Training Log Archive: schnitzer

Vasteras (1). Ok so it was a completely different kinda hash but strangely it still had the potential to make me fat as there were candy and (spiked) hot chocolate stops during the run and some apparently traditional downing of beers afterwards singing well known tunes with the lyrics changed in a very crude way. Followed by more beers in the sauna, mexican food, truffles, more beer/cider and even more candy... I liked it, my kinda thing. I'll do it again fo sho.

Legs tired today after last night so the easy intensity was perfect recovery for another long blast in proper terrain tomorrow - bring it!

Nacka Reserve. First run in Stockholm taking in both of the reflex bana routes thru the snowy woods near to Nick's place. These are terrain runs marked by reflective stickers on trees that get real shiny when wearing a headtorch. My fearless approach with trail shoes was quickly converted into more of a softlad style once I'd fallen over and hurt my arm quite badly - it was quite icy in places and surprisingly (or not considering there are downhill ski slopes at the start) very up and down. Once into the second course Nick took advantage of my headlamp coming off to run off into the distance. Let's face it that was the only way he was gonna get ahead what with my dynamite speed and unparalleled grip.

Absolutely quality start to my 10 days in Sweden well looking forward to the next installment of what Nick has in store for me, apparently we are going to do some hash tomorrow - not sure how that is going to help the cause in my experience it just makes me fat and out of breath.

Grizedale. Re-ran the GB junior long-o I did on 14th December this time backwards. 12mins quicker probs cos I knew where the features were from b4 (only a few very small misses) rather than was running any faster altho felt very strong all the way - I will run this at proper o-ing race pace next time (hopefully with some proper o-ing shoes rather than trail ones) to see how fast I can go. Lower back 99% down to just 10mins of lower body stretching both Mon and Tues. Another 10mins once I got back for good measure - must try to do this every day from now on it obv makes a big difference to muscle balance for me.

Seathwaite - Green Gable - Great Gable - Seathwaite. After a good night's sleep this time in a proper bed (well, a fairly solid if slightly too short bunk in the Keswick YHA) and a decent stretch I decided to get up onto the fells again to re-live some of my snowy adventures from December. Parked up in Seathwaite for the first time ever and was delighted to find no fee required - can't be many parking areas like that left in the Lakes now that some farmer hasn't decided to cash in on.

Up the footpath next to the Sour Milk Gill waterfalls (nice short scrambly section) and then up the big reentrant (huge amounts of crunchy snow) onto the east shoulder of Green Gable. Up to Great Gable was a bit I want my Mummy - no footprints in the snow looks like I was the first going that way for a while. Tried to get down the White Napes for a pint at the Wasdale Head Inn but after using my arse as a brake a few times went back up to the summit, had a quick look at the scrambly route towards Kirk Fell decided against it (time/distance spent changing my mind not included) and just walked back to the car via Sty Head where I was happy to find a set of footprints. Not being able to go where I want really pissed me off today. Just wanted to hike without thinking about whether I was going to die or not might just stick to low level stuff or o-ing while the snow/ice is still about. Or get some sorta traction upgrade.

Something was wrong with me this morning driving the Borrowdale road for some reason just felt content with sitting behind a Volvo driver and listening to some kicking tunes but normal service was resumed on the way out. Found a quicker way of getting past grockles than waiting for a safe overtaking opportunity - instead of coming off the throttle as soon as a car comes into view and smoothly slowing down keep on the throttle and brake fairly suddenly nearing the dangerously slow offender. Even holiday drivers not really paying attention with varying levels of spacial coordination skills can appreciate the difference between a car approaching at twice their speed and graciously pull over immediately - thanks.

1) 63:15 Green Gable
2) 15:00 Great Gable
3) 66:15 Seathwaite

http://www.mapmyhike.com/route/gb/keswick/47985132...

Woodland Fell and Blawith Common. Hmm not the best today dunno what I was doing got so lost first at 5 and then at 13 the latter even considered retiring cos I just couldn't find the flag relocating (wrongly!) about four times too high up the slope. I blame the fact it was open - if there were lots of trees around I wudda made sure of my position a lot more coming into the circle haha. Approx 27mins time loss on just those two so no wonder was an hour behind the winner Ed Nash. The actual event, course and area was proper good tho the 1:15000 scale making the contour detail really intense!

Back slightly better than yesterday which is kinda surprising considering slept in the car last night. Never felt tired at any point even with probs too much food/drink in my pack but then being so lost gives you a good rest eh?

Event: Warrior O Trial
 

Moor Top. After what was probably the best ever run from Poole to the Lake District in the Schnitz (don't you just love the motorway network on a Saturday?) just about managed to get the last start. Oh yes deciding against the BNC and the regional the next day somewhat closer to home was defo the right decision. Maybe others will disagree but I think there's nothing better than a bit of tuff Lakes forest with lots of green and contour detail (except perhaps a more runnable version) to get your groove on with. Just a shame I hadn't stretched all week and my lower back was even more twisted up than earlier in the week - quite painful hence not quite full race intensity. Also got a bit lost - 1, 4 and 7 were totally my fault all fairly big misses but 9 I think was a bit iffy in terms of feature selection and (dare I say it?) Bilbo's map. Nah, probs me.

Sidbury Hill. What a lovely place this is - forest blocks the size of cricket squares and tank-churned clay pretty much everywhere else, not the sorta day you want to be tired for nevermind. Very easy nav only lost time on 9 ran too close to the big reentrant and had to circle back around to the depression which was incidently further back up the hill from what the map was suggesting and then ran the wrong way out of it towards an imaginary 10. 18 I took a long-cut along a very churned up clay track ignoring the more direct ultra-fast white forest next to me. Probs no more than a minute time loss in total. Rich B beat me by 3mins, Dave R by 6mins so obv running quite slowly today - still having lower back issues and the very slight glitch in my right lower calf I picked up yesterday is now worse.

