Road bike

I picked up a Carrera Fury hardtail bike last Autumn, it has served me quite well on the tracks up over the hill and for kicking around the rough stuff, when not running. Quite well specified for the price too, decent frame, Suntour air shocks, SRAM gearing, Avid hydraulic disc brakes, 27 speed etc. Hard to know how they can put this together for the price….only downside was the build quality out of Halfrauds, needed a bit of fettling and adjustment at home before it was ‘right’.

Not really getting enough miles in with that though, and my current temporary (and hopefully brief) lay-off from running  made me think about getting a cheap road bike. I fished about in the local ads at the weekend, and noticed an older Dawes Competition Giro 400 for sale for just over 100 notes over in Pathhead.  Gave it a look over and brief road test and went for it. Think it is a 90s vintage but is in immaculate condition. It really bears no relation to the newer Dawes bikes, this one was hand built and i’m not sure if newer Dawes stuff is built to the same standard – anyway, my research tells me that these older Dawes road bikes were quite highly respected. It’s a chromoly frame, though surprisingly light, 14 speed shimano gearing and shimano QR. Also got a few bits and bobs with it, including a Cateye computer.

Gave it a quick service, replaced the clipless pedals for the time being(didn’t want to buy shoes) and have since replaced the awful bar tape which adorns it in the above pic with black.

So far so good – great to get out and get a bit of speed up.

Physio tomorrow for my leg, and i’m hoping to get back out running maybe next week.

 

No running for a bit……

Time to hang the shoes up for a while – calf twanged with a snapping sensation last night, 2 miles into an easy and ‘experimental’ run just to see how it felt. Bang goes Sunday’s Devilla Forest race, and probably anything else for the foreseeable future. Grrrrrrr.

A theory

I am still getting a bit of bother with the calf.

I had a very comfortable run on Tuesday night with the club, if truth be told, the best training run in ages – not because I was fast, or managed to beat Susan L (I didn’t), or anything like that, but I was pain-free for the first time in months….The next day, I hatched an impromptu plan to run from the office at Haymarket, join the canal at the basin and run right round the towpath to Sighthill, then drop down to the Gyle Station where Theresa had left the car. It was getting dark about half way round and a bit ropey on the dark section around Wester Hailes, more from the bikes coming at me in the dark at fair speed. Got round to the car ok, and felt fine with just under 7 miles on the clock.

Fast forward to the interval session on Thursday – Ian R hatched a plan of the usual mile warm up, then 6 X 1Km, with a shortened recovery time each kilometre. Warm up was ok, but I only managed to complete two of the kilometre intervals before the calf got sore again. Decided to stop and take a slow session elsewhere, away from the track.

I’m now increasingly suspicious that my leg problem may somehow be related to the track sessions. It always occurs at intervals, and I think it may have something to do with running around in circles (no change there..), on a not so great grass track, with the strain on my left leg exacerbated by leaning around the bends.

Just a theory. I don’t think the cause is speed work per se, as I i’ve participated in the odd race in recent weeks, and of all races, the Carnethy 5 would surely have tested my calf to the limits…

So, no intervals for a few weeks, i’ll replace that with maybe some tempo running, or hill reps, just to see what happens.

Will see how it holds up today at the final Borders XC at Floors Castle today. Where has the winter XC series gone…?

Parkrun then Carnethy debut….

Theresa wanted to try another parkrun today, as her form is improving, so it was an early start – first stop Cramond, then into ‘The Gyle’ shopping centre (I hate that place) for brunch prior to heading on for my Carnethy5 debut. Theresa’s time is continuing to improve and conditions were ideal down on Cramond foreshore – cool and no wind. She managed to shave about 25 seconds off a recent 5K.

Carnethy was new to me so I wanted to get there sharpish to get registered and sorted. Its a pretty big event, logistically, you park in Penicuik, register etc then get bussed to Silverburn, at the foot of the Pentlands – all for 600 entrants. We decided to getting bussed out fairly early then we spent a bit of time hanging about, me getting psyched up for the race and Theresa getting pissed off with hanging about in the cold – no matter. I swithered quite a bit about what attire to settle on, shorts ticked the box, and then concluded after much indecision that there would be ‘no jacket required’. Very unfortunately for me, this set in motion an subconscious process of recall and I had to suffer the continual playback in my head of various songs by that that F*ckw*t slap-headed king of bland, Phil Collins.

Thankfully, I managed to reach my lactic threshold a few times on the climbs, and this coupled with my heart rate approaching the red-zone, took my mind off the pish spinning about in my head.

