Saturday, November 28, 2009

For Your Delight and Delectation

 

Some great pictures of the man himself – Ueli - on FSS’s blog at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival last weekend.

http://justusandafewfriends.blogspot.com

Ueli Steck’s speed climbing records for the North Faces of the Eiger, Grand Jorasses and Mattherhorn - unbelievable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWCljD5_Rew

…and now for something completely different classic Monty Python ‘Climbing the North Face of the Uxbridge Road’

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/news/article.asp?UAN=6454&v=1

Which one do you prefer – tough!

Great morning out guys looking forward to next Sat

NLN

Friday, November 27, 2009

Clayton Vale

TF, thanks for the head up - think I would have eventually realised that it is unlikely to have two races at the same venue, although I think it has been known in the past. Just a slip of the keyboard and now recall how to get there - need to check that Man City are not playing at home for traffic. Think I shall run in studs although the weather would no doubt suit spikes but don't want to risk another DNF. So I don't need a warm-up, I'm going to go for one now!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Horwich Fell Championship 2009

The "Tour" was the last race in the Horwich 2009 fell championship and saw Alastair Murray clinching the title.  t'Yorkshireman overcame his poor descending skills by placing 22nd with Matt pipping yours truly by one point (got a lot to answer for that Tour) to place 35th.

In the ladies' championship Nico starred in 6th place, ahead even of Geraldine Walkington! Good on yer girl!

Back to the Tour, and giving a bit more thought to my own performance; if I hadn't lost 5 minutes with a navigational error, between CP's 1 and 2, and if I hadn't lost 3 minutes for what I understand is politely called a "comfort break" between CP's 4 and 5 ~ Matt would have still beaten me by two minutes.

By the way, does anyone have any comprimising photos of TF.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Saturday Nov 28

I will not be UTUP-ing on Saturday due to cross country at Sefton Park, unfortunately.

Thanks to TF for the results information. We all finished in closer order than I would have guessed and next year the need to beat the tighter cut off time may put us even closer together.

I had warning of this during a call on Tuesday from Kieran Carr who seemed a bit put out by the last two finishers beating the cut off and then walking most of the remaining course. It will make it difficult for us really oldies to get a finish in a long fell race as a qualification for those events which require even higher standards.
ToP mistakes

I'm afraid the photos from Saturday didn't turn out. A bit like me, really. In the kerfuffle at the start Christina got her angles wrong and chopped off some heads. This could account for EtU's navigational mistake. YJ apparently chose the wrong footwear though I have to say my Inov8 Mudclaw's served me well. My mistake was in not taking in enough fuel.

If you'd have seen me on the climb from Checkpoint 9, you'd have wanted to disassociate yourselves from me. You probably want to anyway. I was like an old man. OK, I am, but not to me. I was constantly falling over like I used to after a Saturday night out. Quite a few runners passed me so I was a bit disappointed with my effort on that climb. Only TF seemed not to have made a mistake but she has.

You can't mess with Swift Bros. Inc. It's like taking the Mafia on. It's a mistake. A big mistake. Keep an eye out for a horses head in your bed fairly soon, TF.

Thanks for your confidence in me JtE. I only narrowly justified it. It was a close run thing!

Shall Utup on Saturday.
XC

I hate to disappoint you T'Y but there's no XC at Boggart Hole Clough this Saturday, you've done that one or at least half of it. The SELCC fixture this Saturday is at Clayton Vale (near Manchester Velodrome).

If you want another go at Boggart Hole Clough, then the Manchester League have a race there on the 12th December. We do accept guest runners, although there is a small matter of a fee (£3). The course will be exactly the same, so you could come and see what time you would have done had you not dropped out on the 31st Oct.

TF
ToP Results 2009

280 Matt V70 4:25:28
285 EtU V60 4:35:15
289 YJ V70 4:37:21
290 TF LV40 4:37:21 (quicker than last year by 17 sec!)


Full results here http://www.clayton-le-moors-harriers.co.uk/uploads/Results/2009/TourRes2009.pdf

There were 8 runners (Hague RR) from Holland we all only beat one of them!

