North Worcestershire Path success

Well the week went pretty well. A couple runs in the teens during the week. An easy morning on my bike trainer to give my legs a break. Easy Saturday run. Then 24 miles on Sunday. A couple photos from my weekday runs follow:

I was hoping for 30 miles on Sunday but I woke at 4am and heard a gang of drunks yelling outside which deterred me, then the wife asked me to go in the afternoon since she had a few wines the night before and wanted me around for the morning. So I was delayed, no big deal.

I got out at 2pm after the little one fell asleep and headed out the canal towards Kinver. It was hot and sunny so I wore a singlet and actually applied sun screen!  I headed out with intentions of 30 miles; 3 gels, one bottle of water.

People were everywhere since it was nice out, especially along the canal, but once I got on the smaller foot paths there were few. I worked my way up to Kinver Edge/ Kingsford Park and got on the North Worcestershire Path. This was the opposite direction from the last time I tried it when I got lost in Shatterford and altered my plans.

The trail was awesome, mostly single track and through beautiful countryside, some beautiful homes as well. I asked for directions going though a trailer park where a fat tattooed man with no shirt grinned at my accent, helped me out and then said "shouldn't you be drinking a beer in the sun?" My reply, "yep, it's at home, why don't you have one for me?"  He laughed and I trekked on.

I once again got lost near Shatterford, did a bit of a tour around the tiny village, and with the help of the photo of a map of the area on my camera I was back on track without too much lost time. Just before this I am pretty sure I ran by and saw Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. A green Morgan passed me on a small country lane and despite the short glimpse it sure looked like him. The car pulled into a ginormous farm house and he lives right in that area. I threw the horns in the air just for fun.

the wrong way along this trenched out bridleway

the right way past nice houses! 

Shortly after I descended to Eyemore Wood and saw the mistake I made the last time I attempted the North Worcestershire Path and then I made it to Upper Arley. I heard the Severn Valley steam train tooting away as I met up with the River Severn. I then saw tons of people eating ice cream and I will remember next time to bring some money!

I called the wife to let her know the time frame and I decided to cut my run short in order to be home for dinner. I followed the Severn Way towards Bewdley but opted to cut up into the Wyre Forest to avoid all the people in town.

Severn Way

viaduct

looking towards Bewdley

I then figured out another section of foot path that I had gotten lost on recently which was nice. This was the connector from Bewdley to Ribbesford Church. Turning here now and climbing up into Ribbesford and on towards Stourport would add another 9 miles. In the future I'll do that for a long run.

sneaky foot path I missed!

For now it was onward towards home. So I was on my way in familiar territory behind the Safari Park. I finished with 24 miles. I wanted 30 and considered going out for another 6 later but after looking at my weekly mileage I settled on 24. 

a blurry shot of the Severn Valley Railway

poppies!

Overall. Felt pretty good. I didn't drink enough water however. I was peeing the darkest I ever have seen which was kind of scary honestly. I'm on the water now and will pee all night long now most likely! 

Oh, one last thing. I've been snooping around for a tiny camera to race with and found one. Nikon Coolpix S01. Not nearly as nice as the one I normally carry, it's a very basic point and shoot, but it is super tiny and light which is what I'd like. It was cheap too. Normally I'm in a race to race not take photos but am considering carrying the thing in the future. We shall see. Check it out, pretty sweet however you can tell the photo quality is not nearly as good above. I shot all the photos from my run today with it.

New races in the future

Well as the running season progresses things keep changing. So for my training for the Superior 100 I need to run a 50 to 60 mile run which I was planning on doing the Worcestershire Way from Kidderminster to Great Malvern and back. That would give me about 60 miles I think. However I expect the trail to be overgrown, I've never ran it the entire way, and I'd need to be very self supportive. All of these things direct me away from it. So, luckily I found a 52 mile "walk" that is going on next month in Much Wenlock, the origins of the Olympics.

The final event of the Much Wenlock Olympian Games is the Wenlock Olympiad Walk. A 52 mile tour of the Shropshire hills. The Olympian Games have all sorts of events very similar to the Olympics. Straight from their website: "The Games were originally designed "to promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the Town and neighbourhood of Wenlock"."

Anyway, the Wenlock Olympiad Walk is not a race however people do run it. They have 4 aid stations and it is a loop that covers part of he Stretton Skyline fell race I've done in the past. Seems like a good safe option for a long run. It only has 4000 vertical feet, I'd prefer more, but I'll work with what I've got. It's also only 30 minutes from my home, so conveniently located! Oh, and about 35 bucks! 

