Where I run no. 3 - The Phoenix Trail

There used to be a railway connection between Princes Risborough and Thame and this line carried on to Oxford decades ago.


The SUSTRANS initiative has resulted in this being converted into a countryside cycleway, providing ideal even terrain for a runner (and his dog). It is called the Phoenix Trail.

I usually pick up the trail at Towersey, for a 5 or 7 mile out and back run.


It is gun-barrel straight most of the way, although it does occasionally cross a minor road.


The level crossings have been removed of course. Perfect for speedwork, if one were so inclined.....My halfway point on the five miler is at a tempting group of seats!


There are some weird statues and signs along the way, as well as the occasional tribute to old railway signals.
No doubt they have some sort of mystical significance.

If I want I can integrate it inot a long run as there is a link to the Ridgeway path, close to Princes Risborough in a village called Horsenden.
Another area to run where the short car ride is well worth it be able to do plenty of miles without the traffic.

Where I run no. 2 - Wendover Woods

Jumping in the car for the 20 minute drive over to Wendover Woods is always worth the effort. When the weather is bad, there is a primeval nature to the trails and they are just about firm enough underneath to create a good surface in the wettest weather. In hot weather it can be blissfully cool under the forest canopy as well. As it is a Forestry Commission site, the trails are well marked and maintained and being near to the top of the Chiltern Hills, there are plenty of gradients to negotiate on what is basically a flint surface. No potholes of deep mud but slightly uneven most of the time.

I always tend to start over away from the main visitor centre along a path leading into the woods that allows me to let the dog off the lead straight away. This gives the benefit of a long slow incline to get warmed up for the steeper stuff ahead.

Once the trail opens out, you can see the ridge ahead and the ground begins to rise steadily. Side trails branch off all the time and once you get a feel for the place, it's possible to run loops for a couple of hours, without repeating the same piece of ground. Some of the side trails are extremely steep and can be testing in muddy conditions, but the main trails still present quite a challenge.


I've got to admit that I tend to let the dog choose his route at the crossroads and then go the other way. Al least it means I can occasionally get in front of him!



There's no way out of here without getting the heart pumping, but once near the top the views get quite spectacular, over the Chilterns to one side of the ridge and over the whole of the Vale of Aylesbury and beyond to the north.

There's even some provision for the "lightweights" who've driven up to the visitor centre on the top.......
..but Bertie and I prefer the hard and steep route to the Chilterns highest point!

It is then quite easy to find a long cruise through the trees on the way down, and you can start to forget how your thighs were burning on the way up.

And someone has been watching me run here before I think!

The home straight approaches - now for that cool drink back in the car.

Five miles in the woods reduces you to this type of state, but it's always inspiring to be running in such wonderful countryside and the dog certainly seems to enjoy it.

All work and no play....

Probably the slackest month of running since I started this blog!
October 2006 doesn't count really - the circumstances were a bit different and although I was itching to get out, divorce may have followed.
And it all started so well - I signed up for the Motavation 4 mile summer series with Kidlington Road Runners and on a clear thursday evening in early May I headed off for Charlton-on-Otmoor.
I'd not raced anything this "sharp" for years and years, and with absolutely no speed training for ages and even no hill/strength ork since early Feb, I could have no real expectations of a decent time.
The race field was made up of around 400 or so local club runners, mostly competing in the keenly fought local clubs competition spread over the 5 monthly events, so I knew a "fun run" type high placing was out of the question. I love these low key club events and this one reminded me of a southern-softie version of the Ravenstonedale 10k that I ran oop north in November with James.
One big figure 8 round a sleepy Oxfordshire "moorland" village is remarkably dissimilar to one big figure 8 in the Howgill Fells, though, and this one was virtually dead flat. Surprisingly I felt fairly sharp on the night and managed to dip under 30 minutes for the 4.1 mile course. Even better the lovely missus had brought me to the race and the evening ended with pub fish 'n' chips and a couple of pints. I resolved to try to do better at the June event in Bletchingdon, but as this date approaches, I have to confess to only having run three times since.
I have to confess that this month's work demands have got on top of me. Towing a mobile coffee bar around the country to outdoor events has been supplemented by a joint venture in superior outdoor food from the Hambleden Estate and the combined demands of the two this month have sapped my desire to get out on the roads. Three big weekends on the trot have made me a little cautious.
Last night I went for a nice easy one hour run around the village and across the fields and in the glorious late spring sunshine, I realised I had been a bit daft. I miss my running and it has a way of de-clogging the body after a period of intense work. Ok - so I can't run on "show days" but I can on every other day - so get to it! Even if it's only for 30 minutes.
I joined a club finally at the start of this month, UKNETRUNNER, the country's virtual running club which numbers around 60 members and is affiliated to the Midlands AAA. I now have a club vest to compete in - a little small maybe but we'll see what can be done about that!

