Training Log Archive: Frostbite

Hollies. Mostly dead. Many flowers.

Arches

Ridge, Sugarwell, Tunnel How Hill.

C • Training for anything in particular? 4

Chequers, Sheepwash, Beacon Hill, Osmotherly, Chequers.

Wolds run, hot, tired, slow, but OK.

Ran up Pendle for the first time in 20 years. Roughly speaking the route of the half tour, although I added a bit of tussock running that took it out of me a bit. Wobbling a bit by the end.

Meanwood and the Hollies

Arches

Round the park and the Hollies. Not too bad. Hot.

British Relays M50 Torphantrick

A bit tired, but kept going ok. At first I thought the gaffling was working really well. I was finding all my controls ok and groups formed and then split up and I could see other groups nearby. It was only after the spectator control when things seemed a bit wrong, when my gaffle took a huge short cut and I caught a group including Martin. Tim Griffin and David Eades. Martin took 8 minutes from the spectator to the finish, I took 4.5 minutes, and he hadn't made a mistake.

Checking the course lengths they varied from 4.4k to 5.05k. Mine was second shortest at 4.5, and most of the difference must have been in the loop after the spectator control. It made me look good, but it wouldn't make for a fair race on the last leg.

Anyway, a good area with lots of interesting navigation and tough underfoot with brashings everywhere.

British Champs M50L Balmoral.

Started well and went through 1-10 just fine. Then I found the long leg to be bit of a slog on the road, and after that I was knackered and started making mistakes.

#1 I went around the hill to the right along the deer fence. Only Dave P took any time out of me on this leg so I think I got this one right.

#2 - #9 all good

#10 I ran on the road so I could think about #11

#11 - took the road and path route to the right of the line and descended the path all the way to the wall before cutting across the slope. I should have come down through the green like Martin did but I didn't like the look of the green stripes. I lost 2.5 minutes on this leg, probably at least a minute and a half of it just on running speed on the paths.

#13 stupid stupid left the control along the wrong path, cut into the forest and nothing made sense until I found the path I should have been on. 1 minute lost.

#14 used the path to climb the hill, well off the line but it kept me going. Very tired by this point and barely moving up the hill.

#15 wandered all over the place on the way down the hill, just couldn't decide what I was doing. Found the control ok but should have been half a minute faster.

#16 I could not see the boulder, went right past the control and started looking randomly along the slope until Nick Howlett (who I first passed at #8) found it. Can't believe I didn't see it first time. 30 seconds lost.

10th place, 11 minutes down on Dave Peel.

Round the park and the Hollies, just jogging. Not feeling right.

MVUF with Evie. Including a faster stretch along the ridge.

Slabbering Baby, plodding. With Evie. Lovely afternoon. Tired.

From Gollinglith Foot up to the top of Birk Gill Beck/Scale Gill, across Colsterdale Moor and back down Colsterdale.

A bit of an adventure, this all being new ground for me, and very good it was too. The path up Birk Gill is only just there, a 6 inch wide trod through heather, dead bracken and lots of bilberries, and the valley itself is very pleasant with a few rocky outcrops and a lovely birch wood along the beck. The path eventually disappeared amongst the heather when I was 500m short of the top, then there was a better path back along the other side of the valley. I cut across a k of heather to a big shooters track to take me into Colsterdale and then back down a nice track back to the start.

Not very sprightly, it's been a hard week. It wasn't very easy to run along the narrow path on the way out, the rest was easier.

No GPS, forgot to charge it.

Seven Arches. Legs a little bit sore from last night but not too bad.

HPH speed and strength. First time in five months. I will suffer. Jog to the Moor, warm up, pyramid 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, some strength exercises ( I have none) then a sprinty relay 60m sprints, then stretching, then jog back.

Woodhouse Ridge and Sugarwell. Let's off road!

Started feeling like I was going quite well but it was much heavier going on Sugarwell, grass and brambles have grown a lot in the last couple of weeks. Struggling on the last few hills.

MVUF. With Evie, a bit faster than last week.

Woodhouse Ridge, Sugarwell and Meanwood. Steady. Hot. Not feeling too bad after a tiring weekend.

YHJS training, Holme Fell. Even nicer day than yesterday.

YHJS training, Blakeholme. A nice warm day. Good training.

With Evie, nice and easy. Woodhouse Ridge, MVUF, Sugarwell, Meanwood.

Another nice evening. Down to the river. OK I suppose, but no pace.

Seven Arches. Nice evening. I set off looking to run quite quick and might have overdone it a bit, I was suffering after Bywater but still going ok. Then just after the arches I had a rapidly developing digestive situation that had to be dealt with. After a 5 minute break I just jogged home.

C • Five minutes!!! 3