“Inching Towards December” Weekly Report

Has it really been two weeks since the last report? Time flies when you’re in lockdown… maybe… The Christmas lights seem to be glistening throughout Glossop and at some point a pub may even open! Anyway, here’s the weekly report!

The Search for the Lost Mojo

It’s been all too easy to lose that running mojo, even more so when a lot of social motivators have been taken away from us this year.  Dan Ellingworth decided to get some structure back into running by using the Couch-2-5k app and tells us the story here:

Just thought I would share my recent running diary. There had been various aborted attempts in the last year or so to get back to some regular running, but I couldn’t shake off the imposter syndrome, and feelings that I had regressed so far. So I decided it was time to get back to basics, and aim for a bit of achievable structured running. So I downloaded the NHS Couch-2-5k app.

For those of you not familiar with the app, and programme, it is a 9 week plan, running three times a week, gently progressing from initial sessions of more walking than running, up to running 30 minutes non-stop (i.e. a 5k *ahem*).

The first couple of sessions confirmed in mind that I had definitely not under-estimated my level of fitness. The walking intervals came as a blessed relief. I was probably pushing myself a bit hard (note: Garmin later confirmed I absolutely wasn’t). But I kept going, and after a couple of weeks I began to get a taste of endorphins kicking in, and memories of what being a runner actually felt like. Sessions progressed to more running than walking, with longer runs extending to 5 and then 10 minutes and on. A couple of times the increase felt a bit more challenging, but the process does a good job at building your resolve to get through barriers. Pretty soon I was adding extra runs in, and extending the sessions. Progression felt a bit like those glorious first six to eight weeks of running when you are running twenty or thirty minutes, and can’t believe how difficult running for two minutes non-stop was at the beginning. I’m sure there were physical gains but I am sure the psychological gains were more profound. It was great to do some socially distanced runs with club mates, and seeing others out on their morning runs (though Kirsty had the annoying habit of repeatedly passing me on my walk intervals).

So, yesterday, I did my third 30 minute run of the week, and got my certificate through.

It wasn’t quick, it wasn’t pretty, and technically, it wasn’t (quite) 5k. But it told me I had my mojo back. I was having a shower because I had just run, not because …… (how do non-runners decide when to shower?). I guess a 30 minute 5k is the next aim.

Given the size of the club, I’m sure there are people out there who might want to give the programme a go. I would heartily recommend it: the progressive running is very well thought out, and if you feel the need for a bit of defined structure to reboot your running, it is second to none.

All we need now is some kind of weekly free timed run of around 3.1 miles to start up. Maybe round Manor Park? I feel I am ready for it.

Glossop – You’ll Never Leave

It looks like Jason Hart and Luke Holme tried to leave Glossop (but inevitably came back) when they took on Beyond Marathon’s “Day Release”.  Jason Hart explains all here:

On 25th November Luke Holme and I gave the “Day Release” challenge a go. Devised by the folks at Beyond Marathon as an alternative to this year’s cancelled Escape from Meridan, the challenge was to draw a straight line from your front door to a choice of 3 distances, 15, 30 or 45 miles, making sure all covid rules and regulations were adhered to along the way. Run your chosen distance out and back but you only complete the challenge if the outbound distance is as the crow flies and is done within 24 hours, potential therefore for some serious distances to be achieved for those who were up for it. We took the 15 mile option and I paid £2.50 for the pleasure of having my entry “administered” Luke decided to tag along for the ride at the last minute (like you do on a 40 mile run) but I was seriously glad of the company. I drew a line from Glossop to Harpur Hill, about 2 miles south of Buxton. The straightest route I could devise to get us there and back took us over some of the Peak Districts loveliest hills but ended up being 40 miles in total with over 7k of elevation on paper.

We set off at 11am taking in the Nab, Lantern Pike and Chinley Churn with some pavement bashing in Chinley and Chapel before a long slog across the muddy edge of Combs Moss just outside of Buxton. We wondered around a quarry for a while making sure we were the prerequisite 15 miles as the crow flies from Glossop before setting off to return home. We decided against going back along the edge of Combs Moss in the dark due to its swamp like conditions and opted instead to beat down the A6 through the Royston Vaseyesque Dove Holes and onto Chapel and Chinley again. Avoiding Combs moss saved us time and elevation.

The final hills (Cracken Edge, Chinley Churn and Lantern Pike) were a real slog in the dark, sticky and muddy conditions and Luke looked like he’d been potholeing at the end after multiple comedy tumbles.

We completed our mission in 10 hours with 40 miles and 6800ft of climb in our legs relying on the food we could carry and a stop off at Tesco express, but what else is there to do on a wet Wednesday in November.

Virtual LEJOG

Steve Page is taking on a virtual Lands End to John O’Groats – with 10km running and 30 miles on Zwift for every day in December. Big miles folks!

