A great weekend

Well that's the weekend almost done and I'm still sticking to my plan - no beer, better diet and get on it as far as exercise goes.

Thursday was my rest day, and I was ready for it after 10 days of doing something, then Friday saw me and Herb out at lunch in lovely weather running up through East Morton and down through Riddlesden.  It's the reverse of a daft run Chris Tomes took me on a few months ago, where we went along the canal for a couple of miles then a ludicrously steep climb for a mile then a gentle, fast (and no effort) downhill back to work.  This way you get a good two miles of uphill before a silly downhill and a flat run back.  Felt reasonably strong on the up, which is good, as between now and April I've got to get quite good at up.

Then yesterday I took Izzy out for what will become my "long run" day, normally off road.  We went along to Halton east then up the green lane to Halton Heights, which felt ok, instead of the usual lung-bursting grovel.  We then crossed over onto the moor and began the climb up to the top, pausing for a quick snap for Izz:

The cunning plan was that Izzy would haul me up the climb to the top, but she decided that she'd rather run alongside me, so all the effort was my own.  As with Friday I felt ok most of the way up the climb, so despite the fact I seem to be staying resolutely hefty perhaps I'm getting a bit stronger.

At the top we turned left to head back down via Eastby and the church - 8 miles, about 70 minutes and tired legs.  I've got about twelve weeks to be able to do that distance three times over.  Blimey...

A really cold night last night, so I was quietly hoping Herb would declare it too sloppy to cycle - no such luck.  Even my feeble excuse that I couldn't get my bike out because the shed lock was frozen fell on deaf ears, so just after half nine we were off over Halton Heights, wheezing and blowing like the old blokes we  are.

We decided to stick to main roads, so at the Wharfedale road we turned last and followed our noses.  It was absolutely beautiful, with half the valley in shade and so still frosty, and the other half green(ish).  At Grassington we decided to keep heading up the valley and add in the climb up to Kidstones, the watershed between Wharfedale and Bishopdale.

Herb north of Buckden

We had both forgotten what the climb up to Kidstones is like, having only done it once during a sportive from Richmond, but I'd forgotten it slightly less than Herb so had a vague recollection of "uppy bit, pub, another uppy bit, top" - and so it proved.  Both of us found the climb reasonably easy, and were then surprised when we came down it to find it felt quite steep.  Either way, the extra height meant the views were spectacular, and I took the opportunity afforded by getting a slight lead on Herb to take some pictures at the top.  I still surprise myself sometimes with just how stunning the area we live in is - constantly changing, always beautiful.

Looking back down from Kidstones

The ride back down the valley (via a rather splendid egg butty in Kettlewell) took about an hour, with the blast down from Cracoe enlivened by having a lad to chase, who seemed to go faster than us on the flat and a lot slower than us on the hills - we caught him just before the turn off to Brackenley Lane - male pride satisfied.

Herb hitting the heights

The final bit of drama was Herb having a massive blowout about half a mile from his house, so we decided it was better for him to walk home, rather than start messing about mending punctures.

A grand day to end a grand week - about 22 miles of running and 70 miles of biking - not quite the 30 and 100 I'd like to get to, but it's getting easier each time out.