Didn't get to the Cross Country on Saturday, I was on call and as there was a live release I was supporting I didn't take the risk (if, however it had been a nice, crisp autumn day rather than a minging wet one I probably wouldn't have been so risk averse!) . I spent most of the day sorting out our new PC, it still isn't fully set up.
As things were so wet I decided not to go offroad for my Sunday run, I planned a predominantly road loop involving some quiet streets and lanes and a whizz round Cuerden park. It would be just under 8 miles at a nice steady pace. I got all my kit on and the heavens opened. It was a shower so I waited for it to pass. I was supposed to be home for 1:30 pm (to look at wood flooring, woo (not)!) but didn't head out the door until close to 1pm and it would take me at least an hour and 20 minutes at slow run pace.
The sun came out and it was lovely so off I went, I could always cut out the extra loop in Cuerden Park if necessary. I headed out through some residential streets looking for ways to miss out the main traffic lights in the centre of town on the bike, I am starting to get to know the layout of the town much better. I headed out to Fowler lane which is a nice traffic free road. I crossed over the River Lostock and it was very, very full.
I then headed into Cuerden Park via some very wet lanes but mainly traffic free. I passed the visitor centre and dropped down into the park. The sun was out and the park looked lovely, its quite a steep sided valley and there was a nice view across. The park was busy with families etc. I checked my watch and it was about 13:20 or something but I thought sod it I'll do the park loop, Jez is often back late from flying anyway.
They've been doing quite a bit of work on all the paths and they are now all rideable on a road bike, which is a little sad but hey ho. I basically skirted on half of the park then followed the flat path alonside the River Lostock again. The banks aren't very high here and the river wasn't far off the top. I attacked the steep, but thankfully short hill out of the valley (forgot about that, ouchie) then over the M6 and headed back home.
As I jogged into our street I could see Jez was back and it was now after 2pm so I was expecting to be told off but he never said anything as I popped into the garage to see him. As I sat down in the house to have a drink I checked on the progress of stuff I was copying across to the new PC and the clock said 13:26 - doofus, I hadn't changed my watch.
I think I ran a little too fast for a slow run, just over 9:05 mm which with the wind and hills was a bit too much effort to be putting in. For a predominantly road loop it was really enjoyable.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday Night Ride
I was expecting a wet and muddy ride last night but it turned out not too bad actually - though we did miss out two short sections as we knew they would be minging.
There were five of us originally intending to ride but Pam couldn't get there in time due to traffic so it was just Jez, Stu, Drew and me. It's usually a faster paced ride if it's just the boys, at least my legs were feeling better after yesterday's rest day, they needed some zip tonight.
We set off without Stu as he would catch us up as he had more faff than us to do (he's far too fit these days anyway so no quarter given). We set off up the fireroad track past the reservoirs, it was freezing here as all the cold air sits on the water. The overflow was really giving it death, couldn't see the water rushing under the bridge as it was too far down but could certainly hear it.
The track was quite stodgy to start with and there was a definite stream running down one side of it but as we climbed a bit it dried out. I was enjoying having a full range of working gears due to the new mech (old one was completely bent apparently) when the chain chucked into the spokes. I managed to stop as soon as I realised something wasn't right and it hadn't gotten itself too emeshed so I managed to pull it out easily. The above makes it sound like I'm really in tune with the mechanics of my bike, I'm not but I've tried to pedal through that kind of resistance to pedalling several times before and destroyed things - I have learnt the expensive way.
I caught up to Jez and he did some trail side adjustments and things were fine after that. We took the decision not to follow the fence track as it would be boggy, Stu did do it and it was indeed exceedingly soft!
I had my first tyre/pipe altercation on the next section as I dropped down into a new rut that has opened up and just caught the edge of a plastic pipe at the wrong angle. It wasn't a dramatic slip so I got my foot down ok. I stomped up the next road climb to get the heart rate up a bit before the long drag to the Tower.
