Undulating

Definitely my word of the day . . . undulating. Which strangely enough describes this morning’s run. Decided I needed a change of scenery, so headed inland on a loop that took me from Charmouth up to Wootton Fitzpaine, across to Whitchurch Canonicorum (don’t you just love these names?) , then back down to Charmouth.

Lots of ups and downs to keep me puffing, a total of 315m of ascent altogether over a run that turned out to be a fraction under 10km. All on tarmac lanes through the beautiful Dorset countryside. Didn’t push to hard, heart rate only got up to 170bpm near the end when I sped up a bit to ensure I kept my average under 6m per km. Seems like a good tarmac loop to use as a long run when the off-road stuff gets too muddy again.

9.84km,  58m 44s,  5m 58s per km average.

Probably out again on Saturday to do some hilly stuff.

More Shade Vicar

Wow, that got a bit hot a bit quick. Suddenly it’s summer and 20+ degrees.

Short run from home up (the nice and shady) Stonebarrow Lane, along to the end of the car park and back again. Just under 6km, one whopping great hill. Wasn’t feeling 100% as I only ran on Tuesday, so tried to take it easy and keep the MHR at less than 170. Not easy up a 1 in 10 incline that lasts for a kilometer. Anyway trotted up the hill at what turned out to be 30s slower than last time up the hill when I was trying a bit harder. Will try and get out about every three days now if sore leg allows. That should help with the stamina and leg strength. On the other hand it could make my leg worse. One or the other. Also, running (ok . . . jogging) back down the hill makes my shins hurt.

5.87km, 37m 41s, average of 6m 25 per km.

43 days to 2010 Charmouth Challenge.

11 days to Juneathon. Not done it before, certainly can’t run every day, so it will be a mixture of running and situps I think.

New Year Run

Decided on a short run today, the first run since before Xmas. Temperature was zero degrees, so tracksters and gloves definitely called for.

The drive up Stonebarrow Lane to the National Trust car park at the top was very icy. Nearly decided to turn round but pushed on anyway. Worry about the trip back down later.

Having not been out for a while, I decided to take it easy today. Still suffering from slight tightness in my right hamstring, and my lower back has been sore from all the recent house painting. It might have been cold, but once again the sun was out. This meant the best of both worlds, the mud was frozen, but the sun on my face was warm. Not looking forward to the mud thawing in the Spring, gonna be a right mess.

And then the fun began. Halfway back down Stonebarrow Lane came across some ejit who had not been so careful coming up on the ice and was now sideways blocking the road. So I stopped and with a few others helped get him straight. By now there’s three cars behind me trying to come down, and three behind him trying to come up. And then I fell over on the ice! Cut and bruised the heal of my left hand, sprained my right wrist. Great. Anyway, the uphill cars chickened out and rolled slowly back down the hill except for one 4×4, so to let him up the downhill cars had to slither into gateways and passing points. Once he was gone we were free. All in all, suck for about 30 minutes.

So my new New Year’s resolution; no driving up Stonebarrow Lane unless its greater than five degrees!

Happy New Year.

Simply Glorious Run

It might have been 3 degrees centigrade, but with bright sun, clear blue sky, and almost no wind, it was glorious out there this morning. Not a cloud in the sky, just the odd wispy white jet trail from some high up Boeing heading West out over towards the Atlantic. Very few people about, might have been the cold, or they may have all been doing their last minute Xmas shopping. Either way I had the paths to myself and was smiling all the way.

Did exactly 10k. Bit slow as I was just out enjoying the run rather than pushing, so did it in 72m 26s, which is 7m 14s per km apparently.

Two things of note, possibly connected. Firstly, drank an energy drink called Orbana before I went out that someone was kind enough to send me to trial. Not a very scientific experiment, but did seem to give me a bit of a buzz over the first half of the run. Secondly, for the very first time, I made it to the top of Golden Cap without walking. It was just like Rocky. By the time I reached the trig point at the top I had my hands over my head whilst jogging round in a circle celebrating! Just as well there was nobody there to see me. Was it connected to the Orbana? Or was it just improved fitness coupled with taking it easy before I got that far? Impossible to say, so I’m going to try taking the remaining three drinks before every other run. That should enable a better assessment.

Anyway, my glorious run was followed by a glorious soak in the bath and an equally glorious bacon sandwich and mug of tea. It just doesn’t get any better.

