w/c 16 Jan - Cautiously optimistic

This week has been another good one - 5 training sessions and a good mix of quality and hill work.  It feels like a week of transition from one phase of fitness to another.  Up until last weekend's XC race, my current state of fitness was "returning from injury", which is code for 'don't expect much' when speaking to other runners.  It's a common start-line excuse.  Now, I'm definitely feeling like I'm "in-training" and starting to feel stronger.

Calf Summit - looking west towards the Lakes

I wondered this week if i was strong mentally though.  I set off on Wednesday to do a run around the Sedbergh Hills course, 16 miles and 6000' ascent but as I ran up the first summit onto Arant Haw the cold wind really got up and the prospect of a long day was not appealing.  When I was a 24-hour round virgin this would not have put me off, but I didn't have masses of time and found myself doing a reasonable run to the Calf and back taking in Winder on the way down.  I ran well but didn't have the stomach for a huge day in the cold and strong wind.  I don't know why.

Summit plate on Winder

Maybe I'm being a bit more discerning thesedays, knowing that the coming weekend might yield better conditions and a chance of a longer run?  I don't know, but the indiscriminate hunger i had 5 years ago is now something else, something more calculated perhaps?  Whatever it is, i realise that doing the PBR as the person I am now does not mean trying to recreate all of what I did 5 years ago on the BGR.  I have to use everything I;ve learned about getting ready for rounds having done them summer and winter.

One of things I learned is that getting race fit, with quality and climbing, first before moving into the phase of doing really long days in the spring an early summer is a good move.  Hammering out big days form Jan onwards will wear out your head and legs, and your home and work life.  Training for long races involves long runs of 3 hours or so, not 8, 10, 12 hour epics.  These are needed, but not yet.  I'm also keen to run as much as the ups for now.  This builds strength and power.  The big days April and May will add stamina and mental strength.  This is my approach.  It balances all the forces in my life, and gets me strong for some confidence boosting race performances, with the Edale Skyline (March) and the Long Mynd (February) being particular targets.

With that in mind, running for 2 hours on the Howgills instead of 4 hours is not going to hurt, but come the summer it has to get serious.

Week summary:

Mon - Rest
Tues - 5M, 5 efforts on Bickerton Hill
Weds - 8M 2800' - Sedbergh, Arant Haw, the Calf and back again + Winder
Thurs - 7M 6 * 800 metre efforts (club session)
Fri - 5M, 5 efforts on Bickerton triangle hill
Sat - Rest
Sun - 11M, 4100' run in the clywdians (very windy)

Total: 36 miles, 8,900'