stuff for house sale.

Quite hot, again, too.

TACH Purdown Pursuit

5th, 2nd Vet50 behind Tom Guest the untouchable, had very very good run, great to battle Andy Hickman and Neil Williams and give good account of myself. Dropping both but mainly Neil, and not withering. Banged out 2 x 3:45 kms on the flat at the top to do some damage - pleased.

About the same time as 2014, I think. Course a bit longer due to workings in park. Grass wet & ground a bit slippery, but better that than 28 degree heat as 2 days ago & 2 years ago!

Felt really good at 8km & wish I'd made a move earlier. Made lots of moves but none were 100% committed & decisive. Hickman dropped me totally on the final descent - oh damn - my weak spot.

SRC in 2,3 ,4,5 place (me 5th) - also Matt Burns 7th counter in about 12th place! Whitewash (greenwash)

Delighted with my form. Calves sore - Terraclaw have little drop, and it hurt. Hobbling afterwards.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1266977...

Less hot today.

Did some stretching whilst watching TdF go thru places I'm soon to be visiting!

Not too tired - but rest day totally needed.....

C • Another trip abroad? Customs will be thinking you're a drugs mule! 3

Wayyyyy too hot for this http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2654675
"Steady" run, Knowle.

Tried to run - uphills for 1st 15 mins - went ok.

then dying after 25 mins, had to stop / jog / walk / stretch.

Got home in seriously overheated mode & had to recover

No more running in this, thanks! temp on terrace currently 29.5 in the shade.....

Hot day; tired; felt sick in night.

A few hours' easy surveying at Tyntesfield. My event there on sat 8th October. Wore a sunhat the whole time.

My "new" compass - Silva, bought at BOC after I smashed the previous one falling - is VERY hard to turn (the dial). - any idea why? can this be lubricated? Thanks.

Long walk in Brecon beacons Llanfrynach Horseshoe including Fan -y-Big (pronounced "Vanner big" for those who might think this amusing).

11 miles-ish, 7 hours or so; lots of climb, visited wreckage of wellington bomber (1942) as well (Canadian crew killed outright)

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1260350...
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1260350...

Very tired & legs / feet dead at the end.

Partly due to Towpath still, for sure.

C • van-uh beeg 3

Easy day's sport climbing above Abergavenney. Gilwern Hill. With Liz.

about 7 pitches, mostly quite short & easy, from 4 to 6a.

Last 2 were 5+ & 6a & quite steep but as I weight about , oooh, nothing, my lack of strength was compensated for & I did not get tired or pumped.

Enjoyed. Need to do more of this . vastly nicer than indoor nonsense.

GWR Towpath Mob Match, 10km up & down towpath.
22nd/?230? ; 37:46

Started well and ignored the massing of B&W at the front. Sensible 1km - 3:42?

sat in behind Sergio BP (36:37 for 10km last month....) - found it OK. Kicked off at 3km to try to ensure we kept it going, passing several others, then relinquished it to him again (SRC domestique?)

Approaching turn, was mighty put off by the imperious sight of Owain Jones leading a desperate looking Jarlath McKenna, and another B&W hot shot, then the shapely form of Jenny Spink (I've had 2 pints as I write this), then the nasty little form of Nicola Brookland, who shouted a mild insult at us. Thanks.

Turn (5km ) in 18:38 / 18:40 called out. It's a sign of my expectations that I found this split a tad disappointing.

Now in a train of 5 quality SRCers - Matt Burns, me, Tim Ginns, SImon C., & Sergio BP. Hard to pass with thin path & people coming in opposite direction. At 6.5km, on a twisty hill, Simon & I put the boot in big time & dropped the lot. Then I dropped SImon . Alone -am I going to win the SRC train? Am I worthy? Reeled in 2 others - 8km, was dying - but not too bad..... still knocked out a 3:40 (& sub-30 for 8km/5 miles is always nice), but Simon came back at me and by 9km I was on the ropes.

Simon broke me with 500m to go but Sergio couldn't get back & Bryan Walsh was also coming up... luckily I held on. ouch. It hurt!

