Sunday 27th July – the hottest day of the year and the Westgates were on the Exmoor coastal path. One running and one supporting/heckling. I was the one running and Richard was there with his boys. But first I had to get there. This was a bit daunting having never driven myself to a race before, but arrived, parked, met Lin and Martin and various other runners, got the coach and set of for Countisbury with no problems. It was already hot before we set off, and the shade in the woods was very welcome. However all sorts of nasty things lurk in the woods, and before I’d done 5 miles I’d been attacked by the wasp. Unfortunately it was a narrow bit of the path with a precipice to the left and cliff face to the right, so had to struggle on to a wider bit before I could stop and dispose of it (humanely of course!!!). The next water station had nothing to offer except water and sympathy, but for some strange reason it didn’t get any worse, and took my mind off various other pains in my legs, stomach etc. Reached Porlock Weir but didn’t stop, across the pebbles and marshes to the next water station, and on to the infamous hill. Had some company on the way up and while we stopped “to admire the view”!!! a voice came booming down from the top of the hill. Richard was there taking photos and offering encouragement. (Some will appear on the gallery soon I hope). The next bit along the top of the cliff was even hotter, no sea breezes and no shade. Was really glad to reach the sign to start the descent towards Minehead, and followed the correct route this year thanks to the excellent signposting. Richard appeared again shortly before the finish, but with his expertise with the camera he only got some footage of his leg and the sky – but it’s the thought that counts. Did an excellent sprint finish (OK a fast hobble) due to a hallucination of a runner in a green T shirt behind me. Really enjoyed the free food and drinks afterwards, and had a surprise invitation to a barbecue in the evening.
Update on the wasp sting – it’s now large, red, painful and has melted the first ice-pack.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Quantock Beast
Lesley running her way to the top of the Club Championship table!
Last Sunday the Westgates were at Fyne Court for the Quantock Beast, but only one of them was running! Richard had pulled out with a hamstring injury sustained at Forde Abbey, which proved to be a race too far after the Discovery and the Welsh Castles weekend. The previous day’s weather had been torrential rain all day so I was expecting a plentiful supply of mud. However it wasn’t too bad, as the excess water had made it sloppy rather than sticky. Set off at the usual conversation pace until I realised that several people who are usually slower than me were actually up ahead, so had to leg it across the fields. The hills were as steep as I remembered them, but I managed to run the long uphill section in the middle where there is usually some tree clearing going on (info for those who know the course). There was a brief shower, but not enough to make me put my coat on, and before too long I reached the road and the 5-mile marker, which meant the finish wasn’t far away. An enjoyable gallop down the hill, overtaking a few more runners including a lady in a grey T shirt (behind me in the photo). She did her best to get past me again on the final sprint, but I really hate that happening and threw myself at the finish line and held her off. Lucky I was familiar with the course. In case all this sounds like I am a real runner, my tortoise like plod got me around in about 55 minutes. Forgot to stop the watch so can’t give a more accurate time, but possibly a minute quicker than last year, so a PB for the course.
Last Sunday the Westgates were at Fyne Court for the Quantock Beast, but only one of them was running! Richard had pulled out with a hamstring injury sustained at Forde Abbey, which proved to be a race too far after the Discovery and the Welsh Castles weekend. The previous day’s weather had been torrential rain all day so I was expecting a plentiful supply of mud. However it wasn’t too bad, as the excess water had made it sloppy rather than sticky. Set off at the usual conversation pace until I realised that several people who are usually slower than me were actually up ahead, so had to leg it across the fields. The hills were as steep as I remembered them, but I managed to run the long uphill section in the middle where there is usually some tree clearing going on (info for those who know the course). There was a brief shower, but not enough to make me put my coat on, and before too long I reached the road and the 5-mile marker, which meant the finish wasn’t far away. An enjoyable gallop down the hill, overtaking a few more runners including a lady in a grey T shirt (behind me in the photo). She did her best to get past me again on the final sprint, but I really hate that happening and threw myself at the finish line and held her off. Lucky I was familiar with the course. In case all this sounds like I am a real runner, my tortoise like plod got me around in about 55 minutes. Forgot to stop the watch so can’t give a more accurate time, but possibly a minute quicker than last year, so a PB for the course.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Dartmoor Discovery Ultra Marathon
Saturday saw the Westgates and the Lascelles duo at Princeton for the 10th anniversary Dartmoor Discovery 32 mile Ultra. A stroll in the park for Lin and Martin but a step into the abyss for us ultra virgins. Training included a week’s holiday to build up strength by laying and pointing a huge area of paving. Unfortunately this backfired as we both got dehydrated and backache.
Having checked the weather forecast Richard and I were among the few runners who wore coats over our vests; Richard also wore gloves and kept his coat on for the whole race. We started off slowly at the back and I thought conversation pace meant talking to everyone I knew, plus a few who I didn’t. Richard lagged behind for a while, then drew level, but the talking proved too much for him and he moved ahead. I spent the rest of the first 10K getting bored with the sight of his yellow coat an irritating distance ahead, before he pushed on out of sight. I prayed that he would be tempted to try and “race” the next 26 miles, fall apart as he nearly always does on a long run resulting in me beating him!
The second 10K was probably the most enjoyable, good scenery, lots of downhills, sunshine and feeling good. Nothing much to say about the route through Ashburton, which led to a long hard climb back to the moor. The weather now changed: thunder, hail and continuous rain. I wished I had brought my Everest Base Camp handwarmers, which I had optimistically thrown out that morning. Richard said he couldn’t feel his fingers towards the end and a marshal offered to pour out his special drink at the 29-mile refreshment station.
Make no mistake, this is a testing route but it does have some excellent viewpoints, streams, stone bridges, wooded hillsides, chocolate-box thatched cottages, sheep and ponies with foals. Shame about the cloud and rain, apparently it was 25degrees C in Milverton.
Organisation was excellent; friendly marshals and drink-station people. Split times were called at various points and our own special drinks were transported to any of the 10 stations. I had ginger beer towards the end and it made a refreshing change. At the finish there were free teas, coffees, bananas, sandwiches, biscuits etc. The moment runners crossed the line a blanket was wrapped around them, a real benefit on a cold, wet day. Unfortunately Richard didn’t blow up and finished in 5:33:22, but I wasn’t far behind at 5:46:42 (unofficial times) which probably beat him on an age-graded basis! (And I ran the last 10K about one minute faster than him!!!).
Lin and martin had a slightly slower run than last year with Lin persevering with some pain in her knee but still putting in a strong last 10K. Apparently her time will mean that Lin won’t get the No 1 race number next year!
Additional words from Richard:
My race plan was to run with Lesley and hopefully finish in just under 6 hours. Soon after the start I realised I didn’t want to run with Lesley – she talks too much! But I did set off slow and comfortable and it felt good in the sun. reached 10K at 58ish, 20K in 1:56ish, marathon in 4:25ish so the times were well on schedule for under 6 hours. The cold, hail and rain proved a bit of a challenge. A lady runner thought ‘cos I was well dressed that I was an experienced ultra-runner – no, just an old git who feels the cold! Last three miles were a real mental battle – took about 34 minutes running completely on my own but there were occasional supporters who really cheered me on. The blanket at the finish was so welcome and I must admit as I did some stretches on a stone wall there were a few emotional tears, relief at finishing, relief at staying ahead of Lesley, relief at not feeling sick and bad and having to lay on the ground in a recovery position! Phil England drank flat coke on his Ironman marathon section and this also worked for me on my two special drinks.
Good to see many familiar faces, a huge contingent from Teignbridge Trotters, Jonathon Day from AVR, Alan Littlejohns, and Kevin Day of Goyt Valley Striders, the organiser of the Shady Oak 10K which we ran as a warm up for the White Peak last year. Also met a geezer who has done all ten Discoveries, and he lives in Essex!
Respect to Lin who ran on through knee pain, must take an extra stubbornness to keep going in pain, especially knowing that on a better day you could be 30 – 40 minutes quicker. Respect to Martin for staying with her when he could obviously have pushed on. Naturally in similar position I would have stayed with Lesley!
PS from Lesley. Was this the hardest thing I have ever done? It certainly wins for sheer effort, but the final day’s walk to Everest Base Camp is just ahead as I was more exhausted afterwards. The effort of trying to get there while suffering from altitude sickness definitely took more out of me.
Having checked the weather forecast Richard and I were among the few runners who wore coats over our vests; Richard also wore gloves and kept his coat on for the whole race. We started off slowly at the back and I thought conversation pace meant talking to everyone I knew, plus a few who I didn’t. Richard lagged behind for a while, then drew level, but the talking proved too much for him and he moved ahead. I spent the rest of the first 10K getting bored with the sight of his yellow coat an irritating distance ahead, before he pushed on out of sight. I prayed that he would be tempted to try and “race” the next 26 miles, fall apart as he nearly always does on a long run resulting in me beating him!
The second 10K was probably the most enjoyable, good scenery, lots of downhills, sunshine and feeling good. Nothing much to say about the route through Ashburton, which led to a long hard climb back to the moor. The weather now changed: thunder, hail and continuous rain. I wished I had brought my Everest Base Camp handwarmers, which I had optimistically thrown out that morning. Richard said he couldn’t feel his fingers towards the end and a marshal offered to pour out his special drink at the 29-mile refreshment station.
Make no mistake, this is a testing route but it does have some excellent viewpoints, streams, stone bridges, wooded hillsides, chocolate-box thatched cottages, sheep and ponies with foals. Shame about the cloud and rain, apparently it was 25degrees C in Milverton.
Organisation was excellent; friendly marshals and drink-station people. Split times were called at various points and our own special drinks were transported to any of the 10 stations. I had ginger beer towards the end and it made a refreshing change. At the finish there were free teas, coffees, bananas, sandwiches, biscuits etc. The moment runners crossed the line a blanket was wrapped around them, a real benefit on a cold, wet day. Unfortunately Richard didn’t blow up and finished in 5:33:22, but I wasn’t far behind at 5:46:42 (unofficial times) which probably beat him on an age-graded basis! (And I ran the last 10K about one minute faster than him!!!).
Lin and martin had a slightly slower run than last year with Lin persevering with some pain in her knee but still putting in a strong last 10K. Apparently her time will mean that Lin won’t get the No 1 race number next year!
Additional words from Richard:
My race plan was to run with Lesley and hopefully finish in just under 6 hours. Soon after the start I realised I didn’t want to run with Lesley – she talks too much! But I did set off slow and comfortable and it felt good in the sun. reached 10K at 58ish, 20K in 1:56ish, marathon in 4:25ish so the times were well on schedule for under 6 hours. The cold, hail and rain proved a bit of a challenge. A lady runner thought ‘cos I was well dressed that I was an experienced ultra-runner – no, just an old git who feels the cold! Last three miles were a real mental battle – took about 34 minutes running completely on my own but there were occasional supporters who really cheered me on. The blanket at the finish was so welcome and I must admit as I did some stretches on a stone wall there were a few emotional tears, relief at finishing, relief at staying ahead of Lesley, relief at not feeling sick and bad and having to lay on the ground in a recovery position! Phil England drank flat coke on his Ironman marathon section and this also worked for me on my two special drinks.
Good to see many familiar faces, a huge contingent from Teignbridge Trotters, Jonathon Day from AVR, Alan Littlejohns, and Kevin Day of Goyt Valley Striders, the organiser of the Shady Oak 10K which we ran as a warm up for the White Peak last year. Also met a geezer who has done all ten Discoveries, and he lives in Essex!
