Training Log Archive: BrandNewMeIn the 31 days ending Aug 31, 2023:
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| Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023 #
7 AM
Road running 32:00 [3] 3.92 mi (8:10 / mi) +29m 7:59 / mi
ahr:135 max:160
To morningside to look for something Lucy had dropped and to buy bread. Felt quite good
10 AM
Cycle 30:00 [3]
Taking Lucy her forgotten trainers.
12 PM
Road running 16:17 [3] 1.83 mi (8:54 / mi) +49m 8:13 / mi
ahr:131 max:153
To Blackwells to buy a book for Lucy.
Monday Aug 28, 2023 #
5 PM
Off-road running 35:16 [3] 2.78 mi (12:41 / mi) +174m 10:37 / mi
ahr:132 max:157
AS. Getting a bit tired of my sore kneess
Saturday Aug 26, 2023 #
8 AM
Off-road running 2:13:13 [3] 11.36 mi (11:44 / mi) +766m 9:42 / mi
ahr:147 max:176
Pentlands with Mo and Eilis who are much fitter than me. Ouch!
Friday Aug 25, 2023 #
6 PM
Off-road running 46:25 [3] 3.64 mi (12:45 / mi) +241m 10:35 / mi
ahr:131 max:169
A trip around AS rather marred by one guy and his out of control dogs. When I am queen I’ll ban all dogs from the royal parks and it will be much more pleasant for all people as a result.
Thursday Aug 24, 2023 #
11 AM
Off-road running 2:15:12 [3] 8.35 mi (16:11 / mi) +834m 12:21 / mi
ahr:135 max:161
Second day of a short break in Galloway. Sunny so a hill had to be done and Merrick is the biggest. We went up the tourist path which was nice enough and I ran all of the hill so was pleased.
Then Ray suggested we took an alternative route down. Note to self - the tourist path is usually there as it is the nicest way up and down. That’s why it’s popular. So I went with Ray and just hit so many tussocks. And my knees were getting wound up. And I was getting grumpy. Cheered up by finding a pool in the river for a dip after. Nice.
Then Ray suggested we took an alternative route down. Note to self - the tourist path is usually there as it is the nicest way up and down. That’s why it’s popular. So I went with Ray and just hit so many tussocks. And my knees were getting wound up. And I was getting grumpy. Cheered up by finding a pool in the river for a dip after. Nice.
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023 #
12 PM
Off-road running 1:11:02 [3] 5.55 mi (12:48 / mi) +508m 9:58 / mi
ahr:141 max:163
A nice hill run from Durisdeer on a trip w Ray. Pleased to have run the whole hill. Felt stronger today.
Monday Aug 21, 2023 #
12 PM
Intervals - long endurance 1:00:48 [3] 4.96 mi (12:16 / mi) +337m 10:07 / mi
ahr:144 max:173
4 x 5 mins and the last one ended half way up the haddie so I just kept going. Made an effort up Jacobs ladder on the way back to work
Sunday Aug 20, 2023 #
2 PM
Trail running 53:38 [3] 4.42 mi (12:08 / mi) +290m 10:05 / mi
ahr:140 max:157
With Ray at Holyrood. To the summit then pipers, the lower crags path, Dassies, pipers and home
Friday Aug 18, 2023 #
8 AM
Walk 4:07:34 [3] 8.04 mi (30:48 / mi) +796m 23:33 / mi
ahr:105 max:129
Woke early when the older guys got up and left, muttering about mouse droppings in their food…
We packed and left quite soon after as we were a bit sick of the mouse. It was even windier outside and the clag was down. I really wanted to get a top in, and the LG is a horrid walk - all the bloody boulders - so we decided on Ben MacD.
I was pretty nervous as I hadn’t been there before and it’s a plateau with cliffs off a lot of the edges, and visibility was minimal. And it was pretty windy, but the wind would be behind us for most of it, and my OS map app might have enough reception to work as navigational aid A so we might not have to rely on my ropey nav.
