SportsShoes Blog

This Sunday it’s the Baildon Boundary Way half marathon - an event I’ve done a couple of times in the past but not for a few years.

This year I thought I’d introduce it as a final training session before the 3 Peaks Race which is on the 25th.

I would also like to try and get under 1 hour 30 mins as I’ve never actually done this in a half marathon. The only road half marathons I’ve done were the Great North Run in 1998 and 1999 but these were the first races I did and since switching to the dark side (i.e. fell racing) I’ve never really logged any PBs on tarmac.

There’s part of me that would like to do a road half and full marathon to see what I could do - I’d like to think that a sub 1.20 for the half and sub 3 for the marathon would be well within my reach right now.

The Baildon Boundary Way is a cracking race and very popular attracting 500 runners almost as soon as the entries open. It goes from Baildon, through Esholt along the canal to Saltaire then up through Shipley Glen and over the moor around Hope Hill and back to Baildon rugby club. It’s a pretty flat and fast course but the gradual climb in the middle is hard to get right as it’s probably about 2 miles long.

I’ll be using my new superlight Inov8 285 trail shoes to see how they perform as I’m considering using them for the Three Peaks but have a few doubts over the fit - I can struggle round 13 miles if they don’t feel good but don’t want them hindering me around the 24 miles of the peaks - I’ll let you know how they go.

Anyway, here’s an interesting article that links in quite well to my earlier post about drugs and sport. The science suggests that caffeine can generate a marked improvement in performance with very little in the way of side effects. I must admit to having signed up to this theory a long time ago and I always preceed my races and long training runs with a good strong brew. So, that raises the questions - ’am I cheating?’ - ’am I using a performance enhancing drug?’ well my view is if you can buy it at Morrisons it’s legal…;-) 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/nutrition/26best.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

I know I’ve not posted for a while but I’m still here and still putting in the training.

Last week after the Hobble I had a very steady week but still managed a speed session on the Tuesday, a run on Wednesday and a bike to work and run on Thursday. Then Saturday I did a long bike ride into the dales which was nice but for the cheeky wind which seemed to be with me all the way round…here’s the route http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2656087

Then I ran with my dog 3 times on Sunday - nothing long or hard - just a 25 min jog 1st thing (with my youngest son) then ran down to watch my eldest play footy - then ran home again before having the mums and dad around for Sunday lunch (how’s that for fitting training in around the family).

I’m feeling a bit tired and off pace this week - don’t know why - I’ll try and run through it.

No races planned now until 5th April when it’s the Baildon Boundary off road 1/2 marathon  - I’d like to try and break 1hr 30 for this which I’ve not done before (best 1.32). Then 2 weeks later it’s the 3 Peaks where I’d REALLY like to get uner 3 1/2 hours.

Must go now got to take my son to footy then I’ll sneak in a quick 45 min session (off road with headtorch me thinks) while he trains.

33 miles - 4400ft of climb - Haworth - Stoodley Pike (Todmorden) and back.

Around 300 runners set out on this Yorkshire classic yesterday on a fine, cool but blustery day.

The start is on the steep old cobbled mainstreet of Haworth but as it kicks off at 8am we didn’t have too many tourists to contend with.

The large field of runners and walkers quickly strung out on the relatively quick run out to Top Withins (the ruin high on Haworth moor which is thought to be the inspiration for the house in the Bronte novel Wuthering Heights).

The very windy conditions made the first 10 miles of running from Haworth out to Long Causeway via Widdop reservoir very tough going.

As we crossed the dam wall at Widdop the wind was blowing that hard that spray was being thrown across the path reminding me of my time in the yacht last June….

At this point I was in 7th position running with two chaps and with the leading group of 4 ahead of us by a couple of minutes.

As we started to descend down the Calderdale Way track towards Todmorden,  I got ahead of the pair and created a bit of gap to secure 5th position in the race.

As I ran along the track at the foot of the Stoodley Pike climb I could see the lead pack already nearing the moument - about 4 mins ahead at a guess but I could also see that one of the 4 had been dropped and was about a minute behind the leading 3.

I climbed to the Pike feeling strong whilst munching on a hot cross bun that I’d picked up at the last checkpoint then started the long descent down into Hebden Bridge. The town was as busy as ever and I always wonder what the folk must think as a group of snotty, sweaty runners come rampaging across the main road and dissappear up a tiny passageway to start the climb to Hepptonstall.

As I approached the road to Hepptonstall I caught the runner who’d been dropped from the lead pack - he’d blown and told me he’d have to walk back from there (nearly 10 miles!!!)

This put me in 4th place but as I still had a long way to go I couldn’t relax so I just concentrated on steadily tapping out the climbs.

At the penultimate checkpoint I still felt strong and powered up the track alongside hardcastle craggs and over the moor to the final check at Stairs lane. Here I had a quick drink and then struck out for home keen on defending my 4th place.

On the final climb of the day up to Penistone Hill I caught site of the 3rd place runner well ahead of me but moving slowly. I thought there was no chance of catching him so just concentrated on putting the climb behind me and then giving it my all for the last mile over the moor to Haworth.

Despite already having run for 32 miles I think my last mile was the quickest and I absolutely romped down the mainstreet and into the finish. When I got there I was amazed to be told I’d finished 3rd having passed the other chap coming over Penistone Hill. He’d taken the more direct but steeper route across the moor where I’d skirted round the back which was further on the ground but obviously saved a stack of time.

I finished in a pb of 4 hours and 27 mins and after some stew and 6 pots of tea I began to feel human again.

Results here - http://www.keighleyandcravenac.co.uk/kc_races/pdf/hobble/09_haworth_hobble.html

Went out last night for my first run and it was a bit of a shocker!

