2 months since I last updated! And 3 months to go to the Great North Run!!

Ahem, I would like to start by apologising to anyone who was reading this blog regularly. As it's been three months since I last updated this, I guess most of you have since gotten bored and wandered off. Not that I blame you, as it has been a while.

So what have I been up to instead? Trekking across the mountains, learning the art of inner peace, just drinking lots of beer? Sadly, none of these things have been happening. I've mainly been lacking in motivation due to the relationship spilt and subsequent house move that I have been through. That's about it really. There's been no fan fares, no really world ending stuff going on. But there has been a lack of willing. I'm glad to say that that has recently changed.

In the interval between the my previous update and this one, I've only really been out for a few runs. 4 in May and none in the first two weeks of June.

Times, as is it's want, goes by. And this time, Time has flown by. So much so, that the far distant Great North Run, a half marathon that takes place in Newcastle and South Shields, is now less than three months away! I know this because they are wise enough to know that many people enter into such things with the promise that they will be training and ready in time. And many of those people then get the e-mail saying "There's three months to go, here's a training plan" and then panic as there's no way, no way at all, that there's only three months to go?!

So off I went, following a prompt from Hannah, to the PC to have a look at my training plan. There are four levels of plan: from the run/walk for total beginners to get you round, beginner/novice, improver and then up to the challenger level. I decided to have a look at the improver and challenger options. The improver one looked a bit easier than I had expected, and the challenger one seemed like it would be a push up from where I was last. Note, not where I was at the time!

Having had a chat with Hannah, we decided that we really needed to be doing the same plan, as one of us (her) training harder than the other (me) was a bit daft. So the challenger plan it was! With this in mind, I printed the plan off so that I had something akin to a running calendar which I could have a look at and see what I had done and what was coming up next. The challenger plan would involve a bit of a change in focus, ie from hardly running to running 4 times a week.

Only thing is, as I sit here now looking at the plan, and putting dates on it so I know where I am, I realised that I have been duped. I started my 12 week plan with 13 weeks to go! However, this is no bad thing as it means I have an extra week to train. It also means that I had one week less than I thought away from running so my fitness didn't drop quite as far as it might have done. Oh, and I now need to print off a new training plan.

The plan is a bit of challenge, but less so than I had feared. Some of the marathon plans have you doing something just about every day, and varied things as well. Which is all well and good if you live at the gym, but I don't. I like beer and ice cream and not being in the gym. I will happily road or cross country run, but I refuse to do anything on a tread mill. The plan has Monday as a rest day, which is a good way to start the week, Tuesdays are usually a 35 min easy run, Saturdays a 25 min run, which is ideal for Park Runners. Sundays are big run day and Thursday are the changeable day. Most are interval training, hard short runs with recovery times, or longer steady pace runs. For me, long runs on a Sunday are a problem so that has had to alter. As Hannah's running club, the Cherwell Runners and Joggers run on a Tuesday at 6 and 7 pm, this gives an ideal day to do a long run. The 6pm run is usually 4.7km for beginners and the 7pm run varies according to who is there and how far or fast you want to go. This gives good opportunity to push either pace or distance with a group, as I still can't pace myself well. I'm getting better, but it's not something I'm good at.

So with my plan in mind, I set about finding a local route that should take me about 35 mins, and a way to shorten it to 25 mins. As I don't like running round the village very much when there's plenty of light, I found a route round the local lanes that would suffice. It also has a roughly kilometre long climb in it, so that will help with the training in general. As much as no-one really likes hill running, it does wonders for fitness. The first time I did this run it took me 32:55 to get round the 5.5km, an average pace of 5:53/km. Maintaining this pace would give a half marathon time of approximately 1:58, which is below the target time of 2 hours dead. This is good, as it's my usual easy run pace and I feel quite comfortable at that pace too. I doubt I will agree at the end of a half marathon though!

Then came Tuesday, and the chance to do a big run. I was a bit nervous about this, as I hadn't run any sort of distance since the Wolf Run and not in one go since March! But off we set at a nice, steady pace. It was only at about the 2.5km mark that it was announced that we were going to be doing "probably 11km, maybe 12"! It had been more than 3 months since I'd managed that, but the group is a good one so everyone gets encouraged along and no-one is left behind struggling. The run went much better than I had thought it would in the end! It was a bit hillier than I had expected, and really warm, so managing the distance and the hills was a good confidence boost as I knew I could still do it. It's also good to know that Hannah still hates hills more than I do too! It was much more than the training plan called for, but I guess that's no bad thing.Week one's long run was only meant to be 50 mins, but we were out for 1hr 10 in the end! The pace was a steady one, at 6:30 over 10.8km, not bad for the conditions and those in the group.

Thursday was another 35 min run, so I decided to use the same route as before. This time it only took 32:15, not a massive improvement but not bad at all for 7 days either!

As Saturday's are a 25 min run, I decided to use much the same route as the 35 min runs, but with a bit snipped off either end to give a 4.7km run, roughly the same as the 6pm run with Cherwell. The hill is still there, but I now stop at the village shop so I can get some bacon for breakfast on the way home. This also gives a gentle stroll back to the house so I can cool down slowly too. The run took 28 min dead, giving a pace of 5:58/km

As Sunday was Father's Day, I gave myself the day off as a present and went to see my son instead.

But then Tuesday came round again. I had a dentist appointment at 5.20, which is rather close to the 6pm run time, but way before the 7pm long run I'm meant to do. Being a bit of a masochist, I decided to go and do the 6pm run, see how I feel about things and then maybe do the 7pm too! The 6pm run went well, if a little gently. As I was looking at doing the later run too, this was fine with me! The run still only took 28:33, so a not bad pace of 6:09/km. And then came 7pm. There were enough people for three groups this time. One being the fast blokes. These guys run a lot, and some can boast sub 3 hr marathon times. So not the group for me! The second is the regular women runners, again these girls can go some with a couple being recent Iron Man finishers. That leaves everyone else really! The last groups is mixed and was more joggers than runners this week. We opted for a slightly shorter version of the 11km route that we went on the week before, only we took about the same amount of time to do 9.4km, giving a pace of 7:25/km. If I'm honest, I could have done with going a bit quicker, but it gave me a chance to chat with the others at the top of the hills whilst those who were happy with the slower pace followed on. Equally, if I'd gone along with the more regular women, I would've struggled as they came back 10 mins or so after us but had done just shy of 9 miles, or roughly 14km! That would have meant going at 5:45/km, which isn't loads faster than where I am now, but doing both runs would then have been a bit much for me. As it was I'd managed 14 km, very nearly the farthest I've ever run. This week I will just do the 7pm run I think and see if I can push things in a more focused way.

