Baildon Moor Edge

I realised on the train into work this morning (thinking about where my blip might come from) that we've been here at the office in Shipley over a year now and I've never once run to the top of Baildon Moor. I put that right at lunchtime, possibly motivated by the fact that it's the Ilkley Moor Fell Race in a week and a half and I'm seriously under-cooked in terms of preparation. I guess I'm in a bit of a panic because I would rather like to enjoy the run - as I normally do - rather than suffer too much. I know that I'm likely to want to compete with my normal sparring partners. Although I'm pretty relaxed about racing these days I know that it's hard to resist responding to old friendly rivalries. It's what the sport is all about.

Having raced on the local fells for all of 20 years now, it's quite amazing to be still competing against many of the same people that I did when I first moved up here. Once a fell runner, injuries permitting, it seems to be the case that one is always a fell runner. It becomes part of who you are. We've all grown older and slower together. Everyone seems to have a core level of fitness which doesn't change much in relative terms. The pecking order is still pretty much the same and we all run as hard (albeit with less speed) as ever to try to beat the guys who normally finish just ahead of us and to try to stay ahead of the guys who normally finish just behind us. Although it's just a bit of fun I definitely feel the need to do a bit more last-minute fell training before I start seriously on the bike again. Just need to make sure I don't tweak this calf of mine once more.

Having to work late at the office tonight in order to do some maintenance stuff out of working hours. Struggling to catch up with all the lovely comments left while I was away. Please bear with me!