Monday Mar 31 |
 | Running 1:00:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Asics Nimbus |
| Run after work with Matt. Fairly steady up to his house, then upped the pace a bit over Becketts and down Hawksworh. Put a hill sprint up from the school fields up to the pitches on Becketts in 26 secs - as fast as when i used to do reps on it so pretty happy with that. So happy to be out at 7:30 and still be able to see through the woods :) |
| Road cycling 16:00 [3]5.2 km (3:05 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
Sunday Mar 30 |
| Running 1:45:00 [3] | |
| ahr:147 max:167 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Went up to Edinburgh to watch the World XC Champs. Did a morning run with Birchall and Os who are in preparation for quick times at London marathon. Went over to Holyrood Park, then did a few laps of Queens Drive whilst cheering on the guys in the 5km - impressive result from Murray in 2nd place. Quads a bit tired going up to Salisbury Crags, and could feel R.knee a bit towards the end of the run. Very wet running as well, but happy to do first long training run for months with no adverse effects. |
Saturday Mar 29 |
| Running 24:00 [3] | |
| ahr:147 max:161 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Run to work via Hyde Park - glorious morning :) |
| Road cycling 13:00 [3]5.2 km (2:30 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle home from work |
Friday Mar 28 |
| Running 1:18:00 [3] | |
| ahr:144 max:170 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Run from work with Matt along canal at increasing pace - miles in 7:05, 6:49, 6:29, then a hill effort up Norman Row. Picked Jess up from home and did a bit more of a steady pace with her though still fairly quick. Rather tired afterwards. Easter egg made it better :) |
| Road cycling 13:00 [3]5.2 km (2:30 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
Thursday Mar 27 |
| Running 1:04:00 [3] | |
| ahr:137 max:179 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Morning run with Sarah. Legs felt fine, no adverse effects from weekend. |
| Running 20:00 [3] | |
| ahr:133 max:151 |
| Bit of a leg loosener in the evening, legs felt fine. |
| Road cycling 33:00 [3]10.4 km (3:10 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to and from work |
Wednesday Mar 26 |
| Running 56:00 [3] | |
| ahr:143 max:158 shoes: Inov8 Flyroc 310 |
| Morning run with Niall as Mick bailed out. A bit boggy in places on Becketts Park. Did a bit extra afterwards as wasn't starting work till late. |
| Road cycling 36:00 [3]10.4 km (3:28 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to and from work |
Tuesday Mar 25 |
| Running 56:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Great day for a morning run with Sarah. Nice pace after a hard weekend. |
| Road cycling 25:00 [3]10.4 km (2:24 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work and back on road bike |
Monday Mar 24 |
| Orienteering warm up/down 27:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Inov8 Mudclaw 330 |
| |
| Orienteering race 33:03 [5]*** 6.3 mi (5:15 / mi) +255m 2:54 / km | |
| ahr:172 max:178 spiked:13/14c shoes: Inov8 Mudclaw 330 |
| JK Relay 1st leg. My first orienteering race for 4 months so wasn't quite sure how i'd get on, but i knew i was fit after my race on Saturday. Took the race on from the gun after working out the 1st control, though slightly missed the control but was up in the mix with about 10 guys in front of me - this is what i missed about orienteering, the frantic head-to-head racing on 1st leg! Followed the line of people to #2, slightly different route to #3 going over the spur first a bit slower but i hadn't planned the route. Kept the pace up to #4 and going across the field to #5 saw only 4 people in front of me so knew i was in the lead pack on my gaffle at least. From here on it was a head-to head battle with the Pijak's, John and Doug, and i was just trying to hang on. My feet were really hurting, don't think the Mudclaw's have enough support for my over-pronation. Really starting to hurt in the north of the area on the few hills that we had, but the guys in front made a small miss at #10 so got ahead of Ondrej. Really had to dig in across the fields at the end, John was tearing it up across them. Just managed to haul past Doug on the run-in, but really happy to be up in the lead group. Gave the boys a good start, and 10th place overall, 6th British team is pretty good with a weakened team from last year after losing Hector to EUOC.