Respect to Lin who ran on through knee pain, must take an extra stubbornness to keep going in pain, especially knowing that on a better day you could be 30 – 40 minutes quicker. Respect to Martin for staying with her when he could obviously have pushed on. Naturally in similar position I would have stayed with Lesley!
PS from Lesley. Was this the hardest thing I have ever done? It certainly wins for sheer effort, but the final day’s walk to Everest Base Camp is just ahead as I was more exhausted afterwards. The effort of trying to get there while suffering from altitude sickness definitely took more out of me.
--------------------------------------------
Postscript from Martin:
I took some pictures early in the race before the rain. Unfortunately the camera phone soon became waterlogged and I was unable to get any pictures of Lesley and Richard after the race ( or for 2 days afterwards until it dried out).
Lin running down the hill towards Ashburton, not much sun left.
Rain threatening Just before half way.
Its really raining now.
The highest, and the wettest point - so far - hope the lightning doesn't hit us!
Meanwhile, back in Dorset, in fact everywhere else but Dartmoor!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Johnny Kipps - 2008
11th May, as suffered by your correspondent Dave C.
A gloriously sunny and hot day resulted in what could almost be described as a mass turn out for the annual running of this event. The thirteen runners comprised of a section of seasoned MNR stalwarts (always ready to stall and one at least quite warty), a couple of unwitting first timers (no doubt lured by some dubious promise of glory or such like) and a small contingent of renowned Yeovil runners who bravely joined in, probably being too embarrassed to admit they’d got lost looking for a ‘real’ event when they inadvertently stumbled across our little gathering.
The warm and clement conditions had clearly influenced the choice of racing apparel, with shorts and vests seemingly being the order of the day. As the only foolhardy individual to be wearing tracksters, I tried to explain my foolishness as being down to the habit of avoiding the effects of chance encounters with nettles and brambles, admittedly not normally a problem on Dorset’s roads, but it was better than confessing a current lack of shorts that were either sufficiently clean (ie would stay still long enough to be captured) or that would actually fit.
This lack of preparation should of course be taken in context with a cut back in pre-race training due to a selection of injuries, together with an over indulgence of fermented red grape juice the night before, unsurprisingly resulting in a distinct lack of sleep.
Due to the inexplicable absence of our traditional noble starter, Dave Webb (last year’s controversial winner) adopted a lordly demeanour and officiated at the start.
Keen not to disappoint club colleagues with the fun of a chase, I set off at my usual unsustainably enthusiastic pace, hoping to provide my more practised and sensible colleagues with the traditional fox and hounds experience, at least up to the first serious climb, where I expected to watch a good few of them toddle on by.
As I sweated my way up to the top of the long climb, getting slower and slower I started to conjecture where the chasing pack had gone – were they lost, had they been abducted by aliens or was I hallucinating due to the heat? Whatever the reasons, I was oh so grateful to see the welcome oasis of the water station being (wo)manned by the ever understanding wife of our illustrious Chairman.
Having taken on board a gulp or two of water, heartened and refreshed, I set off again with a little more vigour up the final gentle climb, to the high point and halfway point of the circuit. Reaching this whilst still in front was a rare and most unexpected hallelujah moment.
I didn’t look back to see who must surely have been closing in on me, but knowing it was all downhill from here, I was content that I could now at least put on a bit of a show when a challenger came past. Indeed such a show was needed when I spotted Dave Webb, now spectating from the roadside and brandishing the unique and coveted winner’s trophy for this event.
The final two mile run in then became a tooth grinding epic as the tantalising thought, that I might actually have half a chance of a win, started to dance around in my head (probably an effect of the heat more than the logic of seeing Dave W, one of our top runners, spectating rather than chasing).
I was hugely relieved when I reached the last hurdle of the steep drop down into Wynford Eagle. Still expecting to be caught, I zigzagged my way down this fearsome incline (even the temptation of a win couldn’t override the trepidation of this decent) to the finishing straight, where I managed a last little sprint for the benefit of the waiting throng.
At this point I feel I should unselfishly say a few words about the prowess of my fellow competitors as they gallantly crossed the finishing line, but in honesty I was too shagged to be paying much attention, being more concerned that my earlier breakfast stayed where it was supposed to and didn’t make an encore appearance.
It was great to actually win my first ever running trophy and for it to be for the Johnnie Kipps ……………….. - words fail me here, I’m overcome with emotion. Nonetheless, a final thank you must be said to Dave W, for ensuring that a good selection of biscuits was in the tin and for not doing the run this year!
And here are some pictures:
The Wynford Eagle hovers over Andy's head at the home of the "Johnny Kipps"
The Massed start, well into double figures this year.
The coveted biscuit tin is presented to this year's winner by last year's.
The Martins cool down in the stream that marks the start and finish.
The Biscuit Tasting.
A gloriously sunny and hot day resulted in what could almost be described as a mass turn out for the annual running of this event. The thirteen runners comprised of a section of seasoned MNR stalwarts (always ready to stall and one at least quite warty), a couple of unwitting first timers (no doubt lured by some dubious promise of glory or such like) and a small contingent of renowned Yeovil runners who bravely joined in, probably being too embarrassed to admit they’d got lost looking for a ‘real’ event when they inadvertently stumbled across our little gathering.
The warm and clement conditions had clearly influenced the choice of racing apparel, with shorts and vests seemingly being the order of the day. As the only foolhardy individual to be wearing tracksters, I tried to explain my foolishness as being down to the habit of avoiding the effects of chance encounters with nettles and brambles, admittedly not normally a problem on Dorset’s roads, but it was better than confessing a current lack of shorts that were either sufficiently clean (ie would stay still long enough to be captured) or that would actually fit.
This lack of preparation should of course be taken in context with a cut back in pre-race training due to a selection of injuries, together with an over indulgence of fermented red grape juice the night before, unsurprisingly resulting in a distinct lack of sleep.
Due to the inexplicable absence of our traditional noble starter, Dave Webb (last year’s controversial winner) adopted a lordly demeanour and officiated at the start.
Keen not to disappoint club colleagues with the fun of a chase, I set off at my usual unsustainably enthusiastic pace, hoping to provide my more practised and sensible colleagues with the traditional fox and hounds experience, at least up to the first serious climb, where I expected to watch a good few of them toddle on by.
As I sweated my way up to the top of the long climb, getting slower and slower I started to conjecture where the chasing pack had gone – were they lost, had they been abducted by aliens or was I hallucinating due to the heat? Whatever the reasons, I was oh so grateful to see the welcome oasis of the water station being (wo)manned by the ever understanding wife of our illustrious Chairman.
Having taken on board a gulp or two of water, heartened and refreshed, I set off again with a little more vigour up the final gentle climb, to the high point and halfway point of the circuit. Reaching this whilst still in front was a rare and most unexpected hallelujah moment.
I didn’t look back to see who must surely have been closing in on me, but knowing it was all downhill from here, I was content that I could now at least put on a bit of a show when a challenger came past. Indeed such a show was needed when I spotted Dave Webb, now spectating from the roadside and brandishing the unique and coveted winner’s trophy for this event.
The final two mile run in then became a tooth grinding epic as the tantalising thought, that I might actually have half a chance of a win, started to dance around in my head (probably an effect of the heat more than the logic of seeing Dave W, one of our top runners, spectating rather than chasing).
I was hugely relieved when I reached the last hurdle of the steep drop down into Wynford Eagle. Still expecting to be caught, I zigzagged my way down this fearsome incline (even the temptation of a win couldn’t override the trepidation of this decent) to the finishing straight, where I managed a last little sprint for the benefit of the waiting throng.
At this point I feel I should unselfishly say a few words about the prowess of my fellow competitors as they gallantly crossed the finishing line, but in honesty I was too shagged to be paying much attention, being more concerned that my earlier breakfast stayed where it was supposed to and didn’t make an encore appearance.
It was great to actually win my first ever running trophy and for it to be for the Johnnie Kipps ……………….. - words fail me here, I’m overcome with emotion. Nonetheless, a final thank you must be said to Dave W, for ensuring that a good selection of biscuits was in the tin and for not doing the run this year!
And here are some pictures:
The Wynford Eagle hovers over Andy's head at the home of the "Johnny Kipps"
The Massed start, well into double figures this year.
The coveted biscuit tin is presented to this year's winner by last year's.
The Martins cool down in the stream that marks the start and finish.
The Biscuit Tasting.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Big Sur Marathon: the most scenic road marathon in the world
April 27th 2008 - our mission - to check out if the above claim was really true.
The Big Sur is a point to point marathon along the coast from Big Sur to Monterey about 100 miles south of San Francisco. As the road was closed for the duration of the race most competitors had to get the bus from Monterey at a ridiculously early hour. We had the foresight to book into a camp ground amongst the giant redwoods just 1km from the start - for which we were rewarded with a lie-in until 4.30am.
Despite this being the 23rd running of the event the organisers made a bit of a foul up at the start which found the road jammed with the slower runners and nowhere for the front runners to go. Eventually with a minute to go till the 6.45am start they announced that everyone should stay where they were and the rest of the runners would be “fed in” - after the 6 hour plus competitors had plodded past!! Our immediate reaction was “No way!” so we dived through the barriers, raced across the front of the start line and dived in from the side. A few lucky souls were quick enough to follow suit but then the marshals sprang into action and no-one else made it. Their problem, not ours - we were on the start line and ready to go.
And so finally, after months of planning and looking forward to the Big Sur, we were underway. The first few miles were slightly downhill or flat, winding through the redwoods, but we resisted the temptation to storm off and took it steadily. Martin was still suffering the end of a cold, which had left him with a nasty cough, and didn’t want to push too hard too soon. That suited me fine, neither of us was in top shape and we were happy to take it easy. Enjoying the route was more important than a decent time for us today.
After about 5 miles the sea came into view on our left and the first of many undulations began. At the same time we were treated to the first section where we were heading into a strong head wind. The first climb, although not steep was hard work but the views made up for it. The Big Sur marathon has an excellent website with a virtual tour - words simply cannot describe the splendour of this section of coastline - it’s well worth a look.
I was finding the race quite tough from fairly early on - an upset stomach was making life uncomfortable and I could feel a repeat of Venice coming on. I wanted to enjoy this race and not struggle for over half the way! However at about 8 miles we began picking off other female runners who had clearly gone off too fast and that improved my mood which in turn made my legs feel lighter!
There is one long hard climb up to the well-named Hurricane Point which begins at about 9 miles and reaches the summit at around 12. We reached the top and were rewarded with more fine views and a long swoop down to a picturesque bridge. On the other side I had to give in to the call of nature and pay a brief visit to a handy Portaloo - timed by Martin at 45 seconds - but well worth the wasted seconds. I felt soooo much better afterwards!
There were several bands and groups along the way and as the event also incorporated a 21 mile and 10 mile walk we were passing people all the time and the atmosphere was good. The whole route was undulating but the worst hills were during the first half, although as the miles ticked by I could feel myself slowing on even the lesser inclines.
The last few miles were tough but nothing compared with the hell that was Venice. We may not have done enough specific marathon pace training and doing a 50 mile training run just 4 weeks beforehand may not have been the wisest idea, but at least we were reasonably fit and could dig in when the legs would really rather call it a day. At every mile marker marshals were calling out not only the time but the average pace per mile and the estimated finish time which was really helpful. In the latter stages of the race our estimated finish time was 3.24 - 3.25 and that didn’t change.
We crested the final rise, with half a mile to go and a nice downhill sweep to the finish, we managed to inject some speed into our pace. Martin suggested sprinting for the finish line, I asked him politely what the hell he thought we were doing if not already sprinting? But then I noticed another woman about 20 yards ahead of us and we really went for it and swept past her in fine style (I was later extremely annoyed to find that she beat me on chip time anyway!!).
