Bin Fodder

I'm rapidly running out of running shoes!

Seriously, all my shoes are falling to bits. It's probably because I'm too lazy to clean then every time I get back from a run and they have been corroded but even my road shoes are on their last legs and they don't get muddy (they hardly get used at all to be honest - I've had them about three years!).

My Mudclaws are the only half decent ones I have but they hurt my 'Haglunds Deformity' so I try to avoid wearing them.

On today's run, I wore my Adidas Kanadias.  They were pretty worn out at the start of the run but got worse and worse as it went on.

I drove to the barn as usual this morning and joining me today was Ed, John, Pauline and Kev.  We headed straight up the Pike and on the way down was when I first realised what a state my shoes were in.  Usually I come down the Pike pretty quickly but today my feet were just sliding out of the sides of my shoes and I was slipping everywhere.

We then went up to Two Lads, then the trig point where Ed sank up to his waist (no exaggeration) without any of the rest of us noticing.  We all just left him.  Good job he managed to pull himself out as we were already half way down the diagonal!  I must admit, I had wimped out of the trig point altogether and stayed on the mast road because I wanted to keep my feet as dry as possible to avoid them slipping out of my shoes!

Once Ed had freed himself and caught up with us at the bottom of the diagonal the group split, with John and Kev heading back to the barn and the rest of us heading off to Lead Mines Clough.

We ran out onto the road and then along to Hordern Stoops, going diagonally along to the ruins of Higher Hempshaws.  We left the main path a little way further along and went on a muddy cross country route towards the 'secret waterfall' at the far end of Lead Mines Clough.  From there, we ran through the woods and to the Bomber Memorial, where I took this lovely picture of my battered shoes.

That picture doesn't actually do justice to just how bad they were. At one point, coming through the woods to the memorial, I slipped whilst running along a contoured bit and couldn't stop sliding down the hill whilst making an involuntary 'wooooooooooo' noise.  I had to crash into a tree to stop myself.

From Bomber Memorial we ran through Lead Mines Clough and out onto the road which we then ran up before going over the stile into the field and heading along to Dean Brook.  From there it was just back to the cars.

Needless to say, the shoes went straight into the bin when I got home.  Suppose it saved me cleaning them!

(NB - that whisky is not mine - I'm an athlete!)


Total distance - 9.75 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/261513086

Forgotten Run

I did this run so long ago now that I have completely forgotten everything about it.

As I recall, it was an early morning run because I had the day off work.  It was a leisurely one with Ruby and I had to look at my Strava trace to see where we went.  It was our pretty standard easy five-ish miler which took us along to the top barn, to the pigeon tower car park, up 'the driveway' zigzagging through the terraced gardens and coming out at the pigeon tower, then up to the Pike then home, doubling back through Wilderswood.

Right up until the last few minutes of the run I didn't see a single other person but then I bumped into Sean and all Ruby's old playmates.  After a good natter we ran down through Wilderswood and home.


Total Distance - 5.5 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/260559025

Snail Pace to Noon Hill

I went for a run this morning but was again feeling very sluggish.  I ran up from home onto George's Lane through Wilderswood but I found myself walking part of the way through the wood because my legs were just too tired to run.

I didn't even feel any better on the flat of George's Lane as I ran towards the pigeon tower even though by now I was definitely warmed up.  I carried on along George's Lane and up to Noon Hill.

Up until this point, I had been getting really annoyed with myself for feeling as bad as I did.  It's just too frequent.  It's very rare that I feel good during a run, even an easy one and I don't understand why.  My breathing is fine so it's not really a fitness thing but it's my legs that just don't seem to want to carry me.  I've been running a long time now and have good leg muscles but for some reason they don't want to let me run.

I'm really looking forward to this biomechanics appointment in a month's time as I'm hoping it can shed some light onto why I struggle so much with running, even after all these years.

From Noon Hill to the Pike I was still struggling but was feeling much better in myself because I love this little path.  It was incredibly wet so it was slow going but I did enjoy myself, as I always do across here.  I couldn't see the Pike at all, not even when I reached the kissing gate just beneath it because the fog was so thick.

