A ten miler that Ive never ran before.
Its starts and finishes from Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth so that was another incentive to do it.
The first mile is all up hill and had another steep uphill at the half way point. In between there is lots of bumps.
I had good run and ran hard to finish 5th overall in just over 62 minutes.
Overall fairly pleased but still struggling to run sub 6s in training. Im hoping I will have more speed come Mid November.
Blain Rooney won in 57.57
Tuesday, 7 November 2017
Heart of Eden Half Marathon 15th October 2017
A route that started and finished at my old secondary school so it was nice to have a look around the old school yards.(smokers corner)
Its also a route that Id never ran before but knew it would be fairly hilly.
About 130 runners gathered on the start line and looking around soon realised a lot of the faster runners were absent. (insert smiley face here)
As the the gun got us started about 5 of us formed a small pack at the front, among us was club fellow mate Jack.
After a small fast downhill the route started to climb where Jack soon got bored and strode out and formed a gap. A gap that would extend till the finish line.
After a couple of miles I was in second place with a small group a hundred meters behind.
The course climbed gradually for the first few miles and I soon settled in to a nice easy rhythem keeping my pace steady
I was a bit surprised after 5 miles when a Dumfries runner caught, then passe, then got a gap of 30 meters ahead of me. He seemed a stronger runner then me so I decided to try and defend 3rd place and make the 2nd place guy didn't get too far ahead of me.
Around 9 miles things started to feel easy so I upped my pace a bit. The Dumfries guy seemed to be going through a bad patch and I soon caught him up and then pushed hard. I was hoping he wouldn't stick with me because I don,t think I could've carried on at the same pace but luckily he slipped back a little bit.
The last mile was down hill and I had to work really hard to keep ahead of 3rd (who had been caught by his club mate and first lady) and Iwaas soon running past smokers corner 1 hour 23 mins after I left to finish second behind Jack Erye who finished 3 minutes ahead.(insert sad face here)
A good workout that will hopefully help me towards the two ten milers coming up.
Its also a route that Id never ran before but knew it would be fairly hilly.
About 130 runners gathered on the start line and looking around soon realised a lot of the faster runners were absent. (insert smiley face here)
As the the gun got us started about 5 of us formed a small pack at the front, among us was club fellow mate Jack.
After a small fast downhill the route started to climb where Jack soon got bored and strode out and formed a gap. A gap that would extend till the finish line.
After a couple of miles I was in second place with a small group a hundred meters behind.
The course climbed gradually for the first few miles and I soon settled in to a nice easy rhythem keeping my pace steady
I was a bit surprised after 5 miles when a Dumfries runner caught, then passe, then got a gap of 30 meters ahead of me. He seemed a stronger runner then me so I decided to try and defend 3rd place and make the 2nd place guy didn't get too far ahead of me.
Around 9 miles things started to feel easy so I upped my pace a bit. The Dumfries guy seemed to be going through a bad patch and I soon caught him up and then pushed hard. I was hoping he wouldn't stick with me because I don,t think I could've carried on at the same pace but luckily he slipped back a little bit.
The last mile was down hill and I had to work really hard to keep ahead of 3rd (who had been caught by his club mate and first lady) and Iwaas soon running past smokers corner 1 hour 23 mins after I left to finish second behind Jack Erye who finished 3 minutes ahead.(insert sad face here)
A good workout that will hopefully help me towards the two ten milers coming up.
Thursday, 21 September 2017
Lowther Trail Half Marathon
When a race is only 3 mile from your back door it be daft not to.
Ran this same race 2 years ago and finished 3rd in 1hr 32min. This year I finished 11th in 1hr 35min.
Felt reasonably happy with my effort especially on the climb up Knipe Scar where I ran it all whilst some others walked it. I never had much leg speed on the last fast 3 mile to the finish but I have not done any speed work for a long time.
Overall a good run with a few mates.
Ran this same race 2 years ago and finished 3rd in 1hr 32min. This year I finished 11th in 1hr 35min.
Felt reasonably happy with my effort especially on the climb up Knipe Scar where I ran it all whilst some others walked it. I never had much leg speed on the last fast 3 mile to the finish but I have not done any speed work for a long time.
Overall a good run with a few mates.
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| Everyone's keen at the start |
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| Rich and Craig battle for 1st V50 |
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| Laal Pete |
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| Ninja |
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| Steve and Scamp claimed 1st man & Dog Prize |
Monday, 14 August 2017
Skiddaw Fell Race
After spending a great week in Lake Garda running, eating and drinking what better way to come back to earth then a race up and down one of England,s highest peaks.
