Author: adamslifejourney

Catch Up

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Ok, so its been a month since the last blog. At te end of September i did the CTS Endurance Life Coastel marathon, this was the North Yorkshire one. Just to clarify and stroke my own ego, this is a trail/cross country run, the course record is around 4:30 this year.

I ended up going for the Friday & Saturday nigth, as it was near the wedding anniversary the wife suggested it! I was glad i didnt have get up at 5:30 to drive 2 hours to run 26 mile to run home!

Anyway, nice place, good food, good wine, worth a stay if you’re in the area. Not the most important part though.

The marathon, started at Ravenscar, ran down towards Scarbrough, back up the old Railway lines, saw some spectacular houses, especially the old railway station converted into houses (see pics). We then ran past the starting point and down towards Boggle Hole, along the beach, which is picturesque to run on, but a fucking bastard to do so after 15 miles already! We then run up through Boggle Hole, which is a hell of a climb, on some wonderfull cobbles (ballache). Towards Robin Hoods Bay/Whitby, then onto the Flying dale Moors. The last stretch was a nice run, but all i wanted to see was the sign that said 1 mile left! That was the longest mile of my life, so far!

This was my first marathon, everyone who asked me about the race and what i’d done before was pretty shocked i choosen this as my first one!! i wish i had met these people beofre i’d booked it.

All in all an awesome eperience, and i’m defo in for next year, with one slight problem, my sister wants to do a marathon, and has signed me up to the Yorkshire Marathon (in York, on the roads), now these marathons are 1 week apart!!!!!!! fuck it still doing em.

After the marathon went back to the hotel, chilled out in a bath, had some food and wine and a good nights kip! Now surprisingly it took me around 2 days to feel absolutly fine, don’t get me wrong after 2 days i didn’t start back in the gym or running, but my legs felt fine and i felt good.

The day after we went into Whitby onto Silver Street to the famous ‘Rusty Shears’, if you like Gin and good food, then i implore you to go, get to Whitby and go here, get drunk on Gin and eat good food.

 

This is my last two runs, so as i said signed up for Yorkshire Marathon next October, have a small 10k trail run race end of November, and i plan on doing Sprint Tris and Olymic Tris next year. Need to practice on the push iron though.

 

 

Trip to Bath

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Went on a little trip to Bath, never been to Bath before so first time. It is a really nice little town, it reminded me of a miniature version of Edinburgh. The buildings are all pretty awesome, obviously Bath is famous for the Crescent.

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You can go into number one, its an open house, bit like the national trust ones. Well wroth going in and have a look round, why not if your in Bath might as well!

We mainly walked around for a few days, had some good food. We stopped in the Abby hotel, and ate here one night, good food, i can defiantly recommend. The hotel is in the centre and just across from the Abbey. A good place to stay.

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Bath is an amazing place to walk round, there are so many little side streets with shops and great architecture. There are some awesome places to eat and drink. The best place to drink by far is the ‘Gin Bar’. I’m assuming everyone likes gin as much as me, cause frankly why wouldn’t you?

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This is Pulteney Bridge, its one of the four bridges in the world to have shops across on both sides. The other three Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Ponte Rialto in Venice, and Kramerbrucke in Erfurt (Germany).

 

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This is the Holburne Museum, which is worth a visit, the gardens to the rear are pretty good, and so is the cider in the cafe.

More Training

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Not got as much training in as usual over the last two weeks or so, mainly because i had a bank holiday weekend trip to Bath.

Anyway I did a 10km on 18/08/2016, 13miles on 21st, 11miles on 26th and then yesterday a half marathon (04/09/2016). One of the main fuck ups was i trained my legs in the gym doing squats, lunges etc. this set me back a few days as it killed my legs. The event is on 1st October, which isn’t too far away. After that i’m not doing anymore long runs, my knees, feet and hips are a mess! i’m too old, plus i’ve lost like a stone in weight. This might not sound bad, but even with the extra stone i wasn’t fat just bigger muscles! I now way 12st 6 and before i was always around 13st 8. I think i’m going to stick to the sprint triathlons, so i can keep my weight more with these. I’ll stick to just hiking the Peaks 🙂

This is from the 13 miles on the 21st, again around the peak district.