Note the coments about the cut-off times for next year at the bottom!

No utup for me this week

TF

This Saturday

UTUP for me.

.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

This Week

Thursday 26th ~ UTUPing.

Saturday 28th ~ UTUPing ~ see you then NLN.

XC on Saturday

After none for four weeks, I have a choice of two this Saturday, either Boggart Hole Clough or Liverpool so that means the morning run will be out. I shall get back to them sometime soon as they should give me good mileage and a bit of climb for my GR10 training.
Should have a TT match this Thursday (t'cup match) but we've already ground the opposition into surrender. However as I end up opening and closing the venue when we are scheduled for a home match, I still can't get to UTUP. May be useful to have a rest prior to Saturday's XC as I expect a long day on the fells tomorrow around Kettlewell of about 18 miles and 4000'.
NLN - as LDWA members, you and FSS may be interested in that East Lancs are having their Christmas Party a week on Friday - from the photos we would reduce the average age somewhat! I believe some local groups make us look positively juvenile.

Fantastic Posting TF!

Congrats to all for Pendle well done.  Judging from the weather just across the M6 in Kendal it must have been appalling on the fells.

Anyone UTUP-ing this Saturday.  Looking for an outing - feeling very unfit from all the non-running, hard eating and drinking weekends of late!

NLN

Jedward

I am sure that YJ and EtU will agree, that must be the funniest posting ever seen on the blog.

Jedward return.......



to a fell somewhere near you.

Following a lacklustre performance which sealed their fate on ‘X’ factor on Saturday evening, Jedward have decided to return to their first love – the fells.

When asked if they would be spending 6 hours grooming themselves to perfection, their unanimous reply was ‘6 hours! it’s taken 6 decades to achieve this look’ For the future though, they have decided to put their own individual twist on style. So seen here modelling their choice of post-run attire.

Having become synonymous as ‘X’ factor they now wish to become ‘Why’ factor (sic).
TF

Monday, November 23, 2009

Some pictures from Saturday

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/TommoPix/FullTourOfPendle2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCISttvj9vcnv7AE#

EtU 89, Matt 94 & TF 99, couldn't spot YJ on any

TF

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Tour of Pendle ~ Again

Thanks TF and YJ for your reports. The organization seems to have been a bit of a fiasco. You could have done without that and the clag to contend with. Well done all of you and Matt in particular for being first in.

Hi JtE,

In a nutshell, 1st Matt, 2nd EtU, 3rd YJ 4th TF

As YJ has already alluded to (and adding to my pre-race stress) were these 2 diversions. By my estimation these could add a vital 5 to 10mins to journey time depending on conditions under foot. I had expressed my concerns to the RO on collecting my number, who guess what 'hadn't thought of that'.

Thinking I was on my own in the clag locating the new CP1, I suddenly heard a voice behind me say 'glad you know where you're going'. We both agreed it was a long way round, but I felt a bit relieved when this Clayton runner told me 'Keiran's (RO) given us an extra 10mins for this'. When I last saw Keiran though, he had his running kit on, shouting instructions to us runners and was trying to unite some with their tags. I'd hoped he'd had time to give new instructions to the Marshall on CP4. This all meant we set off at 10:40am (by my watch), 10mins late. So cut-off time at CP4 could be any of the following

12:30pm - original time, allowing 2hrs if race started on time at 10:30am, marshall unaware
12:40pm - 2 hr allowance, knowing start time was 10:40am
12:50pm - 2hrs + 10mins, start time 10:40am

Anyway I decided I'd have to race to get there for 12:30pm just in case. I made it and got there within shouting distance of EtU. Who, once on less vertical terrain, shot off again. Thinking that would be the last I'd see of him, he reappeared from behind me nearing the top of the climb from CP5, this time it'd been an intentional diversion. Having reached the top, the first harbinger of cramp arrived. A brief twitch in my right calf. Note to self, need to remember to up the salt intake for these long races. I made it down the drop to CP6 just ahead of EtU, and only a little bit behind YJ. A short delay to put on my jacket allowed them to storm ahead.

