Running faster without trying harder

 

How to run faster without trying harder

 

1. Improve or work on your running form

2. Include Plyometrics in your weekly training

3. Include hills in your weekly training

 

Source: The Run Better Podcast (Ash Foster). Available on Apple Podcast and Spotify Podcast

More detail:

1. A flowing, non-stiff or robotic style. Head up looking at horizon – don’t look down. Lead from chest - no head chasing (ie. leaning forward with head). Relax shoulders and arms (not hunched). Elbows move back and hands not crossing over chest. Cadence 180 -185. Running drills can help this and/or live or video analysis from experienced coaches. Treadmill session?

2. Improves elasticity and co-ordination. Helps raise cadence. Improves running speed and efficiency. Helps protect against ligament/tendon injury. Enables you to recruit muscle fibers more efficiently. Increases the rate at which muscles can produce force and helps improve how muscles use oxygen. Skipping with jump rope or hopping up and down kerb or across line and back are easy options after a good warm up run.

3. Walk or run more hills. Decreases RPE in your flat running (Rate of Perceived Exertion). Improves baseline endurance and cardio-vascular strength. Good for muscle strength and power. Builds mental toughness and resilience.

 

Above is just a brief synopsis of one episode of the Run Better Podcast (Ash Foster). He’s a coach with a lot of experience and qualifications in coaching, nutrition, yoga, strength training etc etc.

I have no qualifications in coaching but want to run faster and stay injury free which is why I've been seeking advice from the experts and listening to various podcasts. 

 

I've believed for a while that a healthy runner needs to do more than just run. The podcasts I've been listening to, appear to fully support this notion. 

 

Just running more miles isn't necessarily the best way to improve and may lead to increased injury frequency.

Strength Training

 

Strength Training

Sources: The Run Smarter Podcast (Brodie Sharp), Runners World.

 

Strength training for runners is often neglected in favour of getting more miles under the belt. Runners like to run, and think by running more they will go faster and have better endurance. It has been found though that including strength training in your weekly regime will increase performance and endurance. Those who run 6 days per week should consider replacing one or two sessions with strength training.

A very large study of athletes (thousands) found that strength training reduced the incidence of injuries by 30-50%. With runners specifically, it’s a bit more complicated though.

 

It is a common misconception amongst runners apparently, that strength training will increase muscle mass, make you bulk up, gain weight and as a consequence go slower. Wrong. Runners find it very hard to gain muscle mass.

 

Muscle imbalance. Strength training has the potential to reduce your injury risk by correcting muscle imbalances - just because you have the muscles doesn’t mean you’re always using them – sometimes muscles get lazy and turn off. Strength training is a great way to improve muscle activation and recruitment. Specific run strength training can retrain muscle recruitment patterns and make sure all the right muscles are contributing to your run.

 

Preparing muscles for stress/work. As you run, the force of about 3 times your body weight is placed through each leg. Having the muscular strength and stability to absorb that force of each step will minimize the load through your joints and reduce your risk of pain or injury.

Increasing the efficiency of your running bio-mechanics. Strengthening the muscles that support your body in ideal alignment while running can result in more efficient use of energy. Even trained distance runners have shown improvements of up to 8% in running economy following a period of resistance training.
Core – strengthening your core will help stability, reduce asymmetry and increase balance, so reducing stress or over-exertion of individual leg muscles.

Don’t make the assumption that strength training will increase your body weight and as a result slow you down.

 

You do not need to go to the gym to do strength training

 

Strength training for older runners: Older runners are susceptible to Sarcopenia (age related decline in muscle mass). Older adult runners who have reduced muscle mass are potentially more at risk of joint and soft tissue injuries. Strength training is extremely beneficial for older adults to maintain muscle mass and the ability to recruit muscles while running as well as for general functional capacity.

Runners world has an easy to digest article here:

 https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20074772/strength-training-for-runners/?fbclid=IwAR0cKoiC9G3MDblQdNFJOUA3d0imXIrWBfJoJNN1vYdcZrN66Ps9OAl6JFM

Three ‘must do’ weekly exercises to improve your running

1. Single leg deadlifts - for Glutes/hamstrings/claves/back

2. Single leg squats (Bulgarian/Pistol) - Quads/core

3. Step Ups – Hip mobility and all of previous groups

Source: The Run Better Podcast (Ash Foster). Available on Apple Podcast and Spotify Podcast

One legged: improves balance and co-ordination, works the core, helps avoid developing an asymmetry and injury.

