Its been a while...

I miss boxing so much - here I am with Amy of Smurfitness, I have learned such a lot from this lady.

*Warning* this is not going to be short! I like to think of my blog as an online diary which documents the active side of my life - my last blog entry was in December 2018 - what a slacker!  

So, here is a round-up of whats been happening in the life of theladyfellrunner since then...

My sister and I with Ricky Hatton

In a nutshell highlights of 2019 include - moving house and beginning the mass renovation and restoration of our (hopefully) forever home, learning to box, training my RunTogether group for a half marathon, running with the dog, a canicross leaders course in Scotland, learning to helm a monohull boat, learning to stand up paddleboard, starting open water swimming - both with and without the dog, volunteering to be the hare for a school cross country competition,

 riding the old boys (our two retired horses) with Scarlet, avoiding the town being washed away on 1st August when the dam was breached and damaged making headline global news, running a few fell races, doing a couple of parkruns and keeping up with pilates and HIIT classes, competing in the Dart 18 Nationals in Bridlington, and riding my road and MTB a bit (and introducing it to the dog).  Phew, quite a substantial nutshell!

But 2019 hadn't seen anything yet because then came 2020! It started well with a brilliant Ricky Hatton boxing course and I started the running year off with a Marple parkrun as part of the new Goyt Valley Striders championship.  All was going well until we started to hear chinese whispers about someone eating a contaminated bat and by March we were brawling in the supermarkets over toilet rolls and pasta...

Life was so different, it was like living in an alternative, impossible dreamworld where freedom was suddenly revoked.  People became paranoid, in some it brought out the worst but in many it brought back community spirit and hope. Coronavirus changed everything.  People stopped and the world stood still apart from checking social media constantly to see what was happening and what was to come.  Reports of Italy having a massive outbreak made it seem a bit closer to home than Wuhan and after all the Italians don't eat bats so it was suddenly becoming a bit of a worry.

Fast forward 12 odd weeks of lockdown and people were socialising on zoom, kids were spasmodically jerking away to tiktok moves, running clubs were doing virtual events and many exercise classes were held outside in small groups of 6.  My COVID highlights include getting aftershokz headphones for my birthday in April, staying in our caravan on the drive at Easter for 4 nights, running laps of my own (very undulating) fields, camping in the field, bonfires, home workouts, press-up challenges, running with William being towed by the dog, meeting one other person to run with, getting chickens!, going into tier 2, going into tier 3, back into lockdown and tier 5!

Aggie in lockdown

We did manage a summer holiday to South Wales (not the originally planned South of France!) and the kids really enjoyed spending time at home, during hot weather they walked 1 km to our nearest river and had a splash about and enjoyed a bit of independence.  

I never in a million years thought I would end up back at square one homeschooling the kids, almost a year later, which is where we are now - January 2021.  My primary teaching days seem a long time ago, certain skills are helping although teaching two of my own children is definitely 10 times harder than teaching a class full...

Running is now just something I have to try and fit in - ideally 2 or 3 times a week but sometimes more like once, mornings are now schooling, I do one pilates zoom class per week and try to do a few other online exercise classes, to keep my core and arms strong.  

Aggie modelling her K9 Trailsports Medal

Races are all virtual, I try to do a monthly medal race with K9 Trailtime which are canicross based and help various charities and I am trying to do a walk with the kids every afternoon.  The Goyt Valley Striders new championship requires members to run a mile as fast they can in January, 5km as fast as they can in February and 10km offroad as fast as possible in March.  These challenges are great as they give us a focus and an opportunity to train for something.  

Wearing the Freetrain vest

I have become a bit despondent about running on the whole over the last couple of years.  I am slower than I used to be and heavier although not unfit - on the contrary, doing boxing and all round body workouts has made me stronger than ever.   I had been trying to think of a way to improve my running mojo before lockdown, I had been considering joining a club with access to a track, thinking that might inspire me a bit but everything is now on pause, a sort of continual groundhog day.  For now just getting out is a victory!

