Greenwich park

Too much turkey and ham prompted some nice festive runs early doors through Greenwich park, I would be bending the truth a bit if I called them trail runs, probs 50/50 trail / pavement.

One 4k and an 8k yesterday has kickstarted my training certainly for the endurance life cts Northumberland in March with a view to my first trail marathon in May and possibly (aprehensivley) in July in the montane Lakeland 50 mile. I do need to start slowly upping my weekend runs closer to 20k......

Will be in the Cotswolds next weekend so looking forward to running up bredon hill.

endurance life CTS - cool video.....

New skeetz - Salomon speedcross 3s

After a very uncomfortable 37km in my nearly new inov8 mudclaws I decided that i'd replace my old speedcross 2s with the 3s and bin the mudclaws.
First impressions is that they're a bit bigger in the toe area which I don't like so much as they feel a little bulkier out on the trail. The design of the insole has changed too, that means that it can slip down the shoe when wet and descending off the hill.
Overall though I can live with the compromises as they have the same feel as the 2s out on the trail which I really like, very grippy in the muddy shit I run in.
8/10 for Salomon, if they'd have stayed the same I'd have given a 10.

the yorkshire three peaks 37km 1218m asc

It was whilst in training for the OMM www.theomm.com that I was convinced by my OMM partner to attempt the three yorkshire peaks about a month before it. This route in an annual event http://www.threepeaksrace.org.uk/ which is steeped in history and it'd be great to return next year and take part in the race.

We started off at Horton in Ribblesdale with a view to attempting all three peaks should we feel capable at the time. The route would be Ingleborough - Whernside - Pen-y-Ghent. The morning was very cold with a ground frost, the sky was however clear and the sun was shining.

The initial pull up Ingleborough wasn't too difficult with the only issue being my new mudclaws chafing on my right heel, as it turned out they would also give me a 2p size blister on the ball of my left foot :(  Theres a really nasty path pretty much all the way down off Ingleborough, it's a real pain in fell shoes and i'm blaming that path for the ITB pain which was about to strike.

By the time we made it to the top of Whernside my ITB was screaming and I managed to run / hobble back to Horton in agony without reaching the Pen-y-Ghent summit which is a shame, saying that we managed it the next day, although my ITB was still very bad.

• DISTANCE37.02 km
• DURATION6h:35m:07s
• AVG. SPEED10:40 min/km
• MAX. SPEED3:28 min/km
• CALORIES3358 kcal
• HYDRATION0.87L
• MIN. ALTITUDE274 m
• MAX. ALTITUDE790 m
• TOTAL ASCENT1218 m
• TOTAL DESCENT1213 m

Inspirational stuff....The Runner In Winter - Anton Krupicka

This is getting me excited about the snow! This guy is an animal....

Scafell trail run and wild camp

Two day trail running adventure up England highest mountain at 3209' -  The route was a nice mix of scrambling and running with a bog walk through great moss.

After scrambling up little narrowcove to the summit we found visibility to be around 20-30ft, stopped for a cuppa and a chat.

We actually came down the wrong side of the hill into Wasdale Head, meaning we had to cross back over Ennerdale fell to get back to our start point which extended the running and added some amazing scenery into the run. 

• DISTANCE20.01 km
• DURATION7h:08m:16s
• AVG. SPEED21:24 min/km
• MAX. SPEED3:21 min/km
• CALORIES1992 kcal
• HYDRATION0.95L
• MIN. ALTITUDE110 m
• MAX. ALTITUDE1033 m