Some lifting of lockdown, but! keep on running and cycling

Saturday 23rd May

Well there has been some lifting of the lockdown, people are now allowed to travel where they like in England, but not Wales or Scotland ! which I have to say locally has caused real problems as people flock here to the coast in large numbers. The implications for us runners and cyclists are that we now have to dodge more cars and more people trying to keep the 'distance' to avoid any contact, otherwise the last ten weeks will have been a waste of time!! it does make me very angry that people are so inconsiderate not staying local, even one of my friends I notice on Strava drove to Saunton sands to go surfing!! which is a good 70-100 miles, irresponsible in my eyes and unnecessary. especially as the roads were jammed and nothing was open.
 Anyway enough of the virus more about running and cycling along with the campervan, sadly I had to charge the battery on the van as it had not been out on a long journey regularly, I daren't go out as locals think you are an outsider giving you horrible looks as though you shouldn't be there!

On the beach at Berrow

Burnham low lighthouse

Cygnets on a local Rhyne

wreck of  SS Norgen 1897

Running wise I have now managed to complete 621 miles or 1000 km since the start of the year, I now need to complete my 1000 miles by the end of the year. I have been running regularly either early mornings on my 10 k route or in the afternoons round my 9-10 mile route that is away from crowds and has some lovely off road sections but! has no hills and over ten miles I can have a maximum of 60 feet! which is probably over the train bridge and up from the beach. Although I did include the ascent of Brent Knoll last week, on my long run, the weather however has been very hot making long runs very sweaty! the wind has been a constant niggle and chilly at times. I did manage a good time for a 10k last week recording 56 min 43 secs which I was pleased with. I have been heart rate running this week trying to keep it down in zone 3, difficult at times when running into the wind.
Although I can now drive the 20 mins down the road to the Mendips, or the Quantocks, I have made a decision to avoid until we are all released and the threat has subsided considerably, at 69 I wish to do everything possible to continue life for a good few years yet!

It is a wonderful area for wild life and over the past few runs have seen goslings, cygnets and baby ducks, sadly I have the photos on my ipad and unable to download at the moment.

Cycling wise I have managed a few rides when the wind has dropped and my 'sore' bum has now recovered!! the roads getting busier each week both with cars but mainly cyclists. I am surprised my cycling fitness is still good although I havnt tried many hills yet, the local Polden hills are not really a challenge and I don't feel at the moment I want to venture on the Mendips and Cheddar Gorge which by accounts is very busy with cyclists and people visiting now we have all been 'let out'
The running club have been proactive in trying to keep spirits up with a daily challenge of wearing a different tee each day you run that matches the colour of the rainbow, to celebrate the NHS along with a runner spotting competition, where you get a point if you see another Harrier and photo them :-) with a league each week . this combined with a weekly quiz via the Face Book page.

I cant believe its nearly 3 years since my Manche to Med cycling trip

That's brought the Blog up to date, not a lot to say but I am trying to keep it uptodate and also keep a diary of this extraordinary time .

 

life goes on.......

