kinder

funnily enough we've never been over kinder so yesterday was the day. a 0630 start before the madding crowds arrived and also before the CLAG lifted. visibility up top was down to around 30ft so the treck up and across the kinder scout bog required that compass thingy. the aim to hit a nw line and arrive at kinder downfall. nearly hit it but not quite. to much amusement of my fellow runner 'raldiss' i apparently was heard saying 'that's the way!...well I think it's the way....actually i've got no idea'.
we did do one very small comedy lap round a fenced off enclosed area, arriving back where we started without realising, before getting our act together and heading back south on the pennine way into more familiar, and by then, sunny territory.
a great and inspiring way to spend a morning so i think we'll be back there lots more over easter hopefully when we can see a bit!
(ps is there an obvious path after grindsbook clough all the way to kinder downfall as indicated on the os map? if so, we missed it)

so

what's been happening?
firstly, my knee has just about resolved itself. its a little bit sticky but not painful. that's good :)
secondly, charlie has just had his new look for the 2011 spring/summer season and looks as fit as..well..an ultra collie of course :)


so with a better knee and a new look for charlie, we set back out on our adventures starting with two 20 mile ldwa events, the 3 shires and spring into old hutton

last weekend it was the 3 shires, our most local event, about 2 miles away. we bimbled round with nick ham (thanks for the company!)over very familiar territory (so much so i never referred to the map) and saw will meridith and simon moorehouse (also on the mend) along the way. they really do put on a good event for which everyone is exceptionally grateful.

so to this weekend in its blaze of spring sunshine, glory and the lad's new streamlined look. we were entered for the ldwa spring into old hutton, near kendal, but were equally tempted to go off and do our own thing over higher fells. we went for the former and had a mixed experience i guess. the effort etc jim the organiser and his helpers put into putting an event like this on cant be faulted and again we're really appreciative of it all. like the 3 shires the food was excellent!
i guess i struggled with the route, being largely over undulating fields, farmland and lanes and hundreds of differently styled styals. fiddly i'd call it. and for me not very inspiring.

it had its moments..heading up to lambrigg wind farm and docker fell.


..and perhaps the best dressed trig point i've yet come across, up on the helm


..and ending with a good chat with my friend john king and his dog sally (she chatted with charlie) over soup and sandwiches


so where am i going with all this?
2010 was perhaps my best ever running year with two massive highlights of the c2c and the lakeland 50. so it was always going to be a tall order to match the enjoyment in 2011. injury and two events in and i must say i haven't been inspired as yet.
i guess im now on a journey to rebuild my fitness and i have to be patient for it to return. charlie's boundless energy provides great inspiration in that regard.
but more importantly, ive realised, or maybe i knew all along, that if we're to continue long distance stuff the most important aspect for me is to be inspired by the places we traverse and by and large they mostly come in the form of bloody great hills or mountains

i think...

...we might be back (touch wood)

two weeks and zero running. just getting fat.

physio last friday. really hopeful to get thumbs up.

thumbs up. friday lunch run. ouch. 1st mile painful. discard orthotics. pain relieved.

sunday. ditch the asics trail shoes. revert back to my favorites. north face rucky chuckies. result. 10.5 miles and little, if any, discomfort. 6 hours since finished and no repercussions.

plan. next saturday's 3 shires. maybe do the 20 instead of the 30 (being sensible). our first event of the year (hopefully).

charlie is delighted. i am delighted. we're all delighted.

hope i haven't spoken too soon.

ps thanks to everyone's words of encouragement. they were much appreciated.

sliding doors

TURN LEFTfriday..after a really demanding week at work we drive up to the horse and farrier in threlkeld. enjoy good food and jennings ale
saturday..run the ldwa 4 lakeland passes event with pooch. perfect spring day. hardly a cloud in the sky. love it! this is where i want to be. back to threlkeld for a repeat of friday night
sunday..drop down to south lakes for a cracking run with hayfella. a new route for me with a long time friend. babbling brooks and new born lambs abound

