Couple of runs along the canal and one round Hinckley

Monday 20-May-2013 - After having the weekend off running to recover I still felt a few aches and pains but nothing too bad. The weather was overcast but muggy when I arrived at Sutton Cheney Wharf. I got myself ready and headed off. There were a couple of coaches that arrived at Bosworth Heritage Centre so there were a few guided tours that I had to negotiate around through Ambion Wood.

I managed to get into a nice steady pace along the canal footpath and kept my breathing nice and steady. There were not many people that I had to pass so I could just concentrate on the pace and breathing until I got to the Bosworth Bridge. I always find it is the homeward journey back that I just can not get back in to a nice pace and keep it, I have to run as much as I can and break into a walk until I have recovered enough to carry on, this will have to be work in progress.

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth



Wednesday 22-May-2013 - I had been feeling tired after not having a very good sleep, I must have had between 3 and 4 hours. Somehow I also missed having breakfast and on top of that my legs still ached, so I was not feeling my best.

I started the run off with a slow steady pace as I was thinking it all about the miles which equates to more calories to lose. I got my breathing sorted out and kept a nice deep slow breathing pattern while listening to music on my iPod.

I arrived at the Bosworth Bridge in reasonably good shape so decided that instead of turning back and walking for a bit I would try and see how far I can run back. To my amazement I only stopped a few times on the journey back, so I am wondering how I have achieved this when all the cards were stacked against me with the lack of sleep, no breakfast and achy legs.

When I got back I noticed (on Endomondo) that I was just 10 seconds away from reaching my 10k personal best time, which has left me feeling a little frustrated. I am now wondering how long it will be before I get to the point where I can beat the time.

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth



Friday 24-May-2013 - Today has been very windy and quite a bit of rain, so I thought it would be a bit too adventurous to do 8 miles along the canal. I thought it would be better to just run around the block if the weather breaks. Well the weather did calm down a bit so I thought ‘let’s do it’. I got ready and went out looking up at the sky, there was a massive black cloud coming my way, I didn’t think too much more about it and set off.

This route just goes around the block in an anti-clockwise direction which is a good 5k. The route consist of a short hill followed by a long gradual hill which really becomes challenging to keep on running without breaking into a walk. If you make it up the gradual hill there is a nice gradual descent afterwards which gives you a bit of a breather, but not today as there was a head wind I was running in to and it started to rain. I managed to run all the way around without stopping which I have only done once before which was a long time ago, so I was quite pleased.

I managed to do some personal bests:
Cooper (12 minutes) – 1.37 Miles
3 Miles – 27m: 34s
5K – 28m: 36s

Run around Hinckley

3 runs the same along the Ashby de la Zouch canal

Monday 13-May-2013 – This run was very similar to the last run which was on Friday along the Ashby de la Zouch canal, the only difference was that I extended the run to the Bosworth Bridge. The extra distance made the total run 8 miles.

 
I had the usual problems along the canal of running over the pot holes and up and down, but I felt I managed to keep at a nice running pace and control the breathing more this time. I really felt like I was in the zone this time and managed to run without stopping all the way to the Bosworth Bridge. I also managed to do less walking on the way back to Sutton Cheney Wharf as well, I can’t explain why I felt like this as I just can’t put my finger on it.

I managed to do some Personal Bests:

3 Miles – 28m:51s
5k – 29m:50s
10k – 1h:00m:52s
1 Hour – 9.87km (6.13 Miles)

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth

Wednesday 15-May-2013 – Todays run was the same as the previous run on Monday. I found it very hard going indeed, my legs ached from start until finish. I just found it very difficult to get in to a nice running pace and my breathing was quite heavy from start until finish, I must have sounded like a train.

I think what didn’t help was that I was still buzzing with achieving all the personal best times and I really wanted to improve on my 10k time from Monday, what I did was set my Garmin’s virtual partner at 6mph. I thought if I can keep to 6mph that will not be too far off getting my 10k time under an hour, this kind of blew me out on the first couple of miles. I think what I will take away from this is to keep to a pace that I can naturally run to and slow down if needed and speed up if I feel comfortable, for me it is really all about putting in the mileage to burn the calories as I am trying to lose some weight.

