This Training Diary has now become more of a training tool for me, rather than news for you, the reader. I now use it to compare my fitness and how I was feeling before previous events to enable me to better gauge if my fitness has improved
All my training can now be seen here: |
As from 7th June 2014 I shall not be writing about every single training session. i shall only write about important or interesting sessions! |
Friday 15th August: First Dirty Dozen Monthly Challenge:
P-Company B.F.T. (1.5miles in 9minutes 20seconds)
After a training lay off of 3 weeks due to D.I.Y and a holiday my 1st run back training was a challenge posted by 'Bear' to do 1.5 miles in under 10m30s, the P-company pass time is 9:20.
A few year ago (pre gout) I used to use a small path that runs beside the railway line, coming to a style to cross the line, using this style as a turn around point I thought the route was about 1.5miles. I kept my phone in my hand with Strava running so I could check to make sure I did the full distance but this kept slowing me down when I looked at it to check the distance. It turns out that the distance would have been 1.1 or 1.2miles if I'd just done the straight there and back route, so instead I went around the block and kept checking the phone until I'd done 1.6 miles just to make sure. I'd managed the 1.5miles in 10:37, just shy of Bears challenge.
Now I know exactly where the 1.5 mile mark is I'm sure that next time I'll make the 9:20. Though due to the fact that it's been a while since I've ran and none of my training has really involved any speed work I now have the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), which I haven't suffered from for about a year. I think I'll include speed work in my training from now on.
P-Company B.F.T. (1.5miles in 9minutes 20seconds)
After a training lay off of 3 weeks due to D.I.Y and a holiday my 1st run back training was a challenge posted by 'Bear' to do 1.5 miles in under 10m30s, the P-company pass time is 9:20.
A few year ago (pre gout) I used to use a small path that runs beside the railway line, coming to a style to cross the line, using this style as a turn around point I thought the route was about 1.5miles. I kept my phone in my hand with Strava running so I could check to make sure I did the full distance but this kept slowing me down when I looked at it to check the distance. It turns out that the distance would have been 1.1 or 1.2miles if I'd just done the straight there and back route, so instead I went around the block and kept checking the phone until I'd done 1.6 miles just to make sure. I'd managed the 1.5miles in 10:37, just shy of Bears challenge.
Now I know exactly where the 1.5 mile mark is I'm sure that next time I'll make the 9:20. Though due to the fact that it's been a while since I've ran and none of my training has really involved any speed work I now have the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), which I haven't suffered from for about a year. I think I'll include speed work in my training from now on.
Friday June 27th: Four of the 'Dirty Dozen' take on a reverse Fan Dance at night!
A warning order had done out to the 'Dirty Dozen' for a last long training session before the Avalanche Endurance Events Fan Dance. The session was to do the entire length of the Fan dance but in reverse, with the start time to be 23:00hrs. The 'Dirty Dozen' is a group of like minded good friends who compete in the same kinds of endurance events, and on occasion get together for a mad training session. Unfortunately it was only 4 of the dozen who could make the session this time.
We'd arranged to meet at Nant Ddu Lodge for the now customary Supreme Chicken followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding. Sean and Jim arrived and we ordered the meal as Gerald had said he would be a little late and wasn't going to bother with food and we should go ahead and eat without him. That chicken went down a treat and I'm sorry to say Gerald, but you missed a spectacular meal! Gerald did arrive in time to have the sticky toffee pudding with us though.
We left Nant Ddu, travelling in the van to get to the usual turn around point, none of us had been there by road before, but we easily found it making only one wrong turn. We could not get to the exact turn around point as the gate was closed and locked, though we were only a few hundred yards short at the bridge. The Met office weather forecast had been for heavy rain, but we were treated to quite clear skies with some great views of the heavens.
Boots and bergens on, a quick kit check, a run through of exactly where in everyone's bergens emergency kit was just in case the worse did happen and we were off. Sean as usual striding ahead typical Para fashion with Jim, Gerald and I 20 yards behind, chatting but keeping up. we stayed very much together until we'd passed the gully and got onto what I term as the 'proper' Roman Road. After that we began to split slightly but I was determined not to fall behind Sean too far so I made sure I kept close to him, and we tabbed as a fast pace all the way to Windy Gap where we waited to re-group. We hardly had to wait at all as first Jim joined us within seconds then maybe a minute later Gerald came along being his usual jovial self waving his hand-held torch around (he also had a head torch as we all did). A couple of minutes of banter and ensuring everyone was feeling fine we began the journey around Cribbin, which even during daylight is an awkward path to negotiate as every stone seems to be strategically placed to create the greatest trip hazard. All 4 of us stayed relatively close and almost silent as we were concentrating on the path and not tripping so hard. At the base of Jacob's Ladder we again re-grouped and had a few minutes rest as we had a bit of banter and looked up at the steep path which by now was disappearing into the clouds. We pushed on staying together dividing the effort into stages of elongated counts to 10, each 10 count lasting just under a minute, or there abouts before having a short rest. We were starting to get a bit damp from the cloud but it wasn't long before we were above it being treated to a just visible cloud inversion. The conversation had steered towards methods of mentally dealing with the fact that your body did not want to go any further up the hill and Sean told us about a book he's read theorising that the human mind can be split into 'the chimp the computer and the human'. The theory is that it's the 'chimp' that says "I can't do this and must stop" but the 'computer' knows that the hill cannot go on forever and the pain of climbing will be over soon. So you must not let the chimp 'escape' and take control, reassure it by telling it that "it's not far now" etc and keeping it caged (please let me know if I got this wrong Sean and by the way, this reasoning got me quite quickly up Jacobs Ladder on the actual Fan Dance). We all got to the top within a reasonable time and had the promised photoshoot and prayer for lost loved ones, particularly one lost brother.
We were off again skirting around Corn Du, picking our way carefully along the path that runs between the Storey Arms path up to Corn Du and the main motorway before running down the path, through the river, re-grouping again before climbing the small hill that is deceivingly painful before running again all the way down to the Storey Arms.
We'd made it half way, which felt weird as this would usually have been the finish point. We grabbed an energy bar whilst having a short rest, the banter still flowing and took a couple more pics. Then we started to long slog back up to Pen-y-fan. I'm not sure if this felt harder because we were tired from having already gone half way or easier because we knew we'd already gone half way and wouldn't have to climb Jacobs this time. Whichever way you look at it that climb was still tough but was made worth it by the sound of the birds in the grass tweeting about half and hour before the first hint of daybreak and the slight brightening of the sky between the dark clouds. At the top of Jacobs we were beginning to be able to see without the head torches and were treated to a wonderful cloud inversion, though unfortunately it was still way to dark to take a photograph of it without a tripod. We carefully made our way down the top part of Jacobs but then Sean soon left the three of us watching his head torch bounce along the path around 100m in front of us. At that point I really wished I'd taken my SLR camera and tripod as with the sky beginning to brighten and Sean's head torch lighting the path in front of him and silhouetting him, I think it would have made a great photograph. I soon caught up with Sean but Jim and Gerald were a couple of hundred meters behind us and both groups became slightly disoriented at about the same time. Gerald and Jim missed the right turn coming down and were heading towards Cribbyn, whilst Sean and I thought we'd missed it and cut 90 degrees right to get back to the right path, but we hadn't missed the turn. We realised within about 30 yards and turned around again to get back onto the path. This when we realised that Gerald and Jim had also made a mistake, so Sean blew on the whistle a couple of times to make the other two realise their mistake, which as it happens, they already had. This just goes to show that it is so easy to lose your bearings in poor visibility on the hills and even the most experienced navigator can easily make a mistake.
