a nearly decent nights sleep.i woke at 5... and struggled to sleep again. up on time though and out early enough to make the full Long Hill Peak route. 

in under an hr... new best on the route

 

i also set a new personal best on the Long Hill full segment (unnamed road). not on the climb though

 

it all felt like a really good ride out. weather was good, mentally in a good space sayin hello to the sheep.

 

only downer - shout out to the LA crew that tar and chipped the top of the road section yesterday to take out potholes, grand job done, should last a good 6months. wish ye hadnt spread the 15Tonnes of excess 10mm as an uncompacted 6in layer of stone along the trail to the stile for The Cross. tougher pedalling across that flat 80yds of gravel than it was on the steep road bit on the way up!

got TWO bonus pedals today. 

 

the 5.5k with Spud sr earlier on. which was just good crack.

 

and then, i had ti go collect my car from the mechanic - 

not a long journey, but just a grand little blast. kept the speed up as much as i could abd it paid off

another PR set 

this morning I headed up the cross as usual, but then headed west for a bit of woodland treking. 2 reasons, 

1, i decided to change routes from going up the steep hill every time the last couple of weeks

2, i realised if i didnt do a couple of longer routes i was going to just miss completing the august "favourite way 200km" challenge by about 10k. 

 

it was a nice ride out, though there has been a definite temp drop in the morning, it was noticeably cooler on the way up.

 

 

 

got another good spin today, through the woods. lost a little time on the return leg, i cayght up with 3 people on horseback on my highspeed downhill tarmac section. i didnt want to spook any of them (ive been on a spooked horse... its not fun..) so out of politeness i backed off and kept a good 50-100m gap until they could move into a nice wide gateway.

 

the other technical hiccup was a weird issue with my shifter, that ill post a thread on to explain properly.

missing a couple of updates...

so, Wed was a normal rest day, nothing but...

swmbo had another medical consultation appointment on Tuesday about some of the ongoing longer term fall out from spud jr pregnancy... 19months later, and still suffering bull****. outcome of that was being put on the cancellation list for a procedure to hopefully sort a couple of them out. she got home at 4pm, and got a call at 430 - slot available thurday morning, but she had to go for Pre-Op assessment on Wednesday..

i said do it.. dont put it off, itll be grand. she has already put this off a couole of times to try other solutions as she out of the blue developed a random phobia of the gen anaesthetic, convinced herself shed go to sleep and wouldnt wake up, she'd just be dead. 

so after a stressful couple of days involving much convincing that sge wasnt going to die on the table, my Thur and fri morning cycles were cancelled, as she had to be gone before 7am on wed and thur. procedure was fine, shes still tired and sore after it but gone to work today 🤞but i stayed home friday morning too to make sure she was alright which want easy.. shes the worlds worst patient and geumpy when not 100% 

 

 

 

So, i was able to get up and out on Saturday morning, and tackled long hill again, but.. i took a ledt at the top and spun out the Northern, lower bit that i can see from my house. 

it was a nice little detour, longer than i expected, and from the total climb stat more extra incline than i thought to get back up to the peak to head for home.

my house is down there... somewhere

the detour is from the top of the hill to the right where the teail winds up, out the start of the big gradient to the left. 

that hill poking out dead centre from the shed

 

 

then, my MIL arrived and said she wanted to bring Spud sr for a walk , but he could cycle, in the woods on "a trail thats very flat"  so i went too, and brought Jr in the ergobaby carrier, as i didnt want nanny struggling with Sr on his bike solo, if he was too fast or whatever. 

it was not flat! i logged the way back out, spud struggled to hold the brakes on the downhills, and had to push his single gear bike back up most of it... i was melted carrying jr to the point of needing fresh jocks when i got home...

never again

 

Sunday, we got out as a family for a short walk up in an area swmbo used to hang out with her family as a child. then in the afternoon i went out on the Blue way again with Sr, and got him as far as Ferryhouse Bridge and back again. logged it from home and it was 9.3km, we walked the bit from the house to the blueway, as the paths aren wide enough for him to cycle and theres no way hes road cycli g as people travel way too fast along the stretch with terrible sightlines.