From the Pike I just ran back home again and felt glad that I hadn't given up a few miles ago when I was really struggling.

In stark contrast, I ran again this evening with Ruby and felt great!  Why is it your second run of the day always feels much better than the first?  Perhaps I should start running in a morning before an afternoon race and see if I run any faster!

Run 1 Distance - 6 miles
Run 2 Distance - 4 miles

Total Distance - 10 miles 

Run 1 - https://www.strava.com/activities/259596323
Run 2 - https://www.strava.com/activities/259760931

I Think Strava Might be Lying?

I went for my regular canal run with Kathryn and Andy today at lunch.  I was feeling rotten if truth be told.  I've had a sniffle all morning so think I'm coming down with a cold but it wasn't really that which was bothering me as much as my shoes.  I bought some new cheap and nasty road shoes from Decathlon for £15.  I hardly ever run on roads so don't like spending a lot of money on road shoes but these just felt like lead weights.  They were comfortable enough, just much heavier than my Nike Frees which are now getting a bit old and battered.

At the end of our run, I apologised to the others for slowing them down, however when I looked at my Strava trace, it showed that this was our fastest pace on this route to date!

Really?  It certainly didn't feel like it.  Or perhaps the reason I was struggling is because we were running much faster?  I really don't think so though, I'm pretty sure we were going slower than usual.

Josie may have a point about Strava's dubious accuracy!

I have just had a look at the Garmin trace for the same run and that is showing a 9.10 minute mile, which sounds much more accurate to me (Strava is showing an 8.31 minute mile!!!!)


Total distance - 5.7 miles according to Strava / 5.5 miles according to Garmin (what on earth?)

Strava trace - https://www.strava.com/activities/259596318/overview

Garmin trace - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/705533644

Happy 9th Birthday Ruby!

As the title suggests, today is Ruby’s 9^th birthday.  I took her out for a run to the Pike to celebrate this evening and I made sure I didn't yell at her, even when she did drag after some sheep.  

We ran along to the barn then up through the terraced gardens and I was feeling surprisingly fresh all the way up. 

Ruby seemed quite full of beans today too so we had a lovely run.  It was absolutely freezing on top of the Pike though and I thought Ruby might get blown away.  

I was very annoyed on my way down from the Pike to see a few discarded gel packets lying around the place.  Take your litter home people!  

On a separate note, I bought a CD from 'the Bolton Bullfrog' yesterday and was very pleased that it arrived today, having been hand delivered by the man himself!  Wish I had been in, I would have invited him in for a cuppa! 

Total distance 4.25 miles 

https://www.strava.com/activities/258949257

A Bit Thin on the Ground

That relates both to the lack of fellow runners this morning and to the amount of snow on the ground. 

Only myself and Ed braving the wintry conditions this morning.  We decided not to hang around thinking about where to run to and just head straight up the Pike to get warmed up.  Ed told me that when I got to the top, I had to go back down the curly bit and back up the steps, which I did but instead of going up the steps I attempted the grassy slope to the side of them but it was far too slippery and I just kept sliding back down again. 

We then ran along to Two Lads where it was very chilly.

From there, we decided to head along to the trespass stone then up to the trig point, however, when we were running along Coal Pit Road, I asked Ed where the footpath on the right went so we decided to go along it to find out.  It’s the one which is off the road down to the farm and takes you through a lovely wooded area which looked a lot like Tiger’s Clough.

We eventually came out at a farm and then made our way back to Coal Pit Road.  We decided against going up to the trig point and just made our way back towards Two Lads via the lower route.  We crossed the mast road, went along to the water tanks and then down onto George’s Lane before heading back to the car park through the terraced gardens.

A very chilly morning and we both wimped out of doing anything more energetic. 

Total distance – 9.15 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/258949854

Slow and Sluggish

That’s exactly how I felt today, even on just a very easy run. 