The track around Cribbyn tried to trip us even more now we had tired legs and several times it tripped or stubbed a toe, but thankfully never actually falling over. When Sean and I got to Windy gap we saw that the other two were only yards behind us and decided just to push on as we all knew our way back and it was now almost light enough to run without head torches. We quickly tabbed the whole roman road, still tripping occasionally but again not actually falling. When Sean and I got to the tarmac section that leads to the bridge we'd already put head torches away and decided to run the last half mile or so. When we finished we only had 2 or 3 minutes to wait for first Jim the Gerald to finish. After the obligatory "well done's", the hand shakes and the swapping of stories and tiredly climbed in the van and made our way back to Nant Ddu for the other cars, I think Jim was asleep in him seat before I'd turned the van around!
At Nant Ddu all I could think about was getting home to bed so after everyone had their kit from the back I said my good bye's and began my (compared to the others) short hour long journey home. However, after 10 minutes I couldn't drive anymore so pulled over for 'five minutes'. Forty five minutes later I woke up and managed to drive the rest of the way home without stopping.
All in all a great night out and my thanks goes out to Sean for organising these training sessions, they're appreciated!
A warning order had done out to the 'Dirty Dozen' for a last long training session before the Avalanche Endurance Events Fan Dance. The session was to do the entire length of the Fan dance but in reverse, with the start time to be 23:00hrs. The 'Dirty Dozen' is a group of like minded good friends who compete in the same kinds of endurance events, and on occasion get together for a mad training session. Unfortunately it was only 4 of the dozen who could make the session this time.
We'd arranged to meet at Nant Ddu Lodge for the now customary Supreme Chicken followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding. Sean and Jim arrived and we ordered the meal as Gerald had said he would be a little late and wasn't going to bother with food and we should go ahead and eat without him. That chicken went down a treat and I'm sorry to say Gerald, but you missed a spectacular meal! Gerald did arrive in time to have the sticky toffee pudding with us though.
We left Nant Ddu, travelling in the van to get to the usual turn around point, none of us had been there by road before, but we easily found it making only one wrong turn. We could not get to the exact turn around point as the gate was closed and locked, though we were only a few hundred yards short at the bridge. The Met office weather forecast had been for heavy rain, but we were treated to quite clear skies with some great views of the heavens.
Boots and bergens on, a quick kit check, a run through of exactly where in everyone's bergens emergency kit was just in case the worse did happen and we were off. Sean as usual striding ahead typical Para fashion with Jim, Gerald and I 20 yards behind, chatting but keeping up. we stayed very much together until we'd passed the gully and got onto what I term as the 'proper' Roman Road. After that we began to split slightly but I was determined not to fall behind Sean too far so I made sure I kept close to him, and we tabbed as a fast pace all the way to Windy Gap where we waited to re-group. We hardly had to wait at all as first Jim joined us within seconds then maybe a minute later Gerald came along being his usual jovial self waving his hand-held torch around (he also had a head torch as we all did). A couple of minutes of banter and ensuring everyone was feeling fine we began the journey around Cribbin, which even during daylight is an awkward path to negotiate as every stone seems to be strategically placed to create the greatest trip hazard. All 4 of us stayed relatively close and almost silent as we were concentrating on the path and not tripping so hard. At the base of Jacob's Ladder we again re-grouped and had a few minutes rest as we had a bit of banter and looked up at the steep path which by now was disappearing into the clouds. We pushed on staying together dividing the effort into stages of elongated counts to 10, each 10 count lasting just under a minute, or there abouts before having a short rest. We were starting to get a bit damp from the cloud but it wasn't long before we were above it being treated to a just visible cloud inversion. The conversation had steered towards methods of mentally dealing with the fact that your body did not want to go any further up the hill and Sean told us about a book he's read theorising that the human mind can be split into 'the chimp the computer and the human'. The theory is that it's the 'chimp' that says "I can't do this and must stop" but the 'computer' knows that the hill cannot go on forever and the pain of climbing will be over soon. So you must not let the chimp 'escape' and take control, reassure it by telling it that "it's not far now" etc and keeping it caged (please let me know if I got this wrong Sean and by the way, this reasoning got me quite quickly up Jacobs Ladder on the actual Fan Dance). We all got to the top within a reasonable time and had the promised photoshoot and prayer for lost loved ones, particularly one lost brother.
We were off again skirting around Corn Du, picking our way carefully along the path that runs between the Storey Arms path up to Corn Du and the main motorway before running down the path, through the river, re-grouping again before climbing the small hill that is deceivingly painful before running again all the way down to the Storey Arms.
We'd made it half way, which felt weird as this would usually have been the finish point. We grabbed an energy bar whilst having a short rest, the banter still flowing and took a couple more pics. Then we started to long slog back up to Pen-y-fan. I'm not sure if this felt harder because we were tired from having already gone half way or easier because we knew we'd already gone half way and wouldn't have to climb Jacobs this time. Whichever way you look at it that climb was still tough but was made worth it by the sound of the birds in the grass tweeting about half and hour before the first hint of daybreak and the slight brightening of the sky between the dark clouds. At the top of Jacobs we were beginning to be able to see without the head torches and were treated to a wonderful cloud inversion, though unfortunately it was still way to dark to take a photograph of it without a tripod. We carefully made our way down the top part of Jacobs but then Sean soon left the three of us watching his head torch bounce along the path around 100m in front of us. At that point I really wished I'd taken my SLR camera and tripod as with the sky beginning to brighten and Sean's head torch lighting the path in front of him and silhouetting him, I think it would have made a great photograph. I soon caught up with Sean but Jim and Gerald were a couple of hundred meters behind us and both groups became slightly disoriented at about the same time. Gerald and Jim missed the right turn coming down and were heading towards Cribbyn, whilst Sean and I thought we'd missed it and cut 90 degrees right to get back to the right path, but we hadn't missed the turn. We realised within about 30 yards and turned around again to get back onto the path. This when we realised that Gerald and Jim had also made a mistake, so Sean blew on the whistle a couple of times to make the other two realise their mistake, which as it happens, they already had. This just goes to show that it is so easy to lose your bearings in poor visibility on the hills and even the most experienced navigator can easily make a mistake.