Got the bug back for orienteering, even if the weather was crap. |
Sunday Mar 23 |
| Running 44:00 [3] | |
| ahr:128 max:149 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Run along Douglas promenade with Cat whilst watching the 5km races. Bit of a jog around with Sarah and Emily on their cool down whilst watching the guys race. Quads felt tired but not painful, and R. hip flexor was fine :) |
Saturday Mar 22 |
| Running warm up/down 21:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Salomon Speedcross |
| Warm-up with James, cool down in Port Erin. |
| Fell running race 1:43:00 [5]13.0 mi (7:54 / mi) +1175m 3:51 / km | |
| ahr:159 max:181 shoes: Salomon Speedcross |
| Half Manx Mountain Marathon fell race. Great event, really friendly organisers, and great to be able to watch Richard and Jon running through our start after 18 miles of the Full Manx. I knew Lloyd was running our race, but decided that i wouldn't do anything silly (like try and keep up!) as i hadn't done anything this length for a few months.
Even so, i started fast and settled into 4th place. The first climb was probably the steepest of the day, so just set into a steady rhythm, but byt the time we got out of the wood Lloyd was already a few hundred metres clear! I'd moved up to 3rd and was running with Tom who'd won last year so knew he'd know the route. As we were running down the road from CP2 we saw Lloyd bounding up towards us - he'd missed a turning and gone the long way round, losing about 3mins! Probably the only time i'll ever be in front of him after over 20 mins of racing, so made the most of it and me and Tom kept a decent pace up to the foot of South Barrule, though Lloyd soon caught us back up.
My ipod kept me going up to the summit, the toughest climb of the day out of the way, and moving myself into a clear 2nd with Tom a minute behind, and Lloyd still in sight. A lovely descent down to Round Table, and really felt like i was flying. Loved the descent off of Cronk ny Arrey Laa, and could still just about make out Lloyd in the distance. Hadn't reccied this part of the course, but the route was actually quite easy to follow. Short sharp descent down to Fleshwich where the final sting in the tail approached. A deceptively steep climb up to Bradda Hill was over quickly, and then just hammered it towards the tower. Felt really tired, but was starting to catch a few of the full Manx runners, so kept the pace up.
A good result, and only 3 mins behind Lloyd (though he did lose 3 mins early on), and a new half marathon PB! |
Friday Mar 21 |
| |
| Event: JK 2008
|
| Running 1:20:00 [3] | |
| ahr:144 max:174 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Went over to the Isle of Man for the Easter Athletics Festival, though i was only doing the Half Manx Mountain Marathon. Went to reccie the end of my race with Shane whilst everyone else did the 10km race. Shane's previously finished 2nd on the Full Manx 5 times, so thought he might know the end of the route, but obviously not as he didn't recognise it at all (to be fair, the last time he did it was over 10 years ago). We ended up doing a very tiny bit of the course, so not a very useful reccie, but nice to get out to do another run over an hour as haven't done any distance runs all year. Started snowing on way back. |
Thursday Mar 20 |
| Running 52:00 [3] | |
| ahr:140 max:153 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Easy morning run with Sarah. R. hip flexor only tight towards end of run. |
| Road cycling 35:00 [3]10.4 km (3:22 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work and back |
Wednesday Mar 19 |
| Running 30:00 [3] | |
| ahr:147 max:157 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Morning run to work along Meanwood Ridge. R. hip flexor a bit tight towards end, and didn't get much time to stretch out afterwards. |
| Running 34:00 [3] | |
| ahr:143 max:166 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| A lovely evening so went for a run with Chris along a similar route as yesterday. R. hip flexor definitely improving as didn't really hurt on the hills. |
| Road cycling 14:00 [3]5.2 km (2:42 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
Tuesday Mar 18 |
| Running 47:00 [3] | |
| ahr:138 max:153 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Very chilly morning run with Sarah. Right hip flexor tightened up towards end of run, but definitely getting better. |
| Road cycling 31:00 [3]10.4 km (2:59 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work and back |
Monday Mar 17 |
| Running 46:00 [3] | |
| ahr:134 max:147 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Morning run before meetings from hotel. Nice steady pace after last night's drinking! Right hip flexor still quite sore, especially on uphills. Glorious day on the outskirts of Birmingham :) |
