Training Log Archive: OJ

Run out along the Strawberry Line from Sandford, onto the route of the Crok Peak race, over both hills, back over Crook, then down and up to the top of the other side of the valley. Ran through a couple of really heavy downpours and felt quite frisky, which was a surprise. Pushed on the way back along the railway. Could feel the quads on the downhills, the legs are going to hurt tomorrow.

Ouch. I had a look at the Arrochar Alps route yesterday and realised that I should probably do something other than run to work and back to prepare for it. Ran 4xCrookstone reps (280m) putting in a decent effort on the ups and downs, short (1min) rest at the bottom. All on springy billberry and heather. Ran 11.48, 11.50, 12.16, 12.43, for the ups, fading fast by the end, which was to be expected. Downs in 4.13, 4.08, 4.01, 3.34, took a brak at the top before the final descent and went for it. Jelly legs by the end.

C • Arrochar Alps 11

Legs still tired, but pointed myself up the hill and ran IW via BHP. Got into a pretty good rhythm on the uphill and felt a bit better.

HFW, figure-8 of Crosspool, feeling tired but ran at a decent pace, especially when some punter runner tried to overtake me. The audacity!

IW, bit of a struggle. DOMS after my easy run yesterday, I only took five days off, that's crazy.

HFW via Parkwood Springs admiring the new downhill trail which is looping around the whole place. Very humid, sweated buckets and felt a bit rough.

Great morning cheering Ian Wainwright on in the torch relay at Doncaster. Later on I made it out to Loxley to expunge myself in a light pins-and-needles drizzle. A bit headachey until I jettisoned some ballast half way round and I feel better now, which I am taking as a good sign. Not quite well, but on the way.

Wiped out. Slept 11hrs and spent the day moping around. Still bunged up and getting a bit fed up.

C • 5 days 8

Oh dear. The madras last night didn't cure me, maybe its positive effect was offset by the beers. Very rough, alternated between the kitchen and bed, while a plasterer was noisily at work in our nursary-to-be.

Very easy HFW, got a cold so feeling sorry for myself.

IW.

HFW, feeling good so ran a bit faster.

Fitted in a quick blast up Loxley. Tired but felt better as this went on.

Jukola leg 3, picking up places from 142-96. Not a bad run with a few small mistakes, but lacking any ability to really move through the terrain. It took me about 20mins of struggling before I started to feel good and picked up the pace a bit. Didn't run with anyone for more than a leg as they were all moving too slowly/faffing around, just ran for the big features and found people milling around near or at most of the controls, nice rewarding sort of way to orienteer. Made a silly mistake at the end which cost a few places but other than that pretty happy. Back and hip objecting to the terrain by the end, sorted out with a couple of beers in the sauna. Great to be back at Jukola after a year off, it doesn't get more fun that this!

Some jogging before the start to try to convince my body that it was a good idea to be running at that time in the morning. Jog to find beer and sauna after.

Arrived at Jukola after a 5hr bus journey from Jyvaskila (involving 4 buses). Went straight out for a short jog on the model map - not really orienteering, just getting a feel for the forest.

Easy jog down to the lake via a tour of a few Aalto buildings.

Swam out to a pontoon in the middle of a big lake as the sun set. This was a long swim for me!

Took a run to the ski jump after a post-conference reception (and a couple of glasses of wine). Put an effort in up the hill and ran around some nice ski trails. Another beautiful evening and I got tempted by a small, deserted lake in the forest, where I stopped off for a short dip. I love Finland.

Arrived at my hotel in Jyvaskila at 10pm, the sun was still shining and I had a sudden urge to go for a run, which I didn't resist. Took an easy run through a park to the uni campus and stopped off for a lap of the 300m track at the Aalto designed sports centre. Nice to get the journey out of my legs.

SYO event on Little Matlock, first bit of Jukola training. Wow, what an area. Despite the fact that I run through it on my standard short run, I have never orienteered there before, mainly because the map was more-or-less useless. Marcus has overhauled it and it is now pretty good, but the area itself is hardcore. I just about managed 10 mins/km but had a few mishaps along the way; navigated to 19 instead of 9; decided a control was missing when I was looking in the wrong place; nearly stacked it on a steep slippery mudbank covered in broken glass. Survived, anyway, although it was hard work.

Standard Loxley loop on the way.

Hobble into work. It felt longer and tougher than Ennerdale.

Jaded. A lie in and an easy day in York. Most strenuous thing I did was a stroll over to the station for some trainspotting with Jack and co.

