No wolf left behind

"This is going to be a good run for comedy," said Sarah as we set off from Hollingbourne Rail Station car park. "I can feel it."

Was it because we'd later be celebrating our 8 mile victory at a pub called The Dirty Habit or was there something else awaiting us along the trail?

It was my annual run - one year on from my very first outing with the wolf ladies. I wasn't quite sure how I'd let 12 opportunities to get out in the countryside, get sweaty and get muddy pass me by. These thoughts trotted through my head as we set off through Hollingbourne village and joined the North Downs Way.

Sarah had warned there would be a steep climb to get us up to the ridge and she certainly wasn't joking about that.

The slope started gently but quickly became more and more vertical. I kept my eyes on the ground, feeling my toes flex with the incline and my lungs hungrily sucking in the crisp air.

It was almost a surprise to reach the ridge - the hill kept going beyond it at an impossibly steep incline so it was a relief to stop and wait for the last of us to make it. No wolf left behind.

Sweeping views
Feigning anything other than exhaustion after the first stretch, we pretended to look at the view. The climb had been worth it. The North Downs appeared as if scooped out from under our feet, the sun glinted between the clouds and we could make out a few of Kent's famous oast houses (more on them later) and scattered farm buildings.

The ridge run followed a sheep trail across the hill, rewarding us with a continuous view of the landscape, before dipping into woodland. Suddenly, spiky creepers grabbed at our arms, fallen branches forced us to duck and the odd hole pushed us left and right, testing our nimbleness. Running, it turns out, is faster than walking (even at the pace we do it) so natural obstructions pose more of a challenge.

Beware of bull

There was some trepidation as we entered a gate marked: Beware of bull. Would our speed and agility be tested to the limit or was this referring to the ongoing chatter we still managed to keep up despite our heighted cardiovascular activity?

Either way, we passed through the field unchallenged and reached the point of our final climb. The North Downs Way people had cut some rudimentary stairs into the hill and I took each in a generous stride, feeling a little bit like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk.

Wolves that go up, must come down
All that height had to be evened up somehow and at this point the trail descended. We followed a gully, snaking down as quickly as we dared and trying not to let our legs get away from the rest of us.

At the bottom we paused - we had made it halfway - and practised feeling powerful with Wonderwoman poses inspired by Amy Cuddy's TED talk on body language.

From here, we kept the pace sociable, allowing the conversation to jog along with us.

Drying the hops

Cutting through a furrowed field, we came out at one of the very oast houses I'd mentioned earlier. These are buildings for drying hops (used to make beer). We stopped to photograph the distinctive conical-shaped roof and lop-sided cowl (a sort-of chimney that also keeps the weather out).

At this point the trail took us through the grounds of a grand farmhouse, past a pony and around a riding arena. We cleverly navigated electric fences and several stiles before we were back in open farmland.

Mud sticks
The next stretch proved the toughest. I felt my feet getting heavier and heavier. At first I put this down to weariness (and the fact that I'd only managed one of these runs in 12 months) but soon clumps of mud began to fly. My feet had grown about two inches on the sole and another inch either side, made up of sticky, leafy, grassy mud. The peculiar consistency of this mud made it not only stick to our shoes, but then stick to the mud on our shoes, rendering us with giant, clumsy feet.

It was with a deep gladness that we left the clingy mud to cross the railway line that separated us from the pub. A train went past just before we reached the crossing and once we were all across (there were only five of us but we were spread out) another train tooted and sped through. It wasn't exactly close but it left no doubt that walkers needed to be careful.

We tumbled over the final gate and into the car park and spent some time attempting to persuade the mud to let go of our boots, without much success.

Comedy club?
At last we reached The Dirty Habit (which has been feeding and watering weary pilgrims since the 11th century) and tucked into a victory lunch, but not before the landlord had placed a tiny chair at the tallest table for us. Vowing to make this a more regular event in 2014, I reflected on the significance of the pub's name. The day had certainly developed my desire to get sweaty and muddy on a regular basis.

Dates for your wolf diary: Tues 12 Nov, Sun 17 Nov and Sat 7 December

Morning all,

OK, so next official wolf run is Sat 7 December. Likely to be Hollingbourne: 7-8 miles on the north downs and then lunch at the Dirty Habit (I swear this is actually the pub's name, not what I want it to be called).