Thursday was then my first go at interval training. The basic idea is that you run at a higher pace for a short time, 6 mins in this case at 10k to half marathon pace, then walk or jog to recover for 2.5 mins. Sounds simple right? It's only 18 mins of running, after all! Or at least, it might be if I had warmed up a bit more and had a clue what pace I was running at! Having done a bit of a jog as a warm up, and not really the 10 mins the plan suggests, I sent off for my first 6 min interval. I later discovered I set off at 4:00/km, and that's a bit much, especially when trying to go up hill. By the time I got to 5 mins I was stating to really flag. I cut the time down to 5 mins as I clearly wasn't doing this right! I did stick to the 2.5min recovery period and then set back off down the hill, again going too fast to start with, with my pace dropping to 4:30/km at one point. After 5 mins, I had to cut it back to the recovery again. The final run was more even, partly I suspect as I'd made it back into the village at this point, where it's flatter. I was still pushing 5:00/km though, so both good and bad. Having done my first go, and buggered it up, I was feeling rather hot! I can certainly see how interval training works, as it felt like I was sweating more in the 18 mins than I had all of Tuesday. I expect I'll do better next time, but having a way of live tracking my pace is needed to do it properly. So I guess I'll be buying a running watch after all, as my iPhone just won't cut it.

The weekend just gone had no running in it at all. Saturday I ended up busy and doing other things, but Sunday wasn't a total loss as a group of us went to GoApe to celebrate Hannah turning 30 again. It was good to do a different and fun form of exercise, as well as the exhilaration of zip wires.

As I will be running more regularly from now on, I probably won't be updating this after every run, but more like a weekly update. Unless something happens that warrants an update of course! If my legs drop off, I might just mention it.

Time to get back on the road!

Following my post-Wolf Run glow, I realised I hadn't been out running! Ant still has a banged up knee, Hannah hasn't been feeling great either, Felix works shifts now, and we've not been out. But basically, we've been a bit slack and time has just slipped by.

Tuesday evening, Hannah and I had a meeting about our fund raising efforts and some more of the planning that we need to sort out. That meeting may have happened in the pub of course. I could tell then that it had been a while since I'd run, as even I had taken a few wistful looks over the hills on the way to the pub and thought that it would be a great evening for a run!

Thursday arrived, as it is want to do each week, and I was just about to head out for a run when Hannah decided she was also in the same frame of mind so we went out for a little jaunt together. As her knee is on the mend, it was only going to be a trial run to see how things went, rather than setting any records. We also realised it had been almost four weeks since either of us had been out for anything like a training run! Though we'd done the Wolf Run, that was nearly two weeks ago now.

The evening was a good one, with a nice warm day and a clear evening. Ideal for running really! It was so good, that I was back down to shorts and my Wolf Run t-shirt for running. I am still surprised that the medium shirt I ended up with fits me!! So off we went at a nice relaxed pace. Going off too fast is something I'm quite good at, so a slow start is of benefit. Hannah also lives on a hill now, so heading up it fast isn't wise to kick things off. By the time we'd made it to the end of the village, both of us were starting to puff a bit and asking the other if they were finding it hard going. Given the pace, it wasn't really hard going as we could still whinge about hard we were finding it. But it was certainly more effort than it should have been!

As the intention had been to see how things went, we'd aimed at doing roughly 5km. As there aren't many road loops out in the sticks, we went for an out and back route that would be at least that far. The way out was good going, but as we got near the turn around point, Hannah's knee went south on her. So south that it made her hip ache too! This was a bit of a problem, as it was the same distance back. So we took it slow for a bit to ease things along, as my ankle was also starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. It was a beautiful evening and the view was good!

Thankfully, the return leg was slightly downhill. This seemed to help Hannah keep going and it made my ankle feel good again. We'd managed to get the pace back on target again too, so it felt like we were making progress again. Turns out that Hannah is even more stubborn than me, as her knee was hurting still. As such, she headed straight back to home whilst I went for a little extension over the fields to get a change of surface. As I was feeling alright at this point, I decided to see about speeding up a bit too. Not too much, but I wanted to up the effort level a little bit for the last kilometre or so.

Soon after, I arrived back at the start and was feeling quite good about things! After a warm down and some stretches with a glass of water, I was just about ready for a pint. So it's a real shame that there's a pub all of 300 yds up the road. The only real fly in the ointment was that I had broken one of my usual rules: the pre-run poo. It might sound a tad distasteful, mainly because it is, but not going before a run makes life varying degrees of uncomfortable during and after the run. There are so many bits of running that are unavoidable, yet only known to those that run. Like picking the blisters off your feet. That one's obvious. Picking them off the ends of all of your toes though?! That one I didn't expect. But it gives you something to do of an evening!! Thankfully, this run was gentle enough to not cause my feet any issues.

2015 Spring Wolf Run!

So a week has passed since the Spring Wolf run, the bruises have mostly faded and it's past time I updated my blog about how it all went!

The day dawned in a less than bright and clear way, but we all knew in advance that the night before was due for rain. I'm not usually one for giving two hoots about the weather as my work takes me just about everywhere inside and out. If it's raining, I know as I get wet. If it's cold, I feel the need for a coat, etc etc. But when it comes to doing a wild run you have the need to know in advance so you can feel appropriately worried about how hard it will be. A wild run is one that covers various terrain, both man-made and natural obstacles, lots of mud and wet bits and in this case, a lake swim. The cold wind wasn't overly welcome though, and would prove to be one of the hardest things to overcome.

The Wolf Run is known for being muddy. And lots of fun. The run isn't timed, so there's no need to be concerned with finishing in a certain position, beating a P.B. etc unless you really wish to. This means that we could keep going as a team, help each other out and push each other into the muddier bits whilst having a heap of fun and giggles.

We arrived at the farm where the run is held with plenty of time to go, as the registration instructions say that there will be cues and delays. Given that the run is open to 5000 runners, and you all enter through the same field gateway, the cues come as no surprise. Thankfully, our run time was 10.40, and with the first wave setting out at 10.00 we wouldn't be facing the hoards that would arrive later in the day. So once we'd parked up and signed in we had the obligatory group photo, along with our two young mascots. Given how battered my legs ended up, everyone was glad to have chosen trousers over shorts!

Soon after, our wave was called over to the pre-run briefing and warm up session. This is one of the things that helped make the day good fun: knowing that the organisers had enough foresight to think about making us all warm up properly. Although being shouted at by a guy in a warm looking fleece stood on a landy whilst you're traipsing about in lycra isn't huge fun! It does make you feel a little silly doing jumping jacks and running sideways, but you do it knowing that everyone else is going to be doing the same thing soon.

The first obstacle is a tyre run, starting with smaller cars tyres and ending with clambering over big tractor ones! The small tyres are harder than they look, as my size 12's don't fit inside the them, but my weight just holds the edges over and makes going quickly tricky. With our group through the tyres, we were running across open fields and to our first hill. As someone who can be just a smidge competitive, I made sure to get to the top in one go. But there were others running with us who made me look like I was going backwards! Once at the top, the view was good as the sun had come out at last. But that view also included the shrieks coming from our next big obstacle: the first of the water wades.

