Week 11 - Scotland and the Two Crosses

This week I have gone up to Newton Stewart with Duncan and we have also taken my parents and my brother.  We're all staying in a large cottage, with Ruby too of course.  It's my parents' first time to Scotland so we wanted to show them all Dumfries and Galloway had to offer but the thing that my dad got most excited by was the food!  It's all so heart-attack inducing up there but very tasty!

I did manage to get some exercise in during the week which was a pretty good job, given all the highly calorific food we consumed.

Monday, 12 March

One great thing about going on holiday with my folks is that I could leave Ruby with her whilst Duncan and I went MTB riding together, something we can't usually do on holiday. 

Today, we went over to Glen Trool so I could have a go at a trail centre for the first time as there's a really nice blue loop there which is for 'moderate' riders.

It was a bit chilly when we set off but after only half a mile or so, we were already stopping to remove layers.  It was a beautiful day so we stopped a few times to take some photos.

I really enjoyed the descent and felt like I was going really fast until Duncan flew off in front of me making me feel like I was standing still.  Still, looking at Strava I'm nowhere near the slowest on any sections, always being in the top half which will do for me, given that I'm a very nervous MTB'er.

Total distance - 6.5 miles 


Tuesday, 13 March

We went out again on the bikes this morning, this time to do the blue loop at Kirroughtree.  Right from the start, this one seemed a bit harder.  The singletrack climb had lots of tree roots and switch backs, which the Glen Trool one didn't so I was a bit nervous about what the descents would be like.  I was right to be nervous as they were pretty frightening in places.  There was one bit which was rocky and had been slightly blown out by bad weather and, even though Duncan told me it was fine, it just looked too steep and scary for me so I walked down it.  What a wimp, can't even do a blue loop properly!

A bit later on, we came to another steep descent but this time, even though I bottled out of it at first, once I got a good look at it I decided to man up and give it another go and I did with no problems.

Further on, there was a route diversion as a lot of trees had come down during the 'beast from the east' a couple of weeks ago so we had to follow some diversion signs.  We then saw a sign for the red route diversion (up to this point, all of the blue route had also been red route) and I told Duncan he should go that way and have a fun descent so he did and I continued down the fire road until I got to the blue route diversion sign.  I had a fun descent but, when I got to the bottom, I couldn't see any signs as there were trees all over the place and things were obscured so I ended up following a green route sign in the hope that it would just get me back to the visitors centre which, luckily, it did.   Duncan then arrived about fifteen minutes later.

Enjoyed it, but I prefer Glen Trool, which I found much faster and more fun.

Total distance - 6 miles 


Wednesday, 14 March

We drove over to Glen Trool again today but this time I went for a run rather than a ride.  I followed the yellow walk markers which is a 4.75 mile loop, however, due to a diversion, I ended up doing 5.5 miles.

I found it really hard work as I haven't run for two weeks but I managed it even though I did feel a little stiff later on in the day.

Total distance - 5.4 miles


Friday, 16 March

Last day in Scotland today before going home tomorrow so I went back to Glen Trool to do the blue route again on my own as I really need to gain more confidence on the MTB.  The weather was much worse today then it was on Monday as it was blowing a gale and raining a little.  It felt much harder work because of the strength of the wind but I didn't stop as much as I did when I was with Duncan on Monday so I got round a lot quicker, however my Strava segments show me as mostly slower which I'm blaming on the wind.  At one point, when going round a downhill bend, the wind blew me off the track into the side!

Still had lots of fun on the final descent again and can't wait to come back here.  I really do need to go out on my bike more when I'm back home, I just find it quite difficult as there are very few bridleways straight on my doorstep.

Total distance - 5.8 miles 


Sunday, 18 March - Two Crosses LDWA Challenge

I signed up for the Two Crosses event a few weeks ago, knowing that I might be tired from my holiday but, after a week of terrible eating, I really wanted to do the event, although it was really snowy so I was worried about driving there.  Thankfully, Jim L offered me a lift which was much appreciated as I probably wouldn't have got there otherwise and I would have missed a treat!

