Lazyish June

Feels like I've not done that much since the EDD, though looking at the stats its not quite true. It was no surprise (at least to me or Jez) that riding that far in that weather and taking in the best part of b*gger all calories did leave me somewhat lethargic for at least a week. What was a surprise was the fact that it took over a week for any sort of appetite to come back but hey ho. Enough time has passed that I have at least cycled in a headwind again..and a bit of rain.

June saw my motivation take an upturn when the weather did, though for some reason I have been hit quite badly a couple of times with hayfever. Not continually but has left me with a bunged up nose, streaming eyes a slight wheeze which made any sort of activity difficult.

It didn't occur to me that swimming would be affected but it was as I try to breathe out through my nose continually when my face is in the water. The chlorine actually irritated things even more and my nose unblocked just enough to allow a constant stream of snot out.

I decided that swimming through chlorinated snot wasn't a great idea (though at least it was my own I suppose), grim. Swimming was further kiboshed later in the month due to the world heading to the beach on the scorching days..I couldn't get parked within a mile of the pool in any direction those days.

I did manage a little bit of running, but hayfever and the heat meant I CBAd with it a lot. The totals don't look too bad though for the month:

24.5 miles/3:44 hours of running
5.41 miles/5:00 hours of swimming
325 miles/22:33 hours of cycling

31:18 hours overall which isn't too bad. I've had a rough goal since the beginning of the year to try to average out at an hour a day of exercise to help shed the lard jacket and I've managed it every month so far.


I should update on how that all went really, I think I've just about come to terms with my starting weight on the 1st of January this year...or maybe not but I've taken my eye off the ball slightly since the EDD and I don't want to head back to being that lardy again.

So scores on the door:

Weigh in 1st Jan.....66.7 kg (FFS, I'm only 5ft 4)
Weigh in 14th May....60.4 kg much more like it, glad I didn't have to haul those 6 kilos round the EDD.

I'm not flying up hills on the bike at all but they definitely require less effort than they did, I've got a good bit of free speed in running (what I noticed the most actually) and all clothes fit really well again.

On the slight downside, headwinds got a lot harder on the bike as I lost some power, I don't roll as fast downhill and I get pinged around a lot more on offroad descents than I did, especially on the hardtail but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I started being sensible again last week and as usual I felt really sluggish once I cut out the extra crap (I'll get used to it again) and was starving for my whole 50 mile road ride on Saturday and ended up with:




In my defence I didn't put all that cream on and I had to scrape most of it off to eat the scone (then ate the cream, oops). Incidentally I still seem to be struggling to get out of the training for EDD mindset as every road ride still has me seeking out as many chevrons as possible. This didn't amuse Jez on our recent ride around Pendle Hill, that and I'd forgotten how lumpy it actually was.

Washout Weekend

Didn't get out on a bike at all this weekend. Saturday was awful, heavy rain and gales and I was actually feeling a little tired so wasn't too fussed about heading out. Thursday's swimming lesson was a bit of a fitness session rather than out and out teaching and I think it nearly killed me (certainly felt like I was going to inhale the pool at some points).

I have not built up any swimming endurance yet, not surprisingly only being at it a few weeks and the session started with 24 lengths as a warmup, the first 12 front crawl, 8 back stroke then 4 breast stroke. Up until that point I hadn't done 12 solid lengths of crawl. It then progressed onto sets with attempts at sprint swimming which finished me off totally. Fortunately we were mixing strokes as I got to the point I just couldn't get another length of crawl out of my arms. The swim down at the end consisted of head above water breast stroke..I wasn't the only one knackered. 52 lengths and dead arms, it took quite a bit out of me.

Sunday was supposed to be less windy but that turned out not to be the case. Spent a productive morning on bike maintenance. I gave my Ribble a good clean and we did a bit of wheel swapping, my old wheels are now back on the Ribble the RS80's are to be put on the new bike, they are too good to be banging into potholes and grinding the rims away with winter crap. The Ribble is as winterised as I can make it at the minute.

The long term plan is to move the bits from the current Ribble onto a winter frame (once I find one) that will take proper mudguards and a rack to make a proper winter bike. The Specialized is just too slow for commuting duties, especially as the back brake often binds and its crap in any more than a slight breeze, not good heading out to the coast where there is almost always a breeze. Its a great bike for fubbing about on though so will be staying.

As the rain came in in the afternoon I eventually ended up on the turbo. Then got off again after twenty minutes as the tyre kept slipping. The tyre was a littel soft so got the track pump on it and tried to pump it up. Our pump has been playing up a bit and decided to suck all the air out instead. Then spent an hour with Jez taking it to bits to find out what was wrong with it. Sorted in the end but I'd given it up as a bad job buy then.

