Training Log Archive: CraneyIn the 30 days ending Sep 30, 2007:
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| Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday Sep 30, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Saturday Sep 29, 2007 #
Note
Had to ride on electric mopeds about 30km to some village. Not part of the race and on busy roads and Neil and I both sucked at this so they let us ride with the French guys who both own their own motorbikes.
Caving 15:00 [2]
shoes: asics roady things
Through a tunnel built in 600BC through a mountain. Some bits quite narrow but nothing too scary. It was class!
Running 30:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Had to run to some village called Nemi with no map. We took a shit route, but it was up a big hill so played into our hands quite nicely. Gorgeous views. Aussies got 4mins ahead of us on the caving/run. Canadians far ahead.
Jumping 2 [5]
Had to jump from a 2nd floor window onto a crash mat. This was by far the scariest challenge. So glad I did it though although landed badly and still have a dodgy neck 2 days later. Some people (Ben, Neil...) struggled to do muster up the courage but everyone managed it in the end. Should make good TV that bit. Andy commented that on landing it felt like having a poo shoved back up your ass.
Running 15:00 [4]
shoes: asics roady things
The race to the finish was on now. Set off in 3rd, 40mins behind Canada and 10mins (cos 4mins was "too close") behind Australia. Had to find our way back to Rome first. Quick dash down the hill to a bigger town.
Note
Then sat on a bus/metro for over an hour.
Running 1:10:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Then had to do a picture scavanger hunt. Ran off 180deg in the wrong direction (film crew loved that for orienteers), then had to get photos of us in exact locations round the city. Quite easy but lots of running involved. Lost a bit of time due to dumb-ass members of the public not understanding and cos we didn't know where we were meant to finish the challenge. Then raced to the finish by the collosseum after picking up the England flag. Ended up 3rd but pulled back time on the Canadians (1st) and Aussies (2nd).
Note
Good fun that. Realised pretty quick that it was only a game and you couldn't expect it to be fair, but most of the stuff we did was fun. The tattoo bit sucked though.
Friday Sep 28, 2007 #
Note
Got maybe 3hrs sleep then had the best coffee ever in the world ever. Prob just cos I needed it so bad after having shared a sleeping bag with Neil. Also got some croissants.
Obstacle course 20:00 [3]
Got into my fetching mankini (a la borat) and had to go round a buoy in the sea (cold) before doing some obstacle course which I sucked at (still in mankini). Then had to dig in the sand to find some bike tyres (still in mankini).
Cycling 1:30:00 [3]
Then (still in mankini) rode with Andy and Ben to Rome (a long way) on a dual carriage way (in morning rush hour). Got to Rome and tried to find the right metro station only to realise we'd ridden about 20km too far. Tried to board metro but police had received 120calls about 4men in mankinis (us) on the busy road. They stopped us and called the organisers. Had to wait for an hour and a half before being released, along with some clothes.
Cycling 40:00 [2]
Then rode into Rome to some fashion centre. Ben and Neil had flat tyres so had to run pushing their bikes. Me and Andy had it easy.
Note
Then some girl dressed us in silly clothes and we had to go down the catwalk. The whole current standings depended on this performance and we came last.
Running 20:00 [3]
Across Rome to the start of the canoeing...
Canoeing 50:00 [2]
We seriously sucked at this. It was very hard to balance. Fell in the river Tiber about 5 times. At the far end had to carry the canoe over a bridge. Our technique of head in boat caused much amusement as we kept dropping stuff and couldn't see where we were going.
Running 25:00 [3]
The next couple of runs. In between we had to grab 2 members of the public and Neil had to be the chef while I was the waiter.
Running 50:00 [3]
Trivia trail round the Roman ruins answering questions. Caught the Aussies and French and moved into =3rd. Then a bit of a run/metro up to some art school. Had to pose nude for 15mins while we got drawn. Our poses were horrible and my back was f***ed. Also couldn't stop sweating - worse than when I went spinning once. Then a long run with the Aussies to the next challenge... Into =2nd now behind Canadians.
