Training Log Archive: Arnold

Short trip to Valencia, Spain.

Run from the accommodation via the old riverbed and the slightly insane Calatrava ‘museums’ to the sea. They have a huge sandy beach here, which the kids would have enjoyed.

It was fun to touch the water - I’m not a big sea person, but the views were lovely in the sun, and it does open the mind.

Tough to start with as straight after getting up, but got better and the speed was ok considering.

A terrain loop might not have been the smartest choice after last night’s deluge, but I fancied a Boxing Day challenge.

Indeed it was super muddy, and I was tired, and the achilles hurt again, so Type 2 fun for sure. But I got round (with a few short stops) and the time wasn’t half bad.

Norris Hill Blue, 6.4/70.

Decent run except for one careless 2-min mistake. Set off a bit too quickly and died towards the end, but a fun outing on some fast bits of forest (less fun in the boggy bits.)

In the dusky gloom; pretty cool in some places.

Flow still good and felt nice taking it slightly slower.
Achilles not quite as bad.
Yesterday's booster jab not having much of an effect on running.
Tick.

Flow good.
Achilles bad.
Needs sorting.

Southern Champs, South Ashdown. 9.4/340

Mostly open marshy hillside this, devoid of much detail. But it was more pleasant than it sounds because you could cut out to grassy rides a lot, and some of the main stuff was quite runnable. As a bonus, there's a small but very pleasant bit of wood we visited twice.

Took it super steady and using failsafe routes to avoid the worst of the gunk, which worked out very well - the fine navigation helped by some controls being visible from 100m+ away.

Overall a really clean and efficient run resulting in a decent time despite the low speed - the only exception being 2 minutes on number 4, which was (slightly) in the wrong place and I was unlucky in where I searched.

Died somewhat on the last hill, but hung on OK so really rather pleased with the outcome. The achilles are still very annoying but at least not getting worse.

The exact same time as 2 weeks ago, to within 2 seconds. I want to say it felt a little easier though, except for the achilles still hurting throughout.

One more in the bag.