Normally I swim on a Monday but Jez has my car so I was planning a lunchtime run, however the wind is beyond stupid here at the minute, think heading to the beach would just entail being blown off my feet and having my face sand blasted so I'm thinking of running to Warton this evening to meet Jez, six miles with a whopping tail wind, could be fun!

January in numbers

January was not too bad a month really, was a bit meh at the start due to the cold. I seem to be struggling with riding in the very cold, last Saturday Jez and I went out for a ride in the beautiful sunshine but I wheezed my way round and we had to cut it short.

So

307 miles /23 hours of riding only 45 turbo miles but need to pick this up more

35 miles / 5:15 hours of running

5 miles / 9 hours of swimming (ratio of actual swimming to faffing/drowing/blowing water out of nose in the middle of the pool improving lots now though)

2:30 hours of dangling on the climbing wall

2 kilos of lard lost (yay, a good few more to go, boo)

0 units of alcohol drunk, continuing this to my birthday on 5th March.


So roll on February...lost more actual swimming hopefully, more hilly rides though won;t be doing much longer than 3 or 4 hours at the minute and keep running ticking over. Oh and some more lard blasted would be nice.

2010

How can we be at the 12th January 2011 already! 2010 had some good stuff in it for me. A fantastic five days in the Cairngorms in March in superb snow and mainly blue skies and low winds (fingers crossed I haven't used up my good Scottish weather quota). Riding the Etape Caledonia on closed roads, riding my first 100 miles on the Trossachs Ton. Riding coast to coast across Scotland was superb, I think I've finally forgotten about the headwind.

The ice and snow at the end of the year put a bit of a dampener on road riding but I got quite a few offroad rides in. On the first ride with ice on the ground (on the 12th of December, marked the date) I even rode over a three or four metre long sheet of ice that boys rode around. The look on their faces was priceless.

I actually did this not through bravery but because my back brake was not working very well so I was faffing with the lever as I was riding and not paying attention and looked up just in time to see the now unavoidable ice but even the big feardy that I am knew that the best bet was just to keep things as straight as possible and ride it out.

It did help things though and I was quite happy to head out in the snow though the first ride in the fluffy stuff saw us take about two hours to cover five miles, was beautiful though:






Some slightly less successful snow rides followed this as I couldn't get my front wheel to behave on anything less than well packed snow. It would just wash out continually. A suggestion from Jez, which I actually paid attention to for once, was to put a lot more weight over the front wheel and shockingly it did help a lot, who knew.

Fingers crossed I stop being quite so pathetically panicky around ice now.

I set some mileage goals for 2010. They were 700 running miles and 2250 bike miles. The scores on the doors are....

Running 342! So less than half, total fail on that one then.

This was partly due to finding running not very relaxing cross training for cycling then being plagued by a persistent calf niggle from the end of June onwards.


Cycling: 3149! That's a bit more like it. Road riding really does boost the mileage totals somewhat.

Fairfield Horseshoe

I've been mixing it up a bit with my activities since the cold snap. As I'm no fan of ice (I might have mentioned this before) I've not been keen on taking a bike out. I decided to just do some things I don't normally do so hour long sessions on the turbo doing intervals, a bit of running, some winter hillwalking and even back into the gym to primarily do some weights but also a bit of rowing.

I've been quite enjoying it but I'd had enough of being indoors and last Saturday afternoon saw me head out to Abbey Village in the pouring rain to go for a run. I fully expected it to be sleet higher up and normally I'd be totally meh about running in it. I wasn't sure how far I would get and took my microspikes with me. I didn't need them on the way up as the wet slush got progressively more snowy as I climbed. I had the moor almost entirely to myself which is very rare even for a dull, cold Saturday afternoon. I saw only one other person at the Tower.

I put my spikes on for the descending as the slush was compacting under my shoes and causing traction issues. Legs were a bit tired on the last trog back to the car and it was pretty much dark by the time I got there, damn these short winter days. Just over 8 miles which is the longest run for quite some time no wonder my legs felt a bit battered.

Sunday saw us head up early doors to the Lakes due to a good forecast, the Fairfield Horseshoe was the plan. I figured it would be well tracked for good progress. The drive up was a bit sketchy, lots of ice on even the main roads, there was more snow in the Lakes than I thought.

Parked up in Ambleside to a balmy -6, quick kit then set off to do the walk clockwise with the boring trog to Rydal first. A while later trog back again as forgot to get parking ticket...find its free parking anyway. Grr. Head off again but this time anti-clockwise to just get up on the hill. The trog from Rydal will be easy in the dark if necessary.