Recently I was sent a V1 running vest from Freetrain to try out.  I usually wear my Ultimate Direction vest but tried this out as an alternative.  I really like the look of the vest, it feels comfortable to wear and has lots of handy features like reflective graphics on the back, a brilliant flip down phone holder which even fits my massive iphone 8+, a key pocket and a flattering shape.  

Sarah wearing the vest 

I had Sarah - one of my RunTogether members (and great friend!) in mind to try it out as she runs with headphones and has to carry her phone in her hand - this is not ideal as it unbalances the runner and isn't comfortable or practical.  Her review of the product was "I use it all the time, I can't tell I'm wearing it, its reflective and light, doesn't move or slip round, the design is great especially the flip down, you can still use your phone through the plastic.  Sarah's only negative was not having a key pocket - I pointed out it does actually have one! So its a solid 10/10 from us - highly recommended!

Sarah looking fresh in the vest

As I said earlier, I have been focusing on sorting out our home and it has been and continues to be a massive team effort.  Anyone interested can follow my home account on Instagram - slatersbank_farm and photos of my running etc. are still on my theladyfellrunner account.  

Rear view of vest

Sorry for the biblical nature of this post but I am going to try and keep updating regularly again from now on! 

So take care, stay safe and remember - you will never regret going for a run!

Happy running,

TLF x

Tentative Times!

Thanks to Frank Golden for letting me use these images - they are great! Find him here on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Frankgoldenphotography/ 

It's been a while since my last blog post, apologies for that.  I have been hibernating and feeling grumpy at the most hideous winter for a long time - muddy, wet, cold and snow besieged - I am so looking forward to winter 18/19 (said no English person ever).  Yesterday somebody mentioned Christmas and it put me in a bad mood for ages!

Looking back at my last post on the last day of January, I can update the goals I spoke of and fill you in on progress so far in 2018...

The #doggoals are coming along nicely.  I have done two lots of puppy training classes and Aggie is doing well.  Today she is exactly 7 months old and I have just returned from the best walk yet! She is coming back to me rather than just going off to play with every dog we meet, and I am really enjoying walking everyday.  It lessens the guilt on non-running days.  I am really looking forward to doing canicross with her, I think it's going to be a lot of fun and I have got some ideas about developing a High Peak Canicross Club so watch this space (I don't do things by halves you know!).

Ha ha! Sorry Aidan!

As far as #coachgoals are concerned, I am delighted with the progress of my RunTogether Run for the Hills groups!  My first group has completed their 5km goal and recce'd Lyme Park parkrun and some of those ladies (plus more from my groups last summer) are now joining me in our improvers group which meets every Monday at 9am for a 5-10km run route.  If you, or anyone you know would like to join us, just sign up here.

That's more like it!

My #racegoals are also in full swing. 
10th Feb 18 - York parkrun - 23:07
10th Mar 18 - Buxton AC 5km - 23:05 (1st lady! For the first time ever!)
15th Apr 18 - Thomas Theyer Whitehall Wiggle (10.8km)  - 1:03:46 (3rd lady for the second time here)

The Thomas Theyer race (where all the images for this post are from) was the first proper fell type race I have done since I injured my hip.  With nearly 400m of ascent and quite a bit of fast downhill it was a real tester but I seem to have got away with it! I chatted and ran with my friend and fellow GVS Aidan, we became those annoying people who chat during races!  To be fair he was doing most of the chatting, I was puffing away next to him!  I really enjoyed it and it pushed my fitness levels to the limit so I need to work on stamina especially with a 9 miler coming up next week!

She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes!

I am quite happy with my pace, but hills are not as easy as they were due to all the flat hip rehab, so I need to focus on hill strength and technique in my training sessions.  Tomorrow night is the Herod Farm Fell Race (AKA Horrid Farm) it's a very short and very steep 3 miler, I may do it but I also have Kinder Downfall (9 miler) on Sunday so will have to see how I feel tomorrow and if I can get childcare...

My #cyclinggoals are off to a very sluggish start, mainly due to the increase in running and the poor weather.  I have done a couple of muddy MTB rides recently and as we are promised 20 degrees plus this week I have grand ambitions to dust off Ladybird and get out road biking again.  I certainly feel un-bikefit at the moment.  I am hoping to fit some sportives in this year, I'm just not sure when or how yet!