I've also entered the Longmynd Hike. A 50 some mile race one most of the Stetton Skyline course in Church Stretton and adds more obviously. The race seems to be a British classic and fills up in a matter of hours, I registered about 24 hours ago, just checked, it's full! The race begins at 1 pm I think so running into the night is mandatory. It's also 100 percent self sufficient with odd rules that you can't run alone at night. Anyway, sounds like fun.

If all goes well; no injuries, no burn out, I should be pretty tuned up for a stellar race at Beacons Ultra in November, the same race I did last year in Wales. 

So my racing has shifted from spring to fall. I'm feeling pretty good, although a bit tired. Well I'm tired a lot! I took the past two days totally off from everything which I think was needed. Back at it today, got in 14 miles, and shooting for a 60 to 70 mile week. I've been napping while the little one naps which has been helping with sleep too. 

Still smokin'

Got out this morning for a nice 13 miles. A little rainy and all the vegetation was wet so I got soaked but no big deal as the temp was pretty nice for running.  No run yesterday but no problem really.

The recycling plant is still kicking off smoke which settled along the canal again. I also ran through Stourport and right near the river some form of government environment agency has pumps and aerators set up to prevent pollution from run off entering the River Severn. The firefighters are also tending the pump station/pollution "dams" on the canal. Only the one photo as I didn't bring my camera, only my phone. 

Early smoke filled run

flowers in the canal

Well someone cranked up the humidity today. Nothing like MN but damn! Going to be a tough week for miles but I'm pretty sure I can get done what needs to be. The little one has a cold and the wife is in London for two days. I got up at 4am today to get in 7 miles before she left and I'm feeling the early rise, especially since the little one was noisy last night and also took her time getting to sleep. Hoping to get the Chariot out tomorrow but at least some time on the treadmill.

more flowers in the canal

A few more photos from this morning. A recycling plant spontaneously started on fire the other day so the smoldering ruins are still kicking off smoke which I got to run in today. Haven't done that since fighting wildfires in 1996. We were staging at a high school and one of the other crew members and myself would get out at night and run laps on the track for something to do, all the time sucking in the smoke from the surrounding fires. The humidity was far worse though than here in the UK! I think at the time during the day the heat index was 125 degrees Fahrenheit!

pump station, two firefighters were sleeping in here!

Long runs in new places

Well I hit my goal mileage and then some this week. Topped out over 70 miles which is where I want to be. Felt pretty good all week too. Yesterday got out for 16 miles before work and today 21. The little one seems to be getting up earlier than normal which is no good for running. I try to be back by 7am if I can to get her up and the day going. Also the wife has been running again which is great but she's not a big fan of the 5am start like me so anytime the little one gets up before 7am it messes with the wife's workout schedule. Sure no big deal but I want her to keep at it, she's getting stronger and stronger, is super psyched and happy, and is just overall more positive. I'd like to keep her on track with that. Earlier mornings may be in my future.

Yesterday I hit up a nice loop over to the Wyre Forest and then got kind of lost trying to connect to Ribbesford Wood via footpath. Unfortunately the footpaths seemed to disappear and were really overgrown. So a little bushwhacking and I made it but would have preferred a few more miles or a little less thrashing. Fun run overall with some new terrain.

Wyre Forest singletrack

Wyre Forest oaks

footbridge before the bushwhacking began

Severn Way single track

Today I intended to run to Upper Arley along the River Severn then onto the North Worcestershire Way to the canal and home. Was up at 4am and out running by about 430am. Very nice morning and not too may drunks to deal with.

odd looking deer near Trimpley reservoir

Victoria Bridge (Severn Valley Railway)

starting the North Worcestershire Path

Just past Arley near Shatterford (where Robert Plant lives) I got off the North Worcestershire Way and ended up losing the trail due to limited signage and limited map. I was hoping I'd bump into the lead singer of Led Zeppelin walking the dogs or something and then get directions, that would have been pretty cool! I never was really lost but had to improvise yet again. Ended up connecting to the Habberly Valley trails and just started following footpaths.

following unknown farm roads

Habberley Valley loop

I haven't ran much in the Habberley area but it was great, really hilly which is what I want! Anyway a good overall run today. A little tired but overall feeling pretty good and injury free. Right on track it seems.

