Training Log Archive: fluceluce

Run to the shops to get some breakfast via the stables and hallam FC

Run with Wil - Over lydgate lane to Stephen Hill then down to Manchester Road, along and then up heros in 8:43 (HR av 168, 172) and back home.

The most restful rest day I think I have ever had!

C • haha what was so especially... 2

Kinder Trial - good snowy route this year, took away from the nav element, but there was still the crux route choice decision to be made towards the end (the way I went anyway). Was running well and managed to eat enough not to bonk, an improvement on the O5. When the crux came I decided to climb up Mt Famine first then drop into Dimpers clough and return along the valley (instead of dimpers then mt famine). At Mt Famine I found Kirsty BJ who had started 10mins ahead of me so knew the race was on! Bombed it down into dimpers clough, got to where the control was marked on the map and....it turned out it was higher than the circle. So: Alternative Route 1.96miles 130m climb
Our Route 2.66miles 137m climb
5 or so minutes lost here - then pelted it back to Hayfield but couldn't make it up. Kirsty won by around 5minutes - would have been just as close as last year (30s) otherwise! Ah well, next year ;-) Happy with my chocolate medal for 2nd!

Control splits (mistake = no 11):
1)19:20 - 1.77miles 175m climb - path - 10:55min/mile (8:21min/mile)
2) 17:57 - 1.34miles 133m climb - path + tussocks - 13:24min/mile (10:14min/mile)
3) 7:25 - 0.4miles 67m climb - tussocks - 18:32min/mile (12:12min/mile)
4)8:14 - 0.57miles 32m climb - tussocks - 14:27min/mile (12:18min/mile)
5) 10:17 - 0.6miles 56m climb - tussocks - 17:08min/mile (13:17min/mile)
6) 8:10 - 0.38miles 59m climb - tussocks - 21:21min/mile (14:29min/mile)
7) 11:00 - 0.69miles 96m climb - tussocks - 15:57min/mile(11:08min/mile)
8)6:59 - 0.63miles 8m climb - path/tussocks - 11:05min/mile (10:40min/mile)
9) 8:30 - 0.64miles 30m climb - tussocks - 13:17min/mile (11:36min/mile)
10)14:18 - 1.33miles 58m climb - path/tussocks - 10:45min/mile (9:28min/mile)
11)14:02 - 0.65miles 71m climb - tussocks - 21:35min/mile (16:07min/mile)
12)15:02 - 1.4miles 44m climb - path - 10:44min/mile (9:47min/mile)
13)10:53 - 1.33miles 0m climb - path - 8:11min/mile

Warm up on the spin bikes - was planning to do a gentle 30mins, however half way through the warm up a spin class arrived....and we ended up doing the full session - accidental spinning...

Well and truely proved the rule of higher RPM in easier gear gets you further than high gear and low RPM - I don't like it when the instructer tells you to turn it up so much that I physically can't pedal whilst others have clearly not turned it up so he continues to say 'increase by 1/4'....I should take up being a worse instructee...I think the 185bpm was during the one sprint I managed in a set of sprints - went off a bit hard and too 100% a bit too literally - got to 160rpm and averaged 155...then had to recover instead of sprint :-P

I got off the bike to refil the bottle - when I got back (20/30s) the rpm/distance counter had stopped counting - so rough guess of distance off rach's bike

w/d

S and C and stretching

Quick swim - wrist didn't like breast stroke as much but I forgot my goggles and didn't want to loose contact lenses....4 x BS, 2 Legs only BS, 2x FC with Rach's goggles. Then sauna and steam :-)

It is hard to read papers on a kindle when your HR is over 150....

Decided to check out the new gym bikes that give rpm and distance etc. Was meant to be a very easy spin, but got into it a bit too quickly....so 2x10min hard to pedal above 80rpm but keeping above 80, then 2 min in low gear but higher rpm, then another 10 mins as per the first one. Legs felt like dead weights!

3mins with gear low but high RPM then a spin recovery

Time to start building the wrist/finger back to some strength for paddling. A quick 10 lengths just to see how it fares, going to reintroduce swimming slowly, increasing distance as wrist allows. I started feeling it at length 7 but completed the planned 10. Stroke was going ok, felt smooth which was nice as normally I feel like I'm drowning when I first do swimming after a while off...

My finger just seems to have moved slightly and clicked 'into place'. Hope this means it ready to stop hurting and will strengthen up properly!!

35 mins of core whilst others did 20 reps of cardio then switch in groups of 3. Hard core with no rest...well until towards the end when I took to lying on the mat a little bit...

Wu/d

Run with Laura and Zanthe. Through Bolehill to Stables, through allotments to Rivelin, up the valley to coppice track, up to the top and back through allotments, stables and bolehill. After feeling nackered on Friday, decided to rest again yesterday, but even that wasn't enough for me to feel good. Plus stomach pain was back. Maybe it was just that we were moving that little bit faster and not on tarmac and there was a headwind...but not a positive run really....