This is going from Langsett Res towards River Derwent, this was the first time i’ve done this run and the views are awesome, and the terrain is so different all the way round, well worth it.

This is yesterdays run (04/09/2016), didn’t get any scenery pics, probably due to this being my back yard and it never crossed my mind to! This is a pretty flat, its all off road, on tails tracks and paths but its not got the climbs like the Peak District.

Training catch up

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Ok, so i signed up for the North York Moors Coastal run, was looking at the half marathon, but decided to fuck it and jump on for the Marathon. IMG_4428.PNG

This is it, basically its across the Moors on the East Coast, for a bit of perspective, the fastest time this has been done is 4:05, thats more than 2 hours slower than a normal marathon!

These are a few of the runs i’ve done over the last 2 weeks, plus i’ve been swimming and some X-Training too. The first is me running to my sisters, around 10 mile, off road, few up hills and downhills, 10 mile all in all. Felt good after too. The next ones are my swimming session, followed by Nostel Parkrun, that was a bad time 26:45. I was going for around 23/24 mins, for some reason i ate a bag of sweets on the drive there! I threw up twice running road, lesson learnt!

The next one is the 6km one, this is 1km hill sprints. In total three sprints up, and three jogs back down, this is followed by the steady 10km on Thursday. This was a build up the the Saturday big run.

 

And this was Saturdays run, the time is a bit out due to me messing about to much, its more like 3:15. This was in the Peak district, up Win Hill, down to Hope, then back up towards Mam Tor, down to Edale before you get to actual Mam Tor. Then back round and back up to Win Hill. Very Hilly, took a few wrong turns, got lost in a field for 20 mins! but made it. Some awesome views too.

The problem i have, as you can see is Polar says 21.59km which is 13.4 miles. Garmin however says 21.91 miles which is 35.26km. This is a fucking huge distance to be out by! But using google maps and measure distance, i can roughly retrace the steps. Putting it at about 14 mile.

Few picks of the views.

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Peak District
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Towards Mam Tor
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Looking to Mam Tor
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Top of Win Hill
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Top of Win Hill

Off-Road ADV Ride & Llanidoles

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Last Friday i went on the Yamaha off-road experience http://www.yamaha-offroad-experience.co.uk/ check it out. I did the Tenere experience, seeing as i have a Tenere!

This is in Wales just outside a village called Llanidoles, this is the Village where the River Severn starts, nice little place too. I went down on the Friday, it took around 5 – 6 hours i think to get there, around 150 miles. Didn’t touch the motorway and passed some awesome scenery and through some cool little villages on the back route. Had a few pit stops as i proper fucked up with the packing on the way down. My back and legs were killing me, school boy error, which i corrected on the way back, much more enjoyable ride.

This is what i basically took, the Wolfman tank bag, and the waterproof held bag. Thats the tackle i put in it, normal shit, tent, sleeping bag, roll mat, stool, pillow bag, stove, cup, food/drink, mobile charger, gaffer tape, tool roll, torch etc. You can see the way i packed the bag, basically boxed me in so i couldn’t move.

the ADR off-road riding started around half 10, i did it on mu own bike, a few other guys used the places bike. I bought my bike to be used for off-road, green-laning and riding, and i wanted to give it ago. The trails where in a woods and old shale quarry, it was 10,000 acres with 100s of miles of trials in it. There were mud tracks and shale tracks, i managed to do good no major offs. Its a lot more scary than i thought going 40 – 50 mph around shale tracks and the back sliding round corners but you get used to it. We were shown how to ride off-road, the cornering, and standing up on the bike. We covered around 100 miles in the day around different, with about 80% of that off-road, the day was overall around 8 hours long, about 6 hours riding.

Pics of the bike at the campsite, on the trails, and when i’ve washed it at home. If you have a Yamaha XT660Z or 1200 i would absolutely recommend this trip, people come from all over to do it, i mean like there was a guy from France and another guy from Switzerland there.