A good number of my running club attend a strength and conditioning session every week in Lydney at Fortitude. It’s an hour class and we all do the same exercises but choose our own level of weight/resistance. Josh the proprietor focuses the session on the needs of runners. As well as other exercises we do squats, deadlifts, core work…

 

 

Nutrition 1

 

I’ve always been interested in food. 😁

The adult human body re-generates (totally replaces every cell) roughly once every 7 years. The old you goes down the toilet (mostly).
Unlike plants that make their nutrition in leaves with air and sunlight, humans need to consume food to grow, repair and provide energy. I'm so glad.
We are literally made out of food…in fact, the food that we’ve eaten in the past 7 years. So, it seems to make sense to ensure the food we put in is the right stuff to make the body we want..  

There’s always a lot of talk about the energy side of food – carbos and fats.
In this post/blog I want to talk about the other major food group:

Protein

If you have a lack of it, you will lose muscle mass – this cuts strength, slows metabolism, can cause anemia, weakness and fatigue. Too little protein leads to lethargy; hair, nails and skin issues, increased risk of stress fractures, risk of infections, mood changes (dopamine, serotonin), loss of balance, slowness to heal, staying sick longer, sugar cravings, bigger appetite etc

What it does for us:

• It's essential for growth, repair and maintenance. Body replaces every cell in your body every 7 years. 
•  Causes biochemical reactions – digestion, energy production, blood clotting, muscle contraction 
•  Acts as messenger – hormones. Signals uptake of glucose into cell (energy)
• Signals breakdown of fat stored in liver, signals kidneys to reabsorb water, stimulates release of cortisol, stimulates growth of tissue and one 
• Provides structure - keratin (structural protein - skin hair nails), collagen (structural protein of bones, tendons, ligaments and skin), Elastin - allows tissues to be flexible - lungs, arteries, uterus... 
• Maintains proper ph - essential for correct hemoglobin balance that makes up red blood cells
• Balances fluids - albumen and globulin help maintain fluids by attracting and retaining water. Lack of can lead to edema and swelling
• Bolsters Immune Health - proteins help provide immunoglobulins or antibodies to fight infection
• Transports and stores nutrients - proteins carry substances throughout your bloodstream - into cells and out. Things like vitamins, minerals, blood sugar, oxygen...
  
• Provides Energy- It can provide the same energy as carbs but you don't want it to as it's essential for other roles. In a state of fasting (or insufficient protein) your body will break down skeletal muscle to provide energy - leads to weakness and fatigue.      
  

Protein will:

boost metabolism and aid fat burning.
reduce appetite, hunger and food cravings
lower blood pressure
help maintain weight loss
help repair after injury
help you stay fit as you age
be good for your bones

Runners/athletes need 1.2g per kg of body weight per day.

For me that’s about 90g. I need to eat 30g per meal. Not all of it in one meal as it’s not stored by the body (unlike carbs).
A typical cereal breakfast with milk gives you 10-15g of protein. Not enough.
Eggs give about 8g. Bacon slice about 5g. Wholemeal bread slice 4g. Or if you can’t eat that much go for a protein shake?

Then another 2 meals in the day each with 30g of protein.
There is no point fasting for the day and then eating a huge meal with 90g of protein in the evening. Your body needs it in small equal doses throughout the day.

As was said above, if you don’t eat enough protein then recovery will be less assured and so will be the benefit of your training. Why train hard and then reduce it's benefit by eating poorly? 

Some examples of good protein providers:

Fish, cheese and all kinds of meat are over 20% protein. Eat 100g of chicken say, and you'll get 20g of protein.
Eggs are roughly 15% protein. Oats 17%. Bread (wholewheat) 11%.
Nuts and beans have roughly 15-20% - peanuts, almonds are high in protein as are sunflower seeds, chickpeas, and kidney beans.
Fresh vegetables and fruit are low in proteins generally but provide other important nutrients.

Have a good look at the nutritional value on food packets to get more ideas. Some are well set out to tell you what a portion is giving you:

Peanuts

Bread

Running faster

Running 2021

On Wed 2nd June this year I ran the Hereford 5k in a time of 18:10. Although this is 40 secs slower than my PB at age 46 (I was late to competitive running) the time gave me 90.45% on the WMA age graded calculator. This is the highest I've ever achieved and was the first time over 90%.

Many have asked. How? What am I doing now to achieve this?

