Training Log Archive: ba-ba

Thankfully joining DP in celebrating their team championship success last night didn't have the same result as the last time, when I spent most of the night hugging Ash's kitchen bin in only my pants.

Out with Rhys, Lloyd, Nail, Rob and ToddO. Well, until the gate on Walna scar as the DP guys were a bit too eager this morning. Todd and I went straight up to White Pike on his descent line whilst the others went round a bit. Then recced the Duddon route over to Caw and down to the stile before taking Rob through some of his favourite terrain back to the hut.

felt like the legs needed a bit of a shake out so I obliged them. Felt great for the first 15min before paling out a bit.

Got my mojo and a bit of confidence back bit now. Mate Gav ran 33:57 at Darlo 10k today. Wow, something to bear (bare?) in mind.

Event: English Fell Champs - Turner Landscape (Medium)
 

32nd. Winner: Simon Bailey 1:22:52 (112.6%)

Legs still felt a little weary from Scotland, but I was feeling much better in the rest of my body than I have for a while.
Steady start on the track up to Seathwaite Tarn with the Pennine grupetto of Dave, Steve and Noel - would normally want to be further ahead of these guys on a runnable stretch but was happy I was taking it steady at the point - Adam and Chris up ahead. Onto the climb to Great Friar, Dave and Tom Bush went ahead but I resolved to keep him in sight, and ToddO was also in view. Off the summit and through the small group I was with before driving on the gradual ascent up to Joss on Swirl Howe.

Reeled Todd in over Brim Fell and got ahead just after the Old Man - so I couldn't follow his line but I could stretch out a bit. Kept plugging up Dow Crag, going through a few others, and kept passing people on the contour down to Walna Scar and across to White Pike. Last descent and Andy Jebb went past me (legs not quite fresh enough to really push the descent), but stuck with him and Tom to pass a few others (including jogging Eddis and Little Rob) before sprinting right through them once into the field.

A really enjoyable route and, once over the first climb it was really fun ridge running. Quite pleased with my run, was aware my legs were a bit limited but managed to keep plugging away - 32nd is my best champs race result by 1 place, and there was no clag here to help me like at Great Lakes last year! (although the field was missing a few due to the GB trial on Sunday) However, it was my first defeat in a Pennine champs race this year - Adam's too strong all over and Chris is very strong up and at least matches me on the flat (but 3 Peaks, Jura and Fairfield are more marque names to have on my palmeres ;).

about with JackW. Had a good chat with Chris Leigh afterwards about training and making a step up, some useful tips to improve my uphill capacity (he thinks I could push towards top 10 in the future. Nowt wrong with being ambitious?) although he suggests forgetting about long stuff. The thing is, I really enjoy long stuff, but I have noticed this year that, as I've focused more on it, the rest of my running has plateaued to some extent. However, having been feeling a bit meh whilst running for a while I'm pleased to still be knocking out semi-respectable results

C • Long Stuff 7

River, Golden Postbox, Barwick, Thornaby. Put in a good effort on one of my Strava segments to see where I am. 2:49 compared to best of 2:41.

Decided to take a day off as more tired than I'd like. I've recommenced work on my Thornaby Spitfire map (after about 4 months fallow!), a few clips if you want a giggle at not-completely-square buildings and taking serious liberties with ISSOM:
Base map - need to go out and put point features on the map now (and check all the canopies are in the right place - can be difficult to see them on streetview...)!

However, still a long way to go...

the sections NE and SE of the central roundabout (the Spitfire roundabout, hence the map name) are also really good, and the town centre SE of the upper roundabout will add a bit of a different challenge. Getting back into the groove now though.

C • looks good 10

really enjoyed the Scottish, although it's (still) obvious that I need to keep the O going a bit more once the JK/BOCs have been and gone - that said after the debacle of Lossie I snapped back into a better routine quite quickly, still much room for improvement but I'm willing to work on this over the autumn and winter more so than in the past, before hopefully edging up towards where I want to be in the results next spring.

Some biggish decisions to be made over the next 6 weeks or so, but plenty of time to get the work in before LDMT and Edale

Eventually thought I should get out, had perked up as the day went on. 12.5min at a comfortable tempo/progression to get the legs going.