w/c 19 December - A man with a plan

5 runs this week, which is pretty good for Christmas week with shopping to do, a baby to fuss over and wife to spoil rotten.  I even got a quality session in on this Christmas Day morning - a 3 mile hard tempo run with a mile warm up.

What I'm most pleased about is that is was a structured training week which I think sets a pattern that will take me up to the PBR.  What will change over the coming months is the length and severity of the sessions.  But the variety of sessions felt really good, and will work on leg power, lung capacity and mental strength.

The pattern is that I outlined last week, i.e.:

- Speedwork

- Tempo Run

- Fast hill reps

- Longer hill reps

- Hill run

- Long hill run

- Rest day

The week's training was:

Mon - Long hill run - 3 hours in the snow on Moel Famau - 14M, 3500'

Tues - Fast hill reps - 8*Eccleston reps

Weds - Rest day

Thurs - Hill run (with Rob C) Gamelin/Ponderosa/Brittania circuit - 10M, 2500'

Fri - 3 Tattenhall Railways - 1000', pouring with rain

Sat - Christmas Eve, rest day

Sun - Christmas Day, 4M (3M tempo, 1M steady - 26:45)

Total - 34 miles, 7,500' ascent (all ran)

Still feeling a bit slow, but getting better

w/c 12 December - Weak and Similar, Strong and Different

I need to change.

I tried to run four road miles fast today in the club Christmas handicap and found that I was over 2 minutes slower than 3 years ago and my place in the club pecking order has drastically changed.  It comes as no surprise as I know this has been a poor year for running (injuries, new job, baby!) but it has provided a kick up the arse.

If I am going to get fit enough to do a PBR, never mind a solo one, I have stop trying to do things better and concentrate on doing better things.

Better things like eating well, sleeping well, training well (not merely frequently) and resting well (i.e. stretching on rest days, not just doing nothing) and throwing in some cross training (bike, weights, swimming).

Currently, I eat too much crap, have too many late nights, train very one-dimensionally and do no stretching or cross training at all.  It's no wonder I'm nowhere near as strong as I'd like to be.

It would be easy to do more steady fell runs and count the climbing, satisfied in an easily won 10,000 feet ascended per week.  But that is not enough.  Instead, my training is going to include:

- Speedwork - Once every week
- Hill intervals - short and fast on road - Once every week
- Hill intervals - medium on fell, 300'-500' - Once every week

- Short, sharp road runs - Every other week, alternate with long intervals

- Long and fast intervals (1m, 1.5m) - Every other week, alternate with short, sharp road runs

- Hill intervals - long 1000'+ - Every other week, alternate with hill runs
- Hill runs - 1.5 - 3 hours - Every other week, alternate with hill intervals

- Big days - 4 hours/5,000' + - Every other week, alternate with really big days
- Really big days - 8 hours/10,000'+ - Every other week, alternate with big days

- Consecutive really big days - Once a month, probably with nothing else that week

- Rest - Once every week

- Stretching - yoga each morning + quad/calves/hamstrings after each run
- Strength - weights (low weights, high reps) every evening before bed, one gym session each week doing whole body efforts

Given that one day is a rest day, that six days to train.  The above requires 6 sessions per week in addition to the weights and stretching.  Time will tell if this is a) possible and b) effective

As for food, just cutting out crap will be a good start!

And so it feel like i'm getting started.  The good thing, the one good thing that came from today's run is that the calf held.  A fast road outing does test old injuries and now I hope that I can train with confidence and determination.

Week summary:

Mon - Moel Famau from Loggerheads, 4M, 1300'
Tues - Busy, so nothing
Weds - Bowland Hills run, Clougha Pike and Grit Fell, 1300', 5M
Thurs - Moel Famau with Tim - 1500', 5M
Fri and Sat - Rest/busy
Sun - Club handicap 4M

4100', 18M - not much but ticking over for now

w/c 5 December - an odd source of inspiration...

I got inspired by a road runner today.

Today, I was the driver of the lead car for the Border League road race that my club Tattenhall Runners organise. For just over 30 minutes, my rear view mirror reflected the image of a blue-vested athlete running with grace and power in the pouring rain as he pulled away from the 300 strong field.  After 2 miles, there were no other figures in my mirror - he was well clear and a class apart.

So for four miles (about 20 minutes!) I had a good look at him, reflecting on his reflection. What makes him so different to the rest of them?  Was it talent alone?  Was it something he'd done, some way of training?  And was it something I could learn from? I looked for clues in the 2 inch reflected image.