Like all answers to 'what is the meaning of life and everything', it's not as simple as just responding with a single reason, like '42' (you have be a certain age to understand the reference). 

So here are some reasons why I'm in a bit of a purple patch at the moment:

1/ Distractions. During lockdown with travel restrictions in place many of my usual activities took a back seat so running became a bit of a focus. There wasn't much else to do.

2/ Buddy. Cherry and I live within walking distance and did a fair amount of training together. Being similar speed really helped too - in speed training we are evenly matched. Like running with club mates generally, running with a buddy helps keep you motivated/interested.

So, rather than running just being one of many things to do, it became a focus, and having someone close at hand who is the same speed gives you added motivation and makes your training more specific to your needs.

3/ Other stuff: 

• Complementary activities in the week - mtb biking x3, hill walking, climbing, gym sessions x2, yoga ... all help with recovery, muscle recruitment, balance, core strength, mental health etc. I have had osteoarthritis in both hips since early 30's so have to keep weekly running mileage down (so no road maras for me). I have an arthritic big toe that limits off-road running distance and calf muscles that ping when running fast. The complementary activities have helped keep these issues under wraps for a while.
  
• I plan my running week and know my limits - for me one long run, one speed session and one tempo run is the plan. I try to vary the surface - long runs in the hils are ace. I know I can't even do a recovery run the day after a race. I'll break.
  
• Diet is a big influence on performing well physically. I do think a lot about what goes in... since our bodies are constantly being re-made (old cells are excreted and new ones created) it makes sense to make the new you out of good stuff. Beer and peanuts are my downfall.
  
• Rest and relaxation - sometimes I just do nothing, read, write, create, socialise, do mental challenges/problem solving ... it all helps to keep me sane. I strongly believe we all need challenge in our lives to help put things into persepctive. Some anxiety and some stress is important. Not too much obviously.
  
• Do it the hard way - why park close to the supermarket entrance. Park at the far end of the car park. Don't walk the direct route. Go up and down hill to get there. Don't sit. Stand. Holidays are are not 'down time'. They are adventure opportunties. 
  
• ebike. This is my secret weapon. I can bike everyday - even the same day as a hard race - I just turn up the power. It definitely aids recovery.
  
• Being retired - some have said when you retire you have more time to train. I actually run less than I did when I worked. But I do have more time to look after myself. I need to. I'm old!
  

 

Damp

Damp Prevention in your home

Damp patches 1 metre and above floor level 

Damp patches on the 1st floor ceilings are likely to be associated with leaks in the roof or leaks from water tanks/plumbing in the roof void. Most roofs leak at joins - either from one section of the roof to the other (valleys) or around chimneys. 

Damp occuring on walls in kitchens, bedrooms or bathrooms could be due to leaking guttering, leaking plumbing or damaged cavity trays on the top of windows...  but are more likely going to be caused by poor ventilation in your home. Everyday living in homes produces huge amounts of water vapour. If it can't escape it will condense on cooler surfaces and eventually look like water running down the walls. This ultimately leads to mould growth. 

If you currently dry your washing on radiators or an 'airer' then this will contributre to damp inside your home - the water that was once in your clothing becomes water vapour and unless it can escape outside will condense back into water on cool surfaces within your homes - walls/windows etc.

In years gone by adequate house ventilation was not properly understood. The developement of seals on windows and doors and draft excluders all remove accidental and passive ventilation. Modern building regulations ensure that houses built now will have ways to properly ventilate homes. Houses built before 2000 may have little or no provision for ventilation.

Bathrooms and kitchens should have a fan fitted to remove water vapour in the air. Cooking produces a lot of water vapour and a properly fitted cooker hood vented to outside will drastically reduce damp problems in your house. A fan in the bathroom (activated by the light switch) will remove steam/water vapour from bathing and showering and also help to reduce condensation.
If your home has both a cooker hood vented to outside, a bathroom fan, you do not dry clothing inside... and you still get damp/condensation problems, then it's going to be a good idea to fit futher ventilation systems. Opening windows isn't always going to solve the problem and in the winter will lead to much higher energy bills. A whole house MHRV (mechancial heat recovery ventilation) system will solve all condensation and upper wall/ceiling damp issues (not relatd to leaking roofs/plumbing). See previous blog post for more information on this.