Having nursed my way round to the drop for CP9 without any further 'twitches', I was dismayed to feel my left thigh go into spasm just as I launched myself off. It made for an interesting descending technique. Trying to start running again after the trig point brought on another episode. I managed to walk it off and got running again when I located the last trod. It definitely wasn't the weather for hanging about. I finally caught up with YJ this time just after the last CP, and was glad to be able to keep up with him for the final run in.

All credit to all the marshalls and helpers for sticking it out and letting us have our bit of fun on Pendle . I'll have to keep trying until I break the elusive 4hr30mins.

TF

Tour of Pendle

Who, of our four, was first and second?

A few personal thoughts while waiting for the results of the Tour of Pendle. Congratulations to Matt who presumably won the over 70 category and also apologies to him for missing making contact after finishing. He may well have received his prize and left for home by the time I finished.

After a determined start which got me away from my customary position at the end of the field I passed TF, Matt and EtU and PM by the start of the first climb and resisted the temptation to run much of the initial ascent of Pendle. Consequently the usual site of the first checkpoint came up a couple of minutes later than planned. Movement of the checkpoint to avoid erosion put about 9 minutes on the first leg but the footing was initially much better.

Then came the long rocky narrow path to the ridge where everybody and his dog seemed to go past me as usual. First past was EtU then Matt and both disappeared into the distance. No sight of EtU at this point and he latter admitted missing the turn up to the ridge.

By the climb up from CP3 Matt was back in view and I passed him just before the top. A heavy fall just after the stile allowed Matt past and initially aggravated an old knee injury the pain from which soon wore off and gave no further trouble. I followed Matt to the top of Ogden Clough (the worst descent in the North) and had again closed the gap until two or three more tumbles on the slippery slope left me bottling out and letting Matt stretch out a big lead.

We had both followed runners who led us to far to the right and several who I had passed on the preceding climb had now closed up.

Once across Ogden Clough Matt was disappearing off the radar and loud conversations from behind indicated EtU was gaining ground.

CP5 was an opportunity to see who was behind. Where had EtU gone?

Another long climb and still gaining places led to the next abysmall descent (well it seemed like an abyss) and on the next climb the wind strength increased considerably and rain was driving in from the side.

Stumbling along to the drop off poin in the heavy mist, I went too far and by the bottom, after a stop to don cagoule and wooly hat, EtU having made a better route choice had overtaken and was already on the climb. We were soon together and I relished the challenge of the last climb until traction became almost non existent. The Innovates just wouldn't grip on the combination of wet moss and sheep dung and EtU disappeared into the mist never to bee seen again --until the finish.

TF who had started to narrow the gap, was not far behind us on the last climb and had closed up by the last stile on the run in which she made unnecessarily hard. I contemplated a sprint finish but conceded I might not win it. So we finished together. Congratulation to TF on an improved run, all the more commendable with the distance added by the detours.

Friday, November 20, 2009

ToP. My Prediction

Very difficult question TF. I can’t put the four of you in any particular order but I reckon that Matt will be first, always provided, of course, that he doesn’t fall over, lose his specs, or forget his drink bottle.

Sat 21st Nov ToP

Thanks for the offer EtU, but for various reasons I need to make my own way there tomorrow.

I've been having a look back at the results. Any one want to have a go at predicting the finishing order. Here's how the various runners fared over the last couple of years, apologies if I've missed any.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

This Week

Thursday 19th ~ UTUPing.

Saturday 21st ~ anyone want a lift to Barley? Email me.
Brighton bulletin

Occasionally seen on the fells in the company of myself, Eden and Sally were in action legging it along the seafront on Sunday in the Brighton 10k. Eden, who displays an ability to drink his brother in law under the table, as he did on Saturday night, and show no after effects the next morning (doesn't that sound familiar) had a gun time of 53.10 (chip time 49.38) and Sally who had a night's sleep disturbed by coping with Eden's rather poorly brother in law was pleased with her times of 61.53 (gun) and 59.26 (chip).