It was a great race, and I know we would both agree with the extravagant claims made by the organisers. We finished in 3.25.24/25 - 10 - 15 minutes slower than we were expecting, but the “undulations” had also proved tougher than expected. It was a good enough time to give me 2nd in the 40 - 44 age group and 12th overall. And in a field of well over 3000, we finished 126 and 128 respectively.
Straight after the finish we were herded through a tent packed with a huge variety of food - which would have been nice half an hour or so later but was way too soon for us - not often we pass up free food! Even more remarkable was that there was also free beer….but the queue for it was so long even Martin wasn’t tempted to wait for it!! Might have been an incentive to run a bit faster if only we had known!
The Big Sur is a point to point marathon along the coast from Big Sur to Monterey about 100 miles south of San Francisco. As the road was closed for the duration of the race most competitors had to get the bus from Monterey at a ridiculously early hour. We had the foresight to book into a camp ground amongst the giant redwoods just 1km from the start - for which we were rewarded with a lie-in until 4.30am.
Despite this being the 23rd running of the event the organisers made a bit of a foul up at the start which found the road jammed with the slower runners and nowhere for the front runners to go. Eventually with a minute to go till the 6.45am start they announced that everyone should stay where they were and the rest of the runners would be “fed in” - after the 6 hour plus competitors had plodded past!! Our immediate reaction was “No way!” so we dived through the barriers, raced across the front of the start line and dived in from the side. A few lucky souls were quick enough to follow suit but then the marshals sprang into action and no-one else made it. Their problem, not ours - we were on the start line and ready to go.
And so finally, after months of planning and looking forward to the Big Sur, we were underway. The first few miles were slightly downhill or flat, winding through the redwoods, but we resisted the temptation to storm off and took it steadily. Martin was still suffering the end of a cold, which had left him with a nasty cough, and didn’t want to push too hard too soon. That suited me fine, neither of us was in top shape and we were happy to take it easy. Enjoying the route was more important than a decent time for us today.
After about 5 miles the sea came into view on our left and the first of many undulations began. At the same time we were treated to the first section where we were heading into a strong head wind. The first climb, although not steep was hard work but the views made up for it. The Big Sur marathon has an excellent website with a virtual tour - words simply cannot describe the splendour of this section of coastline - it’s well worth a look.
I was finding the race quite tough from fairly early on - an upset stomach was making life uncomfortable and I could feel a repeat of Venice coming on. I wanted to enjoy this race and not struggle for over half the way! However at about 8 miles we began picking off other female runners who had clearly gone off too fast and that improved my mood which in turn made my legs feel lighter!
There is one long hard climb up to the well-named Hurricane Point which begins at about 9 miles and reaches the summit at around 12. We reached the top and were rewarded with more fine views and a long swoop down to a picturesque bridge. On the other side I had to give in to the call of nature and pay a brief visit to a handy Portaloo - timed by Martin at 45 seconds - but well worth the wasted seconds. I felt soooo much better afterwards!
There were several bands and groups along the way and as the event also incorporated a 21 mile and 10 mile walk we were passing people all the time and the atmosphere was good. The whole route was undulating but the worst hills were during the first half, although as the miles ticked by I could feel myself slowing on even the lesser inclines.
The last few miles were tough but nothing compared with the hell that was Venice. We may not have done enough specific marathon pace training and doing a 50 mile training run just 4 weeks beforehand may not have been the wisest idea, but at least we were reasonably fit and could dig in when the legs would really rather call it a day. At every mile marker marshals were calling out not only the time but the average pace per mile and the estimated finish time which was really helpful. In the latter stages of the race our estimated finish time was 3.24 - 3.25 and that didn’t change.
We crested the final rise, with half a mile to go and a nice downhill sweep to the finish, we managed to inject some speed into our pace. Martin suggested sprinting for the finish line, I asked him politely what the hell he thought we were doing if not already sprinting? But then I noticed another woman about 20 yards ahead of us and we really went for it and swept past her in fine style (I was later extremely annoyed to find that she beat me on chip time anyway!!).
It was a great race, and I know we would both agree with the extravagant claims made by the organisers. We finished in 3.25.24/25 - 10 - 15 minutes slower than we were expecting, but the “undulations” had also proved tougher than expected. It was a good enough time to give me 2nd in the 40 - 44 age group and 12th overall. And in a field of well over 3000, we finished 126 and 128 respectively.
Straight after the finish we were herded through a tent packed with a huge variety of food - which would have been nice half an hour or so later but was way too soon for us - not often we pass up free food! Even more remarkable was that there was also free beer….but the queue for it was so long even Martin wasn’t tempted to wait for it!! Might have been an incentive to run a bit faster if only we had known!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Taunton Marathon
Richard’s report:
Adverse weather was predicted for the Taunton Marathon on Sunday and there was indeed some laying snow when we drew back the curtains with a degree of trepidation. However everything turned out perfectly for the duration of the race, although it was still a tad cold. All the snow was soon gone, there was only a light breeze, and the bright sunshine gave a real feelgood factor. Dave C looked in good shape with two arms for the half, while Phil was confidently boasting that he would do no good as he’d not done any training! Lesley, for a change seemed cool, calm and collected and had even remembered her front and rear numbers for her first Taunton Marathon. I didn’t feel too good and in fact hadn’t felt right since the Four Trigs. I had aborted my last 800m rep. Session and walked home in confusion. On the plus side Lesley and I had both done four long runs in the last six weeks.
For the second year Taunton had “proper” chips with mats (cf. the Grizzly) so I made a determined effort to start off in very last place. Everything went well with consistent 8 min/miles and a 3.5 hour target. The sun must have brought out the best in me as I actually talked to a few people, which I never do when running. Fred Hagan from Minehead was supporting on a bike and we chatted for some time. There was a revised route this year: 1) Miss off the French Weir Park bit, staying on the main road. 2) Take the left “leg” at Bradford on Tone to the A38. 3) Turn left into Bishops Hull, through the village, exiting at Netherclay, then right onto Silk Mills Road and left into Heron Drive and through the car park to the finish. Beware half-marathoners who park here wanting a quick getaway!
Halfway I was right on schedule as I collected my special drink from the water station (orange juice, salt and sugar). I was joined by Mike Berry from Minehead and we ran the next six miles or so together. His last marathon had been in Prague, in a temperature of 29 degrees C. We passed Jonathon day of Axe valley and although I was starting to feel less good, pulled away from them. Not much conversation now. Strange snippets of talk: someone I can’t ever remember seeing before asked if I was doing the Seaview again! By 21 miles my 90 seconds in hand had gone and I could feel liquid moving around in my stomach; this meant that although I was a bit thirsty everything I drank would just sit there getting more and more uncomfortable. I must admit to walking a bit on the small hill at Bradford and the longer one at Rumwell. However the new route does have some good downhill bits through Bishops Hull and I was well enough to go past a few runners. Finished fairly comfortably in a gun time of 3:39:08 with Nicky Taylor of Yeovil one second behind – I had no idea she was there. My chip time was 3:36:39 just a tad slower than last year. Took my medal and, at the time it seemed a good idea, a cup of Bovril. Sat down in the warm sun, recycled my chip, and cheered home J Day and M Berry who came in together. Also spoke to Alan Littlejohns who raced the half – winning a category prize - the week before London!
I went to the car and felt very sick – it’s so not fair. Had the camera ready to take a picture of Lesley as promised. However she finished so quick I wasn’t ready. She saw me laid out in the car as she ran past! Anyway she looked fresh as a daisy with a new PB of 4:06:35 knocking 12 mins off her previous best. We got home, I went to bed, she dug holes in the garden planting things and once again her vest didn’t need washing. I think I’d better let her pace me at the Dartmoor Discovery.
Lesley’s report:
Not that organised – I forgot to put tape on my left foot where it rubs on my shoe, and was hobbling for the next two days. However this was the first marathon where I was able to even think about a pace rather than just reaching the finish. I though I was taking the first half at a very leisurely pace until I heard a runner behind me mention he’d done the last mile in 8:40, way too fast for me. But I plodded on going through halfway in about 1:57 and chatting to Clinton Rogers - a reporter on our local TV channel. Suddenly it got very lonely. Runners in front were several hundred yards ahead and barely visible as I picked my way through Taunton’s shoppers. Then out onto the long drag up through Norton to Oake, where some less than welcome company that had appeared spurred me to push the pace a bit. From Oake to Bradford I was back on familiar training ground, and the miles slipped away. I even managed to “run” the hill at Rumwell on the second lap, although it could better be described as “falling forward slowly”. The approach to Bishops Hull meant the finish wasn’t far away. I negotiated the car park, road humps and uneven ground etc. to make the finish line without falling over. That was a slight exaggeration from RW about digging holes in the garden, as not long after we got in there was a white out with snow. However one of us did stay on our feet to do the cooking, washing, etc. (including the vest!!)
RW:
Well done to Dave who did a good half and to the Ironman who in spite of his lack of training finished in 3:19.16. Of course all this pales into insignificance compared to Lin and Martin’s epic 50 mile adventure in snowshoes, battling through hostile terrain and 20foot snowdrifts.
Adverse weather was predicted for the Taunton Marathon on Sunday and there was indeed some laying snow when we drew back the curtains with a degree of trepidation. However everything turned out perfectly for the duration of the race, although it was still a tad cold. All the snow was soon gone, there was only a light breeze, and the bright sunshine gave a real feelgood factor. Dave C looked in good shape with two arms for the half, while Phil was confidently boasting that he would do no good as he’d not done any training! Lesley, for a change seemed cool, calm and collected and had even remembered her front and rear numbers for her first Taunton Marathon. I didn’t feel too good and in fact hadn’t felt right since the Four Trigs. I had aborted my last 800m rep. Session and walked home in confusion. On the plus side Lesley and I had both done four long runs in the last six weeks.
For the second year Taunton had “proper” chips with mats (cf. the Grizzly) so I made a determined effort to start off in very last place. Everything went well with consistent 8 min/miles and a 3.5 hour target. The sun must have brought out the best in me as I actually talked to a few people, which I never do when running. Fred Hagan from Minehead was supporting on a bike and we chatted for some time. There was a revised route this year: 1) Miss off the French Weir Park bit, staying on the main road. 2) Take the left “leg” at Bradford on Tone to the A38. 3) Turn left into Bishops Hull, through the village, exiting at Netherclay, then right onto Silk Mills Road and left into Heron Drive and through the car park to the finish. Beware half-marathoners who park here wanting a quick getaway!
Halfway I was right on schedule as I collected my special drink from the water station (orange juice, salt and sugar). I was joined by Mike Berry from Minehead and we ran the next six miles or so together. His last marathon had been in Prague, in a temperature of 29 degrees C. We passed Jonathon day of Axe valley and although I was starting to feel less good, pulled away from them. Not much conversation now. Strange snippets of talk: someone I can’t ever remember seeing before asked if I was doing the Seaview again! By 21 miles my 90 seconds in hand had gone and I could feel liquid moving around in my stomach; this meant that although I was a bit thirsty everything I drank would just sit there getting more and more uncomfortable. I must admit to walking a bit on the small hill at Bradford and the longer one at Rumwell. However the new route does have some good downhill bits through Bishops Hull and I was well enough to go past a few runners. Finished fairly comfortably in a gun time of 3:39:08 with Nicky Taylor of Yeovil one second behind – I had no idea she was there. My chip time was 3:36:39 just a tad slower than last year. Took my medal and, at the time it seemed a good idea, a cup of Bovril. Sat down in the warm sun, recycled my chip, and cheered home J Day and M Berry who came in together. Also spoke to Alan Littlejohns who raced the half – winning a category prize - the week before London!