The weather conditions today made last year's rain feel positively summery!  The snow and wind were very, lets say, bracing!

I started off working with Gordon S and we commented on how long it felt like it had taken to walk the first couple of miles compared to on past events.  The organisers had decided that everybody had to do the shorter 17 mile route today, as they couldn't get people to one of the checkpoints on the longer route.  Nobody seemed to mind as it was very cold out, with thick snow everywhere.  By the 'posh' checkpoint (it has a cheese board don't you know!) I decided to put an extra top on together with my waterproof trousers as I knew it wouldn't be long until we were up on the open moorland and it was likely to be chilly up there.  Whilst there, I noticed that my shoelace had taken on some balls of ice which, as the walk progressed, got bigger and bigger, however I didn't take any photos of it at its biggest as my hands were too cold.

As we approached the checkpoint at Orrell Cote Farm, there was a huge snow drift across the lane.  The people ahead of Gordon and I had stopped to ask us if they were going the right way as it didn't look as though anyone else had been through that way.  There were no footprints or anything.  It was the right way though and it must have been that the snow just kept driving over, covering up all previous prints.  The gentlemen kindly let me lead the way through, but it didn't take long before I sank up to my waist in it.  A couple of the others followed and tried to swim their way through the snow whereas I decided to climb over the barbed wire fence onto the bank at the side and walk along that, which others also decided looked like a better idea.  It was, until I had to climb back over the barbed wire fence to get out and tore a hole in my Berghaus waterproof trousers!

At the checkpoint at Orrell Cote Farm, I continued on, thinking Gordon was behind me but he wasn't.  I waited a couple of minutes but he didn't show and, as it was cold, I decided to plod on with a few of the others who had been walking the same pace.

After trudging across a moor, we came out onto the road and headed up towards the maggot farm and this is where I motored on ahead and left everyone else, which probably wasn't a good idea given that I would now be walking a long way over open moorland on my own.

The weather up here was horrendous!  It was blowing a blizzard.  Thankfully the route across the open moorland to Bull Hill had been marked with flags as it would have been pretty difficult to get across otherwise.  It was so bad though that I couldn't see where I was going.  I had to lift the peak of my hood, try to locate a flag through my snow battered eyes, then put my head back down and trudge towards it then quickly do the same thing to find the next flag.  It was so hard to see across because the snow was just whipping into your eyes.  Kev L had said to me before we set off that he had brought goggles with him and I thought that was a bit overkill but now I realise he is a genius!

Eventually, after a long trudge on my own, I arrived at 'the naughty corner' checkpoint, where they only serve alcohol.  I opted for a very welcome nip of navy rum.

When I carried on I realised that I hadn't drank very much on route because my water bladder had frozen up. The alcohol also won't have helped with my hydration and, after a while of trying but failing to warm up the water in the bladder tube, I decided to instead eat some snow!  Don't worry, it wasn't yellow and was picked from some snowdrifts off the path.  I know it's dangerous to eat snow as it lowers your core temperature but, as I was moving quickly, I knew it wouldn't be a problem. 

I was also now very aware of the ice lump on my shoelaces which had got huge and kept banging on my toes.  It was really annoying but I couldn't break it off so just had to endure it.

I finally got to Peel Tower and could see some other walkers in the distance so I got a wiggle on to try to keep them in my sights as the next part of the route has changed from previous years so I wanted to make sure I didn't go wrong, given the snow might have covered some of the tracks. 

I found my way through OK though and it was nice to finally be out of the biting wind and on the way back to civilisation. 

Not much further to go now and I made my way though the woods and around to the golf course with a small group but then left them when we got onto the old railway line back to the finish and got a wiggle on. 

The weather today, especially up on the moors, was truly arctic but I absolutely loved it!  Really glad I managed to get there. 