Note
One of us had to get a tattoo of the city chase logo to pass this challenge. I wish I'd thought about it cos I'd have never got it done if I had. But I foolishly went along with it and now I have an arrow on my ass (pointing away...). It doesn't look too bad, though it's gonna get removed sometime! No-one really very happy with the organisers for having this challenge included. The Spaniards were eliminated at the restaurant, and now the Portugese and Singaporians eliminated as they refused the tattoo. 6 teams left.
Note
Then had to collect 5 coins of different currencies (other than Euros). Then had to collect 5 notes of different currencies (other than Euros). Teamed up with Ben and Andy for this one which helped a lot. People seemed quite keen to help us and it was quite good fun.
Note
End of the day in =2nd. No accommodation sorted though so up to us what we did. Was gonna rough it with the Aussies til some English guy overheard our final briefing and offered us a night at his place. RESULT! Got a shower and a bed. Still had to get up at 5am though. Got around 4hrs sleep. Not bad.
Thursday Sep 27, 2007 #
Event: CityChase World Final
Running 20:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Bit of a headless chicken run from the start in the zoo to some restaurant with the Aussies (Andy and Ben) and Canadians (James Dean hehe and Dave). Note: all the times in here are guestimates.
Note
Had to eat a MASSIVE meal which would even put an LJ's to shame. Turns out later that you could share it with another team. We didn't. Then we had to sit and wait for the Spaniards to turn up before we could set off. Now in last place and very full and feeling a little sick (Spaniards very hungry).
Running 1:00:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Cruisin round Rome with Neil and the Spaniards trying to pick up money, metro tickets, blankets, English-Italian dictionaries etc etc from various checkpoints.
Note
Was the first to spot Nick (the organiser) dressed as Julius Caeser and he told us to go to Circo Massimo. Decided to help out the Aussies and Canadians, so told them and the 3 of us snuck away.
Chariot Racing 5:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Built a chariot and took turns with Neil pulling each other round Circo massimo.
Running 15:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
From Circo to some big touristy square
Note
then spent ages busking in the rain, unable to talk, trying to offer massages and earn 30euros. This isn't easy. Other teams turned up after us and got musical instuments which was far easier. Dropped from 1st to pretty much last.
Running 50:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Then had to run to some church to drop off our earnings, before a longish run in the rain to some gladiator place.
Note
Turned up 4th at the gladiator place about 30mins down on Portugal and Australia. Over 2hrs ahead of the Canadians. Then we had to wait inside cos it was pissing down with rain. Everyone arrived and it turned out only the order mattered, not the time. Gay. And then even the order didn't matter that much... Spent ages doing various shots for the TV show before the next challenge. Had to play off against the Spaniards at throwing knives in a board (lost). Then beat them at some game with a ball. Then lost to them in some gay game where we had to construct a star out of wood. The 5 losing teams then had to throw spears at some screen. I got 1 in, Neil missed all his. So now it's just us and the Italians (girls) and one of us is gonna get ELIMINATED. Neil steps up to fight Nero the gladiator in some ring, but steps out after 10secs. Shit, we're going out. But then the Iti girl only lasted 3secs, so we're still in, but last out of 9.
Running 30:00 [3]
shoes: asics roady things
Quick run late at night from gladiator place to the train-line. Got the same train as teams 5th-8th. Got off at the wrong stop so had to run back to the right one - doh!
Note
then the 18 of us had to sleep on the wooden veranda of a beach hut in 11 sleeping bags with 7 pillows. It was cold and windy. The top 4 teams (not us or Oz) got a proper nice dinner but we got some sangas at least. They brought us inside just before it chucked with rain.
Wednesday Sep 26, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Nah
Tuesday Sep 25, 2007 #
Running 47:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Feelin pretty good cruisin out along conduit, round trespass, along t'other conduit (I hate to think how many wildies I've had along side this one, I added another one to the list today), headstone, Rivelin dam and back up. Soon it'll be dark before 7pm which means I'll struggle to get runs in after Neighbours which could mean I'll have to completely restructure my days. Well I guess I'll be in Australia again soon enough anyway so boohoo :o)
Monday Sep 24, 2007 #
Running 1:13:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Bit nippy and windy out there but managed to enjoy myself mainly cos I felt pretty good. Trespass, pole, High Neb, conduit, Wyming Brook.
