OK, let’s see if this works. I’m going to try and use this motivational tool on a once a week basis. And this time there’s a specific event on the horizon for which I’m thinking of (dare I use the word) “training”.… in a specific, training sort of way.
There, I’ve said it.
And that was my first step.
This race I shall from now on refer to as “the race I dare not mention not even to myself (and especially not to my wife)”. The resultant acronym is TRIDNMNETM (AENTMW). A bit crap really.
If I’m absolutely honest this wasn’t the first step. I’ve already taken several tentative steps including signing up for the event in question (and this one goes to a lottery like the London marathon, so I might not get in anyway…all the more reason not to mention it then!)
What I’m yet to do is …”training,” and this is where runninngcommentary.co.uk can help me out.
Through January, February and March I’ve kept up my twice weekly running routine which has kept me in good stead for most of my adult life. One run is sometimes a half hour jaunt around the local canal and the other is generally along the hilly Monte Pajariel trails and varies from 45 minutes up to an hour and a half. But it's not really "training"; there’s no real method to the madness and no set times or distances. For The Race I dare not mention… all that must change. As our resting webmaster guru might say, “it all starts here…”
Week One, 6 Kilometres.
There’s still not much training to report on, so here are some thoughts about the task ahead. The race I dare not mention will involve;
1. Specific training.
2. A weekend away from home.
3. The possibility of failure.
4. The possibility of divorce.
The seed of the event germinated dangerously in my head after the race up the Morredero pass last November. I had just come across the thin man from La Bañeza. The thin man from La Bañeza is the only person that I know personally who has completed the race I dare not enter (but have done anyway…almost). I managed to wean some information from him as he was stretching his lean, mean, runner bean legs behind the Morredero ski hut.
It’s a bloody hard task just to finish. The man from La Bañeza finished, so it’s possible, but then again he’s a much better runner than me. He’s also been up Mont Blanc.
There’s an awful lot of climbing. Now I haven’t got much of a head for heights. Nothing serious, it’s just that I’d never be capable of jumping from an aeroplane, not even with a parachute on. And the big dipper at Blackpool pleasure beach really scared the shit out of me. I still have nightmares more than 20 years on. So anything resembling rock climbing is a definite no no. I learnt that much in Villamanín last year. With this in mind I asked my runner bean friend if there were any fearful drops. He said that it had been too misty to tell but there were some sections with ropes to cling onto. Didn’t know whether this information should be reassuring or not.
There were only 3 drink stations and an element of self sufficiency was taken for granted. According to Runner Bean the Montes Aquilianos was a much better organized event than the one I daren't mention.
He also said that his knees were still crunching for 2 weeks afterwards but that he’d be doing it again to try and lower his time.
I’ve got just under 3 months to get organized. It looks like I’ll have to give up the footie…boing boing…sob.
Decided that in the interests of the task ahead it was time to pack the football in (not that Ive actually played much this season). So I showed up last Sunday morning intending to hand my shirt back but ended up playing a full 90 minutes. Started off at centre forward but somehow worked my way back to left back by which time we were heading for a very respectable 1-1 draw with the league leaders.
Then Disaster struck.
With a mere 5 minutes left to play their nippy right winger was clumsily bundled over by Bierzo Baggie inside the box. It wasnt a clear cut penalty and I thought Id got away with it but the referee started pointing theatrically at the spot and ran towards it just like they do on the telly. All hell broke loose and the referees mother was insulted on several occasions which is pretty serious shit over here. The end result was two sendings off and the threat of expulsion from the league in the case of any future mother-cursing high jinks.
Decided that this was an appropriate moment to call it a day.
Curiously, the shin pads Ive been using for the last couple of seasons are a pair of Johnny Haynes Slazengers which I found stashed away in a box in the attic. They must have once belonged to my dad. Or to my granddad. As Johnny Haynes was in his heyday in the early 60s its likely that these shin-pads are nearly 50 years old. I suppose that I could have sold them on E-bay. Theyre a bit smelly now and Ill probably keep them for nostalgias sake.
And in the meantime I got out twice during the week and covered about 15 kilometres in all. Time is running out and its time for a slightly more serious plan.
stillwaddler Wrote:Johnny Haynes, theres a blast form the past..
Come on curiosity is killing us - What Are You Doing Over There
Yep, there can't be many of us on here who remember Haynes. I saw him play for Fulham a couple of times back in the mid-60s, though I remember little about it.
BB -- am picking up my tix for the last game of the season against West Brom tomorrow, when I go along to the Charlton game. I'm hoping that the Baggies will have the title sewn up by then so that we can win the game guiltlessly. Should be a great occasion with your lot celebrating promotion and QPR fans full of excitement about the change in the club's fortunes over the past few months.
Can't wait -- for the game, and for next season.
Good luck with the training; great to see you back on the hills.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:Mate, this is all getting a bit serious - you sure you haven't taken up triathlons or something else equally monstrous?
Triatlón? Nope,..try again.
Week 3: Ran 3 times and notched up a shade under 30kms. Its still not enough so
.heres the plan, originally written on the back of a beer mat. Its based on a common sense approach for the task ahead and incorporates the highly sensible run-walk strategy occasionally championed on this forum.