Beautiful blue sky, white snow, mist on the lakes, stunning:







Crampons weren't necessary but I did have my axe out for a bit of support for big step ups with my short legs though I think, for the first time ever when walking, poles would have been really helpful for me as the axe is a little short.

Didn't seem to take long to get to the summit of Fairfield. I think I've been on it about four times and this is the first time its been free of clag. We didn't linger really and I remembered that the last time I did this walk it seemed to take an age to do this side of it.

It didn't disappoint! It seemed to trog on forever, my legs were a bit pasted to be honest, as were Jez's. Though unlike him I'm not prone to cramp so was having a slightly easier time of it. We realise now that neither of us had eaten enough, we only had one butty and one Lebkuchen each (which didn't go rock hard in the cold, recommended!) quite early on, but we got into that push on mindset.

The last descent was most amusing, lost of judicious application of the ice axe and to be honest would have been better with a pole or even putting crampons on but the adrenalin did make me forget my legs hurt. Considering how much of an ice wuss I am I actually quite impressed myself with my "just about controlled" sliding.

Last hike back to Ambleside was a pain filled nightmare and freezing, was warmer up on the hill as the sun got to it.




We got back to the car about 15:45 and decided just to get straight off due to the state of the roads on the drive up. I don't think I've ever left Ambleside without going for a wander round the gear shops. Great walk though my legs took two days to get over the weekend.

GRRRRRRR!

Just about sums up the last few weeks for me....in no particular order:

Car trouble, more car trouble, calf injury and hobble of shame back to car after half a mile of running trouble, suspension fork trouble, even more car trouble, moron runner trying to push me off my bike trouble, car basically dead trouble, buying another car trouble, surfing forums relating to "new" car today to find it is also prone to injector problems trouble and nowhere near enough riding and no running.....thank god I'm off to ride across Scotland on Saturday.

Car has spent most of last three weeks in garage, with a week of respite when it worked properly but was soon back in...diagnosis, new fuel pump, injectors and possibly turbo which would cost about twice as much as the car was worth to repair. The fuel pump thing is not unknown in 02 Mondeo's but I was a bit p*ssed off that a car that has done just over 100, 000 miles is basically scrap. It was not a good car at all, I managed to limp it to webuyanyshed to offload it. It smoked like crazy all the way there but behaved itself when being "inspected". Not a great result.

Not having a car has had a real impact on my riding, I've done a good few rides to work and the odd offroad ride if Jez is around but the amount of faffing and working from home has made it surprisingly difficult.

I decided to pick up the running to make up for the lack of riding but my left calf decided to go ping after a mere half a mile of my inaugural run so hobble of shame back to the car (which was actually working that day). I think it is due to singlespeeding/pushing harder gears and the wrong kind of stretching. I think it is just being loaded a bit more with all the out of the saddle riding (and low cadence sitting sometimes), my usual stretches don't seem to touch it but handing my heel off a step seems to so I've been doing that daily though it is still not right. My knees aren't bothered at all on the other hand.

Sent rear shock and TALAS fork off the Titus to TF Tuned for servicing...shock needed new body but otherwise ok TALAS are apparently dead, anodising all worn off down in the lowers, deep joy. They were actually working ok so the guys at TF Tuned suggested running them into the ground then replacing with a set of Revelations, lol.

Last Sunday headed over to Hurstwood for a bit of a Calderdale ride, my car worked perfectly on the way over. Very windy day but sunny. I was having one of those days when I couldn't ride for toffee, felt dead and had no control over the bike at all. Had a proper girly strop and sat on a rock for a while, hee hee. Been years since I did that. Day was not improved when we encountered the runner on the canal towpath.

He was jogging along the canal towpath towards Hebden Bridge, wearing MP3 player and totally abd utterly oblivious to anyone or anything else. He was also apparently incapable of running in a straight line which made getting past somewhat difficult as he couldn't hear our shouted "excuse me's". Eventually he seemed to settle on the left side to Ed and I went to pass him on the right when he decided to jump a puddle. Well not only jump it but completely jump to the other side of the towpath without a backward glance, bloody numpty.

Of course he landed on Ed's front wheel, got a bit of a fright because obviously noone would be passing then started bawling at us, we weren't offended as it was clear he thought he was talking at a normal volume, just his music was obviously on pretty loud. We did point out he was prancing about like a fairy on a public towpath and perhaps he should pay attention as he wasn't running so fast that nothing was going to pass him. He let all 6ft 3 of Ed go past but as I went to give him a wide berth on the left (away from the canal, thankfully) he stepped over and tried to push me off my bike, fecker.