The track around Cribbyn tried to trip us even more now we had tired legs and several times it tripped or stubbed a toe, but thankfully never actually falling over. When Sean and I got to Windy gap we saw that the other two were only yards behind us and decided just to push on as we all knew our way back and it was now almost light enough to run without head torches. We quickly tabbed the whole roman road, still tripping occasionally but again not actually falling. When Sean and I got to the tarmac section that leads to the bridge we'd already put head torches away and decided to run the last half mile or so. When we finished we only had 2 or 3 minutes to wait for first Jim the Gerald to finish. After the obligatory "well done's", the hand shakes and the swapping of stories and tiredly climbed in the van and made our way back to Nant Ddu for the other cars, I think Jim was asleep in him seat before I'd turned the van around!
At Nant Ddu all I could think about was getting home to bed so after everyone had their kit from the back I said my good bye's and began my (compared to the others) short hour long journey home. However, after 10 minutes I couldn't drive anymore so pulled over for 'five minutes'. Forty five minutes later I woke up and managed to drive the rest of the way home without stopping.
All in all a great night out and my thanks goes out to Sean for organising these training sessions, they're appreciated!
Saturday 7th June 2014: Chia seed try out run
I didn't really feel like going out for a run today, I was continually looking for reasons not to go. I'd made up a drink with Chia seeds, putting 3 dessert spoon fulls into 300ml squash and left it in the fridge for about 90 minutes. About an hour after I'd eaten a ham and cheese omelette I downed the Chia seed drink put on the bergen with a total weight of 41lb and dragged myself out the door. I'd intended to run up past Troserch, turn right and head up to the top of Exhaustion hill, turn around then run up to the top of Swiss Valley Hill then turn around again and head back home past Troserch making kind of a Y shape on the map. I was able to run all the way up Exhaustion Hill but the hill that I usually run down after climbing Swiss Valley was VERY steep, extremely tough and I had to walk a couple of times. However when I got to the top, I felt so good that instead of turning around I decided to carry on and pretty much do Swiss valley route home from work in reverse, but I'd have to do the extra 3.4 miles the rest of the way home. This meant that a run I didn't really want to do turned into a tough (in the sense that the route is hard) 13.1 mile run that I actually enjoyed. I hadn't taken any more nutrition during the run and I just had plain water in the drinks bladder. Towards the end I was exhausted and couldn't run at all up Penprys Road climb. Even the downhill section right at the end was just a mere shuffle. Overall I think the Chia seeds helped me greatly and I wish I'd tried them a long time ago.
I didn't really feel like going out for a run today, I was continually looking for reasons not to go. I'd made up a drink with Chia seeds, putting 3 dessert spoon fulls into 300ml squash and left it in the fridge for about 90 minutes. About an hour after I'd eaten a ham and cheese omelette I downed the Chia seed drink put on the bergen with a total weight of 41lb and dragged myself out the door. I'd intended to run up past Troserch, turn right and head up to the top of Exhaustion hill, turn around then run up to the top of Swiss Valley Hill then turn around again and head back home past Troserch making kind of a Y shape on the map. I was able to run all the way up Exhaustion Hill but the hill that I usually run down after climbing Swiss Valley was VERY steep, extremely tough and I had to walk a couple of times. However when I got to the top, I felt so good that instead of turning around I decided to carry on and pretty much do Swiss valley route home from work in reverse, but I'd have to do the extra 3.4 miles the rest of the way home. This meant that a run I didn't really want to do turned into a tough (in the sense that the route is hard) 13.1 mile run that I actually enjoyed. I hadn't taken any more nutrition during the run and I just had plain water in the drinks bladder. Towards the end I was exhausted and couldn't run at all up Penprys Road climb. Even the downhill section right at the end was just a mere shuffle. Overall I think the Chia seeds helped me greatly and I wish I'd tried them a long time ago.
Friday 6th June 2014: Swiss Valley route home from work with Burning Calfs Hill added
Exactly the route as Monday but with an extra 7lb in the Bergen. Swiss valley hill was tough and I was nowhere near my fastest time climbing the hill. I pushed a bit hard going down the hill after the climb. The highlight of this run was taking the CR that I'd missed out on by 2 seconds last time. This time I took the CR by 1 second, not a lot I know but it still puts me in the lead until it's taken back off me, which won't be long I'm sure. I gave that short section almost everything I had, almost needing to stop, but only almost. When it came to Burning Calfs Hill, I made it to my target point without stopping but had to walk the rest. There were no squats after the run as I only had 20 minutes to grab some food and have a shower before leaving to go to my brothers for a barbecue.
Exactly the route as Monday but with an extra 7lb in the Bergen. Swiss valley hill was tough and I was nowhere near my fastest time climbing the hill. I pushed a bit hard going down the hill after the climb. The highlight of this run was taking the CR that I'd missed out on by 2 seconds last time. This time I took the CR by 1 second, not a lot I know but it still puts me in the lead until it's taken back off me, which won't be long I'm sure. I gave that short section almost everything I had, almost needing to stop, but only almost. When it came to Burning Calfs Hill, I made it to my target point without stopping but had to walk the rest. There were no squats after the run as I only had 20 minutes to grab some food and have a shower before leaving to go to my brothers for a barbecue.
Monday 2nd June 2014: Swiss Valley route home from work with Burning Calfs Hill added
The bergen was again weighing 35lb plus 2.5 litres of water and I started the run feeling confident, wanting to push the pace. I found Swiss Valley hill a challenge and was by no means my fastest running, or shuffling up. I began to push the pace when the route leveled but on the downhill section my shins and calfs were hurting so I couldn't push as hard as I'd have liked. I felt ok during and after the climb just before the section that has been called HR2 and I even tried to get the CR on this small section by what felt like sprinting it. I did the slightly uphill 200metre section in 30 seconds, missing out on the CR by 2 seconds, which considering I'm the only one running these roads with 40 plus pounds on my back is no mean feat!
Here is a comment from the Person who has the section CR:
"2 seconds slower than me on HR2 with all that weight on your back? Pretty good stuff."
I just had time to recover from the HR2 section before starting the dreaded climb up Burning Calfs Hill. I did manage to run about 2/3 of the way up. When I say run, what I mean is a bent over shuffle that loosely resembles a run apart from the pumping arm movement before this degraded into a bent over walk which was probably the same speed as the 'run'. I got to the top and immediately turned around to go back down and again on the downhill my shins and calfs were hurting. Back on the road I picked the pace up trying to keep a fast pace all the way home, which I felt as though I managed. Immediately after the run before taking my pack off I did one set of 100 squats and even then I think I could have carried on.
The bergen was again weighing 35lb plus 2.5 litres of water and I started the run feeling confident, wanting to push the pace. I found Swiss Valley hill a challenge and was by no means my fastest running, or shuffling up. I began to push the pace when the route leveled but on the downhill section my shins and calfs were hurting so I couldn't push as hard as I'd have liked. I felt ok during and after the climb just before the section that has been called HR2 and I even tried to get the CR on this small section by what felt like sprinting it. I did the slightly uphill 200metre section in 30 seconds, missing out on the CR by 2 seconds, which considering I'm the only one running these roads with 40 plus pounds on my back is no mean feat!
Here is a comment from the Person who has the section CR:
"2 seconds slower than me on HR2 with all that weight on your back? Pretty good stuff."