About 130 runners lined up at the start and to be honest I didn't know many of them. John Nichol was there who would soon catch me up on the steep climb and pretend to push me up - I was going that slow! He would soon be out of sight.
I don't know whats happened to my legs these last few months but I'm finding every climb hard and slow. I was never a fast up-hiller but I could normally grind my up not and not feel totally done in.
John got to the turn around point on the summit a good 2 minutes ahead of me but I managed to reel him in the descent and beat him.
I think I finished about 32nd and drove away telling myself I must start running up bigger hills.
Another great race organised by Keswick AC
9.6 Miles / 3100ft
About 130 runners lined up at the start and to be honest I didn't know many of them. John Nichol was there who would soon catch me up on the steep climb and pretend to push me up - I was going that slow! He would soon be out of sight.
I don't know whats happened to my legs these last few months but I'm finding every climb hard and slow. I was never a fast up-hiller but I could normally grind my up not and not feel totally done in.
John got to the turn around point on the summit a good 2 minutes ahead of me but I managed to reel him in the descent and beat him.
I think I finished about 32nd and drove away telling myself I must start running up bigger hills.
Another great race organised by Keswick AC
9.6 Miles / 3100ft
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| Caution. Slow moving vehicle. |
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| Smile for the Camera. |
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| Cheers |
Tuesday, 4 July 2017
Old County Tops Fell Race
35 miles / 10000ft
Two words. ROCK HARD.
I honestly didn't expect it to be this tough. What a fool I am.
Conditions didn't help. From Angle Tarn to Scafell Pike I don't think I've ever been so wet and cold in a fell race before.
I really should have recced the course too.
From Cockley Beck to Coniston Old Man I had imagined it to be a nice drag up. How further from the truth could I have been. I had to stop half way up for a breather, and this was after a 8 minute stop and a cup of tea at the road crossing just 20 mins earlier.
Once up there, they are nice runable parts -if you can muster the energy - unfortunately I couldn't haha.
Hopefully Oli will ask me again to be his partner next year and if he does I will proper prepare myself to give us both every chance of putting in a good time. Knowing the route will help.
No amount of Arthur's Pikes will prepare you for it. I would need to add some high fells into my training.
Big Thanks to Eden team mate Oli Blomfield for putting up with my continual whinging for 8 and a half hours....and for keeping me from getting LOST!
Roll on 2018
Two words. ROCK HARD.
I honestly didn't expect it to be this tough. What a fool I am.
Conditions didn't help. From Angle Tarn to Scafell Pike I don't think I've ever been so wet and cold in a fell race before.
I really should have recced the course too.
From Cockley Beck to Coniston Old Man I had imagined it to be a nice drag up. How further from the truth could I have been. I had to stop half way up for a breather, and this was after a 8 minute stop and a cup of tea at the road crossing just 20 mins earlier.
Once up there, they are nice runable parts -if you can muster the energy - unfortunately I couldn't haha.
Hopefully Oli will ask me again to be his partner next year and if he does I will proper prepare myself to give us both every chance of putting in a good time. Knowing the route will help.
No amount of Arthur's Pikes will prepare you for it. I would need to add some high fells into my training.
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| 8 miles in and its a piece of piss |
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| 21 miles in and its horrible |
Big Thanks to Eden team mate Oli Blomfield for putting up with my continual whinging for 8 and a half hours....and for keeping me from getting LOST!
Roll on 2018
Saturday, 27 May 2017
Three Peaks Fell Race
I initially labelled this as shite when I uploaded it on strava. A few weeks has passed and perhaps I was a bit harsh. A more true assessment is I'm shite - haha.
I trained all year for this and was hoping to get a PB, under 3-38 would have done it. Considering I got 3-39 last year I felt it was a realistic goal, especially with the hills I had done over the winter months.
A few weeks earlier I had ran the Ullswater Way (21 miles / 2700ft) in 3 hours and felt great. My last mile was a 5-45. So what went wrong...
A week before I got a cold. No big deal. A few lemsips will do the trick. A easy taper would do me no harm.
Wrong. Felt crap from the off. Took it easy on first climb and struggled on to finish in 100th place in 3hr 44mins.
Always next year :-)
RESULTS
I trained all year for this and was hoping to get a PB, under 3-38 would have done it. Considering I got 3-39 last year I felt it was a realistic goal, especially with the hills I had done over the winter months.
A few weeks earlier I had ran the Ullswater Way (21 miles / 2700ft) in 3 hours and felt great. My last mile was a 5-45. So what went wrong...
A week before I got a cold. No big deal. A few lemsips will do the trick. A easy taper would do me no harm.
