Training Log Archive: Frostbite

Not much left in my legs when I started and the first leg up and over the hill seemed to take a very long time. Just kept going, found most of them without any problem. Lost time at #13 going to the wrong bell-pit, about 30 seconds.

I really don't like this map. There are lots of paths on the map and lots of paths on the ground, but they don't seem to be related to each other. The pits are a bit randomly placed. The greens, tees and fairways on the golf course are mapped with bright yellow, but there are also plenty of other bits of mown grass adjoining the greens, tees and fairways that are mapped as rough open.

Woodhouse Ridge and Sugarwell, sticking in the main to the surfaced paths. Charlie couldn't handle the pace on the first hill. As soon as he started dropping he started pulling faces and saying "Ooooh Ooooh my calf hurts" before wimping out and going home.

I carried on at a steady plod.

Meanwood Sprint course. I had a 3 minute stop at #1 while I discussed with Evie what training we were doing. She opted for a steady run on the paths. I did the rest of my run a little quicker than on Weds. Terrain runs in Meanwood are hard work.

Woodhouse Ridge and Sugarwell Hill. Ridge muddy and slow, Sugarwell dry and fast. One navigational error.

Meanwood sprint course. This was always going to be hard work but days and days of rain have made the woods very heavy going indeed. The last climb was on hands and knees. Even the field was ankle deep. The main reason for doing it was giving my new Mudclaw 300s a try-out. They were ok, a bit of heel rubbing, good grip.

Slow, but then I was never expecting to be fast. I had a little rest at each control.

JK Relays, Beaudesert

Very wet, cold, muddy. 2nd leg after Dave Alcock. He had a decent run to hand over to me in 7th place. I trogged along at a decent pace, a bit weary and struggling up the hills but nowhere near as bad as I was in the relays last year. I kept pace with the people around me (Calvin Routledge who got away by half a minute in the end, and Julian Birkinshaw who finished half a minute behind me). I dithered on #2, looking first at another control on a different part of the thicket, and then dithered again trying to find a non-spiky way out of #2. I nearly got the valleys confused half way to #15, sorted myself just in time. Tired brain. Handed over in 6th, team finished 5th. Not bad.