all i want for christmas...

fantastic freezing cold weather here, especially the higher up you go.the wind chill factor really kicked in yesterday so it was full on full body cover on our 21.5m outing

up to 'the cloud' first


the river dane is full flow



ferrel goats keeping a watchful eye on his nibs


peek-a-boo!


hen cloud in all its glory


so to answer my question..all i want for christmas is a little compact camera..i wonder if santa reads this blog? or even mrs uc ;-)

what does everyone else want?

winter wonderland

its official and its great! the cold snap is well and truly here
our run out this morning at 0530 was done under chilly clear skies, on a crisp moonlit landscape. absolutely perfect and invigorating. but no pics unfortunately. well it was dark!

roaches rush hour

today started as a nice local, gentle 17+ miler to get my weekly total up into the 50's

there was a temp inversion and generally all was quiet, except for the odd uncontrollable dog we came across..people of britain,please pop 'em on leads if they take no notice of your 'commands'. thank you. rant over.
anyway it was a nice little trot out from home along rudyard lake to leek, round tittersworth and over to the ....uh oh its the roaches race today! not for the first time have i ventured over here on race day (remember hayfella?)

anyway i scootered through meerbrook just ahead of the start and by the time i got up the field i could see the leaders coming up..i suddenly felt like a fox being chased by the much-speedier hounds..and i'd already done 10 or so miles and besides in a race like that i'd be a back of pack runner anyway
it was all about how long i could go before the inevitable of the front end whippets would come flying past

the leader popped by us just before the trig...then within minutes a gradual trickle continued on by

it was really quite strange to be amidst a race without actually being a real competitor

anyway here's the really crazy thing...17.5 miles here, largely run in mostly slimy muddy fields, took more out of us both than last weekends 28 mile run over stoney mountain trails..how daft is that!

brilliant days

this was my first wholy self-indulgent UTLD100 training weekend up in the lakes. looking at what i packed you could have been forgiven for thinking i was actually heading up there for two weeks not two days..a minimalist i am not when it comes to that side of things
a 7am start and two hours later i was in retail therapy heaven at pete bland sports in kendal. i could have stayed there longer, spent more, but with a few new treats (ahem ..i mean essentials) it was a quick drive down to kentmere to meet my good friend meesy aka hayfella for a trip round the kentmere horseshoe, a lovely 13m rollercoaster route climbing around 3600ft
the skies were clear,the sun out,the shades on and we had a great time..it was brilliant to catch up with steve..lots to chat about and after his op and recuperation i hope this was run proved to be a good rehab strategy. either that or he'll be cursing me today

(hayfella and his nibs)


(kentmere horseshoe looking pretty damn lovely)


we said farewell and i then headed off to my next 'appointment' down at wilfs cafe in staverley to discuss all things UTLD100
after a very inspiring chat and a few pots of tea it was off to the kings head in thirlmere..our chosen provider of sanctuary, fine ales and the best cumberland sausage and mash..it was absolutely brilliant
rising before breakfast for 'day two' they'd kindly put out a bit of continental fayre but forgotten a cereal bowl.improvisation was the order of the moment so there i was eating muselli out of a very large red wine glass..very posh if not a bit eccentric

our meet up point for the UTLD100 recce was right in front of this glorious autumnal view of windermere. a very familiar face and friend, simon aka safety pin, was there too plus a fellow forumite, denzel aka hot tub alci, and his dog meg

(windermere early morning)


today's little outing was to be a 28m, 6500ft recce from pooley bridge back over to ambleside. another sunny morning and the lakes looking its very best

the five of us, pooches included, ran together up to gatesgarth path, when hot tub alci got his secret weapons out (his poles) and powered on ahead, leaving me simon and charlie to continue alone

(safety pin..on our way up to high kop)


anyway, we had an absolute belter of a day (thanks to mark, terry, and the checkpoint folk..they do know how to organise stuff but moreso are just really nice guys too) and finished feeling very fresh, with thoughts of planning our next trip up.i was especially chuffed that id remembered the route and only had to reference the routebook a couple of times.

a pork pie and a pasty for charlie seemed good reward for a cracking day out..the boy's a star.

now where's that diary??

collie's roundup

pleased to say that week 1 of my utld100 training has passed without event and im still on track. with 39 more weeks of training to go and some big mileage ahead there are no heroics just yet, no fetes of massive human endeavour...just 53.5 miles in a variety of climatic conditions ranging from -5 to +15 degrees. all done in the glorious surroundings of autumnal technicolours, though most mornings in the pitch black.
this time im trying to be a good pupil this time round so i've even started putting tempo runs and hill reps back on the menu.
and i can't wait for the weekend (bouncing like tigger with giddiness)..a two day pass out to the lakes with his nibs..saturday with the my good friend hayfella around the kentmere horseshoe followed by a 26 mile recce on sunday of the 100 course from dalemain to ambleside..boing boing!