Marathon Training and Old Pubs
Some know that @bingbabe is running not one, but two marathons in April one of them being the day after SteemCamp, Leicester.
Some also know that she is a crazed runner and a 15-mile jaunt at weekend is not unusual. 26 miles however is a little different and so on Sunday I got dragged out of bed in the middle of the night (6am), to travel almost 60 miles to Oulton Park Racetrack as she had signed up for some marathon training.
Known more for motor racing than runners, the entire track had been reserved for 10k, Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon runs for the day.
The weather was horrible. It seems the South got this foggy muggy stuff the day before and today it was with us. 4 degrees (Celsius) had me shivering and that’s with a huge jacket.
She just couldn’t resist standing and posing on this podium even before the running started!
The Marathon runners commenced at 9.30am and had until 1pm to do as much as they could. 3.5 hours for 26 miles is a tall order, so I wasn’t expecting her to complete 12 laps of this racing circuit.
I also had 3.5 hours of time to kill. It was a case of seat back, eyes closed and sleep. After 30 minutes of repeatedly waking myself up with my own snoring it was time for something else.
I had scoured the area for possible explores but had only come up with one venue; an old pub that had been closed for a few months.
I added the postcode into the SatNav and drove a slowly as I could, the 5 and something miles to my destination.
It was not hard to spot.
‘A rambling Tudor style huge building in the middle of nowhere.’
The Wild Boar Hotel was a bit special, and was no ordinary pub, it was downright massive!
There were THREE cars parked up in the large car park. Someone was already in there? I guessed it was not a day trip for Urban Explorers, more the place being renovated.
Undeterred I exited my car and started nosing about. The council had stuck a warning sign on the outside of the building in several different places.
It was a Grade II listed property, and so can’t be demolished or modified. It seems the council were unhappy about the renovation work.
I changed my photography to monochrome as it suited the style more. At this point a truck pulled up with a load of building materials.
The driver ignored me, and I simply carried on snapping. << What can he do? >>
I headed around the back of this enormous building noticing that at least part of it had electricity and was lit. I wasn’t going to get in there, but still I could photograph it.
The Tudor design is lovely and more prominent in the Midlands and South of England. This one was starting to rot away and looked dishevelled in places. Parts of the building were in a sorry looking state.
Some steps led up to the second storey, so I went up for a look about, being careful as the driver of the goods vehicle might spot me.
After a few more shots I left. The driver game me a quizzical look but no words were spoken.
The fog was starting to lift ever so slowly on my 20MPH drive back to the race track. I kept stopping to let other cars past conscious of my granddad style driving and noticed a lake right next to the road.
I took a few shots, mostly because I was getting bored and it looked a little creepy with the fog sitting on the water before moving on back to Oulton Park.
The fog was finally starting to clear after yet another snooze to kill time, and there was a little more heat in the air.
@bingbabe came through the finish line at 3 hours 30 minutes but failing to complete all the laps for the 26 miles.
I think she was finding it harder than anticipated. Its just 2 months until the London Marathon, and 2 weeks before, the Manchester one. I will need to find something to do for 4 hours again, and then again.
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I love @bingbabe's pink running shoes! And she looks great on that podium.
That building looks as if it's in fancy dress! It's hard to see from the outside that it's derelict. Quite extraordinary really - those gargoyles! They must be renovating it from the outside in. I bet it has a fascinating history. I'm guessing it was a freemason's hangout at some time in its past.
I like the dreamlike atmospheric quality that the low cloud gives, especially at the lake. I was on a group hillwalk on Sunday and we got some amazing inversions at the summit.
Shes coming to SteemCamp, so you can have a chat with her. She loves mountaineering like you so you have something in common.
This post was a bit of all things stuck together.. the things you do when you have time to kill.
Great - I'll look forward to meeting her! I used to be a runner too - though a half marathon was the furthest I got.
Very entertaining... keeping occupied while she does laps
I know how foggy it was on Sunday am - I drove back from Kent and hit the A roads around here at 6.00 am.... it was terrifying!
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What a building. That much detail at that scale is downright intimidating. A shame that it's in disrepair but I'd feel overwhelmed at the prospect of renovating it as well.
Kudos to your friend for taking on two marathons. Personally I'd be bored to tears running laps around a level track for that long, but it's probably a good way to build up endurance. Are the routes of her marathons relatively flat?
She was bored running around that track.. she's my wife btw :)
Oh, so a very good friend indeed, then!
Those are big enough cities that finding something to do should be pretty easy right? That is an awesome looking pub. I wonder what it looks like on the inside. It probably has a big "great hall" type area and then a bunch of smaller areas too. How many laps did she finish in the 3.5 hours?
Should be OK in the city areas, this racetrack was in a very rural one. I looked through the very dirty windows and it was empty inside.
10 laps of the racetrack I think she did, 24 miles.
Not bad at all. She should be okay, that is pretty impressive actually for her first attempt!
that is no joke what she is planning there!
keep a close eye on her because marathonning twice in a month is a serious attack on the body, but apart from that....do it in less foggy towns man hahahhahahah
It is a lot to do, I just hope the first one (Manchester) doesnt result in an injury to the big one (London). She's hard headed and wont listen to me to take it easy.
What an amazing looking building! I'd love to live in an old place but maybe one a little smaller than that. Imagine how long it would take to clean! (I'm too tight to pay for a cleaner).
Hope @bingbabe 's training does the job! 26 and a bit miles is approximately 25 miles too long for me.
Its 25 miles to long for me to, we think alike :)
I thought there may be more of these Tudor styles where you are, they are rare where I live but I spotted a few in Cheshire that day.
I've not managed to explore too far afield yet but haven't seen anything near as grand as that. We seem to have very old as in Roman and then the 1900's arrived. The stuff in between seems to have vanished...well from my view anyway.
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You could always take up knitting 😜.
That fog on the lake is very ethereal, beautiful in a way, but looks like it might be chilly?
@bingbabe always looks so cool, not the least put out by her run! It can be tough building up to those 26 miles (I'm writing that like I know), I'm sure she'll be ready when the time comes.
Do you know when that tudor style building was built?
1886 according to this. Funny that you can book a room (or try), but theres nothing inside. I peeked through the windows.
@bingbabe has hurt her knee but keeps running anyway. I keep telling her off.
Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have a good osteopath?
She just needs to rest... and do other gym'y things.. besides running for a while.
Okay, that doesn't sound so bad.
Ah, the fog. So English.
I liked the lake photos! There are always more pics to click for next time. Its a great way to pass the time.
Here for building like that, especially commercial, permits for the work would have to be pulled. If they kept working after it was posted they would be looking at steep daily fines!!
I'm not sure what they do here.. here's the notice.. I didn't include it in the post.