Canal Interval Session - 5 x 1mile with 1/2 mile recovery

This morning I drove down to the canal again to do an interval session. I parked up on Rawlinson Lane in Heath Charnock and set off on my one mile warm up in the direction of Chorley.

After the warm up I did 5 x 1 mile repeats which I had intended to do at around a 7.45 pace, with 1/2 mile recovery jogs in between.

It didn't go quite to plan as I was feeling pretty tired this morning and the speed sections weren't as fast as they should have been.

The main thing is I didn't give up though and kept going, even though I was really tired.  I was inspired by the quote on the wall in the altitude spin chamber:

DON'T STOP WHEN YOU'RE TIRED.  

STOP WHEN YOU'RE DONE!

So that's what I did.  I stopped when I was done. I had set out to do five reps and five reps I would do.

The reps were as follows:

Mile 1 - 7.55
Mile 2 - 7.43
Mile 3 - 8.07
Mile 4 - 8.19
Mile 5 - 8.14

So, as you can see, only one of them was at the required pace, the last two being WAY over.

Ah well at least I didn't give up altogether!

Total distance - 8.5 miles

Summer At Last!

So far, this has been the worst summer, weather-wise, that I remember.  It's been cold and rainy the majority of the time.  However, the past few days the sun has finally been shining.

One thing I have noticed though is that I can't remember the last day it wasn't windy.

Even though it's sunny, if you're in the shade and the wind is blowing, it's flippin' cold.  Or is that just me?  I seem to always be cold.  Unless the sun is directly shining on me, I'm cold.  It isn't helped by the fact that since Duncan's sister gave us her convertible, Duncan has insisted on driving round with the roof down at all times, unless it's raining.  I must look a right sight sitting there with a hoodie on with the hood up trying to keep warm.

Today's sunny run just took me around Rivington, which was very busy with dog walkers.  I just ran along the edge of the reservoir to the prep school, then back through Go Ape.  Just an easy recovery run today.

Total distance - 4.2 miles 

Canals, Wasps, Ice Baths and Moon Face

Today I had to do 17 miles.  I was supposed to do the first 5.5 at a fast pace (between a 7.56 to 8.41 pace) and then the remaining 11.5 at a comfortable pace.  Last time I tried doing this a couple of weeks ago (5.5 fast then 8.5 comfortable) it was a disaster and I really burned myself out after the first 5.5 and struggled a lot with the remaining part of the run. I therefore decided to ignore the training plan today and just try to run at a nine minute mile pace for the entire 17 miles.

I decided to drive out to Bridge 63 of the Leeds Liverpool Canal (near Haigh Hall) and run out for 8.5 miles along the canal and then back again, as this seemed far preferable to running along the roads.

I wasn't feeling like running so far today as I worked out that I would be out for about two and a half hours and the thought of doing that just running along a canal bored me senseless so I really hard to force myself out.

I parked up and set off, heading towards Chorley.  The first mile seemed to drag on for ages and I ran it at quite a slow pace (9.06 minute mile).

Just after I started mile two I was very narrowly missed by a dollop of bird poo which came out of the tree above me.  Seriously, had I run a split second faster it would have been all over me and it was huge!

It was a lovely day along the canal and there were quite a lot of people out running, dog walking, cycling and boating.  After the first couple of miles, they started ticking off quite fast and I was soon running past Botany Bay.

Shortly after Botany Bay though, I seem to have gone wrong.  I didn't realise that the canal split and that I would have to come off the tow path and cross a bridge to get back onto the canal and so I carried on along but it soon became apparent that the canal I was now on was coming to an end because there were trees right across it so boats couldn't get through. I ended up getting to the end of the tow path when I was only at 7.75 miles and so would be 1.5 miles short of my 17 miles if I turned back.  I decided to turn back anyway and thought that once I got back to the car park, I would just carry on along the canal in the other direction for three quarters of a mile and then turn back, enabling me to get up to the 17 miles.

On the way back, however, I decided to come off at the bridge before the White Bear Marina, and I ran down a road to the A6, I then ran along the A6 a bit, back in the direction of Chorley, before getting back on the canal and heading back to the car park.  This loop got me enough mileage in so that I wouldn't have to carry on once I got to the car park.

