Wayoh and Turton reservoir

You know how it is, when you find a run that you like you tend to run it again and again.

Well that’s exactly what is happening at the moment. My run to Wayoh and Turton and Entwistle reservoir has become a real favourite. I think the reasons are because the run has a bit of everything. There are fells, trail, hills, woods, reservoirs and it can be anything in length from 12 to 17 miles, depending upon route choice.

On Saturday morning at 9.30am, I met Nick and Dave at Clough Head car park and away we went. This was the first time that Dave has run this route.

For the first 5 miles that take in fell, climbs and trail, Dave was with me every step of the way. As we arrived at the reservoirs we all gathered and decided to run two of the three reservoirs, making the route about 14 miles. Again Dave was with me every step. Having covered about 8 miles we set off on the home stretch, six miles to go.

Viaduct at Wayoh reservoir

The reservoir

The home leg is uphill for about 3 miles, before levelling off for the final three. For the three miles uphill I was still feeling quite fresh, so picked up the pace slowly. After a mile I had dropped Dave and Nick slightly. Dave was complaining of calf pain at this point. I slowed a bit to let them keep within touching distance.

When we had completed the three miles up hill, we were left with a flattish 3 miles to go over mainly fells.

With the three of us together we set off on the final section. I could here Nick right behind me, so I picked the pace up slowly, Nick stayed there. I picked the pace up again and again. Each time Nick was still there. Finally after a quick 7 minute mile I managed to drop him.

It shows how well Nick has improved in such a short time to still be running hard after 12 miles.

We clocked in, covering 14 miles in 2 hours 26 minutes, surprisingly still feeling pretty good.


Next time I do this route I hope to include the 3rd reservoir, taking the distance to around 17 miles.

The long run

I've been doing some longer runs recently and looking to run longer still. I fancy cracking 30 miles. For no other reason than I have a 30 mile route mapped out. Anyway Saturday morning I'll be out for 3 hours+.My last few runs were up to 2.5 hours and at times it was tough, not necessarily physically, but more mentally. So ... strategies I've used that at times have helped.

• Talking to myself - when it gets tough promise yourself a drink after a certain distance or land mark. Not a good thing to do when there are people around!
• Breaking up the run into chunks. A twenty mile run is 4 lots of five mile chunks. 5 miles is a quarter, 10 miles and I'm half way there, 15 miles virtually done! - That's the plan anyway.
• Remember its not easy to run a long way. There will be times when it gets tough. Work through it.
• I like the idea of a post run plan. When I get home I'm going to ..., tomorrow,  I'll .........
• Count / Guess how far. How many steps, how long to a place in the distance?
• Relax. The more relaxed you are the easier the run is. Concentrating on relaxing definitely makes the run go quicker.
• Smile. Smiling makes you relax and so we go to the point above.

These are strategies I've used - hope they help others.

Running Fell, Trail and Mountain running tips from Buzz Burrell, a top runner and manager of the LaSportiva Mountain Running Team

What are your tips for running uphill?

1. The mental game is huge! If you think you're bad at it, you will be. Be positive, embrace the uphill.
2. Note that uphill running is by far the easiest on your body! There is almost no impact, and the cadence is low. You will never get hurt running uphill, so relax and enjoy it!
3. The best suggestion for running uphill is the best technique for running downhill, for running flat, for running long, for running short: turnover, turnover, turnover. Don't lunge, keep your stride short and quick. Same as Lance Armstrong on a bicycle: use a lower gear and a higher cadence.
4. Just focus on lifting your knees; the rest of your leg stays relaxed and will follow.
5. Hunching over doesn't help either. Stay upright, lead with your chest, keep the steps short and quick. If it's a short, steep hill, swinging your arms can help.

What are your tips for running technical downhill effectively?

