I didn't get chance for another run in the Lakes today so went out for one as soon as we got home.
I thought I would be sluggish as I had just driven back from near Penrith and had been stuck on the M6 car park for a while too so was feeling a bit stiff but I soon got into a good pace. I went straight up through Wilderswood onto George's Lane and then up the path towards Two Lads but instead of turning left towards Two Lads at the water tanks, I carried on up to the mast road. I then turned right, ran down a bit and went through the gate on the left heading out to the Trespass Stone. From the Trespass Stone I ran up to Smithils Reservoir. At the far side of the reservoir I headed off over to Whinberry Hill, then Egg Hillock. Once I was at Egg Hillock I was undecided on what to do next. I decided to head down to Shaly Dingle and see if I could then find a route which took me out on the Belmont Road somewhere, so I could climb up the hill from San Marino to the top of Winterhill. When I got down to Shaly Dingle, I could see a path to the right so I followed it but ended up at a big gate which said 'no public access beyond this point'.
Not having a map, compass or phone with me, I didn't fancy getting lost so I just retraced by route back to Egg Hillock, Whinberry Hill and the reservoir. I was making good progress so thought I would just do pretty much a reverse route back home but going via Two Lads this time.
I was feeling really good and decided to try for a course record off Two Lads so I really went for it. When I got home and saw my pace I was really elated. I had run the whole nine miles in a 10.15 pace.
A 10+ minute mile pace might sound slow and if I had run on the roads or trails I would agree, but for the type of run I did, by my standards, this is brilliant, especially over a distance of 9 miles. When I did Bull Hill fell race last year, which is the best I have ever done in a fell race and made me part of the winning ladies team, I did it in a 10.43 minute mile pace and that was 3.5 miles shorter than the run I did today and didn't have as much climb so I'm really pleased with myself.
Plus I have now reached and exceeded my Strava 200k in June goal. I also got a few Strava course records today too. I can have a day off tomorrow now :)
Total distance - 9 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/159667437
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Stickle Tarn or as I like to call it 'a big hill'
Duncan really had a bee in his bonnet about going camping this weekend as we have never taken Ruby before and I'm not sure whether she ever went camping with Sean and Maria before we had her so he wanted to see how she would take to it. We left early morning and headed up to the Lakes with no real plan in mind for where we were going to camp. We drove up to Ambleside and then headed across to the Langdales. Duncan decided he wanted to go for a walk up Stickle Tarn, which he hasn't done since he was a kid. Apparently this is one of the most, if not THE most, climbed hill in the Lake District, so we felt a bit touristy but I've never climbed it before so I was definitely up for it.
I decided to work on my climbing and run up it, but with stops for Duncan and Ruby to catch up to me. I also walked some of it with them because it would have been a bit rude for me to come out for a nice walk with Duncan but then bugger off and leave him. I actually felt really good running it though and was quite pleased with myself.
Ruby really does have issues with crossing water, which is quite amusing. There was a bit where we had to cross the ghyll over stones and boulders and Ruby was having none of it. She was terrified even though it was only a short jump from stone to stone. We had to pick her up and carry her across them all. She's like that when going over a slatted bridge too. Bless.
Once we reached the top, I decided to have a little run along whilst Duncan and Ruby had a well earned rest (don't forget Duncan is only six months post his hip replacement so is only just getting back into walking and this was definitely a challenging walk). I just ran out for a short way then turned back again.
We had only put a couple of quid in the parking meter as it's all we had on us, which only gave us two hours to complete the walk so we had to get a wiggle on going back down.
I actually found it harder going down than up to begin with as it was really steep and rocky. A short way down we got chatting to a bloke and I said 'anyway, we need to dash as we only have 20 minutes left on our parking ticket' to which he replied, 'you'll never get back down there in 20 minutes' so obviously I took this as a personal challenge, asked Duncan for the car keys and told him I'd see him back at the car. I took Ruby with me and off we went. So many people commented to us about how amazing it was that we were running because it was difficult enough walking. It made me feel really proud and motivated.