Makes you feel alive! 


Stats:

Total running distance:                       5.4 miles
Total cycling distance:                        16.3 miles (MTB)
Total hiking distance:                         17.2 miles

Week 10 - Going on Holiday

Tuesday, 6 March


Today I went for my second coached S&C programme.  I can't decide whether this one was even harder than Saturday's session or not.  When I do the coached run through sessions, I only do three sets of each exercise instead of the four that I then do when I do the sessions on my own for five weeks.  The three sets today were so hard it's going to be a nightmare when I have to do four of each.


The session looks like this:

• Walking hamstring 'mountain climbers' x 5 each leg, twice through x 3 sets
• 'Jammer' x 5 followed by slam ball x 5, twice through x 4 sets
• Squats (with barbell on shoulders) x 4 followed by step ups x 4 each leg, followed by box jumps x 4 x 4 sets
• Opposite arm 'landmine' x 5 each side followed by glute step ups x 5 each leg x 4 sets
• Sprint 5 meters and back then 5 press ups, sprint 10 meters and back then 4 press ups, spring 15 meters and back then 3 press ups.  Rest 30 seconds then repeat x 4 sets

The last one was sooooo difficult - it's a total of 96 press ups!  Proper style too, not girl style. By the end I was struggling to get up off the floor to do the sprints. 


Friday, 9 March

Back to the gym this morning for the last S&C session before my holiday tomorrow.  Only just managed to find time to go but glad I did as I had a really good workout. 

Off to Scotland tomorrow so may not get a right lot of exercise done, but who knows.


Stats

S&C sessions:                 2

Week 9 - Lack of Motivation

Tuesday, 27 February 

I had an appointment booked at the gym this morning at 8am to go through part one of my new strength and conditioning programme.  It had snowed overnight so I was a bit wary of driving over to Chorley.  When I walked Ruby, I went along Pennine to see what it was like and it had been gritted and was clear.  As I therefore only had to drive down Snowdon and would then be on clear roads, I decided to give it a go.  Less than 15 minutes after I had got Ruby back home I set off very slowly down the hill (I'm driving a two ton van so it's even more scary going downhill in snow) but when I got to Pennine, it was covered in a thin layer of snow, even though it had been clear minutes before.  I persevered but when I got to Fernhead I felt the van sliding so decided to give up and go back home.  Being completely inept at driving in snow, I lost traction going back up Snowdon and had to abandon the van half way up.  I really do need to practice more!



Feeling annoyed at not getting my gym fix, I went out for a run in the snow.  All was fine heading up to George's Lane but, after passing Pike Cottage, I started to feel my feet slipping.  There was a layer of ice underneath the snow.  I ran on the grassy verges instead to get traction and then turned off George's Lane on the wide track towards the terraced gardens.



As I was running down the track I was thinking about how great the grip is on my new shoes and the next minute I was on my arse!  To be fair to my new Saucony Koa STs though, any shoe other than a Oroc would have been useless because it was sheet ice.  Nobody around to laugh at me so pride intact I continued down and decided to zigzag my way through the gardens.  I was now quite wary though as there were so many patches of ice hidden by the snow.  I ended up walking a lot of the descent because I was wary of falling again as it was quite rocky here and would probably hurt!  Once I got onto the track from the school to the barn though it was nice again, although there were still a couple of icy patches but I managed to avoid slipping on them.



It's lovely running in the snow, if somewhat precarious at times.

Total distance - 3.5 miles 



Thursday, 1 March

Again had to cancel my new strength and conditioning session today due to the bad weather and my fear of driving my van down the hill.  I'm getting really anxious now that I've missed my sessions since Friday!

Feeling annoyed with myself for cancelling, I devised my own S&C workout using my Reebok step and a Swiss ball.  Not quite the same without heavy weights but better than nothing.

