Season 2016

[Bierzo Baggie]

Went to mass this morning and decided that an act of penance wouldn’t go amiss. So, after a light lunch of pig’s ear and a slither of octopus, washed down with a pint of lager I dug out the running shoes and launched my car up the lonely Morredero road.

 
20 minutes later I’m in Espinoso de Compludo at the start of one of my favourite routes. It’s cold but windless. I leave the car outside the House of Scouse. Lord Scouse is not in residence today. The village is barely populated in winter and in any case all sensible Spaniards are tucking into their very substantial lunches. This means that 3pm is the ideal moment for a bit of Sunday running in an isolated place. Any earlier and I might be shot at by hunters which is rather too much penance for my liking. Any later and it will be dark and the road back may be icy.
 
The circuit has a bit of everything. Wide tracks, narrow forest trails, a long fast descent and a mammoth climb at the end.
 
75 minutes later and I’m back at the car exhausted. The sky spits out some sleety rain but I still don’t feel cold. Just tired and hungry. I’m a lot slower now. Last year’s mileage was my lowest since I was a teenager! But the penance is over and it’s good to be back!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Great work BB - that's nice running. We're all getting older and slower, except for CC5 of course, who has the benefit of the BunchOfCrazies Running Club to build him up.

Then again, I guess getting shot at would help pick up your pace a bit too.

I might stick to the streets of Sydney. Suddenly they seem almost ... safe. As long as you avoid the western suburbs of course, where nightly drive-by shootings are par for the course and any joggers would be casual target practise.

Sigh.

[Sweder]

Good to see you join the recent RC renaissance, BB
That route sounds terrific.

[Antonio247]

It´s fantastic to be able to read your running reports in northern Spain again, BB.

Are you doing the Aquilianos this year?

[Bierzo Baggie]

Thanks all. Renaissance indeed   Just felt like running and writing again.... the two things seem to go together like egg and chips. 

All the usual races are in the pipeline and maybe a couple of new ones as well. I'm just looking for a bit of motivation to do the training. Can't get away with not doing it any more ..my body is in a state of very real physical decline. 

Trying to complete 3 runs a week, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. It's been years since I've even aimed for such a prolific schedule.

My daughter trains with the swim team on Wednesday evenings and when I finish work I go to pick her up. Usually there’s about half an hour to kill before all the kids come out, so last week I decided to go for a quick run. I followed the cycle path which loops the swimming pool, the main sports hall, the rocodrome and the athletics track. It felt strange to run in the glare of car-headlights although I didn’t have to stray onto the adjourning road at any point. Managed three laps on the hard, flat surface before one of my calf muscles threatened to pop so I slunk back to the car.   

 
Ponferrada is well blessed with sports facilities these days. There is quite a boom at the moment and I’d say that is the case nationwide, with more people practising a wide range of different sports. Until recently, it was all football. So when I returned this Wednesday it wasn’t a surprise to find plenty of others out running. Even caught the slipstream of a couple of skaters for a few seconds.
 
This time I set a target of 4 laps. Not sure about the distance but the target was to pick up a bit of speed and maintain an even pace. For the first lap I felt like I was 18 year old again. By the fourth lap I was grunting and squealing like a pig in a slaughterhouse. 22 minutes were run at an even pace and that was enough. Next week I’ll go for 5 laps.
 
Would like to run some good honest distance on the flat this year and see what happens!

[Bierzo Baggie]

Last week I signed up for the Alto Sil which is in 2 months time. I’ve mentioned this race a few times over the years and somehow I’ve managed to enter and complete each one of the last 7 editions. Only for that reason can I take part this year (the “event full” sign came up on the internet just 9 minutes after entries were opened). The dozen or so sad cases that have finished all 7 are guaranteed a place at the start line. Just as well, as my computer is a relic from another era and in no condition for any virtual scrap for race numbers.

 
This year I will have to train. My middle aged body can not get away with this self-abuse any more. A hundred old injuries and other niggles are coming back to haunt me. Everything aches. And I’m losing speed faster than a moped on a 1 in 5.  
 
So here’s the plan from one who has never exactly been the man with the plan.
 
Wednesday: Run around in circles for a least 20 minutes, as fast as possible. In the dark. By myself. This is not fun.
 
Friday: Swim. This is the nearest I will ever get to a massage. The only time I ever paid a stranger to massage my body was 27 years ago in Istanbul. A very friendly Kurdish guy had persuaded my younger, more gullible self to shed my clothes and enter his local “hamam” for a hot bath and a good pummelling afterwards. Meanwhile the bastard nicked my wallet. Swimming is as good as a massage and there are lockers where I can leave my possessions.
 
Saturday: Monte Pajariel. Shortish run with some technican terrain.
 
Sunday: Longer run at lunchtime, at least until mid-February when the hunting season finishes. This means missing Sunday lunch which in itself is an act of terrible subversion. I mean, I could be smoking crack cocaine all weekend in some hideous den of iniquity but as long as I made it back for Sunday lunch all would be forgiven. But running … now that’s just sick!
 