I was doing fine, at a steady pace for about 10min and then my old back pain reared its ugly head! I carried on at the same pace for a few more minutes but it just got worse and was really painfull, so its not really been the start I was hoping for!

I am going out again tonight to see how it is and see if I get the same troubles, it could be another short one tonight,  followed by a phonecall to the physio! Has anyone had any simillar problems? Any tips to help it or ideas as to why I may be getting the pain would be greatly appreciated!

Our motley crew of a 5-a-side team (Shipley Legends) have our second game this Thursday, hopefully my back won’t play up and I can help us get another win on the board, this time not by default this time!

Click here to view  the Inov-8 212 Shoes.

I’ve done a couple of races in my X-talons now so I thought I’d give you my thoughts.

Although I’m a convert to Inov8’s trail shoes, these are the first fell racing shoes that I’ve ever tried as I’ve always been a fan of the classic Walsh PB and belived that where a ’stud’ is required they just couldn’t be beaten. Until this one came along I’ve always thought the Inov8 fell shoes just looked all wrong (especially the mudclaw with the offset laces) despite lots of folk wearing them and some good reviews.

To me the x-talon takes the great features of the Walsh PB (light weight and grip) and the Adidas Swoop (fit and cushioning) and blends them together to give a VERY impressive off road shoe.

They are very light 212 grammes for a UK size 8 (sounds about right as mine weighed in at 230 grammes on the works scales in a size 44) - and the fit is very good for a racing shoe. One of the most important thing about a pure fell shoe, as opposed to a trail shoe, is that your foot is kept as low to the ground as possible to avoid rolling your ankles on uneven surfaces. The x-talon achieves this but without compromising on cushioning which, for a fell shoe is excellent. I really think that if you are a reasonably light runner you could run a LONG way in these without a problem.

Where they really score however is in their grip. The sole pattern is similar to the Inov8 trail shoes but with fewer and more pronounced studs. This results in a sole that grips soft ground well and clears mud very quickly (in the same way that a football boot does) but I’m sure it will also lead to very quick wear if they are used on hard surfaces. However, what they’ve managed to achieve where so few others have is to make the shoe grip on wet rock. The x-talons match the Walsh in this very important area giving the wearer confidence over all surfaces.

If I had one tiny critisism it would be the laces. They are very thin nylon things (like really thick fishing line) with clever little lumps of rubber along their length to stop them coming loose. Although they’ve stayed tied in both races I’ve done they aren’t as easy to do up tight as a conventional lace.

Overall these are great shoes from the box - only time will tell how they last through the season.

Here’s a pic of mine at 1 hour 18 mins old (after the Noon Stone fell race).

Click here to view  the Inov-8 212 Shoes.

9 Miles - 2250ft of climb - English Championship Race

There was a big turnout for this year’s Half Tour of Pendle (HTOP) including a great contingent from the mighty Bingley Harriers. It was an English Championship counter and with over 400 runners the start was a bit of a scrum. The organiser was trying to get folk back to the official start line but it proved to be like herding cats so he gave up and just shouted ‘go’. A mad dash through Barley village ensued but soon we were all cruising down the bridleway alongside the reservoir towards Pendle Hill.

A couple of cheeky tarmac climbs on the road quickly lined out the field and by the time we turned off the road and on to the hill all jostling had stopped and racing had commenced.

Pendle Hill has the honour of being one of the biggest hills in the world (as it misses out on being a mountain by about 15 feet) and this year I managed to run it all from start to summit in 21 mins. After turning at the summit there’s a long descent down to the Nick of Pendle which starts as boggy moor then into a nice stretch of technical singletrack before breaking out on to fast open moorland. I caught and passed my mate Mitch as we left the singletrack and wondered how long I could keep ahead as he’s a demon climber. After turning at ‘the Nick’ it was a fast blast down to a reservoir before a tough steep climb over heather covered tracks took us back towards Pendle Hill.

From the top of the moor it’s a killer descent back down to a stream where there was quite a crowd watching the descenders and secretly waiting for spills and blood.

Once across the stream there’s a sharp pull back up to some farm fields after which it’s a sprint back to the finish field over undulating but good ground.

I could see my mate Jason Stevens of Calder ahead - this week he’d got me beat from the start - but I felt good about my race and was pleased to have held Mitch off and beaten my other pals James Senior and Steve ‘Carnage’ - both of who have beaten me soundly in the past.

I crossed the line in 1 hour 12 mins and some secs and think I was 59th overall.

The race was won by my Bingley team mate and fell running legend Ian Holmes in 1hour and 3 (I think). This was a stunning performance by the 43(?) year old master of the fells as he led home a very high quality field of young(er) pretenders including Rob Jebb, Andy Peace, Rob Hope and plenty more.

Me and a group of mates have joined a 5-a-side football league this week. I’ve joined for some good fitness training and also because its a great laugh. We play on a Thursday night at Goals in Bradford. They have awesome pitches with the latest astro turf , which is great to play on.

We have started off in League D (the bottom league) and were due our first game last night. However our oposition never turned up (we put it down to them running scared of their mighty opposition!!), so this left us with no game, 3 points and a default 10-0 win in our first game. Quite a start to the season.

We did end up with a friendly against another team in our league and ran out 13-5 winners. I had forgotten just how much distance you end up covering in a 5-a-side game, it really is great fitness work. But I was struggling towards the end, so its time to get my running shoes on. I have been a bit lazy in getting out running but as of Monday I will be out on the roads and feeling the burn!!!

No cricket last week as it was my birthday and I was a touch worse for wear last Sunday. Back on it again this week with my new club which should be good!