New Year's Eve Run With Ruby

Just a short one this morning with Ruby.  We ran along to the top barn, then to the Pigeon Tower car park, then zigzagged up through the terraced gardens to the Pigeon Tower.  We then ran up the Pike and back down onto Georges Lane, then home via my favourite field.

The sun was really low this morning so it was difficult to see and I was concerned that there might be dogs up ahead which I couldn't see so I had Ruby on her lead a bit more than I would have liked to today.


Total distance - 5 miles

Garmin Forerunner 15 - How Does it Know???

I bought myself a new Garmin the other day, just a cheap one to use as a backup for when the battery runs out on my 610.

It's a Forerunner 15 and it's a pretty basic watch but has a daily activity tracker thing on it.  I'm not really interested in that function as it's all about daily number of steps taken and I'm pretty sure I take enough steps during the day not to have to worry about these things.  It also reminds me to get up and move when I've been inactive for a certain length of time, which might actually come in handy at the office when I'm engrossed in my work.

It also has a sleep analysis thing on it which I thought I'd try out last night as I'm always tired and put it down to not sleeping very deeply.  Turns out, I was right.  Well, according to my watch anyway. Here's a print out of my night's sleep, which shows that of the 9 hours 20 minutes I was asleep, I was only in a deep sleep for 23 minutes of this.

What gets me though is, how did it know when I fell asleep?  I get how it knows when I got up because obviously I started walking around, but how did it know I went to sleep at 11.40 given that, last night, I went to bed at 9.30 but then read for a couple of hours???  How did it not start my sleep cycle from when I became inactive at 9.30?  Magic!

And before anyone says it, it isn't based on heart rate because I wasn't wearing a HRM.

Don't worry though, I'm not going to get all obsessive about my sleep patterns like I do about my running stats. Honest!

Today's run was just an easy one with Ruby through the mud.  I had only intended on doing my regular five mile route with her but we were enjoying ourselves and so went a little further.  We ran up from home to Two Lads, then cross country to the mast where we stopped for a quick chat with Gary and Doug.

It was then down to the shooting hut and up to Smithills reservoir, then down onto Coal Pit Road and back to the mast road, to the water tanks, then down through Wilderswood and home.

Lovely day to be out and now looking forward to a few drinks and some grub with good friends tonight!


Total distance - 7.15 miles

Blistering Heat!

I got up nice and early this morning so that I could get that long run in that I had intended to do yesterday.

I thought that today I'd give myself a nice flat start rather than going up hill straight away to give me a chance to warm up a little.

I headed from home down the school then along the path to Liverpool Castle.  I can't believe how warm it was!  I had gone out in a short sleeved t-shirt with a very light windproof over the top, thin gloves and a thin hat.  By a mile in, I was already stopping to remove layers and ended up running in just the t-shirt!  It's nearly the end of December, how can it be so warm?  Not that I'm complaining of course.

I skirted the side of Lower Rivington Reservoir and had to come slightly inland at one point as the water had come up over the path.  I kinda felt like I was by the seaside as the waves were crashing onto the shore!

I came out at the prep school then ran to the bowling club and up the path by Yarrow then dropped down 'the slipway' and carried on to Healey Nab.  I ran up to the cairn then back down again and down into White Coppice.  It was on the way down to White Coppice that I realised how much my feet were hurting.  My shoes were rubbing me on my arches and had caused blisters.  As they were on the soles of my feet it made running quite difficult and I could feel myself running on the outside of my feet to try to stop the pain.  I had a sit down and tried to make some adjustments but it didn't really help.  I carried on and pondered whether I should ring Duncan to pick me up somewhere or whether to just man up and carry on.

Manning up won over and I decided to carry on, albeit I changed my route and decided to start heading back home rather than carrying on further away from home just in case it got really bad and Duncan wasn't around to pick me up.

I ran to Waterman's Cottage and then along the path around Anglezarke coming out onto Knowsley Road.  I then ran up the road to the end of the path past Yarrow Reservoir then ran along to Rivington Green.

I carried on to the Lower Barn but, instead of just going home, I decided to head up a little just to get an extra bit of mileage in as, by now, the pain in my feet had turned into more of a burning sensation which was bearable.

I headed up through the terraced gardens coming out onto George's Lane, then ran along and headed for home through Wilderswood.

I didn't do quite as far as I had wanted (I wanted to between 15 and 20 miles) but I wasn't far off and at least my feet will now live to run another day, rather than being in utter tatters, although they're not a pretty sight right now and I'm going to have to stick a couple of blister plasters on them - if I can find some big enough!

Total distance - 14.1 miles

Overindulging

Today I wanted to get a long run in to burn off all the calories from the last couple of days.  However, I think the overindulgence was my undoing.  I had nothing.  My climb up to George's Lane from home was pitiful.  I was a little better on the climb to the water tanks, as I ran with Derek Kay so the chatting helped pass the time and ease the pain.  I had to stop at the tanks for a breather though whilst Derek carried on towards the quarries and Matchmore Lane.