Grinning and bearing...

Another sport I have totally neglected since I got Aggie is swimming.  I went a couple of weeks ago to try and rekindle my regular weekly "tickover" swim but it didn't go well as I ended up with another migraine.  I am going to go today and try again. I am very slow and resembling a whale at the moment but hey, you've got to start somewhere right!?

I think that's all for now, My Inov-8 X Claws are brilliant, I love the cushioning/grip combo!

Happy running - especially to all the London Marathoners! (please sponsor my friend Helen here for Leonard Cheshire Disability if you can!) and I will update again soon!

TLF x

The Power of Positivity...

The other day I looked back at my aims for this year, it made for pretty depressing reading - as due to my hip injury I have done nothing compared with the dizzy heights of last year with its PBs and Fell Championship title.  But, in the theme of positive thinking I have put a spin on the aims here - 

• GVS Fell series - defend my title - ok so this didn't happen
• Some of the Hayfield series fell races (short, hilly ones!) - neither did this
• The Slateman (as part of a mixed team "The High Peaky Blinders") - I managed this!  I competed in the cycle leg with an ace team of ladies and we loved it!
• Grindleford Gallop - I did this!  (Before the hip injury) it was great!  I didn't love it but I did it and I now know that I could complete a marathon if I wanted to - which I still don't!
• Another triathlon (sprint distance) and definitely the Hathersage Hilly again - I sadly didn't do either of these, but, I have kept up with my swimming and feel ready for the 2018 season! Bring it on!
• The Grindleford Goat (the longer "Billy" course this year) - I did this in biblical weather and nearly finished off my poor husband in the process!  (sorry Chris!)
• Improve my Mountain Bike Orienteering skills! - Another one I didn't do BUT, I did manage to hook up with Charlie Evans of Bikelife Coaching who has started to coach myself and a group of other ladies in Mountain Biking Skills which is awesome and I am loving it!

Galloping in Grindleford

Other achievements include my ladies run coaching group and it's success stories - many of the ladies have continued running in my absence and a few have started to join in with the more advanced speed/hill groups I am starting to do again, this is great news!  I plan to do more run coaching soon, with 0-5km type groups and some technical fell running groups.  

Another positive was completing my first 100 mile ride.  I entered the Velo Birmingham, a closed road sportive and have written an article for Totally Active Magazine on my experience - watch this space for the link to the Feb/Mar edition in which I will hopefully be featured.   

Running Update - 
After my hip injury at Castleton fell race in June, I have spent the summer resting and starting a strict rehabilitation routine to get me back into running.  

After resting it for around 12 weeks with little improvement, I was starting to think this might be the end of my running career. Christine my physio, advised that I needed to start running again - for sanity purposes - in a more structured way.  My first attempt at a comeback was not great, I did too much too soon on holiday and it started to hurt again.  

After feeling really despondent I spoke to Christine again who suggested I watch some YouTube videos (see links below) about perceived pain and the scientific research and proof about how a lot of pain actually comes from the subconscious.  It sounds daft saying the pain is in your mind - it obviously is actual physical pain but, by changing the way we think about the pain we can actually stop it in its tracks - or reduce it at least.  

I am always sceptical about these notions, having being told pain is all in the head before and thinking it ridiculous, pain is pain in my book - if something hurts there is normally a physical reason for it.  But what Christine said got me thinking... actually sometimes I will catch myself thinking "my hip hasn't hurt today" then shortly afterwards it starts hurting again.  Or, I would think "I'm going to try a run", - it would then immediately hurt again because I expected it to.  I became sure that the pain was being caused by my perception of it rather than any physical reason, after all, I had rested it for so long, something must have repaired!  

So I did two things, firstly I decided to start running very gently - along the canal or similar surface for 2-2.5kms.  I wrote a training plan to incorporate 3 runs per week (all with rest days in between) which kept at one distance for 2 weeks then moved up by half a kilometre for the next two.  This plan has worked, I have increased up to 4km and feel that I am getting somewhere now.  This week I have tried a 400m speed session with my running group and although I only did 9 of the 12 400m laps, I felt that my pace was consistent and not too slow.  My hip did hurt that evening but I expected it to.  I will now start again with my steady 4km runs and see how it feels, fingers crossed I am overcoming it both physically and mentally.  

