Run over Bleaklow

After that last post, I dont want to seem like I am going to become obsessed with numbers. The enjoyment of a sport can be dampened by the participants thirst for making the numbers better. How fast they are going, how many calories they are burning etc.
As soon as running and biking stops becoming the main priority- as soon as I am going out only for numbers, that is when I am going to stop using my watch. That is the point where it gets silly.
For the moment, I intend to use numbers as a guide, to show me when I am getting faster, but the over-riding principle is, the activity itself has to remain fun.

In that vein, I went out on my second run of the week today, up over Bleaklow, again not really looking at numbers, (I have to admit here that I havent started the Heart rate monitoring yet- I'm only using it as a retrospective tool) and just ran across the moor and back again.
It was misty and claggy, I saw no-one else, save a couple of sheep and a couple of Hares which are half grey and half white at the moment. Picked out a couple of trods that I've never seen or been along before and had a rather fantastic time. As I came back over the top, the mist lifted and the entire hill was in view, the sun was out in places, and there was a great atmosphere, I need to start running with a camera more.

I must hasten to add that I fell over 5 times, which wouldn't really have done a camera much good. It would seem that its got a bit wet and slippy for Roclites. If you are up on the tops in anything less than something with a ridiculous amount of grip- take care, and be ready to fall.
Baregrips are the way forward for the time being.
Unless I see my way to getting a pair of Mudclaws... mmmm. More stuff to break.

Back from Norway

Brief background of the last 2 weeks. 

Started in Hemsedal, boarding and skiing- actually ,mostly boarding- which was good fun. The snow was good to begin with, getting more icy as it went on. 

Temperature ranged from 0 to -20 or so, and I managed to get a fair few jumps going through the board park. 

One slightly memorable run through saw me nail the massive jump in the middle, and then catch the lower jump at a bad angle, ending up in a faceplant from 5ft. Black eye, bruising on the thigh (which is only JUST coming out a week and a half after it happened) and minor concussion. First time Ive had concussion as well, which was fun. 

Unfortunately I managed to smash the LCD display of my garmin 305, so Im going to have to get another one. Looked at some Suunto watches, and although they are good, they arent quite as training oriented. 

Dog sledding was great- the dogs were very loud, very keen, and ran like the wind. 

We were taught some background details on ice climbing by Leslie out in Gol, where it was about -15- a bit too cold for decent ice, but we got a couple of routes in, and amassed a vast range of knowledge about placements, ice conditions and general ice information ready for Rjukan. 

At Rjukan we only managed to get a couple of days worth of climbing in, WI2-3 was the highest we got- single pitch only, but it was a good taster to know what we are capable of, and what needs to be thought about for a later date. 

Managed not to get the hot aches at all- which may be because of the ice massage I was doing to my knee before I went- opening capillaries on a daily basis and getting used to the cold and heat. My feet got very cold though- especially the toes- so new socks will have to be investigated. The worst part was the ice axe placements when tired- it got more difficult to actually place with any degree of accuracy once the arms died. 

However, we all survived, and Im going to have to see about investing in a pair of Quarks and some Airtechs. 

Back to the running etc. as I was consuming massive amounts of calories to keep warm in Norway, and evidently not expending them at the rate I thought I would. 

added to that, Boxhill fell race is coming up on the 17th, a DAR on the 24th, and Ive booked into the Open 12 for June. The calender of pain is beginning to take shape.