Training Log Archive: RichT

Northern Champs - High Dam.
Warm day which turned into a suffer-fest with long courses.

Keith Tonkin at 2 mins behind so pushed on away from start. As I was heading to #2 saw him ahead of me running & looking around so realised he had missed #1. Long leg #3 across many OOB walls which I spiked & Keith punched just before me - caught 2 mins after 20mins running. He was away down the slope to # 4 & not seen again. #5 to #6 was uphill through LDNPA land - hard slog.
Missed #7 in the circle but only lost 30secs to 1min.
Spiked shorter leg to #8 but rushed exit direction & dropping down slope SE rather than NE meant I made the leg to #9 very difficult. Rather than edge of marsh & small hills to follow I was dropping underneath line of crags - much more difficult nav. Ended up "only" wasting 3 or 4 minutes.

Slog across & uphill to #10 where I took my gel at 45 mins. Across & uphill to #11 which also spiked. Now at far end of area & managed to be clean through remaining controls despite getting slower & slower.
Poorly placed control number at #21 meant I was navigating through the number!

Felt very faint when I had finished.
6.9km is 4.287 miles. GPS has 5.06 miles so pretty straight.

Ended up 16th so I'll take that when the focus of recent weeks has very much been on the earthworks with the builders in the garden. And all of the coaching has mainly been standing around and not doing it myself.

BMC -- SHK. Helped on the Red start for 2 hours.

BMC - Summer House Knott.

Been looking forward to this for some time.
Probably didn't go to the start kite (easier to go diagonally uphill) which meant angle to #1 was off. Fallen trees also pushed me too low & missed. Relocated from marsh & spur shape to only lose 1 min.
Hared off down hill to #2 which spiked. Saw Richard Oxlade (2min man) only 30secs behind as I exited control so pushed on across longer leg to #3 which spiked. Nearly dropped onto wrong spur to #4, but realised wild garlic on stream bed & corrected. Deliberately low across to #5 & then climbed ok.

Thought route to #6 looked ok so started planning long leg #7 to #8. However in coming back to leg #6 had drifted off line - cue parallell error & binning 5 ot 6 mins by the time I had relocated & found control.

Ok to #7 but Richard caught me on the way to #8 which we punched together.
I missed #9 & lost another minute & he was away.
Hesitant at #11 lost another 30secs or so.
Once through the gate then clean on loop from #12 to finish.

Ended up 19th which shows how everyone else was also very poor.

3.6km = 2.236 miles. GPS says I ran 2.87 miles.

Collecting in kites from Haverthwaite Heights. Parked on old road & ran out to far end. Surprisingly one of the most inaccessible had disappeared . . . wierd.

Newton Fell.

Temporary traffic lights outside Newby Bridge Hotel meant the journey took nearly an hour instead of 15mins.
Course was crap with plenty of briars, large nettles & bracken on a steep slope covered in blackthorn scrub. Fell going into #3 where my head was lower than my feet & scraped both forearms drawing blood.
After an hour walking around the steep slopes called it a day at #12 of #17.

Course meant to be only 4.7km with 300m, but I'd completed the distance & nearly the climb, with the loop I'd missed having another 100m!

Builders arrived early & worked all day so stayed with them.

Another warm day. Parked at Red Syke bridge and ran up to before across to Marton Moor. Return via candle factory. Going ok ish - soreness in left hamstrings per usual but pain not up into the hip.