After a glass or two of wine last night, I decided it would be a good idea to, once again, put myself through the sheer pain and humiliation of running (if I can use that word!) the Kentmere Horseshoe fell race in July. I therefore decided that I’d better get my rear into gear and get a bit more serious on my hill reps.
After getting home from work at 4.30 I decided that I couldn’t face hanging around for two hours and then going to the club session so I set off with Ruby to do our own hill repeats.
We had a nice warm up by running to the top barn and, from there, we ran straight up to the Pigeon Tower via the short but steep paths. I yet again find myself unable to describe which paths I mean by this – there is the bottom one which has been laid with gravel and kind of zigzags up by the side of a field of sheep and brings you out onto the wide path which goes up through the terraced gardens under the bridge (Duncan thinks this path is referred to as 'the driveway' as it was Lord Leverhulme's drive but he isn't 100% sure so please correct me if you know otherwise). Then there is the upper path which is almost exactly opposite the top of the lower path and is a steep muddy one which brings you out at the side of the pigeon tower. If anyone knows the paths I mean and has a good way of describing them, please do let me know as I run up them quite often and would really like to be able to describe where I mean a bit better.
From the Pigeon Tower, we then ran along George’s Lane to the gate to the Pike opposite the old toilet block. That’s where the reps started. I had anticipated doing four but ended up arriving at the Pike seven times! It was bizarre as I felt really strong and every time we got to the top and started going back down again I decided 'just one more!' I kept saying it was the last one but kept doing more. I would have stayed out longer but by this point Ruby seemed to be getting very confused at why we kept going round in circles and kept trying to lead me off in a different direction. Plus my stomach was telling me it was tea time and, as anybody who knows me well will know, I don't deal with hunger very well so I decided to call it a night and head back home along George's Lane and down the side of Wilderswood.
I'm really pleased with myself as I didn't think that, being on my own rather than with the club, I would stay motivated enough to do so many reps. I can't believe how strong I felt and on each rep I really motored up with ease. For anyone who thinks the wind must have been helping me, you're wrong as we alternated our route up to the top so sometimes the wind was with us and sometimes it was against us. We mostly ran up the rocky Pike Race route, or the stepped route, but we also did a few on the very steep grassy sides which, whilst shorter, are much steeper. There was no resting at the top either as every time we got there we just kept going - up and down, up and down.
The seven reps, coupled with the earlier climb to the Pigeon Tower, to me is a pretty good hill session and I'm definitely deserving of the other half of the bottle of wine I started drinking last night. Better put the laptop away though or who knows what race I might enter!
Total distance – 6.15 miles
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