Saturday, 3 March 

I finally made it to the gym this morning for my new S&C session.  Dave said that he had written it after I had cancelled on him a couple of times so it was particularly brutal.  He was kidding of course, well about how he had written it in anger but not about how brutal it was.


The session looks like this:

• Press ups x 5 and roll outs x 5 on the hoops x 4 sets
• Barbell press x 5 followed by burpees x 5 followed by tyre flips x 5 - twice over x 4 sets
• Reverse leg press x 6 each leg followed by double leg jumping four hurdles and box jump x 4 sets
• Pull downs x 8 followed by seated row x 8 followed by band pulls x 8 each side x 4 sets
• Plank position, one leg off the floor, hold for 30 seconds, then other leg off floor for 30 seconds, repeat until collapse x 4 sets

Very tough one!



Yesterday I received an e-mail to say that the Peelers Hike which I was due to participate in on Sunday was cancelled due to the bad weather.  It's been rearranged for 15 April but, unfortunately, I'm not available. 


I'm finding it really difficult at the minute to motivate myself to get out for a run or a ride.  I'd like to pretend it is the winter weather but that's not the case as I quite like bad weather exercise.  I'm just feeling incredibly lazy.

Stats:

Week’s total running distance:                            3.5 miles

Week’s total walking distance:                           0 (plus daily standard Ruby walks)

Week’s total cycling  distance:                           0

Week’s total swimming distance:                       0

Total number of S&C sessions:                          1

Week 8 - Spin from hell

Tuesday, 21 February

I did my strength and conditioning workout straight after work tonight.  I needed to release some stress from a very important meeting I had with clients today which I had been very nervous about.

Wednesday, 22 February

I haven't been to spin for ages and when I was at the gym yesterday I decided to book myself on tonight's session so I couldn't talk myself out of it.  I asked Kath if she wanted to join me too as she hasn't been since breaking her leg a couple of months back and, according to Dave, the altitude chamber is really good for healing broken bones.  Kath said yes and also booked her son, Aidan, on too for his first ever altitude spin session.  As I've mentioned previously, all the bikes are configured differently and some are much harder than others.  I went into the chamber and headed for the back corner but then saw that was number 1 bike, which I know to be really hard so I went for the one in front of it instead.  Unfortunately for me, that one was even harder!  In fact, it was the hardest bike I have ever used!!!  The gears go from 1 to 24 and are controlled by a lever which just moves up and down.  Usually as soon as you start moving the lever up, the number of the gear goes up, but on this bike, I had moved the lever half way and it was still showing as being in gear 1, even though the pedals had gone much harder.  You'd think that with a harder bike you get a better workout but I don't think so.  Because the pedals were that hard to press in an easy gear, I found that I couldn't spin as fast as I normally do and therefore didn't get out of breath as much.  It was more of a strength workout than a cardio workout.  Even in gear 2 it was really hard whereas on a normal bike I'd be spinning in at least gear 8. According to my Fitbit, I burned around 420 calories in the hour so it would be interesting to see whether I burn more on an easier bike.

Total distance - 20km


Friday, 23 February 

I had the day off work today as I'm off to Wakefield this afternoon for the Scott Sorry Benefit Gig (more on that later).

I went to the gym first thing for my last strength and conditioning session of this programme.  All change next week so I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store.

I had a really good session this morning and worked really hard.  I braved deadlifting again, after my knee incident the other week, but I reduced the weight a little just to be sure.  All was fine though so hopefully it was just a moment of poor form last time.

I have today discovered that watching live rock music is an absolutely fabulous workout - more so than spinning!  According to my Fitbit, in the 36 minutes of moshing to Massive Wagons, I burned 269 calories.  That's an average of around 7.5 calories per minute.  On Wednesday's spin class I apparently burned 6.8 calories per minute.

Who needs a gym?


Sunday, 25 February

My plans changed this morning, meaning I was able to get out for my first and only run of the week.  I must admit, getting out the door was the hardest part of it.  I just didn't feel at all motivated, even though the weather looked lovely outside.