Stu caught us up just as we were about to go over the field, there was a lot of water running down the field which made the start of the track very boggy. I don't think I've seen it like that before. The rest of the track was pretty stodgy mud and I was really struggling to ride it, the front wheel seemed to be pinging all over the place rather than rolling over the rocks and ruts. I just thought I was having one of those nights and decided I would be careful going up the climb in case I rode off the edge again (done that before on a night when I was riding badly).
At the bottom of the climb I happened to look down and notice that my forks were still locked out from the road section. Ahem! Forks unlocked and off we went up the climb. Lots of water running down on the bottom section and it was pretty soft. It was quite slow progress, not helped at all by the wind being directly in our faces. I picked an effort level and plugged away (learning from running against the wind).
I eventually overtook Drew and was in front (Stu and Jez were gabbing when we set off else Stu would be a red dot from his back light in the distance and not behind me). I successfully negotiated the orange pipe that got me last time and got over the rock step even though I was slower than I normally am due to the wind. The next section of the climb is the most technical and as it was dark I couldn't see what state the trail was in until I reached it. I have been taking the centre line but that had now changed to a deep narrow, twisty rut that I didn't think I'd ride out so I took the left hand line but there was a pipe that caught me out (and Drew and Jez). Stu saw me spin out on the pipe and went up the less attractive (to me anyway) right hand side quite easily, though that doesn't necessarily follow that I can do it.
Drew had a go at the right hand line and didn't make it, Jez took the left and spun out but just pushed up the trail a bit and continued. I dithered a little then rolled down a little to a flat bit of trail to get on the bike and had a go. I cleaned it! Basically through brute strength and ignorance but I was really chuffed.
It was quite breezy on the top so we headed straight off to the Tower and then down the rutty track. This was surprisingly dry, it had the odd soft patch but it was generally pretty firm, I can only assume its being scoured dry by the wind. We decided not to do the rutty track that goes all the way round as we thought it would be too soft, instead we'd go over the top of the moor.
Setting off the track started to get really soft, more like what I was expecting the rest of the ride to be and at the turning point you could see all the water glistening on the track we decided not to do. It was pretty soft over the top but I followed Drew and whilst he dropped into a deep puddle I managed to skirt round it.
At the road Drew decided he didn't want to do the Mill Lane descent and headed off right to do the other track. I love the Mill Lane descent on a bike so the rest of us headed off that way. I had a scary front wheel slide on the little section of singletrack past HollinsHead Hall, I really thought it was all about to end badly but I somehow managed to get it back and bimbled down the rest of it until I stopped hyperventilating.
The Mill Lane descent was not surpsisingly very wet, lots of leaves on it hiding the rocks but still probably my favourite descent. The Roman Candle effect was back with a vengeance and even though for once it wasn't spattering my face it was really hard to see past it.
The last section through the woods was as good as ever though because of the leaf fall it wasn't always that obvious where the path was, you knew pretty quickly if you'd ridden of it because it changed to stodge. Stu had a rapid desceleration moment when he rode off the track on a downhill. He just seemed to stop dead. He did say he had to try hard not to go over the bars, if it was me I would've tipped.
It was a quick ride, I don't think we were out for more than an hour and a half total. Such a shame its so short but not everyone's lights last much longer.
There were five of us originally intending to ride but Pam couldn't get there in time due to traffic so it was just Jez, Stu, Drew and me. It's usually a faster paced ride if it's just the boys, at least my legs were feeling better after yesterday's rest day, they needed some zip tonight.
We set off without Stu as he would catch us up as he had more faff than us to do (he's far too fit these days anyway so no quarter given). We set off up the fireroad track past the reservoirs, it was freezing here as all the cold air sits on the water. The overflow was really giving it death, couldn't see the water rushing under the bridge as it was too far down but could certainly hear it.