I just had time to recover from the HR2 section before starting the dreaded climb up Burning Calfs Hill. I did manage to run about 2/3 of the way up. When I say run, what I mean is a bent over shuffle that loosely resembles a run apart from the pumping arm movement before this degraded into a bent over walk which was probably the same speed as the 'run'. I got to the top and immediately turned around to go back down and again on the downhill my shins and calfs were hurting. Back on the road I picked the pace up trying to keep a fast pace all the way home, which I felt as though I managed. Immediately after the run before taking my pack off I did one set of 100 squats and even then I think I could have carried on.
Saturday 31st May: Trebanos to Ystalyfera
I was going to t a BB at my brother-in-law's and I needed to drop a bicycle off at my brothers as I was giving it to his partner, so I used the distance between the two as a training run. I ran the relatively flat 6.1 miles with the 35lb bergen plus 2.5 litres of water. My GPS was a little bit inaccurate so the elevation wasn't 462 feet but it did follow along beside the route I took so the distance is pretty close.
For the first 2 miles at least my calf muscles were in agony but by the time I'd become fatigued they felt fine. I had actually stopped a couple of times to try to ease the pain in my calfs by stretching and massaging them.
I was going to t a BB at my brother-in-law's and I needed to drop a bicycle off at my brothers as I was giving it to his partner, so I used the distance between the two as a training run. I ran the relatively flat 6.1 miles with the 35lb bergen plus 2.5 litres of water. My GPS was a little bit inaccurate so the elevation wasn't 462 feet but it did follow along beside the route I took so the distance is pretty close.
For the first 2 miles at least my calf muscles were in agony but by the time I'd become fatigued they felt fine. I had actually stopped a couple of times to try to ease the pain in my calfs by stretching and massaging them.
Wednesday 26th May: Revised Troserch X Roads and Burning Calfs Hill loops
After realising on Monday that the reason the bergen felt heavy was because the 5kg disk that I'd placed vertically so it was as close to my body as possible had slipped down and was nearly at the bottom of the bergen, even though I'd put it in a drawstring bag and tied it to the closure strap. I wen't back to my original method of packing the bergen and put the disk right at the top horizontally. I swapped some weights and put my military smock in to pad out the bergen to try to ensure the disk didn't move and managed to get the bergen to weight 36lb, I couldn't be bothered to get more accurate to 35lb.
When I decided to run this revised route I thought I was cheating myself out of mileage, I am losing a mile but due to the fact that there is a hill almost immediately and I don't warm up properly until about mile 3 or 4, this hill was tough. I pushed hard trying for a quick time, and I suppose the time isn't too bad considering the ground was so soft. This route cannot be compared to a tarmac run as some parts I'm up to mid calf in sticky mud, others places the mud isn't so deep but it's very slippery and even the hill sections on the 'good' paths your trying not to trip over the loose rocks. I found a new target time of 55 minutes to the top car park on the 2nd loop (northern tip on the map) and I'd like to knock 10 minutes off the route time. Overall I think I prefer this new route, the added hill, is a killer and I only managed to run up half of it, hopefully I'll be able to run it all soon. My GSP said the route was 6.1 miles but looking at the map it's not accurate so I've included Sue's run from Monday which is the exact route I took and the GPS is pretty much spot on apart from the part where we went though the meadow.
After realising on Monday that the reason the bergen felt heavy was because the 5kg disk that I'd placed vertically so it was as close to my body as possible had slipped down and was nearly at the bottom of the bergen, even though I'd put it in a drawstring bag and tied it to the closure strap. I wen't back to my original method of packing the bergen and put the disk right at the top horizontally. I swapped some weights and put my military smock in to pad out the bergen to try to ensure the disk didn't move and managed to get the bergen to weight 36lb, I couldn't be bothered to get more accurate to 35lb.
When I decided to run this revised route I thought I was cheating myself out of mileage, I am losing a mile but due to the fact that there is a hill almost immediately and I don't warm up properly until about mile 3 or 4, this hill was tough. I pushed hard trying for a quick time, and I suppose the time isn't too bad considering the ground was so soft. This route cannot be compared to a tarmac run as some parts I'm up to mid calf in sticky mud, others places the mud isn't so deep but it's very slippery and even the hill sections on the 'good' paths your trying not to trip over the loose rocks. I found a new target time of 55 minutes to the top car park on the 2nd loop (northern tip on the map) and I'd like to knock 10 minutes off the route time. Overall I think I prefer this new route, the added hill, is a killer and I only managed to run up half of it, hopefully I'll be able to run it all soon. My GSP said the route was 6.1 miles but looking at the map it's not accurate so I've included Sue's run from Monday which is the exact route I took and the GPS is pretty much spot on apart from the part where we went though the meadow.
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Monday 26th May: Troserch X roads and Burning Calfs Hill loops Twice
Sue wanted to come with me so I decided to incorporate some tabbing into my run. Everything was going well until we got to the meadow, Sue was CF and I had a 37lb Bergen plus 2.5 litres of water plus I was wearing 500g ankle weights on each leg on top of my boots. We were making good time tabbing until the cows in the meadow saw us and decided they didn't want us there. I've always had a healthy respect for cattle and am quite wary around them, today my fears were proved right as they charged at us. We were walking along the edge of the field and were able to take refuge behind the tightly packed trees that grow along the bank of the river. We followed a very narrow path between the trees and the river and were hoping to get around the cows before having to go back into the field for the last 100metres before reaching the gate. This didn't happen as the cows followed us all the way. I got fed up or annoyed when it was time to either go back onto the field or cross the waist deep river and went back into the field shouting at the cows trying to give Sue enough time to get to the gate. Every time I took my eyes of the cows they charged at me again. This was not a fun time and I was glad when we both finally made it through the gate at the end. We changed the route that we'd intended to do after that so we didn't have to go through that field again and I think I'll stick to the new route. We carried on tabbing even though I found it a bit difficult not to break into a run around X roads loops and when we reached the bridge to go to the gate for the meadow we turned right up the hill which comes out at the top of Troserch Road, cutting off about a mile or so and replacing one long hill with a short but steep hill that finished about 100m short of the start of Burning Calfs hill; so not much time for recovery then. About half way up Burning Calfs Hill Sue said she could feel a blister starting (she was wearing quite new boots) so she wasn't going to do the 3 or 4 loops she'd intended to do. We carried on, finishing the full loop instead of taking a shortcut and I walked down Troserch Road with her before she carried on home and I turned around and ran back up Troserch Road running another 2 loops. Towards the end of the 3rd loop my Bergen really started bothering me, my shoulder were starting to hurt and I could feel bergen burns on my back. I was constantly adjusting the position of the bergen by grabbing the loops at the bottom and pulling it up onto my hips, this eased it for a while until the bergen slipped back down the 1 or 2 inches. I think for the actual Fan Dance I'll go back to using the hip belt for the sections I tab and loosen it off for the running sections.
