Thursday, February 10, 2011
A Better Week!
I have not had too bad a week training wise! Last Friday my friend invited me round for takeway pizza, so I told myself that I could only go provided I put in a tough workout at the gym first (quite handy as the gym is on the way to my friends!)
I ran for 30 minutes, pushing the speed a little, then did 35 minutes on the elliptical, at quite high power levels. My fitness is not what it once was- the highest speed I managed on the treadmill was a singularly unimpressive 6mph and I found that tough!
Saturday was a marathon wedding shopping session. We did manage to get the bridesmaids dresses ordered, and Katie's shoes sorted, and I must have burnt a few calories trudging round Leicester for several hours (although we did stop for an essential cherry scone so maybe not...)
Sunday I decided to do a long walk in preparation for the Belvoir Challenge, so chose a route I'd done once before, ages ago, a 17 miler which starts at Burton Joyce, follows the Trent to Hazleford Ferry and the crosses fields and bridleways to Lambley and back to Burton Joyce.
Rather amazingly for me, I was up and walking by 9am, and I had the river path to myself when I set off. I got the camera out to take some pics for the blog and discovered that once again my batteries had failed- why do I never get any warning? So I have dug out some old pics just to brighten things up and give you all some idea.
I started off jogging, and managed to maintain it until Gunthorpe which I was quite pleased with as it was my first long outing for ages.
The River Trent Past Gunthorpe
It is usually quite busy at Gunthorpe, but I only saw one man with his young son, probably as it was still quite early and cloudy. I had a flask of coffee with me and decided that when I reached Hoveringham I'd take a little break.
I mostly ran the next few miles, with a little walking, until Hoveringham, where the river path follows the road for a little while before regaining the river as the road bends away to the left. I sat on a handy stone and had my cuppa- which was very welcome! Once I stopped I realised that it wasn't actually that warm. I set off, joined by a few dog walkers, and detoured slightly to inspect a new 'Lancaster' memorial which had been placed as a memorial to two planes that had crashed near to that spot during the second World War, only days apart, sadly killing all the crew who were only in their teens and 20's.
I managed to keep up my combination of running and walking a little (ok, less of a run and more of a shambling jog!) and by the time I reached Hazleford Ferry I had done 7 miles. The next part of the route followed a footpath from Bleasby village to Thurgarton- easy to follow luckily and taken mostly at a jog. Thurgarton is on the main road to Southwell and when I did this walk before I had problems finding the bridleway, but remembered where it was this time.
This was when the walk began to get a little soul destroying- the bridleway was quite muddy and fairly tough going. It zig-zagged its way up a hill and climbed for quite a while before a long drag to distant Souther Woods. Running was not an option so I fortified myself with a Snickers I'd found in the back of the cupboard and a cuppa when I reached the wood.
This part of the route had been confusing when I last did it, but I had the advantage of knowing where I was going this time. I passed a horse and rider- the horse leapt two feet into the air when it saw me- I didn't realise I looked quite so bad!
After this there was a downhill road stretch into Epperstone, which I managed to jog. Epperstone seems to be a pretty village.
Epperstone Dove Cote
A negotiation of fields and a busy road crossing brought me to Woodborough, I was feeling quite tired when I reached the bridleway, which, of course, was all uphill. I met a couple of friendly ladies on horses, who soon left me behind.
I was feeling quite tired now, and it seemed to be an endless uphill trudge. Finally I reached the outskirts of Lambley, passing a grass airstrip, windsock and one plane sitting beside an outbuilding- smallest airport I have ever seen- smaller even than the one at Coventry!
I reached a narrow fenced path skirting Lambley, a bit too narrow for comfort actually as I was almost touching the electric fence and had to walk leaning to the right! Following this was a lovely downhill path by a mysterious mound to the Nature Reserve at the bottom, where I sat on a bench and had my final cuppa.
The last part of the route, the bridleway back to Burton Joyce, goes very steeply uphill before dropping down into the village. I surprised myself by being able to run- although it was downhill!
Overall I felt quite strong and ran a lot more than I thought I would.
I ran another 3 miles on Tuesday and did intend to go out again last night but, erm, didn't... so I am off to the gym in a bit.
I am off work tomorrow so am walking with a colleague who wants to show me the cliff path in Radcliffe-on-Trent. It will make a nice change having someone to walk with, and as I am meeting her in Radcliffe I will walk there and back.