I had an attack of the red mist, skidded to a halt and as he ran past I thumped him in the chest as hard as I could, don't think he expected that. To be frank, neither did I and it didn't escape me that it probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do. I have a feeling he also thought things had gotten a bit out of hand and he left the towpath a few metres later. Nearly ruined the ride for me and really wasn't clever but I do get quite p*ssed off at a certain type of bloke who wouldn't say boo to Jez or Ed or any of the lads as they ride past but will voice their "disapproval" at me (whatever it happens to be at the time, just being a woman on a mountain bike seems to annoy some of them I think) , had it loads of times.

Had to fight a raging headwind all the way back to Hurstwood, including having to pedal all the way down the Gorple Road, don't think I had to touch my brakes once. On the way home my car decided to start packing in.....

Anyway, happy thoughts, 3 miles of mainly downhill back to the car:





Picking up a VW Passat tomorrow, more injector problems heading my way it would seem. This time it'll be Jez's fault, he insisted on a Passat or an A6 (out of my budget).

Stuff....running...and a bike project...

Been a bit quiet lately, my hip/lower back has been annoying me quite a bit since my topple onto the rocks last month. It didn't hurt at all during the Trossachs Ton but ached quite a bit for a few days afterwards and I was aware of it aching when riding the MTB's.

Jez and I had a few days away to Wales taking it easy, a quick blat round the Marin Trail for the first time in a few years was fun though I had forgotten just how much fireroad there was on the bloody thing and how much the singletrack doesn't actually decend. However it was dry and dusty and we were both on full suss for first time round there too and it was faaaaast.

A bit of a toddle up Snowdon (on foot) and some touristy stuff wandering round Caernarfon Castle and Newborough beach. We were lucky with the weather as it didn't start tipping down until we headed back home.

In the last couple of weeks I have resumed running, yay just in time for the wind and rain! No more than 6 easy miles and mainly all offroad, hip was achy afterwards for the first two runs but it now seems ok. I am now a complete convert to running in compression tights/shorts, I bought them for recover after my long mara training runs and I am now wondering why I wasn't wearing them when I was running, really stopping the little calf niggles I get when doing more cycling than running.

I had a visit to the chiro at the beginning of the week and my pelvis is moving fine and not hurting after short rides/runs now so it's time to start getting some good rides in again, will leave the runs short for a while yet.

Tonight I'm heading out to test out my new project....been feeling guilty about my old 456 frame just hanging in the garage so have assembled various bits from our garage/flea bay/singletrack classifieds/Merlin and Jez just finished building it before he bogs off for another few weeks. I did originally intend building it myself but he offered as he was servicing forks/faffing with brake hose/servicing hubs anyway.

Anyway photo and report of pain to follow.....

Road Riding

Lots of it (for me anyway) is what I have been up to, 190 miles on the Ribble so far this month and have enjoyed pretty much every minute. Only 18 miles on the MTB so far but the road riding won't do my MTB fitness any harm. Have now taken in the local road hotspots of the Trough of Bowland from Dunsop Bridge (twice) and Waddington Fell from the easy side.

I've also had company for the last two road rides, I was surprised Jez, Ed and Rick wanted to come out again with me after killing them over the Trough and Waddington Fell. With four pairs of muddy mtb shoes, a peaked helmet and one large camelbak between us we look like what we were - a bunch of MTBers on a road ride - rather than a peloton.

Jez's riding was going to go one of two ways after the Cheshire Cat, either do even less and don't ride the EC or do more and thrash me round the EC to prove a point. It has gone the latter way (wasn't too surprised). His fitness and strength is coming back very quickly in that annoying way it does for him and already I can see road rides together won't really be feasible soon. On the plus side he can tow me round the EC and we may get a decent time.

Running is now down to two a week but Monday's easy beach run was great, I felt more comfortable and relaxed on that run than I did for most of my marathon training when I was running a lot and it was a similar speed for a lot less effort - go figure. They do say cycling fitness does translate to running well so come autumn I may not be back to square one running wise. I'm looking forward to a summer of evening runs on the moors.

I've got another 60/70 mile road ride planned this weekend though not sure where, did think of the steep side of Waddington Fell then over to Nick 'o Pendle or maybe over the Trough again and up to Quernmore. However, the EC is not actually as brutal a ride climbing wise as that so not sure whether to cut the climbing and go flatter for some of it...the MTBer in me says no!

A Run!