Once down the hill and through a small wooded area, we were stood at the edge of the pond. Wading in seemed the best bet, so in we jumped. There came a point that every bloke took a sharp intake of breathe on this one. Thankfully, I'm 6'3" so I didn't have it too bad and only ended up belly button deep. Others weren't quite so lucky! From here it up a slippery bank and back to running through another wooded area. Only this time, being tall was a pain with all the low hanging branches. But I managed to escape with both eyes intact!

Next up was more running and then more assault course favourites, the net crawl and muddy ditch. These are a stock option and give everyone a short break as you wait for the track in front of you to clear. This is true of most of the obstacles, with the number of runners involved there can only be so many passing through at any one time. Through the nets, it was back to my more usual haunt of trail running up hills and muddy tracks. As the tracks are on a farm, they're often ridged and full of water. So being me, I go splashing into each and every one with little regard for anyone around me. I figure if they're not already wet then they should be!! Right up to the point where I took a left hook to go past a small group. That puddle went from ankle deep to neck deep in less than the space of one stride. And I went from running to swimming in the same time in perfect Vicar of Dibley style, much to the amusement of everyone else. This was quite a shock as it was bloody freezing!

After I had recovered from my impromptu dip, it was back on up to the top of the hill and a 12ft wall. Having been an Army Cadet, these walls aren't hard to cross. The big person, in this case me, crouches against the wall and gives everyone else a leg up. The last person over then helps me to the top and off we go for more muddy trails. This was the point where my trail shoes were really starting to pay off as Katie, one of the girls in our group, was running alongside me and really struggling for grip. With the tracks being mostly single file, the going wasn't all that quick so I didn't see anyone take a tumble.

The next obstacle was last seen showing off Catherine Zeta-Jones lovely figure in Entrapment. In case you haven't instantly guessed, it was an area with dozens of ropes tied between the trees to jump over, duck under and weave around. It was quickly passed, but I'd guess I heard half the people mention the place being lacking a certain Miss Zeta-Jones, even the girls!

Another water wade was up next, known as the Ash Hole, although I've no idea why. This is a split way water feature, although I think both sides were largely the same. It starts with either a scramble down the bank or in my case a jump in, then another waist deep wade for maybe 50-60 yards before needing knotted ropes to climb back out at the other end for the half way water point. Turns out they'd run out of gin just before we arrived, so we had to settle for plain old water.

At some point we knew there was the renowned lake swim, and as we were past the half way mark it had to be coming up soon. But before then, there was another hill to climb. And at the top of this hill was a set of monkey bars. Nothing tricky there you might think. But several hundred muddy hands had tried the same thing already, and the first set went uphill slightly. Of our group only Felix managed more than 4 rungs, and he went on to make it all the way across! Round the next corner was the sign we had been waiting for: keep left for swim, right to run around.

Our group all went left. One of the other guys had just jumped in and others were stood watching and waiting as there is a 4-5 ft drop into the lake. Feeling more than a little gun-ho, I decided to go for it and bombed in. Despite the big jump and drop in, I only just hit the bottom before surfacing. And if I thought my first swim was cold, this lake was worse! The cold wind was blowing and whilst I enjoy swimming, I've not actually swum in almost 2 years and certainly not in a cold lake. On the bank the 75 yards or so had looked not too much bother. But from two thirds of the way across, the going got hard. The water was sapping everyone's strength, except our triathlete Hannah, and the far bank looked a way off. But we all slowly made our way to the edge and clambered out to try getting some warmth back into our bodies. The best way of doing that is to get moving, and moving means running.

Running was now hard work. The cold had taken it's toll, but the sun coming out from the colds was a welcome sight indeed. A short distance away we could see the top of a tower of some sort. As we got closer, it became obvious that we had arrived at the start of the slide. This is a quite quick way of getting down the hill using a plastic slide and a load of water. This was a massive giggle, and like every childhood slide dream come true! You step up to the edge, leap over and enjoy the ride down!

The next thing to conquer was another obstacle course standard, the cargo net. Ordinarily, these pose no bother as long as you climb them in the right way. Using one vertical rope as a ladder is the best and quickest way up and over. But with wet, cold hands and flagging legs, things get harder. Climbing off the other side, I couldn't feel one half of my right hand for maybe 10 minutes!

This was the last major obstacle until the finishing complex 1.5Km or so away. This is approached from across a large field, and the closer you get the louder the crowd cheers! Round the last bend and having all the kids cheer you on is quite uplifting and made me dig a bit deeper for the last straight. The end of the straight has something known as the Nut Cracker. This is basically a climbing frame with a series of large horizontal logs that can just about be stepped across if you're brave enough. Make a mistake, or slip, and the name becomes painfully apparent! Being tall certainly helps here, as my stride was just about right for hopping the logs. Once over, a series of ditches and ridges is next, with more waist deep cold water. These end at The Wall, which won't take a MENSA level genius to figure out. Climb up the small footholds and rope one side, jump or use the wide steps on the back. Simple enough really. We then gathered our group back up again for the final bit of mud.

The finish line is now in sight, and just the other side of one last cargo net covered ditch. Make it through and the scramble to the top is a slippery climb. Jump into the final water hole and you're done! This was our group facing that last jump:

And one of me and two mates in the last water hole. This is about right for the amount of mud you can expect to come away covered in! Not that I could see a damn thing at this point though.

All in all, our whole group had a damn good time! We all came away caked in mud, wet and cold but grinning and happy. The post run pint certainly went down nicely too, along with a hot pork roll. I would suggest that anyone who likes running of any kind, or has a group of slightly fit mates can do this run. Although it is a 10Km run, you maybe only run 8 km of that, maybe less, and the obstacles break the run up and give plenty of chances to catch your breath.

I loved it so much in fact, that I have now persuaded some of the guys we ran with to do the Winter Wolf Run! Even the run organisers describe it as like the normal run, but wetter, muddier and colder!

A semi-succesful run

After a weekend off running, and most other things due to the poor weather, I wanted to get out for a jog. My ankle was feeling better and I was keen to get out, so Felix and I met up after work.

Our plan was to just head out and see how things went. As I was struggling with my ankle hurting last week, I didn't want to over do anything. There's only 11 days to the Wolf Run, and I'll be on call at work for 7 of those, so any chance of turning a minor pain into a major one is to be avoided!

We managed to hit the weather just right, as it has been rather windy of late and was down to a mere blustery when we left. The route was our usual lap of Woodford, with an option to go for a second lap if we fancied it. Once our various gadgets had found a GPS signal, we could start running! Everything was going ok to start with, although I hate running into the wind as it seems to make breathing hard until I really warm up. Thankfully, my ankles seemed to be doing ok, although my right hip was a little sore for the first 1km or so. This often happens, but it soon stops.