After my breather, I headed along to Coal Pit Road, continuing on along the road, past the Trespass Stone, then turning left up the hill, coming out at the far end of Smithills Reservoir.

I ran around the reservoir and, on my way down towards the shooting hut, the view was breathtaking so I had to stop to take some photos. As always, my photos do the actual view no justice!

My shadow with a halo! 


Eventually, I carried on past the shooting hut and up to the mast.  From there, I ran down the mast road and then up Two Lads, before dropping down to the kennels.  I then started heading over towards the Pigeon Tower but decided that enough was enough.  I was shuffling pathetically so thought I might as well just admit defeat and try again at a long run tomorrow.

Ah well, it's not all bad, it was a beautiful day and it felt great to be out in it.

Total distance - 8 miles

Merry Christmas!

This morning, after opening some fantastic presents, I ran with Ruby to the Pike and Duncan came along with us on his mountain bike.

Once on top of the Pike, we bumped into the Sweatmans and some of their friends.  They handed round the brandy and coffee, which was very welcome on this drizzly day and we all had a good natter.

Then the Whites came along bearing gifts of Christmas cake.  Does life get any better?

Just as Ruby was about to freeze to death and I was feeling pretty chilly myself, Duncan's mountain biking friend, Libby, came along.  Unfortunately, Ruby and I were so chilly that we had to say our goodbyes and head off home, leaving Duncan nattering to Libby and saying he would catch me up on the decent.

He didn't catch me up, not because I was going at any great speed but because he was gabbing too long.

Lovely Christmas Day trip out to the pike, despite the wet weather.

Thanks for the brandy and cake guys!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Total distance - 3.3 miles

Running or Paddling?

After a couple of lazy days, I really needed to get out this morning but, pushed for time, I decided to stay low and try to get more distance in less time.

I just ran out along the side of Lower Rivington Reservoir, coming out at the prep school then turning left along Horrobin Lane.

Horrobin Lane was flooded and I got absolutely soaked running through it - where were my Roosters when I needed them?

Freezing feet, I continued on down The Street the along Knowsley Lane and up 'the slipway'.  I then ran to Rivington Green via Dean Brook and took the path along side the road back to Rivington and Blackrod School, then ran home.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Total distance - 6.25 miles

Mud Bath

I couldn't make the Monday Night Cake Run (or should I say fudge run as was the case this evening) as I had to chauffeur Duncan on a night out with the Singletrack guys so instead I went out earlier with Ruby.

We had a really good run, heading up to George's Lane then to the water tanks, turning right along the path to the mast road, then crossing straight over and doing the Two Lads race route back to the mast road, then taking the diagonal mud bath up to the mast.  From there, we took another mud bath to Two Lads but I must say it was much nicer running it in this direction, rather than the way we usually go on a Monday night.  I also took Josie's advice and didn't go out of my way to get across the really muddy bit which is actually sturdier than it looks.

Once on Two Lads, three runners arrived up there at the same time.  One was wearing a Lostock top and I asked his name.  He said it was Paul so I asked if he was the Paul Josie had said we were supposed to meet last week and he confirmed that he was, but had been running late.

After a quick chat, Ruby and I headed down to the kennels then back home via Brinks Row.

Total distance - 5.35 miles

Circumnavigating Winter Hill

At this morning’s UTUP were myself, John, Ed, Julie and Kev.  Unfortunately, Julie and Kev weren’t running with us and had just popped along for Christmas card delivery and a little chit chat, which was nice.  After a natter, John, Ed and I set off towards the top barn. 

There was a border collie looking terribly lost and running about the place and I kept trying to call it over because I was worried about it but we couldn’t get anywhere near it, to the point that it would run off when we were as far away as 100 metres.  We slightly changed our course so we could try to see where it went but it had completely disappeared.  I haven’t stopped worrying about the poor thing since and really hope it’s OK. 

After failing to find the dog, we headed up through the terraced gardens, coming out onto George’s Lane and then ran along to the kennels and up to Two Lads.  From there it was along the mast road then down the San Marino ramp.  At the bottom of the ramp, Ed was pushed for time and so he turned around and went back up again, leaving John and I running along the road into Belmont.  We carried on all the way to Piccadilly which was the least enjoyable part of the run as, in parts, there is no pavement and the cars drive pretty fast along there.  Personally, I would have gone around the reservoir at Belmont and onto Witton Weavers Way, but John had a set route which he has done before and wanted to compare times.  A bit of road running is good for speed anyway so no complaints from me.

At Piccadilly, we headed off into the woods and down towards Tockholes, before founding Roddlesworth Reservoir, coming out into Abbey Village.  We then crossed the road and headed up the road to Brinscall and along the trail to White Coppice.  By now, we were both getting pretty tired.  This is the furthest I have run since my marathon training, having only done a maximum of 12 miles since the beginning of September.  We then followed the road to the Bridleway though Healey Nab, coming out onto Back Lane and running along to the Yew Tree.  We then went up ‘the slipway’ and down to the Bowling Green into Rivington Green and then back to the lower barn. 