I'm pleased to say that not only did I get back to the car inside 20 minutes, I did it in 15! Still feeling good and knowing Duncan was a way behind me, I ran down a lane and back so that I could make the run up to a nice round three miles. Duncan didn't arrive until 20 minutes later though so I'm a bit gutted that I didn't run further but nevermind, there's always tomorrow.
Later in the day we drove out to my favourite place in the whole of the Lake District - Wasdale. We went in the Screes in and asked about camping. They had a campsite there at the pub which was only £10 per night (that was altogether, for both of us and Ruby!) so we couldn't argue with that as most places in the Lakes are really expensive. The facilities are basic but we were only staying for one night so it wasn't a problem. They were clean and that's all that matters.
After we set up camp we drove out to the lake. I love it there as it's so peaceful and quiet and there aren't many places in the Lakes like that, which is why we usually go to Scotland instead. Here's a few piccies I took whilst we sat out by the side of the lake and chilled:
Duncan and Ruby:
A rather blurry selfie:
Later on we went back to the Screes Inn for our tea and a few drinks and then went to bed around 10am. The campsite was lovely, except for one thing - a family of chavs all dressed in their onesies. There were three young kids with them all running riot and we just heard constant shouts from the mother of 'Destiny, be quiet!'. When we went to bed I overheard the mum telling the kids they had to be quiet now as people in other tents were trying to sleep, which I thought was very considerate of her. However, no less than ten minutes later the kids were totally silent but the mum, another girl and two blokes were making loads of noise. Laughing really loud, shouting and listening to a TV I think and this went on until about 1am. Why would a family like that choose this kind of campsite that has absolutely no children's facilities whatsoever?
Anyway, other than their noise, it was a lovely camping trip.
Total distance - 3 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/159667438
I decided to work on my climbing and run up it, but with stops for Duncan and Ruby to catch up to me. I also walked some of it with them because it would have been a bit rude for me to come out for a nice walk with Duncan but then bugger off and leave him. I actually felt really good running it though and was quite pleased with myself.
Ruby really does have issues with crossing water, which is quite amusing. There was a bit where we had to cross the ghyll over stones and boulders and Ruby was having none of it. She was terrified even though it was only a short jump from stone to stone. We had to pick her up and carry her across them all. She's like that when going over a slatted bridge too. Bless.
Once we reached the top, I decided to have a little run along whilst Duncan and Ruby had a well earned rest (don't forget Duncan is only six months post his hip replacement so is only just getting back into walking and this was definitely a challenging walk). I just ran out for a short way then turned back again.
We had only put a couple of quid in the parking meter as it's all we had on us, which only gave us two hours to complete the walk so we had to get a wiggle on going back down.
I actually found it harder going down than up to begin with as it was really steep and rocky. A short way down we got chatting to a bloke and I said 'anyway, we need to dash as we only have 20 minutes left on our parking ticket' to which he replied, 'you'll never get back down there in 20 minutes' so obviously I took this as a personal challenge, asked Duncan for the car keys and told him I'd see him back at the car. I took Ruby with me and off we went. So many people commented to us about how amazing it was that we were running because it was difficult enough walking. It made me feel really proud and motivated.
I'm pleased to say that not only did I get back to the car inside 20 minutes, I did it in 15! Still feeling good and knowing Duncan was a way behind me, I ran down a lane and back so that I could make the run up to a nice round three miles. Duncan didn't arrive until 20 minutes later though so I'm a bit gutted that I didn't run further but nevermind, there's always tomorrow.
Later in the day we drove out to my favourite place in the whole of the Lake District - Wasdale. We went in the Screes in and asked about camping. They had a campsite there at the pub which was only £10 per night (that was altogether, for both of us and Ruby!) so we couldn't argue with that as most places in the Lakes are really expensive. The facilities are basic but we were only staying for one night so it wasn't a problem. They were clean and that's all that matters.