After 2km or so, I had to stop and give my ankles a quick stretch. I should really have given them a little more than 5-10 seconds a side though, as it made sod all difference! After a few hundred metres they had calmed down, and this is reflected in the pace graph as it shows a step in speed. Not long after this there is a steeper rise at the 3km mark which felt hard on my feet but we kept the pace up.

This rise is followed by a good long downhill section, which was a relief. It turns out that my ankles weren't quite so keen to go running as I had thought, but I was determined to keep going. The downhill bit finishes at a steep hill, but I only made it 3/4 of the way up before I had to stop. Despite slowing down quite a bit to make sure I made it back in one go, this was quite annoying. This time I did stop and stretch for a proper amount of time to let me carry on and finish the last part of the run. The last section was done at a jog, rather than a run though. Hence the massive spike in the pace chart at the end. I wanted to go faster but my ankles just wouldn't let me. Equally, I did still make it to the end and I didn't feel too bad.

After a bit of stretching, it was time for a sit down and a drink. It was also my turn to take a silly photo of Felix too. This shows part of how the bugger is so good at running, as he's a skinny so and so! He still insists in telling me he weighs a surprising 12st, but I'm not sure I believe him as I'm 15st.

As we were sat cooling down, we were treated to a reminder of how lucky we had been with our timing. We knew a big, black cloud was inbound but we hadn't appreciated quite what that meant until the hail started chucking down 5 mins after we got back. The clouds were part of why we didn't try for a second lap. It may look like rain in the photo, but it's all ice!

So once I had cooled down for a bit, I was starting to feel better. My ankles still ached, but no longer hurt and my hip was feeling good. Overall, I'd class this run as about half way successful. I only wanted a slow paced run to work the kinks out, and that's what I did. On the other hand, I didn't make the run without having to stop. But that also gives me something to work towards for the next run. And after that it'll be nearly time for the Wolf Run!

Cherwell Runners & Joggers

Sorry for the delay in updating this, my head hasn't really been in the game this week. Probably won't be for a few weeks yet to be honest, and it has been noticed that I'm not as motivated as usual.

Having said that, I was dragged over to Banbury on Thursday to join the Cherwell Runners and Joggers for their weekly hill run. This was billed as a 10km road run around the hills of Banbury, and as such I was overjoyed to be going along! But despite my lack of get up and go, I managed to turn up early for once! I was a little nervous though, as I've never run with anything like a group of people who describe themselves as runners. I still don't class myself as a runner, although I guess I'm just about there, so I was a bit worried about being left behind. But they did their best to allay my fears and said that no-one gets left behind as they run as a group and pause at the top of each hill if need be.

So at just after 7pm we set off at a reasonable pace. I had been told that they were a quick bunch and by the end of the first rise we were still near the head of the group and running at 5:30mins/km. Unfortunately, this was also the point I tried to switch the audio cues off in my running app. In a group, they're no use at all and just annoy instead. I only realised at the end of the run that I must have either paused the app or hit something that closed it down as this was the point the GPS data, and therefore the route and timings, stopped. Bah, bloody phone!!

So from that point on, I have no real idea of our pace, other than that it felt at least fairly consistent if not speeding up as we went along. For the first few hills, we were pausing or slowing at the top to close the group back up but as we got further into the run we weren't really slowing at all. Which was proving a bit of a challenge! I had no real idea of the route, so I couldn't figure out how far through we were and how hard to push. Having one guy just about sprint up each hill wasn't helping me figure it out either!!

The hills, whilst mostly short, were also quite steep. In one place we were running down a hill only to get to the bottom and see the lead runner turn round and head back up! As this was in a residential area, the hills were all steep, and often twisty too which makes it even harder work. They certainly look a lot steeper from the bottom looking up. Things were going quite well up to this point if I'm honest, but this was all a bit of a false sense of security. For those that know Banbury, the next hill was the Morrisons hill. This is about the same height as the big hill on the Culworth 4 mile cross country run at 35ish metres, but it is another 250m longer and much later in the run. This might not sound like a huge difference, but I was definitely blowing by the time I got to the top!

From the top of this hill, the run turned back towards the start/finish. Things started to feel better as I knew we were on the last stretch with just one final hill to go. This last hill I took at the same pace until about half way up. Once I'd confirmed it actually was the final hill, I sped up a bit and made the run for the finish line. I was pleased at the speed I managed to maintain and I even caught the front runners too! I did decline to chase the two runners that went off for a sprint finish though.

Once we'd cooled down and had a cuppa in hand, I was feeling a bit smug about the run and how well I felt I managed to keep up. I had expected to feel more tired and achey, but I guess the cross country running and hilly roads that I run on are paying off! The route being 9 rather than 10km may have had something to do with it as well.

Turns out that the feeling smug was also a false sense of security! By Friday morning my left ankle had swollen slightly and I couldn't crouch down without getting cramps. This was not quite what I had expected if I'm honest. It was also still hurting Saturday, so I've not yet been out for another run as I didn't want to do myself any damage, especially not with the Wolf Run in two weeks time. I do have plan to go out tomorrow though  for a gentle run now the evenings are an hour lighter.

A week's worth of effort

Sorry for not updating this sooner in the week, but it's been a difficult few days.

This week has been a fairly active week! I've managed three runs this week, an 7.7km run on Tuesday, a 4.4km run on Thursday and a 4.75km run today.

The first run was with Felix and Hannah, and was longer than I had first expected. It was based on the loop around Woodford that we did before. Only this time we did a second loop around the housing estate. I was expecting just the one loop, but we all felt quite good as we completed the first, so we just kept going. I think the slow start and even speeding up of pace helped to keep things going well, as I haven't cracked my habit of just speeding off down the road yet! But the nice evening weather meant that it was just cool enough to keep going without getting too hot. Felix is also a massive gadget geek, so his running watch was doing a good job of keeping us up to date with our pace. This allowed us to keep a fairly even rate, which is exactly the type of training I need to be doing more of. My own pace is too varied, even if it is a bit quicker. I would be better off slowing down but going further. And that is why I think I felt so good at the end of the run, despite getting into something of a race to the end with Felix! It also turns out that Hannah is easy to upset when it comes to running up hills. I went off a head a little on the last slope, but telling Hannah she's slacking off seems to wind her up!

One thing that does seem to be a bit of a problem is my iPhone. Whilst it only seems to happen in Woodford, it does drop the GPS signal and give weird readings and therefore distances and elevations. Before I altered the route details, I had run 8.5km and managed an almost 500m descent and climb within 4 mins!!

