30+ miles this week

Compared to the last few weeks the amount of running has been upped.
Sunday was 12 miles, 1800 ft, Tuesday was 8 miles 1300 ft and Thursday was 8 miles and 1500 ft plus 2 lots of badminton and a turbo session.
Anyway, the hardest run so far for me was Thursdays run.
We, that's me, Nick and Dave set off along the Great Hameldon race route. We've run this literally hundreds of times. The race is 6 miles and 1100ft, doesn't sound too difficult and to be honest, the first half wasn't.
The initial climb up through the coppice was ok, the run out towards the 'Golf Ball' was fine. After that, the ground was completely saturated and what were paths had turned into streams. What was damp moorland was now thigh deep bogs!
So, the first climb to the top of Great Hameldon, now not on the race route was tough going. Every step was taken with care to make sure you didn't disappear up to your waist.
After the climb to the trig, we ran off Hameldon, (great fun a fast decent!)
We followed Nick, always a mistake who took us off track for a while until he managed upon the right path again.
This time we ran up through the stream, that used to be a path before returning to the bottom of Hameldon again. The climb to the top was tough!
Finally at the trig, while Dave and I were having a quick drink, Nick saw his opportunity and started on the descend. Sneaky or what. The run off Hameldon is great, but quite technical following the race route. There are plenty of rocks and boulders sticking out of the moorland. It also has the potential to be pretty quick.
We caught up with Nick, had a quick chat and moved on. This section for the next couple of miles is either downhill or flat so you can up the pace here to race pace - good fun, but hard.
The last climb is only about 300ft, but drags. After climbing this it's an easy run home.

A good run out, but one I found pretty tough!

The trig on Hameldon Hill - very wet - and if it's wet on top it's really wet lower down!

Last weeks training

Before I forget to update, this was the summary of last weeks training.
I've added Nick's first, as he keeps pestering me!

4 week of training    11^th December  Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs
Back on the diet  and aim for 20+ 

SUNDAY	Mytholmroyd	7	ND	Mytholmroyd  fell race 1350feet hard race wet
MONDAY			ND	1 Circuit gym
TUESDAY	Liver Hill	4	D	600feet
WEDNESDAY				Rest
THURSDAY	Hambleden hill	6	D	Ran with Dave  1000 feet
FRIDAY
SATURDAY		11		1800 feet training  run with Mark. Felt great
11th- 17th				Rest

Total running 28 miles  all hard running due to weather


My training for last week is ...
Weight 11 stone 5lbs
Try for 30+ miles next week.

SUNDAY	Run – 6 miles, hilly run		Good	A hilly loop session around Musberry Heights etc.
MONDAY				Rest
TUESDAY	Badminton		Good	Badminton 1hr – fast and furious
WEDNESDAY				Rest
THURSDAY	Bike - Turbo		Good	40 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100.
FRIDAY	Hill session		Good	4 miles of hill work in 40 minutes. Up hill 100m, down 50m repeat
SATURDAY			Good	11 mile run with Nick, 1800 ft of climbing, good stuff!
27th – 3rd	Bike – Turbo Squats 4x50 Situps 4x50		Good	55 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100. Felt great

Overall a good ish week. It was really busy at work, so struggled to get decent time on feet running in. Something that will change with the holidays looming!

First snowy run in ages!

On Saturday morning, Nick and I set off at 8.30am for the first snow run we've had probably since this time last year. Over the last few months we've had lots and lots of rain. Because of this, the water table level is really  really high at the moment and the ground is completely saturated. Hence the run was wet, boggy and tough to run on, at times through!!
Anyway, steady. The run was one of those that I had been thinking of doing for some time. The run included road, trail and fell with plenty of climbing. The first 40 minutes were totally up hill.
I do enjoy runs that I haven't run before.
I'd checked the run out on the OS map and worked it out to be about 10 miles.
10 miles really isn't too difficult to get round, but 10 miles through snow and bog definitely took its toll.
On returning home the watch showed we hand run 12 miles and climbed around 1,800 ft.
A great run, felt pretty good, but a lot tougher than I imagined.

Fantastic views, but tough to get through - I suspect there will be a few more of these runs.

Nick's training

As I was having an enforced rest week through injury, Nick was still up and at them, managing three runs for the week, including a local fell race, whilst also visiting the local gym!
Me thinks he's too much time on his hands and needs to get some proper work done.

Nick's training schedule is below


3 week of training    4^th December  Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs   Target to run 25 miles. Do a best time on Liver hill so I can do a PB 30^th March

SUNDAY	Bolton by Bowland	8 x 800	ND	Bolton by Bowland 2010 result 68min 14sec  / 2009 -  75min 56sec poor weather. – G diet
MONDAY		2.5	ND	Gym  1 circuit – G diet
TUESDAY	Liver Hill	5 x 800	D	Run with Dave
WEDNESDAY				Day off
THURSDAY				Day off
FRIDAY		4	ND	Road run with Mark
SATURDAY			D	Party night
4th – 10th

Total run 19.5 miles dropped of training for a couple of days
4 week of training    11^th December  Weight 14stone 7lbs 2 ozs 

30 weeks to go

After falling last weekend, being put in plaster from my elbow to my thumb, being told I couldn't do anything for at least 11 days, with a possibility of pot for 6 weeks, this week was better than expected.
The pot came off Tuesday, being replaced with a splint, so although I had to still be careful, I could at least do bits.
So the training this week was light, (4 rest days!) but still ran twice, plus a couple of turbo sessions which is much more than nothing at all.