The route up Ben MacD from corrour bothy is pretty brutal. Walk a mile, ascend 750m in 2 miles, skip over to the top. The ascent was not a path on the os map but there was a trod on the ground, and the ascent was all in a reasonably sized re-entrant beside the stream Allt Clach nan Taillear. It was nice and sheltered from the wind, but was relentless, and the trod disappeared into boulder fields after a bit, popping up every so often.
Finally we emerged from the top onto the plateau. The wind was brutal, it was raining and you could see about 30m. I think we would have been ok with map and compass, but I was glad that the os app was working well and told us exactly where we were. This was not a place to be hanging around. We got to the top and got off as soon as possible. There were some good cairns which kept popping up one after another which were really handy as the path kept disappearing when it got rockier. Kept checking the app and we descended the 5 miles to the car park quickly.
The wind was indescribable. About 2 miles from the end we got blown into each other and fell over. There were a surprising number of people who seemed to just be trying to ascend anyway. Bonkers!
A good little trip, which Lucy seemed to enjoy. Moaning was minimal for once, even on the ascents. I might have to do some training next year to make sure I’m stronger than her.
We packed and left quite soon after as we were a bit sick of the mouse. It was even windier outside and the clag was down. I really wanted to get a top in, and the LG is a horrid walk - all the bloody boulders - so we decided on Ben MacD.
I was pretty nervous as I hadn’t been there before and it’s a plateau with cliffs off a lot of the edges, and visibility was minimal. And it was pretty windy, but the wind would be behind us for most of it, and my OS map app might have enough reception to work as navigational aid A so we might not have to rely on my ropey nav.
The route up Ben MacD from corrour bothy is pretty brutal. Walk a mile, ascend 750m in 2 miles, skip over to the top. The ascent was not a path on the os map but there was a trod on the ground, and the ascent was all in a reasonably sized re-entrant beside the stream Allt Clach nan Taillear. It was nice and sheltered from the wind, but was relentless, and the trod disappeared into boulder fields after a bit, popping up every so often.
Finally we emerged from the top onto the plateau. The wind was brutal, it was raining and you could see about 30m. I think we would have been ok with map and compass, but I was glad that the os app was working well and told us exactly where we were. This was not a place to be hanging around. We got to the top and got off as soon as possible. There were some good cairns which kept popping up one after another which were really handy as the path kept disappearing when it got rockier. Kept checking the app and we descended the 5 miles to the car park quickly.
The wind was indescribable. About 2 miles from the end we got blown into each other and fell over. There were a surprising number of people who seemed to just be trying to ascend anyway. Bonkers!
A good little trip, which Lucy seemed to enjoy. Moaning was minimal for once, even on the ascents. I might have to do some training next year to make sure I’m stronger than her.
Thursday Aug 17, 2023 #
9 AM
Walk 6:12:00 [3] 10.52 mi (35:22 / mi) +719m 29:10 / mi
ahr:95 max:125
In the cairngorms with Lucy. Plan was to drive to cairngorm carpark, walk over some tops to camp at the corrour bothy, then back the next day via more tops.
Unfortunately it was pretty windy. After fighting 35mph wind to get to 1000m we ducked out of Ben MacD and headed over Lurchers crag to the LG instead.
Lucy was a but disappointed with the bothy. I think she’d been thinking of a refugio. She was expecting bunk beds and sofas and tables and chairs. It was a dark, dirty glorified shed apparently, which is quite accurate. The air felt quite clean inside though so after pitching our lightweight tent and not really giving it much chance of staying up for 2 mins in the strong winds let alone overnight we took it down and decided to sleep on the sleeping platform inside instead.
Then Lucy saw the resident mouse. She was ok with it but I am not a mouse person at all. But I am also not a camping-in-a-gale person either. So we just took all belongings to the sleeping platform for the night and decided it wouldn’t bother us. Then 2 young Dutch brothers arrived and decided to sleep on the floor, and two other guys later on. The Dutch were useful in that they could light the fire and had brought wood so it made for a fun night. Didn’t sleep much for fear of falling off the sleeping platform though.