Sunday 10th May 2020

Here we are 7 or 8 weeks into lockdown and life goes on, trying to avoid contact with other people and the weekly grind of getting food without spending time in a supermarket queue! using farm shops, local campsite shops [as campsites are shut the onsite shops are open to outsiders] and we did manage to get an AS|DA delivery last week, even though one of the subsidies was a 20 packet pack of prawn cocktail Skips!!!
I finished April well ahead of my target for my 1000 miles run by the end of the year with 515 miles run since January 1st, April saw me run 123 miles whilst I also managed to start cycling again in April getting another 238 miles in. so a successful month of activity, then the weather has been lovely, long sunny days, and somedays with a gentle easterly breeze meant a fast cycle back over Tealham moor. Running wise I ran nearly every day,the longest run was 10.60 miles, the route very flat with only 67 feet of climbing! taking in Brent Knoll village, Middle Lane which goes into a lovely bridleway part way along followed by crossing the Dunes at Berrow, which are remote, making the beach very quiet at the moment, very deserted! before running back along the lovely flat, hard sand for 3-4 miles before crossing the dunes back to the road. A great multi terrain run, which keeps the interest more than general road running. Its also nice to get away from the sea front as in the day time now it is getting busier as people are taking their 'Boris exercise' or taking the dog for a walk! I did manage a couple of very early runs 6 am starts! which were god for lack of people, beautiful sun rises etc. but! I haven't managed to keep them up, my preferred time to run being late afternoon.
I have been lucky with no injuries and generally feeling good on runs and cycle rides, my pace is way down at present, although the multi terrain run is not easy to go fast as its good ankle twisting terrain, and the beach slows you up. but! I did manage 58 minutes for a 10k run! I did no hill work in April so when I did Brent Knoll hill the other day, it was a shock to the leg muscles, finding myself walking rather than running at times, whereas, training for the Grizzly I was running all the way up to the top!
The Harriers have been proactive in keeping things positive with a daily  challenge of wearing a rainbow colour each day when you run and there is also a 'Harrier Spotting' contest where if you spot a harrier and photo you get a point! which goes towards a weekly score. We have also had a quiz each week through the Harriers FB page, it was our turn this week to present the questions, it went well and all enjoyed it [I think].
Cycling might be curtailed for a couple of weeks as I have a sore, in an inconvenient place for cycling! I need this to heal before I do more as its very uncomfortable, even with two pairs of shorts, I suspsct the hot weather and frequent wearing of lycra etc has contributed to it!
But, cycling has been good with quieter roads, and more courteous drivers, as there are a lot of 'new' cyclists and families out on bikes, who aren't the most road aware people! There has been no 'resurfacing ' yet, either which is good new, I am hoping the Covid 19 delays any of this as its a real problem for cyclists. I did a couple of hilly rides taking in 100ft which for a 40 mile round the levels is very good, without going on the Mendips is would be hard to get much climbing in. Besides its best to stay very local with this virus about.
I am hoping with another month or so we will be able to meet up with other runners and my cycling friends again, I don't thing Parkrun or other events will be back before October at the earliest, just fingers crossed they might.
The campervan is well and truly stuck on the drive! I daren't drive locally as people think you are a visitor and give you grief!! now I can decide if its better or worse to start it up and run it.
No hill or Fell walking either!
All we can do is stay safe ourselves and be optimistic the return to some normality wont be too far off.
Still no photos added as I am typing this on the laptop and photos are on the ipad or phone, so sorry its boring text!
I am quite pleased I have done another blog in a short time!! I hope I can maintain the momentum !!!

We have lockdown

Saturday April 25th

Well the updating didn't last long!!! as its 3  months since I posted. A lot and not much has happened since the last post. The worst thing has been the spread of the Virus from China Covid 19 which has shut the world down!!! we are on lockdown with social distancing of 2 metres, so any activity with others other than those you are living with is not happening, hence no running club, no cycling with Wobbly wheelers or Brent Knoll Velo old gits!! its been five weeks now and doeant look to end soon. we are isolating, only visiting the shop once a week, so hope to avoid any nasty virus!!

Anyway, back to more pleasant things! From xmas up to and after the Grizzly[more later] I didn't cycle at all, a combination of awful weather wind and rain and trying to keep the miles up training for the Grizzly. So cycling only resumed as the lockdown took effect, as the weather improved drastically when it started, light winds and sunshine, even though the winds seem to have been from the ENE but! keeping it cool to run and cycle, and even better it gives a tailwind home over Tealham moor.

