Training Log Archive: Frostbite

nice long walk in the hot sun, exercising my demons. Headingley - Far Headingley - Meanwood - Eccup - Bowshaws - Bramhope - Pool - Leathley - Timble - Blubberhouses - Thruscross - Glasshouses. I was going to go to Pateley Bridge but diverted to Glasshouses to make sure I caught the bus. I spent the first half hour looking for a working cash machine in Headingley/Meanwood, which was annoying.

Felt fine when I stopped. Struggling to walk at all at Harrogate after an hour on the bus.

about 28 miles.

C • Bet that used some different muscles 3

A-Fib is getting me down. I don't like being slow. I retire. Or at least I am taking some time out. Until the Welsh 6 day maybe.

C • Don't blame you ... 2

Northern Champs, High Dam. The usual problems and couldn’t run very fast. Navigation mostly sound apart from being hopelessly lost twice. I lost track of where I was in the green on 12 and ended up relocating at the large marsh NE of 13, not too far off line but any extra distance in there cost a fair bit of time. Probably lost two minutes on the leg, but I got some of it back with a fastest split to 13 because I already knew where it was. Then on the way to 14 I was heading through the flat marshy area, I crossed a stream, I saw a path, I crossed a wall but I couldn’t work out where any of these things were on the map. I just pressed on knowing that I would reach the top of the slope above the control, and when I got there I was exactly where I wanted to be. Still can’t work out how I got there. 3 minutes down on Steve W, 6 on Ben Hartman for 3rd place, but 16 minutes behind Geoff Ellis on M35.

Just a jog, round Beckett Park

School Lane and stepping stones. Cruising along mostly quite comfortable but palpitations came and went so I had to slow down some of the time. Not too bad.

Woodside - Newlay - Acorn - Kirkstall. Same as last week, on the road. Heart had been a bit jittery all day but it was ok running as long as I kept it steady. It went wrong twice, both times when I speeded up to cross the road, both times settled within a minute. Just jogging up the long hills, not very quick.

Easy School Lane and stepping stones. Tried to lift the pace a bit on the two steeper climbs, just to get the HR up to 150 then eased off. No problems.

Timble Ings and Round Hill figure of 8. Started quite feebly into the wind, got a bit better then had nothing left at all for the last ten minutes or so, climbing up through the woods. No problems with the heart. My legs are knackered but in a good way.

Probably overdoing it, but I enjoyed it. Lovely day, breezy but warm.

C • wind 3

More tarmac. Long steady hills rather than short steep ones, and running on the road means I find it easier to keep the HR predictable. As it turns out quite a pleasant run, considering. West Park - Woodside - ring road then New Road Side up to Rawdon as far as Well Lane - Brownberrie Lane into Horsforth - Low Lane - and back from Woodside through West Park again. Legs were protesting at the end. No problems at all with the heart.

On the tarmac - West Park, Woodside, Outwood Lane, Newlay, up to the Acorn, Kirkstall. Fine until I hit the hills - had problems on both the significant climbs.

Steady to Hawksworth, not very comfortable but no problems. Pissing down.

Aire sprint race, Hawksworth Wood. Good fun, it's quite a good area for this sort of thing. Missed 2 controls marginally +30 secs, and I was only running steadily. About 4 mins down on Jack Wood, which I'm happy enough with. 9th, but respectable - you get a better M21 field at these races than you do at a "badge" event. No problems apart from the last big climb up the steps where I wobbled a bit at the top, just jogged across the field from there.

Got a lift back.

C • map 2

Oxley. Palpitations have gone so I went reasonably quickly up to Oxley just to enjoy the feeling of it. Palpitations came back just as I got into the playing fields and I jogged back dejectedly. About 9 minutes of good running and 12 minutes of jogging.

Went for a walk, from the Slough of Despond to the Pits of Despair.

Aberford Fly Line, Crooked Billet.

British Relays, Helsington Barrows, Mens Short, 3rd leg.

I enjoyed this. I didn't realise at the time but I set off in the lead, but had been overtaken before the first control by Claire Ward (whose team had already been dsqd) and Jack Benham. I was struggling with palpitations up the hill but once at the top I was able to race a bit harder. A small banana on 6 was the only time lost, it was very easy really as long as you kept concentrating.

I was still in 2nd place at the end but being caught by Ebor. Fortunately I could just about manage a sprint up the hill and was still fairly well clear at the end.

British Champs, Dalegarth, M40L. Not a good day, as I was expecting really after crashing out of my only run of the week on Wednesday. First leg was all uphill and I set off optimistically feeling ok, but I was getting palpitations after about 3 minutes running and that was that really. From then on I was just trying to keep going. Whenever I tried to push the pace or go uphill I just ended up feeling worse and having to slow right down again until I recovered.

I didn't miss much but I am not very happy with my mistake at 13, not checking where I was before dropping down among the rhododendrons and ending up down by the wall, and having to climb up amongst the crags to get back up to the control.

I got the long leg right but went up to my thigh in a bog and took half a minute to get out again.

Should have contoured across the slope to 19 instead of climbing straight up and going round the back of the hill, but I was just looking for the easy running and there was a big elephant track to follow.

I did routegadget last night but for lots of it I couldn't really remember where I had been, it's all a bit of a blur.

James won in 69 minutes, Steve W 2nd and Rich B 3rd on 78 mins. I don't normally check badge times - don't know why I did this time - but I just scraped into Gold by a handful of seconds.

C • Good route ... 3

Out to Bywater. Legs feeling good until the heart went a bit wrong. Shitty shitting shit. Walked back, slowly. Until I got back into the streets and did a bit of jogging.