SRC came 2nd to B&W. Lots of merriment. All good clean fun (despite the beers at the finish!)

I did 37:42 2 years ago, different course, but that day, my Garmin said 9.8km & I kept running to "10km" in 38:30-ish. This time, my 10k beeped 100m before I finished..... just sayin'. I reckon tonight was a better performance than 2014.

Results: Jarlath 2nd, but not to Owain!
http://www.greatwesternrunners.org.uk/index.php/re...

That's my 10k done & dusted for a bit.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1257385...

stretching & some foam roller whilst watching a lot of sport online & on TV

getting quite keen on the prospect of Mob Match towpath 10k, it has to be said.....

10k there last year: 40:32 (dismal) (post injury)
10k there 2014: 37:42 (age pb, aged 49 & 11/12ths)

neither were mob matches, though......


2016......? hoping for 37 dead?

BOK Urbna, Dursley/Cam

Warm up + Adam

Blue 5.3km, quite hilly.
Good course. Didn't think I made any mistakes really, but it "transpires" (in te pub) that some of my route choices were naff. eg. 11-12 I thought going west was good, as avoided climb, but it was 30 - 45 seconds slower . Oops.

Owain Jones - 4 months' O experience, to my 35 years; overtook me without noticing, due to his superior.... navigation!! (11-12). And once he was away, I had no chance of catching him, as he was running "easily" (for him - faster than my race pace - by a lot) - and, to my amazement, not stopping - either to look at map or at controls. I was lucky to glimpse him on the horizon a couple of times but he was away. This guy is M35 already. We need to get him in the forest....

To remind people, Owain "can run a bit" - pb of 14:21 for 5km.
http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/News/News-Bulletin/Ju...!
and 31:04 for 10k 3 weeks ago. For another easy win.
https://www.fullonsport.com/event/60080/results

Results: just pipped Cecilie & Andy M!
http://www.bristolorienteering.org.uk/results/urba...

Warm down + Adam & Owain. Left hamstring stiff.

Easy jog round Tyntesfield area with 2015 map, and Tracey.

Her pace was a lot slower than mine so this was a very relaxed hour for me.

My event Oct 8th.

Bouldering at New Quarry, Avon Gorge.

1 hour-ish. Incredibly boring (alone), and I was very shit. Also hot & slippery (polished rock)

Not doing this any more often than I absolutely have to to "keep my hand in".

Nice hungover frisky run (Vic. Park, up KNowle way, knowle West) post Murray Wimbledon. Bounced up all the hills & have strong suspicion I'm in really great shape. Super thin & wiry. Energy very high.

bed 4am last nite after monolithic evening starting at 5:30pm, both sets of music went well esp. the second one with my "second" band Escape the Loop (silly name, got everyone dancing!) https://www.facebook.com/escapetheloop

This one was definitely appreciated: https://youtu.be/09R3ULqsXnw

started really drinking in earnest at midnite, and was in a dodgy lock in (the Plough, Portishead....) with drunken scallies by 1am, kebab shop sometime after 2am, walking back 3am, bed at 4.00, the room spun.

Too old for this shit.

Great day, great w/e!

Flat out music day - rehearse 11-3, prep for gig, soundcheck 5:30, gig 8:30, and again 11:00pm til after midnite.

No sport! no worries.

Also, hungover. Oops. accidental ;)

Rest day NOT ticked.

TCA bouldering. With Fenella.

Well off the pace now - felt quite bad, weak & loss of coordination.

Don't really feel like a climber anymore - more of a runner - skinny as hell. But felt relatively strong due to weight loss.

Still, I would like to keep my hand in. Achilles fine; R. forearm (injured in December) still grumbly - hmm.

managed a 6a circuit though.

Stretching after.

Run 8 mins to Liz's to feed cats, 20 mins watching tennis

run 15 mins back via park,

all quite hard & fast, as v short session as tennis taking up about 6 hours of my day. Climbing, 2-3 hours.