I went to the car and felt very sick – it’s so not fair. Had the camera ready to take a picture of Lesley as promised. However she finished so quick I wasn’t ready. She saw me laid out in the car as she ran past! Anyway she looked fresh as a daisy with a new PB of 4:06:35 knocking 12 mins off her previous best. We got home, I went to bed, she dug holes in the garden planting things and once again her vest didn’t need washing. I think I’d better let her pace me at the Dartmoor Discovery.
Lesley’s report:
Not that organised – I forgot to put tape on my left foot where it rubs on my shoe, and was hobbling for the next two days. However this was the first marathon where I was able to even think about a pace rather than just reaching the finish. I though I was taking the first half at a very leisurely pace until I heard a runner behind me mention he’d done the last mile in 8:40, way too fast for me. But I plodded on going through halfway in about 1:57 and chatting to Clinton Rogers - a reporter on our local TV channel. Suddenly it got very lonely. Runners in front were several hundred yards ahead and barely visible as I picked my way through Taunton’s shoppers. Then out onto the long drag up through Norton to Oake, where some less than welcome company that had appeared spurred me to push the pace a bit. From Oake to Bradford I was back on familiar training ground, and the miles slipped away. I even managed to “run” the hill at Rumwell on the second lap, although it could better be described as “falling forward slowly”. The approach to Bishops Hull meant the finish wasn’t far away. I negotiated the car park, road humps and uneven ground etc. to make the finish line without falling over. That was a slight exaggeration from RW about digging holes in the garden, as not long after we got in there was a white out with snow. However one of us did stay on our feet to do the cooking, washing, etc. (including the vest!!)
RW:
Well done to Dave who did a good half and to the Ironman who in spite of his lack of training finished in 3:19.16. Of course all this pales into insignificance compared to Lin and Martin’s epic 50 mile adventure in snowshoes, battling through hostile terrain and 20foot snowdrifts.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Exe to Axe
The advantage of going to a race on your own is that you can leave at the time you want to, drive at a sensible speed and arrive calm and stress free with plenty of time to spare. Having said that, I am missing him…………..
First challenge was to get to Seaton for 8.30am on the weekend when the clocks go forward. Second challenge was the car park charges - 85p per hour. Well you try working out how many hours it’s going to take you to get to Exmouth on a bus and then run back - and then multiply the answer by 85 - and at 8am which is really 7am! I did manage to work out that I didn’t have nearly enough change and that a cheaper option needed to be found - which proves my point that it’s always worth getting to a race in plenty of time (Hope he’s reading this in a cyber café in the Alps between black runs).
The race starts from the Foxhole Café on Exmouth sea front and follows the coastal path for 20 miles (advertised) or 21.2 miles (real life) back to Seaton with a total of 4000 feet of climbing. I started off fairly steadily trying to conjure up Martin’s usual mantra “too fast, you’re going too fast” and sensibly let a young girl from Exmouth Harriers take an early lead. I caught her up at Budleigh Salterton - she clearly didn’t have the advantage of Martin’s wisdom regarding pacing - and settled down to enjoy the race from the front.
At Budleigh you head inland for half a mile to the bridge over the River Otter - a beautiful (and flat!) stretch before once more turning south and tackling the climb along the cliff path before dropping to Ladram Bay. Shortly after this you pass the first (or last depending on which way it’s being run) of the trig points from the Four Trigs, and this meant that I was onto familiar territory. At this point I also became aware of another female runner on my heels. Each time I glanced back she was closer and looking strong and she finally passed me on the Sidmouth sea front. No need to worry - she was a relay runner and was stopping at Sidmouth, so I could relax, slow the pace a little and hold my lead.
The second half of the run is by far the hardest - first the long, steep climb out of Sidmouth, then the drop to Salcombe followed by another muscle screaming climb, then down to Weston Mouth for the short stretch of beach before yet another ascent. The pace over the first half of the race was beginning to tell now and I was really regretting the T shirt I’d put on under my vest because it was baking hot.
As I dropped down to Branscombe, Fred Fox from YTRRC caught me up and we walked the hill up the other side together. Once we reached the top and began running again he soon pulled away from me - but the worst of the climbing was behind and only a few short miles to go now. I passed a few runners between here and Beer, who had also clearly got their pacing wrong, although I couldn’t believe by this stage that anyone was running slower than me.
Down the hill into Beer and a sharp right turn onto the coast path and to my dismay I spotted another girl sprinting down the hill a mere 50 yards or so behind. I tried to make my tired legs climb the zig zag steps out of Beer a little faster and passed another male runner. The final descent into Seaton and my rival seemed to have fallen back a bit but as I turned onto the coast path and the steep drop to the sea front she came into sight again, and she was gaining on me. I had absolutely nothing left in my legs but I gave it my best shot and if I had only known that the finish was at the end of the first stretch of promenade and not at the Hook & Parrot (Grizzly finishing line) as I had assumed, I think I could have held her off.
As it was she passed me with about 30 yards to go and beat me by 6 seconds. I was gutted as you can imagine, but I have only myself to blame for giving in just a little too easily. Now I know how Martin felt at the JK last year when he stopped on the bridge and Dave swept past him to victory!
This is a fantastic race, great scenery but a really punishing course and on the day, the combination of starting just a little too fast and the totally unexpected high temperature caught me out. Link to the results in on the website and hopefully some photos will be added to the Gallery shortly.
First challenge was to get to Seaton for 8.30am on the weekend when the clocks go forward. Second challenge was the car park charges - 85p per hour. Well you try working out how many hours it’s going to take you to get to Exmouth on a bus and then run back - and then multiply the answer by 85 - and at 8am which is really 7am! I did manage to work out that I didn’t have nearly enough change and that a cheaper option needed to be found - which proves my point that it’s always worth getting to a race in plenty of time (Hope he’s reading this in a cyber café in the Alps between black runs).
The race starts from the Foxhole Café on Exmouth sea front and follows the coastal path for 20 miles (advertised) or 21.2 miles (real life) back to Seaton with a total of 4000 feet of climbing. I started off fairly steadily trying to conjure up Martin’s usual mantra “too fast, you’re going too fast” and sensibly let a young girl from Exmouth Harriers take an early lead. I caught her up at Budleigh Salterton - she clearly didn’t have the advantage of Martin’s wisdom regarding pacing - and settled down to enjoy the race from the front.
At Budleigh you head inland for half a mile to the bridge over the River Otter - a beautiful (and flat!) stretch before once more turning south and tackling the climb along the cliff path before dropping to Ladram Bay. Shortly after this you pass the first (or last depending on which way it’s being run) of the trig points from the Four Trigs, and this meant that I was onto familiar territory. At this point I also became aware of another female runner on my heels. Each time I glanced back she was closer and looking strong and she finally passed me on the Sidmouth sea front. No need to worry - she was a relay runner and was stopping at Sidmouth, so I could relax, slow the pace a little and hold my lead.
The second half of the run is by far the hardest - first the long, steep climb out of Sidmouth, then the drop to Salcombe followed by another muscle screaming climb, then down to Weston Mouth for the short stretch of beach before yet another ascent. The pace over the first half of the race was beginning to tell now and I was really regretting the T shirt I’d put on under my vest because it was baking hot.
As I dropped down to Branscombe, Fred Fox from YTRRC caught me up and we walked the hill up the other side together. Once we reached the top and began running again he soon pulled away from me - but the worst of the climbing was behind and only a few short miles to go now. I passed a few runners between here and Beer, who had also clearly got their pacing wrong, although I couldn’t believe by this stage that anyone was running slower than me.
Down the hill into Beer and a sharp right turn onto the coast path and to my dismay I spotted another girl sprinting down the hill a mere 50 yards or so behind. I tried to make my tired legs climb the zig zag steps out of Beer a little faster and passed another male runner. The final descent into Seaton and my rival seemed to have fallen back a bit but as I turned onto the coast path and the steep drop to the sea front she came into sight again, and she was gaining on me. I had absolutely nothing left in my legs but I gave it my best shot and if I had only known that the finish was at the end of the first stretch of promenade and not at the Hook & Parrot (Grizzly finishing line) as I had assumed, I think I could have held her off.
As it was she passed me with about 30 yards to go and beat me by 6 seconds. I was gutted as you can imagine, but I have only myself to blame for giving in just a little too easily. Now I know how Martin felt at the JK last year when he stopped on the bridge and Dave swept past him to victory!
This is a fantastic race, great scenery but a really punishing course and on the day, the combination of starting just a little too fast and the totally unexpected high temperature caught me out. Link to the results in on the website and hopefully some photos will be added to the Gallery shortly.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Grizzly 2008
Sunday 9th March saw us make the traditional pilgrimage to Seaton for the Grizzly. I really wasn’t going to run as I was still full of cold, snot, gunge etc. However amongst even more extreme weather we had another period of calm and I couldn’t resist. As a precautionary measure I decided to start off in very last place and do a sensible, sustainable pace. So I lingered by the car stretching while the runners disappeared over the start line. This year there was some fancy timing device folded within the race numbers so I thought my leisurely last place start wouldn’t affect my true finish time. I did have a few doubts however as I crossed the start line and failed to see any sort of timing mat. Many hours later my doubts were confirmed at the finish as we were scanned by a row of humanoids waving loop aerial devices reminiscent of a one star 1950’s sci-fi movie. Ah – the Grizzly has finally entered some time warp.
Anyway I caught the tail of the runners as they turned onto the beach and decided to run on the largely clear path next to the sea. The sunny weather and the sound of hundreds of pairs of feet crunching their way through the pebbles seemed to spur me on to a slightly faster than sustainable pace. I eased back a bit and felt really good for about 7 miles. After that things slowly deteriorated. At one point my cold really turned on me with a wilful vengeance. My ears and head became completely bunged up. I went deaf and lost balance. Snot and gunge glistened on the backs of my gloves and even my sunglasses acquired sticky smears which reduced my vision. Then, on an exposed hillside, the wind blew up bringing hailstones which stung face and legs. This was more like it! This is the stuff of tales for future generations; hail the size of golf balls and waist deep swamps that swallow the unwary. At this stage I must apologise to anyone following me, who slipped or got stuck on anything resembling snot; it probably was snot.
It’s a bit difficult to accurately describe the Grizzly, but let’s just say it’s probably one of the best races, courses, and events in the world. Even on a wet, cold day there will be loads of cheerful supporters, bands, helpers and on a sunny day it’s even better ‘cos you can enjoy the views.
After about 15 miles I was struck with an increasing queasiness. I could have said a feeling of nausea, but ever since we got stuck in a mess tent with a couple of Americans who kept using the word nauseous in their irritating accent, I won’t. (But that’s another story – not that we have anything in general against most Americans). Towards the end two SWRRs pulled ahead of me but I really believed that by keeping in touch I would have the last laugh on the results due to the “chip” times. This was not to be and I was penalised for taking 2mins 7 secs for crossing the start line.
L & M had by coincidence parked on the seafront about 5 vehicles away from us. Afterwards as I approached their van, I heard a loud click; thinking that they were trying to attract my attention I went over but was met by a frantic waving and shooing of the arms and the electric windows gave a firm clunk as they closed in extra fast mode. (The original click must have the central locking). Jesus, I only had a slight cold, and they made me feel like a leper. I know they take their running seriously, 225 mile per week, and no sex or alcohol, but I only wanted to say “hello and well done”. Lesley tells me Lin now wears a surgeon’s breathing mask at work and out shopping in a desperate effort to avoid germs. I think I ought to share some snotty bits to help build up a healthy immune system.