TURN RIGHT friday..no running
saturday..no running
sunday..no running

so you've guessed. im on the sidelines good and proper. not one yard run since last sunday. physio's orders..a conclusion i'd got to too. i've done the 'i'm not really injured' denial bit (this started early january). i've done the *&%$ angry part. i'm now hopefully moving into acceptance and looking forward to recovery with prescribed stretches, ice, physio and cross training.

while all this is going on i hope everyone is enjoying running in the beautifully brighter days we're getting and any events you're doing.

we'll be back. and one of the first things we're gonna do is pop up to the lakes and do the weekend we've missed out on

keep smiling folks!

OK so i could swear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

having a glass half full, sunny side up kind of disposition i didn't like to mention in my last post the uncomfortable feeling i was getting from my right knee up into my quad as i was completing that first interval session for ages
the next day i didn't run, i hobbled and back to mike honey my physio i went
'too much too soon' he said. the problem lies with my knee tendon and its connection to my quad. my fast twitch muscles weren't firing properly apparently so all hell broke lose in my that region .
soooo..im back to weekly physio, a strengthening exercise (which does quite plainly show the difference between both legs) and no quick stuff for now, which is a bugger as i really quite like the variety and it was there to jettison me into some shorter fell races.
ok thats my new plan quickly derailed but hey much worse things and i'm already back running at my previous dreamy pace
but i'll be back soon i hope..steady..tempo..intervals..in that order...i'm too young to be a permanent hobbler,i really am.

reaquainted with speed

im hoping my post title doesn't attract the wrong sort of blogger/follower/dealer. if you thought it was about popping some pills or shooting up i'm sorry to dissapoint

that said, there are some fine qualities to speed (street drug) that have relevance to speed (running pace)

- Speed makes people feel wide awake, excited and chatty.
- Clubbers take it because it gives them the energy to dance for hours without getting tired.
- Amphetamines was once the main ingredient in diet pills because it stops people feeling hungry

maybe i'll try some on the next 50 miler i do after all!

i digress

today was my first speed session for around 6 whole months. gasp. shock. horror. i know there will be running whippets reading this absolutely horrified by my lack of attention to any sort of pace sesion. the thing is, doing only ultras now i've kind of kidded myself that every run can be a lovely ambivalent plod, just floating along , in a daydream, without a care in the world. dont get me wrong, i love floating, its hypnotic. but in my mind i know i should be doing a couple of tough sessions a week like i did when marathon and half training.




so today folks i grasped that spikey nettle and headed to the xc track at macc harriers over lunch. its a perfect 1/2 mile circuit. a warm up, some dynamic stretches (hf taught me those), some strides, then 4 x 800's. i'll reveal my pace only so long as you dont laugh - a metronomic 7 min/mile each lap. for some fellow bloggers that's a LSR pace but not for this juggernaut. hey, it's a start. we've got to start somewhere yes? and having started i must keep going so i'll be poping up there weekly and building the number of reps up, maintaining the pace, as well as making sure i pop a weekly tempo run in for luck also. so, you whippets, you better watch out..this ultra collie's getting his skates on ;-)

and for the rest of the time i'll continue with my transcendental outings

here comes the sun :)

finally, that great big ball of fire in the sky and clear blue skies decided to pay us all a visit this week (see proof below). to celebrate the occasion, and a couple of birthdays in the UC household, I decided to take a half day holiday and sneak a little run in, in shorts would you believe it!

maybe it was unofficially the first day of spring and the kick start required to get everything to start coming back to life again

the route was so good I decided to do it all again,and more, yesterday with raldiss. i'd guestimated off the top of my head it would be around 20 miles, in the end it was 24, which make it very pleasingly our longest outing this year so far. a row of 3 consecutive and rather brutal climbs towards the end ensured a tasty sting in the tail..all good training for the events coming our way soon. and charlie ate it up too without any difficulty which was reassuring to see

i can't wait now for light mornings and balmy evenings. it can only be all good.