I can’t believe what an idiot I was to do a speed session on Wednesday.  I know it was four days after the Amble, however the Amble was over 10 miles further than I have run in the past nine months or so and it really took it out of me so I think I needed a bit more recovery than I gave myself.  Since I did the speed session on Wednesday I’ve had aches and pains all over and my hip has started to hurt again.

I had wanted to do a decent run this morning, about six miles, but I only managed three flat miles and that was hard enough work.  My legs were really tired and I just wanted to go home and sulk, so I did. 

Total distance – 3 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/257445851

Rivvy Speed Session

This morning I jogged down to Rivington for a bit of a speed session, although nothing too hefty as I'm still recovering from Saturday!  I did 2 x 0.5 mile, 4 x 0.25 miles and 8 x 0.13 miles (I wanted it to be eight of miles but my Garmin can't really do this so it was ever so slightly over).

You can tell by my splits that I was getting really tired towards the end (the penultimate split and the one before it being much slower than my best 10k race pace!!!), however I did find something buried for the very last one, probably because I was relieved it was soon to be over.


0.5 miles          3m, 52s       7.44 min mile
0.5 miles          4m, 05s       8.10 min mile

0.25 miles        1m, 53s       7.32 min mile
0.25 miles        1m, 53s       7.32 min mile
0.25 miles        1m, 56s       7.44 min mile
0.25 miles        1m, 54s       7.36 min mile

0.13 miles        57s              7.19 min mile
0.13 miles        58s              7.27 min mile
0.13 miles        1m, 01s       7.50 min mile
0.13 miles        1m, 00s       7.42 min mile
0.13 miles        1m, 00s       7.42 min mile
0.13 miles        1m, 05s       8.21 min mile
0.13 miles        1m, 06s       8.28 min mile
0.13 miles        59s             7.34 min mile

On the jog home my right leg started to go numb around the shin which is never a good thing so I had to stop to stretch it out for a while.  I did a good bit of stretching and icing when I got home so fingers crossed it's OK.

Total Distance - 5.4 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/256525110/overview

Testing Testing!

Still having a few niggles left over from Saturday's outing, I went for a leisurely run with Ruby today to see what was still working properly and what wasn't.  Since Saturday I have been getting an intermittent sharp pain in my right ankle bone, kinda like a trapped nerve type pain.  It didn't hurt at all during my run tonight but did twinge shortly after I finished.  Yet another thing to add to the many ailments of my right foot.  I can't wait for that biomechanics appointment, which is still five weeks away!  I'm convinced they're just going to tell me it's useless and saw it off.

Other than that, I had no problems and ran OK.  Ruby was driving me insane though.  We ran through a field of sheep and she just kept on trying to get at them.  I yelled and yelled and she cowered and looked sheepish (sorry) but still carried on.

For the run itself we just parked up near the barn and ran along past Yarrow Reservoir, towards Lead Mines Clough, over the bridge, up the hill and through the farm fields back to Dean Brook then back through Rivington to the van.

Total distance - 3.3 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/255855943

Tockholes Orienteering - 'Quite Easy' Course

The other week I bought the 'Orienteering at Tockholes Permanent Course' map and leaflet from the little cafe by the car park at Tockholes for the princely sum of £1 so that I could try to improve my navigation skills.

There are four courses ranging from 'quite easy' to 'very hard (experienced orienteers only)' so I decided to start with the quite easy and work up from there.

I had traveled to Tockholes with Duncan and Barry who were going mountain biking.  They said they would be out for two hours and, given that the quite easy route was shown as 1.9k, I told them that I'd do that and then do the 2.2k 'moderately difficult' route afterwards.

You guessed it, the quite easy route took me so long that I didn't have time to do the moderately difficult route.  In fact, the 1.9k quite easy route turned out to be 4.18k (2.6 miles) due to my ineptitude.

I found the first control, control F, relatively easily.  I did at first find myself on the wrong path junction but soon realised this and got onto the correct one.

Then came the second control, E.  I'm convinced I was in the right place but I just couldn't find the control post.  I was there for ages looking all over the place.  It's not like they are only tiny things, they're big posts with a white band on them and a letter but I just couldn't find it.  Perhaps it had been knocked down?  I'll just keep telling myself that.