Anyway I didn’t feel too good and laid out in the car with the engine running.
(Waiting for some good-natured person to connect a hose to the exhaust). Fred Fox came over later and sympathised as he used to be afflicted with similar stomach problems. Now that he runs a bit slower he is largely cured. He did look very surprised when Lesley said she didn’t think he had slowed that much; he reliably informed us that in a previous incarnation he had been a top 30 Grizzly finisher.
Once again thanks to everyone who helped make the Grizzly another memorable day out.
Anyway I caught the tail of the runners as they turned onto the beach and decided to run on the largely clear path next to the sea. The sunny weather and the sound of hundreds of pairs of feet crunching their way through the pebbles seemed to spur me on to a slightly faster than sustainable pace. I eased back a bit and felt really good for about 7 miles. After that things slowly deteriorated. At one point my cold really turned on me with a wilful vengeance. My ears and head became completely bunged up. I went deaf and lost balance. Snot and gunge glistened on the backs of my gloves and even my sunglasses acquired sticky smears which reduced my vision. Then, on an exposed hillside, the wind blew up bringing hailstones which stung face and legs. This was more like it! This is the stuff of tales for future generations; hail the size of golf balls and waist deep swamps that swallow the unwary. At this stage I must apologise to anyone following me, who slipped or got stuck on anything resembling snot; it probably was snot.
It’s a bit difficult to accurately describe the Grizzly, but let’s just say it’s probably one of the best races, courses, and events in the world. Even on a wet, cold day there will be loads of cheerful supporters, bands, helpers and on a sunny day it’s even better ‘cos you can enjoy the views.
After about 15 miles I was struck with an increasing queasiness. I could have said a feeling of nausea, but ever since we got stuck in a mess tent with a couple of Americans who kept using the word nauseous in their irritating accent, I won’t. (But that’s another story – not that we have anything in general against most Americans). Towards the end two SWRRs pulled ahead of me but I really believed that by keeping in touch I would have the last laugh on the results due to the “chip” times. This was not to be and I was penalised for taking 2mins 7 secs for crossing the start line.
L & M had by coincidence parked on the seafront about 5 vehicles away from us. Afterwards as I approached their van, I heard a loud click; thinking that they were trying to attract my attention I went over but was met by a frantic waving and shooing of the arms and the electric windows gave a firm clunk as they closed in extra fast mode. (The original click must have the central locking). Jesus, I only had a slight cold, and they made me feel like a leper. I know they take their running seriously, 225 mile per week, and no sex or alcohol, but I only wanted to say “hello and well done”. Lesley tells me Lin now wears a surgeon’s breathing mask at work and out shopping in a desperate effort to avoid germs. I think I ought to share some snotty bits to help build up a healthy immune system.
Anyway I didn’t feel too good and laid out in the car with the engine running.
(Waiting for some good-natured person to connect a hose to the exhaust). Fred Fox came over later and sympathised as he used to be afflicted with similar stomach problems. Now that he runs a bit slower he is largely cured. He did look very surprised when Lesley said she didn’t think he had slowed that much; he reliably informed us that in a previous incarnation he had been a top 30 Grizzly finisher.
Once again thanks to everyone who helped make the Grizzly another memorable day out.
Ironbridge 3K Winter Series
Weds 5th March saw me rise from my sick bed for the 50 mile round trip to do the Ironbridge 3K at Exeter Arena. The evening kicked off with the junior’s mile race, followed by the various 3K races. With about 20 – 25 runners in each race this pits the old and grizzled against young sprogs of diminutive proportions. Be complacent at your peril as these youngsters can pace, draught and out sprint with beguiling ease. Each race is very competitive, with runners of similar predicted finish times in each group. I’m glad I got off my sick bed and made the effort. Amongst all the windy, wet weather we had calm, but the air was cold enough to sting the arms. Under the circumstances I was happy with 11:53. Main highlights were watching the kids run and seeing the winner of the top group doing a 62 second final lap.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Ultra Running Research Programme
Lincoln University Human Performance Lab 4.5 mile Treadmill Challenge
Through our involvement with Ambition Life, Martin and I have been invited to take part in the above research programme and on Monday 25th February we went to the University to be “lab rats”.
Although this isn’t a race report I will just mention in passing that before undertaking the 250 mile drive to Lincoln we drove for 2 and a half hours in the opposite direction on Saturday to do the Endurance Life Coastal marathon. Despite being 10 minutes down on our 2007 time, we finished feeling much less tired having maintained a very even pace. Martin was 1st MV50 and I was 3rd lady but we didn’t have time to stay and collect our prizes. We did manage to stuff back the free food before we left though (you won’t be surprised to hear).
Our journey to Lincoln took us via Brandon in Suffolk and Helpston, just north of Peterborough as we killed two (or rather three) birds with one stone and visited friends en route.
By the time we arrived at Lincoln University on Monday morning we had run 28 miles and spent 13 hours in the car since leaving home on Friday evening – just a normal, quiet weekend in the Lascelles/Cummins lifestyle!
This is the point where I hand over to Martin who will do the "scientific" bit!
Although this isn’t a race report I will just mention in passing that before undertaking the 250 mile drive to Lincoln we drove for 2 and a half hours in the opposite direction on Saturday to do the Endurance Life Coastal marathon. Despite being 10 minutes down on our 2007 time, we finished feeling much less tired having maintained a very even pace. Martin was 1st MV50 and I was 3rd lady but we didn’t have time to stay and collect our prizes. We did manage to stuff back the free food before we left though (you won’t be surprised to hear).
Our journey to Lincoln took us via Brandon in Suffolk and Helpston, just north of Peterborough as we killed two (or rather three) birds with one stone and visited friends en route.
By the time we arrived at Lincoln University on Monday morning we had run 28 miles and spent 13 hours in the car since leaving home on Friday evening – just a normal, quiet weekend in the Lascelles/Cummins lifestyle!
This is the point where I hand over to Martin who will do the "scientific" bit!
Normally two days after a tough marathon the last thing we would be doing is exercising to exhaustion, but that is exactly what we had to do, TWICE!
There were two separate tests, one designed to measure Lactate Threshold, Running efficiency and VO2 Max. The other was intended to get us to maximum Heart rate. The first one was hard enough, we started slowly, 10 minute mile pace, or 9 km/hour (scientists measure everything in metric units), and progressing every 3 minutes by 1km/hour until we reached the point where we were definitely producing a sufficiently elevated Lactate level to measure the Lactate threshold and tipping point. This measurement was done by taking a drop of blood every 3 minutes - not an easy thing to do while continuing to run at speed. It felt a lot like trying to put your drinks bottle back into a back pack while trying to run normally and maintain a position on the treadmill. The treadmill by the way was impressively huge. About 2 metres long by over 1 metre wide. And it didn't feel nice and soft and bouncy like the health club ones, so it was like road running. I even closed my eyes for a while to see if I could pretend I was running on the road, but the gas mask strapped to my face spoiled the illusion. Oh yes, that was the other thing, we had to breathe normally as possible while being tied to the gas analyser by two thin tubes. Actually we didn't breathe through these tubes, but they still got in the way as they flopped from side to side, so that didn't help. It also didn't help that the treadmill suddenly cut out for no apparent reason just as I was getting into the most intense part of the test so I had to repeat it, and it stopped twice while Lin was starting her tests. Apart from that though, I suppose the tests went well, and the results were worthwhile, although they must have been somewhat affected by our weakened post-marathon condition. The second ordeal was easily the worse. Running at 2km per hour below our top speed from the first test, the slope of the treadmill was raised by one degree a minute until we just could not continue running at that speed. Each minute seemed to take longer and longer to pass, and the last 20 seconds before I finally threw in the towel being the hardest running I can remember doing. Strangely though, a minute after stopping, I was chiding myself for giving up so easily, since I hadn't nearly reached the heart rate that I regularly achieve at the end of 5 or 10k races. Probably the difference is that I was not chasing a time, or a competitor, and so the only thing I had to focus on was how painful it was, and how easy it would be to stop. I think Lin was a bit braver than me, judging by the amount of sweat pouring off her after she stopped. The whole experience was very interesting, but hard work! Afterwards we had a chat with Paul, the guy doing the research that we were now a part of. On our arrival home we received an email from him with a report giving the results which I had better admit right away clearly showed that, despite our similar race performances, Lin was by far the more talented runner with an outstanding Running Economy. Mine was average, although my VO2 Max was higher, as you would expect because of typical gender differences in that measurement. We were each given recommendations for improving our fitness and performance, mainly involving more speed work, and Heart Rate targets. So we know what we need to do to improve our running. Its less of the leisurely pub runs and carefree jogging through the countryside, and more serious timed road running with intervals, repeats and sets. Oh, and less beer since that impedes the recovery process from all that hard training.I'm not sure I want to be that serious about running, it doesn't sound much fun!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Dalwood Three Hills Plus
Just a short report from herself today: Lots of mud, tracks, some tarmac, nice easy stretches across fields, some very cold streams, and the hills. It was advertised as Three Hills, but according to those who know the area an extra hill was inserted somewhere around 7 to 8 miles. According to the garmin it was about 8.9 miles at the 8 mile marker, and the marshal wearily acknowledged I wasn’t the first to tell him that. At the finish line general opinion was around 10.7 miles. Usual finish through the river to the line, then a search for discarded gloves and a weary trudge half a mile up the lane to the car park.
Richard said:
Herself seems to paint a fairly bleak (or perhaps not colourful enough) description of yet another wonderful run in a great location, with excellent marshals and supporters and facilities. I must admit the sun wasn’t shining for a change, but there was no wind, and the weather was very clement for February, perfect running conditions. Personally I found the various bits of mud and water exactly to my liking. The 4 trigs effort seems to have strengthened my legs a bit and I was able to stay in close contact and finally beat my closest and deadliest rival Mr Robert Millward.
Herself again:
I did enjoy some bits of it: loads of snowdrops, some daffodils bravely growing in the middle of a track, and even more optimistic – a load of frogspawn in one of the puddles along the track. It was mentally very easy just following the tape and arrows after last week’s find your own way effort. However a downer was being beaten by two ladies, Bev and Jo who I just about beat last week.
Richard said:
Herself seems to paint a fairly bleak (or perhaps not colourful enough) description of yet another wonderful run in a great location, with excellent marshals and supporters and facilities. I must admit the sun wasn’t shining for a change, but there was no wind, and the weather was very clement for February, perfect running conditions. Personally I found the various bits of mud and water exactly to my liking. The 4 trigs effort seems to have strengthened my legs a bit and I was able to stay in close contact and finally beat my closest and deadliest rival Mr Robert Millward.