But what a race – fantastic. 5 peaks to climb @ total climb of 2500′ (first and last seemed the worst) Scald Law, South Black Hill, East Kip, West Kip and Carnethy – What more can I say? – i’ve got to hand it to seasoned hill runners. I’m just a big woose running downhill – teetering here and there, scared to open up some bigger strides, all the while all sorts fly past, without any apparent fear. Guess its all about confidence – can it be learnt? I don’t know. Anyway, this is where I lost a lot of places and I simply don’t do enough of this sort of thing currently to get better at it. The climbs don’t bother me – they are a bit of a leveller insofar as most folk just lock into line and walk , I enjoy the flat and have no problem with some of the easier gradients, but once it gets to about 45 degrees downhill, I start to lock up.

Would I do it again? Probably, just to see if I could work on my technique between now and 2013. Think I ambled in about 1:15, so no disaster and came in within the time I anticipated. More importantly,  my calf held up – I’ve been worried about it most of the past week, and have been massaging it and generally working at it, hoping it would ease off. Seemed to get away with it.

Noticed they were doing free massage back at the finish, so got checked out there by no less than Angela Mudge, the regular first lady of the event for a good few years.

Looks like my fate was marked out from the start…..my number was 253, guess what my position was? Weird…

Results etc HERE

At last some miles….

Sheila M is marathon training for Paris, so Theresa decided to drive down to Sheila’s at Belhaven and then do 12 something miles to Haddington. The plan was that Sheila would already have done 5 miles before T arrived, so a run to suit all needs…..I didn’t really have a ‘long run’ plan this weekend, I wanted to see how the leg felt before committing to anything. However, this run to Haddington appealed, as it would encompass some previously uncharted territory, namely the new core path cut along the Tyne from Hailes Castle to Haddington.

Ambitiously (foolishly?), I decided to run from the house, thus making the final course 17 miles…..maybe not so wise, given the leg issues and my recent-ish long stuff only being up to around 12 miles or so. What the hell…

A pleasant route it was too – we timed it so that we would all roughly arrive at Haddington about 12.30. Familiar stuff really for the first part, down the hill to Dunbar, then through John Muir Park and the Tyne estuary, and then I basically tracked up the right hand bank of the Tyne, via Knowes, East Linton, Hailes Castle until reaching Haddington.

The newly cut path now makes it possible to walk/run from Hailes Castle to Haddington – it is still a bit rough and ready, but will get used a lot I am sure. It was extremely slippery in places, so much so that walking was the only option, albeit not helped by wearing a well-worn pair of Nike Lunarglides….I’ve noticed that there has been quite a concerted effort in getting these core paths designated and created in East Lothian, a very worthy cause and one I fully support. We have a few around the hills at the back of the house, all with proper gates – the routes guarantee responsible access, without any justification for a crabbit old farmer or tweed-clad Rupert to shout ‘get orfff my land…’.

I eventually caught up with the other two a couple of miles before Haddington, then we gatecrashed the Aubigny sport centre for a cheeky shower. Some confusion about who was to be picked up by our ‘taxi’ at Haddington (Sheila’s son and daughter in-law) meant there was one passenger too many (ie me) so alternative transport (ie a bigger car than a mini) had to be hastily arranged.

A decent lunch involving chips in Poldrates rounded it off nicely. Pleased to get away with this mileage and feeling ok-ish.

Nursing the calf

Calf nursing bottle – thanks Google!

Well, the calf is now sore in a ‘good’ way, following another painful but productive session with Ray at Head4Health on Wednesday. I’m slowly coming around to the ways of sensible advice and treatment, instead of running through injury, although  it has taken me about 3 months and 2 DNFs in that period. Consistent with the advice proferred by Ray, I skived off the monthly club 5k handicap last night, and instead watched everyone putting a great effort in, with the dry, windless and cold conditions producing some excellent times and PBs.

Decided to test out the leg with an ‘easy’ 6 miler – the usual work lunchtime route – Haymarket – Meadows – over Hunters Bog and back. All seemed ok, although the calf got a bit tight in last mile. Should maybe have stayed off Arthur’s Seat.

Running empties the head and also gets you thinking of all sorts of stuff, for me some of it a bit lateral at times. With all this cold weather, I was wondering about runners etiquette relating to snot, and how one disposes of it in socially acceptable terms…… is this taboo? I don’t think so, as most runners are practical sorts (or become that over time..).

I find a discrete spit acceptable, even within female company (is that sexist?), although I wouldn’t make a big thing of it. Others do – I quite often hear all sorts of heaving, hacking and other unspeakable noises, mainly from male runners, and usually during a race (albeit an environment where anything goes – just ask Paula Radcliffe). It’s a bit more tricky getting rid of nose gunk. By far the most effective and rewarding method is a quick snot out holding one nostril – but far from socially acceptable and it cetainly isn’t attractive – and not great in a race as you can’t always control the speed and direction. However, these new fangled buffs are great things, 101 uses, one of which is conveniently hanging around your neck and serving as the perfect hankerchief. So no need for projectiles.

Anyway, probably said enough on the matter, and it should be less of an issue as the weather warms, in about 8 months time.

Now i’m need to decide whether to go for the Lochaber marathon in April. Barely enough time to get up to a decent mileage…….