What I saw was both obvious and newly compelling.  Simply put, he looked like an athlete.  He was both powerfully built and sinewy.  His arms were not bulky but looked strong.  He looked like he'd trained his body, not just his legs.  He looked like, and was, an athlete.

It occurs to me that this Paddy Buckley malarky is going to require me to be fitter than I've been before.  Correction, stronger than I've ever been before. It's a 'good hour' longer than the Bob Graham according to basic legend, and my time for the BGR was 23:35 (although admittedly, I slowed right down and smelled the roses when I knew it was in the bag).  I need to be at least as strong as I was then.

Realistically, stronger.  Especially as I'm running alone.

Training for 24 hour escapades is typically based around long hill days, running hard on hill reps and anything that gets the legs in shape for climbing and descending.  I'm not sure I can do much more of that than I did before.  But thinking of that whole-body athlete powering along in my rear view mirror today made me remember something - that whole body weariness that grows as you move into the last stages of a round.  He didn't look like he'd be troubled by such matters.  I'm very slight and do find my thin little body does ache and after big days out - I rely completely on a strong pair of legs!

So for the first time in my entire life, I'm going to build weights into my training.  I'm not planning on getting buff, but I do want to get an all round strength which I've never had.

Add to that a better look at food and sleep and who knows, maybe I'll be an athlete by the time I'm ready to crack the Paddy Buckley.

o0O0o

Week training summary:

Mon - 4 Tattenhall Railways and some trail running - 1300' ascent/5 miles
Tues - Moel Famau - dash up and back - 1000' ascent, 4 miles
Weds - Rest
Thurs - Moel Famau up and back again, VERY windy and cold, storms on the news! 1000', 4M
Fri - Moel Famau from Cilcain and back via the plank bridge - 1400', 6M
Sat - Rest (actually, hungover!)
Sun - Trail run and railway, Sandstone Trail - 8M, 1200'

Total - 5,900', @30 miles - Steady week with no big day, building up gradually after injury

w/c 28 Nov - Keep it simple, stupid

No sooner did I decide that I wanted to keep it simple and go solo on the PBR, it went and got complicated.

I mean, what flavour of solo will it be?  The FRA Forum seems to be alive with suggestions. Solo-unsupported, solo-self supported, solo-supported?  Is self-supported (stashing food) really the same as unsupported (carrying everything - the 'purest' way) given that no-one is helping you at any point.  If both are truly unsupported, how else might we distinguish between these two shades of lunacy?

It doesn't matter to me because I am getting some help.

I'm going to run the round on my own, but will get some support at the road crossings only.  Every step of the PBR will be done alone, carrying my own kit and food.  This is a format I've set myself because a) this is about journeying the fells alone, not making this as hard as I can and b) this is a compromise that my wife is happy to live with.  b) is critical to a successful and enjoyable round and she's had her fill of watching my suffering during my winter rounds and so doing this alone throughout is too much for her to bear.  So completely solo is a no-go.  It's only right she gets to influence how i do this, given she'll be caring for Rosie (our 10 month old daughter) whilst I'm out training.  To quote Billy Bland, "If you're now't at home, you're now't anywhere".

So that's makes it solo-supported.  Simple.

It won't be anything if I can't train but thankfully, the torn calf that has bothered me seems to have healed nicely.  This leaves being unfit as the main issue to address now, well that and the fact I don't know about 50% of the route.

This week saw some progress towards addressing both these issues.  I managed to have a great training week that got me exploring the Welsh mountains whilst not making that silly mistake of doing too much too early.  A 9000' week done in three outings - just about right.

The best day was Friday, heading up Snowdon/ Yr Wyddfa from Llanberis and coming back via the PBR route to Moel Eilio - a circuit of about 13 miles taking in 5300' of ascent.  There was snow and clag about 700 metres and a very cold wind.  That route is a gem, with a tricky finish through the streets and paths on the edge of the town (more FRA Forum advice - thank you!) and it was so very enjoyable.  Pete's Eats afterwards was also just magic - a cracking fry up.

I realised at a stroke that the gradual climb up Snowdon is runnable, and a fit me should be able to run most if not all way up.  I had a fair amount of gear, given the weather, and was not fit enough to run it then, but I have my eye on this for a springtime training run done lightweight.  (I even decided to buy some trail shoes afterwards to make running this good track more comfortable and went for the Solomon Speedcross.  Can't wait to try them out!).  I'll be back on this when it's warm, clear and when I'm fitter....

I also chucked in my old training run from the Horseshoe Pass along the Llantysilio ridge and back again - about 8 miles and with 3100' ascent/descent.  I didn;t time it because I knew it would be slow compared to previous runs, but it was important to me to be able to run all the (very steep) climbs and i just about managed it.

