Thursday night- A nice trot up Alphin to watch sunset over Manchester. Fairly steady with a bit of route variation to add on distance but not anything all that interesting just mileage and ascent in the bank
4miles 1600ft
Saturday- Early training in Mytholmroyd didnt go down too well after a hectic night down Leeds. Hill reps session. Unfortunately my quads were pretty much screwed yet again and this is causing me a real worry for the lakeland and welsh races although part of me thinks it is ascending without previous momentum that causes the pain so hopefully with a long warm up and road section I should have a flyer at Anni Wa.
Sunday-Chew Valley Skyline duties and a long run.
Ashton to Hartshead Pike then down through the brickworks in Grotton up over wharmton. Onto the canal and up Alphin. Ditched my rucksack at the top and went for a run out to Chew Reservior to see the front runners then back over the peat to Alphin before a jog back down to dovestones.
12.2 miles 3000ft or therabouts
Monday, 8 March 2010
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Club training-2nd March
2nd time lucky as I turned up at Mythomroyd on the right night after going on Monday and spening £14 on train fares in the process only to realise it was the wrong day.
However Tuesday came quickly (well it was the next day) and again I found myself eating a Big Mac and fries on the way to training.
I got there just in time for a couple of miles off road running with the juniors as a warm up although the fact that I cant descend as fast as a ten year old does reflect my years catching up on me. Got back to MCC with a few minutes to get changed into my road gear and go out for some faster training.
I decided as it was a short run to go out with the fast group of which all the runners were much quicker than me. Just going out to Midgely I was struggling to keep the pace but on the flat and downhills I could catch back up until the next incline where I would just drop off the back. A long uphill drag of a mile or so up Stocks lane (?) left me feeling really dead on my feet and at this point I was shattered content only with the knowledge that it wasnt too bad from there. Got to the top after what seemed like hours (thanks for waiting for me) and then on the homeward stretch back down to the valley bottom, upto Midgeley and then back along to MCC. Into the pub for a drink and a chat before getting the train home which inevitibly was delayed so I had to bus it home from manchester which meant I got in at 1am and just slouched on the setee and fell asleep
However Tuesday came quickly (well it was the next day) and again I found myself eating a Big Mac and fries on the way to training.
I got there just in time for a couple of miles off road running with the juniors as a warm up although the fact that I cant descend as fast as a ten year old does reflect my years catching up on me. Got back to MCC with a few minutes to get changed into my road gear and go out for some faster training.
I decided as it was a short run to go out with the fast group of which all the runners were much quicker than me. Just going out to Midgely I was struggling to keep the pace but on the flat and downhills I could catch back up until the next incline where I would just drop off the back. A long uphill drag of a mile or so up Stocks lane (?) left me feeling really dead on my feet and at this point I was shattered content only with the knowledge that it wasnt too bad from there. Got to the top after what seemed like hours (thanks for waiting for me) and then on the homeward stretch back down to the valley bottom, upto Midgeley and then back along to MCC. Into the pub for a drink and a chat before getting the train home which inevitibly was delayed so I had to bus it home from manchester which meant I got in at 1am and just slouched on the setee and fell asleep
Monday, 1 March 2010
Good weekend-Noonstone and Chew Valley reccy
Saturday morning 9:30 am. I force myself to wake up after my exploits since clubbing down Leeds and only getting to bed 2 hours earlier (thank god for national express). Dragged myself up to the Co-Op where Manhar had agreed to give me a lift to watch the first English fell championship race of the season, Noonstone in Todmorden.
Pre-race brew with some of the Calder Valley runners before jogging upto Stoodley Pike for the first viewpoint of the day. Quick word with Holmsey who was doing his warm-up on the slabs up and down and then for the long boggy ridge walk to Stoodley. Got there in plenty of time and met Stanners on the top plenty of time for a good chat about all sorts; high peak marathon, BG, Manchester United etc. Also saw Andy Nicoll who sorted out my Bingley membership for me. It was turning out to be a good social event really.
