March 2, 2009 at 11:37 am · Filed under Equipment, Running, Shoes
I think I may have suggested a little while back, in a pub somewhere no doubt, that I would put happiness to one side and actually start running again in March. The arrival of the month also coincided quite nicely with the delivery of a damn fine pair of running shoes, so the pressure was building.
These are the Salomon XA Pro GTXs and are a very desirable pair of trail running/adventure madness style shoes. They require rather beefy terrain so yesterday I bundled the non-runner and the mountain bike into the car and headed off to my favourite off road haunt – Swinley Forest in Bracknell.
The non-runner vowed to stick with me on the bike as I led the way on foot through the undergrowth. With an evil glint in my eye I hit an immediate right turn out of the car park and headed up and across the bracken to the forest proper. It was steep, strewn with stump hazards and ruts and altogether pretty tough going. My lungs were burning and I wanted to quit but the expletives exiting my loved one’s mouth made it all the worthwhile and I kept heading up until I thought she was going to quit on me and head back to the cafe.
Respite from laughter was required so we took a short flat section for a breather before heading off in search of shoe testing swamps and hills.
The shoes are very impressive. They’re extraordinarily light, in fact I suspected the box may have been empty when I picked it off my doorstep, but I still felt very supported by them. They have a good cushioned sole a very simple and effective lace system. I really like them a lot actually and as I’ve they’ve got a gore tex lining, my feet stayed dry even after a bit of light puddle action.
They are fortunately very grippy as well.
I took the lead on one particularly exciting stretch of singletrack before realising that I didn’t really stand much chance of staying ahead of a carreering lunatic on a bike. I upped the pace and started squealing like an out of control rhino on a snowboard. Legs were ticking over at a rare ole pace but my body was still in the lead. I expected my chin to reach the forest floor just moments before the chasing bike nipped at my heels and left me with broad tread marks along my flattened body.
At the first sign of an escape route, I threw myself off to the side, to roll gently in a bank of soft mud, only to spot the non-runner, half way back up the slope, hands clenched tightly over both brakes, bouncing ever so tentatively and non-threateningly downwards on locked wheels.
I muddied my shoes for nothing…..
**There is a link to my other product reviews on sidebar. Please contact me at angela@warriorwomen.co.uk if you have a product you would like me to review.
Popularity: 29% [?]
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Tags: review, salomon xa pro gtx, Shoes, Swinley Forest
November 2, 2008 at 10:20 pm · Filed under Running
My new once a week running schedule is just not sufficient to keep me sane. By Sunday I’m absolutely climbing the walls.
I’m still off work, with college/study/mahjong-playing leave and have been going stir crazy. All week I’ve been promising myself a weekend treat splashing around the muddy trails of Swinley Forest and I bought some swanky inov8 mudclaws for the occassion – check out those treads.
Swinley Forest is my old haunt from the Broadmoor days and I love running around there. After last weeks Hebden Bridge trip I’ve been eager for mud, hills and bouncy forest trail – there’s nowhere better.
It was a bit cold and wet today but those are the perfect conditions for an autumnal forest run. The leaves were lush and the going was soft to squishy.
The shoes held up very well but then the soles would give a tractor tyre a run for its money. – solid grip. I slipped only once, while trying to leap a 4ft puddle by way of a slimey tree stump. Anyone with half a brain would have known that was going to end in tears but my oxygen starved brain has a tendency to want to see me in an emotional and painful heap. I escaped with only minor groin strain and some very cold feet.
I was heading to the lure of Caesar’s Camp. I love running around that hilltop fort, it was inhabited over 2000 years ago and it feels powerful. You can run around a thin trail, hugging the edge of the hill, and every time I’ve been there it’s been delightfully solitary.
Things have changed a bit with the seasons and the place seems to have been invaded by tiny xmas trees.
It seemed to be getting dark under the tree cover by 2:30 so I headed back a little earlier than planned. I was diving in and out of the woods following any trail that seemed passable and many that weren’t. I found an exciting mountain bike trail that proved almost as much fun on foot which is just as well as I’m about to flog the mountain bike to fund my lavish lifestyle and expensive tastes in running shoes.
Arrived back at the car park only to realise that I couldn’t remember the colour of the hire car and hadn’t a clue what the number plate was.
Of course I made it home eventually and was rewarded with this view of Barnes as I crossed the bridge.
I think a river run is called for next week.
