Sunday 1 November. Non-work/life balance...

A Land Rover parked near Bera Bach summit.
When I do get a job, I'm treating myself to an old Landy, just like this one! A real treat to see one on the open fell - no 4*4 tracks up here!

I felt quite fresh after last week's OMM and was ready for a big week of training. This was a really good sign, i.e. that 13 hours on the fells with a pack through tiring terrain under race conditions didn't appear to take too much out of me. But the big week I hoped for didn;t happen, mainly because i need to get a job.

I've been officially redundant for a month now and whilst the settlement and savings mean that things aren't desperate or even tight yet, as they are for many people who would kill to be in my position, it's fair to say that not working is starting to affect my state of mind and confidence. It's absolutely not the only show in town by any means, but unemployment is making me feel like shit.

During August and September, the "gardening-leave" salad days of late summer, getting out to train whilst on full pay was a joy! Sure I was coming to terms with a change which was unpleasant in many ways, but it was a real treat to be running and getting paid. I was job hunting too, but running was the real feature, and i got fit after months of losing fitness. Now, the urgency is increasing and the balance between the job that is jobhunting and running needs to be thought out more earnestly.

Last week I was touting myself around various Interim Managenment agencies, and the noises from them were promising. THis meant I couldn't do a 2-dayer or a big night run as planned. That's to come next week. Instead, i made do with more orthodox outings, including a couple of club runs on the road. Thankfully, I managed to get 11,000+ feet of climbing in over two very contrasting days out so the magic quota of 10,000 feet is being hit. But It's 7 weeks to go and now is the time for the long days that test your head...

I also need to start making arrangements, such as booking the hut etc. Think i'll go again with Achille Ratti hut on Dunmail again if it's free. Worked well last time...

As it was, I had a cracking day out in Snowdonia on an old favourite route of mine, a circuit from Aber which takes in Moel Wnion, Drosgyl and the Beras before dropping down to the foot of Yr Elen and climbing steeply up there before climbing Llewellyn and then the 3000'ers north. I threw in the usual minor summits overlooking Aber (ran up them all) to give a 17 mile, 6200 foot day in about 5 hours. I felt great, even a few short days after the OMM, and the night after an interval session on the roads at the club (I did feel the OMM in that).


Foel Grach summit shelter - a stone hut on a 3000' hilltop and a good place for a break and a Mars Bar

The head of the Aber valley, with the famous falls visible

Another road run followed before other things to do meant i couldn't run until Sunday. In order to get to 10,000' for the week, I could have gone to the Clywdian Hills race. Instead, I prepared loads of job stuff before deciding on a bit of power workout - which means Tattenhall railways. The most I'd ever done in one session was 10, and I ran to the top for 9 of those and half of the 10th one. That was just before my summer BGR in 2007. I needed 10 to get to my 10,000' weelkly target, but decided to go for 12, a new record and a very intense 4,000' of climb in very steep 330' bursts. Perhaps I could run them all?

Well, autumn is a different beast to spring when I ran 9 and a half of them. Then it was dry, the ground was perfect and the temperature lovely and warm. This time the railway was full of leaves, recent rain meant the sleepers were slippery as hell and running was impossible without agonisingly slipping back down every other step. So I ran the first half of all of them and walked the second, steeper half.

Well I was leg-weary after just one. The railway doesn't waste any time in exposing how tired you are. However, this was a head-training session. Long rounds are done on tired legs, so I had to keep going on tired legs here. Non elite types probably start to get heavy legs after about 8/9 hours of the BGR. I know I did. But rounds are all about dealing with that feeling, not preventing it. Iin truth, the discomfort I felt on Seargent Man during my summer round didn't get any worse until about Green Gable at which point I knew it was in the bag.

So I kept plodding upwards and back downwards, taking about 10 mins per climb and descent - pretty slow going. I ended up getting into a familar rhythm, my BGR plod. It was a freakish kind of muscle memory, lapsing into a rhythmic climb that is powerful enough to get me up steep slopes yet efficient enough to preserve strength to last over long periods. The hardest climbs were numbers 2 to 5. After that, autopiliot took over as my body remembered. My mind remembered too, and rather than thinking about each railway climb or the watch, I starting thinking about old friends, what I was going to have for tea, how Forest were going to get on against Cardiff (they drew, I was right!) and numerous other things which meant I kept finding myself mildly shocked at being at the top each time.

Finally, it feels like it's all coming back...

Week summary

Mon - rest after OMM
Tues - intervals, road 7.5M - 4*hilly lower loops at Burwardsley, @800' ascent
Weds - Carneddau, 17M, 6,200' - 5 hours, easy paced and felt great. Chilly, some cloud on top.
Thurs - 9.5M, included 2*2mile intervals at 7 min/mile - steady pace only
Fri and Sat - Rest, busy
Sun - 12 Tattenhall Railways, 4,000' ascent

Totals - 11,000' ascent/descent, @40 miles