In the snow Inov8's (Mudrocs) leave e'm for dead. So the cold weather stays with us. managed to get out once again into the snowy hills. It was late yesterday afternoon/early evening so I was able to enjoy fairly well compacted snow for the most part due to the days back-packers footfall. I wasn't feeling a million dollars after drinking a robust bottle of red the evening before. Along with stepping up the miles and the dieting I think I've allowed a little 'buggy' thing to creep in. Bit of a sore throat this morning. On the hill yesterday I came in contact with one or two mountain bikers who were 'skiing' on their bikes. Two passed me descending while I was ascending, they were slower coming down than I was running up! Later on the descending side of the hill I caught and passed another MTB'er! In fact, he even held open a gate for me (which robbed me of a little breather!) nice chap! My inov8's handled the under foot conditions admirably, giving grip even on some of the steeper compacted down-slopes. There was no snow clogging the tread either. Very pleased with them as all round off-road running shoe. Dot (my little Jack Russel) only has six inches of leg and no running shoes, which means for most of the 11 mile route her exposed belly trailed along the frozen snow, along with the wind chill she was feeling the cold a bit - especially on the exposed tops. When I slowed my pace for gates etc she was very keen to get me running again - there was no stopping today as far as she was concerned! Once again it was a perfect little training run in the snowy hills topped off with a taste of rough weather. The log burner was my friend for the evening - when little Dot would let me get near of course.
4 comments:
soft lad. bet dot hasn't got a sore throat eh!
No but she has sore undercarriage!
Thanks for your comment Steve. I was wondering how you do an "easy" 11 mile run. Anyway, bicycling hasn't helped me run. For some reason that still isn't clear to me, my wife signed me up for a 5 K run last fall. I finished second to last. I had to sprint the last 100 meters like Ben Johnson to avoid coming in dead last.
Neil
Hi Neil, Running's like anything else - you start with a few strides and build up. In my case 3 miles at the beginning of my first year and the Snowdon marathon at the end of that same year. I was dogged by injury due to over-pronation that year, however like you I'm a soldier and battled on to overcome the problem.
There is also a school of thought that cycling's no good for running and vice - versa. Unless you're a tri-athlete of course! 11 miles is a short run when you've done 26.2 - the way I like to look at it is 'Time on your feet' just like 'Time in the saddle?'
For the Ultra i have planned 33 hill miles, I'm looking at a minimum of 7-8 hrs on my feet!
Post a Comment