Middle Pack

It was a cold Monday evening with a promise of night time temps hitting -5. First day back at work after the Christmas break and my foot hurt from Ovenden Fell race from the weekend, but that wasn’t going to stop me racing.

This being the only Owl event that I actually knew the route I wasn’t going to miss that. Also the only event with a bit of route choice in it.

I took the tactical decision to wear trail shoes as the ground was like concrete and I thought the additional traction and cushioning would make the race more enjoyable. As I was injured I was really only going for a good run and not to be competitive. The route being just shy of 4 miles with 500 feet of ascent and taking in some of the Ilkley Moor Landmarks. Starting at Millenium Gardens and going via the Calf, Badger Stone and White Wells before descending back to Millenium Gardens.

Even at the start people ran off in different directions across all the little paths across the moor. Finding Badger stone in the dark was a challenge for some as a leading pack took a slight diversion leaving me leading the way directly to the Badger Stone. A slippery descent to a road which was covered by black ice and then a direct line across the moor on little paths to White Wells split people up again as people tried to find the way. Getting to White Wells it turns out I was in 2nd place mainly due to good route choice keeping me in the race. The final descent dropped me into 3rd. Nice to see the Petzl wearers being 2 of the top 3 as opposed to the beams of light from Hope gaining their “running in daylight” advantage (only headtorch envy really).

Full results at the Wharfedale Harriers website

A great evening out and a good result despite not pushing it with my foot. These are great little events with a great atmosphere and a solid core of people coming every time for a gentle run in the dark. Thanks go out to Brett for this event and a massive thanks for the marshals and timekeepers on a cold night to be hanging around.

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Some fell races you are flying, hills are a breeze, the legs feel silkly smooth, the downhills are like lightening with no thought, no effort or concern about saftey. You are invincible as you skim across rough ground. This wasn’t one of those races!

Arriving at Ogden Water for the 14th Ovenden Fell Race, I was feeling quite good. My injured foot had been rested well since the Calderdale Relays 3 weeks previous. I had not done any running whatsoever in an aid to sort my foot out (and ensure I could stay drunk throughout Christmas). This I think was my undoing. Going up the first slight incline my legs felt like lead, my breathing laboured. I was just waiting for a bit of flat ground so that I could get some rythem and start pushing forward. Unfortunatly as soon as I hit the flat ground I realised it was going to be a slower race than I anticipated. The legs were still laboured. The ground was frozen as hard as concrete and I was struggling.

At this point I decided not to beat myself up about it and thought of various excuses to my already poor performace. I have settled on two excuses. First is lack of training due to injury, second is that it is better to get the shocking races over and done with early on in the year. Happy with these I settled in and tried to just enjoy it as a training run.

I do belive there were some points that I was enjoying it, unfortunatly these were all too late in the day. Maybe I am just suited to longer races where I can get settled in for the first 8 miles as opposed to the race being 8 miles?

Two worrying things came from this race (apart from the result) first was the foot was in agony the next morning and second was on the final descent I had real trouble catching breath. My chest felt tight and I had to slow down and take big deep breaths to control my breathing. This isn’t the first time this has happened so off to the docs with this one. Still no excuse as this was on the final descent to the finish.

All in all a cracking race, a good course but I felt like I could have done better. Final result 32nd out of 137 in a time of 66.33. Winning time 53.42 by Karl Gray of Calder Valley.

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So this is the time for change. Time to review what you want for next year and put in plans to get there. Usually I keep mine a secret as easier to ignore them or roll them over to the next year but this year I thought I may as well put my sports related resolutions up on the blog and hope it motivates me to work towards them.

So here they are:

1) Train properly

None of this high milage having fun just running. I realise to take my running up a notch I need proper speed sessions, structured training, hill sessions etc etc. All boring but essential. More of this to come soon.

2) Track training with a training diary

Apparently it is a good thing to track your training. In the past I have just kept a running tally of miles in a week but now I will track individual runs, how I am feeling terrain and other stuff that is useful. This will be a page on this site so other people can have a nosey if the inclination occurs. Half way through coding this and should be online soon.