Finally, today I got out for a run, it seems forever since I last put any running shoes on. Monday was a rest day after the Cheshire Cat. Tuesday was originally planned at 3 mile easy run but the weather was grim and I thought an extra lazy day wouldn't be that much of a bad thing. Wednesday I just plain forgot I was supposed to be running and didn't go out!

So today after work I headed out. Legs had lost most of their cycling leadedness but there are things that need to be stretched (hip flexors and mid back, no surprise really). However, it quickly became apparent that while an easy spin on the bike is a good recovery session for running I'm not sure, for me at least, its going to work the other way. Which is a bit of a blow, the impact is noticeable.

Anyway, it was just under 6 miles, some tarmac, some woods and hills and after the first 2 miles was really enjoyable. I think the best bet is to head off road for my runs as much as possible. My gait has changed back to being quad heavy again though....

March

Well March was an interesting month. The start was spent in the Cairngorms learning all about winter walking and enjoying the best snow for years and also, unusually for Scotland excellent weather. A fantastic holiday.

Mileage wise things have been good in one respect and a bit dismal in another. The good aspect is I managed 310 cycling miles, the first time I've broken the 300 mark since 2006 apparently. Almost 200 miles of those were on the road bike, all "rides". I also did my first roadie sportive, the Cheshire Cat which was suprisingly good fun. I'm seriously in love with my road bike at the minute, very odd.

Only one cycling commute in to work jfor the whole month, ust after coming back from Scotland but I got the train home (and didn't have to pay). The rest of the miles are split between MTB (30 - rubbish) and fubbing about shopping.

The dismal aspect is running, in March I managed 21 miles! Partly being away for a week, then having the tightest lower legs imaginable for a week after, then a bit of running, then taking it easy for the Cheshire Cat.....Must do better!

I've kind of decided to do two runs a week for a while until after the Etape Caledonia and some fun trail/fell running is what I have in mind. I just need to keep it ticking over until the autumn where I'll most likely pick the running mileage up again.

Playing Frogger

On last nights ride, loads of the little things on the roads and trails near Anglezarke. Not entirely sure I was 100% successful in missing them. A very short and chat paced ride in the end with just Ed and I out, the only real effort put in was climbing Lead Mines, just for a change though its still firmly a decent for me. Everything was wet and sloppy, even stuff I didn't think was normally prone to being that bad.

Decided against exploring the new Healy Nab stuff for the first time in the dark and it was only when packing up that I realised we hadn't gone to the pike. Not really a proper Rivi ride for me if the pike isn't visited. Just perfect for an easy week.

Running has resumed and an easy five miles are planned tonight, then a lazy two days before the Cheshire Cat on Sunday. Forecast is for p*ssing rain....what tyres for stopping wheelspin on Mow Cop?

Not much running going on

Not sure what has been up with my calf muscles since I've come back from the Cairngorms but they have not been happy bunnies.

A short get back into it run last Thursday was enjoyable, I expected possibly a little bit of soreness but my calves were very stiff on the Friday. I ended up doing some lunchtime hill reps on the bike on Friday due to car faff and working from home meant I had access to some hills.

The reps were about 1.4 miles long but not massively steep, more of a gradual climb interspersed with steeper bits. It wasn't ideal but I didn't have time to really get anywhere properly steep so decided to make sure I worked hard all the way up and resist the temptation to take it easy on the easier bits and push on over the top of the steepish sections.

I have to say, at least mentally, proper steep is easier, its just "get to the top". Making myself push where I wanted to back off was hard. They took about seven minutes each and I got slightly quicker each one but there is lots of room for improvement. I only had time to get three in before heading back home. Since I found them so difficult I should probably do them again.

A lot of stretching afterwards and I thought my calves would be fine, nope. Saturday I woke up and could barely put my heels on the floor. My calves and achilles were just solid, from my heels to just below the back of my knees. I wasn't 100% sure if it was the running or the hill reps but the pattern of tightness was slightly different on each leg which made me suspect running, my foot strike is slightly different on each leg. Maybe something to do with doing lots of walking as opposed to running?

An easy day of fubbing about on the shopping bike due to no car and an easy afternoon ride on the MTB did nothing to help but at least my calves didn't hurt when pedalling. It was too sore to stretch or bear the foam roller. They didn't hurt like that after the marathon so I rested on the Sunday completely.

They felt much better on the Monday, I could walk properly so decided to celebrate by going out for a run. I got less than quarter of a mile before my calves felt solid again, a bit of stretching and I decided to carry on taking it easy for a couple of miles to loosen them up.