Wrong. Felt crap from the off. Took it easy on first climb and struggled on to finish in 100th place in 3hr 44mins.
Always next year :-)
RESULTS
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Update on the last update
Was it really 26 months since my last post and and my impending London marathon debut.
A lot has happened in that time.
London was great. As I mentioned in my last post -over 2 years ago - the hotel (expensive) and train tickets {another mortgage) were all booked and paid for. The training had gone great and I was hopeful of a sub 3. It was just a shame that I got a stress fracture 4 weeks prior. I felt total despair for my misfortune and couldn't even go to London to watch or even stay in the plush hotel for 3 nights. My wife, her friend and my daughter had no trouble in helping me out though and Im led to believe they had a great few days away. They did complain of having tired feet I seem to recall.
Later on that year I did Langdale marathon and finished a distant 2nd on a wet and miserable September day. That was my third and last marathon and even though I would like to get a sub 3, I don't think its going to happen now. I shall let my Windermere 3.04 haunt me forever.
And that was the main talking points on 2015.
2016 was a better year.
Less road running and much more fells.
My stats were 2290 miles with 399,000 feet climb.
104 runs up Arthur;s Pike
Highlights were.
Three Peaks 3hr 40 mins
Helvellyn Fell race
Howtown Fell race
Tour De Helvellyn
All 3 races seemed impossible a few years ago when I was injured with Gilmores Groin and it was great to do 3 Peaks again. I was only 1 second off getting a first class certificate and only 20 seconds from a PB. I promised my self I would train hard for the next year and try and get nearer 3.35.
I thought Helvellyn would be a lot easier then what it was. Ive done this race a few times but I struggled a bit on the climbs and didn't push hard enough on the faster runnable bits but still felt good to running on the high ground again.
Howtown is a race on my doorstep and never been injury free to do it so was absolutely magic to finally run it. Had a great battle with club mate Derek Hurton and was pleased to finish in the top 10 in 2hr 22min.
Again Tour De Helvellyn was another event that is on my doorstep and thought it was be beyond me a couple of years ago.
Suppressed myself and finished 7th in 6hrs 27mins - Delighted with time but couldn't have wished for better running conditions.
The main reason I let my running dairy/blog slip is because I was uploading all my activities on Strava but I've come realise I like expressing my thoughts down on paper.
Im hoping to continue this blog on a more regular basis. I've said it before in a much earlier post but this blog is for me and for me to read back when Im older and no doubt wince at the shite I wrote.
That's me all caught up.
A lot has happened in that time.
London was great. As I mentioned in my last post -over 2 years ago - the hotel (expensive) and train tickets {another mortgage) were all booked and paid for. The training had gone great and I was hopeful of a sub 3. It was just a shame that I got a stress fracture 4 weeks prior. I felt total despair for my misfortune and couldn't even go to London to watch or even stay in the plush hotel for 3 nights. My wife, her friend and my daughter had no trouble in helping me out though and Im led to believe they had a great few days away. They did complain of having tired feet I seem to recall.
Later on that year I did Langdale marathon and finished a distant 2nd on a wet and miserable September day. That was my third and last marathon and even though I would like to get a sub 3, I don't think its going to happen now. I shall let my Windermere 3.04 haunt me forever.
And that was the main talking points on 2015.
2016 was a better year.
Less road running and much more fells.
My stats were 2290 miles with 399,000 feet climb.
104 runs up Arthur;s Pike
Highlights were.
Three Peaks 3hr 40 mins
Helvellyn Fell race
Howtown Fell race
Tour De Helvellyn
All 3 races seemed impossible a few years ago when I was injured with Gilmores Groin and it was great to do 3 Peaks again. I was only 1 second off getting a first class certificate and only 20 seconds from a PB. I promised my self I would train hard for the next year and try and get nearer 3.35.
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| Finishing Three Peaks |
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| Helvellyn |
Howtown is a race on my doorstep and never been injury free to do it so was absolutely magic to finally run it. Had a great battle with club mate Derek Hurton and was pleased to finish in the top 10 in 2hr 22min.
 |
| Howtown Fell Race |
Again Tour De Helvellyn was another event that is on my doorstep and thought it was be beyond me a couple of years ago.
Suppressed myself and finished 7th in 6hrs 27mins - Delighted with time but couldn't have wished for better running conditions.
The main reason I let my running dairy/blog slip is because I was uploading all my activities on Strava but I've come realise I like expressing my thoughts down on paper.
Im hoping to continue this blog on a more regular basis. I've said it before in a much earlier post but this blog is for me and for me to read back when Im older and no doubt wince at the shite I wrote.
That's me all caught up.
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