After we set up camp we drove out to the lake. I love it there as it's so peaceful and quiet and there aren't many places in the Lakes like that, which is why we usually go to Scotland instead. Here's a few piccies I took whilst we sat out by the side of the lake and chilled:
Duncan and Ruby:
A rather blurry selfie:
Later on we went back to the Screes Inn for our tea and a few drinks and then went to bed around 10am. The campsite was lovely, except for one thing - a family of chavs all dressed in their onesies. There were three young kids with them all running riot and we just heard constant shouts from the mother of 'Destiny, be quiet!'. When we went to bed I overheard the mum telling the kids they had to be quiet now as people in other tents were trying to sleep, which I thought was very considerate of her. However, no less than ten minutes later the kids were totally silent but the mum, another girl and two blokes were making loads of noise. Laughing really loud, shouting and listening to a TV I think and this went on until about 1am. Why would a family like that choose this kind of campsite that has absolutely no children's facilities whatsoever?
Anyway, other than their noise, it was a lovely camping trip.
Total distance - 3 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/159667438
Friday, 27 June 2014
Rushed Run (Got a Night out to go to!)
I worked through my lunch today with a view to leaving an hour early so I could get a decent run in before the Horwich RMI 90th anniversary celebrations tonight at Spice Valley.
Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan and I actually ended up staying at work later than usual due to a big client request which came in last minute.
I still wanted to get a run in (need to get to that 200k Strava goal by the end of June) so I just took Ruby on a rather rushed run down to the barn and back.
Nothing interesting to report from the run but the night out was good. There should have been 21 of us but there ended up only 15. As usual, the food was delicious and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves.
A few of us headed over to the V&A afterwards for another drink and I appear to have been roped into do a navigation leg at the FRA relays! How did that happen, I wasn't even drinking!
Total distance - 3.3 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/159667441
Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan and I actually ended up staying at work later than usual due to a big client request which came in last minute.
I still wanted to get a run in (need to get to that 200k Strava goal by the end of June) so I just took Ruby on a rather rushed run down to the barn and back.
Nothing interesting to report from the run but the night out was good. There should have been 21 of us but there ended up only 15. As usual, the food was delicious and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves.
A few of us headed over to the V&A afterwards for another drink and I appear to have been roped into do a navigation leg at the FRA relays! How did that happen, I wasn't even drinking!
Total distance - 3.3 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/159667441
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Speeding (not me though)!
After a lovely lunch with my great friends, I wanted to get a decent run in to burn off the cappuccino cake (which was delicious by the way) so I headed off in the car with Ruby towards Anglezarke with the aim of getting around 6 miles in.
I was driving along Lever Park Avenue at about 32mph heading towards the school, when I noticed that the 20mph lights were flashing. Just as I started to ease off (so was still doing 30mph) a Saab came flying past me. It had come out of nowhere because I had looked in my mirror only moments before and it was nowhere in sight. It must have been doing at the very least 50mph - in a 20mph school zone! Clearly I made a hand gesture out of the window to the moron driving, who I noticed nearly took out a cyclist a bit further along the road.
We arrived on the dam on Knowsley Lane and parked up. We headed towards Anglezarke car park and then followed the path by the side of the reservoir. I really love that path through the woodland. It's ideal for a nice easy run. At the start we were going pretty well but, as usual, Ruby soon began to tire. By the time we had got down to Watermans Cottage she was just trundling behind me so I decided to abort the run towards White Coppice and just head back to the car on the other side of the Reservoir. We climbed the steps around the corner from Watermans Cottage and then crossed through the field out onto the path by Healey Nab. This path seems to go on for ages before it comes out onto the road.