They did loosen up a bit eventually but I was having to stretch them a lot at road crossings, or at the top of inclines, I should have taken the hint and cut it short but I carried on and did over 7 miles. I was hobbling for the rest of the night and the next morning so it was a bit of a stupid thing to do.

An easy spin out on the road bike on the flat on Tuesday, a fantastic dry trails and spring temperature night ride on Wednesday (so glad I made myself go) and a fantastic session at the Velodrome last night and I think, touch wood, things are heading back towards normal.

Catching Up

After tweaking my left backside slipping about in the dunes on the 12th I was hobbling the next day. The "next day" was the Mid Lancs XC at Hyndburn. The Chorley Harrier ladies were hoping for promotion and to get as many out as possible to help, I had said I would run (help make up some numbers rather than actually count for the team). On Saturday morning I did lots of stretching but it didn't help, a bit annoyed as the Hyndburn course is really enjoyable.

At about noon when it wasn't getting any better I did the sensible thing and necked a load of ibuprofen and went anyway. Once I warmed up a bit it only bothered me when my left leg slid sideways...which happened a lot on the stodgy course. I was over two minutes quicker than the year before but getting out of my car at home was not very dignified! I wouldn't have done it for a longer race (probably).

It seemed fine for cycling thankfully so got some road miles in on the Sunday....for some reason decided to go chevron bagging around Belmont way and got my backside kicked, even with a 30 * 27 lowest gear. I found the hills mentally hard too which wasn't good, I'm no climber but I normally just get on and grind them out without too much thought. 44 miles, 3800 ft of up and an embarrassing average speed of 13.9....more work needed.

I did some short runs in the week as bum was still tight, it started to ease off after a trip to the climbing wall meant some serious stretching of various tight muscles.

On Saturday I headed out to check out snow conditions around the moors. I was only intending to do about six miles but it was so lovely I ended up doing over 9. Lots of snow:

I ended up on the turbo on Sunday afternoon but probably should have gotten the MTB out really.

This week I've managed to get back to some better running, a quick 4 miles after work on Monday saw me set off with leaden turbo legs. Last time I did that after about two miles my legs were fine and sure enough I managed to up the pace each mile, really enjoyed it and no problems the next day.

Tuesday was some turbo intervals, hard but bearable now I have invested in a fan. It meant I was able to work harder without boiling myself or having to open the door and freeze the house out.

Yesterday was another set of intervals, running this time. Possibly not the most sensible decision but I wondered how my legs would cope. A little leaden at the start but changed into running mode after about a mile. I did 3 x 1200 metres as slowly building the interval distance back up to three miles. They went well, not having fresh legs meant I paced things more evenly and didn't tear off at the start though on the last interval I had to push hard to keep the pace as I got stopped at the one road crossing. First and second interval had the same time, third was two seconds slower which I thought wasn't too bad. Run back to work was fine after the first half mile.

Yesterday was finished off with a trip to the wall again, which was really good fun.

Today I'm taking it very easy, I did think of cycling into work but couldn't get myself out of bed. The cycling gods punished me for my laziness by having me sit on the M6 for ages, eventually took 1 3/4 hours to get to work as opposed to 30 minutes.

Tweak!

I felt a bit lifeless last weekend, not sure why but got a couple of easy rides in. One short MTB ride with new front brake pads that were binding hard and had to be worn in. Did I moan? Nope, just treated it as extra resistance (could have done without the slipping seat post though), it needed to be done. The wheel was spinning much better by the end.

Monday, I was much more lively and got some 800m intervals out. I managed to pick the wrong direction and run them straight into a strong wind which meant the pace was well off but the effort level was there.

Tuesday was a good ride to work, really enjoyed both journeys though had to tell Jez to go off on his own after about a mile in the morning as there was no way I was going to keep up with him on his road bike when I was on the shopping bike.

Wednesday was a rest day due to neither of us getting home from work early enough to contemplate riding anywhere. Thursday was an interval session on the turbo where I attempted to boil my head again and nearly succeeded...thinking of moving it outside onto the patio to entertain the neighbours.

Friday was a run but with no plan, just for fun so headed to the beach to play in the dunes. The sun was out over Blackpool:

The sand was dry and really loose and after clambering up the third steep dune I thought maybe I shouldn't be hammering my calves and achilles like this as I had said I would turn up at the XC on Saturday. My glutes were also notcieably tight from the turbo session the day before. Just around then my left leg slipped in the sand down and away from me with a tweak sensation in the bum. A definite ooof! moment. Not great timing.