| Running 34:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| After a long day it was nice to get out in the evening with Chris, just a small loop along the canal and past Abbey Inn. Right hip flexor a bit better, need to keep it mobile as i think it was just slightly strained during Black Combe race. |
Sunday Mar 16 |
| Running 1:09:00 [3] | |
| ahr:134 max:152 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Work meeting down in Meriden, but luckily most of the guys were up for a training run. Was a bit in awe when i discovered half group i was in were sub-70 1/2 marathon runners! A nice muddy route, not ideal as everyone except for Terry (who was leading the way) was in road shoes! R. hip flexor still quite sore, but was able to maintain a decent pace. Ended up just being Matt, Ben and myself so good group. |
Saturday Mar 15 |
| Road cycling long 6:10:00 [3]152 km (2:26 / km) +2280m 2:16 / km | |
| ahr:143 max:170 |
| WOW! Decided to go for a bit of a ride as Jess was down at inter-counties. One of the longest training sessions i've ever had, just one of the day's at the KIMM longer i think. A great route from Bolton Abbey over to somewhere just south of Kirkby Stephen and back. Had planned to go to the Really Wild Baugh fell race, but left it too late and missed it by about half an hr. Got up to 70km/h coming down to Hawes, though not sure if my speedo's 100% accurate. Quite tired afterwards. |
Friday Mar 14 |
| Note | |
| (injured) |
| Right hip flexor giving me some grief, so taking a day off |
Thursday Mar 13 |
| Running 38:00 [3]8 km (4:45 / km) +135m 4:23 / km | |
| shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Run from work up to Weetwood for end of term training session. R. hip flexor quite painful now, need to have a rest day to give it time to heal. The guys started their session late, so by the time they'd finished and had had cakes and champagne, i couldn't be bothered running home so got a lift with Pete. Lucky, cos the i'd had 3 glasses of champers and would probably have run in front of a car on the way home... |
| Road cycling 13:00 [3]5.2 km (2:30 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
Wednesday Mar 12 |
| Road cycling 2:25:00 [4]58.5 km (2:29 / km) +790m 2:19 / km | |
| ahr:139 max:162 |
| Very, very windy ride. Probably not safe to even go out, but i didn't have any running kit up in Newcastle, so was adamant i was gonna do a ride. Dropped Jess off at job interview in Sunderland and cycled from there to Durham. Actually got blown off the A-road onto a slip road at one point as couldn't keep bike in a straight line! Came back on and kept grinding away. Found a bike path, then remembered i'd actually been there before when we stayed at Emma and James' for Durham relays. Decided to go along it, then discovered the tarmac stopped fairly quickly. Carried on anyway as it was a fairly decent track. Went to Diggerland, then came home as the rain came in. Massive difference riding with a tailwind on the way back, 50 mins quicker, whizz!!! |
Tuesday Mar 11 |
| Running 1:02:00 [3]13.5 km (4:36 / km) +90m 4:27 / km | |
| shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Morning run with Sarah. Quads were better, but R. hip flexor gave me some pain after 40 mins. Decided to run back along the canal as it was the uphills which antagonised hip flexor. |
| Road cycling 28:00 [3]10.4 km (2:42 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work and back |
Monday Mar 10 |
| Running 33:00 [3]6.5 km (5:05 / km) +95m 4:44 / km | |
| shoes: Inov8 Flyroc 310 |
| Morning lap of Becketts with Chris and Mick. Quads were in agony, especially on any downhill. Need to make sure i stretch properly after fell races, otherwise i'm gonna be walking like John Wayne for a while... |
| Road cycling 30:00 [3]10.4 km (2:53 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work and back |
| Turbo trainer 1:05:00 [3] | |
| ahr:137 max:154 |
| Turbo session after work, left it in middle chain ring and changed tempo with ipod. Left hip flexor a bit stiff, but quads were a lot better than this morning. |
Sunday Mar 9 |
| Road cycling 13:00 [3]5.2 km (2:30 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
| Road cycling 51:00 [3]20.4 km (2:30 / km) +260m 2:21 / km | |
| |
| Longer ride home through Roundhay Park and Alwoodley. Bit of a leg loosener after yesterday's race. |
Saturday Mar 8 |
| Fell running warm up/down 15:00 [3]1.7 mi (8:49 / mi) +50m 5:01 / km | |
| shoes: Salomon Speedcross |
| Warm-up with no less than Mr Ian Holmes. Graham was there as well. |
| Fell running race 1:17:02 [5]8.0 mi (9:37 / mi) +1036m 4:16 / km | |
| ahr:169 max:178 shoes: Salomon Speedcross |
| Black Combe fell race, first race of the English Fell Championships. After last weeks little race i was quite confident that i could get round and my knee would be alright. We had a good team out - Rob, Danny, John, Nick, Gary, Graham and myself, so hopes were high for the team prize, even if the other teams were out in force too.