He’s doing it in aid of Mummy’s Star and you can take a look at his JustGiving page HERE

Oops I did it again – the Kinder Bastard

There are some things in life that you only need to do once, and this is probably one of them.  With that in mind, Ian Crutchley and I set out for a second attempt of the Kinder Bastard after the inaugural effort in October.  The premise is simple – Kinder Corner to Crookstone Knoll (the length of kinder) and back but no touching the edge path allowed.  With our last effort taking 3:09 inevitably we wanted to try and see if we could break 3 hours.  With a potential FKT on the cards I contacted Salomon, inov-8, Runners World and Ginsters to see if we could get some support but I assume their email servers must have been down or something because I didn’t hear anything back.

Getting to the trig by Sandy Heys is straightforward enough and when we arrived at the path by the downfall we came across some friendly GDH folks waving at us – Zoe Barton and Neil Bann.  We asked but, for some reason, they didn’t want to tag along!

Planning the route in any type of detail is almost impossible as you become lost and disoriented in the maze of groughs and any type of straight-line running is almost impossible. We tried to pick our way the best we could to minimise “roller-coastering” up and down the groughs which just zaps the energy (and the soul).

Arriving at Crookstone at around 1:20 we knew sub-3 was in our grasp but also that the return journey was going to be much more horrible!  And it was.  We seemed to find some pretty awful lines on the way back – even finding a 10m stretch to run was considered a roaring success.  Eventually the end was in sight, slightly slowed down by me tripping and commando rolling through the mud with only 400m to go! We finished in 2:54 which we were very pleased with! An FKT!

It’s certainly an interesting challenge and would be great to see some other GDH have a go!

New Old Glossop Fell Race Route

It’s like it’s 1994 again! Josh and Jake Southall took on the New Old Glossop Fell Race route.  It looks like they saw some cracking cloud inversions too.  Great running!

City Slickers

Somehow, Will Mather convinced his sister (Sonn Webb) to run from Chapel to Manchester City and back.  There was lots of coffee and window shopping but an epic 44 miles.  The lesson of the day here? Don’t hang around with Mather too long or he’ll make you do something stupid.

Club Records/Achievements

A few updates on the club achievements page after Paul Peters flew around the GDH 10km route breaking the original record set back in 2006/07 season.  Andy Oliver also supplied me with the results that I couldn’t find for the Shelf Moor route so I’ve trawled from 1985 to present day and the fastest recorded club time is Mike Prady in 40:26. It happens to be the same year (1989) that Colin Donnelly ran the fastest ever time in 39:45! Must have been an epic battle up front!

Check out the update HERE

If anyone is interested in the club history then it’s worth taking a look at the Fellrunner article from 2012 (by Alison Holt and Nev McGraw).  You can read it HERE

Let me know if you know of any other records or achievements that need to be included and it will get included on the next iteration.

Is this the final NOT Coached Session ever, or just for Lockdown 2?

Jeroen’s virtual sessions are still on, so keep your eye on Facebook and either do them, or virtually do them whilst you’re sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea.

As we are not returning to Tier 3 from the current pre-Christmas “lockdown” until Wednesday, at least one more “NOT” Coached Session. Last week was an easy one, at least easy to remember. So this week another set that does not require a Higher Maths degree, not even a track. No excuses as this set can be run anywhere

Time to work on improving your VO2Max. 

5x 5 minutes as 90 seconds at 1-mile pace and 3.30 minutes at threshold pace. Your 1-mile pace is around 9/10 RPE or the pace where you can only utter single words (expletives?). Your threshold pace is a little gentler at ~7/10. You will be able to communicate but only in short, broken sentences (multiple expletives?)

Following your 5 minutes effort, take a 3 minutes recovery, after getting your breath back, a very gentle jog.

Dedicated, serious athletes as you all are, you do not scrimp and save on that all-important warmup. As the main set starts with a high intensity, ensure that your heart rate is significantly raised during the warmup and your breathing much deeper and harder than when you started. Take a couple of minutes rest at the end of your warmup before starting the main set.

Some suggested drills:

• 4x 20 seconds, alternating forward and backward Baby skips with arm circles, alternate walking back on your toes and on your heels
• 3x 30 seconds Butt kicks, walk back. Each 30 seconds a little faster than before.
• 2x 30 seconds Carioca with step-over, once facing left and once facing right.
• 2x 30 seconds High kicks. Put your hand out in front of you, kick your hand with your Left foot. 3 Steps and then same with Right foot
• 4x ~50m straight-leg strides

Now you are ready to start your main set after a couple of minutes rest.

Big Climb and Miles!

Here’s the stats this week:

Distance:

Climbing:

Anything Else?

Many of you will have seen this on FB anyway but an update from the Committee on Club Sessions – watch this space!

Following the new Covid tier information issued by the government this week, which will come into effect from 00:01 on Wednesday 2 December, members will once again be able to run in social groups up to a maximum of 6.

We will issue further guidance regarding club sessions as soon as possible in line with the EA information we’ve been provided.

Whilst we know members will be keen to run together once again after the recent lockdown, we urge caution and strict adherence to the social distancing guidelines.

Finally…

The report writing team have decided to continue with bi-weekly reports for the remainder of the year and will review in the new year depending on what’s happening.  Keep sending stuff in about anything running/club related to gdhweeklyreports@gmail.com no job (or run) too small.