Duddon Valley, couldn't resist the temptation to tick off two classics in two weekends, although I probably paid the price for the double. Felt pretty good out of the start and settled into a nice comfortable group with Carl Bell, Tom Brunt, Kim Collinson and JD. Visibility was down to pretty much nothing and it quickly became apparent that Carl had no clue where he was going, but Tom seemed to know some good lines. I tried to push on up to Harter Fell to split the group, but we were all together at the summit. JD took a maverick (poor) route off and we were down to 4 up to Hardknot, but he reeled us back in up Little Stand, where I got us lost looking for the summit amongst all the knolls. Probably about 3-4 mins lost here. I tried to push the pace over to Three Shires Stone trying to break the group, but to no avail, we were all together on the way up Swirl Howe. JD took another bad line and the rest of us got a gap as the weather deteriorated towards the summit. Rain, wind and zero vis by the top, but Tom nailed the line and we were away. My good feeling had faded by now and I was struggling to hang on, tucked in on the long traverse to Dow Crag, where I nearly got dropped in the mist, just managed to muster enough pace to keep the rear-most silhouette in sight. I tucked in at the back and stuffed my face with mint cake on the long slog over Walna and had a bit of a rally by White Pike. I knew at this stage that it would all come down to the ascent of Caw and I hoped I had something left. I tried to be as economical as possible on the technical descent and run through the knolls below the main climb, but as soon as we hit the lower slopes I realised that I was spent; the three pulled away effortlessly and I was left powerwalking to the top, stumbled my way down the rough descent to Seathwaite. I lost 4 mins to Carl in the last 10 mins of the race! But I'm glad that I made it that far before blowing up in the circumstances. This was a wet and wild adventure, complete contrast to last weekend.

C • 2 in 2 8

I wouldn't have bothered warming up, but you had to get to the start somehow.

Straight into the car for a 3hr+ drive to York for a BBQ in the rain. Dead on my feet but a few beers sorted that out.

Hillsborough Park. Hmmm, Duddon?

IW, managed to beat the rain.

C • 1

HFW with a few strides around Crookes Valley Park and some short sprints up Blake Street. Legs feeling pretty good, nice to run in the rain, although I expect the novelty will wear off.

Steady IW, not feeling too bad all things considered, no real aches or pains left but still a bit tired on the ups.

HFW at a decent lick via Crookes and Rivelin.

It's been a while, need to manage a few niggles.

Another day off, feeling very sleepy and hungry.

Met James and family at Ogden and had a nice run around the moors and a bit of a walk around the reservoir. Legs felt a little sore, but distracted from that by chatting all the way. Good to have a proper catch-up and good to shake out the legs a bit.

Felt not too bad in the morning, but the soreness blossomed as the day wore on. Caught a boat from Ambleside over to Wray Castle for a guided tour from its new queen (Rose).

Ennerdale Horseshoe. Made a late decision to run this after all the LSD last week, felt quite well recovered by the weekend and thought it was worth a crack. Goal no.1: Enjoy myself and get around. Goal no.2: Give Rhys a run for his money at the front. Goal no.1 was achieved, this was a great day out in the hills, goal no.2, was partially achieved, although I never managed to really threaten the lead. Took it steady at the start and let Rhys go, planning to run as easily as possible without losing touch. I was probably about 2mins back by Red Pike and this didn't change all that much to the finish. The gap was small enough that I could use Rhys to find some of the good lines, in particular the traverse of Haystacks, but it was big enough that I kept losing sight of him and had to use the map quite a bit. I pigheadedly took my own lines from Blackbeck Tarn to Green Gable (good) and on the traverse of Great Gable (bad and I got a bit scree-bound). The gap grew quite a bit after that and by the top of Pillar Rhys was long gone, but I was feeling pretty good so pushed on to see if I could reel him back in. gained a bit on Haycock and a bit more on Iron Crag, maybe down to 1 min? but every time I made inroads Rhys was away on the descents. I was full of respect for him by this point and I found myself sort of hoping that he would keep it together, having run such a good race from the front. I ran all the way up the last climb in a last ditch effort to close him down, but he was away on the descent and I was, frankly, a mess by the bottom, where I staggered into the finish, still 2 mins down. Great route, probably the best I have run, on a great day. I took a 1.5l camelback and ate quite a bit, which kept me going in spite of the heat. Thanks Kitch for the hire SI card (they ray out for EOD, so I pinched yours (but sorry you couldn't make it).

C • Northern Central 3

Ate a lot and drove over to Ambleside.