I was so glad to finish today in 3 hours 34 minutes, but after I'd uploaded the run to Strava I realised that I'd lost GPS signal for a fair bit of the run, so the data is actually irrelevant. The approximate stats for the run are:
Distance: 12.4 miles
Elevation: 1500ft
Accurate time: 3 hours 34 minutes
Sue wanted to come with me so I decided to incorporate some tabbing into my run. Everything was going well until we got to the meadow, Sue was CF and I had a 37lb Bergen plus 2.5 litres of water plus I was wearing 500g ankle weights on each leg on top of my boots. We were making good time tabbing until the cows in the meadow saw us and decided they didn't want us there. I've always had a healthy respect for cattle and am quite wary around them, today my fears were proved right as they charged at us. We were walking along the edge of the field and were able to take refuge behind the tightly packed trees that grow along the bank of the river. We followed a very narrow path between the trees and the river and were hoping to get around the cows before having to go back into the field for the last 100metres before reaching the gate. This didn't happen as the cows followed us all the way. I got fed up or annoyed when it was time to either go back onto the field or cross the waist deep river and went back into the field shouting at the cows trying to give Sue enough time to get to the gate. Every time I took my eyes of the cows they charged at me again. This was not a fun time and I was glad when we both finally made it through the gate at the end. We changed the route that we'd intended to do after that so we didn't have to go through that field again and I think I'll stick to the new route. We carried on tabbing even though I found it a bit difficult not to break into a run around X roads loops and when we reached the bridge to go to the gate for the meadow we turned right up the hill which comes out at the top of Troserch Road, cutting off about a mile or so and replacing one long hill with a short but steep hill that finished about 100m short of the start of Burning Calfs hill; so not much time for recovery then. About half way up Burning Calfs Hill Sue said she could feel a blister starting (she was wearing quite new boots) so she wasn't going to do the 3 or 4 loops she'd intended to do. We carried on, finishing the full loop instead of taking a shortcut and I walked down Troserch Road with her before she carried on home and I turned around and ran back up Troserch Road running another 2 loops. Towards the end of the 3rd loop my Bergen really started bothering me, my shoulder were starting to hurt and I could feel bergen burns on my back. I was constantly adjusting the position of the bergen by grabbing the loops at the bottom and pulling it up onto my hips, this eased it for a while until the bergen slipped back down the 1 or 2 inches. I think for the actual Fan Dance I'll go back to using the hip belt for the sections I tab and loosen it off for the running sections.
I was so glad to finish today in 3 hours 34 minutes, but after I'd uploaded the run to Strava I realised that I'd lost GPS signal for a fair bit of the run, so the data is actually irrelevant. The approximate stats for the run are:
Distance: 12.4 miles
Elevation: 1500ft
Accurate time: 3 hours 34 minutes
My Run with the irrelevant GPS
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Sue's run for comparison, which I did twice.
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Saturday 24th May: From Clydach to the bridge on the Baran Mountain
I dropped the van off in Clydach for a service, instead of waiting I went for a run and had arranged for Stuart to join me. I ran the route with 35lb plus 2.5 litres of water and Stuart ran CF. I struggled a bit on the 1.8 miles until I reached Stuart. However, this part of the run was just a warm up for the 3 brutal hills that I'd chosen this route for. The 1st was Pontardawe Hill or Waunsterw Climb as someone has called it on Strava, this climbs 168ft in 0.6 miles and even when I was a kid it was a formidable hill to run or cycle up. The second is the hill going up the Baran Mountain, which climbs 650ft in 1.7 miles. I couldn't run up all of this and had to walk at points, getting a mild beasting from Stuart telling me that I'm walking not tabbing. Some choice words went his way. The 3rd was on the return leg and again I didn't make it to the top without stopping. This hill climbs 185ft in 0.4 miles. When I got back to Stuarts house I gladly accepted a lift to pick up my van instead of carrying on running for another 1.8 miles.
I dropped the van off in Clydach for a service, instead of waiting I went for a run and had arranged for Stuart to join me. I ran the route with 35lb plus 2.5 litres of water and Stuart ran CF. I struggled a bit on the 1.8 miles until I reached Stuart. However, this part of the run was just a warm up for the 3 brutal hills that I'd chosen this route for. The 1st was Pontardawe Hill or Waunsterw Climb as someone has called it on Strava, this climbs 168ft in 0.6 miles and even when I was a kid it was a formidable hill to run or cycle up. The second is the hill going up the Baran Mountain, which climbs 650ft in 1.7 miles. I couldn't run up all of this and had to walk at points, getting a mild beasting from Stuart telling me that I'm walking not tabbing. Some choice words went his way. The 3rd was on the return leg and again I didn't make it to the top without stopping. This hill climbs 185ft in 0.4 miles. When I got back to Stuarts house I gladly accepted a lift to pick up my van instead of carrying on running for another 1.8 miles.
My Run
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Friday 23rd May: Swiss Valley Route home from work
I was in a bit late going to work and I only had 35lb in the Bergen ready for the run home after work. I quickly grabbed a weights disk to place in the top of the Bergen. This turned out to be the wrong one and took the weight up to 46lb plus the 2.5litres of water and the water bladder took the entire weight of the bergen to 52.2lb. Although this is only 4lb more than I wanted it was VERY noticeable.
I was in a bit late going to work and I only had 35lb in the Bergen ready for the run home after work. I quickly grabbed a weights disk to place in the top of the Bergen. This turned out to be the wrong one and took the weight up to 46lb plus the 2.5litres of water and the water bladder took the entire weight of the bergen to 52.2lb. Although this is only 4lb more than I wanted it was VERY noticeable.
Monday 19th May: Swiss Valley Route home from work
Inspired by a new friend. He'll know who he is, and what a top guy, I put a little more effort into the run today. I've always been the type of person that says "If he can do it, there's no reason I can't!" So as we are the same age and he can do a sub 4 hour Fan Dance I can at least try my best. My pack was 7lb lighter, weighing exactly 35lb plus 2.5 litres of water. I'd re-packed the bergen using different weights to make up the weight. I still had the essentials in the pack, but this only came to 15lb so I made up the other 20lb with weights that I can get as close to my body as possible in the pack to try and make my center of gravity when wearing it as natural as possible. I'll try out this way of packing my bergen a few times before the Fan Dance to see if it does help to make me faster. I usually add a 5kg disk horizontally near the top of the pack.
I did beat my time on this route by 2 minutes 22 seconds, which I'm quite pleased with, then immediately after I did my usual squats, but instead of doing my half-hearted 5 sets of 20 reps whilst still wearing the bergen, I did 1 set of 100, struggling on the last few.
I did beat my time on this route by 2 minutes 22 seconds, which I'm quite pleased with, then immediately after I did my usual squats, but instead of doing my half-hearted 5 sets of 20 reps whilst still wearing the bergen, I did 1 set of 100, struggling on the last few.