Sunday Sep 23, 2007 #
Running 55:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Me and Neil both felt pretty rough this morning so we went on probably our slowest run together ever from Hathersage and up onto Stanage. By then I was sweating beer but it was good to get it all out. Then had the usual cumberland sausage in LJ's which was a bit tougher to complete than normal but I kept my record in tact. Then I was sweating sausage. My legs have been so tired and heavy all day which they really shouldn't be. Oh well.
Saturday Sep 22, 2007 #
Running 49:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Loop of Rivelin including a quick jaunt up to Stanno where some old dude in a pub with a fag in his mouth and a pint in his hand told me I was putting him to shame. Had to walk a bit up the last hill.
Friday Sep 21, 2007 #
Running 43:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Little cruise through Rivelin, up to headstone and back to Wyming Brook.
Thursday Sep 20, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Wednesday Sep 19, 2007 #
Running 1:01:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Woohoo! I went running. And I actually enjoyed it AND it was raining. Legs felt a bit rusty on the hills, but I reckon that's probably cos I was going quite hard. From home, over the fields from Walton to Brocton, up to Brocton Coppice, down to the pumping station, up t'other side, through the deer rides, down to the stepping stones, over Milford Common and back along the canal.
Tuesday Sep 18, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Monday Sep 17, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Sunday Sep 16, 2007 #
Orienteering 1:00:00 [3]
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Austrian Long Champs. Had a time limit of 95mins to run the 13.5km course with 600m climb (in shit terrain). Probably was about possible. Not being in the best frame of mind for o-ing at the mo, but annoyed about the lack of decent running in the past month, I set off at a fair pace. But as soon as I made a massive cock up (which was bound to happen with the attitude I currently have) I got in a boo and realised I'd never get round in time, so jogged back to the finish. Then the Austrian commentator interviewed me. I didn't want to give too much away so I told him that there were some long legs and some short legs.
Saturday Sep 15, 2007 #
Orienteering race 45:00 [4] 6.0 km (7:30 / km) +300m 6:00 / km
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Austrian relay champs. GG set me off with a healthy lead. I was feeling a bit better, but cocked up early on, hurt my ankle in some shit, took a bad route, then cocked up again. Finally Speakey caught me 4.5mins (after I'd been out only 25mins) and we did the rest of the course together and that was a lot more fun and, although I was going a lot faster than before, it didn't really feel like I was trying very hard.
Friday Sep 14, 2007 #
Orienteering 51:00 [3] 5.5 km (9:16 / km)
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Almost got excited by the prospect of a downhill course in Czech rocky-outcrop terrain. Well it was a nice, sunny day, and I did see a lot of rocks. But I also got in a boo cos the downhill course had a lot of up hill in it, and I still had no strength for that. And the bits that actually were downhill had a lot of brashings on them, so I was careful on them not to break an ankle. Also there were some newly felled areas which made things a bit nastier than the map suggested. Also I was shit and made a lot of mistakes.
Note
(sick)
Had a rest in the arvo while the rest continued to train like nutters. Good for them. Wish I felt as keen and motivated.
Thursday Sep 13, 2007 #
Orienteering 34:00 [3] 5.0 km (6:48 / km)
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Long sprint course round some spa place on a slope. Lots of buildings and zigzaggy paths and stuff made it quite tricky. GG soon caught me up, but I was going slower and being more accurate so I stayed with him for a fair while until I accidentally ran from 14-17 much to his amusement. Speakey didn't see the line courses on the map which caused much hilarity. The good thing about jogging round courses is that you don't need to bother warming up or warming down. Still ill.
Orienteering 26:00 [4]
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Pretty minging area, but we did some trains and mass-start stuff which livened things up a bit. I felt a bit better, but still snotting a lot, and no energy in my legs up hills. Didn't get drawn into the young boys race-off on the last one. It was hard enough holding off Pippa.
Orienteering warm up/down 40:00 [2]
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
I'll stick 40 mins in here to cover my warming up and down for the week. Liba also took us through a few drills. I know this seems a dodgy tactic for racking up training, but I'm fairly sure this underestimates how much I did and, anyway, I'm not fussed about hours at the mo so boohoo.
Wednesday Sep 12, 2007 #
Orienteering 54:00 [3] 7.5 km (7:12 / km)
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Cruised round some forest near Hradnice or something that had a big castle on a hill. That bit of the course was quite steep and mapped a bit dodge. But the rest of the course was pretty nice, and the green was very runnable. Distinctive trees aren't distinctive. Still got a cold so didn't do the long option, and took it slow.
