Training or failing?

I had entered the LDWA Red Rose 100 mile event as part of my training for the UTLD 100. Saturday morning saw me parked up at Rivington school and being taken by minibus to the start of the event. After being checked in and having my halfway bag deposited, I had some tea and toast and waited for the start.

Leg one I knew well, from the Anderton centre via Go Ape and then up to Pigeon Tower. Then across the cobble road that Andrew and I know well to skirt into Belmont and onto the bit of the Rivvy 26 route I hate. This dropped me at CP1.  Jaffa cakes, custard donuts and crackers and cheese were very welcome.

Leg two took us over Darwen Tower and then back down to Feniscliffe, where sandwiches did the trick. Sixteen miles in and going well. My game plan was to keep under 15 minutes per km, as this is 40 hour pace for 100 miles.

The next bit was quite hilly and took us over a few grassy hills, busy roads and boring stomps over golf courses. I arrived at Whalley with sore feet, 8:20 after 28 miles.  I popped a few blisters and applied Compeed. The next leg was a fun one, with a lot of up and down and bog.

Getting to Barley involved a lot of dancing over bog but I managed to keep my feet dry. Here was on offer minestrone, vegetable soup, or pizza crumpet. I had one of the latter, which was tomato purée on crumpet, toasted with cheese on top. Really nice at this point.

Next was Pendle Hill. In the dark. Anyway, off I went. Up and up it seemed. Near the top I met a witch and her cat, who clipped my card and gave me sweets. On the way off the top I did wonder if we were going the right way. The route card said head at 330 but the path everyone was taking didn't match this. After a while I stopped to check my position, which agreed with the planned route.

Downham. Midnight. 14 hours in, sore hamstring, various blisters.  40 miles in, and mind games came along. Not near my previous 66 Mile best but there's plenty to concern me.

Anyway, I got to Downhan. 40 miles in, a week after a hill marathon.  I was gutted not to finish but I
wanted to get back to my lovely wife and our bed.  Would you rather cuddle up to your fantastic wife, or continue stomping through the paths of Lancashire?????

The lack of Andrew being there was a major downer which had a huge effect on my mental approach.  So, I dropped out here. Various reasons, but the hamstring was an issue which I didn't want to aggravate and blisters won't help my recce this weekend- Andrew and I are going to scope out the second quarter of the hundred.  26 miles last weekend, 40 this weekend and 33 next weekend. Not bad training for distance. Best keep the distance up, rather than killing myself with 100 miles on a bad bum!

Anyway,  lessons learned
Roll on the 100.......




This was all walked, and the GPS ain't right.

Progress?

It has been six weeks since my hamstring injury, and my butt still isn't right. Having said that, I thought I'd give an update as to where I am with it.

I had a few sessions of physio with Summit Physio at Wrightington country club, each of which was very very painful. I've been doing stretches and strengthening exercises religiously. Up until today, I've run 51.3km in total, albeit very slowly. On top of this, LAA and I have done a 10k walk each Monday when we are off together, going for a nice lunch each time. It's been really nice to enjoy some good walks and some good food together, since we are so busy the rest of the week. We also did a bit of cycling, including the Guild Wheel, as well as a mad dash home when Ben broke his wrist.

I've avoided any Board session, as well as the fingerboard. Climbing will have to wait until after the UTLD 100.

We have also had a clear out of girls' clothes- loads of nice, new, expensive, and often unworn clothes. Some of it has been thrown out, but most has been donated to people with young girls who will actually get some use out of it all. We must have cleared out thousands of pounds worth. Amazing.

Today was the Howgills Trail 26. Andrew and I drove up this morning, a little nervous since neither of us have trained anywhere near what we did last year, and my broken buttock made me nervous.  I remembered a lot of this course from last year, certainly not my favourite 26.  Toad-al Ben Stool. 

This time the 7.5k slog to the summit of the Calf felt Ok. The descent from here was a bit dull, but being technical underfoot didn't allow any respite. We went slightly wrong where a marker had clearly fallen over, but having done it before kept us on the right track. We hit the first checkpoint at 3:30 in. This left 20k, and my lack of training in the last six weeks showed. In the end, I sent Andrew off with 9k to go to chase a time, whilst I plodded at 8 minute/km pace. From the watch I finished over 6hrs 30, which was my target. However, any disappointment at not hitting the mark is alleviated by the fact I should be OK for next weekend. No details yet, I don't want to jinx proceedings.

Anyway, good day out- thanks Andrew.