The track was quite stodgy to start with and there was a definite stream running down one side of it but as we climbed a bit it dried out. I was enjoying having a full range of working gears due to the new mech (old one was completely bent apparently) when the chain chucked into the spokes. I managed to stop as soon as I realised something wasn't right and it hadn't gotten itself too emeshed so I managed to pull it out easily. The above makes it sound like I'm really in tune with the mechanics of my bike, I'm not but I've tried to pedal through that kind of resistance to pedalling several times before and destroyed things - I have learnt the expensive way.
I caught up to Jez and he did some trail side adjustments and things were fine after that. We took the decision not to follow the fence track as it would be boggy, Stu did do it and it was indeed exceedingly soft!
I had my first tyre/pipe altercation on the next section as I dropped down into a new rut that has opened up and just caught the edge of a plastic pipe at the wrong angle. It wasn't a dramatic slip so I got my foot down ok. I stomped up the next road climb to get the heart rate up a bit before the long drag to the Tower.
Stu caught us up just as we were about to go over the field, there was a lot of water running down the field which made the start of the track very boggy. I don't think I've seen it like that before. The rest of the track was pretty stodgy mud and I was really struggling to ride it, the front wheel seemed to be pinging all over the place rather than rolling over the rocks and ruts. I just thought I was having one of those nights and decided I would be careful going up the climb in case I rode off the edge again (done that before on a night when I was riding badly).
At the bottom of the climb I happened to look down and notice that my forks were still locked out from the road section. Ahem! Forks unlocked and off we went up the climb. Lots of water running down on the bottom section and it was pretty soft. It was quite slow progress, not helped at all by the wind being directly in our faces. I picked an effort level and plugged away (learning from running against the wind).
I eventually overtook Drew and was in front (Stu and Jez were gabbing when we set off else Stu would be a red dot from his back light in the distance and not behind me). I successfully negotiated the orange pipe that got me last time and got over the rock step even though I was slower than I normally am due to the wind. The next section of the climb is the most technical and as it was dark I couldn't see what state the trail was in until I reached it. I have been taking the centre line but that had now changed to a deep narrow, twisty rut that I didn't think I'd ride out so I took the left hand line but there was a pipe that caught me out (and Drew and Jez). Stu saw me spin out on the pipe and went up the less attractive (to me anyway) right hand side quite easily, though that doesn't necessarily follow that I can do it.
Drew had a go at the right hand line and didn't make it, Jez took the left and spun out but just pushed up the trail a bit and continued. I dithered a little then rolled down a little to a flat bit of trail to get on the bike and had a go. I cleaned it! Basically through brute strength and ignorance but I was really chuffed.
It was quite breezy on the top so we headed straight off to the Tower and then down the rutty track. This was surprisingly dry, it had the odd soft patch but it was generally pretty firm, I can only assume its being scoured dry by the wind. We decided not to do the rutty track that goes all the way round as we thought it would be too soft, instead we'd go over the top of the moor.
Setting off the track started to get really soft, more like what I was expecting the rest of the ride to be and at the turning point you could see all the water glistening on the track we decided not to do. It was pretty soft over the top but I followed Drew and whilst he dropped into a deep puddle I managed to skirt round it.
At the road Drew decided he didn't want to do the Mill Lane descent and headed off right to do the other track. I love the Mill Lane descent on a bike so the rest of us headed off that way. I had a scary front wheel slide on the little section of singletrack past HollinsHead Hall, I really thought it was all about to end badly but I somehow managed to get it back and bimbled down the rest of it until I stopped hyperventilating.
The Mill Lane descent was not surpsisingly very wet, lots of leaves on it hiding the rocks but still probably my favourite descent. The Roman Candle effect was back with a vengeance and even though for once it wasn't spattering my face it was really hard to see past it.
The last section through the woods was as good as ever though because of the leaf fall it wasn't always that obvious where the path was, you knew pretty quickly if you'd ridden of it because it changed to stodge. Stu had a rapid desceleration moment when he rode off the track on a downhill. He just seemed to stop dead. He did say he had to try hard not to go over the bars, if it was me I would've tipped.