After giving myself a good talking to, I got out the door and headed up to George's Lane.  I'm not going to lie, it was hard work.  My legs were willing but my breathing was weak.  I felt so energyless and ended up walking a bit through Wilderswood, something I haven't had to do for a long while.

After a short breather on George's Lane, I then headed up to the water tanks, turning right when I got to them and along to the mast road.  I crossed over the mast road and through the kissing gate into Smithills Estate but then instead of going straight on as I had planned, I took the path to my right (which to begin with runs parallel with the mast road).  I haven't been along this path for years, ever since I went along it with Ruby and it was full of cows so I had to turn round and head back.  No cows today though, and no Ruby, so I really enjoyed running along it.  It's usually boggy but today everything was rock solid as it was all frozen.  There's a little wooden bridge before leaving the field but it was white with ice so I decided to jump the stream instead which was definitely the better option.

I don't know the name of any of the tracks round here, if they even have names, but I basically came out of the kissing gate and turned left where the path is all churned up as it goes into the quarry.

When I got to the path junction, I turned right coming out on the bend of Matchmoor Lane, where I immediately turned left alongside the 'haunted house'.  I followed this path through to the farm then turned left, heading back towards the mast road, via the steps over the stream.

Once at the mast road, I crossed over and headed up Two Lads from the back way.  After admiring the view on this beautiful day, I ran down towards Pike Cottage.  The terrain was so ankle breaking this morning, it was rock hard.

After arriving at Pike Cottage I ran home via my favourite field.  Annoyingly, I paused at the top of the field to check my distance on my watch and I say annoyingly because I then ran down it so quick that I'm pretty sure I could have beaten my own Strava course record.  Ah well, maybe next time.

Total distance - 5.5 miles 

Stats:

Week’s total running distance:                            5.5 miles 

Week’s total walking distance:                           0 (save for daily standard Ruby walks)

Week’s total cycling  distance:                           20km (spin bike)

Week’s total swimming distance:                       0

Total number of S&C sessions:                          2

Week 7 - Poorly Ruby

Tuesday, 13 February

On Tuesday this week I went straight to the gym from work. I haven't been since last Friday when I hurt my knee and I was a bit worried about hurting it again but I bought some knee supports which seem to work pretty well as I didn't get any pain at all despite doing some deep squatting.

I also tried out the new Fitbit Charge which Duncan had won at work and it recorded an average heart rate of 118bpm for the hour long session.

When I got home after the gym, the kitchen floor was full of chunder. Poor Ruby had been sick everywhere. It wasn't just in the kitchen, it was in the hall and landing and in one of the spare bedrooms that she'd managed to get into. She isn't often sick and if she does ever throw up it's just once and then she's fine afterwards but she just kept throwing up this evening. She also didn't come to greet me at the door and just lay in her basket feeling sorry for herself.

After Duncan arrived home we decided to keep check on her and see whether she got any better but she just chundered again and then she started to pant a lot so we decided to take her to the out of hours vets over in Swinton. The vet there was lovely and he thinks that she may have pancreatitiis.


He gave her an injection of painkillers and anti sickness drugs and gave us some other drugs to give her and then told us that we need to feed her on boiled chicken and courgette for a couple of days and look after her. When we got her home and put her down on the kitchen floor, her legs seem to buckle under her. I was a bit worried about this but Duncan said 'don't worry, she's just smacked off her tits' so we just took her to bed and let her sleep it off. Hopefully she will get better soon. Fingers crossed for Ruby.

Thursday, 15 February

I stayed at home with Ruby all day yesterday and she seemed to feel better as the day went on.  No sick at all and I managed to get her eating.  She was still out of sorts but that was to be expected when she had thrown up so much the day before.



However, this morning, she had been sick again and continued to be sick.  I therefore stayed off work again and booked her into our own vets.