The race started off with a mad dash across a field to see if you could get to the gate before gridlock ensued. This meant for a racing HR before we'd even got to an ascent, but it had to be done. The first climb was a proper hans on knees job where i just followed the line of people up. By the time i got to the first CP i could see Jebby and Rob already way in the distance, but could see that i was probably in the mid-20's so was happy with that. As we climbed up to the 2nd CP the clag came down and the race started to get interesting. Managed to latch onto the back of a group of 5 as they turned off the path. I hadn't reccied the course so just followed them. We got to the 2nd CP fairly quickly and started the descent round. We quickly dropped Chris Smale but Jon and Alex pulled away, I ran with Dave T for a bit but he soon pulled away after i fell a few times. I'd got my map out as i didn't want to get lost and managed to get the 3rd and 4th CP's fine. We finally got out of the mist as we descended to the 5th CP and i could see a line of people already clambering up the final killer climb but without anyone in between. The last climb was exceedingly tough, and i did all i could to keep slogging up, i'm just glad the mist was down as i doubt i'd have wanted to see how much further there was to go. A coupld of glances behind showed that a few people were gaining on me, and they were running up the hill - what the heck, this hill was steep, and these guys who were obviously slower than me were running up it. I just dug in but was soon caught - by Scoffer and Morgan. No wonder they were running, they must have got lost somewhere. Stayed with them but they started drifting off to the left, and i knew the last CP was at the top, so i just carried on going up and left them to their own devices. I was always a bit sceptical as i thought the Borrowdale would know where they were going in their own county, but obviously not as i got to the final CP fine, and started the last descent into driving wind and sleet. I played it safe and veered off to make sure i hit the track, not the quickest but i didn't want to mess up. Jonny came out in front of me and i just tagged onto him and hammered it down. After falling near the end, i picked myself up, looked behind to see if i was in danger of being caught, and there came Ian Holmes, whizzing past. He must have had a mare out there. Even so, i latched onto him and sprinted past coming down into the final field (i don't think he was trying too hard though) but couldn't quite catch Jonny. Even so, there didn't seem to be too many people finished. Then found out that most of the people milling around had actually retired after getting lost - bloody-minded fell runners neglecting to get their maps out!
Ended up in 11th place, in front of esteemed fell runners Ian Holmes, Heneghan, Gary, Scoffer, Morgan and a whole host of other people i'd expect to be behind. They all got lost in the mist, but i'm still counting it as beating them all. We won the team prize as well :) Good start to the year, 3 Peaks up next, that could hurt. |
Friday Mar 7 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Having run every day this week i felt a rest was necessary before English Champs fell race tomorrow at Black Combe. Hopes are high for P&B, just have to wait and see what happens on the day. |
Thursday Mar 6 |
| Running 54:00 [3]11.7 km (4:37 / km) +155m 4:20 / km | |
| ahr:141 max:187 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Morning run with Sarah, though did quite a bit extra afterwards to get a bit of distance in - now that i can run, there's no point not utilising morning runs. Slight niggle in R. ankle, but other than that all good. Not too sure about max HR, definitely wasn't pushing it at anytime. I think it might be interfereing with Sarah's HRM.