Orienteering 29:00 [3]
(sick) shoes: jalas o-shoes
Middle race somewhere else. Bit brambly and yucky. Did the first leg hard as it was long and downhill and I felt a bit better. But couldn't find the distinctive tree in the green so lost motivation, legs siezed up, felt tired and ill, and so I jacked.
Tuesday Sep 11, 2007 #
Orienteering 24:00 [3]
(sick) shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
"Sprint" training in Prostejov. I got a cold so I just jogged. GG wanted it to be a yellow jersey race but it wasn't. There were lots of kids who were very friendly and helpful. There was a big road and a bridge that had moved and confused us all. I was bumbling along to myself thinking how easy sprint-o was when you jog, when all of a sudden I got a little bit lost. I conclude that sprint-o is easy if you jog and you concentrate (and not so easy if you jog and think about how easy it is).
Monday Sep 10, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Bit of a sore throat so didn't do owt cos going Czech bright and early in the morning and it would suck if I'm ill while I'm away.
Sunday Sep 9, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Not at all tempted by the exterminator. Good job too, cos I'd have got in another Bond-induced boo probably. Instead I had a cracking Sunday lunch at the pub.
Saturday Sep 8, 2007 #
Running long 2:30:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Got a lift with Jen to the Longshaw Sheepdog trials. Then ran over Millstones edge and into Hathersage. Got some beer money out from the cash maching, along the river and up Win Hill. Stopped for a breather then ran along the ridge and up onto Kinder. Waited for over an hour for the barrel carriers to come along and almost got hypothermia (well, my hands went blue anyway) but some nice marshal gave me his jacket. Then followed the barrel down the hill and took loads of photos. Tempted to join in and help them carry it. Actually, no I wasn't. They were doing a stirling job anyway. After jogging round looking for the car for a bit, the sun came out and we sat on the grass drinking beer and eating hotdogs. Train back to Sheffield, curry, then the Candy's shindig. I was knackered by then.
Friday Sep 7, 2007 #
Note
Just submitted my PhD :o)
Running 44:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
With BJ, Kelly and Gareth. Gradually they dropped one by one but Gareth managed to hang on the whole way. Fair play.
Thursday Sep 6, 2007 #
Running 51:00 [2]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
From home into the astroturf pitches and back. Really didn't fancy the run home as it was mainly uphill and my legs were stiff after my (legendary) return to the football field. Also it was a pretty warm evening and football kit isn't the best gear for running in.
Footy 30:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
My only game this season and the opposition didn't turn up so we won by default. Pretty good result really. So we had a friendly against some other guys who beat us 4-2.
Shots 2, On target 0, Goals 0
Shots 2, On target 0, Goals 0
Note
Closed Shop Quiz question 18:
Which flower does vanilla come from?
Matt Crane's (maths degree) answer:
Orchid
Neil Northrop (BA in gardening and flower arranging)'s answer:
Bird of Paradise
(which is, surprisingly enough, a type of bird)
Actual answer:
Orchid
Which flower does vanilla come from?
Matt Crane's (maths degree) answer:
Orchid
Neil Northrop (BA in gardening and flower arranging)'s answer:
Bird of Paradise
(which is, surprisingly enough, a type of bird)
Actual answer:
Orchid
Wednesday Sep 5, 2007 #
Running 37:00 [2]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
Gareth's softcock loop with him and BJ. We'd just eaten pizza and were due to go to the cinema in an hour but I managed to drag them out for a shortun.
Tuesday Sep 4, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Arsedness about training is about zilch at the mo, so it's everyone in Sheffield who didn't drag me out runnings fault that I didn't go running today.
Monday Sep 3, 2007 #
Running 1:02:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks Cascadia somethings
From the Candy's place with Gareth, Kelly and BJ. Up Endcliffe, down Limb Valley. Can't remember the last time I didn't run with Australians.
Sunday Sep 2, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Coffee in Rivelin Cafe then took Gracie to the station :o(
Saturday Sep 1, 2007 #
Note
(rest day)
Eased off a hangover in Hathersage and had a little walk on Stanage