Monday 12th May: Swiss Valley Route home from work
The run started with me feeling good. I'd had a large portion for rice for lunch 3 hours previously and had eaten a banana 5 minutes before starting. This feeling soon disappeared when I got to Swiss valley hill, which although overall has an average grade of 5%, the start of the hill is by far the steepest part. I struggled all the way up the hill but I didn't stop. I still managed to climb the hill only 1 minute and 12 seconds slower than Last Friday's effort. When I turned off the main road onto the flat and downhill sections I managed to pick up the pace and finished the entire run in 50 minutes and 1 second only 53 seconds slower than I did on Friday. Seeing as I was pleased with the run on Friday, I shouldn't complain about today's effort. It's funny how it was only Friday I'd decided to start recording the seconds again, as lately I've been rounding down the time to the nearest minute.
Sunday 11th May: Troserch X Roads then Burning Calfs hill Loops
I said in my last post that training is about leap-frogging. It's also about dealing with peaks and troughs. Friday was a peak, today was a trough. I'd had a huge roast dinner and went out running about an hour later, this in hind sight was a mistake, the entire run just felt tough. I'd intended to do 14 miles, on the first loop this was reduced to 10 and on the second loop I really couldn't be bothered to do the 3rd loop so it was reduced again to 7 miles. I did however manage to run a fair bit further than my target of the gate going up Burning Calfs Hill.
Friday 9th May: Swiss Valley Route home from work
I don't know if I'm stating the obvious but I've come to the conclusion that a high level of fitness is gained by playing a game of leap-frog with your body and mind. First you have to train your body to what you mind believes to be your fast pace. At this point a plateau is reached until your mind realises that your body can actually go faster and leap-frogs past your level of fitness, enabling you go a little faster. Then the whole process starts again, while your body catches up again. Today I think my mind leap-frogged and I was able to run the route 3 minutes quicker than the last time I ran this route plus carrying an extra 2lb. I ran the long Swiss Valley route home climbing the big hill, which I managed to climb only two and a half minutes slower than when I did it without the Bergen. I pushed harder on the downhill sections, which were hurting my shins last time. The next hill isn't very long but I pushed myself hard all the way up, continuing this push all the way home. I completed the run wearing a bergen weighing 48.2lb including water, ankle weights at 500g each and trainers in 50 minutes and 8 seconds.
Sunday 4th May: Troserch x roads and Burning calfs loop twice with exhaustion hill added
As the Fan Dance is starting to get close, it's time to up the mileage, so this run was going to be around the 13 or 14 mile mark. It turned out to be 14.4 miles. I did Troserch X roads loop once and Burning Calfs Hill Loop twice, but the difference was that at the turn around point on the first loop after I'd climbed X roads hill, I took a slight 4.5 mile detour to include a killer of a hill which I've named Exhaustion Hill. This hill climbs 294 feet overall over 0.9 miles and starts off with a very steep section, I did walk a couple of times on this hill but not on the steep section. I felt strong for almost the whole run, even the 46lb Bergen wasn't bothering me for the first 10miles. The second climb of Burning Calfs (3rd loop) I couldn't run and walked the whole length of it. The third time down the steps was a killer and I really struggled, taking about 3 or 4 minutes just to get down them. At the beginning or the third loop with about 3 miles to go I began to feel hungry and progressively felt weaker the hungrier I became, showing the importance of good nutrition, prior to and during events and training. Overall I'm pleased with the run, I'm back on target for my pre injury plans of a sub 4:30 Fan Dance. I felt stronger today after 14 miles and an extra 433 feet of elevation than I did 2 weeks ago after 10 miles at the same average pace. Even when I was hungry and struggling down the steps, I still felt stronger than I dod 2 weeks ago. Over the next few weeks I'll be looking to increase that pace slightly.
Friday 2nd May: Swiss Valley Hill route home from work
As I'm trying to increase the mileage as well as the Bergen weight, I took the long route home, which is 5.1 miles with the Bergen weighing 46.2lb in total with 40lb plus 2L water. Last time I ran this route in normal running gear, I had people trying to scare me as they drove past, this time I was carrying the multicam military Bergen and wearing multicam combat trousers and military type boots; no abuse or idiots today then.
The hill up through Swiss Valley is a killer, but I didn't stop at all. Next came the steep downhill section which was painful on the shins so I didn't push this section. I tried hard on the Hill to what I know as Troserch Corner and this effort carried on for the rest of the run which I finished in 52 minutes. Not too bad a pace, especially as I finished feeling strong and as though I could easily have carried on.
The hill up through Swiss Valley is a killer, but I didn't stop at all. Next came the steep downhill section which was painful on the shins so I didn't push this section. I tried hard on the Hill to what I know as Troserch Corner and this effort carried on for the rest of the run which I finished in 52 minutes. Not too bad a pace, especially as I finished feeling strong and as though I could easily have carried on.
Monday 28th April: Devil's Hill route home from Work
As it was an inset day today, there were no children in school, so I didn't teach in Photography Club after school and left the same time as everyone else. I was wearing exactly what I'll be wearing on the actual Fan Dance as I'm trying to ensure that I am used to running in hot weather with combat trousers, boots and thick socks with the heavy Bergen, which today again weighed 40lb plus the water giving a total of 46.2lb.
Up until half an hour before I started my run, it looked like I was going to get my wish of hot weather, but then it started to cloud over and started to rain quite heavily about 1 mile into the run. Running in the rain isn't an issue, but the water now running down my face and into my eyes was mixed with sweat, making my eyes sting for a few minutes until the rain had washed all the sweat away. Just before it started raining I stopped at the bottom of Devil's Hill to take a photo of it, I had trouble with the upload so it took a bit longer than I wanted, even with that 2 minute rest I couldn't run up the hill carrying that weight. Almost at the top of the hill I started running again, pushing myself hard as I was feeling strong. This feeling carried on for the remainder of the 4.3 mile run. I couldn't run on autopilot though as I kept noticing that I was slowing when I started thinking of anything other than the run. I really enjoyed the run today and the fact that I was only a couple of seconds slower than last the time I ran this route but this time carrying an extra 5lb was an added bonus. I had a sub 10 minute per mile average pace, which I'm always pleased with, today it was 9:47. Maybe I'll try for sub 9:30 per mile next week.
Up until half an hour before I started my run, it looked like I was going to get my wish of hot weather, but then it started to cloud over and started to rain quite heavily about 1 mile into the run. Running in the rain isn't an issue, but the water now running down my face and into my eyes was mixed with sweat, making my eyes sting for a few minutes until the rain had washed all the sweat away. Just before it started raining I stopped at the bottom of Devil's Hill to take a photo of it, I had trouble with the upload so it took a bit longer than I wanted, even with that 2 minute rest I couldn't run up the hill carrying that weight. Almost at the top of the hill I started running again, pushing myself hard as I was feeling strong. This feeling carried on for the remainder of the 4.3 mile run. I couldn't run on autopilot though as I kept noticing that I was slowing when I started thinking of anything other than the run. I really enjoyed the run today and the fact that I was only a couple of seconds slower than last the time I ran this route but this time carrying an extra 5lb was an added bonus. I had a sub 10 minute per mile average pace, which I'm always pleased with, today it was 9:47. Maybe I'll try for sub 9:30 per mile next week.
