Janathon #06 Dawn Patrol

Early morning dawn patrol was out this morning...me and Tim, out and running by 6.04am. We did our usual pre-breakfast, pre-dawn route - a 5.5km loop from home on the road. Torch in hand, but only used when cars are approaching, otherwise night eye sight is good and sufficient on tarmac, and while there are some dark bits on the loop without street lights torch light just limits what you actually can see. The stars this morning were amazing, loads out in the clear skies.

This morning we were joined by the usual chirping of birds, though unusually no owl hoots to be heard. Our pace felt weirdly fast but slow at the same time, on checking the stats we took about the same time as usual, but no strava course records obtained, not even a 2nd or 3rd personal best on any of the sections. But that's not the point of the dawn patrol. The point is that it's an energising run, it sets us up for the day and by 7am we are showered, dressed and have had breakfast and most of our neighbours aren't even up!

Glossopdale Winter Solstice Run

Glossopdale were out in force again tonight, this time to celebrate the Winter Solstice. At 4.30pm we set off from Glossop Leisure Centre, heading over the fields and tracks and trod, up to Wormstones, a small gritstone crag elevated above town.

We arrived at Wormstones in perfect timing, just a few minutes before the actual solstice, at 5.11pm. The customary alcoholic beverages were handed round, starting with port, stilton and crackers, and on the precise moment of the solstice we all cheered the coming of longer daylight hours.

The Alison read out a John Dunn poem, the name of which I missed in the merriment. 

Out from the shelter of the crags we ventured and off the down hill without hesitation - there was a biting wind blowing and the threat of coming rain in the darkness ever present. Over the final few fields the rain steadily increased and the wind howled...reminding us we are still in the grips of winter. 

Winter Night Fell Running Carol Singers

On a dark frosty winter's night a group of fell runners from Glossopdale and Pennine gathered outside the Printers Arms in Birch Vale. A gentle run took us along a bridleway I've never run on before. I didn't in fact know any of the route we took. We crossed the millenium bridge (I must return to see that in the daylight), passed New Mills Tors, waded across ankle deep mud, tracks, fields and another pub (The Fox?) where Nic Barber was downing his (?)first pint of the night...we were still mid-run, but what the hey! The view was brilliant... 

Up a steep section and a wonderful surprise...Mrs Fielding and their camper van with mulled wine and mince pies! Glorious. Nic and Andy Howie burst into the first round of Christmas carols....yes, that is Andy without his top on!! Me, I was putting on extra layers to help fight off the bitter cold wind. 

We made our way up a very short steep few metres to Mellor Cross....where the official carol singing took place. I smiled lots. How wonderful to share a run and enjoy the beauty with friends and loved ones.

Yes, that's Tim with the tinsel and shorts on...he wasn't alone in bearing his legs...

Before anyone got too cold we moved on and ran back to the pub where two log burning stoves awaited, along with plenty of good banter and delicious food. Thanks to all that came out, and to the Printers Arms for their splendid hospitality. 

Snowy night run

Another Tuesday night, another Glossopdale Harriers club night run. Five of us were out plus our four legged friend Elsa - complete with her own reflective collar. Our route took us from the Leisure Centre, through Manor Park, up to Swineshaw Reservoir and up through the forest. What I hadn't figure on was bumping into a tractor with a herd of cows following it down the track. Rather oddly the farmer shut the gate and kept the cows in the field, rather than taking them further down - this meant they could just wander back up the hill from where he'd fetched them. Not to worry, they did delay us slightly but we only had to do a slight detour to avoid us having to push through the herd. They did seem rather attracted to our lights and followed us up the hill a little, but thankfully lost interest before we emerged higher up in the field.

The tractor

Climbing steadily the obvious paths in the daytime sort-of-eluded us a little. There are many little trods up onto Cock Hill, and we eventually found a good one that took us straight to the trig point.

At Cock Hill trig point - from the left: Zoe, Elsa the dog, Becky, Alison, Steve

Glossop way below our vantage point

Ladies Captain Alison modelling the club long sleeved vest at Cock Hill trig

The grass and trods were wonderfully sprinkled with snow and the freezing temperature meant underfoot was rather crunchy. Everything glistened beautifully in our head torches. 

Our route took us from the trig point higher up to Glossop Low cabin, and a little further to the spot height at 481m so we could look towards Holme Moss mast. The night was so clear it felt like the mast was much closer than it is. Earlier in the run we'd seen Winter Hill mast way over to the north of Manchester, and from our elevated position we could make out both very clearly. 