Herself again:
I did enjoy some bits of it: loads of snowdrops, some daffodils bravely growing in the middle of a track, and even more optimistic – a load of frogspawn in one of the puddles along the track. It was mentally very easy just following the tape and arrows after last week’s find your own way effort. However a downer was being beaten by two ladies, Bev and Jo who I just about beat last week.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Four Trigs
Sunday 17th Feb saw Richard and Lesley at the Sidmouth 4 Trigs Challenge. This is a find your own way, almost totally off-road, hilly 18 miler, with nine checkpoints. Normally we wouldn’t have touched a find your own way run with the proverbial barge pole, but just after Christmas, Lin and Martin persuaded us to recce the course with them. Two more recce runs followed and we felt confident enough to enter and I’m really please we did. Once again the weather was perfect, no wind, clear blue skies with wall-to-wall sunshine. I won’t go into all the details of the run ‘cos I want to get something on the blog before Lin and Martin as once again they beat me. In short I followed my planned route without getting lost but slowed to a miserable pace after the fourth trig. Although I had stayed ahead of Lin & Martin until now, they soon went past me, although I did briefly catch then up again, mainly because I failed to stop and punch my number at the ninth check point. Martin warned that there would be repercussions if I beat them following this slight technical infringement. The last steep step climb brought me to a standstill on several occasions, but once we were over the top of the last hill, it felt quite good cruising down the hill into Sidmouth. No T-shirt or medal (thank God), but a huge pasty and slice of cake and tea or coffee. Many thanks to the race organiser, a real value for money friendly run with fantastic scenery.
Before the race started Lesley was bleating about almost everything that could go wrong, getting lost, falling over, failing to finish, too cold etc. She even took the race organiser’s phone number in case of trouble. However she once again finished in a faster than expected time and I only just managed to finish my pasty and leave the clubhouse to see her confidently crossing the line.
Before the race started Lesley was bleating about almost everything that could go wrong, getting lost, falling over, failing to finish, too cold etc. She even took the race organiser’s phone number in case of trouble. However she once again finished in a faster than expected time and I only just managed to finish my pasty and leave the clubhouse to see her confidently crossing the line.
Four Trigs
Perfect weather greeted us at Sidmouth for the Four Trigs race and Maiden Newton Running Club had doubled it's entry from last year, as Richard and Lesley joined us on the start line.
This year the route followed a clockwise circuit which gave us the advantage of half a mile of flat running before we hit the first hill, but also meant that all the really tough climbs would be on the final stretch of coast when the legs were at their most tired.
This year the route followed a clockwise circuit which gave us the advantage of half a mile of flat running before we hit the first hill, but also meant that all the really tough climbs would be on the final stretch of coast when the legs were at their most tired.
However that was some way ahead and we set off at 9.30am into the glorious Spring sunshine. Richard overtook us on Peak Hill as we made our way west towards the first trig point, and very quickly opened up a useful lead. As we turned inland we were treated to the occasional glimpse of his yellow shirt ahead of us but we were more concerned with the chasing pack of Axe Valley Runners who pushed us all the way.
Martin, possibly affected by the weather definitely had a spring in his step and I was working hard to try and stay with him as we safely negotiated the tricky woodland maze and began the long climb up to the second trig point - a welcome drink and jelly babies awaited us here and then it was on to my favourite part of the inland section - some good running along forest tracks and then a downhill sweep to Sidford and the third road crossing.
As we climbed up to towards the third trig we once again glimpsed Richard, a mere 50 yards or so ahead of us...and walking, but he disappeared into the woods ahead of us and by the time we all emerged having checked through the next trig, he had disappeared. Had he got badly lost in the woods or had he increased his lead?
The AVR runners were still snapping at our heels and as there were 5 of them we were under pressure to reach the check points ahead of them, or form an orderly queue. Once we had passed through the donkey sanctuary (all those cute donkeys enjoying the sunshine and no time to stop for a cuddle today) we opened up a gap and could then just concentrate on enjoying the level section as we headed through Weston and turned back to the coast and the final trig.
The last trig is out and back from the route of the coastal path, and sure enough as we were on our way out we met Richard on his way back. He told us he was a bit tired (well I think that's what "I'm f*****" means) hardening our determination to catch him up.
The stretch back along the coast is the most scenic, but also has the toughest climbs. First down to Westonmouth where you descend to the beach for 50 yards of pre Grizzly training on the shingle before climbing the cruelly placed steps up the other side, and we were steadily gaining on the yellow shirt ahead of us. Then another drop down to Salcombe mouth - no taking the easy option along the beach today - the tide was in and there had been a rock fall since we had run it earlier in the year.
On the long hard climb up from Salcombe we finally caught Richard and opened up a small lead as we struggled upwards, but he caught us briefly as we descended the other side. The toughest hill still awaited us and it really is a killer, especially at this stage. The reward for finally reaching the top is the signpost saying "Sidmouth 2/3 mile" and knowing that it's all downhill! We really went for it now, I wasn't sure if we had got far enough ahead of Richard to hold our lead on the downhill - where he is far stronger than me - but despite much nervous glancing over shoulders there was no sign of him and we arrived back at the Yacht Club in 2 hours 52 minutes, just outside of last year's time - but both of us thought that it was much tougher this way round - and more importantly (to me!) I had defended my title successfully and finished first lady again.
Richard wasn't far behind us and then we had time for a dip in the sea (which was only slightly colder than the showers) before enjoying the free post race refreshments and then cheering Lesley home - who appeared to have enjoyed herself so much that she ran straight past the finish and for a moment we thought she was going to do a second circuit. Fortunately good sense prevailed.
And here are the pictures..............................
How many runners buried under there?!
Grim determination on the race to the top of Peak Hill
Plenty more hills where this one came from
And some of them go down!
Sorry chaps, no carrots today
Not far on the pebbles 
Does he know we're behind him?
He knows we're in front of him now!
The last, but certainly not least hill
What kept you?
Come on in, the water's.............bloody freezing!
No whining today, just wine
Lesley starts her second lap
Monday, February 04, 2008
Tring to Town
As I can feel your hearts sinking at the prospect of one of my lengthy race reports and in view of the distance, I shall cut the usual preamble and proceed straight to the start line.
8.15am – Pendlebury Manor Hotel, Tring
113 runners on the start line for the 40 mile race along the Grand Union Canal to Kew, and some of these had already completed the distance in reverse the previous day. We felt like light weights who had turned up to a full/half marathon just to do 13.1 miles!
It was about half a mile out of the hotel and along the road to get onto the canal and to begin with it was a little crowded as the tow path was narrow and everyone was settling into their pace. It was great to be running so easily and still have Mr Sensibility running behind me saying “too fast, we’re going too fast”!! However, as usual he was right and we tried to keep to our pre race plan of 9 minute miles which was calculated to bring us in at 6 hours. It’s funny how, if you are doing a 10 mile race, it seems quite a long way, but when your mind set is to cover 40 miles, the first 10 miles fly past. We reached 10 miles in about 1.27, so just under target pace.
The next 10 miles passed uneventfully enough apart from passing the 3rd and 2nd placed ladies. In 2nd place (until we passed her) was the famous Mimi Anderson (you’re forgiven if you’ve no idea who she is – her fame only spreads to ultra running and Ambition Life in particular – but it was an exciting moment for me!). However, to put this in perspective, she had, as you would expect of her, also completed the previous day in a very respectable 5.43.00. As we drew close to 20 miles, we were both working just a little harder to keep on the pace, but again we went through 20 miles in 2.57, so still under target pace.
The absolute low point came in the next few miles when we passed a drunken tramp collapsed at the side of the tow path with various bodily fluids leaking from him, which had to be hurdled. Martin remarked that no matter how bad we felt, we definitely didn’t feel as bad as he did! Flippancy aside, we later heard that said tramp had died and the towpath had been closed – causing slower runners to make a diversion. It was opposite ends of the coin – at the front of the field, elite athletes and en route the lowest form of existence possible to attain.
Now that I’ve cheered you all up, on with the race report. The next 10 miles saw our pace slowing a little and keeping going became increasingly difficult. We were still catching and passing people who had not been as sensible as Martin about pacing, and we were gradually gaining on the one remaining female runner still ahead of us. At the final check point she lingered a little too long and we got ahead of her. It was evidently a nasty shock for her, she had no idea her first position was under threat (actually it wasn’t, I was quite incapable of posing a threat to anything that was faster than stationary by this stage!). So for a few heady moments I was “first lady”, but it didn’t last for long and she soon passed us. I think she had been taking it fairly easy up until then as she pulled away quite easily and eventually finished 4 minutes ahead of us. The amazing thing was that she had run yesterday as well in an impressive 5.20 so she was clearly in a different league than me.
We just managed to keep on target at mile 30 which we went through at 4.29, but it was a real struggle now and our pace fell off dramatically. Lack of training and the colds which we’d both brought with us to Tring began to take effect, and it really was mind over matter just to keep moving. I must have been in a better frame of mind than usual at this stage in a long race as Martin later thanked me for “not whining too much!”
The high point was discovering that the rumour we had heard about the course being short of 40 miles was absolutely true, and most unexpected because we had found out to our cost in the past that Ambition Life events are usually longer than advertised (don’t start me on Day 2 of MOB Coast!!!). We left the canal at Kew and began to follow the markers towards the finish at the Premier Lodge Hotel – never has a High Street seemed so long, but eventually we arrived and thanks to the slightly short course we had managed to achieve our target – finishing in 19th and 20th places overall for Day 2 in 5 hours 52.
Hats off to the overall winner – who completed Day 1 in 4.26 and Day 2 in 4.27 and looked as though he’d just been out for a stroll – awesome!
I won’t bore you with the details of Kew Tube station being a mile walk away and then not having any trains running, the bus replacement service or the multiple change of trains involved in getting back to Tring, nor the 3 hour drive home, suffice to say that next year we will be the tough guys completing both days – much easier logistically to arrive back where you started!!
8.15am – Pendlebury Manor Hotel, Tring
113 runners on the start line for the 40 mile race along the Grand Union Canal to Kew, and some of these had already completed the distance in reverse the previous day. We felt like light weights who had turned up to a full/half marathon just to do 13.1 miles!
It was about half a mile out of the hotel and along the road to get onto the canal and to begin with it was a little crowded as the tow path was narrow and everyone was settling into their pace. It was great to be running so easily and still have Mr Sensibility running behind me saying “too fast, we’re going too fast”!! However, as usual he was right and we tried to keep to our pre race plan of 9 minute miles which was calculated to bring us in at 6 hours. It’s funny how, if you are doing a 10 mile race, it seems quite a long way, but when your mind set is to cover 40 miles, the first 10 miles fly past. We reached 10 miles in about 1.27, so just under target pace.
The next 10 miles passed uneventfully enough apart from passing the 3rd and 2nd placed ladies. In 2nd place (until we passed her) was the famous Mimi Anderson (you’re forgiven if you’ve no idea who she is – her fame only spreads to ultra running and Ambition Life in particular – but it was an exciting moment for me!). However, to put this in perspective, she had, as you would expect of her, also completed the previous day in a very respectable 5.43.00. As we drew close to 20 miles, we were both working just a little harder to keep on the pace, but again we went through 20 miles in 2.57, so still under target pace.
The absolute low point came in the next few miles when we passed a drunken tramp collapsed at the side of the tow path with various bodily fluids leaking from him, which had to be hurdled. Martin remarked that no matter how bad we felt, we definitely didn’t feel as bad as he did! Flippancy aside, we later heard that said tramp had died and the towpath had been closed – causing slower runners to make a diversion. It was opposite ends of the coin – at the front of the field, elite athletes and en route the lowest form of existence possible to attain.
Now that I’ve cheered you all up, on with the race report. The next 10 miles saw our pace slowing a little and keeping going became increasingly difficult. We were still catching and passing people who had not been as sensible as Martin about pacing, and we were gradually gaining on the one remaining female runner still ahead of us. At the final check point she lingered a little too long and we got ahead of her. It was evidently a nasty shock for her, she had no idea her first position was under threat (actually it wasn’t, I was quite incapable of posing a threat to anything that was faster than stationary by this stage!). So for a few heady moments I was “first lady”, but it didn’t last for long and she soon passed us. I think she had been taking it fairly easy up until then as she pulled away quite easily and eventually finished 4 minutes ahead of us. The amazing thing was that she had run yesterday as well in an impressive 5.20 so she was clearly in a different league than me.