When we got onto the road we ran along and, where the road bends to the right, I usually go over the stile on the left and through the farm fields, coming out opposite The Street, but today I decided to follow the road instead as I've never been that way. This brought us out at the Yew Tree and perhaps added a small amount of distance. I was still slightly disappointed when I got back to the car though to have done less than 4.5 miles. I set myself a Strava goal to do 200k in the month of June and at the minute I'm 14 miles off (sorry for mixing kms with miles) which sounds easy to get to in four more days but I'm going away at the weekend and am not sure if I'll fit any running in. I'll also only have time to do 5 miles maximum tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll make it to that 200k mark. I'll have a good go though. Going to travel in my running gear on Saturday so Duncan can just kick me out and go wait in a pub a few miles down the road for me if I have to.
On my way home there was yet more bad driving, this time the opposite though, well at the start anyway. I was following a car doing 25mph all the way along from the barn towards the school, even when the road straightens out. It's a national speed limit road at this point! I was in no rush though so wasn't too bothered but the thing that got me the most was that as soon as we passed through the 30mph sign the car sped up! I slowed down to just over 30 and that zoomed off ahead of me doing at least 40!
Anyway, sorry for the rants, just felt the need to share.
Total distance - 4.4 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/158484559
I was driving along Lever Park Avenue at about 32mph heading towards the school, when I noticed that the 20mph lights were flashing. Just as I started to ease off (so was still doing 30mph) a Saab came flying past me. It had come out of nowhere because I had looked in my mirror only moments before and it was nowhere in sight. It must have been doing at the very least 50mph - in a 20mph school zone! Clearly I made a hand gesture out of the window to the moron driving, who I noticed nearly took out a cyclist a bit further along the road.
We arrived on the dam on Knowsley Lane and parked up. We headed towards Anglezarke car park and then followed the path by the side of the reservoir. I really love that path through the woodland. It's ideal for a nice easy run. At the start we were going pretty well but, as usual, Ruby soon began to tire. By the time we had got down to Watermans Cottage she was just trundling behind me so I decided to abort the run towards White Coppice and just head back to the car on the other side of the Reservoir. We climbed the steps around the corner from Watermans Cottage and then crossed through the field out onto the path by Healey Nab. This path seems to go on for ages before it comes out onto the road.
When we got onto the road we ran along and, where the road bends to the right, I usually go over the stile on the left and through the farm fields, coming out opposite The Street, but today I decided to follow the road instead as I've never been that way. This brought us out at the Yew Tree and perhaps added a small amount of distance. I was still slightly disappointed when I got back to the car though to have done less than 4.5 miles. I set myself a Strava goal to do 200k in the month of June and at the minute I'm 14 miles off (sorry for mixing kms with miles) which sounds easy to get to in four more days but I'm going away at the weekend and am not sure if I'll fit any running in. I'll also only have time to do 5 miles maximum tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll make it to that 200k mark. I'll have a good go though. Going to travel in my running gear on Saturday so Duncan can just kick me out and go wait in a pub a few miles down the road for me if I have to.
On my way home there was yet more bad driving, this time the opposite though, well at the start anyway. I was following a car doing 25mph all the way along from the barn towards the school, even when the road straightens out. It's a national speed limit road at this point! I was in no rush though so wasn't too bothered but the thing that got me the most was that as soon as we passed through the 30mph sign the car sped up! I slowed down to just over 30 and that zoomed off ahead of me doing at least 40!
Anyway, sorry for the rants, just felt the need to share.
Total distance - 4.4 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/158484559
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Still not 100%
Duncan dropped me off at the barn this morning for my early run. I had intended to do 5-6 miles, heading off towards Lead Mines Clough, however it was evident not long after I started running that I had not recovered from my sickness bug from Monday. My stomach was churning and I was having cold sweats, i.e. where my face was really cold but sweating and this is before I had even really got started running so it was nothing to do with that. I felt sick and dizzy and, if I had left from home, I would have just turned back but because I had been dropped off I had no choice but to carry on.
