I’m really getting back into this training thing. I can feel a momentum building now and hopefully will be able to put together a decent year of working out before the Great North Run in September.
Monday the wife and I headed out on our bikes, this was the first time we went out road riding together. It was a steady pace partly because our bums were still a bit saddle sore from the weekend mountain biking but it was a nice pleasant ride for 40 minutes. Something we will be doing more of this year.
Tuesday night was my first real training run of the year. I have run a few times but each time has been with a race number on my shirt, last night I just went running for running’s sake. I went back to my old favourite route of four point something miles at a steady pace, I didn’t time myself and don’t intend to for the moment while I build my legs to a level where I feel I can push some speed out of them.
The legs are a little achy at the moment, my ever present shin splints are there and threatening to surface but haven’t, my calves are a bit sore but that is my fault for not warming down properly.
Tonight, squash, Thursday rest, Friday squash and a bank holiday weekend of who knows what to come.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Monday, 26 April 2010
A good weekend
I feel like I am getting back into it now. The weather is nice, I have the desire to get race fit again, and there are new toys to play with.
Friday night was squash night against my dad. He is still better than me and I didn’t win any of the games but now that I’m free of injury I was able to put in a more competitive performance and we got some good rallies going which was good for the cardio.
Saturday the wife and I went mountain biking in Wales. We went riding last year and had a great time and decided to go further and higher this time out. It was a long day in the saddle, about 4 hours of hard riding. If it wasn’t the long thigh burning climb upwards, it was a grit your teeth hang on for dear life, hurtle down hill. Either way it was tough on the muscles.
While we were out riding I got a phone call from West Midlands Canoe Centre about my Pyranha Speeder. It turns out it hasn’t been built. There aren’t enough orders for this thing for it to be worthwhile for Pyranha to tool up the machines. Gutted… But not all bad news, Pyranha have agreed to give me their demo boat until they get around to making mine. I get to pick it up this weekend and with a bank holiday Monday tacked on I think I am going to be spending a day on the water.
Friday night was squash night against my dad. He is still better than me and I didn’t win any of the games but now that I’m free of injury I was able to put in a more competitive performance and we got some good rallies going which was good for the cardio.
Saturday the wife and I went mountain biking in Wales. We went riding last year and had a great time and decided to go further and higher this time out. It was a long day in the saddle, about 4 hours of hard riding. If it wasn’t the long thigh burning climb upwards, it was a grit your teeth hang on for dear life, hurtle down hill. Either way it was tough on the muscles.
While we were out riding I got a phone call from West Midlands Canoe Centre about my Pyranha Speeder. It turns out it hasn’t been built. There aren’t enough orders for this thing for it to be worthwhile for Pyranha to tool up the machines. Gutted… But not all bad news, Pyranha have agreed to give me their demo boat until they get around to making mine. I get to pick it up this weekend and with a bank holiday Monday tacked on I think I am going to be spending a day on the water.
Thursday, 22 April 2010
The Wrekin Streak
The Wrekin Streak. Turns out it is a stupid name for a race as anyone I told about it assumed it would be a run in the nude. It is a 2.75 mile race up 810 feet of the mighty Wrekin. 108 runners took part this year and over 80% of those runners were club runners, i.e. runners who run more regularly than me. I didn’t have particularly high expectations for my race results, my personal best for running the Wrekin was 30m 55s and that was in July last year when my running was at its peak but I haven’t been seriously training since the start of winter and am no where near race fit, I anticipated a more conservative time of 35minutes this time out. Last years slowest time was 39minutes which was unnervingly close to what I expected to manage and the usual people who pull up the rear are the Fun Runners who were mostly absent from this race, so my pathetic goal was to simply not come last.
The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, though standing at the registration was a chilly affair. Once my dad and I were allocated our race numbers we had a bit of a warm up walk/jog to the first bend and back to the start line. Looking around the other runners who were warming up as well I knew I was going to struggle to get a long way down the field as they all looked far fitter and far more prepared to do this.
