Janathon 2013 Day 9 - An extended lunchtime run

In a bid to keep the double digit runstreak going I needed a minimum of 10 miles and this would have to be achieved at lunchtime today. I arrived at work early which would allow me sufficient time to get in the extra miles. I thought of running the same route as Monday evening but fancied something hillier so plotted a route using Gmap Pedometer a simple tool but sufficient for plotting out a route.

The weather was much colder today and the morning's fog hadn't lifted, so with the route in mind I set off at a quickish pace so I could get the 10 miles done in around 1:15 to 1:20. The first couple of miles I got into a good rhythm before the gradual climb up the A54. Half way up the climb I spotted several people clad in leather biking gear standing by the road. As I got closer I spotted one motorbike in the hedges on a sharp bend. A quick word with the guy who had come off to see if everything was ok, he was just a bit shaken and was waiting for someone to pick them up.

Off the main road and the next couple of miles downhill saw the quickest two miles of the year so far in 6:56 and 6:53. I pretty much knew most of this route having run bits of it on different forays from the office so knew after the quick spurt it was now a steady climb of 250ft over the next mile. Once at the top it was a quick downhill again in 6:58! Into the last couple of miles and the only thing of note was a tractor going down the lane pulling a container that was spewing something all over a field. With the crosswind there was sufficient 'blowback' to stop me in my tracks, whereupon the farmer noticed and turned off the said machine and I was on my way again.

Another 10.7 miles on the board and I think most definitely the longest run I've done at a lunchtime...

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 9

Stats
Runstreak: Day 589
Distance: 10.71 miles

Time: 1:18:09
Elevation: 715ft

Janathon Total Distance: 111.20 miles

Janathon 2013 Day 8 - An evening in the hills with the Mow Cop Runners

It was Tuesday night, so that meant it was time to head up the hill to Mow Cop for a run with Mow Cop Runners a club which I have joined and been running with since June of last year. We meet at 7:15 and usually do a road route in the winter of around 6-7 miles. The lighter evenings allow us to get off road for a bit longer. So if I wanted to keep my double digit streak going I would need to do a few extra miles...

I had plotted what I could do to achieve the extra miles and decided to park at the pub at the bottom of the long hill that winds it's way up to the top of Mow Cop and the community centre where we meet. It was a distance of 3.75 miles and knew it would take a good half an hour. I timed the start so that I would arrive as everyone at the club was ready to depart so that I didn't have too long to stop for. The first couple of miles went well and then into the steep climb and the fog descended. Once on to the ridge I was straining to see through the swirling mist and had to focus on the white line on the side of the road to keep my bearings. Finally the dim lights of Mow Cop could be seen ahead and I reached the community centre where everyone was ready to depart.

I entered the centre to a comment of "You look like you've been out already". My response of "Oh yes, I ran up from the bottom of the hill" was met with glances of "Really?!!". There were two groups of us tonight, a newer runners group who were doing around 5 miles and the main group of around 10k. The route is usually decided 5 minutes before we depart and goes along the lines of "We'll go down to blah, blah, up thingamejig and then back up via blah, blah blah". This is met with nodded approvals and off we go. The routes all sound the same to me and can be quite confusing in the dark!! I kept with a couple of the 'faster' runners and enjoyed a steady jaunt round the undulating streets. On to the final hill and I commented to the other guy I was with that I would meet them back at the pub as I was continuing on down the hill to my car!

Once out of the street lights that we had been running under for the duration of the club run it was back out into the fog and it was a lot thicker this time. This made it harder, more so as I was running downhill now! The torch only served to light up the swirling fog and detract from lighting the road. The only respite came from a passing car to light the way only briefly. A couple of miles along the ridge and once I got nearer the bottom the fog cleared allowing me to up the pace for the final push to the car. I got back to the pub car park with another 13.76 miles in the bag! A quick change of clothes and I drove back up the same hill to the pub and met with some of the other runners for a pint before heading home...

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 8

Stats
Runstreak: Day 588
Distance: 13.76 miles

Time: 1:46:41
Elevation: 1,241ft

Janathon Total Distance: 100.49 miles

Janathon 2013 Day 7 - An office 10 miler and flies in Waitrose

As has become customary with my many days on the runstreak - nearly up to 600 days now, I try to keep the runs varied so that it keeps the runstreak interesting. Today's run was going to be after work and with my wife going to the gym I thought I'd do a run from the office on a combination of two of our lunchtime routes.