The second run in the week, I have no data for at all! I was out with Felix on Thursday evening, but despite my phone starting the run when I finished it said I had been 4 mins 7 secs and run no distance. The run itself was a fairly quick one as I just wasn't in the mood for running and feeling a bit down. As such, Felix did a slightly longer route, but I turned for home sooner. I had expected to be a bit blown when I got to the top of the hill, but I wasn't at all much to my surprise. So I ended up extending my run to go and meet Felix, after I got bored of jogging up and down the road outside his house! This time we really did have a race to the end, with him beating me as I just can't keep my full sprint up for very long! Looks like I'm still built for comfort rather than speed.

So whilst I have checked how far I ran, and it was 4.4km, I have no idea how long it took for sure. We were doing something around 6mins/km, but I'm only guessing. As such, I'm only half way counting this run.

My last run of the week was today, and on my own. Hannah was Park Running yesterday, and Felix was working. As the weather was so nice, it seemed almost a shame not to go out in the sunshine for a while! I was going out for my usual 4.75km run out of the village and back again. Hannah had informed me of her Park Run time of 25:44 for 5km, so I had a bit of a target to aim for as well. As the weather was so nice, I decided to see about dressing a little differently too. Over the winter I had worn my trousers over shorts as they kept my cramps at bay and my legs warm. Today was quite sunny and warm, so I decided to see if I could manage without them. As such, I was feeling brave enough to go running in just my lycra shorts and my long sleeved top for the first time! I did have a brief look at myself in a mirror before going out, and everything looked just about decent enough! I also thought that I'd see next to no-one whilst I was out as it was so quiet, which was reassuring.

Almost as soon as I set out, there seemed to be people everywhere! There seemed to be women walking dogs and groups of blokes out riding bikes at every turn. But as I was pushing a target time, I wasn't paying enough attention for it to bother me much. I had the audible pace settings on my phone turned on, so for the first time I had something to tell me how even I was running. This was really helpful, and showed me when to speed up and when to slow down a bit to keep things even. Mainly, it was when to speed up a bit, as I was wanting to push for 5mins/km. Despite the good conditions, I still end up with running hair! I also think I need a different running top, as that green colour is not doing my pasty complexion any favours.

As the charts show, I managed a much better job of keeping things smooth than usual. Whilst the pace graph looks spikey, the scale of those spikes is much less than usual. And the push for home wasn't quite as severe as the pace increase shows, although I did try to get my time under 25 mins! As my phone was set to inform me every 5 mins of my progress, I knew how long I had left and how much to push. As I got back home, I was really quite pleased to hear my phone call out 25 mins! This is the quickest I have run by a fair margin, although the conditions where ideal for a good time. Looks like I might stand half a chance of keeping up with Hannah next time out!!

I think the long run broke me a little bit

As Thursday has come round again, as it is want to do, it was time to go for a run. This week though I was solo, as Felix has been burning the candle at both ends a bit and Hannah has angry blisters on her toes from her half marathon at the weekend. Equally, as I'm on a training course all week and driving there and back each day, I wasn't really in the mood either!

With such a promising start, everything was bound to go to plan! And as I set off, it did seem to be going ok. But quite soon, my legs started to feel heavy and my breathing wasn't staying even. The heavy legs bit went away and I think was caused by me pausing to adjust one shoe that I'd done up a bit tight. But as I was heading out of the village, I had expected my breathing to get back in line. As I start a bit too quickly, I expect my lungs to have a quick strop and then behave. But that just wasn't happening today. I don't know why, as I've not had a strenuous week, but I just could not keep my rhythm going. Or at least that's how it felt. I'm not too confident in today's pace chart, as there's no way I was done at 4:30kms at the point I decided to turn for home! The rest of the chart feels about right, as I was trying to push my pace today, and I did my best to finish quickly.

Despite the promising time, today was also the first time in weeks that I have come back from a run and felt the need to use my inhaler. Even now, nearly four hours after I finished, my lungs don't feel back to normal and I'm still a bit wheezy. Which is a bit annoying, as whilst I'm pleased with the pace I managed I think Sunday's big run has had a bit more of an impact than I first thought!

Wolf Run training

With the Wolf Run approaching, I could do with extending the cross country run Ant and I do. Whilst we do normally do 6.5km, the Wolf Run is 10km, with obstacles. So a longer distance would come in handy. During the week Ant had suggested a longer version of the route we normally do that should be about the same 10km as the Wolf Run.

Today came around, and Alex was also around for a run out so the three of us went out together. As the two masochists were together, they found a route that was even longer! Oh yay, just what I was looking to do!! But being a mug, I agreed to it and off we went. I wasn't really looking forward to this, as I've only ever gone so far on the roads and that is hard enough work! This is the relevant section of Ant's map that I am now considering burning.

The run started on our usual route, and included the first of the big hills. I must be getting better at this, as I got to the top without having to put in as much effort as I usually need to. But my ankle was getting a little grumpy as the ground was quite hard, and muddy tracks aren't renowned for being flat. We carried on following the same tracks until we got to the field before the ploughed one. So that was something to be thankful for at least. But we were now into horse fields, which tend to be heavily rutted. This section was tough on my ankle, as there's just about no flat ground to run on. Eventually, we came across a flattened track left by a tractor and I've never been so glad to see one! At the end of this large field, we joined the local section of the MacMillan Way, a rather apt bit of track.

As today was fairly mild, I was only wearing a base layer and my hi-vis top. Alex only had a short sleeved running shirt on,and I was starting to get too hot. It's been a while since I've been hot enough to run in a single layer, and certainly never in just my compression top! As such, Ant decided to take a photo. For once, I don't object to this photo, as black really is slimming!

From here, it's a long, hard slog uphill to Eydon. The first half of this bit just keeps on getting steeper, and is all mud. This was the hardest running I have done so far I think. So hard in fact that I was on the very edge of hyperventilating at one point! I've not had that happen to me for years, so I must have been pushing myself today. The main worry at this point was that Ant was carrying my inhaler, and had buggered off up the hill ahead of me. I knew he wouldn't be coming back any time soon, and as my lungs had given up, I couldn't even shout for him either!! After a short battle of wills with my breathing, I got things back under control enough to get back on my way up the hill. This might sound stupid, but if I had let my breathing completely return to normal I would have struggled to get going again on the steep hill.

Finally, thankfully, I reached the flat of the top of the hill. Only to find Ant with his phone propped on the gate taking photos of me. This was the first point that my shoes started to give me hotspots and the beginnings of blisters. Whilst there is no good point for this to happen, we were now as far from home as we were going to be so there was nothing to be done except carry on.

We were now in Eydon, albeit briefly, and then soon running round the grounds of Eydon Hall. This meant a bit of an easing off of effort as there is a long section of gradual downhill. Not that my feet noticed, as the hotspots weren't getting any better as the tracks were still quite hard. I half way wish I'd put my road shoes on! The trail runs fairly flat from here to near the edge of Culworth, with a few little rises and one larger one into the village proper. This is the point I had expected to turn right and head back for home as I was near the end of my endurance now, with my feet hurting and heavy legs. I was just glad that the tracks were in arable fields, as it meant they were nice and flat.

