Halfway

It's a little over halfway through 2012 and a good time to review my 2012 Aspirations. Am I on track to reach my goals this year?

#1 - 24 GDH runs
I ran five times with the club in Jan/Feb/Mar. In April I did three races and no club runs. During May I ran once with the club - a great run up from Crowden and in June I joined the summer solstice run up on a very very wet Kinder. That totals 7 club runs in 6 months. Although I'm not on target at this rate to make 24 club runs this year I'm not bothered. My training has shifted focus with the new programme and the past month has meant no running above a certain heart rate - essentially lots of very steady paced running. I am going to renew my club runs in the post-Olympic months.

Typical Summer Solstice weather for the club run!!

#2 - run 3 fell races - achieved.
28th January - 28 Kinder Trial
18th March - Dark&White Mini MM in Macclesfield Forest
15th April - Dark & White Mini MM in the Hope Valley (3hr score event fell race) - here's the blog
18th April - Herod Farm Fell Race - here's the blog
22nd April - Kinder Downfall Fell Race - race route recce'd & blog posted here and the race report is here.
13th May - Dark & White Mini MM around Dovedale/White Peak -  here's the blog

Kinder Trial fell race

#3 - cover 25km in one go - achieved. On Sunday 10th June I ran from Glossop to Hope - here's a write up of the run which was delightful. I'll repeat the route later in the year and see if I can beat the time - under 3.30 should be very achievable, closer to 3hrs would be amazing. I also want to repeat my Circumnavigation route with less stopping, running round Kinder edge is lovely and I'm curious to see how I get on with trying to do it as fast as possible.

The Mam Tor-Lose Hill ridge - on the final section of my Glossop to Hope run

#4 - 10 body weight chin ups - I'm up to 7. My current strength & conditioning work has me doing 5 sets of 4 on a Monday and I'm getting these each week. It's tempting to see if I could do 10 right now but I'm holding back just a little longer.

Practicing....with a chain!

Any revisions to my goals at the halfway point? Nope. The club runs will happen as they happen so my only real aim now is to do 10 chin ups. I'm happy with my running and overall progress this year. The training is all enhanced by regular sports massages,  foam rollering, stretching and the odd bit of dry needling by Tim. I've also been doing some mobilisation exercises before heading out for a run, and have found that it really helps me feel warmed up and ready to go. The final bit of recovery that I've been doing is cold showers...just on the legs, but its definitely helping to keep my legs in good shape.