The course is very flat (and boring) and will form part of the route for the inaugural Brighton marathon next spring when Eden and I will be going head to head. Sally had initially entered this new race but withdrew on confirmation of a London marathon place.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Find the Lady?

On the way back from Barley someone (who probably wishes to remain anonymous) referred to the conundrum concerning the three cups with a pea hidden underneath one. The stooge is asked to guess where the pea is. The one in the know then takes away one of the other cups (which is empty) and invites the stooge to change her selection. “Go on, you only had a one in three chance of a correct guess and that still remains for your selection, but the other remaining cup has a 50/50 chance of hiding the pea, so it’s sensible to change your choice, and increase your chances from 1 in 3 to 1 in 2 ~ you know it makes sense.”

I said that this was obviously incorrect (was I that polite?) and that I would post a rational explanation at the earliest opportunity as to why there is no advantage to either changing or sticking.

First thoughts were to present all the possible scenarios and then to show all the outcomes, and work out what that meant as probabilities. However, just a little more thought confirmed my initial view that the main flaw was in declaring that the initial 1 in 3 chance hadn’t changed, so the other remaining cup is a better bet. If the remaining unchosen cup has a 1 in 2 chance of being loaded, and the chosen cup has a 1 in 3 chance, is there, therefore, a 1 in 6 chance that the elusive pea has gone to Heaven? Obviously not; with 2 cups and the pea being under one of them, they both have a 50/50 chance of holding the pea.

Just liken it to the Grand National, where you’ve backed a horse at 100:1. After the final fence (no.14, which is jumped twice, making it the 30th of 30 on the second lap) and there’s only yours and one other horse left running; are your chances still 100:1? Again, obviously not!

Which only goes to show that it is safe to play poker with a maths teacher.
ToP reccy,rocky,boggy,hilly

If JtE is going to get witty when we take him on an outing away from his natural habitat, then I suggest we leave him at home in future. "Matt Finished Bronze" takes the gloss off it and "Witch Bird" puts a different spell on things. His captions are nearly spot on but I didn't realise it was a medal quite as early as he infers.

JtE, TF, Nico, myself and an unwell EtU met YJ at Barley. Etu was the only one not in longs and at times he looked as though he were not in shorts either. "Who wears short shorts" was written for him. We had the unusual sight of Nico in full apparel, an harbinger of doom if ever there was one, which made me think, " Should we be doing this?".

We missed out checkpoints 1,2 and 3 and headed straight for, you've guessed it, checkpoint 4. From there we headed to the main track from where we located the turn-off for checkpoint 2 before finding the turn-off for checkpoint 5. This checkpoint was further on than most of us thought, and our arrival was due to the wisdom of TF. Is it because she works with teeth? After the steepish but manageable climb to 6 we dropped down to 7 to start the dreaded climb up to 8 This was made more difficult with the buffeting wind making for one step forwards then two to the side. A bit like Old Time dancing for those who can rember that far back. After that we tried to find the difficult turn-off for checkpoint 9 which was one of our main objectives. TF succeeded in great style whilst YJ and I failed with no style whatsoever.

Everyone wimped out of the long, steep climb to 10, and having bagged it the easy way we located one of my other objectives, the turn-off from the main track to checkpoint 11. On the way back in, Nico had a painfull fall running down a steep grassy embankment. She said it wasn't as bad as child-birth.

Back at Barley, TF served us cake, and Nico served us coffee. It's all becoming a bit too cosy. We'll be taking our chairs and rugs next. Then I was presented with a medal for being very slow. I've got quite a lot of those. Mainly from school.

Thanks to TF & Nico for the food and drink and to JtE for doing the driving. Though if he's going to misbehave on the blog after we've taken him out, his future participation should be questioned.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Matt Finished Bronze

Pictures taken at Matt’s private presentation of his bronze medal for taking third place in the V70 category of the English Fell Running Championship 2009. The occasion was at Barley after our recce run of part of the Tour of Pendle.

DSCF0001

I wonder what this is.

