Not a bad place to run

Weight: 73kg
Backback weight: 3kg
Weather: 15C
Route: 18m, hilly, trail and road, Elevation gain 2370ft

Ran from home today with no real destination in mind - just a GPS watch that needed to say 18+ miles on it by the time I got home again! I headed out of Otley and just kept taking public footpaths as I came across them. Some I knew really well, others I wasn't sure about. I still find it amazing that I keep coming across new routes even though I have run around this area for over three years.

I ran a steady pace of 9min miles, but did feel tired, possibly because of last week's mileage and possibly due to the heavy backpack I took.

I took a camera today too to take a few shots of wherever I ended up:

Looking out towards Almscliffe Crag and the beginning of North Yorkshire.


Me, sweaty, and covered in pesky little black flies, at the Lower Washburn Parish Church.



And at Lindley Wood Reservoir.



And here is the profile of the run:

Swim + Run

Weight: 73kg
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: Rain, 12C
Route: 6m, trail and fell, hilly

Swam 2.25km this morning then ran a hilly 6m. Felt really tired on the uphills this morning, but I think that was due to the intensity of my swim. I'm hoping that swimming followed by a hilly (and increasingly long) trail run will simulate running with tired legs - actually there's no simulation here, i did have tired legs! I hope that this will help to build a bit of endurance.

Zzzzzz

Rest Day :)

End of another week

Weight: 74kg
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: 8C
Route: 8.5m, road, undulating
Weekly Mileage: 49.1m

Thursday evening heralds the end of the week's running and the eve of a rest day. Ran with the club tonight, a fast-ish 8.5 miles, from Otley round Burley and back again.

Gadgets

Weight: 74kg
Backpack weight: 2.2kg
Weather: 6C, Relative humidity 81.3%, Wind speed 13.4mph, direction NNW
Route: 8.60 miles, Elevation gain 1430ft, Trail, fell and road
Max Heart Rate: 186, average heat rate: 154 (84%)

Ran a reasonably hilly 8 and a half miles tonight. Decided to take a number of gadgets. I was interested to see what sort of range my heart rate would be for a steady hill run and I also wanted to check the distance of this route. The gadgets also give you loads of other info too! I thought it was 8 miles. I was 0.6 miles out.

This is the profile of the run:

Short run

Weight: 74KG
Backpack weight: 2.4kg
Weather: 12C
Route: 4m, road, undulating

Short run this eve of 4 miles - 2 steady uphill and 2 back again.

Swim

Monday is cross-training day. The weather was rubbish so sacked the bike ride and went for a nice swim. Swam 2km.

Long Run

Weight: (less alarmingly!):73kg
Backpack weight: 2.2kg
Weather: 15C
Route: 19.5m, road, undulating

For some reason I didn't feel like the long run today, but stuck to the schedule nonetheless. Ran from home into Leeds and back on the road. Felt fine mostly but did feel a little tired from about 16m. Recovering quickly at the moment though which is good.

Great Saturday Morning

Weight: (alarmingly!) 72kg
Backback weight: 2.2kg
Weather: Sunny 13C
Route: 8.5m Road, undulating

Started today with an early morning swim. Swam for an hour and then went for a steady 8.5 mile road run. Slightly concernlingly, I seemed to have lost about 3-4kg this morning, which I guess must be just fluid loss, but I will check later on as this is quite a bit of weight!

Good, easy run 7.5 min/miles.

Applied for the Thames Path Ultra 50 in January today. Will also think about doing the Rotherham 50 in December to give me a taste of distances above 30m (my current highest mileage).

Loads of campers round Otley this morning for the Black Sheep Folk Festival. Will go along and have alook later. Nice to get these w/e runs out of the way early on and then they don't impinge too heavily on time with the family.

Rest Day

Busy day but no running!

Club run

Weight: 74kg
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: 14C
Route: 8m, road, undulating
Weekly Mileage: 41m

Ran a fast uphill with some of the club and then a more gentle return. A little over 8 miles on undulating road. Really nice to be home and finished by half 8!

Rest Day tomorrow :)

More Nocturnal Activity!

Weight: 74kg
Backpack weight: 2kg
Weather: 14C, windy
Route: 6m, Road/Trail, Hilly

Another late run again tonight along the Chevin Forest Trail. Again, glad to have stuck to the schedule even though bed would have been a much more inviting option!