50% of our feet, Elsa included

The run off Cock Hill was lovely, easy underfoot with good grip from my Mudclaw 300s. With thicker socks than I'd worn in the morning my feet were lovely and warm. 

Twinkle Twinkle

Last night was club running night. I did what I often do - I looked at the planned route and knew that attempting to run that route would not be entirely enjoyable because of the distance and pace some of the (mostly) guys go at. So, I planned an easy run, just about 8km and the idea was to go slow, get used to running in the dark, and have a social run rather than a full on night time training expedition at tempo pace. Sorry guys, but that's what the regular club runs feel like to me sometimes (most of the time? which is clearly the point of training runs, but darkness on top of pace isn't easy for me)!

Anyway, seven of us gathered and headed out with the clear rule that no-one runs alone, and we run at the pace of the slowest....most of all, we were to enjoy it. Which we did. Quite wonderfully. There was no pressure, plenty of stops, walking on some slightly technical bits of terrain, definitely walking most of the uphill bit, and a wonderful lights-out pause at the top of Lightside to appreciate the view, the stars and how lucky we are to live in a fabulous place with the hills on our doorstep. You really don't need to go very far from the streets of Glossop to be away from everything.

Twinkling lights of Glossop from the top of Lightside

I'm much more positive about running at night now. While I can run during the day because of the way my work is scheduled I do miss the social aspect of club runs so my easy/short runs with the club will be a great way of keeping the social side up over the coming months. I'm aiming for at least one night run every fortnight.

Lessons Learned

Club run last night and I'm down at the leisure centre hoping my heel is not going to annoy me too much. I have the remains of a blister which was quite sore only the day before - well that was the second blister in the same spot within a week or so. But what they heck, it's only a bit of pain and not something that was going to stop me running.

Well that wasn't going to stop me. What did was the incredible tiredness I felt even running on the flat. From Old Glossop the group of seven Glossopdale Harriers plus me set off towards Doctors Gate....torches on as it was dark. By the gate onto the fields I was feeling a little drained and wondering if I had made the right choice to come out. I didn't feel tired at home. I pushed on, slowly losing touch with the group (well apart from Tim who was lovely and waited for me). Onwards I plodded, noticing I was just not feeling the love of running.

I made a decision to run as far as the bottom of James Thorn where the group turned up the steep slope - the plan was to follow the race route, and a shorter option to turn back westwards at the top of the first climb.  Being good souls there were offers to slow down and hang back for me, but I just wanted to get home and stop moving.

Heading off into the darkness alone I put aside creepy thoughts about the darkness and just tried to keep momentum going. It didn't always work, stopping on flat and downhill sections to walk and try to recover slightly. I took the shorter road route home, partly because there was a light being swept across the hillside ahead in a really odd place - no paths where the torch beam was on - but mostly because it was shorter.

I managed 6.23km in 44:04 with 130m ascent...averaging 7:04/km...which is actually a decent enough pace, shame it didn't feel like it!

Anyway, enough of the self-pity. I ran over 18km on Sunday, just 2 days previously. Then on Monday I did my strength and conditioning training at the gym. The combination of that, plus a hectic previous week has accumulated and taken it's toll more than I had appreciated. I was pleasantly surprised I felt so fresh after Sunday's race. The lesson I take from all this is that as my body is subjected to longer runs, races and packing a little more into a week I need to factor in more quality rest and recovery. On that note, I'm off for a sports massage.

Review & Reminder

Here's my update on February and how my 2012 Aspirations are going...

Monthly (weekly goals are getting a bit lost along the way)

2 Glossopdale Harriers club runs: complete - 10km on 14th and 11.7km on 28th. Both head torch runs on the fell.

2 full days on the hill: 5th - out on Bleaklow in the snow - more about that on my White Out blog. Not had any long days on the hill....must address this one.

2 half days on the hill: complete. 12th - birthday walk with friends; 17th - good nav session around Lordship Hill/Doctors Gate; 19th - nav & geocaching around Cock Hill/Peak Naze;  25th - hide & seek geocaching walk around Lees Hill/Swineshaw Moor north of Hollingworth.

1 weekend away: nope.

1 bivvy night on the hill: nope. life was just too busy. I'm changing this to be 10 bivvy nights during the year...seems more feasible to get nights on the hill away from winter.

Rocks on Lordship Hill - navigation run/walk session

Progress on 2012 Aspirations

#1 - 24 GDH runs: 2 complete, on target. Both were head torch runs...the last of which was in clag - i.e. not a lot of visibility.

#2 - run 3 fell races: 1 complete (Kinder Trial in January), on target. I've entered the Dark&White Mini MM on 18 March (to be held around Macclesfield Forest), and Kinder Downfall race on 22 April.

