Wolf Spit

I have been counting down the weeks and days until my first fell race of the year. It was today, and I hoped I had got my training right in the final few days before the race. I went for a hard and hilly 8-miler on Thursday, followed by two gentle recovery runs on Friday and Saturday.

Wolf's Pit is 5.8 miles with 1600 feet of ascent (and descent), so is among the steeper of the Peak District fell races. It runs up the hill behind Mrs Noel in the photograph, which is, of course, steeper than it looks here. I had been looking at last year's results and thought I could do faster than 49 minutes. Mrs Noel was sagely pointing out that I haven't done that much training so should be taking it easy! Imagine - taking it easy in a fell race!

There was also the added spice that I knew my long-time training partner Dave would be trying to beat me up the first hill. While I tried to put such things out of my mind, it was quite tricky. Especially after his demolition of my hill climbing ability 4 weeks ago on a training run.

We set off quickly and I was feeling confident until we turned for the first climb. I heard a "Come on Noel!" from the spectators - thanks whoever it was. This shout was followed a few seconds later by "Come on Dave!" My fears were confirmed when Dave smoothly accelerated past me up the first climb. I was full of friendly advice befitting such a situation, "Take is easy" and "It's a marathon not a sprint", but these thinly veiled taunts were dismissed as they should have been. Luckily my hilly training seemed to have paid off and I managed to sneak a slender lead by the top of the first climb, which I managed to hold on to for the remainder of the race.

Surprisingly, my descending seems to have improved. I actually made up a few places on the downhill sections, which is not my normal form. I managed to finish in 48 minutes 40 seconds. So was very pleased to be ahead of my target time.

Mrs Noel was also pleased with her day. She was third lady, for which she got a prize. She was also first lady vet40, for which she got another prize. She was very pleased that one of the prizes was garden centre vouchers. It's as if the organisers knew her.

Once we'd had our free soup and roll (thanks to the organisers), we all huddled round the boards showing the results. Stuart Bond won it by a street. A mere 14 places and over 8 minutes (!!) ahead of me. I can only imagine how fast that must feel.

Mrs Noel's birthday run

It was Mrs Noel's birthday over the weekend. So we decided she needed a more special run than our usual circuits. So we ran from Bingley (where my parents live) via Saltaire, to Ilkley. I think it was about 7 miles. It's amazing how much ground you can cover when you're only running in one direction. My parents had very kindly agreed to take the kids over to meet us.

Our imagination was somewhat fired by the idea that we would be running past the twelve apostles stone circle.

We had high hopes of something wondrous (like the picture). But instead, what we actually got was quite small and it seemed some of the apostles were lying down.

It was also pretty murky as you can see in the photograph. It's not a complicated route but we had to check a few times using my compass. We eventually got to Ilkley and had a nice pub lunch and a pint. Birthdays are made for this. We tried our best to get Mrs Noel to buy something. But despite being led into her favourite clothes shops and even the running shop, she was uninspired. Feel free to make suggestions as to what she might like, as I was hoping to get an extra something for her in Ilkley.

Then after Saturday's murk, it was glorious on Sunday (but I didn't take my camera out - sorry). I was trying one of my local loops at race pace. I always do this when it's early season and convince myself I'm running really quickly and have somehow changed into some sort of fell running god in a kind of boyhood superhero style. Then comes the first race and I realise (a) I have not been bitten by a radioactive fell running spider without knowing it, or hit by a strange comet-like thing from the planet Fell Running, and (b) those people who I used to be close to in races, but who have trained over the winter, are now a bit faster than I am. The first race is this weekend, all being well, so I'm looking forward to going through this cycle of naivety and mild disappointment all over again during the race.

Running the wild boar

I was reminded how Wildboarclough got its name on today's run. When I first moved near this Cheshire hamlet, I read on a website that it was the place where the last wild boar in England was shot. However, I subsequently worked with an expert on wild boar in England. He told me that in the olden days, people didn't call wild boars by that name, so the place name couldn't be related to them.

The most likely reason that Wildboarclough has this name is that it's related to the bore of water that from time to time races down the narrow Clough Brook. The last time this happened was on 24 May, 1989, when the sudden flood destroyed the road bridge. The rebuilt bridge now bears a plaque to commemorate this event, and the local vicar blesses the bridge once a year.

Anyway, enough history - back to my run. It was pretty wet and there was lots of snow just on the point of melting. Here's Clough Brook looking pretty high, but hopefully not on the brink of a flash flood. I continued up one of the three valleys that feed Clough Brook to see quite a lot of snow just waiting to melt all at the same time.

I also encountered what must be the main rabbit and hare high street. Because of the snow, all their tracks were very visible. I considered following a hare track to see where it went, but I've seen hares run rings around my dog (literally) so didn't fancy my chances of even seeing one.

My fitness seems to be getting better slowly. 8 miles today. I plan to do some speed work tomorrow. I also did about 3 or 4 miles midweek from work. It's getting very close to being able to go out in the evenings, which should be when my training really takes off.