Next was control P.  Again, I just couldn't find the post, despite, as far as I'm concerned, being in the right spot.  By now I was getting quite stressed because I felt really useless.  I'm so sure I was in the right place though but again had to give up and move on to the next one.

It took me a while to find the next one (N) because the path it was down wasn't at all obvious and was really muddy and a little overgrown but I persevered because I was sure it was the right way and it turned out it was and I found the control.

Only control M to go now and I found this one really easily, which made me feel much better about controls E and P.

The last control point, M

I'm going to have to go back and find E and P as I can't be defeated by them.  Both of them also appear on the next level course 'moderately difficult' so I'll make sure I find them this time.  Please do tell me if you are aware that the posts have been knocked down though so I'm not going round and round in circles again.

Afterwards we all had brunch in the cafe with me drooling over Duncan and Barry's bacon/sausage/egg butties whilst I opted for a healthy pea soup.

Photo courtesy of Barry


Total distance - 2.6 miles 

https://www.strava.com/activities/255266436

Anglezarke Amble

A few weeks ago, Albert suggested I enter the Anglezarke Amble and at the time I thought that it seemed way beyond me because I have only run that kind of distance once before and that was about nine months ago and was at a leisurely pace.

The Amble isn't a race, it's a Long Distance Walkers event but quite a lot of people choose to run it, some (e.g. Albert and Josie) in astounding times!

On one of our lunchtime runs, I mentioned it to Kathryn and she said she wouldn't mind having a go at it and said that one of her club mates, Maggie, had signed up and suggested that we all run it together as kind of a getting to know more local paths and having a laugh thing.  Sounded like a good idea to me, no pressure of racing, just a good day out so I signed up.

I didn't wake up with any feeling of dread this morning like I do when I have a race to go to and instead was really looking forward to it and couldn't wait to get going.

Kathryn picked me up and the three of us went along to the community hall at Rivington to sign in and get our tally card.  There were quite a lot of familiar faces around and I had a good natter before the start with different folk, all with their own aims in mind.

At 8.00am off we set for the Pike, to me the hardest part of the event as it involves going straight uphill which, if you regularly read this blog you will know, I don't like because I'm not warmed up yet.  It was a nice leisurely pace though and I had already told myself before we set off that I was allowed to forego my promise of always running up to the Pike today because I wanted to make sure I saved enough energy to complete the entire run.  Kathryn and Maggie weren't for running up it either so that was OK.

First hill climbed - top of the Pike

From the Pike we dropped down onto George's Lane then along to the dog hotel and up towards Two Lads.  We didn't actually go to Two Lads though, turning off to the left just before reaching it and heading up to the mast for the first checkpoint where we got our tally cards punched.

We carried on along the mast road and then turned off and down the San Marino ramp out onto Belmont Road.  I had to make a quick stop to remove a stone from my shoe at this point and we took this opportunity to look at the route card and find out where we were going next.

We crossed the road and ran through some fields, coming out on the road which leads to Belmont Reservoir.  Before reaching the reservoir we turned off into some farm land and the directions said we had to go diagonally through the field.  This is the only part of the run where we went slightly wrong as we went too far through the field but there were other people around who went the right way so we followed them.

One of these people was John Swift and, as I know he has done this route several times, I knew we could trust his navigation and were going the right way.  We ran along with John having a good natter and a little while later, along came Gordon.  The five of us were pretty much together now all the way to the first food checkpoint and I think Gordon must have been really hungry at this point as he pretty much sprinted down the field towards it.

I had a cocktail sausage and a piece of delicious marble cake and Maggie and Kathryn had a brew each then we continued on our way, still joined by Gordon.  John had already left before us but we caught up with him again a little bit later on and Gordon disappeared into the distance ahead of us.

The route we were on now was the part of the route I was most interested in as I have never been on any of these paths before but unfortunately it was really foggy so I didn't get to see much.  We followed behind John for a good while and we didn't want to lose him as he knew where he was going and our navigational skills hadn't worked out well for us earlier on.