 

DSCF0002

Oh, it’s a medal.

All the best to those doing the race next weekend. Is someone more qualified than me going to do a write up on yesterday’s outing?

Witch Bird ?

Was it a Dotterel? There was a small bird  on the ground shortly before Nico, TF and I reached the ladder stile before  the summit of Pendle Hill. I could not identify it but subsequent research shows that Pendle Hill, and the particular area that we were in, is the most likely place in the north west to see a Dotterel in passage between the Cairngorms and Southern Italy. Passage south, in Autumn, can be irregular, but the only down side to all of this is that they have usually gone by this time of the year.

dotterel_juvenille_300_tcm9-139813

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

This Week

UTUPing Thursday 12th, then UT but Barley rather than UP on Saturday 14th.

Will there be anyone at Rivington on Saturday in case anyone else turns up on spec?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Back to running

After a week of no running, I tested the water on Sunday and found it in abundance on Winter Hill. Good thing is that the calf, although whinging all the way round, didn't give up on me and today repeated the excursion with seemingly even more water underfoot and seem to be okay. Not sure whether joining you lot on Saturday at Barley is a good idea (no cross-country this weekend) but you never know. We are out on Friday evening so I shall not make any firm plans.

Very jealous of FSS and NLN's trip to Majorca. At this time of year it is ideal for walking. At first glance, the 22,000ft of ascent looks daunting as my schedule will only get me up to that for a month by Easter but then a quick calculation shows that it is almost exactly the weekly ascent I shall have to achieve on the GR10.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Should be 20 metres square or 400 square metres. Wellies are Joules. They come with a little plastic dog!
Kinky?

They're only kinky to those well beyond 70.

Mischa and the Menage

Great stuff Nico. Should the 20 square metres read 200 square metres? Have you folks noticed the kinky boots?!

Sunday, November 08, 2009



This is Mischa being ridden for only the second time. And in the menage too. I am standing in/on 80 tonnes of sand, hand spread, and 12 tonnes of plastic granules. All sitting on 20 square metres of membrane, hand sewn to the length of 160 metres. That's why my mileage is down!

Blog Improvements

Well done TF, NLN and FSS. Good picture. It just shows where the brains are!

Further Update

Well done TF for widening workable area.  With the help of FSS added image to header – the Pike from the Two Lads.  Maintains the integrity of the blog and EtU’s vision – hope you like it.  No more changes from me.

Reined In

On arrival at the UP yesterday the weather was so appalling that thoughts of Darwen Tower were immediately dismissed and the first ten minutes were spent by most of us in NLN’s vehicle with the inclination to stay there until the cafe opened at ten o’clock. However a decision was taken to do “the climbs” and then see if the weather improved.

The team was Nico, NLN, YJ, EtU and me. On achieving Two Lads it was obvious that YJ still had his marathon in his legs and he eventually called it a day at the base of the Pike. The rest of us carried on as far as Winter Hill summit and there the weather started to improve. A decision was taken to go down the ramp and at the bottom EtU turned for home via Two Lads. The girls and I continued via Belmont, Bucket Dog Farm and Catherine Edge until we joined the Tockholes road. Here we turned left crossing Belmont Road and up to Spittlers’ Edge, returning to the barn via NLN’s route taking in Ammunition Corner. The weather had improved for the latter part of the run becoming bright but cold.

15.5 miles approx.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Well I've had a little play!

Our current template is called 'Son of Moto' was going to go for 'Ms Moto' what'd you think NLN, are they man enough?
As far as preparation for 2nd go at ToP, it's so far, so good. I managed a 5 min improvement on last years' result at the Shepherds Skyline today. My first victory over George from Preston this year, although I had to take advantage of a tumble (not witnessed, 2nd hand info) to secure it. Made of tough stuff these V70s, unlike the couple of youngsters I passed who were being helped down from the summit!
TF
ps I can change it back again if you don't like it, I think?

Friday, November 06, 2009

Too Clever for Me

With the various suggestions floating around regarding formats and postings seeming far too technical for me, I have given admin priveleges to NLN and TF so that they can experiment and advise the rest of us.