First glimpse of the runners was them swarming down London road and then around 7 minutes later Ian Holmes, Rob Jebb, Lloyd Taggart, Danny and Robe Hope came through with a couple of metres on the field. CVFR were doing well at the pike with Shaun Godsman in the top 10 and 3 other runners (Gav, Alex and James) all in the top 30 or so. Helen Fines was 6th in the ladies with Sally not far behind in 8th or 9th.
Jogged back down with Stanners and walked along the London road past some of the back markers (who were very quick still) and then to the bottom of the last descent about 100m from the finish. A gripping run in by Matt Speake just edging out Lloyd Taggart which provided an unexpected result. First CVFR member Shaun took the quickest route down in the descent but couldnt quite hold off Darren Kay from Horwich on the run in. 10th place though is a great result and im glad he is in my fantasy fellrunning team. Helen Fines came in 7thn with Sally also in the top 10 and Calder valley sealed the womens prize and 3rd mens team.
Into the pub to catch up on race information and have a chat with some runners that dont usually race round here. Then back home for another night out down Manchester....this is the life.
Chew Valley reccy
Got back from Manchester earlyish on saturday night (1am) but had to be up at 6am to walk to Tanners in order to do a Chew Valley Skyline reccy at 8am.
Only 2 runners ventured over due to bad weather and early start time but even so it was cracking run. I was joined by Dom (Saddleworth) and Rik (CVFR). The route upto Alderman was a bit suspect because I kept to close to the middle and ended up with a bit of a scramble despite the fact that there is a perfectly runnable route slightly to the right. Time for a couple of photos at the top before the bog trot to Broadstone.
We came out onto the Cotton Famine road about 100m overshopt of Broadstone but it wasnt too much of an issue because the paths are good and it is a quick route anyhow. Down the the milepost and across the road. Down through the fields managing to pick a really good line down to the dam wall and then straight up the other side. The ascent onto the top was very slippy and icy but still passed fairly quickly which suprised me.
We then went along the edge and up over the bump above Ashway Cross, pausing for a few shots on the top before making our way (slowly) through the deep snow. Once on the otherside of the gully tha runs up from Dovestones the running became quicker but a bit of misnavigation led to more climbing only 100ft or so but still horrible. It was a long plod to Chew and I sensed I was in serious danger of blowing up so I stuffed a chicken butty (thanks mum) down my mouth and then we started the run out and back to Featherbed moss trig point. We split paths here, Dom going for the more direct cross country route and me showing Rik the conventional grough running route. I had one of my bad navigation moments and convinced myself I was wrong so overshot the grough....finally realisng that I was indeed initially right. Eventually we hit my footsteps from a previous night when I had shown someone from Horwich (i think) the route upto the trig.
Back down to Chew and along to Wimberry went by with little problems its all on decent tracks that can sometimes leave you feeling a scared due to the proximity of the edge. Along to Alphin through relatively deep snow. Upto the trig and then to the downhill. Now for the purposes of the race and the navigation/ terrain judgement im not going to reveal the descent route that we took off Alphin on here however if you want to know or midweek reccy (thursday afternoon) email me on tomtherunner42@yahoo.co.uk .
Instead of going up through the plantations we just jogged back down to the cars at Tanners.
14 miles around 2300ft
Pre-race brew with some of the Calder Valley runners before jogging upto Stoodley Pike for the first viewpoint of the day. Quick word with Holmsey who was doing his warm-up on the slabs up and down and then for the long boggy ridge walk to Stoodley. Got there in plenty of time and met Stanners on the top plenty of time for a good chat about all sorts; high peak marathon, BG, Manchester United etc. Also saw Andy Nicoll who sorted out my Bingley membership for me. It was turning out to be a good social event really.
First glimpse of the runners was them swarming down London road and then around 7 minutes later Ian Holmes, Rob Jebb, Lloyd Taggart, Danny and Robe Hope came through with a couple of metres on the field. CVFR were doing well at the pike with Shaun Godsman in the top 10 and 3 other runners (Gav, Alex and James) all in the top 30 or so. Helen Fines was 6th in the ladies with Sally not far behind in 8th or 9th.