 

This is Lianidoles, small little village but pretty cool to walk round for a few days, some nice pubs which i had a few pints in and a few meals. Worth looking up if your in the area.

 

Last night on the campsite, laid on the bike with a cup of red wine before the journey home, up at 6:30, packed up and set off for 7:30. Packed the bike up a different way and was a awesome journey home with no aches or pains. Last pic is obviously the clocks, 413 miles covered. Didn’t have much chance to take photos of the actually day, but fuck it, i’ll do it again, and take more next time.

 

 

Fan Dance Race Summer 2016

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Saturday 9th was the Fan Dance Race, this is a 24km race Pan Y Fan and back. I opted for the Load bearing Race which means i have to do it with a backpack on, with 35lbs of useful equipment in it, with water and food being extra. The bag is weighed before and after the race.

I set off Friday to Wales, took around 4 hours, i’d opted to camp, as on the website they said this would give it a more authentic feel, as this is what the SAS/SBS do before they complete this race. Camping was OK, had a decent nights kip, until the rain storm started at 5:30, ever the fucking optimist, i though this would clear up by 8:30, and decent weather conditions would ensure a good day for the race. How fucking wrong was I.

The race starts at the old red phone box at 8:30. 111

The weather was shocking, i’d expect a lot better for July, but then again it is the UK and in Wales. We were warned the winds were 50mph plus, the rain never stopped, and thanks o the wind the rain was relentlessly smashing us sideways! I was waterproofed up the fucking eyeballs, which lasted a whole 10mins.

The start is pretty good, you climb up to the top of Pen Y Fan, down Jacobs ladder and then to the half way point. The whole Pen Y Fan to the bottom of Jacobs ladder is maybe 5km, its then a steady decline round to the half way point another 7km away. It seemed to be going good! You get to the half way point turn and turn round for the home stretch. That steady decline is now a steady incline, and Jacobs Ladder, what seems like a slight inconvenience when coming down is now a fucking killer. You start at the bottom, and my first thoughts were ‘this isn’t too bad’, the rock steps/path is making it slightly easier, then you get further up, and holy shit, its hard work. I mean like thigh burning, calf burning, hamstring smashing 10 steps at a time fucking bad.

The full picture of Jacobs Ladder is pulled of the internet. The other one is the visibility i had yesterday! It was so hard to determine how far off the top you were, you always wanted it to be the end but it just kept coming, son-of-a-bitch! Then you made it, having to scramble up the last few ladders, which turn from steps to 3 – 4 foot scrambles apart, with the rain coming down them. At the top there was zero visibility, taking a photo was fucking pointless, i could have been anywhere in the world in fog, plus we got told not to due to the 60mph winds and the 880m drop if we got blown off, makes sense. After the climb there is around 4km of downhill, i hated the downhills in boots, my socks and feet were wet through, every downward step meant my feet slipped in my boots, smashing my toes to the front of the boot, my toes have blisters on the end of them. Boots are wank.

You know that you are need the end, but due to the visibility can not see the red phone box until maybe 50 metres away, the first sign i had was the noise of cars passing on the road, then you know you are close, i bet i did the last 1km with the biggest smile on my face ever. You get to the bottom, they re-weight the rucksack, 42lbs it weighed without my food and water, the rain had added 6lbs to the horrible cunting thing.

Then you get the badge, all ready to be sown on. I had this idea in my head that i could do this, and while doing have some good thoughts about life, what event i do next, job, my motorbike and future trips, non of this transpired, for nearly 6 hours all i thought about was the shear fucking hatred i had for my rucksack, how much it hurt, how uncomfortable it was, and i just wanted it off, and why o why did i do the loaded and not the clean.

Next year, Summer 2017 i’ll do it again, but clean and running, hopefully in decent conditions, with some awesome photos of the awesome scenery. Never again will i do it loaded.

For anyone who reads this, get off your arse and fucking do it, it is hard, but so worth it, you only live once, and ‘who dares wins’ as they say.