Friday 25th April: Troserch x roads loop then Burning Calfs hill loop twice.
I'd upped the weight in the Bergen to 40lb, this meant that with the 2.5 litres of water the total weight was 46.2lb. I've started to feel that I'm not doing enough long runs with the Bergen so I went for the 3 loops around Troserch which is 9.9 miles and has an elevation gain of 1,171 ft (from a previous more accurate GPS run). As usual I couldn't run up either of the big hills and on the 2nd time up Burning Calfs (3rd loop) I walked the entirety of the hill. I felt good for the 1st loop and even most of the 2nd. I began to struggle and really feel the weight of the Bergen half way around on the 2nd loop and really started to wonder if I should go for the 3rd loop. When it came to decision time, turn left towards home or right to go back up that dreaded hill, I think I was on autopilot and turned right automatically.
I had to stop and walk a couple of times going up Troserch Road hill, which is the easiest hill, plus for the entire remainder of the run the weight of the Bergen was getting to me, all I wanted to do was get it off my back. I was constantly lifting it to try and get the weight off my shoulders. On the way down X roads hill, my knees were beginning to hurt and the steps at the bottom were incredibly painful to walk down. The only thing that kept me running, or shuffling by that point was the fact that the Bergen seemed to hurt less if I was running. Today I completed the route in 2 hours and 29 minutes. I've still not got to the level of fitness I was prior to my injury last October, as just before the injury I ran this exact route with only 3 lbs less in the Bergen and completed it in 2 hours 4 minutes. So I've still got a way to go unfortunately, as when I ran it in October I was disappointed with the time. During the stretching after the run all my muscles were cramping, especially my stomach muscles for some reason. It became so bad that I cut the stretching short and went back to it later when I'd recovered slightly.
I have included last October's Strava run and my write up below for comparison.
I had to stop and walk a couple of times going up Troserch Road hill, which is the easiest hill, plus for the entire remainder of the run the weight of the Bergen was getting to me, all I wanted to do was get it off my back. I was constantly lifting it to try and get the weight off my shoulders. On the way down X roads hill, my knees were beginning to hurt and the steps at the bottom were incredibly painful to walk down. The only thing that kept me running, or shuffling by that point was the fact that the Bergen seemed to hurt less if I was running. Today I completed the route in 2 hours and 29 minutes. I've still not got to the level of fitness I was prior to my injury last October, as just before the injury I ran this exact route with only 3 lbs less in the Bergen and completed it in 2 hours 4 minutes. So I've still got a way to go unfortunately, as when I ran it in October I was disappointed with the time. During the stretching after the run all my muscles were cramping, especially my stomach muscles for some reason. It became so bad that I cut the stretching short and went back to it later when I'd recovered slightly.
I have included last October's Strava run and my write up below for comparison.
Friday 25th April 2014 |
Sunday 6th October 2013 |
Sunday 6th October 2013
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Monday 21st April: Bike to Brothers House
Instead of going in the van with my wife to visit my brother I decided to cycle the 15.7 miles to his house. Some parts of the route I pushed myself hard and others I didn't push as hard as I have in the past. A section that has been called 'Hendy Rollercoaster' I managed to get a PR on at 2:00 minutes, the fastest (on Strava) for this section is only 10 seconds quicker! Another section that runs along the old road beside the motorway between J46 and J47 I managed to get another PR on. On the downward hill in Pontlliw I always try to set the speed camera off. I have no idea if I did today but Strava says I was doing 36.9mph past it. After passing through Pontlliw on the climb up to Penllergaer I couldn't be bothered to try as hard as I could have, not even getting out of the saddle. Usually at the bottom of a hill I'd be in the saddle until I start to struggle a bit then go up one or two gears and be out of the saddle only slowing the cadence a little, getting me up the hill at the same speed as the flat before (in theory). Today by sitting in the saddle and not pushing too hard I was still only 9 seconds slower than my fastest up this hill, so I guess the training is definitely paying off!
Overall I could have completed the entire route faster, I definitely could have gone a lot further. I finished the 15.7 miles ride in 57 minutes giving an average of 16.6mph.
Overall I could have completed the entire route faster, I definitely could have gone a lot further. I finished the 15.7 miles ride in 57 minutes giving an average of 16.6mph.
Saturday 19th April: Millennium Coastal Path
We intended to go kayaking at the Millennium Quay (North Dock) so I got everything ready including putting the kayaks on top of the van and got my 35lb Bergen with 2.5 litres of water and boots then started running the 9.2 miles along the Millennium Coastal Path towards the North Dock where I would meet my wife who would drive the van there.
I had intended this to be a fast paced TAB as apart from Llangennech hill the rest of the route is very flat. I think I started off too fast though, I should have taken the hill a little slower, even though it wasn't that fast. By the time I'd reached the top of the hill my calfs had cramped and they didn't really recover for the whole route. I ran the route in the kit I'll be doing the Fan Dance in i.e. multicam military Bergen, multicam combat trousers and as it was VERY hot and sunny I was wearing my hat which is also multicam. At one point towards the end of the run, a young boy, around 13 or 14 was cycling towards me, he stopped, got off his bike, stood to attention and saluted me! The way he did it was not in a mickey taking way which I get when I run past the local rugby club, this kid did it with respect... There is hope for the younger generation.
I got to the North dock in 1 hour 36 minutes, the last mile or so was a real struggle. I couldn't even be bothered with too much kayaking, just gently paddling around the dock instead of practicing rolls like I'd intended to do.
I had intended this to be a fast paced TAB as apart from Llangennech hill the rest of the route is very flat. I think I started off too fast though, I should have taken the hill a little slower, even though it wasn't that fast. By the time I'd reached the top of the hill my calfs had cramped and they didn't really recover for the whole route. I ran the route in the kit I'll be doing the Fan Dance in i.e. multicam military Bergen, multicam combat trousers and as it was VERY hot and sunny I was wearing my hat which is also multicam. At one point towards the end of the run, a young boy, around 13 or 14 was cycling towards me, he stopped, got off his bike, stood to attention and saluted me! The way he did it was not in a mickey taking way which I get when I run past the local rugby club, this kid did it with respect... There is hope for the younger generation.
I got to the North dock in 1 hour 36 minutes, the last mile or so was a real struggle. I couldn't even be bothered with too much kayaking, just gently paddling around the dock instead of practicing rolls like I'd intended to do.
Wednesday 16th April
I didn't feel like running with the Bergen so I went out Clean Fatigue making this what I term as an easy run. I took a route up to Troserch including Burning Calfs Hill and the B4306 climb. This has a total distance of 8 miles and climbs a total of 805 feet. As usual Burning Calfs Hill was a killer and I had to walk some of it, the same happened on the B4306 Climb, I needed to walk some of it. I still managed to get 4 CR's on the route, plus on another section I was 2nd to myself. I was really happy with this run though I'd like some more sub 8 miles.
Friday 11th April
I couldn't run home from work as there was some urgent D.I.Y. that needed to be done immediately, This turned out to be a bit of a bonus as I got some more mileage and elevation.