But no, when we hit the road, Ant and Alex went left and away from the finish line. Ok I thought, we're going up to the church to make a complete mile up or something and I can live with that. Right up to the point where they carried on away from the village and down another track, which I happen to know does not loop back into the village any time soon. Right about now, if they'd been within reach, a slap may well have been administered!!

I was now struggling to keep going if I'm honest. The blisters on my feet had kind of become my point of focus, and I was having trouble thinking past them. The sloping field we were in wasn't helping, as my feet were pushing even more against the sides of my shoes. I was also slowing to a walk/slow jog at regular intervals too, as I was knackered. The last hill into the village had taken more out of me than I realised. But once across this field, it was flat and level from here to home, even if it was on the road which would make my feet hurt. I was also getting quite annoyed at Ant for telling me to dig deep and give one last push!

So when the two bastards didn't take the road home, I very nearly did anyway. Ant knows me well, and knows that my competitive side will just about always surface so I had to follow them. After a short road section, there were a few fields I guessed we'd be running over so I knew my feet wouldn't fall off just yet. I was quite pleased to see Alex go past the turn we needed so I got a brief moment of joy when I called him a slacker for falling behind as we took the right path! Childish? Absolutely, but it helped!

As we crossed the last field, I had hoped that we'd be going back down the main road but I know Ant well too. And I knew full well that we'd be going the long way home. I was sorely tempted to cut things short and head back down the path by the pub, but Ant kept telling me that there was one last bloody push to go and we'd be done. I do believe I even threatened to hit him if I ever hear him say that phrase again! So there was a last loop down the track we set out on and back through the village football field to finally meet the main road and the short run back to Ants.

Overall, I am mainly tired after today! I am also really happy with managing to finish, as I doubted that I would manage the massive increase in distance over our usual run. But we ran further than I had expected at the start by some good distance and for a lot longer than I have ever been out for too. Using the running mapper I do gives an equivalent flat distance in the same time of of 15.4km, so 1km more. But that assumes a hilly road, and doesn't take into account the effort needed for the cross country side of things. I ache less than I had thought I would, but I'm willing to bet that will alter in the morning! It's also no surprise to discover that the elevation changes look so steep on the chart, mainly because they are! If I can keep up this level of training over the next few weeks without breaking myself, I am a lot more hopeful of how I will manage the Wolf Run.

Felix is starting to seem keen.....

Now that Felix has his shiny shoes, he seems keen to get a few miles under his belt. This would normally be a bit brave to start wanting to do so much so soon, but we'll be doing the Wolf Run in a few weeks. The Wolf Run is basically a 10km cross country assault course. Technically it's a run, but there's so many things to climb over, under, through and swim across that it may as well be described as an assault course! The 10km bit isn't so much a worry, as that can be walked if it really comes to it, but having the strength to keep going over the obstacles is. As such, I want to focus on the cross country running and make a serious effort to do some sit ups, press ups and so on in the run up to the run.

However, when it's dark all that goes out the window a little and we're left with road running round Woodford instead. Whilst any training is good training, and there's not really anything else we can do in the dark, I would rather be doing a country run! Be that as it may, I need to help get Felix up to a point where the Wolf Run won't kill him. As he'd like to do some basic runs to get him going, we set off for a little 4km run.

We set off well, as it's downhill, but Felix soon found the pace I was pushing him at a bit much. As we were only doing 4km, I wanted to get him sweating and putting some real effort in. But sub 5mins/km was maybe a bit much in the cold! As such, we slowed down to a little over 6mins/km which is a decent enough pace for what is only Felix's second run out. This was the pace we kept up until the bottom of the hill back up to the old village. This is where I told Felix to just keep up a steady pace and not stop, as he's not a fan of hills. Not that anyone is really, but you get the point.

Being a sneaky bugger, I speed up at this point. Felix managed to keep up, and the pace gradually dropped over the last km from 6:30/km. He was a little surprised when I didn't take the road to his house, but kept on going up the hill instead. If I'd told him in advance we were doing this, I'm not sure he would've followed me! But the pace kept dropping as we went and into a sprint finish. Well, I managed a sprint finish. Felix is still unsure of the idea and prefers to jog in with his phone in hand. However, it was good to see him sweating about as much as I was, so he had put in some proper effort this time and made it round without stopping. I've just got to get him out across the fields now and going for more than 4km!!

Banbury Parkrun

As Hannah has a half marathon in the next week or two, and a friend called Rachael who doesn't run regularly to stay, we decided to have a go at the Banbury Parkrun course instead of doing a long run. As with the all other Parkruns, it's a 5km run with a 9.00am start time. This run is three laps of the Spiceball Park, which both Hannah and I find a little boring as it feels like you're just going round in circles, which you kind of are! Felix decided that discretion was the better part of valour for today, and sloped off instead of joining us.

Whilst stood around awaiting the whistle, the effects of my warm up jog across the park from the car were quickly wearing off. So my first go at doing something of a warm up proved to be somewhat wasted. The girls also looked less than pleased to be stood about in the drizzle and had considered not turning up at all. But they did take turns in using me as a windbreak, which I can't really blame them for as the wind was cold and wet, and I can do a fair job of blocking it as I'm quite a bit bigger than they are!

As Rachael wasn't sure about how she'd do, Hannah and I ran at the pace she could manage. As such, this was a bit slower than the pace we'd normally go at, as she'd not run in a while. We'd expected the run to be paved and fairly flat. Whilst it was pretty flat, the paths were at times mud and grass. We would have been better off in trail shoes as the road shoes we all wore gave next to no grip on the soft stuff, and would have been just as good on the paths. A tip to remember for next time!

As we got going, the drizzle had turned into rain. But Rachael was doing well and keeping a fairly consistent pace up, although she didn't look too keen on it! The rest of the field seemed to be doing the same, and I didn't see many people being overtaken other than by those on the next lap. The rain was coming and going, and mainly staying as drizzle but at least the wind had the decency to stay mainly in one part of the park. As we neared the end of the second lap, I wanted to push on a bit so I left Hannah and Rachael to run together as I went on. This is the point on the pace chart were I speed up a fair bit.

For the final lap I did manage to overtake a few people! Although it maybe sounds a bit bad, having someone just a little bit in front of you gives you a target to aim for. You push to get past that person and then look up for the next person to get past. I ended up running with another bloke as it seemed we had a similar approach for the last lap. I had hoped to beat him to the line with a sprint finish, but the last leg is on grass and I could only go so fast as I was slipping about as it was. I was also quite shocked to hear Hannah and Rachael cheering me on to the finish line! I was certain they hadn't passed me, yet there they were! It turns out that Hannah had slipped on the path edging in one of the muddy sections and hurt her ankle, so her and Rachael walked directly to the finish to see me home. Despite the surprise it was good to have them there shouting me on, even if I couldn't catch the other guy!