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Peak District – Training

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Yesterday i went stomping around the peak district as the last weekend before the Fan Dance in Wales. Started off near the Yorkshire Bridge near Ladybower Res. Went to the top of Win Hill, which is a climb of 300meters in 1.2km, pretty steep climb. The record to get to the top is like 15 mins, so in comparison running a 1.km normally is like 4mins 30 secs.

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Thats the top of Win Hill.

This was mainly walking and some running on the flats, downhills, and a few inclines. The other week i did 19km in 2hours 30mins, this was 22km and took 4hours 50mins. Big difference! It is an absolute spectacular place.

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Something a little bit like that, i actually don’t feel to bad today. My legs ache and i need a good stretch. I had a back pack on, around 30 – 35lbs. The weather was very hit and miss, sunny, windy, showers then full on rain and sleet, then back to sunny! made for an interesting time though. Saw plenty of kids doing the DofE too.

These are from the polar heart monitor, and fuck me does that drain the battery on my phone having this thing on all the time. From setting off with 100%, as soon as i got in my car the battery was dead. I have a portable charger, which i’ll have to remember to take next time, and on the Fan Dance too!

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That is a view of the hill we walked up from Win Hill then down the valley through Edale back up and around back to Win Hill and down to Ladybower Res.

New Stuff for ME!

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The weather is picking up and my bike gear is getting a little hot, the jacket i have is the AlpineStars Andes. Awesome jacket, fully water proof and has a removable thermal lining. Does the job 80% of the time in the UK! Its a bit restrictive off road but still works well. Anyway i wanted something that looked a little cooler, was protective and good off road. Obviously it won’t be as good protective wise on the road as the full jacket, but i’m not a crazy speed rider and the bike is nowhere near a sports bike!

I opted for the Knox armoured shirt.

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It has all the amour need, all CE rated and is a mesh shirt so is cool to where (temperature wise, and cool as in cool!). I then opted for a motocross jersey to go over the top. They’ve not arrived yet, but my excitement is pretty big to get my hands on these. I got them both from http://www.getgeared.co.uk worth a look if you have bike, and live in the UK.

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Training

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Last Sunday i ran from Penistone to Home, which is about 20km. Penistone/Oxspring is in Barnsley and is very hilly. Once out of the hills it was pretty much flat, this was on the Trans Pennine Trail. Pretty good run, i also had the backpack on, around 20kgs. I didn’t take enough water or food, major mistake. About 5km from home i’d run out of water, and i’d only taken a litre anyway! Amateur mistake, and all i’d eaten on the run was one Mars bar, which was munched on at random times along the run.

Through the week i mainly did gym work, few weights, rowing and swimming. This Saturday i did the 5km Parkrun at Nostell. Was the 100th run at Nostell big turn out, good run. I then went onto the gym, few weights and then a swim.

My plan was to go on a big run today, but i’ve woken up stiff! so i’ve smashed some Yoga this morning and i’m off to the gym later on. Big run will have to wait for the middle of the week!

Also i’ve found a Half Marathon across the North Yorkshire Moors in October, i’m signing up!

Stone Roses

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Ok, so in the travel heading, maybe not the right one, but fuck it i travelled to Manchester for it. Last night was the Stone Roses gig in Manchester at the Eithad Stadium. When i was a kid i started listening to the Stone Roses, favourite band and have been for like20 years. I was too young to have ever have seen them the first time round, and by the time i started listening they had split. Which probably makes all the Stone Roses fans who saw the first time round feel very old! To be able to get to see these live was absolutly awesome, the best gig ever, just because its them. The gig was actually amazing, it had 4/5 star rating in The Times for their Wednesday gig and the Metro had raved about it too. It will not, and i was not disappointed, and i recon neither were the other 60,000 folk there. Go fucking see this band before its too late.

 

This is one of the great bands from the UK, the playlist for the gig will not disappoint. Absolutly amazing day/night, and of course we had a few beers in Manchester before, we headed up to the Northern Quarter, had a few beers and a burger in the Tin Street Tavern and watched the Italy game. Great little pub, well worth a visit and beer in. We also went to the Tariff & Dale, good bar, definitely go in hear, plus the bar women has some awesome tattoos. They do good Ale though, not fosters/carling shit, and they sell a good selection of gins.