Unfortunately it was pretty windy. After fighting 35mph wind to get to 1000m we ducked out of Ben MacD and headed over Lurchers crag to the LG instead.
Lucy was a but disappointed with the bothy. I think she’d been thinking of a refugio. She was expecting bunk beds and sofas and tables and chairs. It was a dark, dirty glorified shed apparently, which is quite accurate. The air felt quite clean inside though so after pitching our lightweight tent and not really giving it much chance of staying up for 2 mins in the strong winds let alone overnight we took it down and decided to sleep on the sleeping platform inside instead.
Then Lucy saw the resident mouse. She was ok with it but I am not a mouse person at all. But I am also not a camping-in-a-gale person either. So we just took all belongings to the sleeping platform for the night and decided it wouldn’t bother us. Then 2 young Dutch brothers arrived and decided to sleep on the floor, and two other guys later on. The Dutch were useful in that they could light the fire and had brought wood so it made for a fun night. Didn’t sleep much for fear of falling off the sleeping platform though.
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023 #
6 PM
Trail running 8:30 [3] 0.96 mi (8:49 / mi) +19m 8:18 / mi
ahr:137 max:152
Orienteering - race 23:00 [3] 2.61 mi (8:49 / mi)
ahr:153 max:164
Astley Ainsley orienteering
Excellent sprintelope. We did the short so we could skip the faff of shadowing and it was defo the right choice. Graeme did an excellent course, really excellent. He seems to be a good sprint planner.
Si time is longer, mainly cause I had to stop to have a convo with Lucy as she caught me a minute halfway to 14 even though I didn’t see her at all going into the long dead end at 13….bit of a giveaway. 13 was the only control I didn’t see, prolly cause it was too brambly. Got home, looked at the map and forgave her as I think she got confused and went down a different dead end.
I hope Robin strain recovered from me body-slamming him on the way to 20. My apologies!
Excellent sprintelope. We did the short so we could skip the faff of shadowing and it was defo the right choice. Graeme did an excellent course, really excellent. He seems to be a good sprint planner.
Si time is longer, mainly cause I had to stop to have a convo with Lucy as she caught me a minute halfway to 14 even though I didn’t see her at all going into the long dead end at 13….bit of a giveaway. 13 was the only control I didn’t see, prolly cause it was too brambly. Got home, looked at the map and forgave her as I think she got confused and went down a different dead end.
I hope Robin strain recovered from me body-slamming him on the way to 20. My apologies!
Trail running 7:54 [3] 0.94 mi (8:27 / mi)
ahr:140 max:154
Tuesday Aug 15, 2023 #
7 PM
Road running 7:28 [3] 0.76 mi (9:50 / mi) +20m 9:05 / mi
ahr:139 max:149
Martins intervals for the first time in ages. Not long enough after having dinner. Tired too. When will B stay in bed all night? When? So tired for so long now.
Felt fairly outrageously bad for this whole thing (did 5 x 1k) but probably could have gone faster (if I was much fitter and less fat). I wanted to convince myself that all 5 reps were doable though so I stuck with the Grae/hams to make it through.
Very wet. 4:17, 4:14, 4:18, 4:18, 4:18
Felt fairly outrageously bad for this whole thing (did 5 x 1k) but probably could have gone faster (if I was much fitter and less fat). I wanted to convince myself that all 5 reps were doable though so I stuck with the Grae/hams to make it through.
Very wet. 4:17, 4:14, 4:18, 4:18, 4:18
Intervals - long endurance 46:24 [3] 4.85 mi (9:34 / mi)
ahr:142 max:167
Sunday Aug 13, 2023 #
10 AM
Off-road running 1:42:56 [3] 7.56 mi (13:37 / mi) +705m 10:33 / mi
ahr:145 max:179
Pentlands for the first time in ages.