My legs are now in a lot of pain, so I am hoping that I have not over done it for Fridays run which I will aim to do the same route again.

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth

 

Friday 17-May-2013 – This time I managed to run all the way to the Bosworth Bridge without stopping which is my main goal until I am comfortable with it. Two miles into the run along the canal footpath I could really feel my legs becoming heavy and aching. I carried on going trying to keep to a steady pace but my legs were just getting worse.

On the way back I had to go into a walk as the pain was becoming unbearable and I found it hard to concentrate on my breathing. It felt like the miles went by very slowly and I just couldn’t wait to get back to the car for it all to be over. When I got back to the car I just collapsed into the seat, my legs were aching so much I just had to sit at Sutton Cheney Wharf for half an hour to let my legs recover while watching the canal boats and ducks go by.

Somehow I managed to get a couple of personal bests, it certainly was not through trying:

1Km – 5m:04s
1 Mile – 8m:34s

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth 

1st run along the canal without my neighbour

I had a light lunch early at 12:00 and texted my neighbour to let him know that I was still on for a run at 3pm. He texted back to say that he had far too much on and would have to give the run a miss.
I got ready for 3pm as usual and drove to Sutton Cheney Wharf to park the car. There were not very many cars there and I thought well it must be down to the weather as it had been raining in the morning and was due to rain again later in the day. I took a windproof/showerproof jacket just in case it did rain.

I walked through the car park and past the café to a gate, where I set the Garmin Forerunner 610 and started off on a slow running pace. The path follows the canal for a short way then disappears in to Ambion wood, the path is not too bad and becomes quite wide while in the wood. After a half a mile I went through a gate across a narrow field and through another one which leads up to the Bosworth Battlefield Centre, which is where I turn left along a path.

The path heads towards Ambion wood again, passing the ‘Richard III well’. Running through the wood is nice and peaceful, all you can hear is the wind blowing through the trees. The path comes to an old disused railway track, I turned left and ran along it to an old railway bridge which crosses the Ashby de la Zouch canal.

I joined the canal and ran North bound watching where the pot holes where, twisting the ankle is the last thing you need! I got into a steady run at 6mph and settled in to a nice breathing pattern. Some parts of the canal footpath get very bumpy which messes up the running rhythm so you have to try and get back in it again.

After about a mile I passed a slowing barge with a couple of people aboard looking at another barge in the middle of the canal. As I ran past the barge I noticed that one end of the barge had come loose which is why it was in the middle of the canal. I thought shall I stop and pull the barge in and continue with the run, I then thought sod it I will leave it for the people in the barge approaching. Knowing me I will pull my back or twist an ankle and that will put me out for some time, I’m sure the people in the approaching barge have more time. I carried on running and didn’t look back to see if the people were shouting or not as I did feel a bit guilty.

The canal winds around through the Leicestershire countryside which is really scenic. It started to rain and I thought ‘oh marvellous, I’m not even at the point of turning around and I am going to get soaked’. Luckily there was a high hedge that I was running past which went the length of a field, the hedge was high enough for me to run close and not get wet. It was only a very short shower so I felt very lucky and relieved.

I reached a bridge which was just over 3 miles away from my starting point, I was fairly tired at this point. I turned back walking along the canal to try and recover a bit. I found it a bit strange not to have my neighbour with me as we have a little chat which makes the time go quicker.
The run back along the canal didn’t seem to take too long, I must have had a lot on my mind to pass the time away. I had to slow down in to a walk on a number of occasions to recover and before I knew it I had reached the disused railway bridge, so I thought should I carry on along the canal and if I do will that make the distance 10k. I decided to take the same route that I had come along knowing that distance would certainly make the 10k.

When I got back to the gate where I started off from I stopped the Garmin and looked at the distance, it was 6.6 miles so I was happy to have coved the 10k distance. I sat on one of the benches at the side of the café (Sutton Cheney Wharf) to recover, my leg muscles were aching.
I aim to do this route again soon.

