What's in the Bag? (Week 3 - 28 to go)

The week didn't get off to the best start as I felt like I had weights attached to my arms and legs and was totally drained of energy;  so much so that I spent Saturday afternoon asleep on the sofa.  However one of my Canicross friends was across on the island on Sunday so I made the effort to get moving and get a short run in. 

One of last weeks runs - so windy it kept blowing the camera over. But good shot of my running partner.

Tuesday was coaching day, why are intervals so bloody hard – even on the flat!  We also added a few squats and various other techniques such as deceleration into the session (not sure I go fast enough to require deceleration, but I live in hope).

Mentally I planned to have Thursday as my long run day, and I’d been psyching myself up to tackle Goatfell all week.  The forecast was good (although I had decided anything other than snow was not going to stop me) and despite heavy rain in the morning I packed my bag ready for the afternoons run/walk.  The plan for this ‘long’ session was to walk up Goatfell and run/walk back down. 

Now, usually when I set off up a mountain I wear full hiking kit  and carry a rucksack with just about everything I could possibly need.  Most of my walking is done solo (except for the dog) so I’m careful to make sure I have plenty of kit in case of emergencies – mine or someone else’s.  So stripping back to reduce weight for a run up a mountain is like removing my comfort blanket.

Contents of my running rucksack

So what do I have in my bag?  Well the bag for a start is a small body hugging one designed for mountain biking, its snug and doesn't slip about so that’s the one I'm using.  The first thing in is water, using a bladder system for easy access.  Then in goes what I consider to be the essentials.  One thing about running on Arran, especially out of the tourist season is that you can walk all day on popular routes and not see anyone, so first in is my survival bag.  No point having a fall sustaining non-fatal injuries and then dying from hypothermia. Then comes some tape and a bandage, useful for  injuries and clothing or shoe failures; and of course my Epipen (allergies are something I live with).  I also take my mobile phone which is registered for 999 texting if the signal is poor. 

After the major essentials come the secondary items.  A couple of chemical hand warmers and a hat and gloves. Concentration goes if you’re cold and trips become more likely – not a major problem for road runners, but out on the rough trails the rocks abound. Then as the nights are drawing in I carry a head torch if I set off after lunch and a backup torch (that just happens to flash SOS if needed).

And then there’s the non-essentials, food for me, food for the dog (and some poo bags) and of course my compact camera – although I could use my phone I tend to leave that safely in its padded pocked where it’s nice and dry if I do need it.

Top of Goatfell

So how did Goatfell go?  Well it went from OMG to WTF was I thinking, back to omg, omg, omg as I struggled over the rocks on the way down, and finally to Yeah!!! as I got back to my start point.  Now I’ve just got to learn how to run the up bits.  Thank goodness I have a few months to go.

Weeks activity 24^{th –}  30^th October:

Saturday – No training (felt rough all day)

Sunday –  Short run still feeling a bit off so slow 5.87km /141mtr height gain.

Monday – No training

Tuesday – Coaching session / intervals on the flat

Wednesday –No training

Thursday – Goatfell (not race route) walk up, run/walk down 11.3 km/height gain 842m

Friday -  Recovery run 30 minutes very very slow.

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)

The Training Plan (Week 2 - 29 to go)

Now the biggest problem with the challenge is actually doing the training and sticking to some sort of plan.  It sounds so easy from the comfort of my armchair and wasn't too bad last week in the dry sunny weather.  But today the wind is howling and rain lashing and the little devil in my brain is coming up with all sorts of excuses of why I can put off today's run!

Last week in the dry sunny weather up on a forest trail with  Goatfell in the background  

I know 30 weeks will fly by, and I must resist the urge to do too much when I'm still in the early stages. So my plan is fairly simple.  Up to Christmas I aim to do 4 training sessions a week - not a lot but double what I have been doing.  The difficult bit is fitting it around all my other commitments but by not biting off too much I hope to build slowly. And it doesn't mean I'm sedentary for the rest of the time - I'm quite active and have 2 dogs to walk.

The 4 sessions will be varied, running, biking and hill walking.  The running will be a mixture of fast (that's fast for me), long, including hills and coaching sessions.  I may not run all of the session (if my lungs give up going up hill) but I will try. I hope to increase my distance to 15km by Christmas - not every run of course, but to at least have done this distance a couple of times or more.

Me and my bike

The biking is off road on my mountain bike.  I find this really good for core muscles, balance and concentration going downhill over technical bits - not to mention pushing hard on the ups.  The bike also reduces the impact on my knees and calves (something I'll talk about in another blog). I have even bought some lights for my helmet (I figure if I end up in a ditch I'd rather be lit than my bike).

And hill walking.  I've climbed many a mountain and know from experience the only way to get mountain fit is to climb mountains.  Being realistic some of the up on Goatfell is not going to be runable (for me anyway), so improving my mountain fitness will help.

I don't have fixed days for training as my work hours vary each week and I may shake it up a bit if needed.  But that's the plan so far.

So how'd it go this week?

17^th – 23^rd October:

Saturday – Mountain Bike ride, hilly, out for 50 minutes - tested the new lights, OMG it's hard riding technical bits in the dark!

Sunday – Trail run, planned short run, out and back 5.17km, height gain 146m (not feeling great as I was out partying last night).

Monday – No training

Tuesday – Hill coaching session with the running club, 4km.

Wednesday – No training

Thursday – Trail run, hilly. 8.09 km, height gain 242m. Very windy but at least the rain stopped.

Friday -  No training

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)

The challenge is on (Week 1 - 30 to go)

Ok it’s a silly idea but it’s been buzzing around my head for a couple of years and let’s be honest, I’m not getting any younger and the hills not getting lower!  And then I said it out loud – sounded even more ridiculous and before I knew it the challenge is now a reality.

Rory and me on top of Longridge Fell

When I first mentioned it to my son, his response was not quite what I expected – oh I fully expected support and encouragement, but he has decided to do it to.  No we won’t run together, he’s young, male and a dam sight faster than me, but we did go up Longridge fell when I visited him last week.  I was having one of those days when I felt like I was running through treacle and he was quite patient waiting for me to catch up. 

The second person I mentioned it to was my running coach, Laura.  Now that sounds like I’m some sort of athlete – let me dispel that myth straight away. A couple of years ago I joined a beginners running group on the Island (Jog Scotland).  We walked more than ran with an aim of running for 15 minutes after 10 weeks of training – and I had to work really hard to achieve this – but I persevered and kept going.  Laura has been a great source of encouragement, especially after I suffered a bad injury after falling a massive 4” off a curb, which put me out of action for over 6 months. Laura’s reaction when I mentioned the challenge was simple ‘you can do that’ she said.

I’ve never run more than 10km and although I love climbing the mountains, running uphill is proving more difficult than plaiting fog.

So this middle aged, slowest of slow, non-athletic woman with a few health issues, is going to do her best to fulfil the challenge.  My aims are simple, train without injury and finish the race without breaking anything (I use the term ‘race’ very loosely).

The blog is part of my motivation techniques, i.e  I have to train to be able to blog something. 

Weeks activity 10th - 16th October:

Saturday – No training

Sunday – Trail run with running group – hilly 8.04km, height gain 289m

Monday – No training

Tuesday – Mountain bike ride – 50 minutes hilly

Wednesday – Short Bike ride – flat 30 minutes (not part of the plan!)

Thursday – Trail run – hilly 9.65km, height gain 173m

Friday - No training 

(Goatfell Race 15.5km / 870m)