10 miles and dinosaurs

I think this was a pretty perfect weekend. First I went for a nice 10-mile run on Saturday morning. Mrs Noel had already been out for about an hour running and when she came back, she informed me 'it's not cold'. Luckily I know she's made of sterner stuff than me so I took my hat, gloves, thermals and fleecy buff. I needed them all, as the picture shows. This is the back of Shutlingsloe.

Luckily the sun came out, and despite the ankle-deep snow I got some beautiful views from Wetstone Ridge. You can really feel like you're out in the wilderness from up here. I have just realised how daft that statement is, given that I was running on a bridleway next to a fence. But you see what I mean. Note how the frost on the fence has detached from the fence and made a frost fence just next to it.

Then on Sunday, we awoke to even more snow. This was an excuse to rope my parents in to helping me (ahem... I mean the kids) make more snow sculptures. This time we went for a dinosaur theme. Here is the T. Rex. Unfortunately, his teeth kept thawing out and he later collapsed. I've realised it's hard making animals that rely on counterbalance to stay upright.

The stegosaurus, however, is still standing a day later. I think in future, I would advise against two-legged snow dinosaurs. I was contemplating a sauropod, but the long neck was too tricky to think about.

After all this exertion, we also built a large snow chair. It was pretty comfy, but slightly on the cold side. I was planning another training run, but instead had to make do with a new form of hill reps. This involved sledging down a slope and then running back up carrying my youngest. He seemed to like the idea too.

The best thing about this 4 inches of snow was that it melted from the roads in a day. This meant we could get out to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain who were playing at Buxton Opera House. For those who haven't seen them, here is one of the songs they played: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW0ACEOEq6w&feature=related

More chasing Dave

I made the mistake of going out for another training run with Dave. This is another small installment of my attempt to get back to running fitness (Wolf Spit is 4 weeks away). I thought this run would serve as a gauge to where I am.

I should explain something about the peculiarities of going for training runs with Dave. Most runners run more slowly uphill than they do on the flat, and run more quickly downhill. However, Dave seems to fly up hills, only to then run a sensible speed on the flat and run downhill at recovery pace (although he's getting better at this). Unfortunately, the run largely involved running up to Stanage Edge from Hathersage, so it was mainly uphill for the first two miles.

Once again, here's a picture of Dave leaving me behind. He's the small black dot in the middle.

It's strange getting running fit again. My legs don't get tired - it's all lungs. I get that aching "my lungs aren't big enough" feeling which I used to get when I first started fell running. I'm hoping my lungs catch up soon, so I can start giving my legs some hard work.

After yesterday's exertions, today, I did a slow recovery run. This was also intended to keep up my mileage a bit. I think it was about 6 miles. It follows most of a course that would be my best attempt at what would constitute a good fell race. It even has all the sensible bits, like facilities at the start, no major road crossings, doesn't share any ground with other fell races, etc. Here's the incongruous chimney (I think??) in the middle of the moors at the far point of the 'race'.

Pretty cold weather

It was very cold and also very picturesque today. Ideal running conditions, if you've got nice warm kit - which I have.

The snow has nearly all gone now. I can't remember a time when snow has lasted for a month. Normally it's gone in a week. Here's me obeying all the rules of photographic composition while taking a photo of the snow.

The nights are getting longer which augurs well for evening runs in the not-too-distant future. I was out at 4:30 today and it was fine. The longer evenings should also allow me to get some road bike miles in - I'm planning another 90-miler in about 2 months' time.

For those not aware of the winking man. Here's a link: http://www.winkingman.com/pages/where.php

I found another slightly winking could-be-a-man-if-you-have-a-good-imagination, and the sun was behind it which made for a nice photo and an excuse to stop again. Looking at it again I think the man would have to be wearing a very elaborate hat.

This blog is probably playing havoc with my training as I keep stopping to take photos. I'll try to get serious and just post GPS traces in the summer.

On the way back I found these icicles, which also amused me. I thought they looked like the top of some monster's mouth about to bite down.

Two days - two runs

This feat might seem trivial, but it's a big step in the recovery from my seasonal malaise. After running yesterday, I wasn't sure if I was going to go out today as well. But this was decided in Buxton's excellent art cafe in the Pavillion Gardens. After ordering two veggie breakfast for the kids to share with me, it became apparent that they only wanted the egg. So I was forced to eat my own weight in hash browns, veggie sausages, beans, toast and tomatoes. In fact there was so much, we had to give the ducks and pigeons the rest of the toast.

So after this feast, I felt I better do something energetic so went out for a 5 mile run. As you can see, there are still some large dollops of snow about. Especially on footpaths sheltered by walls. It might be gone in a week or so.

Also [news flash] after proudly announcing in my last blog entry that Cloud Nine will be my comeback race, this now clashes with something. So it'll be Wolf Spit (really called Wolf's pit - but that's not as funny) instead; which is the week after.