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Ambion Wood, Canal, Bosworth

Sutton Cheney Wharf, Bosworth Battlefield, Shenton

This was another run with my neighbour, we parked just outside the gates of Sutton Cheney Wharf and you now have to pay to park in the car park. The day was quite hot so I decided to change my running gear to shorts and short sleeve t-shirt to try and keep the body temperature down.

We walked across the car park and past the Café building where there is a gate, this is where I set the Garmin and started a slow run while my neighbour decided to walk a bit more to warm up. I thought if I keep the run very slow then he will catch up being that he is fitter than I am.

The path ran alongside the canal and disappears in to Ambion wood for nearly half a mile, I kept up the slow pace and as I got to the other side of the wood I looked back to see him coming along. I carried on slowly towards Bosworth Battlefield Centre and then turn left along a track that goes back in to Ambion wood. After a 5 minutes run the track comes to an old disused railway line which I took a left to go down. I followed the railway track down to an old railway bridge where I took a short breather, my neighbour had now caught up at this point.

We ran Northbound up the canal at a steady pace, I got my breathing sorted out which seemed to keep my heart rate down to around 150 bpm. We eventually came to an aqueduct which is where we came off the canal footpath. There are some steps that lead down to a road, we turned left and headed towards Shenton village.

After a short run on the road there is a gate that we climbed over to continue along through a field full of sheep, this lead us to another gate which crossed a field with cows in. The cows seemed to stop what they were doing and started to looks at us running through their field, with some cows crossing in front of us, I’m sure they were trying to put us off.

We eventually got to the top of the field which was up hill to join a road which we turned left on. This road went over the canal and past a farm. Just past the farm there is a car park to Shenton Station which is part of the Bosworth Battlefield Railway, we went through a couple of gates that crossed the railway line and walked a short way to the side of the station building where there are another couple of gates.

The track goes alongside a field with sheep in and up a short hill which I managed to run. My neighbour had a short stop while I carried along the track to the next short hill, I managed to run up the hill but had to take a breather at the top. While I was waiting for my neighbour to catch up I was trying to take in long slow breaths to bring my heart rate down while enjoying a nice view across the Battlefield.

Once my neighbour got to the top he had a lay down on the grass, he was having a bit of an off day and was feeling very tired. He said that if I wanted to do another circuit around while he was recovering then he would wait.

Off I went through Ambion wood, along the disused railway track and along the canal. I managed to keep to a nice steady pace and keeping the heart rate to 150-160 bmp turned off and the aquaduct and along the road to the gate, across the couple of fields and back up the road to Shenton Station. I didn’t quite manage to run all the way up the short hill, I had to break into a walk just a short way to the top. I carried on running to the next short hill where I did manage to run up back to where my neighbour was waiting for me. I had to have a short break while catching my breath back.

After a short while we set off past Bosworth Battlefield Centre and in to Ambion wood, we only had a half a mile to go so I got in to a nice steady pace. It didn’t take very long to get through the wood and out the other side where the path follows the canal to Sutton Cheney Wharf, I stopped the Garmin at the gate that leads to the car park where we walked through and had a sit down on a bench for a well-deserved break.

 

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney Wharf, Bosworth Battlefield, Shenton

Sutton Cheney, Stapleton, Bosworth Battlefield, Sutton Cheney

Today my legs were aching from a mixture of my last run a couple of day ago and possibly a load of gardening I had done yesterday. I planned to go out of a run with my neighbour at 3pm and it was going to be a 4 mile route (the same route that was done on Monday).

As we came to Sutton Cheney Wharf we noticed that the car park looked full, so we decided to do another route. We parked outside the Hercules Pub in Sutton Cheney and got ourselves ready for the run.

We walked down the road and a short way along a footpath until we came to a stile, we hopped over the stile and I set the Garmin (Forerunner 610) and the run began. We ran through a few fields, some of which were ploughed, and then ran through a field with a horse roaming around which lead us to a children’s playing field with swings in. There was a 5-10 minute break in the playground before we backtracked along the route we had just come along and back to the car.