Aims for next year will be to do some parkruns in the first instance and to increase my pace again.

Cycling

It's been a busy year cycling-wise, thank God for my bikes! Without cycling and swimming I think I would be in a bad place both mentally and physically! I've enjoyed pushing myself on the road bike to do more distance and am now really enjoying the skills side of mountain biking with Charlies help.  As the nights have drawn in and the weather is getting worse I have pretty much hung Ladybird up for the winter - I will go out on the roads if its a dry and sunny day but otherwise i'm going to be doing plenty of bogtrotting on Pearl.  

In other news...

Around this time last year, I wrote about the planned new addition to the Aspinall Household - a Hungarian Vizsla puppy, well after nearly a years wait I am so excited to be collecting our pup "Aggie" in 9 days time (not that i'm counting or anything!), so I will be keeping you updated with our training progress, unfortunately Vizslas bones take a while to develop so it will be at least a year before I can run or ride with her, but I am going to be putting all the groundwork into training her to help with the commands for when we can finally run free!

Happy Running

TLF

YouTube Videos -
Why Things Hurt
Understanding Pain in less than 5 minutes
Treating Pain using the Brain

Macclesfield Forest Duathlon Take 2!

After last year I said never again.  2017 seems to be a year of contradictions already as I have signed up to the Grindleford Gallop, and I once again entered the Crazy Legs Macclesfield Forest Duathlon.  

Doing the event twice has actually made for interesting comparisons - even though the course was a bit different.  So here is my report and comparison.  It has been useful for me to see how much I have developed over the past year.

When reading back over my blog documenting last year's event (you can read about it here) it became apparent how much preparation and effort I put into it then.
  
Going into this years event I was not nervous, I didn't train specifically for it and yet overall, I felt stronger and faster.  I think the reason for this is probably the type of training I am doing.  It is more varied now.  Instead of the bike/run focus of last year, I have developed my swimming immensely which I think has benefited me in all disciplines, and I have been doing pilates since last September, which has increased my core strength and undoubtedly made me more flexible.  

I entered this years event with Caz and Fred and we were relieved to see the weather was far less biblical than last time (Caz did the October version of the same event and Fred did the February 2016 one).  It was really cold and icy but not windy and raining so we were fine once we warmed up.  

My aim going into this race was to improve on last years times and to stay upright!

This year chip timing wasn't used due to a key member of the core team being absent due to a medical emergency - the team did a great job of timing all elements including transitions, so I for one didn't mind. 

In terms of clothing, I wore the same trisuit I purchased for last years event and once again teamed it with running tights and a baselayer top.  I used the same shoes as last time too with fell shoes for the first run, bike shoes for the bike and trail shoes for the last run. My transitions in 2016 were really slow so I hoped to improve on these if I could.  

I had my bike checked by Adam at the Bike Factory beforehand and it performed perfectly once again.  Since last year I have had a new back tyre, new cassette, new chain and other bits and bobs, so basically it's a bit like Triggers broom but it still looks pretty so thats the main thing (obvs!).

The first run was as expected, up up up up... until the trig point where it was so slippery with snow and ice I am sure I was much slower on the moors down from the top this time around.  The flag stones which line the way up to Shutlingsloe were lethal in places so I avoided them altogether by running down one side on the grass and jumping the little ditches.  Transition was a bit different this time with a run in at the top and bike out at the bottom, I was surprised how much quicker I was this time - I knocked at least a minute off both transitions.  

Caz with her prize!

My prevailing memory of this event was the bike stage being absolutely brutal.  I really struggled with a couple of the hills which needed to be negotiated 3 times.  This year was no exception but I was really proud of myself for staying on the bike for the whole phase - I didn't get off mainly because last time my calf went into spasm and I ended up having to stay on to avoid agony! But lots of people did dismount as the hills were really steep in places so it was almost as fast to push.  I knew I was quicker on the bike this year as the faster people like Fred didn't pass me until the end of my 2nd lap, last time I remember being passed earlier on. 