Happy for you to widen things and add a suitable photo, NLN.

As they say "Watch This Space!".

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Sierra de Tramuntana, Mallorca

Fantastic week’s trekking in one of our favourite mountain ranges.  Best weather ever with no rain at all for the week.  Sun shone every day with light breeze at altitude.  Perfect destination is Soller in the north west of the island and we generally stay in Porto de Soller to be on the coast.

Map picture

Not a huge mileage for the week 56 miles but managed to climb a total of 22,931ft overall.  So Saturday will be a bit of a shock to the system as no running was done and I guess the legs will be a bit heavy from the climbing.

FSS has recently treated himself to an even more technical camera the Canon Powershot G10, which means that I’ve inherited his old G7 model.  I’ve also been receiving tips on photography so here are a few of my holiday snaps.  You’ll probably appreciate why we keep going back to Porto de Soller.

Mallorca 2009 (1 of 11)

View from our balcony at Hotel Eden

Mallorca 2009 (4 of 11)

Same view later with the two lighthouses illuminated one at the top of the cliff and the lower one on the right identifying the mouth of the harbour.  This one taken by FSS doing something clever with the shutter speed?   Lessons haven’t extended that far yet!

Mallorca 2009 (3 of 11)

Summit of Es Teix – will the timer work then?

Mallorca 2009 (11 of 11)

Sunset – taken from just beyond the lighthouse on the Clifftop in Pictures 1 & 2

 

Mallorca 2009 (5 of 11)

Climbing Tomir with a little help from the in-situ ironmongery

Mallorca 2009 (6 of 11)

Descending from the Al Fabia Ridge FSS engaging in a little scrambling diversion on the way down

Mallorca 2009 (7 of 11)

Refreshments available on the Barranc de Biniaritz or the Pilgrims Path

Mallorca 2009 (8 of 11)

Rock window overlooking approach to Bay of Sa Colabra

Mallorca 2009 (9 of 11)

Sa Colabra again

Mallorca 2009 (10 of 11) 

FSS approaching the Torrent de Pareis Gorge

Mallorca 2009 (2 of 11)

and the incentive for the day’s exertions (photo FSS)

Oh well back to reality this week.  See you Saturday

NLN

Pendle Hill Recce. 14.11.09.

As I understand it, there will be five people travelling from the Bolton area to meet YJ at Barley: TF, Nico, EtU, Matt and me. I propose that we all meet at the Black Dog, Belmont it being a fairly central point for all of us. As my car will take five people I am happy to drive to Barley via Belmont Road etc. In order to meet the proposed 8.30 start time from Barley I suggest 7.30 from Belmont. 

Is this an acceptable arrangement? I will assume so unless anyone says differently!

Saturday UTUP

I'm back from the South and will be UTUPing on Saturday, ready for whatever is planned (sounds like DT). I am also ready for the Pendle recce and will start at any time, UT or earlier if necessary.


Managed a few runs while away including 10 miles in driving rain on the South Downs with Eden and 14 round the highways and byways of Hampshire, some of it with Sally. Sadly the strain of driving back has left me more exhausted than a marathon, but hope to be back in shape for Saturday.

Congratulations to Matt on his O/70 win. He could well add to his success rate at Pendle if past performances are to go by (both his and mine).

PS: I have not detected any change in the ways of posting blogs. I am operating Vista, with limited ability that the system seems able to cope with. I too write in Times which I then have to convert to Arial. Have never tried posting pix so can't add to the debate in that respect.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

UTUP – Sat

Looking forward to seeing UTUPers on Sat.  Like the sound of THE TOWER YJ.

Some cracking photos of the Sierra Tramuntana on FSS’s blog.  Post and photos to follow on here.

http://justusandafewfriends.blogspot.com/2009/11/es-teix.html

Looking at the discussion about the blog properties, how about updating the template EtU to widen the space available and maybe an opening photo of one of our local hills?

