I closed off 2018 with an eight mile run over the top of Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales. It's a real privilege to have such lovely countryside on our doorstep. The weather on New Year's Eve when I was running was foul and to add insult to injury, it cleared up on New Year's Day and lots of my friends posted pictures of clear skies and beautiful views in the Dales. I need to choose my days more carefully.
The following weekend, Sue and I went to stay with Dave and Lina in their new house in the Northern Lake District. On our way there, we ran one of my favourite short routes, the trail around Buttermere. It isn't the most testing run in the world, but the scenery is spectacular - even on a grotty grey day.
A couple of days later, Dave Lina and I explored some of the trails around their new place and made our way across to Binsey. This involved ten miles of running with a bit of walking and a lot of standing around in the fog trying to work out where we were. The view from Binsey is apparently really impressive, but we'll need to go back in order to see it.
Back at home in Yorkshire, I ran an easy 19 miles over the week, almost all of it on the canal tow path, I'm at 35 miles for the year.
Overall, I'm finding it tough to run. I cut down my running after my last ultra in October and it's difficult getting going again. I don't seem to be able to run distances very comfortably and my usual slow pace has got even slower, which is a bit of a pain.
This week, I drew together a training plan for the next 18 weeks which will take me to the next ultra that I'm planning to do (the Tyne Trail Ultra). So I've got 18 weeks to transition from running a 19 mile week to doing a 45 mile day. I have a couple of races between now and then, but I'll view them as training days, rather than trying to achieve a quick time. A few weeks after the Tyne Trail Ultra, I'll be doing my first ever 100 km race in the Lakes. In a sense, the Tyne Trail is part of my prep for the event, though a 45 mile training run does seem a bit of overkill.
As part of my training routine, I've started doing the Kinetic Revolution Thirty Day Challenge. This is basically a set of graded exercises which aim to build mobility and strength for runners. The first week (which is all that I've done) concentrates on hip mobility and balance and I've found it very helpful. I tend to get a lot of hip problems when I run and the stretches and exercises in this routine have been very helpful. It's well worth taking a look at challenge if you are a runner. Incidentally, I've linked to a number of resources for runners in the sidebar to this blog. I may add some books at some point, too.
Anyway, after a gentle few weeks, things start to pick up next week. I'll be running more miles and doing some hill sprints.
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| Any shepherds on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal would have been delighted. |
The following weekend, Sue and I went to stay with Dave and Lina in their new house in the Northern Lake District. On our way there, we ran one of my favourite short routes, the trail around Buttermere. It isn't the most testing run in the world, but the scenery is spectacular - even on a grotty grey day.
 |
| Fleetwith Pike and Buttermere |
A couple of days later, Dave Lina and I explored some of the trails around their new place and made our way across to Binsey. This involved ten miles of running with a bit of walking and a lot of standing around in the fog trying to work out where we were. The view from Binsey is apparently really impressive, but we'll need to go back in order to see it.
 |
| Dave, Lina and Zaro (who thought 10 miles was too long) |
Back at home in Yorkshire, I ran an easy 19 miles over the week, almost all of it on the canal tow path, I'm at 35 miles for the year.
Overall, I'm finding it tough to run. I cut down my running after my last ultra in October and it's difficult getting going again. I don't seem to be able to run distances very comfortably and my usual slow pace has got even slower, which is a bit of a pain.
This week, I drew together a training plan for the next 18 weeks which will take me to the next ultra that I'm planning to do (the Tyne Trail Ultra). So I've got 18 weeks to transition from running a 19 mile week to doing a 45 mile day. I have a couple of races between now and then, but I'll view them as training days, rather than trying to achieve a quick time. A few weeks after the Tyne Trail Ultra, I'll be doing my first ever 100 km race in the Lakes. In a sense, the Tyne Trail is part of my prep for the event, though a 45 mile training run does seem a bit of overkill.
As part of my training routine, I've started doing the Kinetic Revolution Thirty Day Challenge. This is basically a set of graded exercises which aim to build mobility and strength for runners. The first week (which is all that I've done) concentrates on hip mobility and balance and I've found it very helpful. I tend to get a lot of hip problems when I run and the stretches and exercises in this routine have been very helpful. It's well worth taking a look at challenge if you are a runner. Incidentally, I've linked to a number of resources for runners in the sidebar to this blog. I may add some books at some point, too.
Anyway, after a gentle few weeks, things start to pick up next week. I'll be running more miles and doing some hill sprints.
 |
| On top of Whernside on New Year's Eve |
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