Training Log Archive: bradc

Leg 4 of the Harvester at Blakeholme - 6.25km, second team for FVO after Fraser, Jon and Trevor. Rather apprehensive about this, not least when I heard Fraser come to wake up Trevor a good half-hour after I was expecting him to, with the comment "there'll be some long times out there". So it proved, when Jon didn't wake me up for a further 2h30mins! At least this meant that I wouldn't be running my night leg in the dark after all, unless Trevor had a blinder - he didn't.
Despite my best intentions to play it very safe on the first, very tricky, control, I missed my path junction and proceeded to stuff it up royally, dumping a good 10 minutes, alas. So I was surprised to see Graham MacIntyre, who had set off just before me, a mere three uneventful (for me) controls later. I kept seeing him thereafter, taking different lines but unable to run away from him as my groin was by now giving me a lot of gip. I was OK until #15 which I missed and lost about 5 minutes - he got clear then. I was steady enough myself thereafter, so it was an OK run, but I'd have been happier to be 10 minutes faster. Oh well, just surviving in that terrain was something of a result; it really was rock hard, and not terribly pleasant. Broken before I started and decidedly broken by the time I finished!

Didn't enjoy the 2.5km walk back to the car, carrying all the kit! TRIMP 156.
Great result for the FVO first team, with stand-out runs by Mark on leg 2, Marcus on leg 4 and Jegor on the anchor leg.

3.5km pre-Harvester training course very kindly laid on by Andy L. Risky for me, as I always crock myself at any training event before a race, but today's gashed knee and slight groin strain was probably worth it to get a feel for the terrain (and verdant growth!). GPS only started tracking after about a kilometre. TRIMP 86.8.

Dear me, I'm having real motivational issues this week.

Open Water Swim - North Third reservoir. At the limit of both confidence and technique! Tempted into a lunchtime adventure by Janine and the intrepid SNH water babies. Surprisingly warm in the water once going. Janine looked like she was born in a wetsuit and flew off into the distance like a hydrofoil; I wallowed like a sinking Clyde puffer. Had to bail to the side three or four times to calm down, and had only one near panic when I almost got into some water weed.

I think that I'd quite enjoy this if I was a better swimmer. Being able to tread water would be a serious bonus, for example...

C • You did great! 6

Since I'm now running at the Harvester this weekend (yippee), I decided that it was about time - after several weeks of sloth and pie-eating - that I reminded my legs what running hard feels like. A secondary motive was to try to mobilise my back, which has been bad since the weekend's long exploits.
Three reps felt like enough - the pinched nerve-related hot spot in my right abdomen was starting to spread during the third rep, so it was sensible to head home for some brufen and a stretch on the inversion table. It felt good to run hard. I'll be fine for the weekend.
Reps were 4:27, 4:31 and 4:34, a bit down but not too bad, considering recent idleness. TRIMP 130.9.
Update - unexpected/unmerited Strava CR on the first rep. That won't last!