From Swanston to Allermuir, down the right hand side of Castlelaw, down to the road and then right, up the valley to harbour hill then capelaw and back. Not very far but I am tired out now.
It seems frustratingly common to take your untrained dog to the Pentlands, let it off the lead and hope it stays in your vicinity. Idiots.
From Swanston to Allermuir, down the right hand side of Castlelaw, down to the road and then right, up the valley to harbour hill then capelaw and back. Not very far but I am tired out now.
It seems frustratingly common to take your untrained dog to the Pentlands, let it off the lead and hope it stays in your vicinity. Idiots.
Saturday Aug 12, 2023 #
9 AM
Road running 15:52 [3] 1.76 mi (9:01 / mi) +26m 8:37 / mi
ahr:137 max:149
Jog to the parkrun start
XC / road / hill race 23:33 [3] 3.16 mi (7:27 / mi) +105m 6:45 / mi
ahr:161 max:173
Holyrood parkrun.
After getting up at stupid o’clock to drop Loz and friends at the airport (3:30) for their trip to Czech, i was fairly exhausted but rolled out of bed in time for this. Lucy was just going to jog down and back but I think she gauged my general sighing and grumbling and thought a possible win over me was on.
She insisted we started near the back, and we couldn’t quite tell when it started, people just started jogging forward. Lucy nipped through the crowds and got ahead of me. It was quite hard to move through, but it was nice going past people on the ascent for once. Nearly caught Lucy as the end of the top flat bit, and yelled ‘c’mon Lucy’ just to let her know I was nearby and she had to keep pushing. But she is better down the hill than me, and although everyone gets to the last half mile and does on the flat, I was dying worse than most and she must have beaten me by a good 30 secs in the end. Pleasing that she insisted on walking home. I wasn’t complaining.
After getting up at stupid o’clock to drop Loz and friends at the airport (3:30) for their trip to Czech, i was fairly exhausted but rolled out of bed in time for this. Lucy was just going to jog down and back but I think she gauged my general sighing and grumbling and thought a possible win over me was on.
She insisted we started near the back, and we couldn’t quite tell when it started, people just started jogging forward. Lucy nipped through the crowds and got ahead of me. It was quite hard to move through, but it was nice going past people on the ascent for once. Nearly caught Lucy as the end of the top flat bit, and yelled ‘c’mon Lucy’ just to let her know I was nearby and she had to keep pushing. But she is better down the hill than me, and although everyone gets to the last half mile and does on the flat, I was dying worse than most and she must have beaten me by a good 30 secs in the end. Pleasing that she insisted on walking home. I wasn’t complaining.
Friday Aug 11, 2023 #
5 PM
Trail running 57:02 [3] 4.25 mi (13:25 / mi) +284m 11:07 / mi
ahr:137 max:157
After having a v v sore bit on the bottom of one of my toes for ages, I finally went to a foot person. I think he was a podiatrist so presumably with some form of foot qualification, but it felt like a shard of glass or a thorn rather than anything foot specific. He was happy to get a scalpel and go for a rake though and dug out a few shards of glass. £40 well spent.
Celebrated with a run with Ray. Up pipers then turned right from half way a long, up the scramble path directly below the summit, which winds its way around and ends up heading to the top. Down via whinny to St Antonines and up the crags and home. Lovely day, great route, body felt ok.
Celebrated with a run with Ray. Up pipers then turned right from half way a long, up the scramble path directly below the summit, which winds its way around and ends up heading to the top. Down via whinny to St Antonines and up the crags and home. Lovely day, great route, body felt ok.
Thursday Aug 10, 2023 #
12 PM
Intervals - short and speedy 46:15 [3] 5.22 mi (8:52 / mi) +107m 8:20 / mi
ahr:150 max:169
4 minute, 2 x 3 minutes, 3 x 2 minutes, 4 x 1 mins. Warriston triangle from work.
Got a full 6 hours of straight sleep for the first time in ages. Felt phenomenal. B came into our bed as usual but I managed to sleep through it. Got a glimpse of what a good nights sleep could be.