#3 - cover 25km in one go: max distance 19.25km. I've not run anything longer than Kinder Trial.

#4 - 10 body weight chin ups: max in one go is now 5 which was reached on Thursday last week. Training last Monday saw me hit the 4 bwt x 4 sets target as well. Progress is good. I actually did 17 on Monday and 31 on Thursday - just not all in one go. But if I'd done 17 in one go on Monday then I would have equalled the record for female chin ups at the gym! Some way to go for that record.

Ogden Clough - walking up to place geocache

So, things I need to address:

• run 3 times a week
• weekend away
• more time on the hill doing navigation and learning the local area
• increase running distance 

I have included longer runs on my training programme...I just need to do what it's telling me now during March.

Twinkles

Got my act together finally today (had planned to run in the Hope Valley but forgot some essential kit...leggings!) and headed out into the hills on a Glossopdale Harriers club night run...joined by one other lady which was lovely, otherwise it'd just have been me plodding up into the starry night. 3 guys were out but run much faster than me, they ventured up Wormstones and the Nab.

Our route took us 9km up to Shelf Benches and back in just over an hour 10, nice. A delightful run plus scramble up the steep grassy slope in between the crag faces. Ended with a good pace on the downhill. Was most thankful the majority of the ice has melted. 

No photos...just memories of the stars twinkling above us, thankful for pulling on the running shoes and getting outside in the fresh air.

Headtorch Happiness

My second ever night run took place last night. It started with a gentle warm up run to the leisure centre with Tim then waiting to see which of the Glossopdale Harriers were coming out on the hills. I knew Alison was joining me, and we were meeting Becky in Old Glossop just after 7pm. I'd arranged a C group since me keeping up with either A or B at night was never going to happen. I worked out well; commenting afterwards Alison and Becky both said they were unlikely to have run if I'd not done so - I'm therefore very pleased I made the effort.

Now comes the fun part...running with others and getting used to doing that with torchlight. Weirdly it was fine. That however is partially down to me taking a rather bright light which is designed for cycling. Holding that light in my hand and using a headtorch as well proved a good combination. I was still commenting about how much difference it made as I ran back through the park on the return leg. I think if I do more night runs I'll need a brighter headtorch - while the alpkit one is ok to walk with, in comparison to the cycling torch it was next to useless for running (at least for me!). There's no doubt it added illumination right in front of me, just not as much. Having a slight concern the batteries were going I have replaced them this morning and they appear to have been fine...the cycling light must just be very very bright!

Our route took us up from Old Glossop, along the stony track to Mossy Lea Farm, up the path towards Doctors Gate then veered left up to Spring Cabin and on above Shelf Benches. There was a short stretch where the A group caught and overtook us, so we were briefly running as 10 or so, but were soon back to just the 3 of us keeping a decent pace as the A group stretched out ahead. Poor Becky was running with blisters on her heels...very brave if you ask me, but admirably completed the run. If she's not mentioned it I would have never known. I was pleased I kept up with the others as we climbed up the grassy path. I ran further than I have ever done before switching to a walk. I know the route well so was mentally prepared for the underfoot conditions - this also helped.

We continued up a trod until we reached a small pond...we know we had done so, not because we could see it - the clag had descended upon us, but because we reached the fence, the stile and we know the path, the twists and turns, the marshy bits, the bit with the hole you have to avoid! There was a certain height we reached when we hit cloud base...and then torchlight started to reflect back, the drizzle was persistent and the wind picked up. It was fun!! Wild conditions make the run have more purpose, feel more of an endurance training session and I loved it. I was somewhat cautious of the downhill return leg, but no need. I told my brain to switch off and my legs (especially ankles) to relax. It worked. I kept up with Becky (Alison was long gone...but she kept waiting as you do on social runs) and I started to enjoy relaxing into the pace. Running back along the undulating fields and track I still felt strong and breathing was easy.

Having the others there meant I ran further than I would on a solo run, pushed my pace harder, and found the experience a whole lot more enjoyable. That voice in my head which tried to scare me on my first headtorch run didn't utter a single word all night. Even the wind noises couldn't tempt it to speak up. Brilliant. I'm really glad I insisted on going out last night. I would have run even if I'd been alone, it just wouldn't have been so enjoyable. Thanks girls!

So, there you have it. Running at night can be fun. I'm already thinking of routes to do next week. And that's one Glossopdale Harriers run for the year complete....23 to go! If you want to see the route here's my Garmin track.