At about 11 miles I was starting to feel a little tired but I soon got a second wind and picked up my pace again on my last few miles, finishing really strong.

I'm really pleased with my pace for the entire run - 8.45 minute mile - given that I was supposed to do the 'fast' bit in up to an 8.41 minute mile yet I did the entire run in nearly this pace.  I would never have thought that I'd be able to keep up a pace like that over such a distance, given that sometimes that pace is tiring enough just for the 5.5 miles I run with Kathryn along the canal.

This is actually the furthest I have ever run non-stop.  I have obviously run much further than this in the past, having done a good few 25 mile fell runs, but they haven't been non-stop at a steady pace.  They have been runs where you stop and have a natter at the top of a hill, or stop for some food or even just stop for a stile.

When I got back to my van I had a good stretch before setting off home.  I was boiling and wanted to wind the window down but there was a huge wasp on my wing mirror and I didn't want it to get into the van.  I thought it would fly off once I started moving at speed but it didn't and it just sat there all the way home!

I was sweating so much that my suncream was dripping into my eyes making them sting and I had to keep wiping them with a spare t-shirt all the way home to avoid crashing through blindness!

Why is it that when I was running I was feeling really strong but as soon as I stopped I started to ache, especially my right bum cheek?  When I got home, I ran myself an ice bath and sat in it for twenty minutes whilst reading a book to try to take my mind off how awful it was.  Getting in is the hardest part.  I hate being cold so it takes me ages before I can get fully submerged even though I know it would be easier to just get it over and done with in one go.  I must have looked a right sight sitting there with a jumper on my top half and a cup of tea in my hand!

Today was also the day we picked up our new moggy from Bolton Destitute Animal Shelter.  He's not as big as we first thought he was.  In his cage last weekend he looked huge but maybe it's because the cage was small and all the other cats around him were tiny because he's not anywhere near as big as our other cat, Croker.  He also doesn't looks as much like Croker as we thought he did.  We have actually been debating whether he is in deed the same cat that we picked out at the shelter last week or whether there has been a mix up and we still can't quite decide.  The lady who showed him us last week told us he was nine months old but when we picked him up today, we were told he was 15 months old which again makes us wonder whether he's the same cat.  Either way, he's adorable so if he is the wrong cat we don't mind, would just be nice to settle the debate.

Here he is anyway.  As yet unnamed but probably going to be Mr Bridger.  In the meantime, we're calling him Moon Face as he has a big round head.

Croker on the right, weighing up Moon Face.

Total distance - 17 miles

Two Lads with Rubes

Absolutely nothing to say.  Nothing.  At all.

Just blogging for the mere fact that I have blogged about every single run I've done since 1 January 2014.

That is all.

Total distance - 3 miles

I Was Done!

Duncan dropped me off in Hindley this morning on his way to work so I could get an 8.5 mile run in.  Why is it that when I think about an 8 to 9 mile loop from home, the distance doesn't seem so far, but the thought of running from Hindley, via Westhoughton and Blackrod, seems like a marathon!  I think it's because when you do a loop you're never too far away from home.

It's also hard work running first thing in a morning.  I just feel so tired.

I didn't realise that all the way out of Hindley to the A6 at Westhoughton was uphill so I didn't run at quite as fast a pace as I'd hoped.  I wanted to run between an 8.15 and an 8.,45 pace but my overall pace turned out to be just over 9 minute mile.  However, the powers of Strava made me feel much better as they have thing called 'GAP' pace which basically tells you what your equivalent pace would be if you were running on the flat and when I looked at this my pace was much better and within the pace set out in my training plan.

Part of my route took me down the closed Grimeford Lane, where I struggled to work out how to get through the bridge works.  I was wandering aimlessly around just outside Ed's house and had visions of him watching me out of the window and laughing.  Did you see me looking bewildered Ed?

It was such a relief when the 8.5 miles was finally up as I was well and truly knackered.  I was still over half a mile away from home at this point but I couldn't face running anymore.  I had done the session.  I was done!  I just stopped my watch and walked the rest of the way home.