 

he done well so he did

though im now being given out to that hes cycling too fast... because even a couple of neighbours have said it to swmbo 🤷‍♂️ 

im feeling a depressed right now.. (millennial depressed... sad... )

 

i got out Monday morning and it was a slog, legs heavy, struggled on climbs, ended up dismounting twice losing traction... it was just a meh ride up Long Hill. ended up in a bush on the way back down.. 

 

yesterday was to be better..

but.. i woke up burstin to wee 3 times during the night!! slept horrendously. 610am alarm went off and i was conked again in under 30seconds. 

 

woke up at 650 when swmbo's alarm went off. too f'in late to go anywhere. 

 

ill make up for it today.

i woke up at 602am... spud jr woke up at 603am, with a nappy so full of wee it burst its banks all over his pjs 😞

so after a full strip and redress, he went asleep again at 622, plenty time.. except he woke as i slipped out his door, so had to go back, and lie on the floor until 715... too bloody late to go anywhere again 😡 ragin... and the killing part was the forecast was for the weather to be crap at that hour, but it was fine! wouldve been a beautiful morning, i may have even sneaked a sunrise photo, but alas nothing. 

 

and now im torn, as ive to work tomorrow night, do i get up go pedal, do the breakfast routine and then try and try to sleep when my mother brings jr out for a while??? or is it worth the risk of not getting my head back down before work...

well, the overnight antics put paid to my cycle this morning.. 

which is fairly irritating. i want to get out, and yet i cant.. 

anyway, fingers crossed ill get to do something productive later!

finally! despite the sleep deprivation and being knackered i got up, and got out today. tackled long hill, but the northern extension again. its a 13km trip, with more climb than going to "the top" of the hill, so its just as tough on the legs. 

no records set, not even close, but i didnt care, i just wanted to get out

Edited 11 September, 20214 yr by mac11irl
forgot the pic

yesterday got wrote off.. i was too knackered to get up.

 

today was a heavy morning... but i made it out  first morning ive needed to put the torch on the bike in months too! and first time needing it heading up the hilly roads.

 

and i turns out i set a new best on one the hill climb sections... i didnt expect that!

Well done ☝️

I really need to get out... 

i got up and put in the dark yesterday morningand ground out a 13k on long hill , but out the north face at tge top rather than the full summit to the east. tge drop down to the front of the face and then the climb back up from it to come home, is a bigger climb gain than doing the 13k to the proper top.. its weird.  but fun. i enjoyed it, even though i was knackered. 

 

it was the first morning in 4/5 minths i had my light jacket on to keep the cold damp off... felt weird too..

 

Edited 17 September, 20214 yr by mac11irl

i planned for a trip yesterday morning, but i think the awful thursday night (2hrs half asleep sitting on a folding chair with jr asleep on my chest, as it was the only place hed settle afterthe ptevious 3hrs of unsettled sleep...)

hit me and i couldnt do it.

so i got out today. and did the 2 long hill peaks...

 

it wasnt too bad, just a smidge too long for what ican get done on weekday morning. 

 

brought the family for a trek uo to the cross too later in the morning, about 3k up and down the trail to the cross. carrying jr in the ergobaby sling for about 2km of it... feeling the quads now!

 

 

have to go back to the office tomorrow too... start showing face there again, after 5 visits in 19months.... so i may swap to a couple of 5k runs mid week - less time taken but hopefully still a good cardio but short enough to avoid knee pain 🤞

weird night.. spud sr arrived at 525am needing the alarm turned off to get a drink...

then i got up at 610, and jr cried at 615.. managed to get out and away at 632am, for a

 

 

RUN!