Given today's conditions, and that we were getting Rachael out for run, I was happy with the result. I had hoped to come in under 30 mins, and my official Parkrun time is 30:15 as there is a delay between crossing the line and being able to hit stop on my phone. As I had run yesterday, I'd guess that's had an effect as I've not run on consecutive days before and I did feel a little stiff this morning when I got out of bed. I certainly know that my right hip aches quite a bit now, so I'm having a beer to celebrate.

A jog in the dark with Felix

Felix is a very good friend of mine, and also Hannah's other half. He's also been cajoled into running a bit with us! So for his birthday she was kind enough to buy him some running shoes. However, due to a snowboarding injury he's not been able to run until today. But at 6.30 we were heading off on the 5km run out of the back of the village to see how he got on with it. He didn't think he'd manage the whole 5km on the first go.

Felix has had a slightly better start to running than I did. He turned up dress in all the right gear, and thanks to Hannah, the right sort of shoes. It doesn't help that my partner also thinks he looks better in lycra than I do!! But even I will admit that he has a lot less wobbly bits than me, the git.

I tried to run at a medium pace as I was leading and didn't want to go out too fast. The first bit of the run I find tricky as it's hard to get a rhythm going on the twisty footpath. Warming up might help with this, and it's probably something I should start doing! But things carried on well, with the pace being fair for Felix's first run, especially as it was getting dark. The traffic was higher than I had expected, which has a impact on pace. Despite being 6'3" and wearing day-glo yellow, as well as a head torch, I still nearly got a BMW to the face! Felix did seem a bit concerned about having to turn round and run all the way back, so I managed to get him to the 2km mark and suggested he take a quick break there whilst I carried on to the half way mark.

Once I was back with Felix, I wanted to try and get him back in one go. He wasn't so keen on this as an idea! Despite his protestations, we managed to keep up a reasonable pace of a bit over 6mins/km. Not bad going for his first run, although this bit is down hill! Once we got back into the village, I wanted to see if Felix could really push on for the last few hundred meters. His only comment was he thought we already were! But as the pace chart shows, I had been pushing him on for the last 1km already, but I wanted to go up a gear again. As such Felix finished a short while behind me, so the charts show my overall pace rather than his. It was therefore my turn to take a photo of him looking despondent.

As said above, the charts show my times and don't reflect Felix pausing at the 2km mark or his finish time. I think they do a fair job of showing how being unused to running will make your pace drop off, but how you can dig a little deeper and press on once you know you're near the end. Knowing there isn't much farther to go can do wonders for finding a little extra to push on with! It is however quite annoying to run with someone who barely sweats at the end of run, whilst my chunkier self is pouring with it. I'll just have to push him harder next time!!

 

A very gentle cross country jog

A good friend ours mine is staying with Ant this weekend, and being a fool, he decided to come running with us! He's been doing a fair bit of exercise on a cross trainer and wanted a challenge. So the 4 mile cross country run after a few days of rain should do the job!!

As expected, we all set out at the usual 5mins/km pace but as we soon hit the muddy fields, the pace dropped off a cliff. Tom only had trainers with him, which are nothing like the trail shoes Ant and I have, so he was struggling a lot for grip. So much so that Ant and I spent a fair bit of time watching him tip toe his way across the fields. And when not tip toeing, he does a good line in mincing too! It didn't help that the local hunt had been out and the ground was soaking wet just about everywhere. Even the stony sections of track were heavily puddled.

Not that I am without mockery from today's run. As Ant and I were taking Tom out, we were going at his pace for today. So Ant and I stopped for a quick selfie at the top of the first big hill.

Not only do I look a little daft with the double chin and awesome running hair on full display, I also appear to have evil black eyes which the boys suggested makes me look like Jigsaw:

So back to the running. Tom was struggling a lot today, both with his footwear and after a while his knee was giving him trouble too. As he has only been using a cross trainer up to now, he was rather shocked at the difference running across the fields gives. He found the mud to be especially hard work. As such, it would be fair to say that today wasn't a record breaking run. But it did sort of break Tom! I won't put the pace chart up, as it doesn't really show much for today as Ant and I were stopping to encourage Tom on regularly. But the finish time for Tom was 56:11, not a bad go for his first run, and in trainers too!

I was also quite pleased to make the hill back into the village in one go for the first time. I'm not sure how it would've gone if we'd been running at our more normal pace though. I must say it was also rather nice to be encouraging someone else along, rather than having Ant shout at me for once!!

Aching ankles

Following Saturday's mixed result, my ankle still ached as well as my shin. This obviously isn't ideal, and could knock my training back a bit if I don't do something about getting my feet adjusted to running in my road shoes. And the only real way of doing that is going out running! For this week though I will be aiming to do more runs but of a shorter distance, probably not much more than 5kms each time. The aim is to get my ankles working gradually but regularly.

And to that end I was out when I got back from work doing the 5km run out of my village. The aim was to go at a reasonable pace, if I could manage it, and to concentrate on my lower legs and feet. There was no intention of breaking any records today.

Everything started off ok, although I really should have put another layer on today. As it had been nice and sunny all day, I was wearing just a T-shirt most of the time. So I thought a base layer and my hi-vis top would be fine. Turns out the wind was rather cold again! But being daft, I had gone round the corner by this point, so I just kept going instead. Thankfully, my breathing was ok and it only meant I wasn't as warm as I would have liked to be.

It wasn't until near the half way mark that my ankle started to ache again. You can see this as the spikes in the centre of the pace chart below, as I was stopping to stretch a little bit. This soon calmed down, and as I turned for home it was my shin that took up the lead and ached instead. Rather than stopping, I found altering my stride length a little helped with this. I didn't want to keep stopping, as that puts me off my rhythm and I was getting a bit colder each time too.

All in all, I did what I wanted to do today, but it won't set the world alight. It was meant to be a gentle run and it was, even if I was going a little quicker than I intended as I'm still rubbish at pacing myself.

Whilst I wasn't consciously speeding up on the way back, it is slightly downhill. And my shin had stopped aching, so I wanted to push on a little bit where I could but I did forego my usual sprint finish. I also made sure to do a good 10 minutes of stretching today, something I am usually terrible at doing properly. All feels good now, but we'll see what it's like in the morning!!

Hannah's 13km Challenge

Another week has passed, but I've once again been on call, so I didn't get a midweek run in. To make up for this, Hannah and I planned to do the long 13km route we did before. She also has a half Marathon in three weeks time, and needs to get some longer runs in beforehand. I need to get a long run in with the new shoes too.

We headed out early afternoon under a sky that threatened rain. In the ongoing experiment, I didn't use my inhaler before we went out this time. I then also forgot to pick it up on the way out! We were meant to run from Hannah's to the place we started before, but she forgot and started running at the pub instead. I did try to point this out to her, but she insisted that the extra distance would be good for me!