A very mixed bag of mostly trail and road today with a bit of fell thrown in for good measure.  Good to get a decent amount of mileage under the belt! 

Thanks for the company John!

Total distance – 18.9 miles

Fancy Dress Cake Run and Secret Santa

At tonight’s Monday night cake run, some of us decided to get our fancy dress on for the occasion.  When I arrived at the barn dressed as an elf, I was slightly alarmed to see that nobody else was there, other than Albert’s empty van.  Eventually everyone turned up though and it was good to see that others had put on their fancy dress and hadn’t just conned me into being the only one.  Josie had arrived in her PJ’s, Albert as a reindeer and Mark as Ironman! 

Josie and I did comment that it felt quite liberating running in ridiculous clothing and she was happy that she could just go straight home and get in bed without having to get changed.  Judging by the mud accumulated on the PJ trouser legs though, I fear this plan may not have come to fruition.

We were also joined by Jocelyn, Josh and Tony who were all dressed up as fell runners. 

We did the usual Monday night run and it was incredibly foggy up on the tops.  When we reached the mast road, I saw a bike looming towards us and it turned out to be Colin Jones.  I wonder what was going through his head when he suddenly saw an elf emerging through the fog, followed by a girl in PJs?

After chatting to Colin for a while, I started to get really cold so just wanted to get moving.  Turns out an elf outfit isn’t great in the rain. 

We went down the diagonal and down to dangerous corner and were heading back to the barn when we bumped into Duncan and his mate, Dwain, out on their mountain bikes.  Again we had a brief natter then carried on back to the barn where we were greeted by a group of hillbillies who had come out to join us for cakes and our secret santa exchange. 

We had a great laugh exchanging gifts and there were some hilarious ones, like Speedy’s t-shirt and Mark’s veg box.  My gift from Michele (secret santa became not so secret santa) was a selfie stick!  Or a stick of narcissism as I prefer to call it.  I also got a lovely ‘writer’s block’ pencil and sharpener set which were designed as a plunger and toilet!  Ha ha, secret santa is great fun!

Total distance – 6 miles

Hurst Green Turkey Trot 2015

As I mentioned in my blog on this race last year, this is a great race, one of my favourites, probably because it’s not at all serious and is just a really good laugh.  The majority of runners get on board with the fancy dress which makes it such good fun and has everyone in high spirits. 

I had planned to wear an elf outfit for the race, however Suzanne and Lindsey had kindly made outfits for all three of us – the three wise women.  Goldie, Frankie-no-Sense and Myrtle.  I was Myrtle. 

I only had a very short warm up and decided to run up the start of the route and back down again.  I don’t remember the hill being so steep last year! 

The race started a little late but we set off at 1.10 and I was laughing from the start.  I was running amongst four girls dressed as stars who kept singing Christmas carols all the way round.  They definitely kept me amused which was great because I wasn’t really enjoying the first couple of miles.  It’s al up hill and I was feeling a bit sick and lethargic. 

Once we got into the woods though, everything changed and I came alive and started really enjoying myself.  As usual, there were huge puddles and very deep muddy sections and you can really tell the road runners from the fell runners at these points because the road runners all scream and squeal and try to tiptoe around the mud whereas the fell runners just plough through it, soaking all the roadies as they pass (sorry to the girl I covered in mud!).

After a loop through the woods it was back down again and I knew the way back was all down hill so I really let myself go and tried to make up for how slowly I had come up the hill.

(I appear to be gurning a little in this pic!)

I passed quite a lot of people on the way down and was really pleased with myself.  In the end, I was about 25 seconds slower than last year, but the terrain was worse and there were also quite a lot more runners around my level so I had to stand around waiting at gates for people.  This was backed up when I looked at Strava later on as my moving time was faster than last year but the elapsed time was slower so it must have been due to me hanging around at gates. 

Who cares about times anyway, it was a fun run and I definitely had fun!  Same again next year!

As usual, the prize giving was hilarious as winners were given the choice of gambling their prize for a pick of twenty envelopes containing up to £50 in cash but some just had fake money in them.  People who decided to gamble were met with chants of ‘greedy, greedy!’. 

Lindsey was second lady and Suzanne won her age category.  There didn’t seem to be any team prizes but we wouldn’t have won anyway, however would have been second. 

Total distance - 5 miles 

Running at 5.50 in the Morning!!!

It is our firm’s Christmas party tonight so I wanted to get some exercise in to pre-burn all the calories I’ll be scoffing later. 