Onto the flat beach and seems no harm done so head way out towards the sea faffing about taking some pictures as the cloud rolled in for some dramatic sky moments:

Had a bit of a run in the lower dunes which are a lot more packed down then I could feel things starting to niggle, bit of a stretch and head back to work with my left butt cheek and hip trying to cramp up completely. Oops, needless to say an afternoon sat down at a desk did nothing for it. I got into my car like a 90 year old.

A Rather Enjoyable Potter On Winter Hill

Saturday was a very enjoyable run/slide/walk on Winter Hill. I had planned to get out at 10am at the latest though a lot of computer faff meant it didn't get out till closer to 11. I realised that the problem didn't need to be fixed there and then so got some kit together and headed out.

As I have no long running event to train for I decided to have a bit of an explore, do some new tracks, walk a bit, practice map reading and enjoy the sunshine and see how things go. A sketchy drive to the car park with lots of ice at the edge of the road, I parked up to see absolutely rock hard ground. No need for the Mudclaws I had and to be honest the length of the studs on them were a bit of a liability sometimes.

I head off to explore a track which heads up to Redmond's edge, between Great Hill and Winter Hill. On the map if officially runs out but sure enough it did continue all the way up, lots of ice dodging. Amazing visibility up there:

I made a note of where the track joined up to the flagged path I often run, it was quite obvious and I wondered why I had missed it before. About a minute after setting off on the uneven and randomly sized flags I realised why as I was concentrating so hard on where my feet were going I couldn't see anything else.

Straight up onto Winter Hill on a new track for me and the unusual sensation of skidding over the top of icy bogs (think I prefer sinking in). Once in the shadow of the hill it was baltic! Thankfully the climb was steep so I generated some heat on the way up. I seemed to have the top of Winter Hill to myself for ages.

Headed off down the track following the ruined wall, remembering there was a really obvious track heading off to the right then somehow managed to miss it? Quite a bit of practising relating map to terrain but I had a 1:50000 with me and I think the 1:25000 would be better, mainly due to the 5m contour interval showing up a bit more of the few features.

Found some more new tracks for me then started heading back towards the car. I could have quite happily stayed out in the sunshine a lot longer but I was feeling a little peckish. So out past Holden's Farm back up to the access road, across to Two Lads then to the Pike all the while dodging ice. Cursed the cobbly track down from the Pike then headed to the top of the ICR. For reasons best known to myself tried to take the riding line right down the rubble, eventually got up onto the smooth track when I dinged my ankle off about the third rock.

Back to the car and it seemed the world and its wife had now arrived as the car park was rammed. A good afternoon of fresh air and sunshine. 10.93 slow and steady but immensly enjoyable miles, about 2:14 of running and an hour of faff/navigation etc on top of that. A bit further and longer than I had planned to be out but such a beautiful day.

Running Intervals and Some Outdoor Cycling Miles

Thursday last week saw me reintroduce some running speedwork, all various leg niggles I've had this month from various falling overs seemed to have gone so I had a go at some 400 metre efforts. 2 sets of 4 x 400 metres with 1 minute recoveries and 2 minutes between sets.

It went well, pacing was good and even and it was just the right amount of hard stuff. I've not done anything similar since the beginning of December and I had forgotten the puzzled looks you get when you zoom past people only to stop and jog back towards them then zoom past again. Good for upsetting little dogs on extend-a-leads it would seem.

Friday had a decent forecast so I took the opportunity to ride into work, good steady riding both ways and it was daylight enough to switch my lights off well before I got to work. More importantly I managed to do six miles homeward without switching them on either which did cheer me up.

Wavering Motivation......

Struggling a bit this January for some reason, particularly in the last week or so. Dark mornings, grey days are not filling me with joy. Last January was pretty good overall with 100 running miles and over 200 bike miles, this year is a completely different story on the biking front -running miles still ok due to the weather at the beginning of the month.

Last Tuesday I cycled to work, the morning ride in was great, no wind, no ice and just great to be out riding (once I'd scraped myself out of bed). Flew into work in 1:07, averaging over 16mph which is good going for me riding the shopping bike.

The ride home on the other hand was a complete nightmare. The wind just got stronger all day so I rode the entire 18 miles home against a raging headwind. It didn't help I was starving after about two miles and spent the whole miserable, grinding commute fantasising about food. What I was going to have for dinner, tomorrow's lunch, what I was going to be eating next week fgs...It took 1:29 to get back home, an embarrassing 12mph or so.

Character building? Miserable more like and I've kind of CBA's riding outside at all since (or even on the turbo)...not good when I've got some cycling events coming up.