We just managed to keep on target at mile 30 which we went through at 4.29, but it was a real struggle now and our pace fell off dramatically. Lack of training and the colds which we’d both brought with us to Tring began to take effect, and it really was mind over matter just to keep moving. I must have been in a better frame of mind than usual at this stage in a long race as Martin later thanked me for “not whining too much!”
The high point was discovering that the rumour we had heard about the course being short of 40 miles was absolutely true, and most unexpected because we had found out to our cost in the past that Ambition Life events are usually longer than advertised (don’t start me on Day 2 of MOB Coast!!!). We left the canal at Kew and began to follow the markers towards the finish at the Premier Lodge Hotel – never has a High Street seemed so long, but eventually we arrived and thanks to the slightly short course we had managed to achieve our target – finishing in 19th and 20th places overall for Day 2 in 5 hours 52.
Hats off to the overall winner – who completed Day 1 in 4.26 and Day 2 in 4.27 and looked as though he’d just been out for a stroll – awesome!
I won’t bore you with the details of Kew Tube station being a mile walk away and then not having any trains running, the bus replacement service or the multiple change of trains involved in getting back to Tring, nor the 3 hour drive home, suffice to say that next year we will be the tough guys completing both days – much easier logistically to arrive back where you started!!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Oh My Obelisk!
Sunday 13th saw the third running of the “Oh my Obelisk” multi-terrain 10.8 mile race at Dawlish. This event has good parking and great facilities at the leisure centre and is well marshalled. The race suddenly kicked off with no safety talk (great) or count down, taking many by surprise. The first bit goes over rolling grassland at the back of the leisure centre. It became a little congested and to avoid clipping someone’s heels I thought it a good idea to speed up and over a small grassy knoll on the left. Unfortunately I caught my foot in the grass, flew forward and rolled down the other side. What a boring bunch of runners – no laughing, clapping, cheering or jeering! Still, at least I had rolled past the person in front.
We were soon on a narrow track through woods, then bits of road, then a long muddy standing water track, a field or two with gates and stiles, more bits of road, then up through woods to the obelisk. However due to building work we had to divert round and use a different track down. I seem to remember last year’s track down through the woods being much more fun – very steep and winding and slippery. We were soon into a steep downhill road section, probably the least enjoyable bit. Most of the last four miles or so retrace the outward route. With about three miles to go I was thinking of anything apart from the fact there were still about three miles to go! I think that the gale force gusts and wet mud had taken their toll – but it was the same for everyone. It’s a bad feeling when 6 or 7 people go past on the last two miles and here’s nothing you can do to increase the pace.
I was very pleased to see the finish line and my time of about 87:24 shouldn’t really have disappointed me. Last year I did 80:34 but in retrospect that was proportionally the best position I probably ever have done in any race. So, especially with today’s adverse weather, I shouldn’t be disappointed but there were people I beat last year who beat me easily this time, maybe I get too bogged down on results and positions, perhaps I should run a few races without a watch and not look up the finish positions.
On the same subject I spoke to one of the organisers as the prize list for a race of this size is paltry – 350 finishers last year. For the male 40 and female 35 there is just ONE prize each, and no other veteran categories. I was told that the popularity of the race had taken Dawlish Coasters by surprise and in the first year it took time to work out the prizes and people just went home, before they were ready. However they have a different race results computer system now and next year they could well extend the prize categories etc. 
We were soon on a narrow track through woods, then bits of road, then a long muddy standing water track, a field or two with gates and stiles, more bits of road, then up through woods to the obelisk. However due to building work we had to divert round and use a different track down. I seem to remember last year’s track down through the woods being much more fun – very steep and winding and slippery. We were soon into a steep downhill road section, probably the least enjoyable bit. Most of the last four miles or so retrace the outward route. With about three miles to go I was thinking of anything apart from the fact there were still about three miles to go! I think that the gale force gusts and wet mud had taken their toll – but it was the same for everyone. It’s a bad feeling when 6 or 7 people go past on the last two miles and here’s nothing you can do to increase the pace.
I was very pleased to see the finish line and my time of about 87:24 shouldn’t really have disappointed me. Last year I did 80:34 but in retrospect that was proportionally the best position I probably ever have done in any race. So, especially with today’s adverse weather, I shouldn’t be disappointed but there were people I beat last year who beat me easily this time, maybe I get too bogged down on results and positions, perhaps I should run a few races without a watch and not look up the finish positions.
On the same subject I spoke to one of the organisers as the prize list for a race of this size is paltry – 350 finishers last year. For the male 40 and female 35 there is just ONE prize each, and no other veteran categories. I was told that the popularity of the race had taken Dawlish Coasters by surprise and in the first year it took time to work out the prizes and people just went home, before they were ready. However they have a different race results computer system now and next year they could well extend the prize categories etc.
Richard's consolation prize - a half eaten banana..................
Lesley sensibly boycotted the race and kept an eye on the sea defences instead.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Four Trigs Recce
Last Sunday Richard, Lesley, Martin & I met at Sidmouth as Richard and Lesley had decided against all the evidence and their better judgement to trust our navigational skills and run round the 4 Trigs course with us. Some of you may remember that Martin and I completed this self navigating race taking in the 4 trigs surrounding Sidmouth last year – quite successfully – mainly due to some exhaustive recceing of the route in advance.
However, running round it again 12 months later was not quite as easy as it sounds because each year the course changes from clockwise to anticlockwise and running the same route in the opposite direction is surprisingly confusing. Plus we had to find the cunning short cut which a couple of locals took in order to get ahead of us last year.
Our first mission was to find free car parking having discovered that East Devon County Council wanted to rip us off to the tune of 80p an hour and we had no idea how many hours it was going to take. We set off in convoy with grim determination, turned out of the car park, and immediately found some free spaces about 100 yards from where we were bracing ourselves to part with our hard earned cash!
As we were starting the run about a mile in from the start, we were faced with running (?!) up Peak Hill right at the start – the cruel hill that figures in the start of the Sidmuth 10k. Much huffing, puffing and moaning followed until we eventually reached the summit. Here it was possible to take a short cut as the first trig is out and back about a mile along the coast path and can NOT be missed. What if we miss it Richard asked plaintively? To which I replied, if you find yourself plummeting head first down a cliff then you know you’ve missed it but you probably won’t care any more.
Next for the stretch through the woods where we only took one wrong turning. Fortunately Lesley discovered that she had dropped her map and sent Richard back to the bottom of the hill to fetch it. Meanwhile Martin checked his map and realised he was taking us the wrong way (I knew it was the wrong way but also that it’s a waste of time arguing with Martin). We could have waited until Richard had slogged back up the hill before letting on (that would have been my choice) but the others, being of kinder disposition, trotted back down to meet him and save him the trouble.
An easy section followed until we reached the first major road crossing and the point at which we had to find our way through the woods. There was no foot path on the map for the way we needed to go and Martin and I had tried 2 or 3 different routes the previous year., none of which were either direct or easy. This time we found a permissive path heading in the right direction and managed to negotiate our way through the woods to the required path – part of the East Devon Way. We made a sight detour to miss a steep plummet down wooded hillside. Richard is planning to gallop straight down the steepest part in order to save time whilst Lesley could be heard muttering darkly about staying on the road.
More hills followed and another road crossing until we reached the 2nd trig point (I didn’t actually make it having turned off the track a little too early and being detained by some rather ferocious gorse – however I took advantage of the delay whilst the others dutifully trekked out and back, to polish off my elevenses).
By this stage we had already completed the trickiest parts of the course so we could relax a little and push on – this involved Richard charging down a very wet, muddy path, happily splashing water everywhere and ensuring that his new shoes were well and truly christened. The rest of us followed a little more gingerly. Another road crossing at Sidford and then another climb and another short cut through the woods – not entirely sure we went the right way there, but we reached our objective which was to find the path to the third and most cunningly concealed trig point. Actually it was a lot easier to find from this direction – the difficulty then was finding our way back out of the overgrown woods to the correct path.
Once out into the fields we digressed from our trail running to help a lady catch her playful and energetic dog who was much more interested in running the rest of the route with us than going home for lunch and a nap by the fire. A steep downhill, followed by the inevitable steep uphill climb followed – and the rain which had been threatening for a while began. We could hear the donkeys at the donkey sanctuary bellowing for food so Martin gave the useful advice to “head for the donkeys” as we followed the trail through the woods and up to the last major road crossing. My favourite section here – through the donkey sanctuary, however most of the inhabitants were wisely avoiding the inclement weather and we only spotted a few rather baleful faces staring out at us.
At this point there was a very tempting short cut which would have taken us to Weston Mouth – without having to drop down to the beach and up the other side. After spending 10 minutes explaining the route to the final trig to Richard and Lesley, Martin and I relented and agreed that it was only fair to show them the way, even if it did add a mile or two to our route.
A short road section along to Weston and then back on to the bridle path towards Weston Mouth. We parted company here – Richard and Martin ran up to the final trig, Lesley and I sensibly decided to head straight for Weston Mouth as this is the easiest trig to find and it really wasn’t necessary to run the extra hill just to look at it.
We were within about 3 miles of Sidmouth now but both Martin and I knew that there were a couple of ferocious hills between us and our goal – firstly the aforementioned Weston Mouth and a couple of miles later – Salcombe Mouth. At this point Martin the Intrepid decided that we would return along the beach instead of tackling the final hill. How do you know the tide is out far enough I asked? It’s bound to be he said confidently and set off before I could raise any further argument. Richard, Lesley and I trailed in his wake, battling along the shingle in a decidedly Grizzly like fashion. I have to say that the only thing that kept me going was the fear that the tide would come in too far before I reached Sidmouth – interestingly I wasn’t particularly worried about drowning, it was just the thought of having to trail back along the beach and up the final hill that was worrying me.
Fortunately we all made it unscathed and could then run across the finishing line in front of the Yacht Club – only to have to run another mile before we got back to the cars. It had been a gruelling morning – over 4 hours to cover 15 miles – but it’s a beautiful part of the country and hopefully Richard and Lesley will benefit from our experiences last year. Last we heard Richard was planning to come back and go round again in a couple of weeks time, think we’ll leave it until the day!
Link here to entry form if you feel inclined to join the madness…………..
And here is a selection of the photographs Martin took.
Lin & Martin are actually ready to start at the agreed time!
The first trig point ahead
Lin demonstrates the correct way to Martin
It helps if you have the map the right way up
The second trig
Richard thinks if he runs fast enough and flaps his arms he can fly!
A bath may be necessary later......
The muddy shoe competition
Up!
And up!
It's just around the corner...
The race against tide.
However, running round it again 12 months later was not quite as easy as it sounds because each year the course changes from clockwise to anticlockwise and running the same route in the opposite direction is surprisingly confusing. Plus we had to find the cunning short cut which a couple of locals took in order to get ahead of us last year.
Our first mission was to find free car parking having discovered that East Devon County Council wanted to rip us off to the tune of 80p an hour and we had no idea how many hours it was going to take. We set off in convoy with grim determination, turned out of the car park, and immediately found some free spaces about 100 yards from where we were bracing ourselves to part with our hard earned cash!
As we were starting the run about a mile in from the start, we were faced with running (?!) up Peak Hill right at the start – the cruel hill that figures in the start of the Sidmuth 10k. Much huffing, puffing and moaning followed until we eventually reached the summit. Here it was possible to take a short cut as the first trig is out and back about a mile along the coast path and can NOT be missed. What if we miss it Richard asked plaintively? To which I replied, if you find yourself plummeting head first down a cliff then you know you’ve missed it but you probably won’t care any more.