Going to try to keep up the mileage this next week and then take an easier week before putting in a 30 plus mile run. Also need to consider the amount of walking that will happen during the Superior 100. I may run to the Home Depot equivalent and get some cinder blocks to jack up our treadmill. Then once a week get on it and power walk uphill for a few miles to get my walking stronger. Many people say this is a great idea since many of the hills in the race are too steep to run. I'll report back soon on that!

Moving right along

Bullock Bridge

 Well the days have been chuggin' along. Had a fairly easy-ish week this past one. Never did get the little one out in the Chariot trailer but still am hoping to. Been working on my calluses and it seems to be working well. A couple on the main pad of my left foot are going to be tough to get at but a little perseverance and I should be able to reduce them a bit.

looking over Stourport from the trig point in Ribbesford

Got a solid night of sleep last night which was nice, I think I needed that. I sleep about 7 - 8 hours a night normally (mainly leaning towards the 7) but had been having issues getting to sleep which was odd for me. 7 seems to be no problem but sometimes the little extra may help for recovery. No run today for me so despite the wife leaving early for work, a random alarm going off at 4am, and the noisy birds, I got a pretty solid night in as mentioned.

thank you for mowing, along the Severn Way

Time to up my mileage, I think I say that in every post! Been going at 50 plus miles per week. This week going for 60 plus. I figure if I add in a midweek run in the teens mileage-wise I should be golden. Here on out am hoping to get in a 20 plus miler in every weekend. Also started doing 200 body weight squats during the week in addition to my normal body weight exercises. I've been taking the weekends off from this stuff to give myself time to recover but otherwise it's Monday to Friday two exercises each day and squats now. So each day I'll do one of the following: pull ups/back bridges, push ups/hanging leg raises, or handstand push ups/squats. I've been doing this since January and have gotten noticeably stronger since then which is pretty cool. It's amazing how weak my core and shoulders were.

 

Training for this beast is interesting. It's unknown territory I'm going into and despite comparing my running to  training programs it still feels like not enough which is weird. As with my first 50 miler though: "you've done the training, you'll be fine" is the mantra it seems. Most say the difference between running 50 miles and 100 miles is 10% physical 90% mental.  

The photos are from a recent loop down the canal to Stourport, along the River Severn, into Ribbesford Wood, and back home via Rifle Range/ Devil's Spittleful. Had poor light due to the overcast skies.

Anyway, just need to keep un-injured and keep to the plan!  

Well running is going ahead as planned which is nice, have been getting some long back to back runs in over the weekends consistently which is what I need. Been doing more squats and lunges to strengthen my quads. I didn't think they were doing much until Saturday. Yesterday (Sat) before work I knocked out 17 miles below 7 minute per mile pace. I did two laps of my 8.5 mile loop, hitting the hills hard, and definitely felt those squats around mile 11! My legs were on fire! Well I guess that is what I was looking for.

Today got out for 13 miles this morning, wanted to get it up to 15 to 17 but with time constraints it didn't happen. Thought about taking the little one out in the Chariot later to make up a few miles but was just unmotivated, tired, and she was grumpy. None the less I ended up taking her out in her normal stroller and power walked 3 miles. This may be a good way to get myself ready for portions I'll have to walk in the Sup 100. Kind of glad actually I left the Chariot at home, it was pretty busy out with the weather being so nice and the canal paths are kind of over grown so not much passing space.

Tonight I got my mountain bike up and running and also swapped the "trailer kit" for the "jogging kit" on the Chariot. Tomorrow I may get the little one out for a bike ride. No running for me. I need a day off but an easy spin would be good to get the blood flowing. Have yet to take the little one out in the trailer so should be fun and a good test ride.

I may have mentioned this in the past but the ball of my right foot grows a pretty big and gnarly callus. It has started to cause a bit of pain now and a I'm guessing that it's slowly forming into a huge deep blister which it has in the past. In doing some research it appears that the best thing to do is get rid of it in order to prevent the inaccessible blister. So this week I need to find the time to do this. I'm thinking that 60 grit sandpaper will be my best bet so tomorrow I may head over to the Home Depot equivalent and do a little shopping. Sandpaper?! Well those stupid pumice stones don't do the job. I'm not looking for nice smooth feet, I'm looking to get rid of skin!

So a rest week this week so my mileage will be cut back, still do speed work, a hill session, and my body weight exercises but no long cardio. Then it's time to up the mileage, I'm hoping to start doing  65 - 75 mile weeks including at least one run over 20 miles. Also need to focus on hill repeats going up and down one day per week.

So that's the plan, we move forward...