After enjoying almost 15miles of the (highly recommended) B3084 from Romsey (controversial route from Poole/Bournemouth) at full Schnitzer efficiency I turned onto the A338 (traditional route) right at the end of a road closure diversion! I could hit 10 red lights in a row after that and I'd still be smiling.

C • Smiling 2

Warm up, jogging between miles, warm down.

Bournemouth University. Hooked up wih me WSX homos Gavin, Dale and Ian and did some interval training - a bit early in the season going by my most recent perception of periodisation but hey I wasn't going to turn up and then say no thanks I'll just do my own thing. Felt a bit twisted in the lower back and lower legs today so didn't go crazy - started to loosen up after the first couple of reps. Got stopped dead on the fourth by a car pulling out of a driveway - so inconsiderate.

1) 6:40 (1650m)
2) 6:27 (1615m)
3) 6:19 (1650m)
4) 6:03 (1530m)

C • Stopped dead? 2

To hills.

Canford Heath. Hilly route - 2.4km each way 165m there, 145m back. Tried to keep the same steady effort consistent throughout - did five reps...

1) 17:05
2) 17:00 (slow due to some accidental clay surfing)
3) 16:56
4) 16:39
5) 16:50

From hills.

Canford Heath - Broadstone - Merley - Canford Heath. Same route as 23rd December but once on the Heath cut it short by running str8 back - didn't want to do too much in jet lag mode even tho felt pretty good at a slightly faster than steady pace. The fast food/buffet frenzy that was my holiday hasn't undone all the good work from December but I'm obv a bit more of a lard ass than I was in Belgium. Took some splits for future reference...

1) 21:54 - 4.78km @ 4:34mins/km (Gravel Hill)
2) 22:52 - 4.93km @ 4:38mins/km (Canford Heath)
3) 05:51 - 1.32km @ 4:26mins/km

MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Same route as Friday but backwards with an extended bit around the back of the Venetian and Convention Centre. Much better today on all fronts - faster, knees/ankles coping with the concrete and only 7:30 waiting at lights!

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/las-veg...

Another gym session with Matt this time at our hotel the MGM Grand - not quite as good as the award winning spa and gym at the Mirage but bargain with a 2 for 1 offer! Was worried they might not have medicine balls and foam rolls but they did so spent some time on SMR and stretching b4 running thru the usual core routine.

More weights action with Matt. Usual wide grip up fast down slow 3*10 stuff...

OP
LP
FP
BOR

SSE of the Hoover Dam, Arizona. No training today but lots of exercise. After some touristy stuff at the Grand Canyon stopped off to hike down a dry river bed to the Colorado river the highlights of which were some rock scrambling, relaxing in the (very) hot springs, swimming in the (cold as fuck) river, shooting at chipmunks and the views in general. The weather wasn't bad either but then if it was a flash flood would've probably killed us.

First gym session in ages at the Mirage. At $25 a head quite expensive but well worth it in terms of the lush spa with free food/drink and a nice chill out area with sofas and a big tv screen. Was pleased to find medicine balls and foam rolls in the gym so introduced Matt to SMR - unfortunately I am back to square one on this front esp in the calfs - must get my own equipment for this now that I have ditched my David Lloyd membership. Lots of stretching and then once thru my usual (but not regular!) core routine.

First titty pain inducing weights session for ages. Wide grip up fast down slow 3*10...

UC
DP
BOR

After a much needed fruit boost whilst watching the remainder of the Eagles/Giants divsional play off game headed back to the gym for some CV action. First time I've done a travelator workout in ages - set the incline on max and started off fairly slow and gradually built it up to almost running over the hour. Heart rate was around 135 at the start and 165 by the end which was a bit higher than planned - wanted to stay well below threshold. Finished the day with a touch of pampering in the huge jacuzzi to proper get our moneys worth.

MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Easy run on the streets around the Strip. Went to run out West to the Orleans like last time I was in Vegas when I gatecrashed the marathon but the roads had all changed due to the huge City Centre development. So annoyingly had to divert back to the strip and into the crowds. Ran down to the Flamingo road where I knew I could get over the interstate into West Las Vegas. Just made it up as I went after that. Was really feeling the concrete today and had to wait for ages at the lights (14:20 - not included) - my bad, wrong time of day.

Event: Saxons Regional Event
 

Eridge. Was quite tired today and never got going. Nick came past me at like twice the speed and must've wondered how I got anywhere near him in Belgium. Made a lot of mistakes as well but mostly silly or maybe not even my fault - like 6 what was going on there on the map? Or 22 sea of bracken pit bingo style - the only features to nav by were thickets that weren't really mapped that well. Felt in control on the more technical section - fastest split on 11 and comfortably second behind Nick on 12/13. 14 I binned drifting North with no real plan. 16 was Hartley's leg with Alan taking it from me by 1 second - a proper downhill blast centering in on the feature using some well mapped veg.

Canford Heath. Was supposed to be easy today but after a feeling a bit thick to start with got better and was playing the let's see how fast I can run game.

Ulwell, Isle of Purbeck. After returning to a country that actually has some hills thought better do some. Reps up the same hill as b4 Xmas - figured just take it easy today. 10*0.77km & 100m...

1) 7:27
2) 7:16
3) 7:19
4) 7:16
5) 7:23
6) 7:14
7) 7:10
8) 7:12
9) 7:11
10) 6:46