T2 was again quicker and I had Fred on hand to help pass me things which was great, he then proceeded to heckle me and encouraged me through the last run phase! 

Caz and Fred did really well, both winning their age categories, I was delighted to be 3rd lady overall, but remained in 2nd for my age category as I did last year.  Again the event was well organised and low stress, a pleasure to take part.  

All in all my memories of the duathlon are largely the same as last time - the bike stage is really hard, and I normally like hills! Next year I have roped my better half into doing the ride and I will do the runs, we will compete as a mixed team - problem solved!  

Event	Overall pos	Cat	Overall time	Run 1	T1	Bike	T2	Run 2	Gender pos	Cat pos
2016	66/83	F 30-34	2:34:27	0:46:12	02:40	1:25:13	02:37	0:17:45	6/11	2
				7km		16km		2.5km
2017	54/77	F 30-34	2:14:05	0:42:54	01:35	1:14:16	01:26	0:13:54	3/11	2
				7km		14km		2km

Equinox 24 - Endurance Race

Team WB (Post event debrief curry!)

It was with a slight sense of trepidation back in 2015 that I agreed to make up part of a large team entry for the 2016 Equinox 24 hour race.  Once again coerced by Amanda, I decided it would be fun, and with 8 people on the team, it would be totally doable - run a 10k lap, have a rest, run another, have a rest... 

As the event loomed, I was worrying quite a lot about my loss of fitness over the summer holidays - not to mention the 7lb prosecco induced weight gain - oops.  During the week before the event I didn't have too much time to panic as it was back to school and new routines all around.  

Team mates in "Team WB" consisted of Aidan "the IT guru" Grant, Amanda - "the organisor" Skeldon, Dane - "Ironman" Stanley, Caz - "ac workwear" Whittle, Connor - "tallest man I've ever met" Lomax, Sally - "long stride" Kaill and Julie - "onemorelap (with a blister)" Rundall.  

Caz looking strong at the finish 

Living up to their organised reputations Aidan and Amanda did a sterling job of creating a rota of run times for us all to work from.  It wasn't an easy task as a) during the first team organisation meeting we all got pissed (the bike ride home through Whaley Bridge with Caz and Aidan was utterly hilarious though) and b) we all wanted different gaps in between laps.  After a second - more productive team meeting - everything was arranged - from run rota to who was bringing what and travelling with who.  


On Saturday 17th September Connor collected Caz and I at some unsociable hour (after a very unsettled nights sleep  - thanks to Amanda pinging our Equinox messenger group in the middle of the night to let us know she had insomnia) and off we went - loaded up to the hilt. 

 The event was being held in the grounds of Belvior (meaning "beautiful view" but pronounced Beaver - because the Anglo-Saxon population was unable to pronounce it and it stuck - unfortunately! Castle in Lincolnshire near Grantham.  The journey took around 2 hours and on arrival we found Amanda and Dane looking freezing at camp WB as the rain had set in.   

Sponsored by ac workwear.com

I was very envious of their Dryrobes - a long garment designed for swimmers to keep warm and dry between swims.  Connor was so envious he went and bought a Swimzi (same idea as Dryrobe) and this was also a bonus for me as I followed him on two of my laps so I was able to wear his (floor length on me) Swimzi while I waited for him to arrive!

Lap 1 complete! 

After we set up camp and everyone arrived (bar Julie who came a bit later), we cheered Amanda off on the first lap of the 24 hours. 

 The atmosphere was great with teams cheering people on and the run in was very long - about a kilometre lined with tents and people cheering and watching.  

The rest of the time went incredibly quickly for me considering I had an 8 hour gap until I was running my first lap! I spent the time watching the others off, cheering them in, eating and trying to rest (unsuccessfully!).

At the finish of my 4am lap

Sally looking strong with her long stride!