Headtorch Horrors

Upon deciding I need to run with the club lots next year came the realisation that either a) some of those runs will need to be in the dark, or b) I'll have to run more often during the lighter summer nights. And herein is a dilemma for me: I've never run in the dark before, well never off road anyway. I've barely done any hill walking at night - the views after all are a large part of why I walk or run so darkness makes that a somewhat pointless exercise.

Now I'm a fully paid up member of the Glossopdale Harriers I was a little excited by the prospect of a winter solstice run. So my hopes were that there might be a large turn out - I donned running gear and set off with Tim to join the head torch gang. My plan B was to do a little solo night navigation/off road running by head torch to see how I got on with it. Secretly I had hoped for a few members to take me under their wing and do a short but equally enjoyable easy night run. It wasn't to be. The 10 club members consisted of most of the fast guys....no way was I going to keep up with them so plan B it was to be for me.

The guys (I was the only lass that had turned out) headed up to Kinder Downfall via Kinder low end and were then descending somewhere west of the fall to the reservoir. For me, I took a steady run up the track to the reservoir and then turned left to the white cabin. Nothing too far - no need to be ambitious on my first dark run. I had darkness and navigation to deal with, so my aim was to break myself in gently.

The gate at the bottom of the cobbles was held open by a Pennine runner...most kind, thank you sir....I think he thought I was one of their stragglers, though stating my name didn't bring any recognition....just thanks from him that I'd given him a reason to have a pause from running.

At the top of the cobbles I got the map out....heading to the cabin was a new route for me and although easy in daytime I wanted to ensure I was on the right path. My map was an a4 photocopy which also added to the challenge - all black and white didn't help easy recognition of features so more time was spent ensuring I had the right black line and the wall I was following was the wall on the map, if you get my meaning. Note to self....take the full colour map next time!

Before heading up the hill I turned my light out and looked east....not much moonlight, cloud base above Kinder Scout, features easily recognised and yep, that's the guys over there I can see, about 8 or 9 lights bobbing up and down. They're making great progress along the edge towards Red Brook.

Returning to my run I follow the path upwards and diagonally across the slope....I'm now totally alone....and in total darkness apart from the beam from my head torch. It was quite mesmerising and surreal. My only night running prior to this run has been on road, without a torch on well (or fairly well) lit roads. This was a totally new experience. When I say run, what I mean is walk. The path was a fairly boggy, leaf sodden path  mixed in with plenty of ankle twisting rocks. I have no idea how anyone can run on this stuff. OK so it's uphill, and I'd more than likely be walking anyway...but run, no way. My body and head resist.

At the same time as my physical struggle I have an inwardly building psychological battle happening. I'm a good distance from the nearest dwelling. I have no real or logical concerns that a malicious person is about to jump out on me and harm me. Yet at the same time I have a nervousness growing that isn't settling. Now I'm really laying my heart out there for you all. I'm sure I can't be the only person who has some reservations about being out there, alone, in the darkness. It is all encompassing. It is totally irrational and I know that. Yet this inner voice plays cruel tricks on me. I fight it, it fights back, I refuse to give in.

I push myself to go on. Push myself to climb higher and further away from the 'saftey' of the car park at Bowden Bridge. I just have to get to the cabin. That's where I said I was going and that's where I shall go.

I work out the confusion of paths and look in the direction of the cabin, and sure enough, there it is about 200ft from where I'm standing. It's here that the voice inside my head which is saying irrational things takes hold and I chicken out completely from walking the final bit up to the cabin....I turn down hill, check the map so the confusion of paths is clear for the return leg and retreat downwards. A strange relief comes over me when I reach the familiar path and cobbles. I pause and ponder whether to head uphill instead of back to the car, knowing the lads will be at least 30-45mins behind me, and knowing what will turn out to be about 4km won't be long enough. Nope, I can't face another heebie-jeebie moment so it's down for me.

Back at the car I'm annoyed and disappointed I haven't done a better run, though realistically I can't figure out how I could have run any more in the dark...head torch beam bobbing, unstable ground underfoot and my lack of experience off road don't add up to a good combination. I need to build up to night running gradually. I know I'll have ages to wait if I just stop now so I run down the road towards Hayfield, back to the car, and then up the other lane for a bit and then settle in to wait for the others to get off the hill.

I've about 30 minutes to wait in the end....plenty of time to ponder my efforts and work out a strategy for how to throw the demons out of my head. I reduce it down to a couple of things...start short, start on familiar ground, and start with a bit of company. I've already lined up the latter so the first two will be easily dealt with. That said, if anyone has any tips on how to run in the dark I'd be most grateful. Essentially I guess it just boils down to experience and more time on the hill.