LANCASHIRE SUN....YORKSHIRE RAIN

 Goodness me , could Saturday and Sunday have been any different!  Yet another weekend dominated by our so unreliable English weather.
 Saturday  the "terminator" sunshine was back!  My plan....it's always good to have a plan....was to drop off  a couple of restock cartons at the Nelson branch,  and then drive on the mile to the Seedhill track.  Having completed  a  session I would then travel on to Leigh Sports Village  to watch the NORTH OF ENGLAND 6 stage (men) and 4 stage (ladies) road relays.  Pleased that the positive response from younger, faster men means my services are no longer  needed. 

 Saturday morning at the track is generally very quiet. Often just myself but occasionally 2 or 3 more.  Not so last Saturday.  I turn the corner to see dozens of youngsters whizzing around the running track.  That'll be the OLYMPIC legacy you're thinking aren't you?  Mo Farahs in the making!?
 NO,  they are whizzzing around the track on bikes!
These are not kids trespassing either. It's a fully organised session of CYCLE SPORT PENDLE.  There must have been well over 100 people; coaches, parents and youngsters.  The council clearly deciding that if runners aren't going to use the track then they will let others use it.  And why not, if the surface isn't suffering.  So not so much as MO FARAH wannabees as BRADLEY WIGGINS!
So no track session for me. PLAN A up in shreds.  PLAN B...........

Instead I drove straight on to Leigh Sports Village and enjoyed a superb 8 mile run out and back along the Leeds Liverpool canal with views over PENNINGTON FLASH country park.
 The lunchtime weather was superb with just a hint of a cooling  autumn breeze to keep the run very comfortable.  The fine sunshine continued throughout the afternoon as teams from all over the North battled it out for honours and places in the National relay (venue threatened by e.coli!!) How lucky we were.

 Of course, I had a particular interest in seeing SALE HARRIERS teams in action.  We fielded 5 complete (for a change) mens teams and 3 ladies teams.  The mens "A" was not quite at full strength and narrowly missing out on the medals in 4th place.
 We could have done with our Olympian who lives nearby to the venue.Unfortunate.
 With all the takeovers taking place on the track  I ended up dashing from one side to the other across the football field in an effort to record the action.

 Efforts of most of the SALE runners now up on YOUTUBE.
   Yesterday the poor weather returned with a vengeance. Having spent the morning editing the previous days filming whilst watching the rain come down (as it is now!) my afternoon run took in part of the ILKLEY TRIATHLON route which was taking place throughout the day centred on the Ilkley Lido.    I had much sympathy for the lonely marshals who had stood hour after hour in the pouring rain.  A thankless  task.
   So this tough 8 mile run completed yet another week of 39 miles.  But no speed work; a week of easy/ steady running recovering from the 4th race in 4 weeks.
   Time to review the year and look forward to what the rest of 2012 has in store......