Once we arrived at the car I paused the Garmin and we had a water break while deciding where to go as we had done about 3.5 miles. A decision was made for the next part of the route which was a short 0.5 mile drive to a couple of fields away from Bosworth Battlefield Centre. I unpaused the Garmin and created a split and then decided that I would run the 0.5 mile to the next start point along a path.

Once I arrived to the start point where my neighbour had parked, I created another split on the Garmin and then had a small sip of water before we started the next part of our run.

We ran across a few fields to the Bosworth Battlefield Centre and then on towards an old unused railway track via Ambion wood. When we exited the woods we turned left and headed towards an old railway bridge that spans across a canal.

We took a short path from the bridge down to the canal where we turned left and continued up the canal. I seemed to feel okay at this point as I got into a nice slow run and controlling my breathing, until we reached a bridge with a road going over it. We took the road which leads to Shenton station which is a part of the Bosworth Battlefield Railway Line.

We crossed the line by going through a couple of gates and through another couple of gates at the side of the station building. The track went up a little hill and alongside a field that leads to another small hill. We had a small rest to get our breath back and a small drink of water while soaking up the fantastic view across Bosworth Battlefield.

The run started again and headed off into Ambion wood towards the disused railway line, once we got to the disused railway line we turned left and ran down towards to old railway bridge once again. When we arrived at the railway bridge we took to the canal but this time we turned right that leads to Sutton Cheney Wharf. I found I had to try and get into slow run and concentrate on the breathing again. I was very surprised that the run along the canal went by very quickly and that I managed to continue without stopping, I was really tired at this stage.

There is a bridge that crosses the canal to the Sutton Cheney Wharf car park which we just walked across to give us a little break. Once in the car park we carried on through the car park and along a path that runs alongside the canal and once again into Ambion wood. I really don’t know how I managed to carry on but I did, I suppose it was the thought that we were not far from where the run was going to come to an end. I found running on the side of the track on the pine needles were softer to run on and more comfortable, it wasn’t that long before we came out of Ambion wood through a couple of gates and a short distance to Bosworth Battlefield Centre where we turned down the side of the building to a gate where the run came to a stop. At this point I looked at the Garmin and notice the mileage was reading just over 8 miles. We walked across a couple of fields using this as a cool down towards the location where the car was parked.

This run is the furthest I have ever run and is a personal record for me, I really don’t know how I managed to cover the 8 miles plus. I feel great having achieved today’s run but I can’t help thinking that I will be suffering for it during the evening and the next day.

Garmin Connect - Sutton Cheney, Stapleton, Bosworth Battlefield, Sutton Cheney

Bosworth Battlefield, Canal and Bosworth

This was a route my neighbour knew, so it was a case of following the leader. We parked a couple of fields away from Bosworth Battlefield Centre and go ourselves ready. We walked across a couple of fields as a warm up and then I started the Garmin (Forerunner 610) for the run when we were alongside Bosworth Battlefield Centre.

We headed into Ambion wood along a track that headed towards a disused railway line. Once we arrived at the disused railway line we turned left and ran towards an old railway bridge. Running through the woods is a really nice and peaceful experience and I feel very fortunate to be able to do it.

Once we arrived at the old railway bridge we dropped down to the canal and turn left heading North bound along the canal, again this is really peaceful. I found it a bit difficult to get in to a steady run as well as watching out for tree roots, bumps and pot holes. We ran a fair way along the canal until we came off the canal.

We joined a road that went over the bridge and up a long hill heading towards Bosworth. I felt so tired by this stage and just walked up the hill. As soon as we got to top of the hill I started off running into Bosworth and through the square passed a monument. Just out of the square there is a narrow road leading south through a gate, this road seemed to go on forever as I had to keep stopping due to my heart rate not recovering quick enough and staying low. I was glad to get back to the car and have a sit down, even though it was quite an achievement for me.

For some strange reason when I uploaded the data from the Garmin Forerunner 610 to Garmin Connect the map part of it don’t work but the rest of the data is there.

Garmin Connect - Bosworth Battlefield, Canal and Bosworth