Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

The run streak continues, except now I am half way through the Advent Run Streak, and so far so good. I'd be lying if I said every run has seen me feeling absolutely fantastic - in fact, last Wednesday's tempo run was awful, and I hated every minute of it! Things started off pretty well on Monday with just a nice and easy 6km. Mondays are usually a rest day for me, but given I would be running slowly and it was only a short run compared to my normal distance, I actually quite enjoyed it. The Advent challenge set by Sinister Sports for that particular day was to play our favourite Christmas song whilst out on our run. I don't tend to listen to music when I'm running as I like to absorb my surroundings, but when I arrived home, I did opt for "The Christmas Present" album by Robbie Williams, and with a mix of old and new Christmassy songs, it certainly put in the festive mood :) Things got moved around a bit this week when it came to speedwork, and my usual Tuesd...

This past week has been all about Runukkah, which if you've been following along in recent weeks, you will know it's the virtual event organised by Sinister Sports. Comprising of an eight day running streak in recognition of the Jewish festival of light, otherwise known as Hanukhah, I chose the longer distances for the week which started with the 3km last Sunday and increased in distance each day by 3km, finishing with 24km today. My usual mileage for a week is around about 80km or 50 miles unless I am racing but taking part in Runukkah would mean around 108km for the week, or around 67 miles. Yes I'm an ultra runner and I have raced much further than this, but I have to say that running for 8 consecutive days without a rest day, and with the distance increasing each day, I have found it quite the challenge! Things weren't too bad earlier in the week - a 6km run on Monday followed by a 9km on Tuesday wasn't too bad at all as I would typically run further than that s...

Another great week has passed by, and running is still going well. I'm still getting a little tightness in the old hamstrings and the glutes, but I am getting better at stretching on a regular basis as well as adhering to the weekly strength sessions that my coach schedules in for me. As per the usual routine, Tuesdays are once again my day for speedwork or faster paced running, and given that we are currently in a melt/freeze/melt/freeze cycle with the lying snow, the pavements are a skating rink when it comes to completing my evening runs. I've mentioned numerous times my reluctance to run "fast" when conditions outside are less than ideal, so on Tuesday evening, I once again found myself doing my session at the local rec centre. This week it was a 10km progression run. I was going to use the indoor track, but sometimes the track can be far too busy for the pace I need to do, and I'm not too keen on swerving around people on a 200m track with very little space f...

On this weekend last year, I had taken part in the Barkakoo 55km Ultra at Chickakoo. It was an extremely snowy day on a tough, hilly, technical course, and I ended up finishing first overall in nine hours 4 minutes. It was a fantastic event and I absolutely loved the tough, challenging course, so much so that I had every intention of going back again this year. The race was this weekend but I hadn't registered this year, simply because I wanted it to be just as tough as it was last year. Up until last weekend, we had had no snow whatsoever, and I didn't want to run the course on clear trails in mild weather. And then it came. On Tuesday this week, we had our first proper dump of snow with around 15cm falling locally. The organisers of Barkakoo shared photos of the course, and it looked just like last year. I now really, really wanted to go back again to do it all over again, but I didn't feel like I was in a racing mood so I grudgingly gave it a miss.  The heavy snow earlie...

It's been another hectic week with barely any time to take a breath at work and then crazy evenings trying to catch up with things when I get home. The good news is that I'm still making time for all the things I enjoy doing - walking the pups, making my videos, and of course my running.  The pups tend to go for at least three walks a day, one of which is early morning before I head into work. I love these early morning walks as they set me up for the day and always put a smile of my face before a busy day in the office. The weather has started to turn much cooler in the mornings, so Tillie tends to stay home snuggled up in her bed rather than wandering around in the dark with me, Wilson and April, but I will admit that I do miss her not joining us on those morning walks. Thankfully though she is always keen for her afternoon visit to the dog park, and I get to spend that special time with all three of them for a good hour or so every evening when I get home.  Dog park fun wit...

It's been another amazing and busy month with more camping trips, more races, and of course, fun times with the pups who never fail to put a smile on my face. It all started when I decided at the last minute to do the River's Edge Ultra again out in Devon. Thanks to Covid, all REU races had been cancelled and I had forgotten that I had a race credit still to use up. With a trail marathon on my training schedule for the same weekend as the race, I decided to register for the 50k with the intention of using things as a good final training run for the Grizzly 50k a couple of weeks later. We decided to make a weekend of it this year, and with free camping provided on-site, we headed over on the Friday evening to pitch the tent and spend a night under the stars. I tend to sleep really well in a tent even the night before a race, and after a really good night's sleep, I was pretty excited to hit the trails the following morning. Race day dawned and after my usual bowl of porridge...

The first time I camped under canvas was way back in 1973 - I was just 6 months old, and I apparently slept much better in a tent than I did in my cot back home. Even now, all these years later, I find sleeping in a tent extremely relaxing, and I generally have a decent night's sleep. Last weekend, I headed off for another camping trip, this time at Long Lake, which is about two hours drive from home. The plan was for Wilson and I to do a walk-in camp for the weekend, whilst Andy stayed with the girls and kept them entertained in our absence.  I was going to be using just basic gear, and my accommodation would be a tarp which I would be making into a tent. I took everything in my backpack just to test things out for future backpacking trips, whilst Wilson would be carrying some of his own stuff in a little doggy backpack that we had recently purchased for him. The weather for the weekend looked to be warm and dry, although it was expected to get close to freezing point overnight,so...

 It's been another fun weekend, and whilst our next camping trip isn't until next weekend, I've still managed to get outdoors and do some if the things I love to do. We also celebrated a fellow Youtuber's 40th birthday, and it was great to finally meet them and put faces to names we only ever hear in a video. It started with a lovely walk with the pups at the Terwilliger dog park. This area is great for walking the dogs, with tons of trails and wide open spaces, and a couple of doggy beaches alongside the river which is certainly the main attraction for Wilson, Tillie and April. Dog park fun ... Wilson and Tillie :) Dog park fun with April! Beautiful autumn colours :) We were there for a good couple of hours again whilst the three dogs had a good swim and a play, explored the woods and got excited when spotting the squirrels, and of course socializing with all the other dogs and tiring themselves out. It's definitely their favourite dig park, and seeing them looking...