I needed to be back to the office at 7 so set off at 5:45 with the plan of a 10 miler to keep the double digits streak intact! The first couple of miles up the farmers track was a very muddy affair and my ever weakening headtorch making it interesting. A steady undulating country lane section brought up 5 miles of our standard lunchtime 10k route and mile 2 of our 7 mile route. So continuing onto the 7 mile lunchtime route would give me the required distance!

The route was all the more different from being run in the dark as I had only ever run this route at lunchtime. There was nothing much more interesting to say about the run, some more muddy lanes up and down, over the railway line and up again to the main road. That uphill section is on one of my segments in Strava and ended up being my 2nd fastest! The last two miles mainly downhill to the office and another 10+ miles on the board.

With all this running, I need to keep my cakes level up so on the way home visited Waitrose for the much eluded to 'cheap' pastries. There was a veritable display, so I pondered my selection whereupon the Waitrose man (WM) behind the counter said he was going to have to remove them as he had seen a fly landing on them. The conversation went something like this:

WM: I have seen a fly landing on all the pastries, we can't sell them, so I'm going to have to remove them.

Me: Oh (sad face).

WM: Which one were you after?

Me: This one (points to cake).

WM: I didn't see the fly land on that one.

Me: Cool (bags pastry and heads for the checkout)

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 7

Stats
Runstreak: Day 587
Distance: 10.17 miles

Time: 1:15:57

Janathon Total Distance: 86.73 miles

Janathon 2013 Day 6 - A slipping 'n' a sliding in the mud

As yesterdays run was an evening run this meant a small gap between this mornings run! A similar day was to follow to that of Saturday, but this time my son was playing in a football match rather than spectating. I didn't want to fall into the same trap so was determined to get out early. I had a two hour window for my run, which would allow for anything between 14 and 16 miles dependant on the volume of mud I was to encounter along the way.

I headed out the door just after 7 and dispensed with the head torch as it would soon be light (sort of). The chosen route would involve several field crossings, round the back of the airport on the trails, a couple of miles on the road and then back through Tatton Park. This would provide plenty of scope for mud! The first 4 miles in semi darkness passed with a combination of light mud and road before getting to the airport trail. This trail is mainly sand and provides a good running surface, not so today. The next couple of miles were sent spent sliding around, more so given that I was wearing road shoes - schoolboy!!

A nice 4 mile section of road followed and I was treated to a glorious sunrise. The temperature had dropped quite a bit and a shifting layer of fog enveloped the road. Before entering Tatton Park, there is a gradual climb along an old Roman Road and is referred to locally as the - Tatton Mile. A boring section of road where  cars tend to fly along there at over 60mph even though it is still a country lane.

Into the park and back on the mud, the fog is quite thick now and I am treated to a herd of deer huddled under the trees. A stag spots me running along and ambles across the park road. This is one of the great highlights of the park and is always an amazing sight to see. I could have run down the park road but given that I had been through a lot of mud a couple of miles more wasn't going to make any difference. 12.5 miles was reached on exiting the park and a final push of just under 2 miles back up the road to home would see close to 14.5 miles in a shade under 2 hours - all in all a good run.

My son's football match saw a trip to Frodsham to play Helsby in the Under 15 Mid-Cheshire league. They are unbeaten this season so the pressure was on to keep this streak going. The pitch was more like a farmers field and made the going tricky. A good match ensued with my son's team fighting back from 2-0 down to gain a good 2-2 draw. Swiftly back to the car and we were just in time to hear the draw for the 4th Round of the FA Cup. Macc were drawn at home to play Wigan or Bournemouth. We were hoping for an away match at one of the big premier sides but this match gave us a good chance of going further in the cup...

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 6

Stats
Runstreak: Day 586
Distance: 14.35 miles

Time: 1:58:09

Janathon Total Distance: 76.56 miles

Janathon 2013 Day 5 - Macclesfield Town 2 - 0 Cardiff City

On the menu for today was a trip to see Macclesfield Town vs Cardiff City in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. With some chores to do in the morning, an early morning run was on the cards. After a night out on Friday with the wife and some friends and half a bottle of wine (Note: lightweight drinker) I decided an early morning dash could wait. On reflection this would have been the best option as now the run would have to be done early evening after the football.

On to the football and my son was very excited for the match. We were seated in the Silk FM Stand, a change from the larger stand but with a much better view. There was a great atmosphere inside the ground with double the normal attendance. An evenly matched first half with plenty of childish banter between the supporting groups of fans! In the 57th minute Cardiff scored and I thought 'Oh well, it was good whilst it lasted.' Macc had other ideas and a full on onslaught in the remainder of the match yielded a goal in the 83rd minute. "Yes, we've got a replay now". A frantic 7 minutes ensued and we were awarded a penalty in the 88th minute!! GOAL: 2-1 to Macc, the crowd erupted!! The 4th official held up his board to show 5 mins of added time, we held on and meant we were through to the 4th round for the first time in over 130 years!! 

