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What am I doing here?
What am I doing here? Why the bloody ‘ell am I contributing to a running forum. I am a mountain biker who lives and breathes mountain biking… the satisfaction of hill climbing and that adrenalin rush of racing down single track at 30 mph not quite knowing what is round the next corner… and yes I am one of the co-conspirators who came up with the idea of the Moyleman – but I biked it, I was the lead bike. Yet somehow I have started to run. And more worryingly somehow I have started to enjoy running.
And… this morning I achieved something that I couldn’t even imagine a couple of months ago… in fact I couldn’t even imagine it a couple of weeks ago.
One thing I have always found odd since I started running in January this year, is that I am quite fit when it comes to mountain biking. I’m quite good at it – or so I am told – yet put on a pair of running shoes and I struggle to get out the front door without having to call for an ambulance.
So the last few months have been hard… I managed to get from 1 mile to 2 miles and then from 2 miles to 3 – but then reached a plateau which I couldn’t seem to break. Stuck on the Kingston loop (3 miles of mainly road running – and I hate road running). But then following some sage advice from a couple of running friends of mine (Ash and Rob) things started to change. I managed to run far enough to get onto my beloved Downs – and once you are up there life is brilliant.
And I also discovered the sweet spot – you know, that short period of time after you have warmed up before you hit the wall. A couple of weeks ago I would hit the wall before I had warmed up, but now I have a good 25 yards of loveliness before I hit the wall – that’s progress right?
So this last week has been an interesting one – 5 runs in 8 days – 2 in Devon and 3 around the hills of Lewes and this morning I did it… I hit my goal and ran all the way from home to the top of Blackcap and back. 6.7 miles, 1,340 feet of climbing and an average pace of 9.17 min/mi. And I feel alright, in fact I feel elated much as I did three years ago when I went through a similar process on my bike.
Having made it to the top of Blackcap I almost flew over Mount Harry and through the woods back home. The question is what next… Well if I can do Blackcap then what about carrying onto the South Down Way and perhaps over the A27 and up to Castle Ditch Hill… and then perhaps down into the valley of death… and then perhaps…
#Moyleman
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