This weekend.
Saturday: Monte Pajariel; 38 minutes, which included 15 minutes steep climb and 10 minutes over happy, skippy technical terrain. Not bad at all.
 
Sunday. After a light lunch of quail eggs on toast, a banana and a pint of lager I hit the lonely Morredero road that today was not so lonely. Ridiculously warm weather. I even wore shorts which must be a first for January. Parked up just above San Cristobel which is the last village on the pass. My chosen route was on non-technical trail with spectacular views across to the Montes Aquilianos. The descent was mostly along the road. Did this route with snow about this time last year but in these abnormally mild conditions I was much faster this time. Back at the car in an hour and a half, so far so good…

https://picasaweb.google.com/11835619296...9585514978

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Bravo, that sounds like a plan alright. I look forward to the next two months of training blogs!

Great pics, too. Thanks, BB!

[Sweder]

Popped out for an hour and a half in the mountains eh?
Not quite the abandoned wreck just yet, then.
Good to see you back out there, BB

[Charliecat5]

Yep... I've just looked at your photos. That is not a little jaunt around the town is it? It didn't pass my attention that you were fuelled by a pint of lager either.

[Bierzo Baggie]

This was a fairly easy trail run Charlie, with 25 minutes of hard climb in the middle (I walked about half of this section). The proximity of mountains makes it a lovely route but I’m sure those South Downs hills, one after the other, make for a harder session!

And yes Sweder, this was my first decent run for ages. The ground was soft, the weather was fine and I felt good. I think that at our age to enjoy healthy running it must be at least 2 or 3 times a week and softly-softly to avoid injuries. I’d say the running surface is important too. I suffer a lot more at other times of the year when the ground is harder. The running surface is much more important than the shoes I’d say..

Last year I was running once a week, and less seemed to mean more niggling injuries!
And the pre-run pint is good for motivation ...wouldn't take it any further though as I'd probably get lost.

[marathondan]

Wednesday: Run around in circles for a least 20 minutes, as fast as possible. In the dark. By myself. This is not fun.

Actually, I really miss running round in circles in the dark on my own.
Great to see you back out there, BB!

[marathondan]

I’d say the running surface is important too. I suffer a lot more at other times of the year when the ground is harder. The running surface is much more important than the shoes I’d say..

Not saying anything, Sweder.

[Sweder]

I’d say the running surface is important too. I suffer a lot more at other times of the year when the ground is harder. The running surface is much more important than the shoes I’d say..

Not saying anything, Sweder.

Oh I get it. My options are limited. The top layer of my usual Downland circuit is as slippery and unreliable as Donald Trump's toupee. With my dodgy knee and wonky shoulder I can ill-afford a big tumble. I'm mitigating against the city street pounding by running only twice a week. This is supplemented by daily brisk walks with the hounds. These outings give me a chance to evaluate the terrain, as I'm keen as mustard to get back to the soft embrace of my beloved hills.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Oh I get it. My options are limited. The top layer of my usual Downland circuit is as slippery and unreliable as Donald Trump's toupee. With my dodgy knee and wonky shoulder I can ill-afford a big tumble. I'm mitigating against the city street pounding by running only twice a week. This is supplemented by daily brisk walks with the hounds. These outings give me a chance to evaluate the terrain, as I'm keen as mustard to get back to the soft embrace of my beloved hills.

Sensible.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Oh I get it. My options are limited. The top layer of my usual Downland circuit is as slippery and unreliable as Donald Trump's toupee. With my dodgy knee and wonky shoulder I can ill-afford a big tumble. I'm mitigating against the city street pounding by running only twice a week. This is supplemented by daily brisk walks with the hounds. These outings give me a chance to evaluate the terrain, as I'm keen as mustard to get back to the soft embrace of my beloved hills.

Sensible.

Sensible, yes. Sweder must be getting old.

[Bierzo Baggie]

Need for Speed?
I think that at our age to enjoy healthy running it must be at least 2 or 3 times a week and softly-softly to avoid injuries. I’d say the running surface is important too. I suffer a lot more at other times of the year when the ground is harder.

So why am I tearing along like a man possessed on one of the hardest surfaces available?
Vanity?  Self-deception?  Just to keep warm?
It can’t be the last one, this has been the mildest January I’ve ever experienced.
4 laps of the cycle path (although speed skaters outnumber bikes).
22 minutes; the same as last week’s effort, but slightly more comfortable with less grunting.
That was Wednesday.
 
Friday; 40 lengths of the 25m pool with lots of stopping and starting. Good for me but that was half the distance the 10-year old girls in the next lane were covering, my daughter included. They were going faster too.
 
A good plan must be flexible. A dull ache from the Achilles and a slight twinge in the left knee tells me that Wednesdays should be on grass. Maybe I’ll look for a park.
 
The objective was to halt the sands of time albeit temporarily. I’ve been getting slower since my late 20s but at first almost imperceptibly so. Then in the last few years I lost the spring in my stride. It was a small spring but I miss it. I find myself yearning to run a decent 10k or even a half marathon again. I have absolutely no idea why.
 
