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The award-winning Rock and Ride blog page. Years of older posts available at; http://rockandrideoutdoors.blogspot.co.uk/
May 26
0

Fluctuating Fish – The 64th Yorkshire Three Peaks Race

By | Running

Big Fish, Small Pond I love the Northern Irish mountain running scene, although of late I’ve been rather invisible within it.  It’s buoyant, flourishing and boasts many brilliantly organised events, from the iconic Slieve Donard race to the prestigious Mourne Skyline, with many other classics between.  With evening club races attracting over 350 runners, it’s clear to see that fell running in N.I. is no longer solely the preserve of the grizzled minority, and many new faces are being lured away from the gimmick laden world of compulsory finishers medals and garish t-shirts towards the purity of the open hills….

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Mar 22
0

JFDI

By | Running

Many years ago I had a boss called Ed, a brash, self-assured Mancunian, a man both larger and louder than life.  Ed had a catch phrase, JFDI (just f***ing do it!), regularly reeled out to silence hapless staff as they stuttered out excuses over solutions.  There was no comeback, no argument, resistance futile to the connotations of the sentence, the final vowel dragged out long enough to drown the most vehement protestations… ‘JFDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII’ I liked Ed, my kind of leader, a zero bullshit type in an industry full of perpetual talkers.  His ‘can and will do’ attitude echoed and shaped…

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Mar 14
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Bitten On The Arse

By | Running

Sometimes you just have to let the fitness come to you… Recently, in defiance of notable leg-speed limitations I won a Cross Country race.  And not just any race, it was a national title, albeit the Masters title (for moderately more mature athletes) but still a prestigious and highly competitive event.  It was a huge surprise to me and no doubt also to the gathered experts of Northern Irish running, given that I have virtually no pedigree in the discipline barring an Ulster Intermediate team gold medal acquired several years back that owed a lot more to the strength of my…

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Nov 17
0

All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go

By | Running

Personal Bests I broke a PB today.  Actually, re-phrase that, I smashed a PB today, decimated it, tore it a new hole, and not just any PB, it was the test piece route that I return to time and again, and have done for many years now.  Brilliant! My ‘Tollymore Boundary Route’ is an 8.1 mile circumnavigation of the whole of Tollymore Forest, tracking the boundary over two shapely lumps that provide 355m of climbing on stony, gritty and sometimes greasy forest trail.  Over the years times have dropped rapidly, stagnated, dropped again and sometimes risen but been on a…

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Mar 24
0

The Power Of Certainty

By | Running

I wake groggily, the weak grey light forcing through a crack in the curtains.  Gusting wind driving rain at the window in sheets, flexing the perspex and sapping my will to rise.  Slipping back out of consciousness I shelve the planned early morning session, later, later… The next time I’m truly aware of what’s going on is about 45 minutes later.  I feel myself rejoining my body, vision becoming clear and I’m no longer in my bed.  Heart rate is pumping and hamstrings a touch tight, I’m a quarter of the way into my eight-mile testpiece and moving well.  Obviously…

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