All good. Will rest tomorrow as no time to run.

Tired & sore.

BOK Urban Portishead. Planned by Ben Mali (&, it seems, pretty much a solo effort from him....) - which always means quality courses with decent thought going into them. I was not disappointed.

Blue, 5.8km, fun. 3rd I think. Adam 34½, Tom 39½, me 40:00.
Owain Jones 40:11 - great god!

EDIT - only 5th, but 3rd with exclusion times - I wasn't really on the ball with that, and I'm not bothered about a few seconds & 2 places :) though had I known it was 90 seconds, not 60 seconds (having originally been 90 seconds... sigh), I'd DEFINITELY spent more time planning whilst walking over the bridge, and would have probably been 3rd! :) http://www.bristolorienteering.org.uk/sites/defaul...

No 1 - WTF? oh dear - not expecting that! Stumped.

Enjoyed the course & pushed it as hard as I could for the first 30 mins. Making decisions whilst at near top speed was great fun & challenging. Some clever legs planned meant you could never relax. A couple of small errors including not planning no 10 on the excluded bridge crossing.

Woods dark, but OK - just. Found no 113 before 115, was cross at my laziness, but just ran back to 115 and then back to 113, losing maybe 45 seconds?

Really legged it on the last control on road - treated it as a sprint/ flat out sustained effort - 4 secs down on Adam & ahead of one O. Jones (B&W)!

Can't complain. Legs sore after, but nice to have an acceptable Urban result for a change - I'm usually pretty crap at these.

Collected controls after, went out twice as initially had no gripple. What a divvy. Still - so long as BenM forwards my name to the Iddles-O-meter, my name should still be in favour.

C • Iddles-o-meter 3

Car broken into last nite. Parked on dark quiet street 3 mins walk from house, as I got home 10:15 pm so obviously, not a chance at all of parking near my actual house.

Side window smashed, broken fragmented glass everywhere. no valuables in car, so nothing taken.

Have to say, I really would like to leave Bristol, if not now, then as soon as can be arranged. I'm calling time.

tho I may be going back to work too...

Easy jog to shake out from last nite's race. quite sore.

Back from 2 weeks in Canada.

slow jog / walk / stretch to/in park to ensure everything seems to be working post 24 hour journey & jetlag.

everything seems ok except I'm a bit wheezy.

Blaise blazer, 8th, 1st Vet50, 24:50, did 24:54-ish 2 years ago on comparable course; was hoping for 24:30 based on Simon C's time in the last one (24:27), but will take this.

Bloated from lunch still - not clever. Get the food right - idiot!

Start - felt OK, stayed behind leaders & didn't get carried away. Passed rival V50 (Ken "Wok Man" Ham) before 1km, which Mark reckons I got to in c.3:37 - about right really. BUT.

By top of 1st hill, I realised I'm not over the journey / jet lag / general not-sharp-for-races yet, as I was struggling to maintain form, but a quick glance showed I was massively clear of Ken & Mark.

Hanging onto westbury guy on field & road, & never able to get on terms with James Hargreaves; dreaded the "foul death" of hill 2. In fact, I dropped the westbury guy &, despite walking the top of hill, & dying, nearly caught James.

Dying a bit on top field, then solid running on dark muddy track meant I was in sight of James on last hill to the folly. Caught him! Blimey. Nearly passed him, but then thought, sod it, let's just win V50 & be done with it - I felt fat & knackered anyway. No speed, either.

Good choice, as my calves both cramped quite badly after, limping.

Mark ran incredibly well to finish just over 10 seconds behind me, having done the Saunders Mountain Marathon (3rd place) the previous 2 days! Whhhhhattttttt??????? Wow.

Bottle of plonk.

Very pleased - even more so that my mate from 1993-98 (Dave Fitch, then a young student, now the 41 year old New Zealand Marathon V40 champ with a 2:41) won the whole thing not just V40! Nice one Dave!

repaired to a local hostelry with Dave & his missus & this completed a top evening!

http://westburyharriers.com/wp-content/uploads/201...