Turbo, Stepper then Badminton

Feeling good at the moment.
The buzz of running and getting fitter is glowing bright!
So ... 40 minutes of turbo last night after my 6 miles up around and back Hameldon Hill.
Tension at 30 out of 50, revs started at 80, upped to 90 after 5 minutes, last 10 minutes at 100.
Pretty tough on the thighs.
20 minutes on the stepper this morning - 749 reps, about 40 less than my best - that's about a minutes worth! - Good though!
An hours fast and furious badminton tonight!
2 - 3 hours up and around Pendle Hill tomorrow! - Life's good!

Tomorrows run!

Back in dear old blighty

Having spent a week in Gosport (Portsmouth) and 10 days in Spain it was great to get out on the fells to run again.
Met up with Martin at 9.00am and headed up to the old hunting ground that is Great Hameldon Hill.
I haven't run with Martin for quite a long time and it was good to do so again - he once ran the Hameldon Hill race in 44 minutes! Today that would get him in the to 10!
We had a steady run out to the bottom of Hameldon, I continued along the race route, Martin went the less boggy way, I ended up in a bog up to my thighs, Martin was spotless!
Good job I've missed the mud and the bogs!
Enjoyed the climb to the trig, which was quite tough - not done any hills for a month!
Therun off was steady, quick ish in places.
Thoroughly enjoyed my holidays, but I love running the hills, fells and moorland! - It's good to be home!
6 miles in 60 mns.

The trig on top of Great Hameldon

Back from Spain - It was Hot Hot Hot

Spain was incredibly hot, averaging 36 degrees in the shade and 40+ in direct sun almost every day.
The temperatures made the running out there tough!
My first run was supposed to be a gentle 5 - 6 mile trot out towards the nature area, to make sure I remembered my way around from last year.
I set off at about 4.00pm. After 1 mile I felt great, 2 miles pretty good, 2.5 miles tired, 3 miles exhausted!
I was amazed by how much the heat grained energy from you.
That initial run was very tough!
A week prior to this I had run the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, 24 miles and 3 mountains and not felt as tired as I did after and during that 5 mile run in Spain.
In total I had 6 runs in 9.5 days, covering 42 miles.
This and a combination of a minimum of 3 hours swimming a day wasn't bad for a holiday!
On the penultimate day I ran out to the nature area at Mil Palmeras and decided to cover around 8 - 9 miles to check out the route by the river bed.
When I got there, there was no water, just a bone dry, arid, dusty area.
On the run, I kept a close look out for wildlife.
On my list of animals I saw was a snake, lizards, rabbits, dragonflys and butterflys.
The snake was a little disturbing, as they are poisonous out there and I'd seen a number of snake trails on previous runs. A local told me they had found an 8ft snake in that area a month or so ago!
Half way out I came to a camp area, last year there was water here, nothing this year.
It really was that dry.
I've uploaded a series of images of the route.
I still can't believe how tough the runs out there were.
It will be interesting to get a run in now I'm home to compare.

 Bone dry, arid ground - not easy running

 8ft+ bamboo on both sides of the trail for the first mile

 Where there was open ground - it was very hot

 When not rocky, the ground was very sandy - still tough running

 On the left is the dry river bed

This was taken from a bridge crossing the river - still no water. Last year there was flowing water here.

You can see from the following graphic there wasn't a huge amount of climbing, around 700ft in total - but still really tough running - Heart rate to 165+ 

At home this happens when I'm flat out hill running!

Hi dad
I'm verry exsited for toomoro are you
Lots of love
Helena
Sent from my iPod

Above is an email I received from my 6 year old as she awaits our holiday!
Still not too sure how she managed it!
Oh, and I am excited - Plenty of running along the Rio Seco

Stepper and Bike

Although I've covered a lot of miles last week in Gosport I haven't really done much tempo, speed, interval work so ... it was back on the stepper tonight.
A 20 minute session with the tension at 2 - managed to get in 796 steps.
At the moment I like this idea of trying to beat the number of steps completed in a set time.
I'll also add a bit of variety by going for a number of steps, 1000, 1500, 2000 etc or look for a number of steps in a week? 10,000 seems a challenge.

Hopped on the bike for a 30 minute blast.

Also looking at incorporating more body weight exercises.
Squats, pushups and situps.

Finished off the session with 8 sets of squats -
35, 35, 45, 45, 35, 35, 30, 30 with 45 seconds rest between.
Push ups and situps will follow a similar routine.

Gosport

Over the last week we - our family and friends, 18 in total have had a weeks holiday in Gosport, very close to Portsmouth. The weather for the week was good, mainly dry days around 22 degrees.
An old navel port, going back a few hundred years it was a chance to explore.
Thinking about it, it's the exploring side that attracted me to off road and fell running in the first place.
Not just the chance to pit yourself and your fitness against the elements, but also seeing new places.