Damp near the floor - risng Damp
If  you own a fairly modern house it is unlikely rising damp will be an issue. For quite some time, houses have been built with a DPC - damp proof course. Ths is a non-permeable barrier built into your walls roughly 150mm from the ground. Damp (water) will naturally permeate through stone/bricks from the ground up through walls to height of about one metre above the ground by capillary attraction. The DPC stops this flow and  keeps your walls dry - inside and out.
If you have an older property then rising damp can be a problem as the stones for the walls were often just laid directly on the ground, often with little or no foundations. Also, ground levels may have changed over the years and can end up be above the ground level inside your home.

If your walls are damp near the gound, you get mould growth or the surface gets pitted and flakes off then you will probably have rising damp problems. This will contribute to the water vapour in your house and this can lead to condenasation issues elsewhere and health problems for dwellers.

Remedies
There are many ways to rectify rising damp.
Some advocate injecting a damp proof barrier in the wall with silcone. Ths can work in some cases but it all depends on the construction of the wall. It may not work well for a traditional rubble filled stone wall as the injection process may not proof all areas of the wall, leaving a gap or bridge where the damp can travel past.
Many try to cover up damp walls using a waterproof plaster or cement based covering. In my experience this is rarely a permanent cure as the damp will just permeate to other places or eventually find a way through.
In my opinion, the best way to deal with rising damp in older properties is to fit a barrier preventing the damp from coming inside. The moisture is alloweed to travel into the wall naturally, but you just stop it from spoiling the inside. Basically, you 'tank' out your floors and walls with a plastic membrane to a height of 2m above ground level. It is though, a lengthy process and if you can't do it yourself will incur high labour costs. However, it is the belt and braces 'proper job'.

 

The black plastic on the walls here is Oldroyd and has the benefit of being very strong, easily folded and  having a ribbed surface to aid water transporation downwards.

This membrane can fit over existing plaster (or you can remove it if it is particularly damaged). Fitting the adjoining membrane on the floor will mostly entail breaking up and removing the floor - but this depends on both the headroom of the rooms in the house and the floor construction.
Since there may be condensation behind the membrane on the wals you need to provide a way for water to escape - this can be done in two ways: provide a way for water to pass directly into the ground via a layer of gravel; or create a drain system that collects any condensate and diverts it to outside. This drainage is of course all below the floor membrane so no moisture can make it's way into the room.

In this picture you can see the drainage pipes laid under the floor. These are at a gradient of greater than 1:50. The top of the pipers are perforated to allow the condensates to enter. They all join ip and exit the rooms through the wall below the ground level inside the house.

 

This photo shows the drain system built into the edge of the walls. Over these dranage channels and the concrete floor shown, goes the floor plastic membrane (DPM), insulation and the 75mm of screed (in this case with underfloor heating pipes within). For all this to be fitted the previous floor had to be dug up and excavated to a depth of 300mm.

There are various options to cover the wall membrane to produce the standard smooth plaster finish. Some membrane sytems allow you to plaster directly on them. Or you can add wood battens to the wall using the existing plugs used to hold the membrane to the wall (they are specially designed to allow screws to be fixed into them). 

You can see that in this photo, insulation was sandwiched between the battens and the membrane.This not only keeps the room warm but cuts down on any condesation produced between the wall and the membrane as the membrane will not become so warm. Plasterborad is nailed directly into the battens shown, and a finishing skim of plaster is applied.

MHRV

MHRV

Mechancial Heat Recovery Ventilation

I've installed a system in each of the last 4 houses I've owned.

The need for good ventilation provision in houses is one of those things that in the last 20 years is becoming better understood.
We've all seen pictures of mouldy walls and windows in bathrooms and probabl;y experienced condensation on windows and mouldt grouting in bathrooms and showers. Having too much water vapour in your home can damage furnishings, decoration and even the structure of the house.

With MHRV you'll never get mould issues, condensation on windows, lingering smells from cooking and in toilets. After a shower the cubicle will be dry within an hour and it'll be fine to dry your clothes on radiators within the house. Fresher air with normal levels of moisture in your home will bring noticeable health benefits.

An open window or trickle vents integrated into new windows do give some passive ventilation but in the winter heat will escape and you'll get cold drafts and good air circulation/replacement is not guaranteed.

Why ventilate?
Apart from having fresh healthy air in your house to breath, a noticeable lck of smells from cooking (and from the loo) the main benefit is the removal of water vapour. 

