2nd week done

Florence and the Machine belted out You've Got the Love as I approached the trail. I startled a buzzard which spread its wings and rose into the air, perching a safe distance from the maniac with the silly grin on his face. This is why I run, the endorphins had kicked in and there was only me, Florence, the buzzard and the North East countryside.

Earlier, I wanted to leave about 0930 for the run. It was nearer 1100 when I eventually left due to messing around and photographing Deer roaming through woods accross from my house. The Braes are 6 miles from my house, so with 12 miles of tar and only 3 miles of trail I had to take road shoes. On leaving, I scoffed at the Aberdeen radio station reporting cloud and rain as it was a beautiful morning outside.

6 miles of road later the weather turned, rain hail and sleet hit as I reached the Braes. No worries though as I was well kitted out. I decided to eat half way which turned out to be squirrel bridge which crosses the river Ythan. I opened a Muller Rice and began eating with a plastic spoon. Rather than stand around, I decided to walk and eat. Mounting the steps onto the bridge I noted the ice coating the stones and thought I better take care. I crossed the bridge, rice in one hand, plastic spoon in the other and reached the steps to decend off the bridge. Completely ignoring my own warning, I stood on the steps and all hell broke loose.
The rice and spoon went flying as reflexes took control of legs from my brain. Scooby Doos legs spin fast to get away from ghosts, mine were doing the same to try and keep upright. It was over in a flash, I somehow ended up off the steps, on my feet and half way to doing the splits. If I was on Dancing on Ice I would have scored a maximum six from all the judges. A quick check around saw no-one in the vincinity so my pride was intact. I scooped up what was left of the rice from the frozen mud and was on my merry way.

So, two weeks in and I am happy enough with the way things are going.

SAT 6.80 miles 1.03.10 SUN 14.92 miles 2.35.43  Weekly total 37 miles.

Rural Training

Running on country roads should escape the pollution encountered in urban areas but this is not the case. An early morning run often involves inhalation of diesel engine fumes as van drivers pass by on their commute to work. On cold frosty mornings chimney smoke does not rise into the air but stays low creating a haze which you have to run through. Then you have the real country odour of muck spreading. Maybe running with a head torch heightened my sense of smell. I struggled to get up for training this week, leaving it as late as possible before forcing myself out. I need a change of scenery so I'll have to think of somewhere to put in the 15 miler on Sunday. TUES 4.05 miles 37.56 WED 6.96 miles 1.05.39 THURS 4.01 miles 36.55

First Week Done

It's been cold and wintery this weekend so a couple of character building runs were in store. On Saturday, the winter kit I was wearing struggled to keep out the cold strong wind. Running into the wind required double effort to keep moving more than walking pace. Sunday saw the winds ease a bit but there was a layer of deep slush and lots of standing water on the country roads. I thought I was going to get soaked by cars throwing water and slush up as they passed, most drivers however were very considerate and slowed down to avoid splashing me. That's the first week of ultra training done and my right leg seems to be okay.
For the time being training on the road suits me fine, but I will have to hit the trails again at some point.
SAT 7.10 miles 1.06.01  SUN 14.12 miles 2.21.44  Week total - 36 miles.

Training Begins

It's only fair on my family if Ultra Training is done early in the morning. The hours spent putting in the milage can eat into "quality" time, especially at the weekends. I have started the programme this week. Crawling out the scratcher at what feels like the middle of the night, stumbling around in the dark getting ready then coughing, wheezing and freezing around the local country roads. For the time being I am staying on road until I build up some milage as the right leg seems to be okay (touch wood). Tues 4.03 miles 38.41 Wed 6.82 miles 1.05.37 Thurs 4.02 miles 38.00.

The purpose of yesterdays run was to complete 6 miles on a flat course and avarage 10 minute miles. I wanted to finish injury free and ready to take on the ultra programme on Tuesday. Have I succeeded? I'm not sure to be honest. I completed the run but felt my right calf getting tight in the process. I think I had a wee bit of a limp at one stage. It's a beautiful day today and I am resiting the urge to go for another test run. So, I will attempt to start the ultra training on Tuesday as I have nothing to lose. Hopefully these problems with my right leg will disappear as I up the miles. If not? Then its a withdrawal from the whw race and back to the drawing board. 6.02 miles 58 minutes.

Not Out of the Woods Yet

Another lunch time run today and the right leg is still not feeling quite right. Used the Soleus watch today for the first time but lost the data when I finished the run. Can't be bothered with the instructions so I'll work it out as I use it. All I remember from the data is I ran a total of 3.35 miles. So, more ibuprofen it is and we'll see how I get on with the next run which I plan to do on Saturday.

Zip A Dee Doo Dah Zip A Dee Ay

Three miles / Five Kilometers / 30 minutes / half an hour. Call it what you like but I'm back running. Went out at lunch time today for an easy run and returned pain free.
Had the usual paranoia all runners must have when trying to shake off injury, worried every niggle or twinge could be the condition coming back. I have to resist the temptation to build the milage too much too soon so I will take tomorrow off and do three miles on Thursday. If all goes well I aim to do a longer run at the weekend then begin the ultra training plan next week. Fingers crossed.

The Brooks Radius range has always been my choice of road shoe. I decided to treat myself to a new pair and attempted to buy my usual size 9's on Ebay.
I couldn't understand why the only choices available were size 11, 12 or the womens range. After doing some research on google I found out why. The Radius shoe was discontinued some years ago. Blast! I did not want to attempt any other shoe knowing the Radius works so well for me so it was back to google to search for a stockist.
Run and Become came up trumps with a size 9 1/2 for £40, a bargain which I quickly snapped up.

Another purchase I made was a Soleus GPS watch which arrived tonight. This is a basic watch which gives you time, splits, distance, speed and calories burned. All for under £100. The only down side is you cannot download the data to a computer, despite charging through the USB. Can't wait to try it out on Thursday.