It wasn’t a difficult decision. I want to get back to a weekly speedwork session. Do I head over to the NHS car park and smash out fifteen hill sprints on the tarmac, on my own? Or do we pack up the van and head to Tideswell and bash round the White Peak for half an hour on beautiful trails with a hundred or so like-minded souls? I’ve always had a bee in my bonnet about Tideswell fell race yet never had the chance to get over and actually run it until the 2016 edition last week. It coincided … Continue reading
Training is finally back on track, and last week heralded my first ‘proper’ block of running since the middle of April. I felt sluggish, I felt bloated, but I nailed my three key sessions, ran every day and did a ton of strength work and mobility exercises so frankly I don’t care. I’m making progress! I’m running again! So much so, that on Saturday I went out and got lost. On purpose. I viewed it as a sort of reward, an opportunity to unplug and de-pressurise. I set myself three rules; 1. No GPS 2. No pace targets 3. No plan … Continue reading
Strength & Conditioning. It’s optional. But so is good form. And who’s opting for bad form….? What is Strength & Conditioning? It’s the fundamentals. It’s isolating the important elements that contribute to your overall performance and improving them step by step. Therefore reducing the likelihood of injury. The trouble is, that for every new effort, every increase to the demand placed upon something that was lagging – there’s increased fatigue. And that’s where I’m at. Week by week, I’m introduced to something somewhere that complains at me. Feet, Knees, Back, more Back, Hips, Glutes, Hamstrings and so on…. And … Continue reading
The alarm sounds shortly before 6am. I instinctively roll over and silence the racket with a swipe of my hand, signalling the start of the daily routine. A bright phone screen glares back at me, the alarm title ‘Scafell Pike Trail Marathon’ emblazoned proudly. Extra motivation to get me out of bed in the morning and on to the hills. This is the familiar. Across the room the cat stirs from her sleeping spot beneath my bedside table, sensing breakfast is only minutes away. I swing my legs out of bed and allow my senses time to adjust. I’ll … Continue reading
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