Cracking week, Gromit

The basic plan for this week was to have a hard week of training, meaning six sessions. I wanted to have two lots of hill work to continue with the conditioning of my quads, a couple of tempo runs where I could turn up the gas and a couple of steady runs where I would concentrate on running style.

The week started well with the trip up Skiddaw on Monday (see previous post). I knew the session had served it's purpose as the following two days I had that slight tenderness in my quads indicating a good bashing had taken place.

On Tuesday we went over to the North East in the campervan for a few days, staying at Belford, half way between Alnwick and Berwick. I managed to squeeze in a couple of faster tempo sessions on trails that were not as hilly or technical as my usual routes. Despite the tight quads, it was great to up the pace a bit and equally nice to know I can still do it and enjoy running at pace again.

I took Thursday as my rest day and slotted my two steady runs in on Friday and Saturday. One of these, I used as a trial to see what my Garmin is like as a navigation tool, something I have never used it for. I plotted a route on the mapping software on my PC, uploaded it to the Garmin and followed the route dictated by the big arrow on the screen. It all seemed to work well and I have been thinking about how I might be able to use this in the Lakeland 100 as a safety net in the dark.

I have the whole route (well, will have after next Sunday) saved on the Memory Map software, split into four recce sections. I could load these onto the Garmin and just turn it on for the first part on the night section from Wasdale to Braithwaite and then put it back in the rucksack, saving the battery for any emergencies later in the day. Originally, I had not intended to wear the Garmin, just a normal sports watch, however, I might add the Garmin to my kit list with this safety plan in mind. What do you think?

Today, I wanted to get some more climbs and descents into my legs, so parked the car near Gatesgarth (Buttermere valley) and ran over Scarth Gap, into Ennerdale, past the YHA, up to Black Sail Pass, down to Wasdale and followed the same route back along the Lakeland 100 course.

Dropping into Ennerdale from Scarth Gap

It was a lot warmer today than I thought and I still feel dehydrated now as I sit and write this four hours later! I had a careful look at the technical descents on the Lakeland 100 route from Black Sail Pass and Scarth Gap, trying to get a mental picture of the terrain ready for the same tracks in the dark come race day. Another visit is planned for next week with John as part of our final recce together before the big race.

The descent from Scarth Gap to Buttermere

The plan is to follow this with a steadier week, probably only five sessions but finishing off with the long run with John next Sunday. I'm really pleased with the way I am feeling stronger and better able to cope with the training. I have things fairly well mapped out for the remaining seven weeks (aagghh!!) which will take me through the long recce run, the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon and the final three week taper. I feel we are into the business end of the season!