A fast, technical descent definitely separates the real trail runners from the road runners. A fit road runner can compete effectively on uphill courses, as running uphill primarily requires great cardiovascular output, but downhills are a different matter ... they require skill. Some would say daring. Here are my tips:

• Relax: You're probably not going to get killed. Getting uptight ruins your form which doesn't improve your chances.
• Enjoy: "Joy" is an incredibly effective learning mechanism! Your body will learn what it needs to do when you open your senses and attitude with happiness.
• Form: Good form is always the same: don't overstride. Let your foot touch down under you instead of in front of you. Keep the tempo up and the stride short.
• Don't trip: When you practice the above three, avoiding rocks becomes natural and easy. Time will improve your ability to run tricky trails more than thinking about it will.
• Braking
The ideal downhill trail running technique, of course, is the same as for all running: don't put on the brakes with each stride. This is much easier said than done. But keep it in mind&mdahs;don't overstride, land with your feet under instead of in front of you, keep the turnover high. On very steep terrain, it is natural and unavoidable to use your quads and brake a little with each step. Don't worry about it (you'll pay for it the next day however).

Kilian's Training

A great video - he makes the whole running thing seem so easy.

Basically - just go out and do it! 

Simples!

Turton and Entwistle reservoir run again - 4.6.11

The run on Thursday out to Wayoh reservoir and Turton and Entwistle was that enjoyable I felt the need to run the same route again.
So at 2.00pm off I trotted.
Right from the off I felt quite tired after a longish (12 mile run) on Thursday, but I was feeling OK.
The first half of the run is quite easily runnable.
This took me to the feeder streams of Wayoh reservoir.

I had contemplated running further today, round all the reservoirs which would have added about another 4 miles to the run. However I decided to run the same route as Thursday to see what time I would run on my own. (And I was quite tired and sore)
After running around Wayoh Res I took the same route back.
This section I found quite hard today.
The climbs were tough! - Still enjoyable though.
The last big climb, from the copse of trees to Hog Lowe Pike was hard.
The last couple of miles was again quite runnable.

About 12 miles, clocked in at 2 hours 6 minutes. That was 26 minutes quicker than Thursdays run!
A great run, a great route and one I'll be looking forward to running again.

Turton and Entwistle reservoir run 2nd June 2011

Met Nick at 2.30pm at Clough Head Car Park.
The plan - to make it to Turton and Entwistle res.
We tried this, unsuccessfully a month or so ago.
On the map, it looks pretty straight forward after about 3 miles across the moors, taking in Hog Lowe Pike you follow the feeder stream to the res. Straightforward?? No, the feeder stream is overgrown and you are completely unable to run for large sections.
I've spent a fair bit of time looking at OS maps and had hoped to find 'the route'.
As luck would have it we did indeed find a pretty straight forward route that took us to higher ground than we had been on last time we tried this run.
From a higher vantage point 4.5 miles in we could make out the reservoir we were after.
A quick detour on the outskirts of 'Entwistle' and we ended up on the path to the res.
What was becoming obvious was, we were and had been travelling downhill for a while.
This section leading to the res was fantastic, you could make water out through the trees, but just faint sections of it. 5.5 miles in and I was feeling great!

We had a trot around the first section of the reservoir. The second res and the res that was hidden from our view is one we will be back to run around. This should add approximately 5 miles to the total distance.
The reservoir was looking very still and peaceful.

The run back followed the same route as the way out.
The difference, there was a lot of uphill running.
Still felt good!
The last mile of the run was becoming tough. I'd run pretty hard at times and was beginning to feel it!
We arrived home, covering about 12 miles, 1500ft of climbing and happy!

Stats - that's quite a bit of climbing coming home!

Western State 100 mile race trailer

The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100, is a 100-mile long (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on trails in California's Sierra Nevada annually, on the last weekend of June. Runners climb a cumulative total of 18000 feet (5500 m) and descend a total of 23000 feet (7000 m) on mountain trails before reaching the finish. Because of the length of the race, the race begins at 5:00 A.M. and continues through the day and into the night. 

On June 26, 2010 four of the greatest ultramarathoners on earth toed the start line in Squaw Valley at the Western States 100-mile endurance run, the oldest and most prestigious 100-mile foot race in America.

"Unbreakable: The Western States 100" follows the four lead men on this amazing journey. Hal Koerner, two time defending Western States champion,. Geoff Roes, undefeated at the 100-mile distance, Anton Krupicka, undefeated in every ultramarathon he has ever started and Killian Jornet, the two time Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc champion.

Enjoy!