Got a full 6 hours of straight sleep for the first time in ages. Felt phenomenal. B came into our bed as usual but I managed to sleep through it. Got a glimpse of what a good nights sleep could be.
Tuesday Aug 8, 2023 #
6 PM
Intervals - long endurance 45:12 [3] 5.02 mi (9:00 / mi) +75m 8:36 / mi
ahr:145 max:164
6 mins, 3 x 4 mins, 6 mins. Road running the KB 5 route. Walked / jogged back at the end as my knees weren’t happy, after a few days pain free. Sigh. Good to get this done though.
Monday Aug 7, 2023 #
11 AM
Trail running 11:35 [3] 1.28 mi (9:02 / mi) +25m 8:31 / mi
ahr:140 max:155
Trail running 45:26 [3] 2.8 mi (16:14 / mi) +321m 11:58 / mi
ahr:145 max:171
Least fun time of year for this, it was very overgrown up the banks at the start and down the chicken coop was painful too. At least the tourists got out of the way when they saw the blood.
But unfit and with hill race doms this was always going to be a very slow outing.
But unfit and with hill race doms this was always going to be a very slow outing.
Trail running 16:16 [3] 1.52 mi (10:40 / mi) +42m 9:49 / mi
ahr:145 max:155
Saturday Aug 5, 2023 #
2 PM
XC / road / hill race 3:28 [3] 0.51 mi (6:48 / mi)
ahr:125 max:146
Newtonmore Highland Games
Senior women 800m. First ever 800m. Grass track.. 4th (and last). £10 prize from 50p entry. Good money to be made if you don’t mind shaming yourself! I must admit though in a race with 4 prizes if four women turned up that looked even remotely competent I would have given it a miss.
Senior women 800m. First ever 800m. Grass track.. 4th (and last). £10 prize from 50p entry. Good money to be made if you don’t mind shaming yourself! I must admit though in a race with 4 prizes if four women turned up that looked even remotely competent I would have given it a miss.
XC / road / hill race 43:28 [3] 3.54 mi (12:17 / mi) +353m 9:23 / mi
ahr:165 max:207
Newtonmore Highland Games Creag Dubh hill race.
Less embarrassingly woeful performance. About 6th woman. Route was basically to the top of the orienteering map and back. Beaten by Dil Wetherill by a little and Ian Maxwell by a lot.
first v40. £35, but £7 entry so £28 profit.
Lucy cleaned up. 2nd in the u15 boys (no girls event) shot - £7, only u17 800m entrant - £25, 2nd in u15 200m - £7, 3rd in u17 400m - £10. 5th in the ladies relay, no cash.
Laurence was 1st and only u17 800m - £25, 4th in senior 1500m £10, runner up in the relay £5.
Less embarrassingly woeful performance. About 6th woman. Route was basically to the top of the orienteering map and back. Beaten by Dil Wetherill by a little and Ian Maxwell by a lot.
first v40. £35, but £7 entry so £28 profit.
Lucy cleaned up. 2nd in the u15 boys (no girls event) shot - £7, only u17 800m entrant - £25, 2nd in u15 200m - £7, 3rd in u17 400m - £10. 5th in the ladies relay, no cash.
Laurence was 1st and only u17 800m - £25, 4th in senior 1500m £10, runner up in the relay £5.
Friday Aug 4, 2023 #
11 AM
Orienteering - race 29:42 [3] 2.46 mi (12:04 / mi)
ahr:138 max:171
Culbin middle
Bit surprised to win this as I dropped a good 45secs on number 1 and never felt like I was running strongly in the terrain. Tight glutes as ever, but knees less sore. Victory and janine coming 3rd placed me 2nd overall behind Kim. Some things never change.
Bit surprised to win this as I dropped a good 45secs on number 1 and never felt like I was running strongly in the terrain. Tight glutes as ever, but knees less sore. Victory and janine coming 3rd placed me 2nd overall behind Kim. Some things never change.