Late night run

Weight: 74kg
Backback weight: 2.2kg
Weather: Dunno, 11C ish, drizzle, dark!
Route: 6m-ish, Road, Trail, hilly

Had a nightmare day today which centred around my laptop power supply blowing up. Not just this, but everything I touched seemed to go wrong. Due to various things, this meant that tonight's proposed club run couldn't take place.

I did run though, albeit a lot later than planned. I suppose it's good to get as much practice as possible running with the headtorch on bumpy tracks.

Ran on road and trail for 6 miles or so at a steady pace. It was definitely the highlight of an otherwise Tuesday to forget!

Quick Cycle

Cross training night tonight so cycled a hilly 10 miles. Not really far enough but the hills certainly got the lungs working.

Otley 10 Route

Weight: 74kg
Bacpack weight: 2.2kg
Weather: 16C, blustery showers
Route: 11m, Road, hilly (Otley 10 route + 1)

Cut the long run mileage back this week as I intend to every thirs week or so where possible. Ran the Otley 10 race route which is a hilly road route from Otley to Pool to Leathley to Farnley and back to Otley. It's a really nice route with some good hills, but it never ceases to amaze me the amount of cars on these 'back' roads. Some drivers are just so inconsiderate with little space being given and no indication to the cars behind that they are approaching a runner. Rant over.

Anyway, an enjoyable run even in the blustery conditions.

Carnival Run

Weight: 74kg
Backpack weight: 1.8kg
weather: 14C, sunny
Route: 10m-ish, road/trail

Went to see Carnival Messiah at Harewood House today. Not a big musical fan, but it was an amazing thing to see and very thought provoking too.

After two and a bit hours sat on my backside in a plastic chair I was ready to stretch the legs and set off to follow the Ebor Way home to Otley. I did have the map, but accidently left it in the car, so had to run on instinct and good fortune! Found the way no problem and it was a much nicer route than I had expected. I will run it again. Nie gentle 9min mile run. Happy Days.

Rest Day

:)

Short Cut?!

Weekly Mileage: 40m
Weight: 74kg
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: 13C
Route: 6m, road/trail

Ran with the club tonight. The planned route was a gentle flatish 5m. Missed the turn off the oldrailway track however, and one of the lads who I run with says "don't worry I know a short cut." He forgot to add the adjectives 'nasty' and 'hilly' into his sentence!

Good run, steady pace.

Rest day tomorrow :)

The nights are drawing in...

Weight: 75kg
Backpack weight: 2kg
Weather: 13C
Route: 6.4m, trail/road, hilly, night run

Ran an easy 6+ miles tonight through the Chevin with headtorch. It's amazing how dark it's getting so early. I use a Petzl headtorch which I think I will have to upgrade before the bid day as I'm not sure it would be bright enough on unknown trails.

A good run, 8.5min miles, steady.

Club Run

Weight: 75KG
Backpack Weight: n/a
Weather: 14C
Route: 7m, road and trail, hilly

Ran with the club tonight. Decided to try and keep up with the faster group for a run up to the top of the Chevin and back. Managed the pace OK apart from one top stretch where I took a small deviation. Pleased with the run, especially after a long weekend fell race. Particularly pleased with the recovery rate at the moment. Pace probably 7.20 minute-ish. Will try to slow it down tomorrow and run a steady 6 miles.

Swimming

Just swam a few lengths tonight. Nice to rest the legs!

Exterminator

Weight: 75kg
Backpack Weight: 2.2KG
Weather: 18C
Route: 16m, fell, trail and road

I had a disastrous start to this race! I had decided late last night to abandon this race as I couldn't find some of the kit I needed for it. About 8.30 this morning, however, the missing kit was found and I decided to drive down to Totley to have a go at this AL category Fell Race.

The journey should have taken a little over an hour, but I managed to hit everything from wide loads to road closures for a road race in Sheffield.

So I arrived in Totley to hear the race organiser setting off the runners - and I hadn't even registered yet! I had also forgotten to go the bank to get money to pay for my entry...it was a disastrous start! The kind Totley ladies let me enter if I promised to send a cheque (which is in the post!) so I quickly changed and set off up the hill to the trig point in last place, 8 minutes behind the sweeper!

I'm not sure whether it was adrenalin, or if it was the absence of pressure from knowing I couldn't place as high up as usual, but I had a brilliant run. The 16 miles and 4000ft of fell and trail slipped by and I finished the race strongly and ready for more. Not sure of my final place/time, but as this was a 'training' race I'm not really bothered. I'm more concerened with how the legs felt after that kind of climb/distance, and they felt fine.

Really enjoyed the race - thanks a lot Totley AC!