Mid-week. Will focus on quick forays of up to an hour and technical descents, although speed isnt particularly important as my aim in the race is just to finish. Ideally I should get out 2 or 3 times a week.
Sunday mornings. Very long ones. Ill have to get in a lot of steep climbing and be prepared to do as much walking as running. A ridiculously early start may be on the cards if Im not to disrupt family routines. My unused head-torch lies in the cupboard just in case.
The first long en will be tomorrow.
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:And have you told Mrs. BB??
I fear that the race itself will be a piece of cake. Telling Mrs. BB is the bit I'm really dreading..
stillwaddler Wrote:Come on curiosity is killing us - What Are You Doing Over There
WAY DOT ..I like that. Sorry Sw. It's the race I can't mention not even to myself..
Andy..I've a feeling that Albion will be coming to Loftus Road with everything to play for. Plus there are rumours that the last game of the season is in fancy dress ..it should be a good one .
Bierzo Baggie Wrote:Andy..I've a feeling that Albion will be coming to Loftus Road with everything to play for. Plus there are rumours that the last game of the season is in fancy dress ..it should be a good one .
The fancy dress is confirmed; it's a WBA tradition for the last away game of the season. Last time you played at HQ on the final day (5 or 6 years ago?) the Baggies fans wore shirt and tie and bowler hats or trilbies. You needed a point to avoid relegation, which you duly got in an entertaining 0-0. At the end of the game, it looked utterly surreal to see thousands of people in suits dancing up and down and waving their hats in the air. I'd like to have seen that again but the grapevine suggests something else.
I'm desperate for Hull not to get promotion. I'd be happy for WBA and Watford to get the automatics, with Palace or Ipswich to get the play-off place. We have 'history' with Hell, Brizzle and the Stokies, which I won't go into....
Good luck to the Rooks today. And to Sheffield United, Arsenal, Bolton and Birmingham...
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
El Gordo Wrote:Good luck to the Rooks today. And to Sheffield United, Arsenal, Bolton and Birmingham...
Thanks mate, as much for not including Blackburn as for mentioning the Mighty Rooks. I'm off to The Pan for what could be a tense afternoon in dreadful conditions - the traditional 'leveller'. Hopefully two thousand Harvey's-fuelled Lewesians will prove to be a twelfth man rather than a millstone.
I'd like to add (gulp) Liverpool to that list.
One should never wish ill on others and my Mum's a life-long Fulham fan - Johnny Haines was locked in a perpetual tussle with Clarke Gable for her affections - but there's something delicious about the idea of waving Mad Mo Fayed off to the championship. Sorry Mum.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Sweder Wrote:Thanks mate, as much for not including Blackburn as for mentioning the Mighty Rooks. I'm off to The Pan for what could be a tense afternoon in dreadful conditions - the traditional 'leveller'. Hopefully two thousand Harvey's-fuelled Lewesians will prove to be a twelfth man rather than a millstone.
I'd like to add (gulp) Liverpool to that list.
One should never wish ill on others and my Mum's a life-long Fulham fan - Johnny Haines was locked in a perpetual tussle with Clarke Gable for her affections - but there's something delicious about the idea of waving Mad Mo Fayed off to the championship. Sorry Mum.
Woah -- I hope Blackburn suffer an appalling fate today. I should certainly have included that wish.
I'm pretty open I hope about my Prem sentiments. The only two sides who seem capable of playing decent football are Arsenal and ManU, and the title really ought to belong to one of them. In an ideal world, my preference would be for Arsenal though I'm not certain why that should be. I despised them in their "boring boring Arsenal" era under George "one-nil" Graham, but I've warmed to them as I've watched them work hard to reinvent themselves -- a but like Beckham after France 98. He forced people to admire him, and I've had a similar, slow-burning conversion to wanting Arsenal to do well.
But Arsenal aren't going to do it, so I'm rooting strongly for the Mancs. The thought of Chelsea nicking it is too much to bear, not just because of the long-standing West London antipathy thing, but because watching them is such a penance, not to mention how much I despise the Abramovitch thing, which I think has come close to destroying the credibility of the league. I don't much like the United industry, but sticking strictly to football, they would be worthy winners. A victory today is essential. My dream would be to see them win the title at Stamford Bridge, bringing down Chelsea's impressive home record while they're at it.
Actually, I quite like Blackburn -- another side who have worked hard, and against the odds, created something worth watching. Normally I'd be wanting them to do well, but I'll relieve them of that pressure this afternoon. I plan to watch the game in some grotty West London boozer after, I hope, seeing a good QPR victory over Charlton. We are, apparently, the only side in the Championship who can neither be relegated nor promoted this season. A fascinating observation by someone with way too much time on their hands. But it's quite a nice feeling. The older I get, the more I'm aware that being a football fan is actually a highly stressful way of life. Normally, there appears to be more anxiety than pleasure in there.
Sweder Wrote:I'd like to add (gulp) Liverpool to that list.
One should never wish ill on others and my Mum's a life-long Fulham fan - Johnny Haines was locked in a perpetual tussle with Clarke Gable for her affections - but there's something delicious about the idea of waving Mad Mo Fayed off to the championship. Sorry Mum.
