Sunday, November 16, 2008
A Seventeen (And A Bit!) Miler...
Had quite a good week training wise... Tuesday I went along to the fitness evening, which turned out to be a promotional event for the personal trainers. I opted for the Cardio fitness test, which involved stepping up and down for three minutes and then having my pulse taken... then he announced that I have 'average' cardio fitness! Average!?!?!?! I was gutted!! Ok, he did say that the test wasn't really accurate, but he seemed to expect me to be pleased with that! Average- bloody hell!! The one good point is that my upper body strength (measured in press ups) is 'good'.
I pushed myself on the treadmill, covering 5 miles in all- a combination of fast running, walking on incline and then 15 minutes jogging on incline. I went back to the gym Friday and pushed myself again, running fast for 35 minutes. I also tried out the stepper for 20 minutes and went on the ellipticals for 20, making sure I increased the resistance every few minutes. Huh... average...
The fixed weights seem to get quite busy; I love the bingo wing blaster!! Have been making sure I concentrate on the weights as well as the cardio. I feel I am at a bit of a crossroads with my training... general consensus is that it does little good to keep churning out long, slow runs along the pavement; it is better to do less mileage over more 'quality' sessions. I have also done a 6 mile fast walk this week, and the hilly run again, which was 5 miles, plus of course the 'speed' (and I use that term very loosely!) sessions on the treadmill.
As I hadn't done a long walk/ run for some time, and the Ultra I have entered in the Brecon Beacons is now only 3 weeks away, I decided to do a 17 miler today, starting in the next village- Burton Joyce. This was one out of my John Merrill 'Long Walks in Nottinghamshire' book. I didn't want to run it all, but was a bit concerned about running out of daylight, so thought I'd better get a bit of a shift on. Fortunately it was a lovely day, and I regretted not taking my camera- I still haven't got round to getting a new battery for the little camera though- how disorganised is that!
I loaded my pack to about 5 kg, parked up by the recreation ground and headed down to the river Trent. The first 7 miles are along the Trent, and it is quite scenic. It was a combination of easy grassy tracks and thin muddy paths until Gunthorpe Locks, where it became wide grassy banks. I ran most of the river path, well, more of a slowish jog if I'm being honest! At one point I had to pass close by some bulls; I was rather concerned, as they were huge beasties with wide raking horns, rings through their nose, the works!! Luckily they were totally disinterested and just kept a beady bovine eye on me as I shuffled past.
The instructions advised me to leave the river, finally, at the Hazelford Ferry Hotel, which is now an old folk's home. A bit of road walking brought me to the village of Bleasby, where I bought a fruit drink, and then I followed a footpath through fields and over a railway line to the village of Thurgarton. I got a little confused here as the book told me to turn left at the junction and turn right to the church and priory 20 yards later. I saw a road signed to the church opposite, so took it, but couldn't find the bridleway I was supposed to be looking for. I started to retrace my steps, and passed a lady who informed me it was a little further down the road.
The bridleway went uphill quite steeply, and was rather muddy. I nearly went wrong again, but saw people walking down the field and realised I should have taken a left turn. I followed a muddy track along the ridge to a wood, and stopped for my cheese and pickle sandwiches. I had been mainly walking along the bridleway as it was so muddy under foot. That didn't change! It was just after this that I got a bit confused again... I found the correct track to and then round a small coppice, and then reached a minor road, where the instructions told me to turn left to the village of Epperstone. It seemed to take ages to reach the village, and when I read the instructions again, they mentioned passing a farm and turning right. The farm had been across the road when I reached it- so, I retraced my steps, back to the bridleway, and went the other way- to discover that the road eventually reached a dead end in a farmyard! Cursing, I retraced my steps, and asked a rather nervous horse rider (must be the rucksack that scared her!) if I was on the road to Epperstone.
She assured me I was, so I retraced my steps- again- and jogged right down to the village. I was getting a bit concerned now that I may not be back before dark! I had a bit of to-ing and fro-ing in the first field out of Epperstone- there was a sign to say that this was a 'turf' field, and strips of turf had been sliced away, but the exit wasn't obvious. I finally managed to locate the stile and footbridge, and crossed the road to another footpath to Woodborough.
I was now on another muddy bridleway, which wound uphill quite steeply, past some old propellor planes standing in front of a small hangar, and into the village of Lambley. I followed a funny little path behind the houses, being forced disconcertingly close to an electric fence, before walking down a field, passing a mysterious mound right in the middle of it.
The last bit of the walk was along a bridleway from Lambley to Burton Joyce- there was another steep climb- I made myself run part of it, then the path gave way to a tarmac track, then road, running right down into Burton Joyce. I did it in 5 1/2 hours, was easily back before dark, and probably ended up doing more like 18 miles! The terrain wasn't particularly challenging, although there were a few steep climbs, but at least it's a long walk in the bank. I even managed to clean my filthy running shoes and clean up the resulting mess in the sink before my mate got home (it was a close call though!)