I had arranged to run with Rachel first thing from the office and so I decided that to make the run longer, I would also run down to the train station.  Problem is, I had to take not only my clothes for getting changed into when I got to work but also my clothes for the party in the evening, together with a pair of boots, make up, perfume, etc.  My bag was pretty heavy but it’s not far to run and is all down hill so it wasn’t too bad.  I was pretty slow but didn’t expect anything other than that, given it was before 6am and I was carrying a heavy load. 

Distance – 2.75 miles

When I arrived at the train station, I realised I had a text from Rachel saying that she had overslept and therefore wouldn’t be running.  I don’t really like running in Manchester on my own but decided to man up and do it anyway because I had wanted to get at least six miles in today, due to not having done much in the week.  Just to be safe, I took my attack spray with me, which had been attached to my backpack. 

I did the usual run to and around the Etihad stadium and was pretty impressed with how quickly I did it.  My pace was 8.39 minute mile but that includes the time spent stopped waiting for traffic which was over a minute so I’m looking forward to uploading my Garmin and seeing what my moving pace was.

Distance – 3.5 miles

Total distance – 6.25 miles

Can't Be Arsed Run

Just an easy one with Ruby-Doo this morning.  I was feeling incredibly lazy and didn’t want to run up the hill from home so drove to Wilderswood car park and had a nice flat run along George’s Lane and through the terraced gardens.  I feel no shame!

Total distance – 3.3 miles

Honeycomb Muffins!

I had announced this weekend that I would bake the cakes for tonight’s cake run as I knew that making a promise like that would mean that I would actually turn up and not talk myself out of it. 

Tonight at the barn were me, Josie, Michelle (not Sunter), Albert, Tony V, Tony M, Mark, Josh, Andy and Darren.  We did the usual Monday route and it stayed nice and dry for us, although the ground was far from dry and was very slippery in places.  Have I ever mentioned that I love my Roosters? 

Back at the barn out came my honeycomb muffins which seemed to go down well as there were 20 of them and none left at the end. 

Annoyingly, my Garmin seems to have stopped after 4 miles and it thinks I ended my run somewhere on the trail down from George’s Lane.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – stupid Garmin!

Total distance – 6 miles

Blown Away

Having been out drinking the previous two nights, I wasn’t expecting much from today’s run.  I didn’t quite get up early enough to meet up with any of the guys who run from the barn so I set off on my own, heading up to George’s Lane.  After only a few minute I was boiling so took my gloves and wind proof jacket off.  Once on George’s Lane, however, it was blowing a gale so the layers went back on. 

I ran up to the water tanks, which is when the heavens opened.  I had to get my wind proof off and swap it for my water proof, which was easier said that done as the wind was really strong and was threatening to rip the water proof from my hands and send it sailing off over Winter Hill.  Eventually, I managed to swap jackets and continued on my way, turning right towards the mast road.  The short trail to the mast road has a small channel at the side of it with a stream and the wind was so strong that it blew me down into the channel!  I managed to stay on my feet though and made my way back out and onto the road.

I then ran along the trails past the farm and out onto Coal Pit Road, which I ran along all the way past the trespass stone, to the little wooden bridge over the stream which leads up a short steep hill to the far end of the secret reservoir.  Again, the wind was really strong on top of here and I did feel I was in danger of being blown into the reservoir, which would not be very pleasant!

I managed to hold my ground though and ran along the side of the reservoir and down towards the shooting hut.  I then started along the path up to the mast, where I bumped into Josie, Erica and Mark coming in the opposite direction.  I was quite envious because, not only were they running downhill, they were also running with the wind, whereas I was being pushed back by it.  I could barely see a thing as I had my hood up but the driving rain and wind were blowing it into my eyes and also making me squint so I kept tripping over things.  After a brief chat with the guys and deciding it was too cold to be hanging around gabbing, I carried on up to the mast. 

By now I was really cold.  I had originally intended to drop down from the mast road towards Hordern Stoops and make my way over to Lead Mines Clough before returning home but I was so cold now that I changed my mind and went down the diagonal with the intention of then running back along George’s Lane to home.  

Once I got down the diagonal and had been running along George’s Lane for a few minutes, I had warmed up and now regretted not going further.  Just to add a bit of mileage, I went up to the Pike but then came back down the curly route and back to the pigeon tower then ran down the path to the side of it (which was more like a waterfall than a path!) and then zigzagged back up to the pigeon tower through terraced gardens. 

As I then started heading home and was rounding the bottom of the Pike, I bumped into Mike and Brian on their way back to the barn (pretty embarrassing as I think I still had half of last night’s make up on!).  They said that they had waited for me this morning to join them on their run so I felt a bit guilty for not turning up and lazing in bed instead.  I soon got over the guilt though J

Before reaching home, I treated myself to a run through my favourite field, and nearly slipped onto my backside at one point because of all the mud!

Total distance – 10.15 miles

Pre 'Do' Run

I had a lovely run with Ruby today to burn some calories in advance of tonight's do at Rivington Barn.

