...And a Partridge in a Jack Russell?

Well I'm kind of back on track after letting other things get in the way of my running. Have put in a couple of 12 miler hill training runs and had a really enjoyable little'un up Shining Tor with my old mate 'Collie' Dave. Spooky warm wind all the way on that one, somehow it felt 'oxygen rich' as I seemed to have energy to spare that evening. Anyway back to the 12 milers, nothing that interesting about them except the results of a little 'experiment' and a strange encounter with a tame or stupid Red Legged Partridge. The experiment was a simple trial between running the extreme steep sections of my training run vs walking them. I conducted this against the clock and found no difference in the finishing times. This is changing my 'Me-man!' attitude to hill running a little. I'm sure my fitness must benefit from the sheer aerobic graft needed to run the steep sections yet on the other hand maybe I'm running the less steep sections and down hill bits faster? What is for sure is that when I've dropped of the training mileage the run walk method is far less taxing over the same distance and time. I'm going to employ this practice on the run up to my planned 33 miler in July, and most likely throughout the run itself. To counter balance this I'm picking up the track training again this Thursday (Ouch! it's going to hurt) The Red Legged Partridge? Reaching the summit of Moel Famau during one of the above mentioned training runs, I practically stepped on a Red Legged Partridge which was happily pecking amongst the shale. Being aware that Dot my little Jack Russell was hot on my heels I feared for the bird's safety, and what's more it wasn't in the mood for flying! it happily led Dot on a game of 'Catch me if you can' before I brought her to heel. One thing for sure is that if I hadn't she would have caught and killed it. My guess is that the walkers feed the thing and have tamed it. that'll probably mean the end of it then. Looking to extend training distance this weekend, so need to start planning a route and looking forward to it.

Run of bad Karma

Apologies for no post. It is with irony that I read my last post which is titled 'Holiday Time'. The injury recovered quickly. This wasn't why I haven't posted. I put a few 'tick-over' runs in just after the niggle to the knee, then my work commitments went hay-wire. I had a lot of traveling to do in three days on a TV shoot - which meant living out of a suitcase kind of thing - this also meant a crap diet and bad sleep. Then I had to spend 3 weeks (inc weekends) of long stressful hours sitting in a dark room, film editing on a particularly difficult job. This was no good for my running or my running state of mind. At the end of a 12 -15hr day, I have to admit I was more interested in cold beer rather than running. I found the upset to my normal life and running routine hard to adapt to. Laziness and lack of interest in running set in. I don't want to make this sound like a moan, it is not often work gets in the way to that degree, so no complaints - got to make a living. We just had the Easter holiday and I was due a couple of extra days off to boot, I used them to ease back into the running mood - even taking on a 11 mile beefy hill route which I managed in my average time for that route. It hurt a little more than normal though! Still not eager mentally, I'm sure that'll come. Having joined a running club this year and benefiting from regular track sessions, I really noticed the difference when trying to maintain the same level of fitness with just getting in a few 'tick-over runs' I soon found out that it can't be done that way. So it's back to the track and some hill intervals as soon as!

PS - I just got a speeding ticket! - if only it could have been for running!