I still did the route that I'd intended to do running home from work, but in addition I ran back to work then carried on past. I also took a little 4.7 mile detour to include another big hill. I'm glad I included this as I got a C.R. on this hill.
I ran the route C.F. as I'm trying to mix the training up a bit plus my foot had been hurting a little for the last 2 days. As I was wearing normal running gear instead of military clothing I was subjected to the idiotic neanderthals shouting abuse, trying to scare me as they drove past, funnily enough none of them are brave enough to actually stop to shout their abuse, they prefer to stay in the safety of their cars. The run up Swiss valley hill which climbs 375ft was murder, however I kept going even though my legs were screaming at me to stop, particularly at the very steep part. as the hill levels out slightly and the footpath disappears the road wasn't as dangerous as I'd feared it was. I was still very wary of traffic though. I managed to complete the 1.6 mile climb in 15m 22 seconds, 1 min and 20 seconds quicker than the other person who has run it, Strava hasn't given me a C.R. for this though, maybe if more people run it or I run it again. When I turned off the main road onto the mountain roads, it was mostly downhill and I enjoyed the scenery. At 6.3 miles I got a little disorientated and took a wrong turn. It didn't take long for me to realise my mistake and turn back though. At this point I hadn't yet decided whether to take the short route which would have been 8.5 miles, or take in the extra hill and take the distance up to what at the time, I was guessing to be around 13 or 14 miles. When it came to decision time, i.e. turn right for 8 miles or straight on for 13 miles, I was feeling strong, with plenty left in the tank, so I went straight on. I didn't push too hard along the stretch leading to the big hill as I knew how hard the hill was, plus the lead up is a bit draining with a deceptive uphill then a large thigh busting downhill before going straight into an 8% grade, which after the thighs have cramped and given up levels off into a nice 6% average. I created a new Strava segment for this hill as I felt the original one only included half of the hill. The new segment climbs 294 feet over 0.9 miles. I turned around at the top as to make a loop would have been all down hill, missing out on a rather nasty short 100 ft climb before dropping back down into the village.
The entire route was 13.2 miles with a total elevation of 1,247ft. I completed the run feeling strong, almost having a sprint finish in 2 hours and 2 minutes. No records broken but I'm pleased with my performance given the severity of the hills on the route.
I still did the route that I'd intended to do running home from work, but in addition I ran back to work then carried on past. I also took a little 4.7 mile detour to include another big hill. I'm glad I included this as I got a C.R. on this hill.
I ran the route C.F. as I'm trying to mix the training up a bit plus my foot had been hurting a little for the last 2 days. As I was wearing normal running gear instead of military clothing I was subjected to the idiotic neanderthals shouting abuse, trying to scare me as they drove past, funnily enough none of them are brave enough to actually stop to shout their abuse, they prefer to stay in the safety of their cars. The run up Swiss valley hill which climbs 375ft was murder, however I kept going even though my legs were screaming at me to stop, particularly at the very steep part. as the hill levels out slightly and the footpath disappears the road wasn't as dangerous as I'd feared it was. I was still very wary of traffic though. I managed to complete the 1.6 mile climb in 15m 22 seconds, 1 min and 20 seconds quicker than the other person who has run it, Strava hasn't given me a C.R. for this though, maybe if more people run it or I run it again. When I turned off the main road onto the mountain roads, it was mostly downhill and I enjoyed the scenery. At 6.3 miles I got a little disorientated and took a wrong turn. It didn't take long for me to realise my mistake and turn back though. At this point I hadn't yet decided whether to take the short route which would have been 8.5 miles, or take in the extra hill and take the distance up to what at the time, I was guessing to be around 13 or 14 miles. When it came to decision time, i.e. turn right for 8 miles or straight on for 13 miles, I was feeling strong, with plenty left in the tank, so I went straight on. I didn't push too hard along the stretch leading to the big hill as I knew how hard the hill was, plus the lead up is a bit draining with a deceptive uphill then a large thigh busting downhill before going straight into an 8% grade, which after the thighs have cramped and given up levels off into a nice 6% average. I created a new Strava segment for this hill as I felt the original one only included half of the hill. The new segment climbs 294 feet over 0.9 miles. I turned around at the top as to make a loop would have been all down hill, missing out on a rather nasty short 100 ft climb before dropping back down into the village.
The entire route was 13.2 miles with a total elevation of 1,247ft. I completed the run feeling strong, almost having a sprint finish in 2 hours and 2 minutes. No records broken but I'm pleased with my performance given the severity of the hills on the route.
Monday 7th April
For a recovery session I went out on the bike and took a look at another route I'b been thinking of as a run home from work. I wasn't really interested in a time, just to get my legs working and see if the route was any good.
The distance is 5.1 miles but most appealing is the killer hill that starts about quarter of a mile from the start. In the 1.3 miles that this hill covers it climbs continuously a maximum of 365 feet, on the bike I was either in 1st or second gear and out of the saddle for almost the whole climb. The only down side is that for the last mile or so along this road it becomes a very fast road with no footpath, plus just to make me feel more ill at ease there is a sign that says 195 casualties since 2004 along this stretch of road. I'm in 2 minds whether to use this route, but that hill is soooo tempting. Once I'd turned off the main road onto the country lanes, running would be fine but on a bike I was continually trying to look over hedges or though the gaps to see if any cars were coming up the hill I was going down hard on the brakes.
Overall this will be a nice route to run with two tough uphills, one huge one. The only trouble it the lack of footpath on that main road. I may be able to run heading towards the traffic on the grass verge, I'll just have to keep a watchful eye out for any idiots.
After the ride my legs and shoulders felt much better, no stiffness or niggles, I'm beginning to feel confident about the Fan Dance in July, plus I'm getting my love of cycling back again, I may try and include some long bike sessions in my training, if I can find the time.
The distance is 5.1 miles but most appealing is the killer hill that starts about quarter of a mile from the start. In the 1.3 miles that this hill covers it climbs continuously a maximum of 365 feet, on the bike I was either in 1st or second gear and out of the saddle for almost the whole climb. The only down side is that for the last mile or so along this road it becomes a very fast road with no footpath, plus just to make me feel more ill at ease there is a sign that says 195 casualties since 2004 along this stretch of road. I'm in 2 minds whether to use this route, but that hill is soooo tempting. Once I'd turned off the main road onto the country lanes, running would be fine but on a bike I was continually trying to look over hedges or though the gaps to see if any cars were coming up the hill I was going down hard on the brakes.
Overall this will be a nice route to run with two tough uphills, one huge one. The only trouble it the lack of footpath on that main road. I may be able to run heading towards the traffic on the grass verge, I'll just have to keep a watchful eye out for any idiots.
After the ride my legs and shoulders felt much better, no stiffness or niggles, I'm beginning to feel confident about the Fan Dance in July, plus I'm getting my love of cycling back again, I may try and include some long bike sessions in my training, if I can find the time.
April 4th, 5th 6th April 2014
The write up for these runs has been deleted by accident.
The write up for these runs has been deleted by accident.
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