Definitely starting to feel normal again, was shattered by 5pm, but running felt good - think I need to eat more regularly throughout the day, might stop me getting as tired...

Run to top of school road

Run with Rach, RFR and Jane, over to Hallamshire football ground via lydgate, then back over sandygate.

Run back from the grindstone

DPFR run with Zanthe and Helen. Steady pace which was just what was required. Not on top form yet but a lot better than the weekend!! :-)

Set off on a run with Wil and Rhys, made it 2/3 of the way up the band before abandoning. Still not right enough to even walk up the band (which is what I was doing, couldn't really call it a run after the run across the fields at the bottom)!

This is probably the most annoying illness/ after effects of illness I've had in a long time and that is mostly my fault, a lot of the reason I got round the O5 was stubborness and having decided in October that I was doing it, there was no way I wasn't going to try! I was sure I felt better, but I should really use my head a bit more....

Didn't have the energy to even do yoga (a true sign of tiredness). So put my feet up instead....Will need all the energy I can get if I'm going to try running with Lizzie on Sat :-)

Shattered, need to accept only 3 weeks GF and having a cold and then racing at a pace I am not fully capable of on Sunday may require a bit of rest if I want to feel a completely different racer in 4 weekends time!

William Hills Race: So much for a gentle reintroduction to training....I was relieved when Zanthe said she was taking it easy. Too bad her taking it easy was not so easy for my reasonably tired legs :-P. Won't be long before she'll be owning the fells again!

HR seems a little high as I felt pretty comfortable for all but the last mile or so. PB by 1 min 24seconds :-) which I won't sniff at! Now maybe some more sensible training. Cold still hanging around a bit.

Was going to go to drills but thought my bike deserved cleaning....and my legs deserved a rest

Event: Open 5 Quantocks
 

Open 5 in the Quantocks. Never raced there before so didn't know what to expect really, but the route to the start left me with no illusions that it was going to be a nice flat area in the south....beast of a climb and a sign of things to come. I rode up it with all my transition kit...not many chose that option opting to walk but I do hate pushing bikes uphill.

Open 5 - opted to bike first as has become the norm for me. Spent 6 minutes marking scores on both sides of the map in a bid to reduce my transition faff and set off towards my first 40 pointer. Chose a good route, my only potential tactical mistake was getting a 15 pointer as my third control when I could have picked one or possibly two up later....but thats debatable so not a terrible choice.For the first hour I was moving well and feeling strong, then suddenly I was starving! Pumped some sugar into me eating as much as I normally do on the entire bike stage then set off again. 2 controls later I had a small nav wobble, and even now I don't know where this mystery track was on the map....lost about 5 minutes being really unsure of myself, then got it together and decided I must be where I had originally thought, regardless of extra tracks. For the final three controls of the course I could feel my legs going to jelly and so ate another half a pack of haribo and a gel. This got me back to transition, but shamefully I did have to get off and push up a pitifully gentle climb.
Collected 10 controls in all and a total of 275 points

Open 5 - Run: In transition I stuffed down a banana and some cake in between changing shoes and planning my run route. 6 mins in total which is around 10minutes better than normal :-).
Set off on the run and the food was doing the job, I picked up 4 controls in the first half hour! Then I made a manic decision to head from the bottom of a stream back to the top of the moor to get a control before dropping down into another stream. Whilst the option was there to climb up the stream to the control, then out onto the moor, it would mean doubling back to get the next control and I wanted to bag the 25 points before opting for the 15 pointers. Beast of a climb up to the 25 pointer, legs really struggling and having another energy blip. I got the two 15 pointers and had 40 minutes to get to the finish via another 25 pointer and a 30 pointer that was en route back. Then for some reason I decided to throw caution to the wind and get the 10 pointer I'd kept in reserve 'just in case'. This only took a few minutes but then resulted in 25mins of pure pain where I thought I was about to be disasterously late!
Thankfully my hobbling pace was enought to get the final 2.5miles out of the way in less than 25minutes, meaning I was back with just over a minute to spare! Phew! I'd done some mental maths on the way route and thought I'd got 480 points, but when I rethought this at the finish I decided I'd made a mistake and I couldn't have got that many, I'd never got that many!! However I was right, I'd got 10 controls on the run with a total of 205 points :-)

And that was enough for the win! My first ever open 5 vicotry!! :-)

C • run route 3

Popped over to Pennine to give back the women's trophy and couldn't resist the run as well. Still not right and HR a bit high. Ran up to the campsite, then towards mt famine, up the track to low end then cut underneath and a lap of the res, over the shooting cabin and 20 trees to finish.

Full on cold. Just as I was wanting to start training again and was getting excited about a bit of running....ah well, looks like it may be another easy/ non existant week