During the day the average person produces 3 litres of fluid in the form of water vapour from breathing and sweating. Add to this all the water that escapes into the air during cooking, washing up, showering (and the drying of the cubicle after) and drying clothes and you have a huge amout of water in the air in your house. If this water doesn't get out of your home it will be find it's way into your furnishings, wallls, roof space etc. and will condense on cooler surfaces. This can lead to mould growth and very unhealty living conditions. 

MHRV basically constantly replaces the air in your house with fresh air from outside. The air is replaced roughly once per hour.

Each room has a vent in the ceiling/wall. In the rooms with the greatest amount of water vapour - bathroom, kitchen - the air is sucked out. Then normally drier rooms like bedrooms, living room have air pumped in. Therefore there is a flow of air from those drier rooms into the wetter rooms. The flow of air is very gradual and you are never aware of drafts. Clearly if a room door is very tight and there is no gap underneath, this will inhibit the circulation of air within your house. Sometimes installers will put vents at the bottom of some doors if they are going to stay shut for a long time.

You may be thinking that surely if you suck out the warm moist air out of the wetter rooms and send it outside then surely the heat is lost and you're going to get cold air coming in to replace it.
No. The air that is sucked out of wetter rooms travels in ducting that all eventually join up and lead to the MHRV unit. Inside here, the warm wet air passes into a heat exchanger where at least 85% of the heat is passed onto the cold air coming in from outside. The two air steams do not mix as they are kept apart by the thin walls of the exchanger - only the heat passes from one to the other.
Yes some heat is lost, but this is far less than having windows partially open or other forms of passive ventilation like trickle vents. 

One of the myths about with ducted heating and ventilation is that it can lead to mould growth inside the ducting which could harbour germs and heath risks like legionella. The ducting never gets damp as it's insulated and the flow of air within ensures no condensation occurs. 

Fitting and costs.
The cost of fitting a system will be easily recovered in the coming years by reducing your heating costs, redecoration bills and avoiding potentially costly structural repairs to your property. Plus, it is likely your health will improve.
If you have a standard house with a ground floor and a 1st floor then the MHRV unit may be best positioned in the loft (roof space). Getting the ducting to 1st floor rooms is easy at it will simply  snake it's way within the roof void to each room. Routing the ducting to ground floor rooms will be more tricky and may require some light building work - boxing in the ducting as it travels through 1st floor rooms on it's way to the ceilings in the ground floor. One way of disguising the 'boxing in' is to simply extend a chimney breast by 250mm with some battening and plasterboaad - this way no one will be aware of any change. Other than that it might be possible to run the ducting down the corner of a room next to the doorway or wthin a built in wardrobe.

If your system is properly fitted few people will even know it's there. The small circular vents in the ceilings in each room are the only visible signs. 

The MHRV unit will produce water as the warm air removed from rooms can be saurated in water vapour. This may condense within the hear exhanger. It's all perfectly normal and every system has a way of collecting this and draining it out. Therefore you need to ensure your MHRV unit is placed in a convenient location for these condesates to be drained to the house drainage system - the bath/basin/shower waste for example in the bathroom.

Cooker hood: some advocate integrating the extractor from your cooker hood into the MHRV system. This can indeed be done as the heat from cooking can be utilised to heat up the incoming air. However, it is very important to have very good filters in the cooking hood (which are regularly cleaned or replaced) as you do not want vaporised oils and fat entering the ventialtion system as it will deposit on the ducting walls and the heat exchanger unit resulting in poor performance and eventually failure of the unit. 

Kitchen

Why get new kitchen cupboards when you can just paint your old ones. The paint is very robust and is similar to 'hammerite' in application. No brush strokes can be seen.

Solar PV

The case for PV solar panels on your home:

PV solar panels produce electricity which you can either use yourself or export to the national grid.

In 2011 you could get 40p for every Kwh you produced from solar panels fitted to your home.
In 2018 it's 4p for every Kwh you produce and a further 5p for every Kwh you export to the grid.
These payments are referred to as FIT (Feed In Tariffs).

At first glance you'd think it's hardly worth getting them fitted nowadays.
However:

• PV solar panels have come down in price hugely
• If you can use a lot of the electricity you generate then your bills will be reduced significantly
• If you have a small pot of money languishing in a building society somewhere that you are using to generate a small income from (interest) then the investment is better off on your roof
• PV solar panels (that you own) can increase the value of your property

 Our example:

We had 10 x 0.295 kwh panels fitted. So, on a sunny day they can produce 2.95 kwh.
It's estimated that in a year we would produce 2579 kwh.