Popularity: 23% [?]
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Tags: Bracknell, Broadmoor, Swinley Forest
April 25, 2007 at 11:59 pm · Filed under Cycling, Off road
My time at Broadmoor is rapidly running to an end and I need to exploit this fantastic area before it’s out of my life, forever. With this in mind, Jason drove out today and met me at the Look Out for a blast around Swinley Forest on the mountain bikes.
This is part of our route in the dedicated mtb zone. The fact that the area was labelled Expert Zone should have been all the indication I needed to steer well clear! But did I?
Nope, I skidded and screamed and generally bounced my way down tracks completely out of my league. I actually recall Jae tempting me over a particularly unappealing section known as the “drop off” – thank god for disc brakes. On another descent I remember trying to work out what the trade in value for my swanky mountain bike would be in a swanky road bike shop, then I clonked my head into a low hanging tree and reminded myself to “Pay Attention!”.
I’ve started a new training program that I’ll probably talk about later, but todays session was designed to be fairly tough going, a hills routine maximising my heart rate in zones 4 & 5. I think all my zone 5 entries were fear induced all the photos show a terrified grimace on my face.
Check out that heart rate profile, isn’t mountain biking crazy – a true interval sport. In contrast my running charts are so much steadier, showing a gradual increase from near exhaustion to the death zone.
The elevation is obviously a bit more extreme than my usual running route as well but then it isn’t called mountain biking for nothing.
Swinley Forest is a fantastic spot for mountain biking, it has stunt areas, technical downhill, fast berms and plenty of singletrack and can almost be considered local to London (providing you have a car).
Popularity: 24% [?]
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Tags: Broadmoor, Swinley Forest
April 18, 2007 at 10:29 pm · Filed under Equipment, Gadgets, Running
My super little heart broken garmin has been returned. In fact the nice people at garmin have given me a brand new forerunner 305 as the original clearly had a terminal cardiac issue. Good warranty service, yay for Garmin!
So I’m now having to sneak through Broadmoor security with two heart rate monitors, a strange foot pad thingy and a gps unit. Great fun trying to explain why I need such weird gadgetry every morning. I’m a little embarassed to be seen out on the trails with a running computer on each wrist but its the only way to get a fair comparison between the two.
Fantastic evening again, what a joy to be out running.
I had a slight variation on the route this evening. I was trying for a slow pace (which I achieved admirably as usual) with the intention of keeping the heart rate low. Given the heart bursting quality of the hills in this area though, I struggled with this feature of my training.
The little clover leaf shape in the route was Caesar’s Camp, an ironage hilltop fort in the middle of the forest. How cool is that? I was running along a foot wide track on the edge of the camp with a superb view over the woods. Just a complete joy!
Popularity: 28% [?]
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Tags: Broadmoor, Forerunner, Garmin, GPS, Swinley Forest
April 13, 2007 at 10:19 pm · Filed under Running
Two weeks of working within a high security setting is starting to take its toll – talk about claustrophobic!
I wasn’t sure if I could face another run this evening but after I made it through the fourth airlock to freedom, I just wanted to break free.
I didn’t want to tie myself to the usual Broadmoor Hospital perimeter run so my intention was to find 4 or 5 km of interest in the surrounding woods. I made a couple of duff choices, trogging up hills that ended in impenetrable hedges, and prime singletrack littered with hurdles
and other hardcore obstacles.
I backtracked a bit and found myself on a wonderfully undulating path that was heading to a place called “Look Out”. This sounded temptingly scenic and I was just loving the roller coaster route so I just sucked up each km.
This was really the most enjoyable run in ages, it was slow and hilly but what a cool place to run. It looks like absolutely prime mountain biking territory as well so I may have to shove the Stumpmeister (thanks for the name Celeste) into the boot of the car next week.
After I reached the top of this track I came across this sign post – check out my options!
I might have started heading towards “Look Out” but it ceased to be the most interesting option when I realised I’d just conquered “Devil’s Highway” and I could choose between “Ladies Mile” and “Pudding Hill”. I opted for the ladies route and did in fact come across two of the species before turning round and hoping I could find my way back to the secure zone.
Total for the evening was a pleasurable 7.7 km in and around Swinley Woods. This week has already broken all my records for running and I still have BPTT tomorrow and a possible jaunt on Sunday.
Popularity: 13% [?]
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Tags: BPTT, Broadmoor, Swinley Forest