On Saturday I got out for a run in the hills, it took me until 3pm to actually get out there but it was great to be out in the fresh, still air. It was misty in Lostock Hall but clear around the hills:

Just under 7 miles, managed to get back to the car as the clag really came in but before I completely ran out of daylight (just). Sunday was almost a complete write off but managed to prise myself off the sofa for a trip to the climbing wall.

I gave myself a talking to on Sunday night, no slacking this week. Yesterday I got the week off to a good start with a lunchtime run. I decided to have some fun in the dunes which did absolutely nothing for average speed but should be good for the old leg strength if I don't ping my achilles tendons off. 6.8 miles with about 4 ish miles of dune sliding and beach running. Excellent fun.

Today's plan: Drop Car off at garage for service and run the 2.5 miles home (done)

Intervals on the Turbo (One hour of pain)

Pick up car (run, walk, ride - not decided yet).

Stretching.

Somebody kick me if I don't get the turbo torture done.....

Snowy Beach Run

Yesterday I hauled myself out of the door at lunchtime for a run after listening to the CBA demons on Thursday. My main excuses on Thursday were...sidestreets will be slippy to cross, might be ice patches, half cleared driveways, its baltic........

The Friday run had all of that but it wasn't too bad, it was a glorious, sunny and clear day. My car said -1 when setting off (out clearing the windscreen after the washers had defrosted) but the lack of wind stopped it from feeling too bitter.

It was a bit slidy in places on the way down to the beach but I ran on the shady side of the street and mostly it was fine just taking it really easy. I was curious to see what the beach would be like but I didn't quite expect this:

Snow covered beach! It was also really busy, all those people not able to get to work..

I was almost late back to work, 7 miles at a slow 10mm but not too much slower really.

New Year Running

After the icy ride/walk of New Year's day I've not been on two wheels since. Which is a bit of a pain as the events I have entered so far are quite bike orientated (been looking at Turbo Trainers, shhh). I have run the last four days though, I don't normally do consecutive running days and definitely not on tarmace but hey ho needs must.

The first run of the year was a local loop on Saturday afternoon with a surprising amount of ice around. Initial plan was to do an easy four or five miles but in the end I was enjoying it so much I ended up doing 7.75, I only headed home as I could feel the temperature really starting to plummet.

Sunday was another local loop, even more patches of ice to dodge but I kept it to a nice easy 3.5 miles. Legs felt better than they had the day before though a little grouchy at the tarmac.

Monday I ran at lunchtime, it was a stunning day even if it had been -5 when I arrived at work. It was really cold but there was no real ice in St Annes just a very hard frost which was fine to run on. My original plan was to do some fartleks to start getting some hard work introduced again but it was so cold my quads wouldn't seem to warm up.

I decided to keep it steady but thought I was actually being a bit of a wuss. The tarmac was feeling a bit harsh so I had hoped to get some running in on the beach but the tide was in. Arriving near Fairhaven Lake I realised that the sea was slush! Near the beach it was one giant, brown slush puppy. If the sea is like that then it is way too cold, I didn't feel like such a wuss after all. I was a bit gutted I hadn't brought my camera, I've not seen anything like it.

I was so fascinated by it I ran all they way up to St Annes Pier and ended up with 7.25 miles which I thought wasn't too bad on cold and unwilling legs.

Today was supposed to be a rest day but the snow conditions meant I worked from home today and just had to get out in it while it was soft and powdery. Original plan was for a mile or two on the local pavements. I ended up doing 6.18 miles I was enjoying myself so much, I had thought about heading out on the bike but by the time I faffed it wouldn't have been much point as I was actually still working.

My Mizuno Harriers were great in the soft snow, crossing side streets was treacherous but other than that it was fine. Definite rest day required tomorrow but it'll probably all be ice by then anyway.

Slush Running...

On the 27th I decided I had to get a run in, tarmac conditions near home weren't inspiring so I headed off to Abbey Village with my trail shoes to get a few miles in. Like Rivington the day before the trails were rather slushy, soft and very slow.

After about a mile of sliding I realise that my Mudclaws would have probably been a better choice of shoe, the slush was overwhelming the trail shoes. It was generally runnable but even on the flat I struggled to get much above 12 minute mile in the slush I was sliding so much.

I had thought about doing a short low level run but once going headed up to the tower. Bit of a flat light day so not much stopping to take pictures, apart from this robin perched on a post. I was probably about a foot away from it but it only moved when the camera flash went off., even then only to a low branch close by.



The enforced slow pace was probably a good thing as I was feeling pretty unfit from not doing much earlier in the month. 7.5 miles in an hour and a half. It was good to get out.