9th-15th June Run notes

Monday

Start the week with an obligatory visit to the Chevin. I'm still exploring so come up Johnny Lane and find my way to the White House and take a trail-y track up until I reach Jacob's ladder and finally ascend to the ridge. In the spirit of keep it easy I slow down to a more gentle hiking pace and restart my trot once I reach the ridge. From here I make may way along the footpaths down Millers lane on the Dales Way link path. I turn around where Millers Lane meets East Chevin Road but spy the further continuation of the path into the Chevin Forest park (for another day I think). I meander about some more before calling it a day, managing to just about keep that easy but not quite as easy as intended.

Tuesday

After a day climbing the Chevin it's time for some speed work and I pick a much flatter section along Bridle Lane that follows the Wharfe for this. It's the descending ladders format and I strive this time to get my pacing right, aiming for a more convincing visual of ascending steps on my final pace graph this time. The path I've picked is reasonably good for what I'm after although towards the end it narrowed and became slightly more undulating and rooty. I feel much better about this session than last time and manage to gauge my effort correctly so that my final two reps of 1 minute are the fastest and crucially I have enough energy left for them.

Thursday

Easy time again and time to go explore the Chevin Forest Park. I do start with a little bit of Johnny Lane and up past the White House but don't make the full trip up to the ridge and follow a lower path that takes me out over East Chevin Road and into the Forest Park. The vibe is different here than to the Chevin itself with a more cavernous feeling amoungst the trees and more paths along the hillside rather than up it. I gradually climb up and rejoin the Dales Way link path again, meeting a deer along the way, and enjoy a steady path back to East Chevin Road. I take a brief detour before joining the road, slightly curious if I can reach the lower path using a rougher trail. I quickly find myself on a steep ledge with no clear way down (the trail was actually to a secluded space carved out of a large rock). I carefully retrace my steps and get back on the path and out onto East Chevin Road and glide my way down and home.

Friday

In all this moving I can't find my road shoes and today I could definitely have done with them. I explore my way towards Lindley this time, passing through Farnley. I struggle to make anything of the footpaths I've seen on the map but get to stop at Lindley reservoir to take a photo and see just how dry it is. This session is supposed to be steady with mixed in 30s speedier efforts but I forget to start this after 15 minutes so manage a few but not as many as I should. Doing this over a hilly route doesn't work particularly well but it's worth it for the extra exploring.

Sunday

I set off for a long planned adventure trip to Ilkley Moor aiming to reach Rombald Moor trig point as my half way. The first few kilometres featured long stretches following the old Otley and Ilkley Joint railway line which have been made over into tree-lined footpaths. Eventually these paths join up with the existing line from Ilkley to Leeds by Burley-in-Wharfedale and I cross under the tracks to climb towards Burley Moor. Once I cross Moor road I pass a gate to Burley Moor proper and begin a challenging ascent up to the moor. This is tough and I drop to a hike for a number of stretches. I'm reminded of how things felt on parts of the Llanberis path where even as I reach flatter sections I feel sapped by previous climb. Another runner comes whizzing past me on the descent and I think ahead to coming back down in an hour or so. Eventually, the big chunk of the climb is out the way and I'm on the moor, a strong easterly has been blowing across on the climb and I momentarily wonder if I should have brought my windproof. The day is warming up however so I'm confident I'll be alright for the rest of my visit. I enjoy some easy trail for the rest of my journey to the trig point and get back to a reasonable pace for the final stoney path. Once there I meet a chap with his radio's as part of Summits on the Air, we have a quick chat as he explains what he's up to and I take the opportunity to eat something I take a rest. I take my leave and carry on down to the car park at the end of Ilkley Road and forge a further trail through the heather looping back to the trig point before starting the great descent. Just before reaching the steeper section I decide to switch out one of my drink flasks for a water flask and have a minor moment when I realise I've dropped my phone a few metres back when removing my pack mid run. I dash back and find it lying on the trail and count my lucky stars, next time just stop and do it all stationary I think. The descent is fast in places but for the steeper sections it's challenging as I try to avoid rolling an ankle or going head over heels. Once I reach the flatter sections along the old railway I feel pretty depleted and as the day is hotting up it starts to feel a bit of a slog. Ending with the feelings of a slog is a shame because things felt great getting up to and on the moor. My nutrition went OK today although not perfectly to plan and I'm a little annoyed my spare Salomon flask doesn't fit into my Montane flask pockets (it bobs around like tube man inflatable). That said there's plenty of time to experiment with these things and potentially the first candidate for tweaking is my drink mix.