Thursday Aug 3, 2023 #
1 PM
Orienteering - race 50:50 [3] 4.17 mi (12:11 / mi) +62m 11:39 / mi
ahr:158 max:170
Tired to describe my week off to a work colleague. He’s a golfer so I told him to imagine a week of nice golf courses with your friends and lots of other people, staying with lots of other people with kids so you could relinquish parental responsibilities and pretend you’re 16 again (and drink too much and piss people off in the campsite by being too rowdy). He agreed it sounded good.
But good golf courses are often designed and built to specifications. A digger comes in and makes the golf course. You can tell an orienteering area is good if - had you designed it from scratch- you’d come up with something similar. I’d forgotten quite how perfect Culbin is. It’s incredible. I’m not a massive fan of the ‘Scottish-wooded-sand dunes’ genre (not enough big hills or mud) but this is just perfect. Lots of scrappy little mistakes when I thought I could see Kim in the distance. It wasn’t her. 30secs at 6, over a minute at 7, 30secs at 8, a minute at 9, 30 secs at 10. A bit frustrating therefore to be the same time as kim at the start of the run in and 4 secs down at the end.
Planning by Sabine and Simon was excellent, the forest a total and utter joy. Looking forward to tomorrow now.
But good golf courses are often designed and built to specifications. A digger comes in and makes the golf course. You can tell an orienteering area is good if - had you designed it from scratch- you’d come up with something similar. I’d forgotten quite how perfect Culbin is. It’s incredible. I’m not a massive fan of the ‘Scottish-wooded-sand dunes’ genre (not enough big hills or mud) but this is just perfect. Lots of scrappy little mistakes when I thought I could see Kim in the distance. It wasn’t her. 30secs at 6, over a minute at 7, 30secs at 8, a minute at 9, 30 secs at 10. A bit frustrating therefore to be the same time as kim at the start of the run in and 4 secs down at the end.
Planning by Sabine and Simon was excellent, the forest a total and utter joy. Looking forward to tomorrow now.
Wednesday Aug 2, 2023 #
2 PM
Trail running 3:25 [3] 0.31 mi (11:04 / mi) +8m 10:17 / mi
ahr:124 max:141
Orienteering - race 12:22 [3] 1.6 mi (7:44 / mi)
ahr:158 max:171
Rest day sprint
Really just entered to keep the kids company, and Lucy didn’t make it in the end anyway.
It’s not a terribly inspiring area but the course was fine. I’m so unfit I have adopted a strange sort of breathing that makes it sound like I’m having an asthma attack. Not very glamourous.
Really just entered to keep the kids company, and Lucy didn’t make it in the end anyway.
It’s not a terribly inspiring area but the course was fine. I’m so unfit I have adopted a strange sort of breathing that makes it sound like I’m having an asthma attack. Not very glamourous.
Trail running 2:17 [3] 0.23 mi (9:56 / mi) +2m 9:37 / mi
ahr:132 max:147
Tuesday Aug 1, 2023 #
10 AM
Orienteering - race 53:23 [3] 4.24 mi (12:35 / mi) +44m 12:12 / mi
ahr:156 max:171
A great outing in Roseisle which restored some joy for orienteering. I’d always thought of Roseisle as pretty but not very tricky orienteering, but the map is now much better than I remembered, and Tim and Zoe really did pull it out the bag planning-wise - our course was great.
I didn’t manage to get out of bed early enough for a pre-10am start, but made a just past 10 start a minute after my sister. Passed her going to 2 and again later at 4 where I binned 3 mins - sigh!
Then on to help at the string course for the day - very popular, we were busy! - followed by a swim in the sea and interlopers social. Tiring but fun day.
I didn’t manage to get out of bed early enough for a pre-10am start, but made a just past 10 start a minute after my sister. Passed her going to 2 and again later at 4 where I binned 3 mins - sigh!
Then on to help at the string course for the day - very popular, we were busy! - followed by a swim in the sea and interlopers social. Tiring but fun day.