3) Update this site more

I have been a bit slack with updates and I want to generally put more on this site. More reviews, more articles and a bit more views on things as opposed to just races. Problem at the moment is if I am injured then nothing gets updated.

4) Go climbing more

I started running because I took up climbing, but was too fat to climb well. I started running to lose weight so I could climb better but never really got back into climbing. Two new bouldering wall in Leeds will hopefully mean I can run down there after work with shoes and a bag and then run home afterward no fuss climbing!

5) Get a decent mountain bike

This is in limbo at the moment as I am trying to get a new employer with a bike t work scheme. Once this is done I am looking at a flash new racing hardtail and then a lot more time spent on a bike. Long days out with block training of bike run bike. Great for adventure racing and also ensure that I can get the milage up without too much overuse injuries.

6) Do more different types of races

I am wanting to do different types of races this year. Will have to wait till I get a decent bike however as these would be trailquests, a 24hr enduro, and more adventure races than I am currently doing. I think I would be aiming at the back end of the year for these as I have a lot of running related goals to do first.

So there they are. I am not going to tell you how many are the same from last year but this year is going to be different…honest.

A long year for me! In some ways great, in some ways I am glad it is over.

I have had some great times over the year. Here are some of the sporting  highlights:

Best Fell Race: Ennerdale Horsehoe

A great route, great scenery and felt good all the way round. A really good result at the end of it. Weather was perfect. My only regret for this year is not being able to do this race due to other commitments but 2010 I will be there. Pendle has to be up there as well as another cracking race where I left smiling despite struggling to walk the next day through ankle trouble.

Best Adventure Race: Dark and White

A bit unfair as I only did 2 Adventure races this year. Both of them late Jan / Early Feb but I like the Dark and White races as the organisation tends to be very smooth (so are open Adventure) yet low key. I also liked the little twist of an ‘O’ course and a proper fell course. Dates just been released for 09 so must see if I can get these done again.

Best buy: Inov8 Mudclaws.

Despite the fact the first pair went back, depsite the fact the second pair are showing wear and the stitching is coming undone. I cannot see how these shoes can be bettered? I may try the X-talons next but they have a lot to live up to.

Best Mountain Marathon: Rab Mountain Marathon

The OMM was a debacle that promised a lot and failed to deliver. Maybe its just too big now? Saunders I was too slow to get entry in. Lamm I had no interest in and the Highlander just too cold. The Rab was great size, great course, great location. Oh and I won! The mini MM’s are also great fun. A real shame that I could only do one this year.

Best training session: Run to work

A strange one here. Probably my most beneficial training session over the year has been my tempo runs to work. Exactly 4 miles there and 4 miles back. A reasonably hilly run and a great set up to the day. Best time 23.48 A great way to get your milage up with 8 free miles. The bus takes over an hour! This was a close run thing as I also did a two day weekend run of over 60 miles mountain marathon style which I think helped me a lot

So these are the highlights. I did 2 Adventure Races, lost count of the fell races, 2 Orienteering events, no road and no trail races.

So the lowlights:

Worst Injury: Ankle Injury

High Peaks Marathon and a cold windy night in the peak. Me rolling round in a bog grabbing my ankle after going over on it for the third time. Game over for me. X-rays showed a previous break and a misformed ankle. 2 months in pot and a seasons goal ruined and still lingering problems from the same injury.

Worst buy: Watch

This is the worst buy mainly because it was an un-needed buy. I turned up at the D&W Adventure race with no watch. A bit of an issue in a timed event. I bought one at the event for £40 gone. Set off and somehow managed to stop the timer on it mid-race. Won’t mention the make as it is an okay watch. Just a bad buy at a timee when I was skint.

Worst Race: Duddon Valley

A great course but in bad conditions for me. A really really hot day and me being a bit enthusiastic meant I struggled badly for much of the race. Deyhdrated and sluggish and the toys went out of the pram early on. I will be back to banish the demons of this race but not till 2010.

Worst training Session: Track

Its flat, short and running on hard ground. A real way to show my weak area of running. Suppose that is why I have only shown my face twice this year at track session. Will do it more this year.

So a quick summary of the year. A busy one for my first full season running. Just hope that 09 is even more productive and i get a few more wins under my belt.