Where I run - no. 1 Around Lodge Hill

I thought a bit of more personal information on where I run was well overdue. So I took my camera along on my 5 miler today and here are some of the results.

I love to get out and run offroad at least once a week and this also gives my dog, Bertie, a good workout too!. He is a 10 year old Cocker Spaniel and is still plenty fit enough to run up to 12 miles as my "trailblazer". He's now completely deaf so occasionally he gets to go off at tangents and only discovers his wrong turnings when he eventually decides to check that I'm behind him!

One of my favourite offroad running areas is up in the Chiltern Hills, about 6 miles from home, above the small village of Bledlow. This area of criss-crossing footpaths and bridleways is undulating and the Ridgeway path runs right through it. The land is very chalky so is relatively firm underfoot in all but the wettest weather. Parts are quite exposed and even on a hot day there is normally a pleasant breeze to keep you cool. Some of the views are stunning, particularly across Princes Risborough to Whiteleaf Cross and to the north over the Vale of Aylesbury. And there are safe places to park the car and leave a cold drink before the short drive home!

Back to blogging - now where was I?

More than 3 months since I blogged - now that's disgraceful!

I was horrified to notice that my last entry was on January 18th, but as I sat here and read the last entry - wearing shorts at 9 am and looking out at another beautiful spring day - I realised how time had passed.

So this update will be in the form of bullet points to let me begin blogging again as I once again commit to some serious training.

- I kept going through January, posting my highest monthly total for about 20 years of 207 miles.
- In the first week of February we transferred enough money to Uganda to pay the secondary school fees for 125 HIV/Aids orphans for the opening term of the 2007 academic year in various schools in Iganga district.
- On February 11th I ran in the Stamford 30k. On an almost spring-like day I surprised myself by running the very undulating course in 2 hrs 32 mins 24 secs, an average pace of 8:11 miles and a predictor for a sub 3:40 marathon!
- The pleasure from this run was somewhat bitter sweet as it turned out to be the last day I saw my Mum alive, as she passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 16th. The cancer that she had contracted was far too much for a woman of 90, however tough was her constitution. Her ashes are interred next to her husband of 58 years in the roots of a Catalpa tree in Spalding St Mary & St Nicholas churchyard. This same tree was planted by my grandfather, Leonard Massey in memory of his wife, Jenny, at her passing. I miss my mum and the unconditional love she showed us all every day.
- Debbie and I flew off for 2 weeks in Costa Rica 2 days after the Stamford race and, happy with my achievement, I unconsciously decided to wind down on my running for a few weeks - not before some inspirational beachfront running and wildlife encounters in the tropics! What a beautiful country it is and with such friendly people - and great coffee!
- Since returning at the very end of February, it's been pretty much "maintenance running" for me, with no thoughts of racing. My half-baked idea of running the Rotterdam Marathon faded in the sun in Costa Rica, and (as usual) it has taken the London Marathon and a critical view of my online training diary to spur me back into action.

So I've re-committed myself to serious training even as I am writing this...

- There will be an autumn marathon this year, probably Dublin on October 29th. It will be a PB!
- As I start again properly I am 9 kgs lighter than at the same time last year and my comfortable training pace is around 40 secs per mile quicker.
- My work committments are just as heavy this year and this will disrupt attempts at really high mileage, but hopefully the base built up in the last 12 months will have a really beneficial effect.
- I will try very hard not to finish up in hospital.......