But, as there's no official November run (a few of us are off to run the Helvellyn trail race instead), here's a couple of things we could do to entertain ourselves in the meantime...

Tues 12 November: street orienteering in Clerkenwell. OK, so Clerkenwell is renowned neither for mud nor wolves, but I can assure you that chasing down weird landmarks and getting lost in EC1 is Definitely Our Kind of Thing. Details here. It's run by the fantastic South London Orienteers, who also organise the Box Hill fell race. £1 if you're a member, £2 otherwise. You let them know you're going via Facebook so they can print off enough maps

Sun 17 November: Herbert's Hole Challenge. 10k trail race, starts in Chesham (it's on the tube, you know). Details on how to enter here.

That's all for now. I'm off to do an interval run in Victoria Park (desperately trying to maintain some fitness for Helvellyn), and I might manage 7 miles off road tomorrow to test out a new (and sort of needed) pair of Innov8s.

Introducing the Mae West of sports bras

Panache's latest sports bra promises 83% less bounce. Red Wolf road tests it to see if it delivers.

Breasts and running: a tricky combination

For any runner who is a B-cup or higher, it is a universal truth that a good bra and good running shoes are her two most important pieces of equipment. As a recreational runner with a 36C bust, I know too well the detrimental effect of bounce. So the arrival of a sports bra promising an 83% bounce reduction demands careful examination.

Running, at its purest, can be transcendent. Once the initial blood sugar burn subsides, and the body has warmed itself, the natural movement of your own continuous stride beneath you creates a calmness that can lead to maximum bliss. But running demands total physical lockdown - no headphone cord flying about, no loose rucksack knocking against the small of the back, no waist band slipping down to the hips.

Breasts moving about, even slightly, are even more problematic. They are a feature of a woman's body singularly poorly suited to the activity of running. A good sports bra recognises this, and works to overcome it. For this reason, the sports bra is one of the most difficult pieces of technical equipment to get right.

Bra science: encapsulation v compression

If we suppose for a moment that Shock Absorber is designing sports bras at the Sigourney Weaver end of the scale, then Panache has designed what may be described as the Mae West of sports bras. This bra has glam, and delivers the all important bounce reduction. The informative, technically detailed fold-out brochure that accompanies it states that the Panache bra is engineered to control and support breasts, not to compress them. In the parlance of bra science, this approach is known as "encapsulation".

This bra aims to provide anatomically moulded support that embraces and holds the breast in place, while minimising movement in any direction. This is rather different to the blunt effort of a maximum support crop top, which basically squashes the breast tissue against your chest. Its wide shoulder straps are padded to disperse pressure, and the underband sits directly under the breastbone, leaving no space between where the bottom of the breast rests and the top of the band. The cut is high at the sides and top, giving a sleek, overall feminine shape that shows no cleavage.

Good wicking action from the microfibre materials means that there is no rubbing or conflict with bare skin, though I have yet to test the Panache over a longer distance.

Rear closure prevents "jujitsu bra"

Another major benefit of this bra is the ease with which a woman can get in and out of it. This is a serious design challenge. For anyone who has ever tried to slip a racer back crop top on after a swim, then you will have experienced how a bra, with no apparent motive, can suddenly jujitsu you into an underarm lock from which there is no hope of escape. If a bra pulls this maneouvre on you, you have experienced the fashion equivalent of a suicide mission. 


Panache has thought of this. A rear eye hook closure allows you to slip the bra comfortably on and off dry or wet skin, without struggle. It also carries a discreet eye closure hook that allows it to be worn racer back style if desired. But the build renders this largely surplus to requirements.

Price

At £35, Panache is well priced for what is a highly engineered, solidly designed product.

Stockists

Sweatshop, John Lewis, figleaves.com, lessbounce.com - and many others

www.panache-lingerie.com/gb/sports/DesignFeatures.aspx

Next run Saturday 5th October 2013

First outing of the 13-14 season will be Saturday 5th October, Chesham to Chorleywood. 

It's the Chilterns by tube, ladies. 

And there will be a very good lunch. 

If you'd like to come with us, email wolfrunnerslondon@gmail.com.