Lickey Hills West Mids League 2
Went to the second West Mids League event today at the Lickey Hills. As I was arriving the place looked vaguely familiar to me - I think it was where I did some practice navigation for a D of E award back in 1997.
Did the brown course which was 7.1k with 300m climb so it was going to be a tough one. Quite early on my legs felt really heavy and quite tired. I think I hadn't recovered sufficiently from going to the gym on Friday. I made one of the biggest mistakes for a long time at number 2 and lost over 5 mins - I overshot the control, retraced a little bit but was still too far ahead. I did find some blue tape in a nearby re-entrant so eventually considered the control had gone walkies and was going to move on, but decided to look one last time and eventually found it.
Overall I had a really scrappy run, lost a lot of time and don't think I ran anywhere near full speed in any part of the course. I completed in 65mins (9.2m/km), whilst at the point I left the leader had gone round in 47 mins. I don't seem to be able to cope with these types of courses - small grotty types of areas always seem to be a bit of a struggle. I'm not sure whether I'll do many more of the West Mids League events as I just don't enjoy them (not a criticism of the planners just the areas) - something more of an issue for me as my knee felt quite bad today. Although the knee didn't 'go', it is certainly the worst it has been over the last six months - it didn't affect my run at all but was a worrying sign.
Not sure whether I'll go to next weeks WML3 event to be held by WRE at Lizard Hill - judging by the last 3 league events I've been to the area is bound to be grotty and with my knee I'm tempted to have a week off - this would be my first week off since around October/November time.
Did the brown course which was 7.1k with 300m climb so it was going to be a tough one. Quite early on my legs felt really heavy and quite tired. I think I hadn't recovered sufficiently from going to the gym on Friday. I made one of the biggest mistakes for a long time at number 2 and lost over 5 mins - I overshot the control, retraced a little bit but was still too far ahead. I did find some blue tape in a nearby re-entrant so eventually considered the control had gone walkies and was going to move on, but decided to look one last time and eventually found it.
Overall I had a really scrappy run, lost a lot of time and don't think I ran anywhere near full speed in any part of the course. I completed in 65mins (9.2m/km), whilst at the point I left the leader had gone round in 47 mins. I don't seem to be able to cope with these types of courses - small grotty types of areas always seem to be a bit of a struggle. I'm not sure whether I'll do many more of the West Mids League events as I just don't enjoy them (not a criticism of the planners just the areas) - something more of an issue for me as my knee felt quite bad today. Although the knee didn't 'go', it is certainly the worst it has been over the last six months - it didn't affect my run at all but was a worrying sign.
Not sure whether I'll go to next weeks WML3 event to be held by WRE at Lizard Hill - judging by the last 3 league events I've been to the area is bound to be grotty and with my knee I'm tempted to have a week off - this would be my first week off since around October/November time.
It's a no-brainer! Come to Black Beck instead - loads of fun, nice area (physically & technically) and the chance you might improve your technique too. You know you want to really....
ReplyDeleteHmm - forgot about that! Tempted, very tempted in fact as I'm off work this week so will be fairly bored by Saturday.
ReplyDeleteDo you know whether there is any accomodation available?
I guess there will be - hawkshead yha is huge, but marky g will know for def. can guarantee the planning will be fab with no path running at all, and you'll be sick of the sight of contours by the end of the weekend! You know you want to really....
ReplyDeleteYup - now going! Already emailed Mark who has confirmed availability...
ReplyDeleteNo path running; what have I let myself in for?? :)
No map uploaded yet Lloyd?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing your route from 1 to 2....!!
no map this time - cant be sure where I was all the time...
ReplyDelete