I reckon I averaged around 10 -14 miles a day, either walking or running, or a combination of the two.
The runs out there were in places tough.
We were based in a large town house, 2 miles from the coast.
The initial run to the coast was fine, but then ... the beach was all shale and small stones.

3 miles of running out on the beach, before turning around and heading home was tough on the thighs and calfs.
Whilst out there was plenty to see.
It was Cowes week when we were there. Watching 30ft boats plough through the Solent was very impressive.

There were plenty of old MoD bases, signs of MoD presence all around the coast.
All in all a good group holiday.
Spain on Tuesday for 10 days - hope to do plenty more running.

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks fell race route - 23.3 miles and 5,279 ft of climbing!

I'd checked the weather updates religiously Thursday pm, all of which said that the weather was due to be fine, warm ish, may be a bit of cloud - ideal.
On waking to Nick and Dave hammering on the door at 6.50am, not the 7.15 that had been promised, the weather was overcast and wet!
I had also downloaded the course onto my Garmin, so we would have a good idea of the route to take.
The drive to Horton in Ribblesdale was good, we got to the start point at about 8.00am. After deciding on kit to wear, food and drink to take, off we went.
We had decided to take the start pretty steady, it's a long way around and Dave's first 3 peaks.
From the off it's all uphill, and quite steep too.
Surprisingly I did feel good going through the fields on the way up towards Penyghent.
In what seemed like no time I had reached the point where you turn left and head up the steep part of Penyghent, before the trot to the trig.
At this point, down came the clag and with it a bit of drizzle, so much for weather forecasters.
I arrived at the trig feeling, still, good!
A couple of young ladies were waiting at the trig also and after a few minutes said "which is the next way to go?" - No map, no compass, but attempting the 3 peaks!
After a few more minutes Nick and Dave arrived and off we went.
The run off Penyghent is good and soon we reached the point where you turn left and head off on the Pennine Way. At the cross roads it's straight on, pretty soon you come to a boggy section. Thankfully it has been dry for a bit so it wasn't too bad.
The next section was almost complete, we came off the fells to the main road, about 2 miles to go to the cafe at Ribblehead viaduct.
At this point my left hamstring became very tight and I started to get cramp, the only cure was to carry on running. I got to the caravan, ordered 3 coffees with plenty of sugar. The other 2 pulled in, Dave looking pretty rough. Within 5 minutes, Nick was up and wanting to get going again. Dave wanted to sit, eat and drink, but, we were off again. This section is tough! The next 5 - 6 miles are all uphill and it drags.
A steady run along the railway line, before heading steeply up hill. You go out, before heading back to Whernside and climbing the ridge. Passed a few walkers here.
Sat down, re fuelled and waited for Nick and Dave.
Both came in sight, Dave looking like he was really struggling. We rested a bit, took pictures, before setting off slowly.

The run off Whernside is tough if taken too slowly, it goes on forever, small steps, causing pain to the thighs.
So I went quickish.
Dave however was much slower and at the bottom was really struggling.
We walked for a while to the farm with the cafe, expecting ice cold orange juice, but ... it was shut.
Nothing for it but to carry on.
I was beginning to think we would really struggle here, but Dave gritted his teeth and battled on.
One climb to go Ingleborough.
A more direct route takes you up the last climb, with the last section very steep.

It was a slow journey to the top, with us all feeling pretty tired.
Only 4 miles to go back to Horton.
The track you follow is probably the worst I've run in, it's full of jagged limestone, that has the potential to really hurt.
These last four miles seemed like 6+.
But we jogged and ran these last few miles to get back in 6 hours.
Not a record by any stretch of the imagination, but ... 23.3 miles and 5,279 ft of climbing - it aint bad.
Well done to Dave and Nick - it was a great day, good run and plenty of laughs.

The week so far

After a good, fast run up and down Hameldon Hill following the race route (5 minute miles) coming home, I've had an easier week, because on Friday we're off to run the Yorkshire 3 peaks, about 24 miles, provided we don't get lost and around 5000ft.
So, the exercise for this week has been no real running, but a couple of games of badminton, a bit of turbo, about 90 minutes in total and a daily dose of steps!
Some friends were getting rid of a stepper machine, so I made room in the garage and hey ho - 20 minutes every morning, chasing my best number of steps in 20 minutes.
PB at the moment 715 steps.
The stepper gives a real blast of the thighs and hamstrings, so I'm hoping it has a positive impact on climbing.
Time will tell.
Early set off tomorrow am - 3 peaks here we come!

New toy!!