My training for the Grizzly went well, building on my 1000 mileage from 2019. I started my preparation on December 22nd with a 6 mile run on the Quantocks, round Smiths Combe, if I remember it was a damp outing, especially under foot! which was to be a common Factor over the next few months! I had planned roughly 10 outings in the hills leading up to the even, at least one of those on the Quantocks and a reasoneable distance, not worrying about pace as the isaed was to get round the 20 mile 3000ft ascent of the Grizzly.
I did various runs out on Crook Peak, round Cheddar Gorge, up the Strawberry line for a half marathon distance, which I felt a long way on that day!!. I had two nasty bouts of a heavy cold, which got in the way of training taking some time to recover. we were also hit with three storms which caused disruption to training plans, Storm Ciara, Storm George and Storm Jorge, I was lucky that four other Harriers were also entered for the event, so we managed several training runs together, but! they were much younger and faster than me, but the training we did together worked well as I had a good knowledge of the Quantocks. I also had to order newshoes at short ntice as I noticed my Fell raisers looking decidedly worse for wear! I ordered some Speed Cross 4, which were wonderful on several training rns , but a week before the event after only 68 miles that had a hole in the uppers, so I returned them for a refund and bought a pair of ACICS Trabucos, I wore my Fellraisers for the event.

The day of the event arrived after weeks of very poor wet and windy weather, I drove down to Seaton in the Campervan, very early to park on the seafront, which I was pleased worked well, arriving early, relaxing, having breakfast etc, before it started to rain ;-( which it continued to do as we lined up on the start line, as we were all dressed in waterproof coats, it then decided to stop, and the sun came out at the hooter sounded for the start. I was on my own very soon, not finding Rosie a local cycling friend I had agreed to run with, the Harriers all finding their own pace. I decided on a no rush race race to take iteasy as many came past me on the beach and back on the first hill, there was after all 20 miles to go!!! as we hit the first off road hill out of the caravan park it was clear this was setting the scene for what was to come, a very muddy, slippery, wet underfoot race. I met up with Rosie on Beer Head but after about 10 miles it was clear I wouldn't be able to keep up with her so let her run on and I continued at my pace. the tracks and paths were dreadful, trying to stay up right on the down hills and lacking traction on the up hills, I found myself walking more and more. By the time I got back to the Branscombe beach section before the stairway to heaven I was exhausted, showers continued throughout, with a particular nasty one hitting as I ran the beach, fortunately it was behind me. I struggled on till the finish the final hills seeming to go on forever, I had food, energy drink etc but it made no difference,I was exhausted, the weather, ground conditions etc had taken their toll, even though I felt very prepared for the event. I was glad to see the finish, and pleased to cross the finish line approximately an hour behind last years time 19.5 miles, 3132 feet of climbing in 5hrs 29 mins 1208th out of 1465. I was very disappointed with how it went, but it was the worst conditions I have known and many others said the same. doing it again next year!! I said no way on the day,but! time is a great healer and it would be nice to make it my last one and run it three weeks after my 70th birthday!! the rest of the Harriers did well coming in considerably earlier than me, all having good times and all seemingly to have enjoyed it despite the rubbish weather!! Rosie and her bloke finished well nearly an hour ahead of me, not one of my best performances, I am just glad I did the preparation and avoided a DNF .

After a few days rest, I entered the Big Cheese a hilly 15mile off road event in Cheddar  and the Round the Tor 10k road run. so set about training for these, but alas! it was not to be with all events cancelled because of the virus. we are in lockdown so only allowed out locally. I am doing well, especially in April, with several 9- 10 mile runs a week along with 30 mile cycle rides on very quiet roads. But I do miss the company of others.

No one knows how long we are stuck with this as the country has basically shut. Lets hope it sorts itself out before the end of the summer so we can enjoy it with friends and family. we had planned to take the van to the Peak District tomorrow for the week, but everywhere is shut, I was looking forward to using the van again as well as some hill walking and running.

I think that's caught up for the time being, the weather since lockdown has been fabulous leaving no excuses not to go out running or cycling, I have been either cycling or running everyday in April as part of a local 1 mile a day challenge. I am well on my way with my 1000 mile challenge with 499 miles run before the end of April, so pleased with that !!!!according to Strava I am well over a 1000 miles run in the last 12 months around 1200 miles.
I hope I am able to keep up the blog, I noticed in 201 I blogged 69 times! sorry about photos but they are on my ipad and I tend to do this on my laptop, its a lot of fuss to download them across, but they are mostly on my Strava account or my Face Book page for those interested.
that's all for now.