Stanage edge (below) was just one of the beautiful sights on this race:

Ilkley Moor

Weight: 75kg
Backpack weight: 2.2kg
Weather: 19C
Route: 5m (walk) 5m(run), track, hilly

We all walked from Burley Woodhead to White Wells today, and then the girls hopped on the bus and I ran back across the moor. It was a beautiful day for running and the only thing which took the shine off the whole thing was the fantastic fall I had descending the moor at Burley Woodhead - right in front of two bemused walkers! I followed the golden rules under these circumstances: don't make eye contact, dust yourself off and run even faster than you were running before! This is no time to assess injuries! As it happened, all I had was a bit of a sprained thumb.

Slightly shorter route than planned today and conservatively run in view of tomorrow's 'Exterminator' fell run.

Comedy Vegetables

Weekly Mileage: 37m
Weight: 75KG
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: 17C
Route: 6m, Trail

Nice steady run with the club tonight. Beautiful evening for running. Enjoyed the last run of the week before tomorrow's rest day. I'm looking forward to resting the legs before the longer w/e runs.

Also...I won a prize! Didn't hang around for the prizegiving as was running home, but was given the beautiful marrow pictured below as a spot prize in last night's Ilkley Incline! I am very proud of this my first ever running prize!

Ilkley Incline

Weight: 75KG
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: 16C, light wind
Route: tarmac and trail, hilly
Distance: 1 mile uphill race followed by 8 mile trail/run

Ran the Ilkley Incline tonight (organised by Ilkley Harriers). A one mile uphill event. I entered it with a friend thinking 'come on, how bad can a mile be?!'. Bad.
It is a total lung-buster, but lots of fun. I think I snuck in just short of 10 mins.

We then ran back to Otley over beautiful Ilkley Moor, following the last section of the Rombolds Stride, a race in Feb which I will try to do in preparation for the WHWR. Ran a good pace home, especially the penultimate mile as we attempted to catch a lone runner (6.45 mins!) Thanks Helen, for a great run.

Legs are quite sore tonight as I have increased the hilly mileage this week. Club run tomorrow then total rest on Friday :)

Picture courtesy of Ilkley Harriers

Just don't look behind you!

Weight: 76kg
Backpack weight: n/a
Weather: 15C, windy
Route: 4m, road/track, hilly (especially that last mile!)

Otley AC Eccup Handicap

As I'm sure those of you who ever run club handicaps will agree, the one thing you can't do is ever look behind you! It's terrifying!

Started with an 8 minute handicap today and managed to overtake a few and creep up to 3rd with a time of 27.56. Somewhere just under 7 minute miles. Not Earth-shattering, but I enjoyed the run.

Midnight Bike Rides

First day back in the classroom today, so quite a lot to do this evening. I planned to do a cross-training session on a Monday (either biking or swimming) so when I looked at the clock at 11:15 and realised I hadn't gone yet, I thought about giving it a miss. I swore that unless I was injured, I would stick to the training schedule even if it meant running in the middle of the night (something I'm going to need to get used to!). So out I went on the bike for a quick 10 hilly miles. Once I was out (and particularly up the first big hill) I had a great time!

First Long Run

Weight: 76kg
Backback weight: 2.8kg
Weather: 16C, heavy showers
Route: 14m, road/trail, hilly

Not a bad run today for the first 'long' run, although still pretty short really. Had a bit more in the backpack today, taking it up a few grammes to 2.8kg - that seemed to make a huge difference. Ran a nice steady 9.45 average pace.

Pretty good view from the top too:

That's more like it

Weight: 77kg
Backpack weight: 2.3kg
Weather: 18C
Route: 8m, road, undulating

Second 'official' run of the campaign today and it went much better than day 1's miserable start. Ran from Ilkley to Otley and included some good hills. Ran average pace of 7.56 min/mile which is a little faster than I intended to run, but was in a good rhythm and felt great. Really enjoyed it today. Will aim for a nice gentle 14 on the trails tomorrow.

Kettlebells

Now I don't like you, and I know you don't like me...



I plan to do three upper body strength sessions a week between now and June as I'm a bit weedy in that department. I hope that it will help me to run more efficiently (core strength and all that) and help prevent injuries.

Kettlebells are much more fun than weights (yawn) and I can do them at home without the inconvenience of going to the gym (which I hate).

Fly a kite

Fridays will be days I grow to love more than any other as these are the days I have earmarked for rest. The most strenuous activity today was flying a kite with my daughters - so much fun!