Race start was pretty much at half past seven and apart from a bit of jostling for the first couple of metres everyone spread out quite nicely. I got onto the heel of someone in front who had set himself up for a steady pace and kept pace with him despite my own urge to surge ahead because I knew that the climb was going to hurt in a few minutes.
Rounding the first bend a Sky TV camera crew were filming, I have no idea what they were filming for but I ran faster as the crew went past.
The first steep bit up to halfway house I was able to run up, shorter steps but still at a run, I could see a few people ahead of me walking it and I was close to joining them, I made it to the short flat stretch past the house though and caught my breath before the next uphill slog.
Past half way halfway house it steepens again up to the first of two false summits this was where I couldn’t keep the pace any longer and was forced to walk. My dad passed me at this point, not quickly, but with a slow unremitting upward jog. The path flattened out again and I was able to catch up with a few people again but then the second longer, steeper climb to the next false summit reduced me to a half walk, half jog. Going up here the race winner went flashing past me a long way in front of the next runners. I knew I was going to have to endure faster runners going past me on the way back down but it was pretty grim knowing I still had a way to go.
Reaching the top of the second false summit there is a long but not very steep climb to the trig point which was the turn around mark. My dad passed me on the way back not far from the trig point and I fancied my chances on the descent, I just needed to be a bit more brave and carry a bit more speed down the descent. I rounded the trig point and gave it some beans.
I didn’t pass many more runners heading the other way and I was very aware that I was near the back. I hurtled down the hill at full tilt, I wanted desperately to make up some places. One of my shoelaces came undone and I lost my balance a couple of times but I managed to stay on my feet for the distance. I didn’t catch up with anyone though, if anything the gap between me and people in front extended. I clearly wasn’t banzai enough.
I reached the bottom in a personal best time of 29m 52seconds, though I didn’t know it at the time, my dad beat me by a couple of minutes. I was 97the overall beating just eleven other people, one of whom didn’t make the descent in one piece and DNF. I did beat someone in the same age/gender category than me who was a club affiliated runner so I wasn’t the worst out of my peers. The first man down did it in 18m 05s so I was a good 10 minutes off winning pace.
The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, though standing at the registration was a chilly affair. Once my dad and I were allocated our race numbers we had a bit of a warm up walk/jog to the first bend and back to the start line. Looking around the other runners who were warming up as well I knew I was going to struggle to get a long way down the field as they all looked far fitter and far more prepared to do this.
Race start was pretty much at half past seven and apart from a bit of jostling for the first couple of metres everyone spread out quite nicely. I got onto the heel of someone in front who had set himself up for a steady pace and kept pace with him despite my own urge to surge ahead because I knew that the climb was going to hurt in a few minutes.
Rounding the first bend a Sky TV camera crew were filming, I have no idea what they were filming for but I ran faster as the crew went past.
The first steep bit up to halfway house I was able to run up, shorter steps but still at a run, I could see a few people ahead of me walking it and I was close to joining them, I made it to the short flat stretch past the house though and caught my breath before the next uphill slog.
Past half way halfway house it steepens again up to the first of two false summits this was where I couldn’t keep the pace any longer and was forced to walk. My dad passed me at this point, not quickly, but with a slow unremitting upward jog. The path flattened out again and I was able to catch up with a few people again but then the second longer, steeper climb to the next false summit reduced me to a half walk, half jog. Going up here the race winner went flashing past me a long way in front of the next runners. I knew I was going to have to endure faster runners going past me on the way back down but it was pretty grim knowing I still had a way to go.
Reaching the top of the second false summit there is a long but not very steep climb to the trig point which was the turn around mark. My dad passed me on the way back not far from the trig point and I fancied my chances on the descent, I just needed to be a bit more brave and carry a bit more speed down the descent. I rounded the trig point and gave it some beans.
I didn’t pass many more runners heading the other way and I was very aware that I was near the back. I hurtled down the hill at full tilt, I wanted desperately to make up some places. One of my shoelaces came undone and I lost my balance a couple of times but I managed to stay on my feet for the distance. I didn’t catch up with anyone though, if anything the gap between me and people in front extended. I clearly wasn’t banzai enough.