A good while later (I couldn't really tell you where we had been) we started climbing up towards Darwen Tower and we got ahead of John a little.  I had now familiarised myself with the directions though and was quite confident of being able to navigate us to Darwen Tower.  Eventually, it loomed into view through the mist.

At Darwen Tower, homeward bound now.

From there, I knew all the route home as it is the same way as I regularly go when I'm over this side of the moors.

We ran down from the tower to the next food stop at Slipper Lowe car park.  At this checkpoint I had a quarter of a mini pork pie and a jaffa cake.  Yum!

We didn't stop here long and carried on along to Piccadilly and then up to Great Hill.  John had caught up with us again by now so we all ran up to Great Hill together.

On top of Great Hill with John, who we would quite literally have been lost without. 

That's it, all the hills over with and only a few miles away from the finish.

We headed off down towards White Coppice where there was another food stop but we didn't indulge here and just carried on to the end.  By now, we were all really tired.  I was just shuffling along and could barely pick up my feet, although Kathryn seemed to still be going strong.

We had aimed to get in under six hours and all the way along I had been trying to keep us on track by checking my Garmin to make sure we were averaging at least 4mph.  If the route had been 24 miles as we thought it was, we would have come in six minutes under six hours but it turned out to be 25 miles (partially because of our detour through the fields earlier) so we didn't quite make it.  Somehow Maggie found this huge amount of energy as we were going through the field towards Rivington Green and made us sprint because the end was in sight!!!!

We finished, all holding hands and cheering like lunatics, in 6 hours and 3 minutes (Garmin shows our moving time at 5.47.37, although I'm unsure how accurate that is (Strava shows it at 5.30.43 which I don't trust at all)).

With our finishers certificates, trying not to look as exhausted as we felt.

Absolutely excellent day out and I'm really glad I decided to do it.

Big thanks to Albert for talking me into it, Kathryn and Maggie for their great company and to John (aka the Duracell Bunny!) for ensuring we didn't get lost in the fog.


Total distance - 25 miles (OK so it was 24.99 but I'm having that last 0.01 miles because I ended up partially run/hobbling back to Kathryn's car afterwards).

https://www.strava.com/activities/254824845


Photos courtesy of Jim Leyland, Maggie's sister and random strangers we asked to take pictures of us

Pre-Amble Plod

Just a short one with Ruby today as I didn't want to tire myself out before tomorrow's 24 miler!

Nothing exciting to report, we just ran down to the school, along the side of Lever Park then crossed the road and ran up onto the track down to the top barn from the school then went back home.

Really looking forward to the Anglezarke Amble tomorrow, although it's a huge amount more mileage than I've done of late, my longest in the past couple of months being only 14 miles!


Total distance - 2.5 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/254824776

Ed's Time Trial #1

A few weeks ago, Ed told me about a run he regularly does to Noon Hill, Winter Hill trig point, Two Lads and the Pike where he records the length of time between each climb and he suggested it might be something I'd like to do as a hilly time trial.  I thought this sounded like a great idea so early this morning I went for my first attempt.

The run starts in the centre of the circle in the middle of top barn car park and then goes along to the Pigeon Tower car park, straight on through the field and then up through the plantation onto George's Lane, coming out just before the woods.  It then crossed over George's Lane to the stile a short way along and up to Noon Hill.  For me, this is the hardest bit because I find going up hill right at the beginning of a run really difficult.

Once at the top of Noon Hill, I had a quick breather whilst I tightened my laces and I then ran back down to George's Lane, albeit further along then where I came up from.  I ran along George's Lane a short way and then came to the wooden bridge and went up the diagonal.  I was still feeling really lethargic here and I did have to walk for the most part of it, even stopping completely at one point to stretch my calf.  I finally got to the top and made my way through the sludge to the trig point and then carried straight on down the mast road and up to Two Lads, by far the easiest 'climb' on this time trial as it's really easy going up to Two Lads from the mast side, it's barely a climb at all.

