Week Commencing 1st April 2013 leading upto The Buttermere Trail Run

Monday 1st April 2013

We'd had a hectic weekend with Cara competing in her first Cycle Time Trial Race in years (since before children) on the Saturday 

Cara warming up before her race start

and heavily involved with our church on Easter Sunday, so I hadn't run.

As it was Bank Holiday Monday I didn't have to work so the plan was to spend it with my family but I didn't want the family to be waiting around for me, so I was up early and out of the door by 7.15 a.m. to get 10 miles in. I decided on an anti clockwise route today, so on leaving the house I went through the village and down to Church Cove and then around the coast path, heading north towards Cadgwith.

Looking back into Church Cove

 Passing Devils Frying Pan, 

Devils Frying Pan

 after 2 miles I turned left, through the country lanes to join the footpath and through the fields past Grade Church. I then rejoined the country lane before turning left onto a bridleway towards Kynance Garage and Mile End. There I crossed the Lizard to Helston road and took the bridleway across Lizard Downs. This is a flat, gorse covered area which can be and usually is, very wet. Today was no different and I took the path towards Kynance Cove. On arriving at the cove, I then rejoined the coast path and turned south towards Lizard Point (the most southerly point in the England), passing Pentreath, Caerthilian Cove, Old Lizard Head as I did so. Leaving the Lizard Point light house on the 

Looking back towards Lizard Point

I looked back to the Point itself and took a quick picture before continuing around Housel Bay, BassPoint and dropping down into Church Cove again.

Looking down into Church Cove as I approached it the second time

By now, I had done a complete circuit and completed 8.75 miles. I wanted to run 10 miles, so I passed through Church Cove again and cut up on a footpath through the field to Trethvas Farm and back through the fields to home.

In all, 10.09 miles in 1 hr 51 mins at base heart rate. Runkeeper


Tuesday 2nd April 2013 

Todays run was just short of 8 miles and this time in a clockwise direction. (I like to keep it varied).
From home I ran through the village down to Lizard Point and then joined the coast path and basically from here completed the run I did yesterday but in reverse and without the added extra little 1.25 mile loop at the end. It was a glorious afternoon, if not slightly chilly.

Towards Bass Point at  6 miles. You can just see Lizard Lifeboat station in the shade of the cliffs.

 So, in total 7.68 miles in 1-22-11 at 5.61 mph pace with 858 feet of climbing. Runkeeper


Thursday 4th April 2013

I didn't run yesterday as we drove up for a weeks holiday in Cumbria. A 10 hour trip. Thank heavens  for portable DVD players for the children! We stay in Grange-Over-Sands and we always make the most of our stay when we come up. Again with that in mind, I was up and out for a run before most of the family started to stir. With the children not getting carried from the car and slipped into bed until after midnight this was not suprising!

Running out of the town, I soon cut up towards Grange Fell Golf Club and onto the Fell behind the golf club with the usual superb views across Morcombe Bay, the distant Pennines and the rolling hills towards the Coniston Mountain range

From behind the Golf Course looking towards the Coniston Fells

before then running along to Hampsfell Hospice and heading along for a short while to the stran
gely named area called Hampsfell Allotments! (not what you would expect to be called the allotments and certainly nothing like allotments but something I mean to try and find out about). Once I had covered 3 miles, I turned around and retraced my steps slightly before running over the fascinating limestone outcrops on top of the Fell.

Hampsfell Hospice

Limestone outcrops on top of Hampsfell with Morecombe Bay Estuary behind

Dropping off the top I then ran down through the beautiful Eggerslack woods (where I've often seen Deer but not on this occasion) back onto Windermere Road and up through the town back to the house. 

In total 5.96 miles in 1-07-07 at 5.33 mph pace with sadly no elevation data for some reason from the Runkeeper app but the route is detailed on it, nonetheless. 

Friday 5th April 2013

Today, was another great day with the family but when we arrived home Cara still insisted I kept with my program and went out for my planned 8 mile run. So, whilst the boys were fed and put to bed I was unceremoniously pushed out of the door in my running kit to get the miles in. It was 7.31 p.m. as I left and I decided to follow the Cumbria Coast path to see what that was like. Knowing it in the main ran along Morecombe Bay, I knew it would be mainly flat but sadly, it was also on (in the main) on tarmac.After 2.5 miles I took a left thinking "That must be the way" but soon found it wasn't so I retraced my steps slightly and continued before finding an off road footpath through some fields, crossing the railway line and headed out to Humphreys Head, where on reaching 4 miles I came across a signpost for "Cumbria Coast Path!"

I decided to just retrace my steps as I knew then I would get the 8 miles covered. Again, as with all my runs I did it at 70 - 75% of my maximum heart rate.

In total 8.01 miles in 1-16-54 at 6.25 mph pace with two steep climbs during with 640 feet of climbing in total. Runkeeper