At one point, nearly two miles in, I actually had to have a sit down on a bench for a couple of minutes because I felt so energyless.
By the time I got home, a mere 3 slow miles later, I was behaving like I had just run a marathon. I was really out of breath and sweating profusely, even though I had only slowly jogged for a few miles.
Total - 3 miles :(
http://www.strava.com/activities/157883989
At one point, nearly two miles in, I actually had to have a sit down on a bench for a couple of minutes because I felt so energyless.
By the time I got home, a mere 3 slow miles later, I was behaving like I had just run a marathon. I was really out of breath and sweating profusely, even though I had only slowly jogged for a few miles.
Total - 3 miles :(
http://www.strava.com/activities/157883989
Tuesday, 24 June 2014
Chunder!
Today was my first run since my epic adventure on Saturday. I was out at a track and field event all day Sunday (helping out, not competing) so I didn't get chance for a run and then yesterday was written off because at around 12.30 in the morning I started being sick and this went on until about 10.00am. This is the second time this has happened in about six weeks even though usually I'm never ill and haven't had a sick day off work since 2007!!! I still haven't as I took yesterday off as a flexi day instead (seeing as I have a ludicrous amount of flexi built up - more than I can ever possibly take).
I actually lost 4lbs in weight which most girls would be really pleased with but seeing as I'm scrawny anyway I'm a bit worried that I might fall down a grid when I'm walking down the street.
Anyway, enough of that. I felt better today, just pretty light headed due to not eating yesterday but, as the day went on and the more I ate, I started to feel good enough to go for an easy run this evening.
It really was an easy run though, just to the top barn and back with Ruby in the rain. I felt quite sluggish at first but started to feel OK towards the end. Hopefully I'll get a decent run in tomorrow.
If anybody is wondering about the title of this blog, to chunder means to be sick. It's a great word which apparently came about in ye olde days on ships where somebody was going to throw up over the side and they would shout 'watch under' so that people on lower decks knew to get out of the way of the falling vomit and it was then shortened to 'chunder'. I love finding out things like that (I'm a nerd in case you don't already know).
Total distance - 3.3 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/157638300
I actually lost 4lbs in weight which most girls would be really pleased with but seeing as I'm scrawny anyway I'm a bit worried that I might fall down a grid when I'm walking down the street.
Anyway, enough of that. I felt better today, just pretty light headed due to not eating yesterday but, as the day went on and the more I ate, I started to feel good enough to go for an easy run this evening.
It really was an easy run though, just to the top barn and back with Ruby in the rain. I felt quite sluggish at first but started to feel OK towards the end. Hopefully I'll get a decent run in tomorrow.
If anybody is wondering about the title of this blog, to chunder means to be sick. It's a great word which apparently came about in ye olde days on ships where somebody was going to throw up over the side and they would shout 'watch under' so that people on lower decks knew to get out of the way of the falling vomit and it was then shortened to 'chunder'. I love finding out things like that (I'm a nerd in case you don't already know).
Total distance - 3.3 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/157638300
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Coope's (Baker's) Dozen
Today, I UTUP'd with the WFDBWGUA lot to do an extended version of the Coope's Dozen. For anyone new to my blog the Coope's Dozen is a local run which takes in 12 summits around the West Pennine Moors and I did my first one a few weeks ago which you can read about here http://6legs2heads.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/coopes-dozen-unofficial.html
That blog details each summit. The difference today was that we added in Darwen Tower between Old Adams and Great Hill. We though this would add a further five miles, taking the total to 23.5 miles but it added a bit more, taking the total to 25 miles. If you look at my Strava stats, however (below), you'll see that it doesn't quite get this far but that's because my battery died, moments from the end of the run.