SUNDAY	Run – 7.5 miles, hilly run		Good Then BAD	A hilly loop session around Musberry Heights etc. 7.5 miles. 5.5 miles in fell hurting left hand / wrist. Hospital pm – in plaster! VERDICT - Nothing for 11 days!!!
MONDAY			Bad	Feel like a caged Tiger!!
TUESDAY			Bad	Back at hospital – Plaster removed, splint on. Can start again sooner than expected.
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY	Bike - Turbo		Good	40 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100.
FRIDAY	Road run – Hill session		Good	4 miles of hill work in 40 minutes. Up hill 100m, down 50m repeat
SATURDAY			Good	Rest
4th - 11th	Bike – Turbo Squats 4x50 Sit-ups 4x50		Good	55 minutes, tension at 30, after 20 minutes revs above 100. Felt great

Need to get more running done.
The road run on Friday pm with Nick was, for a road run, concentrating on hills, actually quite enjoyable. Plan to do 2 to 3 of these a week. Felt strong going up hill which is a great feeling to have. Could have done quite a few more reps, but didn't want to over do it!

This week, plan to pick up the training again.
The week after is 2 weeks of holidays and hopefully a few long runs. The plan is to do a few 15 miles plus just to see where I'm at with regard to stamina. I think I should be good, but time will tell.

Injury that could have been worse!

So after running in rain and hail stone I slipped and fell hurting my hand.
I was now in pot, from my elbow to my thumb for a minimum of 11 days, maximum of 6 weeks!
I was already beginning to feel like a caged tiger!
My wife's cousin and family came round Monday evening to see us and check out the injury. Anne is a nurse.
Anyway the upshot is, the pot is off, replaced by a splint.
So, I can run again, bike again, etc and no 6 weeks of pot!

The week has been pretty quiet, but a lot better than it could have been!

Gone from this for a potential 6 weeks to running again !!!! Happy days!!!

Injury!

After a steady to good week of running, bike, body weight exercises etc I thought I would cap the week off with a steady 8 mile run from Clough Head car park, through the woods over looking the reservoirs, up to Musberry heights etc adding on climbs, sections as and where I fancied.
The weather was pretty rough, hailstone and rain for the majority of the time I was out. Also due the recent torrential down pours the ground was in places completely water logged.
After 5 miles of wading through tracks that were now mini streams I headed for home.
I followed the Rosendale Way back, taking it nice and steady. I knew the ground under foot was potentially very slippy and took a few detours across moorland.
Back on the Rossendale Way, I took about 3 steps and whallop.
My legs ended up above my head and I came down to earth with one almighty bump!
At the time I remember thinking how painful the fall was. I looked down to see a jagged rock sticking up that my hand had hit.
The amazing thing is, when you fall, you jump up really quickly.
I set off back to the car thinking that the pain would go away. It didn't!
2 miles later I got back to the car, drove home, showered.
The pain got worse. So off to the hospital.
4 hours later, I left in pot being told I had broken my scaphoid bone at the base of my thumb.
I had to return 11 days later to re check.

This is the section of the Rossendale Way where I fell. The difference being this was thick with water and hail.

31 weeks to go

Overall a good week.
The run Saturday up and over Musberry Heights was great - felt strong, getting up and over climbs and feeling strong. The rest of the week was quite intense with plenty of exercise most days. Overall feeling strong.

The weeks summary -

SUNDAY	Run – 7.5 miles, hilly run	6 x 1000	G	Ran with Nick and Dave. A hilly loop session around Musberry Heights etc. 7.5 miles, felt great!
MONDAY	Exercise bike 45 mins + weights, arms and shoulders + 250 body weight squats		G	Tension on bike at 30 out of 50. Revs at 80 1st 10 mins, then upped the tension and revs to 90+ continued 40 mins. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
TUESDAY	Badminton + 250 body weight squats	1hour	G	1 hour of badminton – speed session. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
WEDNESDAY	Exercise bike 45 mins			Tension on bike at 30 out of 50. Revs at 80 1st 10 mins, then upped the tension and revs to 90+ continued 40 mins
THURSDAY	Badminton + 250 body weight squats	1hour	G	1 hour of badminton – speed session. Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
FRIDAY	Weights, arms and shoulders + 250 body weight squats		G	Weights, concentrating on arms and shoulders. 250 body weight squats in sets of 50.
SATURDAY	Same run as Sunday – with a twist!		G	5 miles into the run, things going well, then fell !!! Hospital for the afternoon!!
27th – 3rd				A good week, up to the fall Saturday!

Next post all about the fall