So off we go again - I'll try to get more photos up this year, particularly of the areas where I run. More later this week.

Another Marathon Gone!

Well, I'm not going to be doing Seville.
The cost of flights shot up in the week before I decided I would be fit enough and I have decided to run the Stamford 30k on February 11 instead. A total budget of £400 to run a marathon wasn't part of the plan. My marathon will now be in Rotterdam on April 15 and I can run the Finchley or Ashby 20's on March 18.
My 90 year old mum has just been diagnosed with cancer of the gullet and with tests and treatment plans to be discussed I needed to engineer another opportunity to see her before leaving on holiday on Feb 13. The choice of Stamford puts me 18 miles away from Spalding where she lives.
I haven't raced since December 17 and with the Christmas period out of the way I have steadily increased my mileage. I am determined to run 200 miles or more in this mildest of Januaries and I am well on target to do this. The long runs have started feeling easier and the mid distance runs are getting faster.
Long runs do etch themselves on the memory as they give you time to think and your heightened senses seem to "absorb" the world better. I also find they feel like an expression of your individuality when you complete them alone. You are just running and running and running and the rest of the world passes by oblivious to how far you have come and how far you are going. It just seems to place you in a sort of parallel existence.
Last week I did a 15 miler midweek and a 13.5 hilly run on Sunday. This latter one was on a glorious sunny morning on the lanes through some nearby villages and hamlets immediately to the north of where I live. Although the countryside is not truly hilly, my run took me through two hilltop villages and down into the three valleys around them. Thus I got 1000 feet of climbing in and finished after 2 hours feeling pretty pleased with myself, as the pace was slightly below a sub 4 marathon.
Today's run was a real epic though. Yesterday I took a day off as my achilles tendon was showing signs of regressing to the state of soreness and stiffness that I suffered with in September. This was probably due to me "burning up" an 8 mile tempo run at 8 minute mile pace the night before! My willpower was severely tested by listening to the evolving weather forecast - damaging gale force winds and heavy rain for today! Despite the banging windows this morning, I decided "to hell with it" and decided on an off road meander along the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal, up onto the Ridgeway path and back through Wendover Woods. There weren't many dog walkers out - and no wonder. The squally weather had brought to a climax the "thinning" of many trees that has been going on for a couple of weeks now, and all the paths were extremely muddy. Those on the steeper slopes of the Chilterns were virtual waterfalls! As I ran up out of Wendover onto the Ridgeway, the full force of the wind was whipping the bare beech and oak trees into a manic waving frenzy accompanied by a moaning and the occasional disconcerting crack. On several occasions I had to hurdle recently fallen trees and large boughs. The rain when it came was fierce and mostly horizontal, but it wasn't and eventually in the last mile the sun came out.
I love runs like these. There is a sort of highly private primeval pleasure in them. You start off clad in all your high-tech gear, relatively comfortable and after about a mile your shoes are muddy and full of water, your shorts are sodden and that waterproof is hanging lankly. 20 minutes later and you look down at your legs to see they are a salmon pink colour from the wind and rain. You have no time to think of how you are feeling as all your attention is focused on your route and where to put your feet. An hour into the run and this is all that matters, and a glow of satisfaction grows from coping with the demands being put on you by terrain and weather. I finished the last downhill mile back to my car in an almost euphoric state. Did anyone see me clap my hands and shout out "Yes, yes, yes!"? If they did they had the tact to keep themselves hidden from this middle aged loonie.
But the trees were quite scary - at one point in Wendover Woods I came across a birch that had been cleaved in two, one half still waving manically in the storm, the other half blocking the trail. I nervously looked up at the others around it as I straddled over the branch and continued on my way. How do you know which one will fall next? The hand of fate stayed away, than goodness.
I know from the runners' forum that I contribute to, Fetcheveryone, that many, indeed most, runners seem to stay on the roads or the treadmill and some even have issues with "getting shoes dirty". They are missing out. Offroad running on a foul day is as good as on a beautiful sunny day. In fact it's always fun, challenging and exhilarating in a way that running on the road can never be - not to mention a treadmill!
I think I'll hit the woods again tomorrow - or should I ration this pleasure?

