Training Log Archive: AllyBeaven

My watch thinks I did 1,444m of climbing, which tells you something about the weather.

Ran ten or fifteen minutes before the start, plus a few token stretches. A boggy, tussocky field isn't the ideal place for a comprehensive warmup. Made sure I went out reasonably hard to avoid bottlenecks. A short descent off the main path was a little slow but I didn't lose any time. Didn't bother trying to gain any places low down as it meant wading off into the heather, but I picked off one or two here and there once we were a little higher. From Scald Law to the Howe I was around Es, James Waldie, Joe Mann, maybe gaining a couple of places but mostly just trying not to get blown over. (We'd been warned at the start that the MR guys on South Black Hill couldn't stand up.)

Es caught me on the last climb to Carnethy so I tucked in behind and hung onto him to the top. I passed him on the descent but then him and two Ambleside guys passed me on the shitey run to the finish.

The depth at Carnethy is cool. Everyone racing from beginning to end. If I'd been 15" quicker I'd have made 5 places. I think I was 20th. Serves me right for having an ultra runner's finishing kick.

Comfortably under the hour but a minute off Mudge's cr, which I had pegged as a second target. No problems really. Hamstrings know they've done some work lately, and hips/glutes/lower back stuff was talking to me on the last climb but I imagine that's true for everyone.

Road run in the teeth of Storm Erik, or Rain Shower Beatrice, or whatever the fuck this bit of unpleasant weather is called. I chose the road up Glen Lednock because I thought it might be sheltered. It wasn't. Also hillier than I remembered.

Kept a lid on the effort on the early hills, though not wanting to let it get too low or my soaking wet tights would suck the heat and/or life out of me. Hamstrings feeling yesterday's gym session a little but I think I was running well. Allowing for hills, headwind (both directions) and the multitude of nontrivial watercourses running across the road I think I was slightly faster than Julien Wanders.

Home, wring out socks, stretch.

A fucking road run! I did one of those in 2016 pre Jura, before that. . .2013?

Almost used the icy trails as an excuse to sack it off til the afternoonbut reasoned that there would be no chance and I was just being a sissy. Glad I got out actually, this was. . .fun?

Out and back to the glider field. Knots eased off after the first twenty minutes or so, legs were turning over reasonably nicely on the way back. 6 strides out the front of the house were pretty good, felt nice to open my stride up.

Another road run tomorrow from my dad's I think, then a wiiiindy Carnethy 5 on Saturday!

Gym session

5 minutes rowing.

Front raise 5kg
Dumbbell bench press 15kg
Bicep curls 10kg
Pull ups 15kg
Bench dips 25kg
Hamstring curls 1xAlly Beaven
Step ups 15kg
Lateral lunge 8kg
Split squats 7.5kg
Squats 40kg front squats
Deadlift 2 x 4@85

7 minutes walking on the treadmill then stretching. A few tight or tender spots but overall I'm feeling pretty good.

Less snow, more ice on FHC hill today. Overall an improvement I think., covering a bit more ground than I was on Wednesday. Moved off to the side for squat jumps and hops which helped a lot. A-skips tricky, butt kicks easier with the forward lean.

10' jog, warm up routine, 10' jog with some surges, then 3xFHC. With conditions as they are it's difficult to get a pinpoint accurate idea of how things are going, but like the gym stuff I think the consistency is kicking in and these are taking less out of me than they were. Left hamstring said hello occasionally but nothing painful and no effect on how I was moving. Definitely feeling fresher on the run back to Aviemore than I did after the first of these sessions.

Thaw is kicking into higher gear so I imagine the trails will be clear by the weekend. If we get more of what we've had I'd be tempted to go and do one of these sessions on the ski road for the sake of variety/making sure I was doing everything properly.

Running before breakfast, almost put this off til the afternoon under the pretence of waiting for the trails to thaw, though really it was a minor case of the Can'tBeFuckeds. Got my tights on and managed to drag myself out the door.

First and last 2 k or so were a bit of a bugger, chewed up by the sled dogs, but most of the rest was decent enough. Less post gym soreness than I'm used to so it looks like that's going the right way. Speed variations were fine, a slight hankering for dry ground as I was just short of being able to open up my stride properly.

4C and a bit of rain now, bring on the thaw!

Pretty heavy underfoot today, trudging through slush. A few knots moving around in glutes and hamstrings but nothing lasting. Looking forward to getting at them in the gym this afternoon. Went through all the leg swings when I get home then did a little yoga.

Gym session

5 minutes rowing then the first few exercises a little lighter to warm up.

Heaviest sets
Front raise 5kg
Dumbbell bench press 15kg
Bicep curls 10kg
Pull ups 15kg
Bench dips 25kg
Hamstring curls 1xAlly Beaven
Step ups 10kg
Lateral lunge 7.5kg
Split squats 7.5kg
Squats 40kg front squats
Deadlift 8@60 8@70 6@80 5@85

Did a couple of sets of resistance band clam shells to finish. Walked on the treadmill for 7 minutes then did some stretching.

Some kind soul drove a 4x4 round the tracks near the house so much of this was on reasonable footing.

Legs felt fine after yesterday's session, no niggles. Trying to keep a lid on the effort level in the sloppier bits and the uphills. Average pace a touch slower than usual so I think the effort was probably about right.

Could be thaw time this week, which would be nice.