Long time no see! Again!!

13 January 2020

Its been a long time since I last posted on here, 25th August 2019 !! no excuses other than laziness, given the weather today is dreadful I thought it a good time to catch up, list my events from last year and look back, as well as planning this coming year. Storm Brendan is about to arrive and given its only 3:30 in the afternoon its already very grey and the wind is picking up. I just hope its not a very high tide today!!!
My current plan is to run the full Grizzly on March the 8th so desperately trying to get miles and hills in to prepare, I am managing a few hills but sadly not the miles! I did manage 9.5 miles last Friday but struggled, and that was around Burnham on Sea which is very flat!!! I have had two rounds of the lurgy since the beginning of December the last one hitting on Christmas day and is still in the back ground with some coughing and a very snotty nose :-( I think I am still not fully recovered and finding it hard to run any distance, I did manage a cycle ride across the levels last week, only 26 miles the first ride in over a month, I was very tired at the end taking a day to recover. I did do Crook Peak on Sunday 7 miles and 1000feet of climbing, but, I walked the ups and ran the downs, I think it was the slowest I have ever run it, weather was reasonable, bit windy going out but a tail wind back.
I am planning to run on Wednesday on the Quantocks with the running club, but unsure I will keep up with them, I maybe a little slow, I just hope by persevering I will overcome the fatigue I feel at the moment after each run, I must try to be positive, but it is hard. Its seemed a longdark damp and windy winter, not many frosty dry windless days [ in fact I don't think we have had any]
My plan for the next 8 weeks is to
Monday rest
Tuesday : Yoga in the morning [starting tomorrow] running club in the evening,run there and back as well 8 miles some tempo on club run
Wednesday : hills run 10 -12 miles or 40 mile cycle ride 
Thursday : short run and running fitness in the evening
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Park run 7miles including there and back or other runs
Sunday : longer run 12-15 miles 'social run with club'

I hope as the event approaches I will be able to up the mileage to a maximum of about 16 miles [Grizzly is 19 miles with 2600 ft] and try to get up to 2000 ft and 4+ hours on my feet.
I will have a dress rehearsal two weeks before of about 12 miles on some of the route, as I no longer live near there its more difficult with an hours worth of travel each way.

I hope by updating the blog more regularly it might inspire me and help me be more positive about preparing, especially as I am struggling at the moment.

I am not planning to enter any events before the Grizzly.

looking back to last year
I ran 1056 miles meeting my target of 1000 miles in the year and achieving my 'Trail Running Magazine' goal of 1000 miles run in the year, really pleased with this as I have never run this far before. I now need to try to repeat it this year. BUT! it was at the expense of cycling miles where I only cycled 2210 miles 
my events for last year were 

Achieving 1000 miles running
the Grizzly Cub run 9 miles
Herepath half 13.1 miles
Glastonbury 10 k
Portishead coastal 10 k
Minehead Stumble 10 k - won my age category!
Quantock Beast 10 k
welsh 10 k won my age category again! 
Wambrook Waddle 10 k
Paulett Plod 10k
Buckland Bolt 10k tail runner
Christmas Cracker 10 k Weston Super Mare
Christmas charity run BOS 10k 
Charity Sportive 100k in Gloucester with Tim
Numerous Park runs at BOS

I enjoyed all the events winning my age category[over 65]  twice this year, as well as running Park Runs I have volunteered on a number of occasion.

Last year I was on the verge of giving up on the local running club, but stayed with it and now try to run at least once a week with them as well as donning the Harriers tee on the races. I have also become a run Leader and will do my training on February 1st I hope. I do lead or trail the evening runs at the moment.

As far as Van usage, and fell walking, this hasn't happened, sadly I have neglected the van with only a few outs to tick over, I hope 2020 will bring more trips away as we are now more settled in our new home. we no longer need to 'camp' when visiting grandchildren as they are only an hour away now, so up and back in a day is no problem, unless!! there is another accident on the M5, which seems a regular occurrence from Bristol down to junction 22.
I have not managed a single outing to real mountains the Lakes or Wales for the last 2 years, so feeling a little sad each time I see pictures of those areas, must try harder to get away, especially being retired!!!!