It was beautifully sunny out today, which is a rare occurrence at the minute.  We ran down towards the school, then up the middle track into the terraced gardens and zig-zagged our way up to the Pigeon Tower.

From there, we then ran along Geroge's Lane and up the Pike.  I decided on the curly route back down because I wanted to get a bit more distance in.  We then went along George's Lane, to the kennels then up to Two Lads.

It was then back down to George's Lane, to Wilderswood Car Park and then through Wilderswood back home.

Total distance - 5 miles

Slippery Tow Path

I took Rachel out along the canal at lunch again today.  It wasn't raining but had been and the tow path was incredibly slippery in places which made for an interesting run. Maybe I need to start wearing my Orocs for my lunch time runs?

This time I showed Rachel the 'wasteland' route, as this wasn't as slippery as staying by the canal but there were quite a few huge puddles to jump over.  I like it, makes it feel a bit more off-roady!

Total distance - 5.3 miles 

Near-Explosive Calves

This morning I went for a short run with Rachel down to the Etihad Stadium and back. 

My calves were really tight after Monday’s stair climbing session and ‘recovery’ run in the evening (I put the word recovery in inverted commas because, to the other guys it might be a recovery run but, to me, it’s flippin’ hard work!) so today was just going to be an easy one. 

Rachel was in the same boat though as her calves were also sore from Monday’s stair efforts.  I thought stair climbing used the same muscles as running up hill but it must use some extra ones as my calves have never felt this tight before after a hill running session.

It may have been a pretty slow one but at least we got out and burned a few calories to set us up for the day!

Total distance – 3.3 miles

How Can You Get Lost Running Off The Pike???

I was supposed to run at lunch today with Rachel from work but, due to the horrific weather and the fact that our work is freezing so you can’t get warm again once you are soaking wet, I instead devised a pyramid session on the stairs of our building.  It actually turned out to be really hard work!  We are on the first floor of eleven floors and we used our floor as a starting point.  We went up two flights then back down again, then added another two flights each time, then took them away again.  When we finished, we then added one more rep to the very top and back down again so basically the session looked like this…

Two floors

Four floors

Six floors

Eight floors

Ten floors

Eight floors

Six floors

Four floors

Two floors

Ten floors

By the time we had finished, we both agreed that our legs were a little wobbly and we decided that it would be a good workout for bad weather days and next time we would add more on. 

Later on today, I met up with the Monday night cake run group at the lower barn.  Joining me were Josie, Erica, Tony, Darren, Andy and Ian.

As usual, we headed up through the terraced gardens all the way to the Pike.  When we came down off the Pike, Josie was ahead of me and, like a sheep, I followed her.  Thing is, she was going the wrong way.  I couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous it was that we could go the wrong way off the pike – a place I run to at least once a week! 

After that it was along to Two Lads and then cross country to the mast.  Half way along to the mast, you get to a point where it’s a really long trudge which is almost flat but not quite and it’s so energy sapping.  It’s my least favourite part of this run but, conversely, it’s Josie’s favourite.  I think she must have a screw loose!

To make it worse tonight, it was really foggy which made the bogs harder to see until you were right on top of them. 

I eventually got across and the others were waiting for me at the building on the mast road.  This is when I discovered Erica has a hidden evil side!  I was bending over, stretching my hamstrings and she was disappointed when Tony (I think, or was it Andy, I can’t even remember and it was only last night!) didn’t slap my arse as they passed, saying she would have done if it was her.  And I thought Erica was such a lovely girl. 

After a little rest, we continued up the mast road to the top of the diagonal, where Andy had a bit of a fall, hitting his hip on a rock.  Ouch! 

The fog on the diagonal was pretty thick and I was amazed at how fast Josie, Andy and Erica got down there, considering visibility was so poor.  I always think I’m pretty good at downhill running but they make me look crap!

It was then my favourite part, the practically all downhill run back to the barn. 

Then came an even better part though – cake!!!  Made by Pauline.  Yum yum yum!!! 

Total distance – 6 miles + stair climb

Taking to the Open Moors (Accidentally)

This morning I went to the UP at the UT and met with John, Ed, Pauline and Julie. 

We headed off up to the top barn and then along through the fields and woods to Dangerous/Ammunition Corner.  We then ran a short way down the road, before turning left onto the path to Higher and Lower Hempshaws.  We were heading to Great Hill but, unfortunately, Ed and Julie decided that they were going to stay on the path and head for Lead Mines Clough instead so we left them where the trail forks and we headed up to the right whilst they continued onto the left.

Pauline and I were nattering away and I suddenly thought to myself I’m sure there’s usually a clear path here.  I said that to Pauline and then John came up behind us and said ‘you do realise we have left the path don’t you?’.

We then spent about half an hour trudging through overgrown moorland and occasionally accidentally stepping into drainage channels which we couldn’t see!  We were heading in the direction we presumed to be Great Hill when John said ‘isn’t that Great Hill over there?’ and pointed off to our right.  Indeed it was but we were all very bemused at how we had assumed it was to our left. 

