SUMMER SUMMARY
The end of August and the end of the meteorological season of Summer. Like kilometre markings on a Marathon course, I don't see the point in the complication of BST and all that messing around with the clocks. It's September now, it's Autumn. Simples!
Back in the season of Spring (the meteorological one that spans from March to May of course) my running outlook was grim. I seemed to be putting in the shifts, but clearly not the right ones. I was going backwards, fast, culminating in three very weary race performances at the Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round, Darwen Half Marathon and Yorkshire Three Peaks. Those low points asked the biggest questions yet about whether I ought to accept that it was time to hang up the racing shoes and get cracking down at the local Crown Green instead. This most recent running blog of mine has always had an air of inevitability that it will one day morph in to a bowling blog. Another question was, what would finally push me over the edge and swap my inov8 x-talons for a set of weighted woods?
Absolutely all avenues would have to be expended before such drastic action, but there seemed only one avenue remaining which was to try racing myself to race fitness. Now many a runner would point this out as an obvious starting point rather than a last resort, but somehow foolish pride, fear, impatience or all of those feelings has prevented me from ever properly trying this out before. With midweek evening races about to start, this was the ideal time of year to just get stuck in, take the beatings and see if I could quietly make increments of progress through the Summer. Sure enough I took a real beating in the first night race at Harrock Hill. It was a shocker. Then came the revelation from a health check up that I had high cholesterol levels, but this unexpected news proved to be a blessing in disguise. My knee-jerk reaction of instantly cutting out probably eighty percent or more of my saturated fat intake shed six pounds in just fortnight and a couple more have also dropped off at a thankfully slower rate since. The general felling of fatigue that pushed me towards booking a health check in the first place has also faded away, perhaps down to my body not getting bogged down in processing nasty fats that it's not very good at processing? Who knows? But I started to feel much better in general.
Although lightening my load, progress at the races was very gradual over the first six weeks of weekly action, even staggered at times. It wasn't clear if I was going to improve enough to get back to my own very modest standards, but nevertheless I was starting to enjoy just getting out there and racing. By the time the Kentmere Horseshoe came around in mid-July, I had grown up a bit and was sucking in with gratefulness the fact I was out there competing. No point spoiling the enjoyment by chasing shadows I couldn't catch anymore. Kentmere turned out to be my slowest effort there in eight race appearances, but I was unusually very matter of fact about it all. I felt like I was hardening up to competition again at the very least and if not hitting the high notes, able to put a good rate of effort in. Around weekly racing, a training routine had naturally evolved which seemed to be working well in that I was staying fit enough to race withoiut running myself in to a hole.
Then came a welcome bolt from the blue. Just three days after Kentmere, the signs of a race pace lost unexpectedly returned. Widdop fell race was my first solid effort in a race from start to finish for a good few years. I set off strong, I stayed strong and I finished strong. Performances have continued to get better during August and it's fair to say that, certainly in short and middle distance fell races, I've just about started to tap in to the sort of standard that I haven't run for maybe five or six years. The race myself back to race fitness experiment has been a success this Summer. Just over three months and fourteen races in the bank to finally crack it. Perhaps my Indian Summer of running wasn't such a delusion after all. So, sorry bowling fans, if you were expecting the content of these pages to switch code to the intricate art of the Crown Green, then I must conclude that the prospect of running taking a final bow is no longer on the agenda for the foreseeable future.

AUTUMN OUGHT-TO-DO'S
It's all very well getting race fit and getting giddy about it. The hard bit will be managing to stay there and pushing onwards. Picking up a nuisance calf strain and then creasing my back gardening have been timely reminders that it's a fine line we runners tread to stay in decent enough nick to do what we so desire.
As the Summer race calendar thins a little going in to the colder seasons, it's important that I still get some racing in as this has been the key to a return of good form. Other than that, no big plans really, other than putting in some longer training runs. I suppose a focal point of some description would be The Tour of Pendle in November. If I can stay in good shape I believe I've still got a good race left in me at that one. But I'm thinking more longer term and next year. I may well eat these words, but right now I have no intention whatsoever of entering the Three Peaks. There's still plenty of Cumbrian classics that I would like to have a bash at before I hit the grave and especially Borrowdale. Finally making it to the Ben Nevis race is also on the to-do list if I am lucky enough to get on the start list again. There's only so much one can do though, so in the meantime I won't be looking much more than two weeks ahead and hope to just stay in good shape and injury free.