Cairngorms

Last week I had the great pleasure in having a week off running and spending some time with my good freind Iain in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. An Arctic blast made for some interesting weather and the legs got a good workout during the three day stay. Here are a few photos of the trip:

Windy run

Ran with the club tonight. Chris and I were the only moonlighters tonight, so we headed North of the river and up to Farnley and Clifton, before coming back through the woods. A good run, but very windy. Some good pacey sections!

6m

Couple of days off spending some time with my mum who is down visiting from Inverness but back into it tonight. Ran a steady 6m Pool loop.

Medium Run

Ran 13m home from Leeds. Mainly road-running with a little trail at the end.

Felt strong throughout.

Well done Beth!

Ran a quick 5m loop this morning, but more importantly I watched Beth swim 40 lengths, struggling against utter exhaustion to achieve her 1000m badge! I am a very proud dad - well done Beth!!

6m

Late run tonight. 6m.

Better hills

Thanks once again to Hugh for a good hill-rep session. This time I managed to run some good hills.

We ran 3 sets of 4 X (minute up, minute down). The idea is to always try and be consistent, reaching the same spot each time on the hill. For the first time tonight I managed this for each of the 12 uphills. Really pleased with how I ran this evening.

Followed these sets with a brisk 2m warm down.

Night time recovery run

The new theoretical training plan is to run every day except Friday when I'll do some kind of cross training. Mondays will usually be some kind of light recovery run after Sunday's longer runs.

So tonight I ran a 5m half road/half trail run at a sluggish pace. Felt ok mostly, but did hit a tired patch in the middle. I'm still calorie deficient I think as I have to watch what I eat a bit more than usual, but that will start to improve soon I hope.

Long run

Having managed a 13m run on Thursday and a 10m yesterday, I decided on having a go at a longer run today. After helping Otley AC set up their cross-country course this morning, I set off to Ilkley on road and then back home across the moor. It was a lovely day and a good run. Pretty tired on the last 4m or so, but that's the longest run I've done since Coventry and this week's mileage is back up to approaching where it should be for this time of the year (45m). No stomach problems and no injuries. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

A good hilly 18m run!

10m

Ran a nice 10m road route up to Guiseley and back. Felt fit and strong.

running again

Docs tonight re stomach. Seems I have an ulcer. Seems deeply unfair - I don't drink, don't smoke and lead a very healthy lifestyle. Still, it's getting treated now and the best news is that running doesn't seem to exacerbate it and the doc seemed to be of the opinion that if it helped take my mind of the discomofrt then run, run, run.

So I did - home from Leeds. A nice 13m run with a good weight in the pack. Bliss.

Better run

Although my stomach is still not right, today was a much better day. Ran a pleasant 6m run with one decent hill round the Pool loop. Not quite as tired as I've managed to eat a bit more today.

Seeing Doc on Thurs so hopefully can get back on track as soon as possible. Paul Tranter and I are planning on having a go at the Long Mynd together on 22nd November. Need to be on top form again by then (RR50 3 weeks after too!)

Good decision

Well, although painful, yesterday's decision not to run was a wise one. I rested all day Saturday and felt somewhat better by Saturday evening. I have felt ok today so tried a run this afternoon. Intended to run through to Ilkley and back as it's such a beautiful day, but I could not even have managed that. I plodded round a hilly 7m course and felt pretty tired the whole way. Also my stomach felt uncomfortable as it has for the last three weeks on and off. The tiredness I think is due to the fact that I am definitely calorie deficient at the moment, being wary of eating too much or things that might upset my stomach. I am losing weight pretty fast which was not my intention (down to 71.8 kg this morning - that's a loss of 4 kg in 3 weeks)

Will head back to the doctors tomorrow as the last visit was a complete waste of time (was seen by one of those doctors that had the prescription pad in hand before you've even sat down!)

No Long Mynd

It's with great disappointment that I have withdrawn from the Long Mynd Hike. The stomach upset I have been having has intensified so much that I can't even work today. Can't really expect my body to go through 50 hilly miles over the weekend.

So I thought it was better to let the race organisers know today that my place can be reallocated.

I am desperately upset to miss this event, but health comes first I suppose.

Perhaps I will try a solo run of the route later in the year.

I am going to stop running for the next week and work hard on getting my stomach sorted.

Phil