Ooops, missed this bit.
Yeah, I agree. My dream (part 2) is that Fulham and Reading should drop down. This is a personal thing, but I sat and watched both those clubs, and their appalling glory-hunting fans, push QPR faces deeper into the mud as they lumbered over us on their way to Prem glory. Oh how they laughed at us. Oh how they crowed. I witnessed it at first hand, and as I sat there in despair, was comforted by just one thought -- that football is cyclical, and that what goes around, comes around. Enjoy it while you can, Plastic Hoops, I thought. Enjoy the laughter, Mo, sitting on your golden throne at Loftus Road*. It won't last forever, and boy am I going to enjoy it when it falls apart.
[SIZE="1"]*When Fulham ground-shared with QPR for a couple of seasons, Al Fayed complained about the directors box toilets, and had a special khasi constructed with solid gold fixtures and fittings. It had just one key, which he kept.[/SIZE]
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Nope again. The race is the race I dare not mention not even to myself.
The Aquilianos is the one I mention all the time. I'm just off to do a bit of it at this moment...
Two years ago I ran the Aquilianos route in 8 stages as preparation for doing the Aquilianos route in one whopping all day session and be back before lunch. I kept a training diary here and very enjoyable it all was except for the fact that I wasn’t back for lunch and I ended up crocking my ankle.
This year as preparation for the task ahead I’ve decided to do exactly the same but this time I’ll join stages together to get in the long runs I probably wouldn’t do otherwise. I’ve spent years failing to complete the “obligatory” long runs by taking short cuts, turning back early or simply not getting out of bed. Don’t like them. Won’t do them. Always end up suffering as a result (running marathons with insufficient preparation, etc.. etc..) Doing sections of the Aquilianos route will take a bit more logistical planning than simply going out the front door and running somewhere but at least I know I’ll complete the task set.
Sunday. Stage One. Trail running section.
Ponferrada to San Clemente. About 15 kms and 450m of ascent. 1 hour 50 minutes or thereabout.
To do this first stage I had to drive to the far flung village of San Clemente, leave the car and cycle back. Got soaked in the process. Dried out back home, had some breakfast and ran back to San Clemente.
It turned out to be a run-walk in quite muddy conditions. The first walk break came near the end of the first big climb when I met somebody to walk with. The fellow had just seen a couple of roe deer skipping down Monte Pajariel. We chatted and agreed that it’s difficult to understand the enjoyment some people gain by blowing these beautiful animals away. So we cursed the hunters and then we cursed the noisy quad bikes as well before going our separate ways.
Started running again and dropped down into the Oza Valley behind Monte Pajariel and then followed a smaller tributary always accompanied by the roar of the swollen stream foaming and frothing to my right. The birds were in hearty chorus and the vegetation was quite exuberant but the muddy puddles and the chill air and the morose grey sky suggested lingering winter more than encroaching spring. Reached the outskirts of Villanueva (where there is a cart museum) and eased off into another walk to cross from one valley to the next. The Aquilianos peaks were hidden by low cloud but dirty streaks of snow that ventured from beneath the murky shroud hinted at a fair smattering of the white stuff further up.
The descent into the other valley turned into a bit of a mudfest and I struggled to keep my feet in places. Slid into the village of Valdefrancos “Valley of the Franks,” and followed a narrow path above the River Oza once more. Noticed that I was only a couple of minutes slower than two years ago despite what felt like a lot more walking which seemed to suggest that an energy efficient walk-run is better than a bloody minded run-run when going up steep hills. 15 more minutes and I was back at the car in San Clemente just as the church bells were calling the old folk to mass. Felt pretty knackered and it’s dawning on me that the task ahead is going to be harder than I’d thought.
Took some photos. One was of a rather curious contraption that was once used for shoeing cattle. And that reminds me of a particularly hilarious joke I heard somewhere (probably on this forum).
Paddy (or Taffy, or Enoch from Baggieland) goes for a job as a blacksmith. The fellow says “have you ever shoed a horse?” and Paddy replies, “no, but I’ve told a donkey to bugger off a couple of times.” Boom boom.
Bierzo Baggie Wrote:Nope again. The race is the race I dare not mention not even to myself.
The Aquilianos is the one I mention all the time. I'm just off to do a bit of it at this moment...
Hmm, I'm really struggling now ... The Marathon des Sables?? (You might have to give us a clue.)
El Gordo Wrote:Lovely pics, BB, and made me realise yet again that my running routes are so dull.
Thanks Andy. It's true that one of the good things about living here are the many options for walking, running and mountain biking but I can assure you that there are plenty of disadvantages too..
I seem to remember you’ve got an attractive lake not far from where you live. It looked ideal for triathlon training .
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:Hmm, I'm really struggling now ... The Marathon des Sables?? (You might have to give us a clue.)
MLCM, I can’t imagine a more unpleasant experience, 6 or 7 days of desert torture and paying more than 3000 euros for the privilege. No, this one is closer to home. By the way I’ve set up a race calendar below just like yours.
The all new training diary.
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