Week 7 Lake District Holiday, week 8 in the heat, Week 9 cometh

[JimHarris]

Found a great road to run along down the east side of Coniston water if anyone finds themselves up there! Long runs followed by dips in the lake were amazing. The water was lovely and warm by around 8pm.

Just finished the three week 8 runs. The heat has been a challenge. It isn't cold enough by 8pm! I'm running as late as I can at the moment. I haven't noticed these runs get easier throughout the week like the others.

Week 9 approaches and I'm looking forward to a park run at Lydiard Park at the end of it. I'm also getting ready to ask the "what next for me" question. It's been such a great programme, will I have the motivation to continue? I'd love to, but I don't want it to become uncomfortable. No pains yet though!

First 30 minute run tomorrow. No chance of doing 5k but that doesn't matter. That's what park runs are for.

[paul2014 Graduate]

Well done, Jim that run alongside consist on lake sounds wonderful Good luck for w9, finishing line in sight

[Sue_Reading]

Hi Jim, Can you give me an idea of the route you took along Coniston? Hubby and I will be staying in Ambleside for a week in October for our wedding anniv. We both run (well, I plod - he runs), so would be great to find a few nice routes to use when we're up there. If anyone knows of good routes in that area (not too hilly please!) then please let me know!

Sue

[JimHarris Graduate in reply to Sue_Reading]

Hi Sue. I parked to the closest car park to Brantwood on the east side of Coniston water. You'll see Brantwood on a map, Ruskin's house - nice for a cup of tea. I also ran at Grizedale Forest Park - the light blue route and the yellow route are a mile each. Don't do the whole yellow route. There is a part on the map where it loops around. It gets hilly from there. Also, there is a circular path around Tarn Hows - beautiful lake, which is about 1.6 miles I think - and more importantly, there is an ice cream van. All pretty close to Ambleside and not too up and downy.

Let me know what else you find!

[Sue_Reading in reply to JimHarris]

Thanks Jim, yes we've been to all those places before so know where you're talking about We went to Brantwood last year, nice place, had a fantastic bowl of homemade soup with homemade bread (scrumptious). Also walked the red route of Grizedale Forest up to the cairn, it was pretty steep in places but a good workout for my thighs and lungs! It would have been a wonderful view from the top but the rain came in and everything was in cloud, Old Man of Coniston was invisible and should have been the main feature. Would like to explore more of the forest as it looked great.

I love Tarn Hows, such a nice easy route around the tarn. We had the RAF jets flying over the tarn when we were there which was an added bonus - that'd be perfect for my plodding along, a nice path with a few undulations to give me a slight test and a lovely view to enjoy.

There's a nice flat path around Buttermere too, where you can start and end with a pub! Think its about 4 miles all around and you can detour up to Haystacks. There are a couple of streams/waterfalls around the lake path to stop at as well if you need a breather.

Going to the Reading Parkrun on Saturday, haven't been to a parkrun for a few weeks and need to get back into it. Aiming for a sub-40 minutes if I can.