Jogged back down with Stanners and walked along the London road past some of the back markers (who were very quick still) and then to the bottom of the last descent about 100m from the finish. A gripping run in by Matt Speake just edging out Lloyd Taggart which provided an unexpected result. First CVFR member Shaun took the quickest route down in the descent but couldnt quite hold off Darren Kay from Horwich on the run in. 10th place though is a great result and im glad he is in my fantasy fellrunning team. Helen Fines came in 7thn with Sally also in the top 10 and Calder valley sealed the womens prize and 3rd mens team.
Into the pub to catch up on race information and have a chat with some runners that dont usually race round here. Then back home for another night out down Manchester....this is the life.
Chew Valley reccy
Got back from Manchester earlyish on saturday night (1am) but had to be up at 6am to walk to Tanners in order to do a Chew Valley Skyline reccy at 8am.
Only 2 runners ventured over due to bad weather and early start time but even so it was cracking run. I was joined by Dom (Saddleworth) and Rik (CVFR). The route upto Alderman was a bit suspect because I kept to close to the middle and ended up with a bit of a scramble despite the fact that there is a perfectly runnable route slightly to the right. Time for a couple of photos at the top before the bog trot to Broadstone.
We came out onto the Cotton Famine road about 100m overshopt of Broadstone but it wasnt too much of an issue because the paths are good and it is a quick route anyhow. Down the the milepost and across the road. Down through the fields managing to pick a really good line down to the dam wall and then straight up the other side. The ascent onto the top was very slippy and icy but still passed fairly quickly which suprised me.
We then went along the edge and up over the bump above Ashway Cross, pausing for a few shots on the top before making our way (slowly) through the deep snow. Once on the otherside of the gully tha runs up from Dovestones the running became quicker but a bit of misnavigation led to more climbing only 100ft or so but still horrible. It was a long plod to Chew and I sensed I was in serious danger of blowing up so I stuffed a chicken butty (thanks mum) down my mouth and then we started the run out and back to Featherbed moss trig point. We split paths here, Dom going for the more direct cross country route and me showing Rik the conventional grough running route. I had one of my bad navigation moments and convinced myself I was wrong so overshot the grough....finally realisng that I was indeed initially right. Eventually we hit my footsteps from a previous night when I had shown someone from Horwich (i think) the route upto the trig.
Back down to Chew and along to Wimberry went by with little problems its all on decent tracks that can sometimes leave you feeling a scared due to the proximity of the edge. Along to Alphin through relatively deep snow. Upto the trig and then to the downhill. Now for the purposes of the race and the navigation/ terrain judgement im not going to reveal the descent route that we took off Alphin on here however if you want to know or midweek reccy (thursday afternoon) email me on tomtherunner42@yahoo.co.uk .
Instead of going up through the plantations we just jogged back down to the cars at Tanners.
14 miles around 2300ft
Thursday, 25 February 2010
I think I may be burning out
Training for the past 3 days has been very hard with a total of only 2 runs and around 6 miles
Monday, I felt a bit sluggish but put that down to a hard weekend however I still managed a fairly hilly 2 miles on the road. The time wasnt too poor either just pushing under 12 minutes but something just didnt feel right.
Went watching Oldham at Leeds on tuesday night so no running to mention.
Last night however I intended to go out for around 50 minutes fairly steady. My calves just felt heavy and I had to generate a lot of arm swing in order to compensate for it. My stride length was noticibly shorter and I couldnt hold a decent rhythm. I cut it short after 4 miles in 24:48 and just went and streched off.
Hope this isnt the start of a burnout
Monday, I felt a bit sluggish but put that down to a hard weekend however I still managed a fairly hilly 2 miles on the road. The time wasnt too poor either just pushing under 12 minutes but something just didnt feel right.
Went watching Oldham at Leeds on tuesday night so no running to mention.
Last night however I intended to go out for around 50 minutes fairly steady. My calves just felt heavy and I had to generate a lot of arm swing in order to compensate for it. My stride length was noticibly shorter and I couldnt hold a decent rhythm. I cut it short after 4 miles in 24:48 and just went and streched off.