On the drive home the run was nagging in the back of my mind, could I stick to my streak of double digit runs for the year, meaning a minimum of 10 miles? A cup of tea and piece of cake when I got home and thought, yep, I'll do one of my 10 mile loops. I put my lighter road shoes on and thought we'll make it a quicker run so that I could get back to eat at a reasonable time. The chosen route was the 8 mile 'Fruit Farm Loop' with the added 2 mile extension thru Plumley. I've run this route many times, so even with a headtorch on I could still run this at a quick pace. 

Once on the country lanes, the sky yielded an array of stars, it was a beautiful night for running! There were still a lot of houses with all their Christmas lights a blazing, on what was now the 11th day. On I went keeping a steady pace and then noticed 2 cones on either side of the road. I realised there placement when I nearly went flying, tripping over a metal strip that had been placed between them. Another near 'trip' happened at 8 miles when an unspotted pothole nearly threw me off my stride. Into the final mile and I kept to the furthest side from the house to ensure I ended up with the watch stopping at 10... rather than 9.9... Another double digit run done to end a good day.

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 5

Stats
Runstreak: Day 585
Distance: 10.02 miles

Time: 1:12:33

Janathon Total Distance: 62.21 miles

Janathon 2013 Day 4 - The first run to the office of the year

As I had ran from the office yesterday this meant the car wasn't at home and would require running back again in the morning. This is a tried and tested route which I knew very well. I had decided on the mainly road route as some of the fields were still very waterlogged. With the distance being around 12.5 miles, this would give me 4 straight days of double digit running!

I didn't leave until 6:45, it's a lot harder getting up in the morning when you're the only one getting up (the kids are back at school next week). I set off on the first 5 miles along the main road, definitely the worst part of the route especially with the dazzling headlights. The pace wasn't feeling great but was to be expected after the 3 previous days. In the end the average ended up at 7:54, I'll take that :)

On to the quiet lanes now and I might as well have been running through a field with the amount of mud and branches on the road. After about an hour it was eventually getting light. I kept the torch on so I could be seen, more than for me to see where I was going. The final 3 miles are the best of the run and see a final climb through the boggy woods and along the farmers trails before the final half mile down the lane to the office.

Again, another warm run especially with the backpack carrying vital breakfast supplies. The Janathon this year is being run alongside another challenge on the Strava run tracking website Strava Run Base Mile Blast the mileages being logged on here are awesome and has made an extra incentive for logging miles...

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 4

Stats
Runstreak: Day 584
Distance: 12.63 miles

Time: 1:39:53

Janathon Total Distance: 52.19 miles

Janathon 2013 Day 3 - Is it really January - Sweaty!

So on the back of yesterday's run and keen to keep up the HM average, the first day back in the office was always going to prove more tricky to get a good (long) run in. The opportunity arose to run from the office to my mother-in-laws in Wilmslow (a distance of around 12 miles) whereupon my wife was and I would be able to get a lift home and set up the run back to the office in the morning - game on!!

I'm not one to dress for the season, if it's warm outside and in the middle of winter I will wear a t-shirt and shorts (in fact I always wear shorts, Twitter followers will be familiar with the #stillinshorts hashtag). With the old bearded gentleman bringing me a new bright yellow long sleeve running top for Christmas, it seemed a good time to wear it as there would be a lot of traffic on some of the lanes. I knew after a couple of miles that the choice of top may have been a bit much as I was getting very warm (read sweaty).

Anyway, the run would see me take the back lanes from the office on a gradually undulating route into Alderley Edge and on into Wilmslow. The legs felt very good from the previous day's hills and I soon got into a good rhythm. I was on quite a tight schedule as I had left the office some 20 minutes later than planned, so I was glad I could keep the pace going. A tricky couple of miles ensued along the main road that had me jumping onto the boggy grass verges to avoid some of the over zealous drivers, albeit I was clearly visible.

Approaching 9 miles and it was a fast descent into Alderley Edge past the gated mansions! In my exuberance I nearly took out a set of bins left by the side of the road, a quick swerve round and all was good. The main street through Alderley Edge was resplendent in the still fully lit Christmas lights! A final couple of miles along the lanes into Wilmslow saw 12 miles come up on the board and myself absolutely roasting - is it really January?

Route
Garmin Connect Details - Day 3

Stats
Runstreak: Day 583
Distance: 12.10 miles

Time: 1:29:51

Janathon Total Distance: 39.56 miles