dog blog

this week we managed to get the mileage up to 58..just 2 short of our goal..we must either try harder or learn to count properly ;)

sundays 4.5hr outing saw weather ranging from springlike with all the bird sound effects





right through to snow blizzards on top of the roaches



the great thing is that im really enjoying it all and secondly sustaining the effort (50m, 51m, 58m) hasnt been an issue..probably due to my enjoyment

now the worst of the weather has just about gone we'll be going higher once again and adding in some faster stuff and hill reps midweek as time goes on

charlie too is coping well with the extra mileage and im desperately hoping he'll be in good enough fettle for our ultras but most importantly the coast to coast. big thanks to our friends kate and gerraint for their massive help with the lad.

so..an easy week ahead..some swimming, gym, bit of biking and a long run at the weekend..and some lounging around



one happy collie!

spot the difference

last staurday

this saturday

51+ miles done this week. 1 more than last, though 4 short of the weeks target.

now the snow is abatting, ice has become a problem, so much so that sundays run was a run of two halves..the first off road that had to be curtailed in favour of road shoes and a slightly less slippy surface in the form of tarmac. made for quite a nice change and dont road shoes feel like slippers!

loving the whiteout

well, we seem to be back on track guys. this week we've bagged just over 50 miles, which for early January and the tasty conditions out there i feel is a good effort. charlie is hyper on every outing, his energy is boundless.
for me though the snow and ice is forcing me to run at a very steady pace, which i like! but with greater effort. i wonder how much more effort exactly is used running in snow than normal..it feels like a lot!

to keep it safe we've been running locally where we know every inch of the land. but even yesterday the variabilty of snow depth was incredible down one field alone! you're running on a more compact less deep surface one minute and the next you're missing the bottom half of your legs!

here's a few snaps from saturdays outing. the weather kept changing. one minute a sun strewn winter wonderland followed quickly by dark skies and light snow flurries. and so it kept alternating. the wind chill was also very noticeable for the first time.

fresh snow...nose lickin' good

up on gun hill

the roaches looking moody

hen cloud looking less moody (5 mins after taking the roaches pic)


round tittersworth reservoir (with a brief stop to refuel on mrs uc's spiced apple cake)

over to a frozen rudyard lake


and finally, back home via our local church (called the church in the wilderness) where me and mrs uc got hitched and our kids christened


a good week to snowboard us into the next with a slight mileage hike..here we go again!

slip slidin' away

on saturday we set out to clear skies and a crisp white coating underfoot

hidden ice and slippery rutted steep sided banks drew our running into walking at times

then in came the snow storm for the next two and a half hours

it was a whole load of fun

and just the sort of outing that im after this year

charlie adores the snow..maybe i should take him sledging too!