Hope this isnt the start of a burnout
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Long time no see
Well its been a while since i posted so here is the low down. I got injured with Achilles Tendonitis and then went to Munich and since then ive just neglected my blog really. I managed to get out for 3 days good running in Germany but wont write about them today.
This week I felt tired after a Chew valley skyline reccy on sunday so thats 14 miles 2000feet of ascent.
14m 2000ft
No running on monday or tuesday due to general fatigue and a bit of a cold.
On wednesday I did 2 runs one to the swimming baths and back so 4 miles at around 7 minute miles and then a tediously slow run with my mate Josh and his friend Callum. The snow was down on the tops and it was white out rendering local knowledge useless even so we did about 7 miles.
11 miles 1100ft
Thursday- road run with Andy through Mossley, one lap of Greenfield and then back up Roughtown road. Andy is getting fit again so I struggled coming up the Wellihole but it was in the end a good 5 mile run.
5miles
Friday-Wasnt in a running mood really but dragged myself out for a swift 8 miles or so round saddleworth averaging 7:20 miles. Quite enjoyable but my knee started to play up.
Saturday- 13 miles on the fell with Phil and Andy. A variation of the Ravenstones fell race course with an addition of ascending Wimberry and coming off Alphin. Quite hard at first but legs loosened up eventually and it set me up well for the Ilkley Moor race
13 miles
Sunday- Ilkley Moor, my first real test of the season with all to play for, extensive prizes that I liked the look of and a tenner bet with a mate (kind of). Had a steady start and was climbing really well even in the slippy ice, huge credit to my X-Talons. Never had a problem winning the tenner but my navigation let me down on a flagged course. Couldnt see the flag ahead and lost a minute or so which eventually led to me nbeing squeezed out for 3rd U/18. Pretty happy though 50th out of 215 isnt too bad especially when I havent started any speed work yet so all eyes forward to a hopefully successful summer season (alliteration :))
This week I felt tired after a Chew valley skyline reccy on sunday so thats 14 miles 2000feet of ascent.
14m 2000ft
No running on monday or tuesday due to general fatigue and a bit of a cold.
On wednesday I did 2 runs one to the swimming baths and back so 4 miles at around 7 minute miles and then a tediously slow run with my mate Josh and his friend Callum. The snow was down on the tops and it was white out rendering local knowledge useless even so we did about 7 miles.
11 miles 1100ft
Thursday- road run with Andy through Mossley, one lap of Greenfield and then back up Roughtown road. Andy is getting fit again so I struggled coming up the Wellihole but it was in the end a good 5 mile run.
5miles
Friday-Wasnt in a running mood really but dragged myself out for a swift 8 miles or so round saddleworth averaging 7:20 miles. Quite enjoyable but my knee started to play up.
Saturday- 13 miles on the fell with Phil and Andy. A variation of the Ravenstones fell race course with an addition of ascending Wimberry and coming off Alphin. Quite hard at first but legs loosened up eventually and it set me up well for the Ilkley Moor race
13 miles
Sunday- Ilkley Moor, my first real test of the season with all to play for, extensive prizes that I liked the look of and a tenner bet with a mate (kind of). Had a steady start and was climbing really well even in the slippy ice, huge credit to my X-Talons. Never had a problem winning the tenner but my navigation let me down on a flagged course. Couldnt see the flag ahead and lost a minute or so which eventually led to me nbeing squeezed out for 3rd U/18. Pretty happy though 50th out of 215 isnt too bad especially when I havent started any speed work yet so all eyes forward to a hopefully successful summer season (alliteration :))
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Monday, 1 February 2010
Pennine Bridleway Relay-31/01/10
On the Calder Valley B team today for the short leg of the PBWR. From Littleborough to Whitworth. It was a cracking day and despite what others will say it was warm enough for just a vest. I felt I ran quite well as we were 23rd fastest team on our leg and I still had a lot more to give to the point that when we decided to push in the last mile, I dropped my partner by 100m by mistake. Next year id like to be in the A team as I felt i was fast enough to warrant a place but oh well its better than I could have done when i started running 6 years ago.
The Team eventually finished 18th overall after gary and Alistair hauled back 2 more teams on the last leg. We were also 2nd B team.
5.5 miles 44:36
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