We had thought that when we had lost the path earlier, we had gone too far right but, looking at my Strava trace later on, it appeared we had actually gone too far left, which had resulted in us heading even more left and not in quite the right direction for Great Hill. 

Amazing how you can get temporarily misplaced so easily in a place you think you know like the back of your hand.  Just shows how easy it is to get into trouble – it’s a good job it was a clear day!

Eventually, we made it to Great Hill which was very cold and windy and we just wanted to get back down again.  We ran along to Drinkwaters and then down the boggy path to White Coppice. 

Once in White Coppice, Pauline was heading straight back to the barn but John and I were heading over to Healey Nab.  We ran along one side of the goit and Pauline ran along the other.  We saw her half way down but she was too in the zone to notice us. 

John and I headed up to the cairn at Healey Nab and then went back down again and back into Rivington.

When we neared the barn, we saw John Coope and Hazel walking along.  Poor Hazel was holding her arm and looked in pain, saying that she had had a fall.  It turns out she had broken her collar bone!  Hope you’re on the mend Hazel!

Total distance – 11 miles

Discovering the Seventh Floor Showers!

Today, I took my friend, Rachel, on Kathryn’s lunch time canal run.

We had a lovely run and a good chat and I didn’t feel like I wanted to die like I do when I run that route with Kathryn as we were going at a nice steady pace.  The weather stayed kind of us too as it was forecast to rain all day but didn’t and we ended up having to remove layers because we were so warm.

When we got back to the office, Rachel used the shower on our floor and suggested that I try out the one on seventh as it was a nicer one.  How had I not discovered this shower before?  It’s much nicer and even has a little bench in it to sit on, unlike the boxy room on our floor where, other than obviously the shower cubicle there’s just a cleaner’s sink in there which you really wouldn’t want to sit on!  

Might have to stick a pretend ‘out of order’ sticker on the door of it and claim it as my own!

Total distance – 5.5 miles 

Ruby Dooby Do, Where Are You?

Tonight I went for a muddy run up on the top with Ruby.  I’ve said it before but I love running in the dark with Ruby because I can have her off the lead for the majority of the run as I can see people with dogs before Ruby does as I’ll see a torch in the distance.  I also tend to spot the sheep eyes before she does so I can get her back onto her lead quick enough before she chases them.  Tonight, I had her off the lead for the entire run, which was ace because I can leave her to sniff and pee on things as much as she wants and just let her catch up.

We ran up onto George’s Lane and then to the water tanks but instead of turning left for Two Lads, we turned right along to the mast road.  I saw Sean and his dogs at this point so stopped for a natter.  There was another bloke with Sean who left after a couple of minutes and walked down the hill whilst I stayed talking to Sean.  After a few minutes I said ‘where’s my dog?’.  She had disappeared.  We could see all Sean’s dogs but not Ruby.  After a few minutes of us calling out to her she came trotting back up the mast road and we can only assume that she had followed the other bloke down.  She always follows people because she thinks everyone wants to be her friend, bless. 

Panic over, we left Sean and continued on our way, crossing the mast road and going through the gate.  We ran part of the Two Lads race route so turned back on ourselves before reaching the farm, heading back towards the mast road on the upper route.  Just before reaching the mast road though, we turned right along the diagonal ‘path’ which takes you out high up the mast road, not too far from the mast.  It was a boggy mess and Ruby kept sinking.  She seemed to be enjoying her little self though, jumping through the mud (she didn’t, however enjoy her little self when we got home and I threw her in the shower!).

From the mast, we went along the, also boggy, ‘path’ towards Two Lads where, again, Ruby kept sinking.  Her little legs don’t enable her to leap very far. 

It was then down to the kennels and back home to get cleaned up.  Great run.  Ruby is ace!

Total distance – 5 miles

Positivity

I met up with Brian and Mike this morning at the bottom barn for their weekly trail run, although I didn’t have any intention of doing the full 13-14 mile route with them and was only going as far as Waterman’s Cottage then coming back.

On passing the bowling club, it was pointed out to me by Mike that my blog is very negative.  I can’t really argue with that...

...however…

Basically, my blog started out as a training diary for my own personal use and I use it to track how my running is going.  The problem is, I have more bad days than good days which makes it more negative than positive as I always write about how I feel on a run.  I know, I know, I should be grateful that I can run at all as some people can’t but, without wanting to sound too selfish, this blog isn’t about other people, it’s about me.  It’s about my own personal experiences with running so if they’re not good experiences then that’s what I’m going to say.  When I have a good run, my blog is positive (see post from last Monday for example).

I’m happy to say that today was a good day.  Brian and Mike dragged me to Waterman’s Cottage at a pace I would never have gone at on my own, yet I wasn’t struggling too much to talk.  Even when the lads carried on into White Coppice and I headed over to Healey Nab to complete my loop, I still carried on with a decent pace.  Thanks guys, even though I was only with you for just under four miles, I enjoyed the company and had a great run!

