Week Eight - Andrew Preview

Fans of Morecambe and Wise, in fact anyone over the age of 35 will remember Grieg's piano concerto a la Eric Morcambe and Andre Previn.  You know, 'all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order' and all that...  Well that's how my Bob Graham Round training seems to have gone this week.

The mantra for many is that contenders must ascend (and descend) 10,000 feet per week for 3-6 months in the build up to the round.  I think that's as useful a rule of thumb as anything can be when you're talking about the different physiologies and motivations amongst those that tackle challenges like this.  Well this week I knocked off the 10,000 feet, but it still wasn't right.  The reason is simple - no big day.  The ingredients were there, but not arranged as they should be.

In the same way a marathon runner will not get fit for a marathon by running 100 metres at a time (even if they do it many many times), I worry that the absence of an 8 hour plus day on the hills this week is not going to cut it.  I tried, but life and the weather got in my way, and I ran my ass off to make up for it.

Pen Yr Ole Wen - my reps route goes right up the front

Having raced twice (Tues and Thurs) and done an 11 mile trail run in Nottingham on Weds, Friday saw me fit and firing at the foot of Pen yr Ole Wen in Snowdonia in the Ogwen valley.  It seemed to be blowing a bit and raining hard but i decided that four reps of that formidable 2,200' slope in and out of Ogwen would be a cracking session of hard fell climbing.  This would qualify as a big day - nearly 9,000 feet and no respite.  Just steep up or steep down.

20 mins in and I binned it.  I could barely stand in that wind and the cloud base was at about 1,000 feet.  Horrendous.  I got back to the car and decided to sit it out.  The wind started rocking the car and so I went home, tail between legs feeling like I wasted my day off.  Not a happy bunny.

As I approached my home near Chester, I noticed that my more local hills were clear and so decided to head off for face saving run on Moel y Gamelin.  When training for my previous, almost successful winter round,  I had a regular timed run there of 9 miles and 3,200 feet of ascent.  My pb was 1:23:55.  I decided to go for that, bearing in mind I'd raced twice that week and was very fit when I ran my pb.  With heavy legs, I roared around and clocked 1:23:35.  No big day, but there is some good fitness in there and some good climbing strength.

I followed this up with 6 railway reps at Tattenhall on Sat (2,200 feet) and a long steady run on Moel Famau on Sunday, knocking 4,000 feet off in 2:35 at an brisk, so-so kind of pace.

All in all, the week saw 6 runs: two races (Wirral multi-terrain and a Club time trial), one longish trail run and three brisk/fast fell runs.  A good week's work, amassing 11,000 feet and about 50 miles.  OK, so the BGR is 66 miles and has 27,000 feet and I've 24 hours in the depths of winter, but we'll come onto that.  For now, I'm doing OK.

Next week, circumstances will see a change in tack.  My non-working day will be Wednesday rather than Friday and so I'll be doing a long day on Wednesday and Saturday.  Weds will be a solo run in Derbyshire, probably the Edale Skyline route (I might even go for a time?) whereas Sat is a Long Distance Walking Assoc event which allows runners to take part.  It's 30 miles, has about 6,000 feet ascent, and is near home on my beloved Moel Famau.  The 'Open to Offas' is a lovely event (they feed you on the way round :-)) and I'll be with good friend and the deviser of the route Paul Miller as he recovers from his  Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc experience.  I'm really looking forward to that! :-)