I took her in and they wanted to keep her in to monitor her and take blood samples so I had to take her over to their Westhoughton branch, where they kept her on a drip all day to rehydrate her.

As I sat in my office room, working from home, I kept looking down into her basket expecting her to be there.  It felt like part of me was missing.



The one silver lining is that I got to go for a decent run, which I haven't done in a good while.  Only a short one though as I was pushed for time.



I ran up the 'rocky road behind the school' up onto George's Lane then along to the ex dog kennels and, for the first time in ages, ran down through my favourite field. 



I was wearing my new Saucony Koa ST fell shoes and I have mixed views on them.  On soft ground, like my favourite field, they were great and the grip made me feel confident, however, on the harder ground I felt a bit like I was running on bricks.  I don't know whether a change of insole would help or whether they'll just soften up a bit after use but, at £105 I hope they start to feel a bit better. 



Later on, I picked Ruby back up and they still didn't know what was wrong with her, despite blood tests and x-rays and a whopping great big bill.  They just said to try to get her to drink and keep hydrated and bring her back in the morning.  She was sporting a very pretty yellow bandage with pictures of chicken on it!

Total distance - 3 miles


Saturday, 17 February

I had another day of staying at home looking after Ruby yesterday.  She seemed much better in the morning however still wasn't eating anything. 

I took her back to the vets at 9am and they took off her lovely chicken bandage and checked her over again.  They were pleased with her progress and gave me some medication and food to give her and sent us on our way. 

As the day went on she got better and better and I managed to gradually get her to start eating. 


This morning, she seemed back to her normal self.  Still only eating small amounts but was much more waggy tailed than she had been over the last few days.


I went to the UTUP this morning, something I haven't done for a very long time, and met up with EtU there. 


We firstly ran up to the Pike via the race route and then down the steps side and along the lane to the stile over to Noon Hill.  We climbed Noon Hill then went back down onto the lane, running along to the bridge to start our climb up Winter Hill Scar.  As we started ascending, we bumped into EYJ coming the other way.  After a brief chat, EYJ decided to go back up with us rather than continuing on down so we had a good natter as I haven't seen EYJ for absolutely ages.  It was lovely to have a catch up. 


Once at the top we went to the trig point and then ran down the mast road, towards Two Lads.  Before the turn off to Two Lads, EYJ said he was leaving and carried on down the mast road, however when we got up to the cairn, there he was again.  He said he'd had a change of mind but this time he really was leaving so he ran down back in the direction of the mast road and EtU and I ran down to Pike Cottage. 


From there, we had a second run up the Pike.  We were also going to have a second run up Noon Hill but got a bit strapped for time so decided to call it a day and ran back down to the cars. 


It was great catching up with EtU as, other than brief encounters out and about, it's been a long while since we had a good old natter.


Total distance - 8.3 miles


Once back at the car I was wondering whether or not I had enough time or energy to get my strength and conditioning session in as I hadn't managed to get there yesterday but the gym closes at 1pm on a Saturday and isn't open on a Sunday.  It was 11.45 so I decided I'd have enough time, even if I had to shorten the session a little so I drove over, arriving just before 12. 


I managed to get a decent session in, although missed out the deadlifting as I was a little wary after hurting my knee last week and seeing as I was already tired from having run further than I have run in a long time. 


Stats:


Week's total running distance:        11.3 miles (wow, double figures!)
Week's total walking distance:        0 (save for standard Ruby walks - although not many of those this week)
Week's total cycling distance:         0
Week's total swimming distance:    0
Total number of S&C sessions:      2

Week 6 - Gym Bunny / Anglezarke Amble

After not getting any strength and conditioning sessions in for the past two weeks I was determined to get there at least three times this week to make up for it. 