Add a couple of Tattenhall railways and we have a good week.

I already feel good about this round.  No date, simple format, few dependancies and a desired rather than essential target time (24 hours).  It's simple, now that I know what to call it.

Week Summary:

Monday - Nothing, busy day working
Tuesday - 2 Tattenhall Railways, very loose and wet
Wednesday - Gamelin run - 3100'/8M
Thursday - Nothing
Friday - Llanberis circuit - Snowdon to Moel Eilio - 5300'/8M
Sat/Sun - legs feeling a bit tight, and two Christmas do's to, erm, do.  So nothing.

w/c 21 Nov - Not injured, so good

The main objective of this week was to run for a bit and it not to hurt.  So mission accomplished.

Half a week's training after a month layoff was hard work, but I knocked out about 4000' tentitive feet of climbing and some easy road runs, and nothing hurts and so I think I can start.

90 mins on Kinder (from Hayfield) and 90 mins on Moel Famau (from Cilcain) each felt harder than I hoped, but there was no pain in the calf.  This was brilliant.  It was just brilliant to be amongst the fells again.

This week has not really been defined by the training, but more by the forumlation of a plan.  Well not a plan exactly, just firming the idea up a bit really.  I'm torn between an 1100 start at Capel Curig to get that long leg done first, or a 1800 start at Nantmor which is a start time for me that worked really well when I did the Bob Graham.  I'm also wondering when to go - mid to late May seems to be in my head now, as the weather is often settled and it comes about 3 weeks after the Fellsman, which is a perfect final long day out before a taper. 

I still don't know which time or date I'll go with, but the joy is that I get to spend the next few months working this out.  I'm starting to get excited about the training days.  I don't know much of the ground the PBR covers very well or at all in some cases.  I've never done the bit between Siabod and Nantmor nor the southern bit of Snowdon.  I hardly know the Hebog bit.  I'm hoping to get out on Friday on that long Capel section - this is when the real training begins....

Week summary:

Mon - nothing
Tues - 2M on road, testing the calf - all ok
Weds - nothing
Thurs - 90 mins on Kinder and William Clough 8M, 1700' ascent
Fri - 7M hilly road
Sat - 3M easy road
Sun - 90 mins slow on Moel Famau, 7M, 2300' ascent

4000' ascent, 27 miles

Tune in Head - Business Time, Flight of the Conchords

Going it alone

5 years after completing a summer Bob Graham Round, and 2 years after doing it in mid-winter, I'm off again.  But this time, it's going to be very different.

This time I'm leaving the Lakes behind for the Paddy Buckley Round.  I'm looking forward to discovering the Welsh mountains.  This time I'm going alone.  No support on the fells, no company, just me and the mountains.

It's going to be different because I'm different.  5 years ago, I was a relative newcomer to fell running.  I needed help with my summer BGR and got plenty.  The same for my arctic-esque mid-winter BGR.  Lots of doubts, and lots and lots of help.  Now, I want to explore the experience of a solo round.

I've helped out on a few BGRs and a PBR and have enjoyed them all and have repaid many a debt.  Now I'm tiring a bit of the 'events' that rounds, especially BGRs, can become. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm in a different space now - a much more low key space.  Hence the desire to do a low key round.

I do think that the PBR lends itself to a lone round, more than the BGR.  There's no club, no membership criteria, no 24 time limit and no ratification required to join.  This seems at odds with the mountains (easy to say when you're in the club I have to admit).  This means no completed PBR can be described as a failure.  I like that.  

Also, these mountains are for the most part, more remote.  To my mind, a posse, working doggedly to a schedule seems wrong here.  Well, less appropriate anyway.  I love the idea of a sort-of wilderness experience and so I'm going for that.

I'm also motivated by the additional challenge presented by a solo round.  Carrying your gear, finding your own way, feeding yourself, assessing the conditions and keeping the will alive are all new tests to the soloist.  There's no hiding place on a solo round.  

The other huge benefit is that you can go when you're ready. With a group of helpers, you usually have to pick a time months in advance and stick to it, give or take an hour. Here, I can wait for settled weather, put it back if i'm not sure i've got enough training in and just go when I'm 100% ready.

Right now in November, I'm at a low ebb fitness-wise as I've had a recent calf injury.  It appears that it's almost mended and so it is with excitement that I'm on the cusp of preparing for a summer 24 hour round again - a great thing to have in your life.

This blog, like the others, captures the highs, lows and frankly, mostly boring details....