The run started well, and the new shoes were doing a good job. I couldn't feel any seams or anything untoward and they were comfortable. Unfortunately, it started to rain not long after we left the village. I don't have a waterproof running top as yet and wearing glasses in the rain is a pain, as they tend to collect the water. I know from experience that there's just about no way of wiping it off without smearing the lenses, so it's best to just put up with it.

From here, everything was going quite well. The pace was good, my lungs were doing a decent job for once and we were even able to discuss a few details for the auction preparation. But then the long distance runs are meant to be done at a pace at which you can maintain something like a conversation. Up to know, that's not really been possible but I'm starting to get to that point. If this is how I manage without my inhaler, I think I will continue not using it!

All was well, right up to being about half way up with long hill from Wappenham and into Weedon Lois. At the 4 -ish mile mark my left ankle started to ache. And by the 4.75 mile point, at the top of the hill, I had to stop. I had hoped that stopping to stretch would help work my ankle loose, along with loosening my laces a little as I was starting to get tingley toes just as I did the first time I wore my new shoes. After a minute or two of work, we set off again and everything felt a lot better. Not perfect, but certainly good enough to keep going. And no matter how good my ankle felt, I still look terrible running!!

Weedon Lois happens to have a steep deep in the middle of the village. And I didn't make it all the way up the far side. The ache in my ankle had become more of a pain, and I had to slow to a walk. At this point Hannah thinks my ankle had now had enough of being corrected. I've done all my running so far in my trail shoes, but now I'm in properly fitted road shoes my ankles are being made to run more evenly than before. And this means they may take some time to adjust to this new pattern of running. As it wasn't far to the 10km mark, I wanted to at least try and make it to there. Once we were back on the flat, I was able to get up to a reasonable pace again and make it to the pub in one go. It seemed that as long as I was running on the flat, or downhill, I was ok but uphill was stopping me quickly.

This was the screen grab I manage to take as we passed the pub. It's roughly 5 minutes slower than when we did this before, but given the problems I was having I'm still happy with that result. It also shows the average pace to be the same to this point as our previous effort was for the whole run.

Being stubborn, I knew that once we made it to the Weston pub, there is only really one big hill to tackle so we carried on at a slower pace. Partly because my ankle was still aching and partly because Hannah was wanting the local Hunt to clear off so she could use a convenient section of hedge!! This part of the run was done at what ever pace I could maintain, so it varies quite a bit over the last 3km or so. Once we were up the big hill it was all back down hill to the pub! The last 600m I was determined to do at pace, as that's the bit in the village and the run to the pub itself. I could hear Hannah behind me thinking out loud that I must have smelt the pub as I set off at just over 5mins/km, the fastest we'd gone so far!!

Comparing the charts with those from the previous run, the pace up to the 9km point is broadly the same shape but clearly slower once we hit the second section of the long hill in the middle. The first 6ish Km was actually faster! The last section from 9ish km is also much slower, and this is where I think my ankle was causing the most drop off in pace as I just couldn't keep running and had to walk a fair bit. This is reflected in the average pace and it's pretty much the slowest I've run on the road. Overall, we were just about 10 minutes behind last time's pace. I think if I hadn't had to stop so much we would have made it round quicker but that wasn't to be today.

In an effort to ease my ankles into the new stance I'm going to try and do a few more runs of shorter distance. I'm thinking of doing a 5km run on Tuesday and then something similar on Thursday. Hannah and I had planned to join a hill run around Banbury on Thursday, but I don't think that's wise after today's run!

Two steps forward, one step back

Another Saturday, another cross country run with Ant! We've not done this run for a few weeks, and since Ant has some new very orange trail shoes it was about time we went back out. During the week we had discussed extending the route by another mile or so, but as I'm on call again I didn't want to go out for too long/too far this weekend. We'll go for the longer route next time.

As both Ant and I were working today, we didn't get out until almost 4.00pm. That's a little later than we'd like to head out, but now the evenings are drawing out it's not been an issue today. It was a touch chilly though, but the new layers I bought last week did a good job of keeping me warm. I was also rather glad that I remembered my gloves, as Ant was a bit annoyed that he couldn't find his pair.

One thing I had forgotten, both to use and to bring along, was my inhaler. I've been thinking about how to best experiment with my asthma, and how to get it to play ball with the running. During the warmer weather, I don't know if it'll be much of an issue as the cold is my main trigger. But warm weather is a little way off yet!! I have seen suggestions of a hard, short run to trigger things and then going for the actual run once it's calmed down. Others suggest very gentle warm ups, but that would mean actually doing a warm up as it's not something I bother with. Still others suggest further options, like careful pacing, or a set way to vary your pace.

I have been considering a different approach, which will surprise no-one that knows me! I've noticed that my chest seems to feel coldest on the runs where I have used my inhaler, but on the few times I've forgotten it I've had less of a problem. So my initial experiment is to not use it at all. If using it causes my chest to get cold and grumpy, but not using it gives me no obvious ill effects then it seems a logical first choice. I had intended to do this another time, but as I'd left it at home, today turned out to be the first go!

As usual, we set off at a fair pace, heading downhill. The ground has thoroughly thawed from the recent frosts, and there had been a group of horses out earlier too. So the going underfoot was very sticky or very slippery. Ant likened it to running on deep, wet sand. As I've never done that, my best version was running on pritt stick. There's little quite so annoying as having to pull your feet out of the mud with every step. It's also bloody hard work, and was making my ankles ache. This was especially true on the big hill. For every step forwards, it felt like I'd slip half a step back before my shoes bit into the ground enough to support me. I still managed to make it to the top in hit though, which I was pleased with!

The low point of the run was being beaten across the last field by a herd of sheep. Having just come off the last ploughed field, I was struggling a bit and dropped to a walk whilst the sheep chased Ant to the gate! From here it was the final hill, and the bit I look forward to the least. The first hill is hard, but there's no-one to see you. This hill is both steeper and longer overall as well as having the added bonus of being in the village. Equally, the training must be paying off as I only had to drop to a walk once this time round. Normally, it would be at least twice, so another thing to be pleased about!

I had hoped for a sub-40 minute time, but the conditions meant that was never going to happen. The last time we did this route, my time was 42 mins 30 secs but the ground was frozen solid. For some reason, when I hit the stop button, the timer kept paused then kept going but I do know that the time was 42 mins 21 secs. So not quite what I was hoping for, but still a touch quicker than when the ground was hard! That puts our pace at 6:42mins/km. To get under 40 mins I need to get this down to 6:20mins/km, so not a lot faster than today's pace really!

Just to finish things off, Ant has once again managed to thoroughly capture my inner beauty! At least I'm smiling this time at the end of the run.