I think this has brought me back up to date, not a lot of detail, but hopefully I can try harder to complete the blog weekly leading up to the Grizzly. looking back to my early Blog posts was really helpful. I have given up my computer spread sheets and rely on Strava to record my outings along with a handwritten diary which I started just before Christmas..

Second good run

Sunday 25 th  August 2019
I seem to have messed up my last post before finishing it so adding a further post!
Today was a ‘social’ run with the running club. Many of the club were racing today and those that weren’t were looking for miles to run in preparation for half marathons later next month.
We agreed to do 12 miles along the Strawberry line cycle track near Axbridge, a victim of the Beeching cuts, the  derelict railway line is a lovely cycle/walking route.
Six of us met on a beautiful if somewhat hot morning and ran steadily heading for a six mile out and six mile back run all was going well, steady running in the shade of trees until about 5 miles , it suddenly got very hot with no shade , when one of the group suddenly felt unwell. After a few minutes rest, drink and jelly babies she felt much better, but we all agreed to turn now and run back to the cars. It was a lovely run, quite busy with other runners, cyclists and walkers. Countryside views all around, a lovely running route. By the time we finished we had covered 11 miles at a steady pace, no more incidents ! It was now very hot  🥵
A lovely morning outand more miles to add towards my 1000 mile challenge. I am currently near 700 with 4 months to go !!
I also had a good cycle ride this week, starting from Langport meeting two old friends, heading over to Maunsel Lock, via Athelny Creech etc, beans on toast gave me the energy to return via Rock hill, very steep!! And Kingsbury Episcopi, where we had nice cold drinks, sat in the sunshine. 42 miles covered, yet another great morning ride.

Two good runs

Sunday 25th August 2019

Well what a turn round with the weather!! It’s been a scorching hot  bank holiday so far, following on from a fabulous week of sunshine, very little wind ( for a change). A couple of nice runs this week and a lovely cycle ride with two old friends from Axminster.
Having entered the Herepath Half marathon event at the end of October, I decided it was time to try to build up the miles, so not to be a shock on the day !! So after a great run up and back from Brent Knoll where I ran all the way to the top all 139 metres! Given we only live 9 metres above sea level that’s a good 130 metres and a 10 km round trip, mainly off road, which living in Burnham-on-Sea is as good as it gets .
I decided to follow this with an outing to the Quantocks, given the weather was set to be good for the week, I was lucky in that I picked a day before the really hot weather began.
I was on my own and after negotiating the traffic heading for Hinckley point power station, parked up in Holborn village car park, still very early at 7:15 am, I was the only car in the car park.
I geared up with my Montane Gecko Running sac, spare long sleeve vest, windproof( no rain forecast ) buff, gloves, plastic bivvy bag , two bottles of drink, one a nice Montane squishy bottle and several ‘naked bars ‘ pea nut flavoured, these are my bar of choice at the moment with 149 calories and 15 grams of carbs! I did have a map, but don’t really need on the Qs’ folding glasses and my iPhone ( for photos) I haven’t carried a sac for a few weeks so it did feel a little heavy, however the clever Gecko sac makes it all very comfortable.
I had three quarter tights and my new ‘Raidlight’ running vest, which has pockets! And as I discovered a great material in hot weather, very pleased with this vest! I was using my fell raiser shoes as I was looking for a good 12 miles today over rough ground.
I set off walking up Hodders Combe, a nice introduction to the run, crossing the stream before ascending a steep climb to the ridge of Longstone hill leading to Bicknoller Post, there were spectacular views around, the sun was just appearing from behind cloud, but the cool of the morning meant it wasn’t too hot. Great views down over Minehead, before I pressed on to Halsway Post and Crowcombe Park gate on the main ridge. Crossing the road I ran along the drove, which in the morning air was wonderful, I hadn’t seen a soul yet, even though I had done an hours worth of running. I felt comfortable, keeping my pace down, the focus on ‘comfortable running’ keeping my heart rate down also. When I reached Triscombe, decision time whether to go for Wills Neck! I decided as it was getting hotter and I would cover twelve ish miles anyway missing WN would not be missed .
I turned to run along a path next to the road, a well used MTB track down toward the turn for Quantock Farm. This was a nice bit of single track running!
I entered the plantation and took a track off left down to Quantock Combe which would eventually bring me down to Great wood.this is where the long climb back out of the Combe begins, on good forestry tracks. I turned off to a steeper path at the bottom of Rams Combe, that would finally take me to Deadwomans Ditch. I walked a lot, and only ran if it was ‘easy’ emerging at DWD road and a short snack stop. Here I saw the first people of the day after about 8 miles of running. I then headed towards Dowsborough fort before peeling off to descend Lady’s Combe and the lovely Halfords Combe with its many stream crossings etc