I reached the bottom in a personal best time of 29m 52seconds, though I didn’t know it at the time, my dad beat me by a couple of minutes. I was 97the overall beating just eleven other people, one of whom didn’t make the descent in one piece and DNF. I did beat someone in the same age/gender category than me who was a club affiliated runner so I wasn’t the worst out of my peers. The first man down did it in 18m 05s so I was a good 10 minutes off winning pace.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Wrekin Streak
Well my summer of training has been going slowly of late. I have been out on the bike for a couple of short trips, and I have been lifting some weights twice daily but nothing really note worthy, despite the weather being glorious I haven’t been out running, my new kayak is still on order, it should be turning up this week but as yet I have heard nothing from the boat shop and in general I am still lazing around in the doldrums of nothingness.
This morning my dad emailed me about the Wrekin Streak, in the distant past I mentioned that I fancies running the Wrekin as part of a race and my dad has remembered and posed the idea for me to take part. Winning times are in the 16 odd minutes. My personal best for running this route is 35 minutes, the slowest runner last year did it in 39 minutes. I have agreed to do this race, but I have a terrible feeling that I will be last. I have never been last in anything before and if it happens for this I don’t know if it will spur me on to greatness or will crush my desire to compete like a grape.
Report on Thursday.
This morning my dad emailed me about the Wrekin Streak, in the distant past I mentioned that I fancies running the Wrekin as part of a race and my dad has remembered and posed the idea for me to take part. Winning times are in the 16 odd minutes. My personal best for running this route is 35 minutes, the slowest runner last year did it in 39 minutes. I have agreed to do this race, but I have a terrible feeling that I will be last. I have never been last in anything before and if it happens for this I don’t know if it will spur me on to greatness or will crush my desire to compete like a grape.
Report on Thursday.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Apathy
I’ve been pretty quiet on here really. If truth be told a touch of apathy set in after the Killerthon. I ached after that race but not in the good - I’ve worked some muscles and tomorrow I will be ripped kind of way, I ached in the - I have done some damage to my muscles and joints I just hope it isn’t permanent, sort of way. I couldn’t walk let alone run, I succeeded in letting the air out of my bike tyre and I have a kayak on order (three weeks) that is so good I don’t get much pleasure from my current boat. So for the last two weeks I have done next to nothing that is even vaguely exercise related, I haven’t even wanted to get out and do something, instead I have sat on my arse playing the playstation. It hasn’t been good.
Well it’s the first day of a new month and time for change. Remember I worked out the weight of my new boat and then loaded up my barbell to match, well the weights are now in the front room rather than in the spare room under some clothes so I can’t conveniently forget about them, and I have started doing a set of lifts between games of MW2 (This is the ultimate in time management, PS3 game time and weight lifting). This is the first time I have done static lifts for about 12 months and my arms and shoulders ache this morning (the good ache). I am off for a game of squash tonight with a mate from work for the first time in well over a month, the advantage of having a mate is that you can’t let him down with a dose of apathy that could otherwise come up with an excuse to not bother. Also with a long Easter weekend starting tomorrow I intend to do something, I don’t know what that something is yet as it will be dependent on weather but I aim to spend at least one of the days getting well and truly knackered.
Well it’s the first day of a new month and time for change. Remember I worked out the weight of my new boat and then loaded up my barbell to match, well the weights are now in the front room rather than in the spare room under some clothes so I can’t conveniently forget about them, and I have started doing a set of lifts between games of MW2 (This is the ultimate in time management, PS3 game time and weight lifting). This is the first time I have done static lifts for about 12 months and my arms and shoulders ache this morning (the good ache). I am off for a game of squash tonight with a mate from work for the first time in well over a month, the advantage of having a mate is that you can’t let him down with a dose of apathy that could otherwise come up with an excuse to not bother. Also with a long Easter weekend starting tomorrow I intend to do something, I don’t know what that something is yet as it will be dependent on weather but I aim to spend at least one of the days getting well and truly knackered.
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