Not sure when I’ll be out again as we’re heading up north for Xmas with my in-laws. Probably day after Boxing Day.

Hundred pushups suspended until January due to being knackered after spending all my time painting recently.

Happy Xmas all !!

Summer’s here?

18 degrees C, sunny, hardly a breeze. Must be summer? Nope it’s the last week in October, Halloween and Bonfire Night are just round the corner. Hard to believe, but true. Got really hot on the way back up the hill today, sweat making my eyes sting. It’s global warming you know.

Took it easy to start, tip-toed through the muddy bits halfway round, then attacked the hill on the way back. So first 2k was slowish, next muddy k was very slow, but then having saved a bit of strength climb back up the hill was probably quickest yet. Total time 33:05 for 5.13km.

Next run is Ilminster 10k on Sunday. Weather looks wet for Saturday night, hopefully will have blown through by Sunday morning. Still want to do about 55 mins, but depends on how hilly it is. Major concern is will I get back in time for the Grand Prix, or should I just find a pub in Ilminster with a TV? Decisions, decisions. Probably depends on whether or not the family come with me.

Sun-day

Much better day today. Charmouth was bathed in beautiful autumn sunshine, and mobbed by all and sundry trying to get to the coast for one last time before winter sets in. The car parks in the village were absolutely packed, it could have been the middle of summer all over again. Roll on the winter when I can go for a nice lonely wander on the beach before walking the kids home from school.

Even though the weather was good, I found my run difficult. Legs felt really heavy for some reason and I was quite a bit slower than usual (48m 19s for the 7.21km loop). The only reason that I could think of was that I was out running about two hours after I got up instead of my usual four hours.

I don’t think I’ll be setting any more PB’s for a while either. Some sections of my run are getting very slippery with the autumn rain, and some are downright muddy. Add to that slippery stiles and rocky paths lurking under a light covering of leaves, it all means I have to start taking it easy in places.

The weather brought out all the dog walkers too. I wasn’t in a great mood as it was hard work, so when the first dog charged up to me and nearly tripped me up I got cross. When it happened again with a different dog twenty minutes later I lost it a bit and tried to give him a kick. Something I regretted instantly. In future I’ll just slow down to a walk, there’s no point in either getting angry or risking another fall by running past them.

I’ll do a shorter run mid-week, then it’s Ilminster 10k next Sunday. Hope my legs feel up to the task by then.

A Blustery Day

Didn’t feel particularly up for it today, but went anyway. Probably felt like that due to being a bit tired after playing poker down the pub last night. (Came 2nd out of 22, so worth it, lol)

Yesterday’s rain seemed to have passed and the sun was out, but it was blowing a gale and I felt pretty cold when I started off. Might need to add that second layer soon. Went off a bit too quick, so pace ended up being a bit uneven with an eventual time of 33m 7s, which was pretty average. Started off in bright sunshine and a howling gale off the sea. This means that when I turn towards it and the wind gets in my eyes, they tear up and it makes it difficult to see for a short stretch. Not only that but the wind was so strong I was working hard to keep up a decent pace. Got better when I turned away from the wind, but then we had a short heavy shower and I got soaked. Then that stopped and the sun came out again enough to dry me out before I got back to the car. All the seasons in one day, huh?

Medium run at the weekend, actual day depends on the weather.

Damn I’m Hot!

Long run this morning, and it was hot. 25C according to the display in the car, and it felt like it too. Found the run really hard on the way back to Stonebarrow, got really hot, ran out of energy and had to walk quite a few short steep sections. When I got back to the car I was feeling pretty shot. Took me a while to recover and felt very wobbly for a while. Guess it shows I’m trying, huh?

Did it in 1hr 7m 16s, so not my best, but happy with that given how hard it felt. Wore the Garmin so have a wealth of data on the run, some of which I’ve shown below. Average speed over the run was 8.1kph, best kilometer was 5m 13s, the worst a feeble 10m 5s on the way back up Stonebarrow near the end. The blue line showing speed has a lot of dips in it, they’re not all walks! Most are stiles and gates. I think the value in the data will be to compare it run to run.

The green elevation line makes it clear what the character of the run is like. Starting on Stonebarrow, a slow climb up to Chardown, then down to St Gabriels Wood, up Golden Cap, back down the other side, another bit of up and down, then the long climb back up Stonebarrow.

Garmin log from today's run