Monday, 5 February

I finished work an hour early today so that I could go straight to the gym and still be home at around the same time as I would normally, so as not to leave Ruby on her own for too long.  I thought that I’d be useless given my two weeks off, but I was feeling surprisingly strong.  I upped the weight on the sled pull by 10kgs and still felt I could do more.  Unfortunately, the 20m track in the gym where I do my tyre flip sprints was being used by somebody else so I was very limited on space and didn’t really have much distance to get a decent sprint in.  

When I go to the gym, or do other exercise, I always feel really invigorated afterwards and I spent my drive home thinking about stopping off and going for a run, however I had to get back to Ruby so as soon as I walked through the front door, I got her on her running harness and just had a jog round the block with her. 

Distance – 1.3 miles

Wednesday, 7 February

I was working from home today so went to the gym first thing, arriving at just after 7am. 

IT WAS FREEZING!!!!

There is no heating in the gym and the thermometer was reading -3 degrees!  I did my entire workout whilst still wearing gloves and a beanie hat.  I only took my hoody off after 45 minutes but still had a long sleeved top and a t-shirt on.  It makes you work harder when it’s so cold though because I spent my rest periods between sets running up and down the track, although that’s probably not what is defined by the term rest period.

This evening I went for a walk up to Two Lads with Ruby.  We went up along the edge of Wilderswood onto George’s Lane then walked along to the kennels and up from there.  There was a thin layer of snow on the ground but it wasn’t slippery.  We came back down the water tanks side and went through the middle of Wilderswood to get home.

Distance – 3 miles

Friday, 9 February

Back to the gym again straight from work today, really pleased with myself for managing to get here three times this week without talking myself out of it.  I again worked through my lunch and finished an hour early so that I could get back to Ruby in good time, it’s a good job I have an understanding boss who lets me work flexible hours to get my training in.  I’m really lucky in that respect. 

The session didn’t go as well as hoped though.  On my third of four sets of deadlifting, I got a sharp pain in my left knee.  I don’t know what I did wrong but it was really sore.  I decided not to carry on with the deadlifts and instead move on to the sled pull but as soon as I started to pull it, which involves a slight bend in the knees, the sharp pain was there again.  I’m hopeful it’s nothing serious and just a twinge but, as I’m booked to do the Anglezarke Amble tomorrow, I decided to take it easy and move on to some arm and abs work instead.  The arms bit was fine but when I tried to do plate abs that also hurt my knee.  I did a few crunches (even though I know they’re not great for the back) and called it a day.  Driving home hurt my knee too though whenever I pressed the clutch pedal. 

Do you think if I gave up exercise and just lazed around on the couch every day I’d still get injured?

Saturday, 10 February – Anglezarke Amble

This is my third time doing the Anglezarke Amble (missed it last year due to a holiday), but my first walking it.  Due to a number of errands I had to run today,  I decided to just do the 16 mile Amble route, which I’ve never done before. 

It turned out that I didn't even manage the short route though, pulling out 1.5 miles in when I reached the Pike.

As mentioned yesterday, I hurt my knee at the gym.  Last night I iced it and kept it elevated.  It felt fine walking, just had the odd twinge going up stairs.  I decided to start the Amble today anyway and see how I got on.

All the way up to the Pike I was having an internal battle about carrying on because whenever I got to a steep part or a step, there was a bit of pain.  The thing is, it wasn't a lot of pain, more of a dull ache, meaning it wasn't an easy decision to make.  The steps up to the Pike were pretty slippery with a very fine layer of ice on them.  When I got to the top, I knew it was decision time.  Speaking to other walkers, they all had conflicting opinions, some saying 'you've done the worst bit now so just carry on' and others saying 'it's not worth it, it's really slippery underfoot so you'll only end up jarring it and making it worse'. 

I knew that to pull out would upset me but I decided it was the right thing to do.  I still don't think it is a serious injury and will probably wear off after a day or so but is it worth carrying on for a walk that a) I've done before a few times, b) I could do at any time because it's on my doorstep c) there were absolutely zero views because of thick fog d) the weather was rubbish (although I like being out in the rain so that's no reason) and e) was really slippery underfoot so ran the risk of making a minor injury into a major injury resulting in yet more time off running/walking.