At the start there was myself, Pauline, John and Ed Swift. Pauline wasn't doing the whole route and wasn't planning to do the trip over to Darwen Tower, however, she did take some excellent photos along the first half of the route, like this one:
Photo courtesy of Pauline Charters
I felt so much stronger on this run than I did on the Coope's Dozen a few weeks back, even though this one was much further. I could actually have carried on and run further, even though I had already run 6.5 miles further than my longest ever run.
One of the highlights of the run is when John and I arrived at the summit of Great Hill, where there was a group of D of E kids sat around who were in total awe that we had run to the top. They just couldn't believe it and were even more impressed when John told them how far we had run and were planning to run. John said, and I agree, that it really restores your faith in today's youth as most of the time you just get laughed at and given grief from kids and aren't idolised by them at all.
I briefly left Ed and John just as we arrived back into Rivington Village as I wanted to make a mad dash for the barn before my battery died on my Garmin as it had been beeping at me for a good hour and a half by now and I wanted to make sure it recorded the entire run but, unfortunately I didn't make it, the battery dying just as I turned onto the track to the barn. The lads weren't far behind me though and I think we all may have made it back in under 8 hours.
Sorry for how short this blog post is, given how long the run was, but I'm totally exhausted and just want a good lie down now. It really was an epic adventure and I loved every minute of it, even though my legs are now very red and blotchy and covered in cuts and scrapes from the undergrowth.
I had such a lovely time and great company. Can't wait for the next one. What are we adding in next time - Peel Monument?
Does anybody know why the stats on Strava are totally different to the stats on Garmin, even though they ave uploaded from the same device? For example, Strava says our total 'moving' time was only 6 hours 10 minutes but Garmin says it was 7 hours which is a hell of a difference. I assume Garmin is the one to believe? The elevation is also different by around 400ft and calories are different by nearly 1,000!!!
Total distance 25 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/156398945
That blog details each summit. The difference today was that we added in Darwen Tower between Old Adams and Great Hill. We though this would add a further five miles, taking the total to 23.5 miles but it added a bit more, taking the total to 25 miles. If you look at my Strava stats, however (below), you'll see that it doesn't quite get this far but that's because my battery died, moments from the end of the run.
At the start there was myself, Pauline, John and Ed Swift. Pauline wasn't doing the whole route and wasn't planning to do the trip over to Darwen Tower, however, she did take some excellent photos along the first half of the route, like this one:
I felt so much stronger on this run than I did on the Coope's Dozen a few weeks back, even though this one was much further. I could actually have carried on and run further, even though I had already run 6.5 miles further than my longest ever run.
One of the highlights of the run is when John and I arrived at the summit of Great Hill, where there was a group of D of E kids sat around who were in total awe that we had run to the top. They just couldn't believe it and were even more impressed when John told them how far we had run and were planning to run. John said, and I agree, that it really restores your faith in today's youth as most of the time you just get laughed at and given grief from kids and aren't idolised by them at all.
I briefly left Ed and John just as we arrived back into Rivington Village as I wanted to make a mad dash for the barn before my battery died on my Garmin as it had been beeping at me for a good hour and a half by now and I wanted to make sure it recorded the entire run but, unfortunately I didn't make it, the battery dying just as I turned onto the track to the barn. The lads weren't far behind me though and I think we all may have made it back in under 8 hours.
Sorry for how short this blog post is, given how long the run was, but I'm totally exhausted and just want a good lie down now. It really was an epic adventure and I loved every minute of it, even though my legs are now very red and blotchy and covered in cuts and scrapes from the undergrowth.
I had such a lovely time and great company. Can't wait for the next one. What are we adding in next time - Peel Monument?
Does anybody know why the stats on Strava are totally different to the stats on Garmin, even though they ave uploaded from the same device? For example, Strava says our total 'moving' time was only 6 hours 10 minutes but Garmin says it was 7 hours which is a hell of a difference. I assume Garmin is the one to believe? The elevation is also different by around 400ft and calories are different by nearly 1,000!!!
Total distance 25 miles
http://www.strava.com/activities/156398945
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