Total distance - 8.5 miles 

Sweaty Betty

A run along the canal with Kathryn was the order of the day today.  Nothing eventful, just the usual nattering and me trying really hard to keep up with Kathryn's speediness.

The only thing I want to talk about is what happened afterwards.  At the risk of the whole world knowing how gross I am, I want to talk about sweating.  Why is it that sometimes, not all the time, I sweat like mad for ages after a run?  I'm talking after showering.

Today, I had a shower straight after my run and, by the way, it was a cool shower (I have been told in the past that it's having a hot shower which makes you sweat).  I got dressed and all was well but then when I got back to my desk, my back started to sweat... it didn't stop!  This started at about 1.30 and when I left the office at 3.30 my back was drenched.  So much so that I had to put my emergency reserve work top on which I keep in a cupboard at work and haven't touched in about four years (I kept it there because I used to run in some mornings and once forgot to bring a change of clothes so I made sure from then on that I always had an emergency change of clothes at work)!

Anyone else have this sweaty problem?

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't smelly offensive sweat, it's just not very nice to be sitting around with a wet back, even though nobody but me knew because I was wearing a top which didn't let it show.

I'm not ashamed because sweating means your body is efficient at regulating its temperature and I've read lots of articles on how the fitter you are there more you sweat (although there are obvious exceptions to this rule).  I just find it weird that I carry on sweating long after the exercise has finished and after I've showered.  I'm not generally a sweaty person.


Total distance - 5.6 miles 

Destitute Animal Shelter

This morning, Duncan and I went along to Bolton's Destitute Animal Shelter to take some cat food which Croker is too fussy to eat.  We also picked up some more food on the way and some blankets as they're always crying out for bedding at the shelter.

Whilst there, we decided to have a look at the animals as we both really want to rescue another animal because there are so many without loving homes and what's another mouth to feed?  The problem is, Ruby doesn't really get along with other dogs.  Occasionally another dog comes along that she gets on really well with, for example she seemed to take a shine to Dr Hamer's Patterdale.  Finding the ideal dog though is no easy task.  I had seen on the website that they had a dog named Molly who sounded ideal but when we got there she had already been rehomed.  We wandered around the kennels and I cried like a baby as it broke my heart to see all these dogs crying out to be taken home.  Poor things.

After deciding that we really weren't ready for another dog at the minute, we had a look at the cats instead.  Straight away my eye was drawn to a cat which looked just like my childhood cat, the inappropriately named Snuggles - Snuggles was a vicious killer.  The staff at the shelter said that I couldn't have that cat though because it didn't like dog at all, or other cats.  They told me which cats would be OK for our circumstances and straight away we both took a shine to a cat named 'Sox' which was almost identical to Croker but bigger.  Croker is not a small cat, in fact when he stands next to Ruby, he is actually taller, so to find a cat bigger than him is a pretty big ask.  Apparently Sox is really loving too and good natured, which again sounds just like Croker who loves every other cat or dog he comes into contact with.  That was it, our minds were made up, we were having Sox, although he wouldn't be keeping that name.

Keeping with our Italian Job themed cat names, he's either going to be Mr Bridger, Camp Freddie or Big William.  We'll have to decide once we work out his personality though so he'll just be 'big cat' in the meantime.

Can't wait to pick him up next weekend.  We couldn't take him straight away as the shelter have to come round to assess our house and make sure it's suitable for him.  Can't see any reason why it won't be though.

On the way home from the shelter, Duncan dropped me off on Scout Road and I went for a run.  I ran through Walker Fold and Burnt Edge, then turned back on myself and ran past the farm and out onto Coal Pit Road.  I carried on along Coal Pit Road with the Trespass Stone on my left and continued along to where there is a little wooden bridge on the left which crosses the stream and then the path goes uphill, eventually coming out at the far side of the 'secret' reservoir.  From there, I ran towards the shooting hut and then up to the mast.  I then ran along to the trig point and down the diagonal and along to the Pigeon Tower.  From there, I just ran along George's Lane and then home through my favourite field.

Total distance - 9 miles