Wednesday 19 October 2011

All revved up

Just spent a fantastic weekend courtesy of the nice folks at Racekit.co.uk on an MdS training weekend in the Peak District. A great mix of running, trying kit, learning about all things MdS (including mental preparation, foot care, nutrition and tent etiquette - apparently "whacking off" is a no-no!). And of course the opportunity to meet up with, weigh up and have a jolly good laugh with some fellow competitors.

It's left me with a good few queries over pack choice, and other kit options, but at least I know where to turn to for advice and kit shopping. Three fantastic runs between Friday night (run round Ladybower Reservoir), Saturday am (Curbar and White Edges in the glorious sunshine) and Sunday (through my old favourite Burbage and across the back of Hathersage) allowed us to try many different variations of kit, poles and clothing.
If Carlsberg made night runs.....Ladybower in the clear dark night
A few days afterwards and I'm still very very excited about the race now. So much to do, so many things to think about and prepare and so much to look forward to. Given it's 6 months away, there's still time to get things sorted, but not much time to waste so from here on in it's focus, focus, focus.
Less sunny at Burbage
A few pics of the weekend courtesy of Andrew & Amanda at RaceKit (www.racekit.co.uk) - thanks guys for a fantastic weekend.
Somewhere near Curbar Edge in the sunshine

Friday 7 October 2011

6 months and counting

That's less than 26 weeks to go until we fly to Morocco. A quick summary of where I'm up to: lots of long, slow plodding - tick; avoided running injuries so far - tick; confident of running 150 miles in ridiculous heat with a stupidly heavy pack and sand in my shoes - work in progress!

Still much work to do in the next 6 months, or 26 weeks, or 182 days. Getting kit, sorting out some charity sponsorship, ramping up the training and probably a million and one other things I'll be thinking I should have done come the 5th April next year.

This week's change from summer to winter, including 10 very soggy, windy, cold miles on Thursday morning does not signal ideal preparation for 40 degree heat but the miles all count. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Now, best get on with that training plan......

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Just like in the desert.....

A fantastic day out on Tryfan, passing itself off as a training event. Well worth the sore quads the next day. This is Rich climbing up, a long way from the summit.

Summer's over

So, that was the summer. Hardly a great year for getting used to running in the heat but all things considered, I'm not too upset with where things are currently.
After my last post I spent a week in Devon on holiday with the family and friends and only managed 1 run, but spent a lot of time stretching my leg muscles which was good. I came back not so much refreshed, but certainly not over trained like I was at the end of August last year.
On returning home, things have gone manic at work. This has put some pressure on the running, but so far I've been pretty disciplined and kept more or less to the schedule. The next big target was the High Peak 40 on 17 September. A few long runs of up to 20 miles were all I had time for in the build up, though frankly there's not much point running lots of much longer stuff. I bonked completely on the 2nd loop of Fairholmes a week before the HP40, which did my confidence no good at all.
On race day, I felt a bit lacking in oomph but ok for the first 14 miles, then it all started to unravel. I had a bad day. The next 24 miles were pretty abysmal really. No energy, sore knees and hip, and I had to really struggle to keep going. But keep going I did, cajoled on by an uncharacteristically spritely Rich. The last 2 or 3 miles were much better and I seemed to find enough to run pretty strongly home. Not enough to beat 9hours 30, but only 22 seconds outside it, and a full 1hour 15 quicker than last year so was pleased with the end result.
I was pretty sore after that, but managed a couple of mid-length runs the following week. Then track sessions with Sheffield Tri Club started up again on 27 Sept - an easy week to start us back into it (I haven't been track running for about 4 years) before getting serious in October. The aim is to try to inject a bit of speed into my running as I've kind of been training myself to plod. I'm pretty good at plodding now, but could do with an extra kick.
Last weekend was a sort of training weekend in Snowdonia with the Hammer & Pincers quiz team. A fantastic scramble up Tryfan and across the Glyders on Saturday, followed by a quick jaunt up Snowdon on Sunday. Interspersed with one or two beers, a curry, a poker night and much hilarity. My legs are actually pretty beaten up after that, I think from the downhill section on Saturday which saw us drop 900m in about 3km. So I'm resting up before getting on the turbo tomorrow and running again on Thursday.