Training Log Archive: IanW

Cannock Chase - trains exercise. No controls out, so shadowed Hannah around the course. One bit where I wasn't completely convinced, as the path and vegetation had changed, otherwise fine. Plenty of time stood around discussing routes and teaching some basic simplification/aiming off techniques, actually out a tad over 2 hours. Running within limit for short periods probably far better than me trying to run full out, given how the body complained yesterday...

The shoes were more resiliant than I thought - look like they are about to fall apart, but still as "intact" post weekend as before...

Event: British Unis Training Weekend
 

Hanging the northern control pick on Cannock Chase. A few vague features meant a bit of double-checking, and probably a bit over-cautious in ensuring reentrant/spur controls were at about the right height in the feature. After all that, only Jon ran in - to collect in the flags...

More control hanging in the southern area - shouldn't have made the silly parallel earthwall error, thought something didn't feel right so double-checked and got them in the right place...

Attempt to run the southern control pick - started off ok, but then took a couple of silly routes through heathery brambly crap and the hills were harder work than they should have been. Couple of silly mistakes followed, so then walked/jogged the rest.

To Barton, fighting the wind most of the way.

Slowly improving, serve was a bit better than last week. Still managing to hit a series of tricky shots and then miss the easy one...

Wind behind on the way back, so less effort required. As well as the standard multitude of rabbits around, had a much more interesting wildlife sighting. Along the Barton-Tatenhill road, caught a glimpse of something sitting on a hedge. Turned the headtorch to illuminate it, and a the round white face of a barn owl was staring straight back at me - not sure if I've seen one in the wild before.

C • barn owl 1

Long day in Bristol

Probably in the anti-Becks how you should go about "training" manual, but pretty typical of my exercise pattern this year, and turned out to be really good fun. Longer run home from work - primarily to find some hills! And there were woods, and mud, and twisty turny single-track like paths. And a chance for exploring, in the dark, given I don't know how everything in that block links up yet...

Office - Branston Water Park - Bass Millennium Wood - Reservoir Road - Oaks Wood - Outwoods Hills - Shobnall Fields - home. Outline of route, Timed quite well, with the downpour going through between 3 and 4pm, though this made some paths slippery - Walshes needed next time. Physically felt ok except on the hills - pack a bit heavier than usual but didn't really notice it.

Reservoir Road looks a good hill reps challenge in the next few weeks. About 300m long, it starts off all innocuous, and then ramps up to 20% for a while before easing off again...

C • Probably... 1