Towards Brent Knoll

View over minehead

Dowsborough fort 

I really enjoyed the run down the Combe, and soon Arrived back in Holford and the car. 12 miles done, really pleased, I felt good and could have done more. A great morning out😀

Long time no post!

Tuesday 13th  August 2019

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted on here, I was determined to make it more regular!
In brief, think since my last post I have run 3 off road events, cycled  100k sportive, doing Parkrun most weeks, volunteering once a month, lost a dear little cat to an’elderly male driver’ very sad as she was only a year old ☹️
I have entered the Herepath Half event in October so need to up my miles for that, also the Portishead coast run 10k in September which I did last year, the Herepath will need some hill training, there is a distinct lack living on the flat Somerset coast! So it means driving 20 mins up the road to the Mendips. I have settled into the local running club, attending their evening runs every week , racing in their colours and meeting up like last Sunday for a 10mile run along the strawberry line an ex railway line a victim of the Beeching cuts 😡
We are in the middle of holidaymakers and horrendous traffic on the M5 so going places is difficult, so still no campervan activity☹️
Not doing too badly in races, still pleased with my 53 minute 10k, my Parkrun is 25:21 so would like to get under 25 mins this year. Not entered any road races since Glastonbury. Wambrook Waddle, Quantock Beast and Paulette plod were all 10 k events I came about half way down the field, sadly no age winning!! Very different races, Wambrook and Quantocks were very big hills whilst Pawlett was local and very flat along the river, I did 57 mins for that! I was also the sweeper for a 10 k event at Buckland St Mary, really enjoyed that, very hard course, but enjoyed being last and chatting to marshals etc, it was helping out my friend Rachel who was raising  funds for the school.
The Sportive was round the Forest of Dean, in aid of a charity called ‘Pied Piper’ 100k which I rode  with my youngest son, even though he hadn’t done a lot he went very well and we had a good bike ride with lovely views. And a good children’s cause.
Saturday 17 th August
Today trying to make up for yesterday when we had a very wet day, and I didn’t get out, I could have, but.......... so today I marshalled at the local park run, 427 runners this week, so a good start to the day. After lunch I ran across and up Brent Knoll, which is our nearest hill, mostly off road down a bridle way,before hitting the hill. I am still trying to run to heart rate, keeping it well down to about 125-130  which makes me less tired and ensures I have something left at the end, I am planning to apply to park Run next week to see how I get on. My maximum was around 160 bpm which is lower than when I raced and my average was133 bpm , only going up on the climb. I was also pleased as I ran all the way to the top!! I stayed most of the time in level 4 except the climb when it went up to level 5/6 !!
I hope all this will enable me finish races better as I always struggle, I also need to build up miles for my Herepath half in October.
I am planning a Quantocks 13 miler this week which should be a good test for my heart rate running as I will apply it this as well.
Perhaps I will post quicker next time! Cycling I have done little as I am suffering saddle sores, and the weather has been making miles difficult, only 25 miles in the last two weeks.