See, positive!

Total distance - 7.5 miles

Wintery Hill

Last night I got back on the spin bike after my epic stint last week.  I'm not sure if I was just tired or if I was on a really hard bike (they're all calibrated differently) but I was really struggling to get any speed up in the gears suggested and the only way I could keep to 120rpm was to be in a really low gear.  It was still a great workout though and I felt I deserved my pizza, wine and chocolate when I got home.

This morning I was going to have a lie in but, wide awake at 7.50 I decided to rush around and try to get to the UTUP.  I was running late so sent Ed a text to tell him I'd meet him en route.

I left my house at about 8.40 and headed straight up to George's Lane, which was a huge struggle today and I found myself having to walk a bit of it.  Once on George's Lane I bumped into Paul Boardman and his border collie running in the opposite direction and Paul also said he was struggling this morning.  Nice to know it wasn't just me!

I ran up the Pike, well ran/walked up, and when I got to the top and looked down the other side, Ed and John had just come through the gate at the bottom.  I found a sheltered side of the building and stood waiting there for them to come up.  It was bitterly cold up there this morning.

We ran down off the Pike which was incredibly slippery and made our way over to Two Lads.

We then ran up to the mast and then headed to the end of the mast road before descending the diagonal to George's Lane.  The wind on top of Winter Hill was absolutely freezing and the left side of my face when completely numb.  I just wanted to get down that hill but it was quite slow going as it was really slippery and difficult to see the best places to put your foot down.

Once onto George's Lane we headed to the road and then turned right to Hordern Stoops then headed up and over to Lower Hempshaws.  At this point, I decided I needed a second pair of gloves as my hands were now freezing.

We ran along the trail into Lead Mines Clough then up to the Bomber Memorial.  After that we ran out to the road where Ed did his usual sprint up the hill to the stile.  I don't know where he gets that burst of energy from as he left me and John way behind.

We then went through the fields and dropped down to Dean Brook before heading to the barn where I left John and Ed and carried on home.  By now, I was boiling!  It was so different down here to how it was on the tops.  The sun was quite warm and there was no snow or wind chill so I stopped to take off my gloves and cag.  There's no way you would think that it would be so much colder so a short distance away.

Had a great run, with great company on a beautiful day and it was definitely worth getting out of bed for!

Total distance - 11.15 miles 

Seeing Things from the Other Perspective

Today, I went on my now regular morning run with Rachel.  I’m sure Rachel won’t mind me saying this (at least I hope she won’t) but running with her has made me realise how irritating I am when I run with others.  And Rachel, if you’re reading this, I don’t for a minute mean I’m irritated because I  think you’re holding me back – I mean I’m irritated because you keep apologising for holding me back! 

It’s EXACTLY what I do when I run with people who are quicker than me.  I’m constantly saying things like ‘sorry for being slow’ and ‘go on ahead without me if you like’ but the truth is, the person I’m running with doesn’t care about this because they know my capabilities and they’re happy to run with me anyway.  If they weren’t they wouldn’t ask me or would make up excuses when I ask them.

So Rachel, if you are reading this, stop apologising for being slow (which you’re not anyway!)!  I’m quite happy with the pace of our morning run and it’s just nice to be out with good company. 

The question now is, will I practice what I preach?

Total distance – 3.2 miles

Ridiculously Short Run

As the title suggests today I ran a minuscule 2.25ish miles just to walk Ruby really.  Again I had intended to go to the hill session but today I actually had a genuine excuse not to go – an incredibly painful back due to sitting on the living room floor last night building flat pack furniture.  I didn’t want to not run at all though so just decided to take Ruby for a quick run and then get home and do some foam rolling and a bit of core work.

Total distance – 2.25 miles

Shame! Shame!

I did something I'm not proud of today - when I was running along Pennine getting close to home, I was struggling so much and running so slow that I decided to stop and walk the last 300(?) meters home, rather than ruining my whole run pace.  Even writing this I'm cringing at how pathetic that really is.  It just shows how sometimes technology can be a real pain in the backside.  Throughout my run today I had felt like I was running fast so when I slowed to an almost crawl going up the hill I decided to call it a day instead of persevering.  It turns out, I wasn't even running fast anyway so I might as well have just carried on.

The run itself took me from 'Four Gates' over at Westhoughton where Duncan had dropped me off on his way to work.  From there, I just ran along the A6 to Blackrod then along Station Road, up Lever Park Avenue and along Fearnhead onto Pennine Way where the above mentioned ridiculousness occurred!

I'm being a bit derogatory really about how poor my pace was because if I actually look into Strava properly it wasn't too bad, it's just that the hilly bit slowed me down a lot.  I did spend a decent amount of time at my 'tempo' pace.