I am really going to have to sit down this week and revise/ devise a training plan for the rest of the time I have left until the MdS! Oh, and find some money so I can actually afford some equipment!!
I pushed myself on the treadmill, covering 5 miles in all- a combination of fast running, walking on incline and then 15 minutes jogging on incline. I went back to the gym Friday and pushed myself again, running fast for 35 minutes. I also tried out the stepper for 20 minutes and went on the ellipticals for 20, making sure I increased the resistance every few minutes. Huh... average...
The fixed weights seem to get quite busy; I love the bingo wing blaster!! Have been making sure I concentrate on the weights as well as the cardio. I feel I am at a bit of a crossroads with my training... general consensus is that it does little good to keep churning out long, slow runs along the pavement; it is better to do less mileage over more 'quality' sessions. I have also done a 6 mile fast walk this week, and the hilly run again, which was 5 miles, plus of course the 'speed' (and I use that term very loosely!) sessions on the treadmill.
As I hadn't done a long walk/ run for some time, and the Ultra I have entered in the Brecon Beacons is now only 3 weeks away, I decided to do a 17 miler today, starting in the next village- Burton Joyce. This was one out of my John Merrill 'Long Walks in Nottinghamshire' book. I didn't want to run it all, but was a bit concerned about running out of daylight, so thought I'd better get a bit of a shift on. Fortunately it was a lovely day, and I regretted not taking my camera- I still haven't got round to getting a new battery for the little camera though- how disorganised is that!
I loaded my pack to about 5 kg, parked up by the recreation ground and headed down to the river Trent. The first 7 miles are along the Trent, and it is quite scenic. It was a combination of easy grassy tracks and thin muddy paths until Gunthorpe Locks, where it became wide grassy banks. I ran most of the river path, well, more of a slowish jog if I'm being honest! At one point I had to pass close by some bulls; I was rather concerned, as they were huge beasties with wide raking horns, rings through their nose, the works!! Luckily they were totally disinterested and just kept a beady bovine eye on me as I shuffled past.
The instructions advised me to leave the river, finally, at the Hazelford Ferry Hotel, which is now an old folk's home. A bit of road walking brought me to the village of Bleasby, where I bought a fruit drink, and then I followed a footpath through fields and over a railway line to the village of Thurgarton. I got a little confused here as the book told me to turn left at the junction and turn right to the church and priory 20 yards later. I saw a road signed to the church opposite, so took it, but couldn't find the bridleway I was supposed to be looking for. I started to retrace my steps, and passed a lady who informed me it was a little further down the road.
The bridleway went uphill quite steeply, and was rather muddy. I nearly went wrong again, but saw people walking down the field and realised I should have taken a left turn. I followed a muddy track along the ridge to a wood, and stopped for my cheese and pickle sandwiches. I had been mainly walking along the bridleway as it was so muddy under foot. That didn't change! It was just after this that I got a bit confused again... I found the correct track to and then round a small coppice, and then reached a minor road, where the instructions told me to turn left to the village of Epperstone. It seemed to take ages to reach the village, and when I read the instructions again, they mentioned passing a farm and turning right. The farm had been across the road when I reached it- so, I retraced my steps, back to the bridleway, and went the other way- to discover that the road eventually reached a dead end in a farmyard! Cursing, I retraced my steps, and asked a rather nervous horse rider (must be the rucksack that scared her!) if I was on the road to Epperstone.
She assured me I was, so I retraced my steps- again- and jogged right down to the village. I was getting a bit concerned now that I may not be back before dark! I had a bit of to-ing and fro-ing in the first field out of Epperstone- there was a sign to say that this was a 'turf' field, and strips of turf had been sliced away, but the exit wasn't obvious. I finally managed to locate the stile and footbridge, and crossed the road to another footpath to Woodborough.
I was now on another muddy bridleway, which wound uphill quite steeply, past some old propellor planes standing in front of a small hangar, and into the village of Lambley. I followed a funny little path behind the houses, being forced disconcertingly close to an electric fence, before walking down a field, passing a mysterious mound right in the middle of it.
The last bit of the walk was along a bridleway from Lambley to Burton Joyce- there was another steep climb- I made myself run part of it, then the path gave way to a tarmac track, then road, running right down into Burton Joyce. I did it in 5 1/2 hours, was easily back before dark, and probably ended up doing more like 18 miles! The terrain wasn't particularly challenging, although there were a few steep climbs, but at least it's a long walk in the bank. I even managed to clean my filthy running shoes and clean up the resulting mess in the sink before my mate got home (it was a close call though!)
I am really going to have to sit down this week and revise/ devise a training plan for the rest of the time I have left until the MdS! Oh, and find some money so I can actually afford some equipment!!
Labels: gym, John Merrill, walk
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Lots of excellent reading here, many thanks! I had been looking on yahoo when I discovered your article, I’m going to add your feed to Google Reader, I look forward to much more from you.
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