Training Log Archive: murraystraining

Three Peaks Race. First of the "races I've always fancied but I've not been able to fit into an O season" races. Coombs and Doug had a similar thoughts so we had a reasonably strong team down.
Recent training = poor. But March was pretty good, so I thought if I could run a sensible race I'd be able to rely on that base work to get me through.
We set of steadily up PyG with the three of us running as a pack. Coombs pulled away on the final section of climb and set off to catch Jethro and the second bunch - even this early the three Salomon runners had gapped the rest of the field (SwissCheese, Ricky Lightfoot and Tom Owens). Doug passed me on the descent - I was consciously trying to look after my legs (as well as being a bit mince in the deeper bits of snow).
I relaxed into the long transition to the Ribblehead cp but after a mile or so realised I ought to extract my digit and put some effort in, so I ran a bit harder to catch Doug. Having caught him I realised the next guy was Andy Fallas, a few hundred metres ahead so we pushed on to get him. We were running about 3:45/km pace here which I thought was maybe a little fast but not excessively so.

The climb up Greater Whernside was pretty tough as there was about 6in of snow on top of boggy ground but I kept going well, and especially enjoyed a Banoffee Pie flavoured energy gel that I'd picked up at Ribblehead.

Legs were burning after the steep climb to the summit but they eased off quickly on the descent and I was able to push on - by the time I was back to the valley floor I felt great and was flying along - so much so that at the next checkpoint I was so focussed on passing Adam Osborne that I forgot to look for the bottle pickup - no energy drink or gels for the final hour of the race! Disaster?

I grabbed a few jelly babies from a kind marshal and stuffed them in my pocket. Having dropped Adam I set my sights on the next targets - Mr Red and Mr Blue. Both were completely popped though and I passed them like they were standing still. Got a good rhythm up the steep final climb - really chuffed to still be moving well after 30km of racing. On the out and back to the summit I first saw Jack Wood, then Jethro, then Coombs. Right, those are my three targets for the 7km descent back to the finish.
The first half of my descent was strong and I managed to catch Jethro and Coombs quite easily, however not long after I passed them things started to sieze up - tight quads and a loss of agility of the rougher linestone terrain. I managed to get Jack in my sights but couldn't quite reel him in - he finished 30s ahead of me.

All in all a pretty enjoyable run around a new part of the world for me. I don't think I could have run much better but I definitely want to go back in better shape and at least try for a sub-3 or maybe better. I was 16th at the top of PyG and 7th at the finish - moving through is definitely the more satisfying way to run a race.
Coombs got 8th, Doug ran well for 11th and we were backed up by Colin Doig to get the team prize, nice to win something with the Trotters for a change!

RR. Lots of aches (achilles, knees, hammy). Good shape for a long race.

Pre-work lap of Hyde and Green Parks.

Full day working/getting to know new team in London. Did an Escape the Room challenge. It was fun.

Three laps of Meadows with Coombs.

BBA. Hey, if it's good enough for that guy…

BBA. P2

Flat Arthur with Doug.

Planned a long run from Newtonmore. My body had other ideas. Sometimes you just need to stop - today was that day.

Generall jogging (salutes).

JOK Prologue - tired legs. Nav OK. Caught Andrew Lindsay (3mins) and had Iain Embrey in my sights (1 min) but couldn't close the gap.

JOK Chase. 1s behind Tam and with a few others not far behind. Missed the boulder at #2 which allowed a bit of a pack to form (Godders, Will, Tam, Iain) but got away from them with an aggressive cliff scramble up to #4. Small hesitation at #11 where I looked on the wrong stream initially but otherwise fine. Still v tired.

Dark Thistle. Epic. Awesome. Great fun. Moderate start, found myself in a good wee bunch through the second butterfly section (Johannes, TimG and a couple of EUOC guys). Got away from them with a better route choice and enjoyed cruising on my own for a bit. Messed around in some light green, got thrown well off line and then diverted via the finish and they were back with me. The last loop was a bit of a struggle - tougher forest, vaguer control sites and legs really suffering. Lost the battle with Dan for first of the group.

Lunchtime fartlek on the meadows track. 2-8-4-6-10-6-4-8-200m. 60s after each km of effort, 30s on intermediate breaks. Roughly 37s/200m. Felt horrendous. About 3kg overweight and hamstrings 2in shorter than they should be - the price of spending 12+ hours a day sat at desk for the last month. Glad exams are over for now, at least!

Post exam run in the sun on Black Hill with the wife. Good times.

Post exam commute back into town. Probably quicker than taking the bus back past the carnage on the bypass. Definitely better for my head!

Post study day RR.

Test run for the hamstring round Sutton Park. More aware of it but not sore or debilitating. Success.

English National 12 Stage Road Relays. Leg 12 (short). Late change on the day to move me to the lower risk prospect of the short leg.
Risk somewhat increased when the other 11 guys put in heroic efforts to send me out with a 62s lead. No chance of relaxing though as AFD had a sub-4 miler on the last leg! THe only fear/nerves I can equate that sort of pressure to was lining up for first leg at WOC in Finland. Strange sort of retiral this!

I went out deliberately hard (3:00 for the first km, mostly uphill) to make sure AFD couldn't get me in their sights. After there was still no sign of them at 3km I could relax slightly and protect my hammy on the downhills. Lapped CAAC with 400m to go then he came sprinting past towards the line - deliberately slowed (after a glance to make sure AFD were still nowhere in sight) and lapped up the glory.

Great result for the club - previous best was 7th last year and our last national title was XC in 1905. Reward for the enthusiasm put in by all the legends of the club!

Minimal warmup to avoid overaggrevating hammy. 3km after prizegiving.

Testing hammy at race pace. Some twinges in warm up but OK at pace. 30s-1min-2min @ 3:10/pace. Game on!

First for a while.

Jogging from station.

Scottish 6-stage road relay. Out in 8th, back in 8th, barely saw a soul in between. 50s slower than last year - meh.
Exciting race at the front and we got a decent Trotter 6 out for a change to take 6th.

Run home from Livingston. Nice route down river Almond (muddy slippy and surprisingly undulatin ) and back along the canal (resurfaced since I last ventured that far out).
LongShorts set a decent pace once we got on the canal, Doug, Hic-Coombs and I just about held on.
38km for three day. Nice. Tired.

Rugby run study break.

Picking up a parcel. Tired.