From there it was down to the kennels then along to the Pike.  After my speedy(ish) descent from Two Lads, my legs were really getting tired and I even found the relatively flat run from the kennels to the bottom of the Pike hard work.  Onwards and upwards though, I ran up the Pike and then it was all downhill from there.

I did go a little bit wrong on the way down through the terraced gardens as I was going down the route that we always go up on a Saturday morning but I've never done it in the opposite direction and I got a bit confused by the pond, costing me valuable seconds.  Seriously, how can I keep going the wrong way in the terraced gardens, I run in them ALL THE TIME!!!!

Ed had challenged me to do the route in under 70 minutes and I'm pleased to say that I arrived back at the circle in the middle of the car park in one hour 8 minutes and forty-seven seconds.

My split times were as follows:

Barn to Noon Hill - 19.36

Noon Hill to Winter Hill trig - 14.58

Winter Hill trig to Two Lads - 11.12

Two Lads to Pike - 13.44

Pike to Barn - 9.17

Total time - 1.08.47

Today I was incredibly heavy legged and it was really tough going, I even struggled up the Pike which doesn't usually pose a problem.  I'm absolutely positive I could do much better another day but this has now given me a base to work from and I'll have to keep trying to beat my times each time I do it.

Total distance - 5.3 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/253374746

Lunchtime De-stress

After a hectic morning making last minute adjustments to a report for an important meeting this afternoon, I went for a run along the canal with Kathryn (and Andy for part of the run) to de-stress.  We had a nice easy pace today as we’re keeping ourselves fresh for the Amble on Saturday.  We chatted non-stop and I was really surprised when we arrived back onto Canal Street as the time had passed really quickly. 

Most of our chat was about the Amble and also about a SELOC orienteering event that Kathryn fancies doing in a couple of weeks time and wondered whether I fancied having a go too and I must admit, I’m quite tempted. 

Unfortunately, when I got back to work at about 1.20, I was immediately pounced upon to make more changes to the report before the client meeting at 2pm so I didn’t even have time to have a shower.  I had to sit stinking at my desk for over 45 minutes before I finally got to go and get freshened up. 

Total distance – 5.1 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/253089720

Dalbeattie Forest

I didn’t do any running yesterday but instead we drove along to the Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s most southerly point.  Again, the weather was amazing.  So much so that when we parked the van a certain way out by the cliffs there was no wind at all and it made a little suntrap…

  

After chilling out there for a while and scoffing cake and coffee in the café, we drove along to Wigtown, which is full of bookshops. 

Tonight’s campsite was the best of the lot and we wished we had found it right from the start and spent all three nights there.  It’s not our usual type of campsite though as I imagine in summer it will be heaving and full of kids but we were the only people on site so we had the run of the place.

Sunset... 

 We awoke to thick fog this morning though and our run of great weather had come to an end although it wasn’t raining so not too bad and once you got high enough up there were blue skies.

We drove to Dalbeattie Forest today, which is another one of the 7 Stanes.  Duncan went for a bike ride again and I ran with Ruby through the forest and by the side of a frozen loch.

 

Again, I arrived back at the van first so got the kettle on and made some lunch and Duncan arrived back just as the kettle had boiled. 

We pretty much drove home after that via the scenic route along the coast.  Great long weekend in Scotland, can’t wait for the next one.  Wish I had bought the van years ago!  

Total distance – 6.5 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/252638875

Kirroughtree Forest

Yesterday we drove up to Scotland and stayed in the camper van at a campsite in Dalbeattie.  The weather was beautiful and sunny on the way up and was still lovely the next morning, albeit cold.  The van windows were all iced up but the insulation we had used did the trick as it wasn’t too cold inside considering we have no heaters.

