THE ONLY WAY IS UP
After a few weeks of yet another gentle running restart and reintroduction to something that could be classed as a comfortable trot, a bit of proper running was back on the agenda during a stay in North Wales.The only right of way was upwards from our campsite, in fact nearly two miles of continuous elavation until any stretch of land relating to some sort of plateau was reached. So when opportunity struck, some tough runs were bashed out.
In between, 'active rest' walking which included the stunning Cadair Idris. Up and down the roughest and steepest route from Dol Idris, I cannot believe I've not been up there since I was about 16 or 17. What an absolutely wonderful mountain. Hopefully I won't be leaving it as long for my next summiting.
Feeling stronger again, I can start looking at races once more and particularly for the Autumn when the bowls season starts to dry up.
Whilst having a little bowling break and starting to buzz again about running up and down hills instead, I've realised that being able to run is still the most important sport of the two for exhilaration, physical and mental well-being.
If someone said to me today, "Right, you can run fells if you pack bowls up, or bowl if you pack fell running up", it would be the former of the two options without the blink of an eye.
This acknowledgement of which code of sporting life really matters most, might actually kick my bowling back in to shape. Yes, I'll still be practicing, striving to be a better player, but not so obsessively. If bowls plays second fiddle to running, it could help me relax, remove some of the pressure I place on myself and just play my game which is ultimately what I simply have to get on top of in order to not only improve, but actually just damn well enjoy the game for what it is.
I often hear the quote of, "No substitute for experience." A sound statement across the board in all walks of life really. Certainly true of crown green bowling. I've come to accept that there's no fast track to making big steps forward in this game. Or at least, not for me.
Whilst still something of a Spring chicken in bowling circles, I'm very much in the Autumn of my running exploits now. With only a couple of races under my belt in the last four years, one might say Winter is here. But this year I've realised there is still potential to get out there and have a go if I can tailor my training and body parts more effectively.
It's all about how I feel these days, allowing a little more time for recovery and sometimes going on the bike instead.
What a load of thinking aloud rambling this is and pity the two poor random souls to have viewed this blogged scripture lately and ploughed through tedious thoughts about my humble sporting endeavours.
For me though, one day in some eutopian future when I'm sat with a large cafetiere and a pile of digestive biscuits on a morning with actually nowt else to do, I will read back on all this indulgence and ponder then, whether there was a point to it afterall.
Apart from the simple (even for me) platform of Blogger.com, one thing I won't be embracing is more complicated technology to transmit these reports to text.
For example, these days you can get sports watches that do just about everything to monitor performance. Whilst at the less technological end of the scale, a classic Casio digital stopwatch still roll out unchanged from the 1980's. But it's difficult to find middle ground in this market for a basic GPS watch that covers my essential need of time, distance and elavation.
Extra jazz seems to come with all sports watches as standard now and priced accordingly to how much jazz you want (or in my case, will begrudgingly accept)
Admittedly, there's more stuff on my training watch than I need. I just want to know how long, how far, how high. Even to find this information I must flick through a load of stuff like HR zones, speed zones, average this, maximum that, cadence, calorie burn and... 'Run Index'.
'Run Index' was 62% on my last run in Wales. Even though I don't know what the flip that means and disappointed with myself for even paying attention and caring, I was a bit put out by this miserly percentage rate. Presumably gauged on height, weight, age, heart rate, speed and route profile, 62% did not feel proportionate to my efforts on this particular run!
Ages ago, I remember filling in my profile on the watch. So I checked it was still up to date. Sure enough, it had defaulted itself at some point.
I was now down as two inches shorter, forty pounds lighter, nine years younger and registered as a pro-athlete... In which case, I'll happily take the 62%!
Whilst still something of a Spring chicken in bowling circles, I'm very much in the Autumn of my running exploits now. With only a couple of races under my belt in the last four years, one might say Winter is here. But this year I've realised there is still potential to get out there and have a go if I can tailor my training and body parts more effectively.
It's all about how I feel these days, allowing a little more time for recovery and sometimes going on the bike instead.
What a load of thinking aloud rambling this is and pity the two poor random souls to have viewed this blogged scripture lately and ploughed through tedious thoughts about my humble sporting endeavours.
For me though, one day in some eutopian future when I'm sat with a large cafetiere and a pile of digestive biscuits on a morning with actually nowt else to do, I will read back on all this indulgence and ponder then, whether there was a point to it afterall.
Apart from the simple (even for me) platform of Blogger.com, one thing I won't be embracing is more complicated technology to transmit these reports to text.
For example, these days you can get sports watches that do just about everything to monitor performance. Whilst at the less technological end of the scale, a classic Casio digital stopwatch still roll out unchanged from the 1980's. But it's difficult to find middle ground in this market for a basic GPS watch that covers my essential need of time, distance and elavation.
Extra jazz seems to come with all sports watches as standard now and priced accordingly to how much jazz you want (or in my case, will begrudgingly accept)
Admittedly, there's more stuff on my training watch than I need. I just want to know how long, how far, how high. Even to find this information I must flick through a load of stuff like HR zones, speed zones, average this, maximum that, cadence, calorie burn and... 'Run Index'.
'Run Index' was 62% on my last run in Wales. Even though I don't know what the flip that means and disappointed with myself for even paying attention and caring, I was a bit put out by this miserly percentage rate. Presumably gauged on height, weight, age, heart rate, speed and route profile, 62% did not feel proportionate to my efforts on this particular run!
Ages ago, I remember filling in my profile on the watch. So I checked it was still up to date. Sure enough, it had defaulted itself at some point.
I was now down as two inches shorter, forty pounds lighter, nine years younger and registered as a pro-athlete... In which case, I'll happily take the 62%!
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