NLN

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

ToP Recce 14th Nov

Still on for me. What time at Barley, 8:30am or is that too early? I know EtU usually has a midday curfew, and I'd like to get back to do a bit of baking in the afternoon for the cross country the day after.

TF
Through the Villages

Sorry to be sparse in this blog, I'll have to change my name from Matt to Sot(short of time), but here are some pics from Sunday's race. Suzanne was 1st F45 and by not entering the race YJ allowed me to be 1st M70 and get a £10 voucher to be spent at some chap's (Tony Brown?) sports stall.




A likely looking mob


A sprightly young chap

A knackered old man

Yet again I'll be missing on Saturday(well at least at 8.30). Is TF's proposal of a recce of the T of P the following Saturday still on? If so, I'm determined to be there.

This Saturday

UTUP for me. Would appreciate a longish run. How about Darwen Tower? I think about 15 miles.

Well done TF in the FRA Challenge. I think you might as well hand over the fiver EtU!

Thursday 5th and Saturday 7th

UTUPing both days, may catch the second half of TF's reps on Bonfire Night.

I've a bit of catching up to do regarding the FRA challenge, looks like my new Innovates will soon be worn out!
Utup this week

I'll be doing a sort of 'utup' on thurs. I have an appointment to attend in Horwich so was planning on doing some reps (8 or 10 x 3mins) after it on Chorley Old Road. Will be starting from Gingham Brow from about 6:15pm onwards, so if anyone is in the vicinity then they're welcome to join me for a couple of them.

I can't make it on Saturday as it's haircut time in the morning. To make up for missing the morning run I'm off to Lambutts in the afternoon to hopefully break 50000ft for this years' climbing in FRA races. Current totals are 200.3m and 49280ft

TF

Monday, November 02, 2009

I think the lady doing the kit-check had him ear-marked for washing-up duties on his return!

Just a reminder for those doing ToP, closing date for postal entries is 19th Nov. It's £5 pre-entry, but a rather steep £10 EOD. Bear in mind we may have further postal strikes between now and then. Entry form http://www.clayton-le-moors-harriers.co.uk/uploads/Entry_Forms/2009/TOUREG2009.pdf

Also the end of year Auld Lang Syne race (last chance in the EtU challenge) is pre-entry only. They have a limit of 400 this year, over 500 turned up last year and therefore there will be no EOD. I don't think many of you have done it but there is usually a high Hrmi turn-out, so it might be worth spreading the word about, website www.woodentops.org.uk.

I've posted both my entries off today.

TF

Kit Check

It is surprising TF  that the guy behind you got through. You’d have thought that he would have been caught red handed.

Always remember to stretch!
Saturday's cross country started well but ended up as a bit of a disaster.
I arrived in good time, did a full warm up lap but didn't bother with more than a couple of stretches.
I would probably have got away with it had I been running in studs, but for spikes by the second lap I was feeling tightness and at the end of the lap had to stop but was ordered by TF to get a move on or Bazza would catch me. I continued for a few hundred yards more but there was no chance, I could barely walk never mind run so a t the next point where I could take the shortest route back, I did so. I don't keep a log but that will have been my first DNF in over 200 cross country races spanning too many years.

So no trip to the Lakes today or tomorrow. Hopefully a week's rest and treatment will sort it - very annoyed as I was going quite well.

Some Success

Thanks TF. I was beginning to feel like a voice in the wilderness! I have tried what you say and, as I hope you will see, I have managed to adjust the font size. However, my budget edition refuses to give me Arial.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Hi JtE,

I'm on windows vista at home and use Microsoft Office 2007 on it and have windows XP at work with Microsoft Office 2003. I've not noticed much difference between the two. I did have a problem with the spacing between the paragraphs on the posting about Saltergate Gallows but was able to go back and edit it later. When I type into the blog it appears as 'Times Roman' and then I change it to 'Arial' and adjust the font size/bold accordingly. Not sure if any of this helps?

As a short aside, I did a navigating event in the peak district today and the guy behind me in the Kit Check queue managed to get a pair of these passed

His excuse was that he was a bit rushed when leaving home and they were the only pair he could find!!