We drove out to Kirroughtree Forest this morning, which is one of the 7 Stanes – a group of seven mountain biking trail centres in the south of Scotland.  They are all on Forestry Commission land and so also have waymarked forest walks so whilst Duncan went out for a ride, Ruby and I went for a run.  At the car park there was no snow to be seen however once we started going up hill, the tracks were caked with ice and I was regretting having left my Orocs in the van.  I was only wearing trail shoes so was slipping around all over the place, as was Ruby, so it was even more slow going than usual.  We really enjoyed ourselves though, well at least until near the end when Ruby completely ran out of steam and just decided she’d rather sniff everything instead. 

I arrived back at the van before Duncan so fried up some bacon butties for our lunch.  I really do love our van!

After our respective exercise sessions, we drove into Castle Douglas and had a wander round before driving out to find tonight’s campsite.  Earlier in the week I had looked up a few campsites as it can be quite difficult to find one which is open at this time of year so I wanted to make sure we had contingency plans in case we didn’t find anything just driving along.  We headed out to a site which was on the road up towards Ayr from Castle Douglas.  We arrived and drove up a track towards a partially built house with a shabby looking static caravan outside.  Duncan said to me ‘where’s the campsite’ to which I replied ‘I think this is it!’.  A chap walked over and said we should park up on the track as it was more level than the grassy area.  We really didn’t want to stay here but the bloke was so nice it was difficult to say thanks but no thanks.  We asked if there were showers as we had both been out running/biking and needed one and he said no so we thought this would be a good excuse to go elsewhere but he then said we could use the shower in his house.  He took Duncan on a ‘tour’ of the site, which was basically over to the static caravan which he had previously told us was not fit for purpose anymore and used to store chicken feed, and this was where the toilet was.  It was just a scruffy static caravan toilet.  I wouldn’t mind but this site is a Camping and Caravanning certified site, last certified in 2014.  Seriously?  Wild camping is far preferable and is free, not a tenner which was the price here.  Duncan got back in the van and we sat wondering what to do because we didn’t want to hurt this bloke’s feelings as he was really nice and seemed proud of his little site.  In the end, I’m sorry to say that we were complete pathetic wimps and just drove off as if we were nipping to the shops and didn’t come back. 

By this time it was dark and we had no idea where we were going to stay for the night.  I had no internet signal on my phone so ended up ringing my mum and asking her to google campsites for me.  After about an hour or so of driving, we eventually came to a campsite near to Newton Stewart.  As we drove up to it, we couldn’t see the site, just a big farm yard full of horses, ponies, chickens and massive turkeys.  After wandering around in the pitch dark muddy farm yard for a while we realised that this was in fact the campsite.  It was just so difficult to tell as it was so dark and there were no other campers/motorhomes/caravans/tents there. 

I wandered into the toilet/shower block for a nosey and it was lit only with candles and so was pretty difficult to see anything.  It was very hippy stylee and this made showering a little difficult!

In the light of day the next morning though, it turns out the campsite was really nice.  It was pretty far from any roads so was really peaceful and had lovely views although these photos don’t do it any justice at all.

Total distance – 5 miles

 https://www.strava.com/activities/252638846

Deer Everywhere!

This morning I took Ruby out for a run whilst Duncan packed up the van ready for our trip to Scotland.

We just did a leisurely five mile route out to the barn, through the terraced gardens, up to the Pike then home via Old Rake.  It was a beautiful morning and the wildlife was out in abundance, particular the deer which Ruby kept trying to chase.  On our way up through the terraced gardens, just after we had gone under the bridge, one ran across the path only a few feet in front of us and jumped over the stone wall.  Ruby tried to follow but was too small to jump over it although this didn’t stop her trying about ten times before eventually giving up.  The deer, along with it’s friend, was long gone by now but Ruby was still all excited wondering if there were more to chase. 

It doesn’t matter how often I see wild deer, they always make me stop to admire them.  They’re just so majestic and we’re so lucky to be able to see them regularly on our doorsteps.  Beautiful creatures!