The Belvoir Challenge is just over three weeks away...
I ran for 30 minutes, pushing the speed a little, then did 35 minutes on the elliptical, at quite high power levels. My fitness is not what it once was- the highest speed I managed on the treadmill was a singularly unimpressive 6mph and I found that tough!
Saturday was a marathon wedding shopping session. We did manage to get the bridesmaids dresses ordered, and Katie's shoes sorted, and I must have burnt a few calories trudging round Leicester for several hours (although we did stop for an essential cherry scone so maybe not...)
Sunday I decided to do a long walk in preparation for the Belvoir Challenge, so chose a route I'd done once before, ages ago, a 17 miler which starts at Burton Joyce, follows the Trent to Hazleford Ferry and the crosses fields and bridleways to Lambley and back to Burton Joyce.
Rather amazingly for me, I was up and walking by 9am, and I had the river path to myself when I set off. I got the camera out to take some pics for the blog and discovered that once again my batteries had failed- why do I never get any warning? So I have dug out some old pics just to brighten things up and give you all some idea.
I started off jogging, and managed to maintain it until Gunthorpe which I was quite pleased with as it was my first long outing for ages.
It is usually quite busy at Gunthorpe, but I only saw one man with his young son, probably as it was still quite early and cloudy. I had a flask of coffee with me and decided that when I reached Hoveringham I'd take a little break.
I mostly ran the next few miles, with a little walking, until Hoveringham, where the river path follows the road for a little while before regaining the river as the road bends away to the left. I sat on a handy stone and had my cuppa- which was very welcome! Once I stopped I realised that it wasn't actually that warm. I set off, joined by a few dog walkers, and detoured slightly to inspect a new 'Lancaster' memorial which had been placed as a memorial to two planes that had crashed near to that spot during the second World War, only days apart, sadly killing all the crew who were only in their teens and 20's.
I managed to keep up my combination of running and walking a little (ok, less of a run and more of a shambling jog!) and by the time I reached Hazleford Ferry I had done 7 miles. The next part of the route followed a footpath from Bleasby village to Thurgarton- easy to follow luckily and taken mostly at a jog. Thurgarton is on the main road to Southwell and when I did this walk before I had problems finding the bridleway, but remembered where it was this time.
This was when the walk began to get a little soul destroying- the bridleway was quite muddy and fairly tough going. It zig-zagged its way up a hill and climbed for quite a while before a long drag to distant Souther Woods. Running was not an option so I fortified myself with a Snickers I'd found in the back of the cupboard and a cuppa when I reached the wood.
This part of the route had been confusing when I last did it, but I had the advantage of knowing where I was going this time. I passed a horse and rider- the horse leapt two feet into the air when it saw me- I didn't realise I looked quite so bad!
After this there was a downhill road stretch into Epperstone, which I managed to jog. Epperstone seems to be a pretty village.
A negotiation of fields and a busy road crossing brought me to Woodborough, I was feeling quite tired when I reached the bridleway, which, of course, was all uphill. I met a couple of friendly ladies on horses, who soon left me behind.
I was feeling quite tired now, and it seemed to be an endless uphill trudge. Finally I reached the outskirts of Lambley, passing a grass airstrip, windsock and one plane sitting beside an outbuilding- smallest airport I have ever seen- smaller even than the one at Coventry!
I reached a narrow fenced path skirting Lambley, a bit too narrow for comfort actually as I was almost touching the electric fence and had to walk leaning to the right! Following this was a lovely downhill path by a mysterious mound to the Nature Reserve at the bottom, where I sat on a bench and had my final cuppa.
The last part of the route, the bridleway back to Burton Joyce, goes very steeply uphill before dropping down into the village. I surprised myself by being able to run- although it was downhill!
Overall I felt quite strong and ran a lot more than I thought I would.
I ran another 3 miles on Tuesday and did intend to go out again last night but, erm, didn't... so I am off to the gym in a bit.
I am off work tomorrow so am walking with a colleague who wants to show me the cliff path in Radcliffe-on-Trent. It will make a nice change having someone to walk with, and as I am meeting her in Radcliffe I will walk there and back.
The Belvoir Challenge is just over three weeks away...
Labels: Belvoir Challenge, Burton Joyce, Epperstone