2579 X 4p =  £103
It is deemed that we would export 50% of this to the grid and use 50% ourselves.
The equipment installed can't actually measure what is being used or exported, the FIT is based on the the assumption that we would export 50%, and the FIT payment to us is based on this.
So 1/2 of 2579 X 5p = £65.

A total income through FIT of £168 per year. Not a huge amount - but the key point is:
Any of the electricity we use, of that we are producing during the day, is free to us. So the electricity used to do the washing, or heating water etc etc during the day when we are producing electricity from our panels costs us nothing.
It is assumed we would make a saving of £144 in the year.
I personally think it will be much higher, as we are totally electric - water heating, space heating etc is all using electricity. I think the figure will turn out to be nearer £160+

The system cost £6050 to fit.
In a year the panels create £144 + £168 = £312.
If I keep the £6050 in the building society I'm lucky if I can get 2% on the investment.
By investing the money in solar PV I'm effectively getting a minimum of 5.1% .

It is as they say a 'no brainer'.
Additionally, the panels will increase the value of the house.
It also feels quite nice to be producing and using electricity that is less polluting in the long run.

Further details:

• Our system was fitted  by EON. The cost stated above includes everything - fitting of panels, erecting scaffolding, providing all monitoring equipment etc
• We chose an expensive system with higher output panels and a long life inverter. You can get a similar but cheaper system for around £4300. 
• The system we bought is particularly good if a shadow falls on any of the panels - in simple systems if you get a shadow on one panel the whole array will not produce any electricity. We have a cheeky telegraph pole that casts a shadow on the roof for part of the day.
• Our inverter is said to have a life of 20 years - cheaper ones only 5 years
•  Using the electricity you produce is the key to getting maximum value from the panels - could you heat a hot tub, charge your electric car?
• The system we have - Solar Edge - comes with a smart phone 'app' that tells you how much electricity you are producing, how much of it you are using and also shows your total electricity consumption - all in a nice little graph. It shows all this for each day, or week, or month or the year. Great for 'technogeeks' like me. In the screen shot below you can see that as it was a cloudy day we were only producing 300w and using 3.14 kw from the grid.

• Very soon it will be worthwhile getting batteries to go with a PV array. This will mean being able to store electricity produced during the day and then using it to run appliances at night time or when there is no light. Lithium Titanite is on the way. These are very safe (unlike lithium ion), can charge very quickly and have a cycle life of 3000-5000 times. When the prices come down, battery storage for PV will be viable. 

The next renovation project is underway

3 bedroom property in Lydney. Two minute level walk to Tesco and the sports centre. Next to the park. Walking distance to train station.

Needs complete modernization.
Currently has very small downstairs bathroom - will become cloakroom
Needs rewiring. New Kitchen and convert upstairs bedroom to bathroom. Extension. New ceilings. Completely re-plastered. All new doors, skirting etc. Roof not bad, floors OK. Windows fine. New front and rear doors. New combi-boiler and pipework to radiators. New water connection (as old is lead into property).
3 years we reckon.

We took two weeks removing many layers of wall paper, removing mouldy carpets and rotten skirting/architrave. 

Stripping out old water tank (gravity fed from header tank in small bedroom).

Joc removing wooden coving and strange wooden strips that criss-cross ceilings.

It took 3 years in the end. It provided hours of entertainment (ha), took a huge bite out of savings... but ended up pretty tidy:

All new kitchen

Dining area other side of kitchen

Lounge

Hallway with new doorway to downstairs cloakroom

Cloakroom

Master bedroom

2nd bedroom

Upstairs bathroom

New van conversion complete

The van was finished early in 2016.
We spent heaps on it... but if you're going to use it it's worth it!

It's been to the Lakes, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Beacons, Alps etc etc.
It certainly is a more economical version than the old T5. One trip up the Lakes at 70mph on the motorway saw it average 43 mpg. But it's not as 'pokey' as the 5 cylinder engine in the old one. The 'bluemotion' mapping means it's harder to accelerate from a stop, but the 140bhp gets it up the hills well. Being newer, its much smoother and quieter generally.
Cruise control and air con is essential on those long journeys.



In this version we have a back cooker and sink accessible from under the rear tailgate.

We have the same 2x single bed configuration with front seats on a turntable.

Table goes up on drivers side

SCA pop-top gives good headroom when parked up...

And a double bed upstairs

And we decided on a compressor fridge that runs off the leisure battery.

Love it. Why doesn't everyone have one?