Just because...

Getting to the top of the mountain might be tough. Sleeping in temperature so cold that a cereal bar in your inner pocke is frozen in the morning might be tough. But this makes it worth it.

Mud, mud, horse shit and a bit more mud...

That's about the state of the trails here now. Torrential rain for a couple of days and storm force wind/rains headed here tomorrow, so it ain't getting better. Well, there's going to be another few months of it, so better get used to it!

Today I felt pretty good setting off, but I started a bit quick and when I got to the deep mud, my legs were pretty heavy. Got so wet/muddy today that where normally I'd take the trail around one of the rivers i pass - todayt I just went straight through. I actually ended up cleaner for it.

Still on 6-runs per/week schedule and feeling pretty good. This week I'll make a tad harder than last by adding one tempo (today) and a long run on Sunday (90min). That'll give me >30miles for the week, but more importantly, getting back into the habit of running almost every day.

Ok - too much time spent online...off to bed. Feeling groggy after 'flu vaccine.

bad weekend...

Had a run Friday and Saturday (both in the 35-40 min 'steady' region), but I spent most of the weekend shoveling dirt and lift >2.5 tons of gravel and top-soil. My front drive needed sorting and although I missed a Sunday long-run (I know that it is still Sunday andonly 7pm, buut there is no frikin way that I'm going out for and hour+ run now!), the drive-way does look 1000xbetter! Thanks for your fore-woman duties, mum.

However, I am now going to wrap up and take the dog for a 45min walk...then home to eat something unhealthy to numb my senses and make me forget that I've to go back to work tomorrow after a month off! I am in fact looking forward to going back; I like routine and this will actually help my running. Also, that it's the start of new promoted position, I'm excited, and nervous, about the prospect.

ok... Olly... walk...

Day 2

Didn't feel too psyched about running today, but stuck to the prog (which I'll be uploading if I figure out how to upload an excel file). The current cycle is mostly about getting myself used to running 6-days a week, including extending the weekend long run, and not too much focus on effort - other than keep it nice and steady. Using the Mark Allen off-season priciple of using heart rate and just keeping it pretty easy for a couple o f months to build base.

Today was 5 1/2 miles with Olly on the trails and bridleways. Pace was comfortable - 8:45 min/mile and HR average 152bpm. Sounds slow when you look at it like that, but in ankle deep mud (and horse crap, it's not too bad. Also, as there's 132m of ascent per mile - yes, per mile - then you figure that it's pretty good training. That's category B fell race territory, which is classed as anything with >125m per mile. (Category A is >250m/mile and they HURT!)

After the run - 30min weights circuit. Now I'm writing when I should be eating!!

Bermuda 5k

Back from Bermuda and training starts

I had great ideas about running in the sun whilst in Bermuda last week. But, 26c and 84% humidity meant that it was too damned tough...so I was swimming and snorkeling the coral reefs instead. Ok, I wasn't totally lazy... I ran 5 out of 9 days there, including a short race. But, it was so humid that holding 7:30 miling was hard!!

So, I'm back in Blighty now and psyched for some training. My goals for 2010 are as follows:

Feb. First Cani-x race with my Siberian Husky, Olly. He's a year old on 16th Feb., so can race up to 5k, which is fine 'cause that's what most of the cani-x races are. But, confusingly, there's also an organisation called canicross trailrunners and they get involved in longer stuff. Definitely up for that, but once the lad's a bit older and stronger.

Feb. 27th... now, this is going to be tricky, and insane, but I like that. I want to run the Moonlight Challenge on 27th, a 32.75mile night run in Kent starting around 6pm, but then I also want to take part in the Meon Valley Plod on the 28th, a 20.6mile trail run over the South Downs in Hampshire starting at 10:30am. So... I reckon I can get the Moonlight Challenge outta the way by 11pm, drive to Hampshire, get a solid 6-hrs sleep, and get out on the MVP the next morning. Sorted! :-) I've got to do the Moonlight Challenge as prep for....

May... 24-hour Challenge. Does xactly what it says on the tin! Same course as Moonlight - 6.55mile loops of mixed terrain. I've run here twice (43.3 and 52.2 miles during their 50-mile challenge held in July) and it's a lovely run due to the organiser and his helpers. Really terrific series of events http://www.50milechallenge.co.uk/index.htm and the lap nature allows for easy support. So, I'm hoping to crack 100miles in 24hrs... over 14-minute/mile pace average may seem easy, but not when you're trying to run for 24hrs! My aim will be to crack out the first couple of mara's in ~10hrs. This allows for some rest time if needed.

After that, I'm still on the hunt for a suitable 100mile trail race. I'm looking at some of the 100mile mountain races in the US, but I think I'll hold the decision until the new year.

Right... no better time than the present to get my jacksie out the door for a run...