Route
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/leeds/4... |
| Road cycling 15:00 [3]5 km (3:00 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
Wednesday Mar 5 |
| Running 23:00 [3]5 km (4:36 / km) +45m 4:24 / km | |
| ahr:146 max:161 shoes: Saucony Triumph 5 |
| Run to work to pick road bike up. |
| Road cycling 1:47:00 [3]45.2 km (2:22 / km) +580m 2:13 / km | |
| ahr:140 max:166 |
| Mid-morning ride with Jonny, nice to get out in the morning as avoided the little shower. Been having a few problems with the chain coming off every time i change into the big cog so just used the small one for the whole ride which worked out nicely as this was my first ride for a couple of weeks so didn't want to push it too much.
Route
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/leeds... |
| Core stability 40:00 [3] | |
| |
| Core stability session at Carnegie with Amy. Hands really sore, need to start going more regularly otherwise i'm gonna be a big girl and moan about it every time i go! Definitely improving my technique on everything else though. And 3rd session of the day - hardcore! |
Tuesday Mar 4 |
| Running 44:00 [3]10 km (4:24 / km) +90m 4:13 / km | |
| ahr:140 max:178 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Stupidly early morning run with Sarah. Why anyone would normally train at this time in the morning i don't know (ok, it was only 7:30, but it's early for me). What's more annoying was that Sarah's lecture at 9 was cancelled so could have had an extra hour in bed, grrr! Even so, was a nice run, 3 runs in 2 days now, and knee still coping :)
Route
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/leeds/6...
|
| Road cycling 32:00 [3]10 km (3:12 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work on road bike, back on commuting bike. |
Monday Mar 3 |
| Running 30:00 [3]6.5 km (4:37 / km) +100m 4:17 / km | |
| ahr:145 max:161 shoes: Inov8 Flyroc 310 |
| Morning run around Becketts Park in the wind and snow. I even predicted the day before that it would snow, i should be a weatherman! |
| Road cycling 17:00 [3]5 km (3:24 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work |
| Running 47:00 [3]11.1 km (4:14 / km) +130m 4:00 / km | |
| ahr:143 max:169 shoes: Brooks Infiniti |
| Run this morning seemed to go ok so decided to do 2 runs in one day for the first time in a lot of months - too far back in training to find out when. Nice social run so nothing too hard, but decided to do an effort up the hill in Meanwood Park to see how my knee was the day after a race. Verdict - knee's fine, but lacking fitness, now i know how all the fat chumps feel when they try and run uphill! Even so, happy to have doubled up, even if both runs were fairly steady. And my new shoes are great :)
Route
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/leeds/5... |
Sunday Mar 2 |
| Fell running race 38:00 [5]5.3 mi (7:09 / mi) +345m 3:42 / km | |
| ahr:173 max:182 shoes: Salomon Speedcross |
| Grey's Pike fell race, Kielder Forest. Decided it was about time to test my knee out on a fast run, and i was pleasantly surprised as it felt pretty good throughout.
The race was a bit tactical to start with, and not knowing the route decided to just sit in behind the front group although the pace wasn't that hot. Once we hit the bottom of the slope, Steve Birkinshaw went ahead and i went with another guy to catch him up. Shortly after i took the lead and put a bit of effort in to see if anyone would come along - no-one did. So i just ground out all the way to the top of the hill, after a bit of a pause at the first trig point as i thought we were only going as far as there. Had about a 30 second lead at the top, before plummeting back down into the unknown on whether my knee could take a speedy descent. Decided there was no point trying it out and not going for it, so went at a fast pace on the descent, and it was on the final section through the plantation that i realised how much i've missed fell running, the exhilaration of hammering down a slope at break-neck speed was fantastic. Won the race by about a minute, so picked up a bottle of wine and an easter egg, always a bonus.
Great race, very boggy underfoot, so nice to be back racing again, can't wait for next weekend now :)
Route
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-kingdom/kielder... |
| |
| C • that's what it's all about ... 3 |
| Fell running warm up/down 31:00 [3]5.3 km (5:51 / km) +145m 5:09 / km | |
| shoes: Salomon Speedcross |
| 18 min warm-up along last part of race route, 13 min cool down back round end of race. |
Saturday Mar 1 |
| Road cycling 24:30 [3]10 km (2:27 / km) | |
| |
| Cycle to work and back on road bike, managed to get in 11 mins! |