I mixed it up today on the weekly long run, by modifying my ‘high peaks’ route, which links three of the highest peaks in the Mourne Mountains to include scrambling routes wherever possible. I had a lot of fun until the thunder storm 😲
36.5km, 2403m evaluation. Ronda dels Cims training is well underway!
Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/997222027/
RIP Chris Cornell 🎶
On Friday 5th September I set sail for Scotland, with my ultimate destination Keswick in the Lake District. The purpose of the trip was to join High Terrain Events for a two day recce of the 3×3000 race route. Having never been in the Lake District before, I figured this might just be a good idea! I don’t want to learn it at 5am in the dark on race morning!
The race is a rework of the classic ‘Lakes 3000s’ route for the Skyrunner National Series, which is also in its first year. The route covers 80Km and a mean 4000m of ascent. It’s mostly marked, but that means nothing in the clag and high mountains. The route starts (5am) and finishes at Crow Park, Keswick, and undulates along the hills to the east of Derwentwater, before it winds it was up the Borrowdale Valley to the first summit – Scafell Pike. The tallest mountain in England at 978m. That’s checkpoint one! The route then heads off towards Wythburn on the southern banks of Thirlmere, via Angle Tarn and High Raise. At approximately half way, the route ascends the Helvellyn range, were we have a checkpoint on the Helvellyn summit and another at the end of the range on Clough Head. A sharp fell descent from Clough Head and a short trail run across to the checkpoint at Latrigg brings us to the last of the 3000s, Skiddaw. The route here is an anti-clockwise summit loop by Dash Falls, then a steep final fast descent from the summit trig point back to Latrigg. The last section is an easy 5Km back to the finish at Crow Park.
Click here to view the Route Map
PROGRESS… FINALLY! After 10 days I think I may have shaken off a pesky strain in my right calf!
After what has felt like far too long resting, stretching, icing and foam rolling, it was finally time to get out there and see if the injury has cleared up. The plan for this week was a few short zone 2 aerobic runs. Nothing hilly, just plain old boring flat road running.
Slippers off, runners on!
This week’s long run saw myself and a few friends tackle a well trodden loop; the Mourne Way, Trassey Track to Hare’s Gap and back along the Brandy Pad.
Mourne Way, Trassey Track & Brandy Pad.
It was a supremely wet and windy morning in Lisburn as I arrived at the car share location just after 7am; the forecast wasn’t looking much better for the rest of the day. We arrive in Donard Park, Newcastle, and managed to set off at 8.30am. It was still dark, and the wind was howling through the trees. There wasn’t much chance of my feet staying dry for long, especially in a pair of INOV8 Trailroc 150, which were getting their second outing.
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Today I travelled to DCU to have my vo2 Max tested. The purpose of this is to test your aerobic efficiency. The test involved running on a treadmill for 11-15 minutes at a constant 12kmph. After the initial warm-up period the gradient would increase every 60 seconds.
I found the test difficult, as it should be, but I wasn’t overly pleased with the result (46.3). The sports scientist who ran the test me said that a 15 point increase would be achievable with specific hard rep training.
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mountains and athleticism
The Shawangunk Runners are a club of runners who train on the trails of the scenic Shawangunk Mountains in upstate New York
Belfast Association of Rock climbers & Fell runners
A classic round of 600 metre peaks
The very healthy lifestyle blog
I Run Over Mountains 