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!

dont let the demons in

as you can probably guess due to my lack of blogging i've been away. well either that or i've had nothing worthwhile or remotely interesting to say. or maybe both!
after 7 wonderful warm days in portugal with karen and the kids - just messing about, doing 'bombs' into the pool, laughing, lazing around, banging down huge water slides at breakneck speeds, just stuff you do as a close-knit family, all without distraction or interuption - i landed back home with a huge unexpected bump

maybe not straight away..there was our annual trip to alton towers' 'scarefest'

then a trip up to see the wonderful amy macdonald (if she's playing your neck of the woods pop along and see her..she's absolutely brilliant live)

and then, BANG, back to work
now normally after a holiday im full of get up and go and general positive vibes
in portugal i ran 5 miles religiously everyday..that's all, but enough to ensure my legs remembered what they were created for. then on the plane home i (finally) finished reading 'feet in the clouds' (i started it three holidays ago).
so why yesterday, my first day back at work, could i not muster up any enthusiasm to run or , in fact, do anything that remotely involved physical exertion? why did i completely avoid updating my running log or reassess my training plan?
deep down i know the answer..i know what was trying to drag me down, trying to sap my positivity. coming back to wet, cold, dark britain doesn't help but its more fundamental than that. but i won't bore you with the details..though i suspect hayfella and part time runner know what im talking about
this morning my alarm went off at 0515. time to run. a moment of truth..can i be arsed? can i be arsed to drag my butt out of my lovely warm bed and into the cold dark morning that lay waiting outside? reluctantly i did
it wasn't until 0600 that i finally made it out into what then seemed a very univiting big outdoors. if anything it felt like a chore to start..give charlie his run out (bless him, without a run for 8 days, he was bouncing around like tigger!) and make sure i keep going as i've the small matter of 100 miles to run in 9+ months. '100 miles!!!' i thought..'no way!..i can't do this every morning in the cold and dark for the next 4 months! and work's utterly pants! what if the axe falls on my head next??'.
as you can see, by 0615 every excuse and every piece of early morning negativity was knocking on my door, and pretty loudly too. demons determined to up-end me, my belief, my joie-de-vie, and my plans.
well, for whatever reason they failed again to get in!
maybe charlie's flightiness and general giddiness, chasing wildlife (i couldn't make out what)from hedge to hedge inspired me. maybe thoughts of karen and hollie and will. maybe it was memories of conquering past ultras. maybe i was inspired by my singing (in my head!)amy macdonalds lyrics 'but i will run until my feet no longer run no more'. or maybe it was the thought of facing you the jury, and others like you, and telling you i'm no longer doing it.
anyway, by 0700 and with my home in sight, i was back on form, brimming with positive vibes, planning my lunchtime run, and eager to re-edit my 'next 9+ months' plan
as my journey continues i simply have to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
so come on people. lets bloody well run. and lets run with a smile on our faces. because we can!

keep off the moors...

..stick to the roads



0530. its pitch black outside. and a pea souper. so it's on with the headtorch and charlie's flashing collar

out we head. into the thick of it. i can bearly see a thing. i see things only once I'm on top of them. my light illuminating only the nearest vapour drops flying through the air at me.

we leave the road. charlie goes off lead, into the darkness

the occasional moth divebombs my face
im garrotted time and time again by low lying cobweb lines
as i pass the lake a kerfuffle starts..is someone in there trying to bag wild ducks?? i can't see, only hear. whatever it is im not hanging round to find out so i put my foot down
every so often i call out for charlie, just to check he's still around and we're agreed on the route
a light in the distance comes closer. a cyclist. i bid good morning as we pass. no reply. not even a mad ha ha ha laugh, grim reaper style. i pick up the pace again to make good our getaway.
gradually the dark fades, the fog starts to lift
we enter a field. charlie sends rabbits scattering in every direction.
the bullocks stir, their eyes lit up by my torch, their minds lit up by charlie. time to get the lad to heel
soon we're home. no sign of life yet apart from sid sat by the back door awaiting his breakfast munchies

so here we are again, another 5 months plus of this until spring, and its light mornings, comes and visits us once again

if you can't change something, embace it