Not Running But Walking

Though I've not blogged for over a week there's been plenty of running going on through lurgy and bad weather. M emerged after days of sofa surfing with a sore throat and too much daytime TV. He was feeling a bit better today in time for the fresh dump of snow and family visitors...

The Legend of the Rombalds Romp

After the last five days of cultivating my impressive pot belly (having now indulged in 5 slap up dinners in a row!) I managed to squeeze through the front door this morning & pop up to Ilkley Moor to watch friends and club mates in a new local race, the Rombalds Romp. The race involved a 7 mile loop climbing up along the moor ridge path, taking in an anti-clockwise loop via deep bogs and bone-rattling descents. I was very impressed by the sights of thigh-high mud which only added to the dramatic backdrop of the gorgeous Wharfedale valley views. I also got to meet running legend Ron Hill MBE. Ron was sporting a new go-faster haircut and looking very sprightly despite this less familiar fell terrain. He was also very friendly and posed for some pics ...

Training this week has remained pretty full-on, in line with my plans to train hard through Summer races and use events as threshold sessions in preparation for the Autumn. I ran a tidy 12m on the road with M on Thursday, followed by a few speedy strides on the hockey pitches on Friday (before dining out #5 with the lovely John & Anita in a local Vietnamese that evening - a real treat). M & I ran an easy 4 today to loosen our legs for the Pudsey Challenge 10k in the morning. The course is a mixture of road and muddy trails with some (well lots) of hills. The terrain makes times pretty meaningless which feels quite liberating. I'm feeling a bit too relaxed though as M noted tonight. I'll have to work on getting nervous in the morning.

A Fine Pair

Nice change today as we ran with very good company this morning on an easy 4 mile recce of the relay route around Danefield Forest in Otley. Nigel A came over from Pudsey to act as our trusty guide and along with our mate Tricky we ran a nice, easy and very loopy route around the forest tracks. These old legs felt strangely tired but am trying not to read too much into this other than the usual pre-race panic that I'm not fit/fast/fresh enough for the efforts of a road race. I'll stop being a scaredy cat once the gun has gone at 12pm tomorrow and I've got the race started. My pre-race nerves are always ridiculous, even for really low key events so no surprises that I'm already stressin'.

Had a very welcome invite to refuel on a coffee and biscuits at Dragons club later in the morning and chewed the fat with a pair of good running pals, Kevin O and Tricky. Both are great runners and equally immersed in the sport themselves but somehow they still manage to be incredibly supportive, positive and generous towards those around them. Anyway, after eyeing up all those muffins, croissants and other devilish things in the cafe I decided to rescue that box of forlorn looking blueberries in the fridge and rustle up a delicious pancakey snack. Only for pre-race fuelling purposes of course ; )

Bear With A Sore Head

For the first time in a long while I went on a proper Saturday night out. As a consequence I'm feeling a bit fragile in readiness for my long run this morning and also a bit guilty about the absence of any blogging yesterday, particularly when I had two runs rather than just the usual one.

Did a couple of short runs on Saturday mainly to tease out the stiffness from my legs after hill hell. After a plate of bangers and mash for lunch with twinkling Kevin O, M & I ran a shortish loop around Fewston & Swinsty. The skies opened on our drive up but as soon as we stepped out the grey clouds departed and warm sunshine gleamed across the still waters, catching droplets of fresh rain as we ran along the wooded trail. The path was dim and humid with lush overhanging trees, this place is magical right now if spoiled only slightly by the sound of sausages and mash jiggling audibly in our tummies.

After the wonders of the outdoors we then ventured out to a gig! It's been yonks since we did such a thing. We had the fine company of Julian M of Otley et al. Live music is one of the very few things I miss about living so far from Leeds though the venue wasn't the best; a bit of a flashback to Pheonix Nights. After enduring two support bands of mixed interest; a few glimmers of hope in the set from All Thieves, we then got comfy for One eskimO. JM had sent some tracks which I'd quite liked but these are a band to be seen. The 4 piece are all great musicians and are very strong live. Came home buzzing. That might have partly been due to shandy. Can't believe I've got a hangover this morning, on two shandies, how pathetic am I?! A great start to my Wharfedale HM recce. Until later...

I'm back! Survived the 13.45 miles around the Wharfedale HM recce. Despite suffering with the shandy hangover I managed to get round the whole thing without anything falling off. This is a first long run for a fair bit so was a bit anxious I might have chewed off a bit much this weekend. Anyway, recommend this route as a lovely alternative training run - scenery was spectacular, the course had enough climb to make it a quality training run and there were surprisingly few walkers about. Settled in tonight feeling v sleepy but managed to perk up after watching the last part of the Red Riding trilogy. Have watched very little on the box of late but recorded this and have been savouring each part; this is classy telly. Would recommend this to anyone with a penchant for gritty realism, great tv production and depictions of West Yorkshire in the 70s. Was a bit disappointed to have finished off the good telly stored up on our V+ box thingy until I saw what's on next week... Flight of the Conchords is back! Woohoo! This has got to be the best thing on the telly for ages. If you've got BBC4 this Tuesday at 10.30pm (I think) then switch on, sit back and enjoy. Monday morning won't seem quite so bad with such a treat on on the way.

360 Degree Sunshine

What a fantastic day. If a day could be perfect then today was it. Started with a great sleep; straight through until 8am when I was awoken by the sun peeping under the bedroom door. I scrambled out of bed to check out the weather and was faced with clear blue skies with not a cloud to be seen. The plan for today was a real treat, our favourite scramble from home; across the suspension bridge and straight up the face of Beamsley Beacon before running from the cairn on to Roundhill summit. A long grassy descent took us back past the reservoir and right at concrete square leads us on to the final drop returning into Addingham. I wish I'd had my camera on the run today - really wanted to catch the gorgeous day in a box. The skies were clear, blue and bright; picking out every detail laid out in the valley whilst sunning the rugged shoulders of the surrounding hills.

Not sure what to do about my camera dilemma, it's a tricky one. I'm wondering how I can manage to lug about my lovely new D-SLR in a jolt free fashion for runs such as this. I'm wondering if I can find a modified bumbag on the market. The run today was particularly inspiring as Roundhill provides an unusual 360 degree view of the local scenery and is a great spot for capturing impressive panoramic shots of the surrounding valleys; you can see for miles in every direction.

The run was an eager and alert 10m at a nice steady pace despite the climbs and rough patches underfoot. I felt frisky, free and feather-like. It was great to wear shorts and a T-shirt as this always seems to add to the sense of freedom on a run like this. Felt overdue for a full 'heart' rather than a head run, (do you know what I mean?). Knowing my propensity to be v obsessive & intense about stuff I can get a bit focused on the 'session' and forget why I got into the sport in the first place. Today was a very welcome reminder of how wonderful running is. I'm also very lucky that I share it with someone I love. I came home feeling very elated and ready to tackle anything (except the clematis now taking over the house - must get round to it). Back with a bump though as spent the rest of the lovely sunny day doing chores and finishing off a paper for work tomorrow. A grim contrast to this morning but you have to have the lows to appreciate the highs ...a short week ahead and 4 lovely full running days to come.