Total distance - 3.75 miles

Running Late

I had decided early on today that I wanted to join the Monday night cake run group firstly (obviously) for the cake and, secondly, for the great company.  I'm sure they won't be offended that the cake came first.

I left work, as usual, at 3.30 and got on my normal train.  Unfortunately, after we left Manchester, the conductor made an announcement that nobody could actually hear, although we did pick out the words 'Wigan' and 'Preston'.  People started chatting to each other wondering what was going on and my train friend, Scouse Dave, went down the train to speak to the conductor to find out.  It turned out that due to some problem or other, probably the wrong kind of leaves on the track, the train was having to divert down the Wigan line and so wouldn't be calling at Bolton or any stations between there and Preston.  To get to Horwich, we would have to go to Preston then catch a train back - assuming there was one and the aforementioned wrong kind of leaves weren't on the track in the opposite direction as well.

In the end, Scouse Dave, Chris (my other train friend) and I decided to get off at Wigan and catch a train to Hindley, where Duncan kindly picked us up on his way home from work and took us to Horwich Parkway.  I arrived home well over 2 hours after I left work so was running really late for the meet up for tonight's run.

I told the guys I would see them up by the dog kennels at around 6.50.  I was running so late that I ended up having to get Duncan to drive me up to the top of Wilderswood and I ran from there.  I got to the kennels at about 6.45 and there wasn't a head torch in sight so I kept going and going and going, hoping that I'd see somebody before I had to run up the Pike but I didn't and so ran up there. I waited about five minutes at the top and then everyone arrived.  My run to the Pike was actually surprisingly good and I was feeling pretty strong.

We headed down from the Pike, along George's Lane and up Two Lads.  I manged to run all the way to Two Lads with ease and got myself a personal record on Strava in the process!  Woo!

It was then cross country to the mast, a bit which I find a really hard slog but, again, I was feeling fine and managing to chat to Suzanne all the way along when usually I'm too out of breath to talk.

It's pretty much all down hill from there and I couldn't believe that I had found the run so easy tonight.  Perhaps it's because I started on the flat, rather than running up hill straight away like I usually do.  Who knows, I'm just feeling pretty high right now about how well I ran!

When we got to the barn, my Garmin was showing 5.91 miles so Josie ordered me to run around the car park until I got to 6 miles, which I did, causing me to miss the beginning of Mark's happy birthday song.  Sorry Mark!

We then chomped on some delicious cup cakes made by the birthday boy and soon made our farewells.

A great run, thanks again guys!!!

Happy Birthday for tomorrow Mark!


Total distance - 6 miles 

Test the Legs Trail Run

I was going to get up and run with a group this morning but I was really tired and treated myself to a lie in instead.  When I finally did get up, Duncan and I decided to take Ruby for a walk around the Hell of a Hill Marathon route so that we could cheer on the competitors on yet another miserable wet and windy morning. 

After walking around the route in the opposite direction and cheering the guys and gals on, I got my running coat on and went for a run whilst Duncan drove Ruby home.  I just wanted to see how my legs were after Friday and was only intending to run about three miles.  The answer was that they were surprisingly good so I ended up going a bit further.  Aside from a bit of a calf niggle, they were pain free and I had expected my quads to be really sore because of how painful they were on Friday. 

I ran from the Pigeon Tower car park down the road past the campsite and all the way to Lead Mines Clough.  I then ran through Lead Mines Clough and up the right hand hill at the end, then followed the trail to Higher and Lower Hempshaws.  At first, I had tried to come off the trail and go the cross country route I went along last week with Josie and Co but when I got down to the stream crossing, it was more like a river and I couldn’t get across.  There are stiles to the right, but I wasn’t sure these would take me the way I wanted to go and I didn’t have a map on me so decided to just go back up to the trail and stay on there to Higher Hempshaws.  

From Lower Hempshaws, I climbed the hill towards Hordern Stoops.  I was hugely different to last week because I practically walked that whole hill last week but today I ran it all and felt fine. 

Once at Hordern Stoops, I decided against climbing up top as I had intended this to be a trial run rather than a fell run so I ran along to Belmont Road (continuation of George’s Lane) and ran all the way along there to the Pigeon Tower.  It was pretty slippery underfoot in some places and horrendously wet.  Once at the Pigeon Tower, I carried on along George’s Lane to the dog kennels and then went slowly down my favourite field. 

I’m not usually bothered by mountain bikers as the majority of them are sensible and considerate but I got really angry (in my head, not out loud) with a mountain biker who was riding up through my favourite field.  There are some footpaths which it doesn’t bother me if there are bikers on, as long as they’re being considerate to walkers/runners, but footpaths through farm fields like this, which are soft grassy ground, shouldn’t be ridden on.  He was coming the opposite way to me and as I passed him I could see the groove he had cut into the soft ground.  I love that field and don’t want it to become a mess due to bikers riding along it. 

Total distance – 7.5 miles