 

i got a steady 6k run in, by the river on the flat, and was back to do all the pre work/school/childminder arriving stuff done... just about!

felt good, got a gentle reminder in my knee to not pysh it too hard after about 4km, but i tried to focus on getting more toe spring in my stride and it never got any worse than being "aware of my knee"...

 

not too bad, not exactly fast either

 

Edited 20 September, 20214 yr by mac11irl

got another 6k in on Tuesday morning, out and back earlier so less pressure on the pre work other stuff... 

little reminder niggle in the knee again, but other than that it was a good run. slower yhan monday, but i was bit more tired and legs were achy, the 24hr doms were setting in

 

yesterday was a rest day, today should have been a trip out, but i slept crap and spent an hr half asleep on jr's floor again.. ill run tomorrow morning before going on site, then a decent cycle Saturday morning 🤞

up and out this morning, and decided to do the twin peaks again. 

a week off the bike, even with the running i was feeling it up the hills! also, the definite change in weather to being generally more damp, the ground is softer, so alot heavier to pedal up as well. 

 

 

following this up with 2 1/2hrs of shovelling and barrowing... i am gonna feel it in the morning. .

but in a good way

Edited 25 September, 20214 yr by mac11irl

well its been a running week...

mon was a grand 7k by the river with no knee pain.

 

Wednesday i went west, and around a couple of street blocks to make up a 6.5k. again it was alright, no knee pain. 

 

yesterday's run was back to riverside route and a 6.5k at ebd of which my knee just said "hello, dont forget me..."

 

happy with how irs holding up though

 

 

so i rewarded my on foot efforts during the week with an early start, in the dark, at 630am, on the bike and up the hills

weather was awful... head wind gales blowing up the trails over the peaks. ground was soft, no traction, rain, fecking cold... 

but it was still fun coming back down...

Moonlit riverside 6k just completed in over 34mins.

Given the sun hasnt even gotten near the horizon it is chilly these mornings. but that doesnt slow me down, i think thats just my own brain not wanting to strain anything or do my knee, which did say hello after 5k. tad annoying...

up and out in the dark again... 

6k by the river with a teeny sliver of a moon on its hunkers as the sun was getting near the horizon.

 

i did try one thing today... 

i consciously made a massive effort for the last 2k to avoid heel strike running. balls of toes only, like sprinting in slow motion... and bloody torture on the calves! im guessing ill be crying in the morning when the doms set in after that.

it feels weird too, like it should be faster but also felt like everytime my foot hit the ground i was stopping my forward momentum a little bit... its odd. will try again next day, rest tomorrow... extra 45min sleep 😉

23 hours ago, mac11irl said:

bloody torture on the calves! im guessing ill be crying in the morning when the doms set in after that.

 

well they arent screaming at me but im very very aware of my lower legs all day today.... 

Technique is all important and having run for years it is really easy to develop bad habits especially as you get tired.

This feature on the ABC Australian Broadcast Company is fairly simple but informative. I'm going to try to implement it but I really should do some interval training (which I do not enjoy one bit because it hurts sooo much)

 

Why almost everything you thought about running is wrong - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

And for a bit of inspiration about a relative running late starter:

Olympic marathon runner Sinead Diver's 'unique' story: From running for fitness to Tokyo Games - ABC News

A very interesting article for me but the graphics were absolutely crap, I could not see beside the text the skeleton representations of the two runners it was either behind the text or jumping around between random images, a picture is worth a thousand words and those words desperately needed the pictures.

 

The shame is that the pictures and animations were so well done and could have really been helpfull, I guess whoever proof read it must have known the subject perfectly.

 

A real shame, if you have any other articles to better explain running gait please post them.

Funny, the graphics work well for me on my pc, but you are correct in that they are necessary part of the communication.

I'll  try out the articles suggestions tomorrow as I feel something is amiss with my running style lately and it is affecting my enjoyment. Nothing to lose.