Decision made, I headed back down the same way as I had come up.

As I got past the barn and started heading down to the road, the runners started coming towards me, as they set off an hour later than the walkers.  There were many familiar faces there which made my walk of shame even worse.

After a natter with EtU about buffs and underpants (?!), I carried on back to base where I found that I wasn't even the first drop out... I was the third!

I hung around for a while chatting to the good folk from the West Lancs LDWA until Duncan came to pick me up and drive me home for a warming brew and a cuddle with Ruby.

Still hopeful that the knee thing is nothing bad but I've put myself a couple of supports to wear next time I'm deadlifting.

Distance - a pathetic 3 miles

Lazy pyjama day on Sunday.

Stats:

Week’s total running distance:                            1.3 miles 

Week’s total walking distance:                           6 (plus daily standard Ruby walks)

Week’s total cycling  distance:                           0

Week’s total swimming distance:                       0

Total number of S&C sessions:                          3


Not a productive week distance-wise.  Must try harder! 

Week 5 - VERY Lazy Week

I barely did any exercise this week, save for walking Ruby and walking home from the train station.  Without having my van (which is still having its gearbox sorted) I couldn’t get to the gym.  That’s no excuse for not running though.  I don’t have an excuse for that.

Friday, 2 February

I managed to get out for a short run with Ruby today as I was climbing the walls without doing any exercise.  We only ran out towards Rivington Barn though but as I had forgotten a torch and it was getting dark, I had to cut the run short and head through the Pinetum and back home.

Distance – 2.5 miles

Sunday, 4 February

Duncan, Ruby and I stayed at the Langdale NT campsite last night in the van as Duncan was meeting some friends today in Torver for an MTB ride.  As we’re not Camping and Caravanning Club members, we were turned away from the campsite at the Church House Inn in Torver.  I didn’t mind as the campsite at Langdale is much more scenic anyway and we had some good grub in the Old Dungeon Ghyll last night. 

Whilst Duncan went riding, I hitched Ruby up to her harness and waist lead, got out my OS map and headed up Walna Scar.  I’ve never been up that way before it and was a lovely walk, especially higher up where there was quite a lot of snow underfoot.  When we got to the path junction, I decided against turning right to go up Brown Pike as Ruby seemed to be struggling a little, possibly due to the fact that she hadn’t eaten since Friday night.  She doesn’t like to eat whilst camping, possibly because she’s out of her routine.  I had some food in my pocket for her though and kept feeding her bits of this throughout the walk but she still didn’t have much of it.  Instead, we turned left and walked up to a summit called White Maiden.  After enjoying the view, we headed back down again but returned to Torver via a different route.  When walking downhill through a farm field, I slipped in some mud and ended up on my backside, jarring my left wrist slightly.  At first, I thought I’d broken it but the numbness soon wore off and it felt OK, if a little stiff. 

I arrived back at the van before Duncan so I put Ruby’s little jacket on as by now she was feeling the cold and made myself a cup of tea.  I sat reading my book until a van pulled up at the side of me and a couple got out with mountain bikes, one of which had a wicker basket attached to the front.  I thought the basket seemed a bit odd on a mountain bike but I then  saw that the reason for this is that there was a little puppy nestled in it!  Obviously I had to get out of the van to go and make a fuss of said puppy which it turned out was a baby Patterdale Terrier.  As my own Patterdale Terrier is a complete and utter menace, I left her in the van because her dislike of other dogs isn’t discriminatory and she would still go for a puppy.

Distance – 7 miles

Stats:

Week’s total running distance:               2.5 miles

Week’s total walking distance:               7 (plus daily standard Ruby walks)

Week’s total cycling  distance:               0

Week’s total swimming distance:           0

Total number of S&C sessions:              0