Mount Famine - this is fell running

This is one of my favourite fell races. I've probably done it four or five times now, so I've put a bit of pressure on myself to do a better time each year.

It's a very sudden and pretty daft uphill start. You run up a grassy and tree-filled bank which is to the right of a valley-bottom footpath. So instead of jossling for places, everyone takes their own line for the first 200 metres. Here's a shot of the 2008 race, which sums it up pretty well.

I'm always quite a fast starter and am a better climber than descender so I normally try to get into a good position after the first climb. This time I was just ahead of Tom Brunt at the top of the first climb. Tom is a proper fell runner and wins races, so maybe I went off a bit too fast (again!!).

There were lots of steep climbing bits and I've found a new technique which seems to work. When the bits are too steep to run, most runners take large steps and put their hands on their knees to help them up the hills. I find that this works but I find the transition from slow steps to fast cadence running is quite hard. So today, I tried fast cadence walking and it seemed to work well. I certainly gained a few places by doing this.

Here's a shot of me looking dazed but happy about a third of the way into the race. I was pleased to finish tenth and to take about 1 minute 20 seconds off my time from last year. This now means there's more pressure on next year's time. There's probably a fine line between focus and obsession.

Mrs Noel was due to do this race as well but has a throat infection so has lost her voice. I should probably avoid making comments about the relative merits of this.


Photos courtesy of FRA forum members "Rudolph Hooker" and "finniganjones", respectively.

Rainow fell race - fast and hard

I don't normally target races that don't have loads of ascent in them, but this one is a local race and I've not done it before so I gave it a go. It covered a lot of the same ground as Sunday's race - Bollington - except in the opposite direction.

I managed not to get lost this time, and was pleased to finish 10th in 35 minutes 37 seconds. I think it's also the first time I've ever beaten Olivia Walwyn who is currently leading the ladies English fell running championships.

I'm slightly drained today and certainly needed my recovery run. I now need to focus again for the third race in 7 days: Mount Famine on Saturday. That's a proper fell race with lots of ascent. If we don't get any more rain before then I might run it in road shoes. Everything is the dryest I've seen it in about 4 years of living where I do.

Mrs Noel News:
Mrs Noel was third lady and 2nd lady vet-40 at Burbage Skyline on Tuesday night. She's waiting for the results, but should have taken loads of time off her previous best for this race. Last time she ran it was about 3 years ago and she was 11th lady.

Bollington - Where's Wally

It's common knowledge that you should do a reccie of the course before you race it - especially if you live near the course. This means you can pick the best lines and you know where the hills are. It also means you don't get lost.

I didn't reccie this course (despite living pretty close) and I made the mistake of assuming the four runners in front of me knew where they were going. Unfortunately, three of them were making a similar assumption and the one at the front was a bit uncertain. Anyway, it was a lovely detour and made the race slightly more challenging. We got back on to the right course after a while, but found we were joining the group of runners that we had left behind.

In the end I think I finished about 8th. Those who beat me included: the four who were ahead of me when we went wrong, Simon Bailey - who didn't go wrong and was too far ahead of everyone for us to follow him - and a few people that I couldn't catch after our extra loop.

Using similar statistics to those being applied by our politicians to describe their party's performance in the election: if I assume our detour was about 3 miles, I would probably have won had I not gone wrong. I told Simon Bailey this at the end, and got a laugh.

Crowden Horseshoe - am I suddenly really good?

Races that fall the day after an English Championship counter are great. Not only are they slightly less busy, but the people who generally don't turn up are the top 20% of people in any age category.

Today's race had about 180 starters (I think), and for about 400 metres I was leading the field! This was again due to my normal fast start, but it's not like I was flat-out sprinting. By the summit I was fourth and eventually finished fifth after a bout of exchanging places with the guy who then finished 6th. Here's me trying to maintain my lead on the final descent.

So, have I suddenly become a great runner who can finish 5th in a relatively high-profile fell race? I was pondering this, so checked what my place would have been if I had run this time a few years ago (when there wasn't a championship counter the day before). And the answer is... I would have been about 55th.

I should either start training a lot more, or stop putting these good results into context.

5 seconds from my target

I was turning the corner of the field with the finish in sight and looked at my watch to see I had 10 seconds to run the last 100 metres in order to get my target time. I did my best but sadly my olympic standard sprinting is not up to much after nearly 10 miles. Still, my finishing time of 1 hour 17 and 5 seconds was very pleasing. That's more than two minutes off my PB.

I stuck to my normal race plan off setting off like an idiot and then dying on the second half of the race. I was 12th at the summit and finished 17th. I suspect if I had been 15th at the summit I might have finished in 15th, but as I'm a better climber than a descender, it always seems foolish not getting the advantage when I can.

That completes another 30-mile week for me. Another 3 or 4 of these and I'll be properly in the swing of things. It's starting to get a bit hectic now. I think I've got about 10 races in May! However, three of these are over 3 days. May will be interesting - it's hard to plan in a steady 10-miler in the two days between races.

NEWS UPDATE: I've just looked at the results for Kinder downfall, and despite me hearing them say "1,17,05" my official time is dead on 1 hour 17 minutes. I'm glad I tried to do a sprint finish now.

Onion holder

That's right. It lets you chop an onion without getting onion juice on your hands. Here it is being demonstrated by my mum. For those who read my previous blog and doubted that there were more kitchen utensils than there are famous people, here is your evidence - onion holder!!!

I should probably add something about fell running too. It's Kinder Downfall this Sunday, so I'm hoping to finish in about 1 hour 17 minutes. That would be a new personal best for me, but it's very dry at the moment and that normally makes for fast times. Also, I seem to be going OK at the moment, so I should aim high.

I'm a kitchen utensil

For those not aware of this game, it's like twenty questions. But instead of being a famous person or a type of animal, you have to pick kitchen utensils. This version of the game became a favourite of mine after I realised that there are more types of kitchen utensils than there are famous people in the world or types of animal (that people know about).

Anyway, I was at my parents' house over the weekend and spotted a new type of kitchen utensil. I realise a blog is not the best medium for a game that's essentially twenty questions, so I've also included a picture. Can you guess what it is? Even with seeing it, I was none the wiser. It hasn't got any moving parts it is just a lot of spikes in a row on a handle.

I suppose I should also post something about my fell running training. Here's what I've done over the last few weeks:

Saturday: 9 miles

Sunday: 4 miles hill reps

Monday: 4 miles steady

Tuesday: No running (Mrs Noel at Bjorn Again!)

Wednesday: No running (Mrs Noel's fell race - Herod Farm - 3rd lady and 1st LV40)

Thursday: 10 miles

Friday: 3 miles

Weekly total: 30 miles

Saturday: 5 miles

Sunday: 8.5 miles

Monday: 3 miles (hill sprint reps)

Tonight: 6 miles

Here's a picture from one of my runs. It's the steaming slurry heap from one of the local farms amid Saturday's early-morning frost. It's a glamorous life this fell running.