Saturday; half Monte Pajariel and Otero. 100% off-road. A couple of minutes faster than the last time, felt nippier, but here lies the aging hill-runner’s dilemma. You gain speed running on the flat. You also get injured.

 I cannot risk getting injured but even more so, I cannot risk missing lunch for the third time running. Tomorrow’s run will therefore be an early one. I shall wear a luminous yellow t-shirt and hopefully I will not get shot.  

[Sweder]

And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand
The best I can

Pink Floyd - Echoes

Echoes. Worlds apart, yet facing a familiar foe; time.
That old equation, ability over effort divided by years of wear and tear.

Though I started much later in life I feel I've reached that cross-roads. Not so much the need to run fast(er), but to rebuild without the risk of injury. I was talking to someone last week about how it felt to feel fit. Fit enough, say, to climb into a half marathon at the drop of a hat and run well. Those days are long gone.

Like you, I appear to be obsessed with speed work. I for me think that's more to do with trying to get the most out of short sessions. I'm not up to long (over an hour) outings just yet. I don 't want to jog out the occasional 5k, but nor do I want to casuse damage by pushing too hard or too far.

I envy your ability to add swimming to your regime. I have an unhealthy disregard for the discipline. Perhaps I should follow in Dan's watery footsteps and take lessons. I lack any discernable technique to the point that my noisy floundering could be mistaken for drowning.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

...
I envy your ability to add swimming to your regime. I have an unhealthy disregard for the discipline. Perhaps I should follow in Dan's watery footsteps and take lessons. I lack any discernable technique to the point that my noisy floundering could be mistaken for drowning.

Each to their own of course, but I liken swimming to stretching - a boring exercise with undoubted benefits, but which I find so utterly brain-numbing as to be avoided as far as possible.

And Sweder, whilst Echoes is in my opinion one of the greatest pieces of music ever written and recorded, I would point out that the next two lines of the section you quoted are:

And no one called us to the land
And no one crosses there alive.  

Which, given the context of the discussion (on two counts actually - flabby, ageing runners and also BB's propensity for being shot at whilst out running) might well be quite appropriate...

[Bierzo Baggie]

Agree with you MLCM about swimming although I know a few people who would say the same about running. But yes, swimming is boring. So is yoga and lots of other things.

 
As for hunters, I’ve never actually been shot at. I usually greet any hunter I see, talk to them, say yes to everything they say and modify my running schedule accordingly. Some people may get all indignant with them but I’d say that the hunters were there before the runners and there is plenty of open space for everybody. It's the 4x4s, trial-bikes and quads I don't like.
There are usually 1 or 2 fatalities in El Bierzo each year, usually hunters shooting other hunters but there was the recent case of man behind bush shot whilst eating a sandwich and another old fellow who got shot whilst collecting sweet chestnuts so accidents can unfortunately happen…
 
Never really listened to Pink Floyd much, I’ll look for Echoes on that Youtube thingy. 

[Bierzo Baggie]

Sunday

Ran fast on Wednesday and Saturday but it takes longer to recover now and on Sunday I felt tired and jaded. Deep down I know the games up, but the search for a change of gear is not just about speed for speed’s sake. It’s also about being able to do certain races stress-free without having to worry about the cut off times. I think it’s an anxiety thing. Finishing penultimate at Zegama was the best of times and the worst of times. It was fight or flee, the adrenaline rush which allows you to escape the beast in pursuit. I don’t thing I’m up to that any more and I’d rather like to enjoy the Alto Sil in March without looking at my watch every 5 minutes..
 
I don’t devour books like some people do but I have my favourite writers. I like Bruce Chatwin, Graham Swift, Paul Bowles, John Fowles, Thomas Hardy, Julio Llamazares… can’t for the life of me remember much about what they’ve written though. What I do remember is the story of Andy’s Zurich marathon and that great big bus looming up behind him, a metaphor for so many things.
 
So to avoid that big bad bus I’m out again on Sunday morning plodding in the direction of Toral de Merayo. Gunshots peal out occasionally but they are beyond the village so I needn’t modify my route. I’m feeling knackered and I take the familiar trail along the side of Monte Pajariel to return home. It’s been nearly a year since I last came this way. Spotted the big centre half who floored me many moons ago running along a smaller trail to my right and I was tempted to follow him. But as he took off in the direction of the hunters I decided not to. Let them shoot the bugger!
 
15 minutes from home I met Capelo running in the opposite direction. Capelo is the hardest man in El Bierzo. I pity the poor hunter who tries to shoot Capelo. Capelo was wearing a pair of tight purple leg-ins, the sort of thing that Olivia Newton John would have worn in the 80s. He looks like he’s in drag. I didn’t actually say that to him. We exchanged greetings and I explained where the hunters were so Capelo disappeared up the zigzag that takes you to the top of Monte Pajariel. The hunters hunt, the runners run, the writers write and everybody happy.
 
About 90km run in January which isn’t a bad start.