Total Distance – 5.4 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/252638853

Mile Time Trial - Failed Attempt

Last weekend I set myself a few goals in the form of four time trials to attempt every couple of months to see if there has been improvement.  The trials are:

1.  Pike race route
2.  Flat 5k route
3.  One mile time trial
4.  'Ed's Time Trial' (this involves Noon Hill, Winter Hill trig point, Two Lads and the Pike but more on this at a later date)

I am going to do one road one and one fell one in one month and the other two in the next month and then each one every two months after if that makes sense.

Today I had originally intended to do the 5k time trial but I haven't decided on a route yet so instead opted for the one mile time trial instead.

I warmed up by running from home to the bowling club (two miles away) and felt really fresh and full of beans.

After a brief stop and a stretch, off I went.  The mile was going to be straight along Horrobin Lane, down the Street and out onto Knowsley Lane, which I thought would be a pretty similar elevation at each end (it turned out to be a mere 65 feet of climb).

It didn't go according to plan though as just after I had crossed the dam on The Street, my stomach began to cramp up to such an extent that I had to stop.  I was gutted as I had been going reasonably well beforehand.  Perhaps I set off too fast (I was averaging 6.5 minute miling for the first quarter mile, which is quick for me)?

The mile ended slightly before I expected it to and I hadn't yet come out onto Knowsley Lane so I jogged along a little and went to the middle of the dam on Knowsley Lane before having a second attempt back along The Street.

Unfortunately, the second attempt also didn't go to plan.  The first part was really easy as it was all downhill but as soon as I got onto the flat of the dam my stomach cramped up again.  I tried to run through it but I just couldn't and stopped again.

I'm really disappointed in myself because obviously I can't count either mile as a benchmark to work on because I stopped both times rendering the results useless.

It was such a beautiful morning I'm gutted that I wasted it legging it along a road when I could have been enjoying myself up on the fells instead.

Ah well, better luck next time!


Total distance - 6.6 miles

Warm up - https://www.strava.com/activities/250215383
Mile #1 - https://www.strava.com/activities/250215386
Plod in between - https://www.strava.com/activities/250215388
Mile #2 - https://www.strava.com/activities/250215393
Cool down - https://www.strava.com/activities/250215404

Exploring Darwen Moor

This morning Duncan, Barry, Ruby and I drove over to Tockholes, where the boys were going mountain biking and the girls were going for something of a navigation training run.

Ruby and I went down into Roddlesworth Woods, coming out at Slipper Lowe car park on Tockholes Road.  We crossed over the road and took the wide path through the farm up the hill.  All of this bit I already know  but I wanted to start exploring some of the other paths leading to Darwen Tower.

I'm really good at reading a road map and have never got us lost (unlike sat nav which once took us along a road which ended in the middle of a field full of cows!) however these skills don't appear to be transferring very well to reading OS maps.

Saying that, at the couple of points where I went wrong, I knew very early on that I had made a mistake so isn't that all part of the learning process?

After initially getting it wrong, I soon found my feet and managed to navigate my way quite successfully down to Duckshaw Farm before picking up the Witton Weavers Way and climbing towards Darwen Tower.

After going up Darwen Tower I decided to start heading back down as I wasn't sure how long the lads were going to be out and didn't want them waiting for ages.  We went down Aggie's Staircase, crossed the stream and then when the path forks, we took the left hand path (the right one would have taken us straight back to the car park but I wanted to go a way I hadn't been before) then turned right at the farm house and ran down onto Tockholes Road.

We ran along the road back to the car park but the blokes weren't back yet so I decided to do a little loop around the woods to pass the time.  When we finished our loop they were back so we all went into the cafe to warm up and get some grub.  Whilst there I bought a copy of the Tockholes Orienteering map so I could have another go at learning navigational skills with actual points to aim for.

The main problem with trying to navigate today is that it was too cold for me to want to hang around for long reading a map so it might be a better exercise for warmer days.  I really enjoyed it though and felt very proud of myself for finding my way so well.  I used to think that navigating round the West Pennine Moors would be easier than a lot of places because there are so many paths but actually the amount of paths can be quite a hindrance because it's sometimes difficult to tell which one you want to be on when they're all so close together.


Total distance - 7.25 miles 

https://www.strava.com/activities/248964669