The rota Amanda and Aidan had devised worked really well and we changed it as we needed to - Julie needed a bit of a longer rest after her first lap so we just swapped Caz in early.  Dane went out on his lap and was sick, he had been struck down with some form of man bug which was a bit of a blow as he was one of the 4 lap plus crew!  It really didnt matter in the end - we let Dane sleep through the night and Connor and I ended up going an hour earlier than planned which wasn't a problem as I couldn't sleep at all. 

My Favourite team name "Nice Belvoir"

Running in the dead of the night was really strange but actually totally fine.  The strangest thing for me was running my third lap - the only lap I did in the daylight!  It was funny to look around and think - ahh so that's where all the laughing ducks are - at the side of a huge lake!  

 "Thank you.  I've just had it stuffed"

I felt really sorry for the solo runners and small teams - the feeling of passing lots of people is really motivating, it's like being in a race where you are the fastest and you just keep progressing - the only difference here is that you can be fresh as a daisy bounding around your second lap of the course after an eight hour gap - whilst the poor sod you just passed is hobbling round their 11th lap with no proper resting (and about a million blisters) in between! It makes you feel both happy and guilty at the same time!

Julie heading for home

There were all sorts of people competing - small teams of 3-4 people, solos, pairs, and large teams like us.  Some were doing it for charity whilst others were doing it for their own personal goals.  There was even a man with a tumble dryer on his back!  I passed him sat down in the middle of the night sorting out his blisters - everyone was really supportive though and offering help.  There were blokes in tutus, people in teams all dressed the same, and even a rival team for Team WB - the Marple Runners team!  

Running in with Aidan on the final lap

Most of our team members are involved in Whaley Bridge junior parkrun, and the Marple runners are the same - either involved with Marple juniors or the Marple adult parkrun. Although they only had 7 team members, we seemed evenly matched and it became Aidan's mission for us to beat them!  They were easy to spot in their Dennis the Menace style running tops, and we had good banter with them.

Feeling and looking tired during my 3rd lap

Posing with our medals

All of our team did really well with everyone completing at least 3 laps and Aidan and Julie completing 4.  I think the hardest thing is the combination of camping and running! It's hard to stay warm when you have dried chilled sweat on your body (nice!) and no amount of baby wiping can constitute a shower in my opinion!  I was the only one who braved the showers after my last lap (think huge tanker attached to portaloo style) but it was the best thing ever!  It was lovely and warm!  In the night though I felt cold and sticky and it stopped me from getting any decent sleep.  I think adrenaline takes over too.

My essentials for a 24hr race:
- wellies! or crocs if it's dry - my birkenstocks were a big fail
- lots of socks - I ended up spending £15 on a pair of compression ankle socks because my feet were cold and I only brought enough socks for 3 laps!
- loose warm clothes for over running clothes (inc. a fleece)

Coming in after my 8am (and final) run - eyes closed already!

- diet cherry coke!
- hot chocolate/tea/coffee
- decent headtorch and spare batteries for each lap

See it was fun!

Desirables
- dryrobe
- shower between laps!
- team vests with names on

Gear-wise for the runs I wore my OMM three-quarter length running tights for 2 laps and then my Karrimor capris for my last lap, these were both really comfortable and warm enough/not too warm.  I wore my Inov-8 Roclites for all 3 laps with no problems - I changed socks for each lap.  I wore my Team GB vest for all my laps - for the early morning lap I wore a technical t-shirt underneath.  I don't sweat very much so that made it much easier!  My LED Lenser headtorch was brilliant and three of us used it!  I even lit a lady in whose torch had gone very dull! (she was fast and made me go a bit quicker so that was a bonus!).

Overall, it was a totally different experience which I enjoyed (we have entered Team WB again for 2017 so it can't have been that bad!) it was fun being part of a team and we all worked well together.  I was worried about the distance but actually having large gaps in between made them manageable and I avoided injury so that was a bonus!  I am never going to be interested in long distance running but I reckon for a weekend once a year I can put up with it and try my best!

Results are here for anyone interested in lap times. 

Thanks to all the team for a fun weekend!

Representing the Goyt Valley Striders, Whaley Bridge junior parkun and ac workwear

Connor and the girls (Julie MIA again)

Look closely and you can see the castle in the background

The magnificent 7 - (missing Julie)