Into the "Marathon Year"

Well, something had to give over the holidays and it looks like it was my blogging!
...and my waistline.
...and my running -well not that much.
...and my "cross training". The pool has been not seen for a couple of weeks, but I can blame the England Cricket Team for that! Early morning / late night agony in front ot Sky TV live from down under doesn't help put you in the right frame of mind for driving out in the dark at 7 am to head off and do 40 lengths.

In my last entry I was just about to run my last race of 2006 and the fourth in 5 weekends at the Great Langdale Christmas Pudding 10k on December 17th. Well James and I ran the race and both posted PB's. Mine of 46.28 was just 15 seconds LOWER, YES LOWER! than his. Not that we are at all competitive, father and son. Of course not.

I periodically forget just how much I love the Lake District. Perhaps it's remoteness - 4 hours on the M40 / M6 is remote - and keeps it out of your mind as a place to visit for a short period of time. As a holiday destination for Mr and Mrs Coffeeman, it lacks some of the things that ensure marital peace - blue skies, calmness, dryness and warmth - so we have just not spent as much time up there as we should have. I have kept a romantic notion of the Lakeland Fells since my teenage years. (I have no interest in the lakes themselves, except as scenic foreground for the main characters). Two "team-bonding" field trips as a grammar school boy were my first real experiences of the great outdoors and I can remember a real feeling of wilderness up above Wasdale. Easter holidays 1971 I think it was.

On the saturday before our race and with our Fiat Punto packed with an absurd amount of his paraphernalia for 2 weeks christmas vac, James and I checked into a B&B in Ambleside and headed off for the start of our race in the Langdale Valley for a recce. After heavy rain for a couple of days all over the country, I was amazed to see the fells of the Langdale horseshoe topped with fresh snow. After a pint and some soup in the Sticklebarn Tavern, we needed very little mutual egging on to yomp up the waterfall path along the ghyll to Stickle Tarn. It's what "lads 'n' dads" do isn't it?

We struck lucky with the weather. It wasn't raining and we could see across the valley! As we hopped our way back down to the hotels I did begin to wonder whether it was the perfect preparation for a 10k the next day, but the view and the mild feeling of conquest was worth it!

The next morning the weather was even better and James even ran in his sunglasses. If every race in the UK had a setting like this one, well everyone might want to be a runner! The sharp odour of wet sheep in our nostrils, 500 or so runners headed off along the lane back towards Elterwater on a "Cumbrian undulating" out & back with a loop in the middle. After starting slowly we stepped up the pace and were soon running at 7:30 pace, picking off other runners all the way. James had done virtually no training, apart from heavy exercise of his pint glass arm, since the Ravenstonedale 10k and I was determined myself to run as fast as I could. At 3 miles he complained of some calf stiffness and said he would ease off a bit, so off I went (I thought) and I gritted my teeth through the tough uphill miles between 3 and 5 to finally finish near to my ultimate goal time. I intended to jog back to meet James and was just getting my breath when he clapped me on the shoulder. He'd been beaten - but not tamed!

Considering the time of year I got in some fairly good running over the holidays - and it was pretty sociable stuff - in tune with the season. Gangs of multi-generational runners cluttered up the by-roads and footpaths around some sleeping Buckinghamshire villages. The old guys complained of their niggles and aches and pains - the young guys just kept looking back occasionally to make sure they weren't handing their dads too much of a hammering. Touching really. It continued to be pretty mild, but I still managed to develop a "stiffness" in my left hamstring that pulled me up sharp on a 5 miler with James around the streets of Spalding and there's been an easing off since. Too much roadwork, not enough flexibility exercises, and some general stagnation may be to blame. It's not an injury needing treatment - yet! And I have just run 11 miles on it at marathon pace without much of an adverse reaction. My endurance feels good and a marathon 5 weeks from now should really hold no fears for me now.

I am now very much back where I was in late September, but without the acute achilles tendonitis and with some new PB's at 10k and Half Marathon that point to a sub 4 hour marathon if I have that endurance. The only way to really be confident will be to run the 2 20 mile plus runs in the next 3 weeks. Let's hope the legs hold out!