It was a quick ride, I don't think we were out for more than an hour and a half total. Such a shame its so short but not everyone's lights last much longer.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Errand Running - Literally
I got out after work and ran to Leyland library and back. The wind was still strong but not as bad as it was in St Annes, just walking across the car park was an ordeal, never mind trying to run.
I had to take a book back as well as pick up a reservation so I decided to take my little running rucksack. The book needed some persuasion to go in and I hoped the one I was going to pick up wasn't any bigger else I'd have to carry it in my hands.
I was setting off into the wind so again ran for effort not pace, as it was basically out and back I would get the wind behind me on the way home. Into the wind it was chilly and I had my jacket sleeves on and gloves though in any sheltered area it was obvious it wasn't really that cold. My lower legs are still feeling it a littl so I took my time to make sure I was well warmed up.
I got to the library in what seemed like no time and picked up a smaller book thankfully. I took my jacket sleeves off for the run home as the wind would be behind. I soon took the gloves off too as it was quite warm without the wind in my face. I took advantage of the tail wind and pushed my heart rate up around the 170 mark for the last couple of miles. It was 5.8 miles in total and a nice length for an evening run.
A nice run with a purpose, made all the difference on a dark windy night.
I'm working at home tomorrow as I will be waiting in for the blokes coming to stuff our cavity walls with insulation, not sure what I'm going to do but if I run it will be a short one.
I had to take a book back as well as pick up a reservation so I decided to take my little running rucksack. The book needed some persuasion to go in and I hoped the one I was going to pick up wasn't any bigger else I'd have to carry it in my hands.
I was setting off into the wind so again ran for effort not pace, as it was basically out and back I would get the wind behind me on the way home. Into the wind it was chilly and I had my jacket sleeves on and gloves though in any sheltered area it was obvious it wasn't really that cold. My lower legs are still feeling it a littl so I took my time to make sure I was well warmed up.
I got to the library in what seemed like no time and picked up a smaller book thankfully. I took my jacket sleeves off for the run home as the wind would be behind. I soon took the gloves off too as it was quite warm without the wind in my face. I took advantage of the tail wind and pushed my heart rate up around the 170 mark for the last couple of miles. It was 5.8 miles in total and a nice length for an evening run.
A nice run with a purpose, made all the difference on a dark windy night.
I'm working at home tomorrow as I will be waiting in for the blokes coming to stuff our cavity walls with insulation, not sure what I'm going to do but if I run it will be a short one.
Bloody Wind
Brought my running kit to work today but the wind is so strong I can't be bothered going out to run my planned 6 miles. The only good thing about running in St Annes is the beach/prom but it'll be too windy today and I'll end up with a face full of stinging sand assuming I can actually run along it, been beaten off it by the wind before. I can run round boring streets anywhere.
I've seem to have a lot on this week and am not sure I'll be able to cycle to work as will be working from home a couple of days at least.
My plan to get myself out running this evening is to run to Leyland Library, take one book back and pick up another. It will be a 6 mile or so round trip on streets I've never run before and will have a purpose rather than just a run. Hopefully that will motivate me to get out when I get home, I like running routes I've never done before even if they are along main roads.
I've seem to have a lot on this week and am not sure I'll be able to cycle to work as will be working from home a couple of days at least.
My plan to get myself out running this evening is to run to Leyland Library, take one book back and pick up another. It will be a 6 mile or so round trip on streets I've never run before and will have a purpose rather than just a run. Hopefully that will motivate me to get out when I get home, I like running routes I've never done before even if they are along main roads.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
I Ache! Rest Day for me
I woke up this morning and I seem to ache everywhere. My quads and calves are achey from running not surprisingly but Friday nights climbing session has also made my upper back, shoulders and biceps very sore. I had a very deep ache in my right bicep all day.
I decided to rest and let my muscles rebuild, my upper body hasn't had a proper workout for ages.
I decided to rest and let my muscles rebuild, my upper body hasn't had a proper workout for ages.
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