Next for the stretch through the woods where we only took one wrong turning. Fortunately Lesley discovered that she had dropped her map and sent Richard back to the bottom of the hill to fetch it. Meanwhile Martin checked his map and realised he was taking us the wrong way (I knew it was the wrong way but also that it’s a waste of time arguing with Martin). We could have waited until Richard had slogged back up the hill before letting on (that would have been my choice) but the others, being of kinder disposition, trotted back down to meet him and save him the trouble.
An easy section followed until we reached the first major road crossing and the point at which we had to find our way through the woods. There was no foot path on the map for the way we needed to go and Martin and I had tried 2 or 3 different routes the previous year., none of which were either direct or easy. This time we found a permissive path heading in the right direction and managed to negotiate our way through the woods to the required path – part of the East Devon Way. We made a sight detour to miss a steep plummet down wooded hillside. Richard is planning to gallop straight down the steepest part in order to save time whilst Lesley could be heard muttering darkly about staying on the road.
More hills followed and another road crossing until we reached the 2nd trig point (I didn’t actually make it having turned off the track a little too early and being detained by some rather ferocious gorse – however I took advantage of the delay whilst the others dutifully trekked out and back, to polish off my elevenses).
By this stage we had already completed the trickiest parts of the course so we could relax a little and push on – this involved Richard charging down a very wet, muddy path, happily splashing water everywhere and ensuring that his new shoes were well and truly christened. The rest of us followed a little more gingerly. Another road crossing at Sidford and then another climb and another short cut through the woods – not entirely sure we went the right way there, but we reached our objective which was to find the path to the third and most cunningly concealed trig point. Actually it was a lot easier to find from this direction – the difficulty then was finding our way back out of the overgrown woods to the correct path.
Once out into the fields we digressed from our trail running to help a lady catch her playful and energetic dog who was much more interested in running the rest of the route with us than going home for lunch and a nap by the fire. A steep downhill, followed by the inevitable steep uphill climb followed – and the rain which had been threatening for a while began. We could hear the donkeys at the donkey sanctuary bellowing for food so Martin gave the useful advice to “head for the donkeys” as we followed the trail through the woods and up to the last major road crossing. My favourite section here – through the donkey sanctuary, however most of the inhabitants were wisely avoiding the inclement weather and we only spotted a few rather baleful faces staring out at us.
At this point there was a very tempting short cut which would have taken us to Weston Mouth – without having to drop down to the beach and up the other side. After spending 10 minutes explaining the route to the final trig to Richard and Lesley, Martin and I relented and agreed that it was only fair to show them the way, even if it did add a mile or two to our route.
A short road section along to Weston and then back on to the bridle path towards Weston Mouth. We parted company here – Richard and Martin ran up to the final trig, Lesley and I sensibly decided to head straight for Weston Mouth as this is the easiest trig to find and it really wasn’t necessary to run the extra hill just to look at it.
We were within about 3 miles of Sidmouth now but both Martin and I knew that there were a couple of ferocious hills between us and our goal – firstly the aforementioned Weston Mouth and a couple of miles later – Salcombe Mouth. At this point Martin the Intrepid decided that we would return along the beach instead of tackling the final hill. How do you know the tide is out far enough I asked? It’s bound to be he said confidently and set off before I could raise any further argument. Richard, Lesley and I trailed in his wake, battling along the shingle in a decidedly Grizzly like fashion. I have to say that the only thing that kept me going was the fear that the tide would come in too far before I reached Sidmouth – interestingly I wasn’t particularly worried about drowning, it was just the thought of having to trail back along the beach and up the final hill that was worrying me.
Fortunately we all made it unscathed and could then run across the finishing line in front of the Yacht Club – only to have to run another mile before we got back to the cars. It had been a gruelling morning – over 4 hours to cover 15 miles – but it’s a beautiful part of the country and hopefully Richard and Lesley will benefit from our experiences last year. Last we heard Richard was planning to come back and go round again in a couple of weeks time, think we’ll leave it until the day!
Link here to entry form if you feel inclined to join the madness…………..
And here is a selection of the photographs Martin took.
Lin & Martin are actually ready to start at the agreed time!
The first trig point ahead
Lin demonstrates the correct way to Martin
It helps if you have the map the right way up
The second trig
Richard thinks if he runs fast enough and flaps his arms he can fly!
A bath may be necessary later......
The muddy shoe competition
Up!
And up!
It's just around the corner...
The race against tide.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Wellington Monument & Stoke Stampede 10ks
Wellington Monument 10k isn't the most exciting event but we keep doing it every year anyway - mainly because it can easily be combined with a pre Christmas visit to my parents. And this year we scored a double whammy - lunch at Richard and Lesley's as well as a family dinner.
We set off slightly later than we intended in a dangerous format - me behind the wheel and Martin with the map. This is not a slur on my driving, which compared to Martin's is boringly safe, as opposed to fast, reckless, nerve wracking, suicidal.............. Martin's map reading is also distinctive, his philosophy being, why drive 4 miles along a main road when you could take a short cut, i.e 3 and a half miles, along a lane with grass growing up the middle and various farm animals running free? Anyway, I digress ( as usual) - we arrived (eventually), safely (slightly stressed) and so back to the race report.
We had been worried about how slippery condition would be due to icy roads, but our fears proved ill founded. We gathered outside the Catherine Wheel pub, the race organiser gave a mercifully short speech which no one could hear anyway and then we were off on the mad dash down the hill out of the village. Martin was on a mission to try and retain his male vet 50 title from last year so he soon disappeared from my view. I knew as soon as I hit the hill that it was going to be another hard slog for me. Richard passed me soon after this making some strange clicking noises and gestures (which he explained afterwards was something to do with Harry Enfield - completely lost on a non TV viewer like me). Anyway he soon disappeared from view too, as did most other people.
As I turned off the road and onto the Monument track I was treated to the rare sight of seeing the front runners - having completed their loop of the Monument they were already on their way back. The first lady (an International we had been told pre race, although I must confess to not recognising either her face or her name) was in 6th place overall - although she was clearly working very hard. (She eventually knocked a massive 40 seconds off the course record - fantastic effort).
I counted the runners and in 18th place was one Martin Lascelles looking like he was out for a stroll in the park. And with a potential threat for his vet trophy - Phil Baylis from Axe Valley Runners - firmly behind him. Marvellous!
I completed my loop and started back down the track - meeting Lesley on her way up - and now it was my chance to feel smug that I was returning and that all those I met were still on their way out. It's mostly downhill on the way back except for the final climb up through the village, past the start and on to the race HQ at the primary school. I had hoped to beat last year's time, but it just wasn't my day and I recorded a personal worst for the course (46.06) and may just have scraped into 10th place. It was a very strong field this year - even last year when I still didn't have a brilliant run I was fourth overall.
Martin did fantastically well - he was only 10 seconds outside of last year's time, despite having done 32 miles the previous weekend and the lack of solid training. We waited for what seemd about 3 hours for the presentation to finally take place, only to discover that John Shapland from North Devon Road Runners had beaten him into 2nd MV50! What a disappointment. Due to the fact that he only weighs about 6 and a half stones neither of us had spotted him. As there are still no results to be found we don't know what the winning margin was and I also can't report on Richard and Lesley's results, but I'm sure they will tell you themselves.
We enjoyed an excellent lunch, and were treated (?) to Richard modelling his Everest/Father Christmas-keep-everything, including nearby mountains, dry poncho. I don't think they'll catch on in the running world..............
And so getting Christmas over with (spent the morning keeping to the age old tradition - no, not getting up at 6am to put the turkey in the oven and make the stuffing - the famous Xmas day run at big Phils' house - good turnout this year - about 14 of us although it was difficult to count because no one stood still for long enough). And the newer tradition of stopping at the Greyhound on the way back, at least this year we didn't have to abandon the car for later collection........
Boxing Day - another age old tradition, the Stoke Stampede. An interesting figure of 8 10k and another place that there is just no easy way to get to. Amazingly we were early, but that gave us plenty of time to eye up the competition before the half mile jog up to the start. Martin is so fired up at the moment that he had decided once again to forego the pleasure of plodding round with me and to race it instead.
Richard and Lesley were also on the start line (Lesley having remembered to pin her number on this time - luckily, given the distance from the car to the start!) and there was a large YTRRC turnout. I had my own agenda - to beat Pete Jakeman and get my revenge for his victory at the recent Street 5k.
Another downhill start - a real cavalry charge along a narrow lane down into the village and for the first couple of km I could see the green and white of Martin's vest ahead of me. Pete was on my shoulder and I was working hard to keep him there. The first loop is clockwise and includes quite a sharp climb, both Pete and another Yeovil runner, Mark, overtook me, but neither of them pulled far ahead and once we reached the top I was able to pass them as we headed back to the start and the village to complete the first loop. I didn't see Pete again, but Mark also overtook me on the climb at the start of the second, anti clockwise loop. Once again I pulled him back at the top and managed to open up a bit of a gap which he never managed to close again.
At about 8km I became aware of someone else catching me, caught a glimpse of bright yellow out of the corner of my eye and to my surprise discovered that Richard was behind me. I thought he was so far ahead that I hadn't even seen him! We ran the rest of the race side by side until the very end where Richard sprinted ahead to try and hold off the challenge of a Mexican bandit complete with Poncho, Sombrero and guns.
Unfortunately, as Richard was not sporting his own go faster, bright red Poncho he didn't win the contest!
I was quite pleased with my time of 42.06 which was half a minute or so faster than last year despite having done another 10k only 3 days earlier....until I saw Martin's smiling face and he smugly told me that he had done 38.29!
We have a contest which is who has the record time for each race that we do - and Stoke was one of the dwindling number of races that still counted as mine - until today when Martin had smashed my 2003 time of 39.09. Despite being a bit put out, I was also very proud, he is running so well at the moment and if there had been a MV50 prize today he would surely have won it. Lesley finished in around 52 minutes, a little slower than last year, but understandable in view of the stress she had endured over the past 2 days.
So that's Christmas run and dusted. Now we have the New Year to look forward to and the Brown Willy, a 6 mile race over Bodmin moor on New Year's Day. At least I don't have to worry about retaining the course record since neither of us have done it before!
We set off slightly later than we intended in a dangerous format - me behind the wheel and Martin with the map. This is not a slur on my driving, which compared to Martin's is boringly safe, as opposed to fast, reckless, nerve wracking, suicidal.............. Martin's map reading is also distinctive, his philosophy being, why drive 4 miles along a main road when you could take a short cut, i.e 3 and a half miles, along a lane with grass growing up the middle and various farm animals running free? Anyway, I digress ( as usual) - we arrived (eventually), safely (slightly stressed) and so back to the race report.
We had been worried about how slippery condition would be due to icy roads, but our fears proved ill founded. We gathered outside the Catherine Wheel pub, the race organiser gave a mercifully short speech which no one could hear anyway and then we were off on the mad dash down the hill out of the village. Martin was on a mission to try and retain his male vet 50 title from last year so he soon disappeared from my view. I knew as soon as I hit the hill that it was going to be another hard slog for me. Richard passed me soon after this making some strange clicking noises and gestures (which he explained afterwards was something to do with Harry Enfield - completely lost on a non TV viewer like me). Anyway he soon disappeared from view too, as did most other people.
As I turned off the road and onto the Monument track I was treated to the rare sight of seeing the front runners - having completed their loop of the Monument they were already on their way back. The first lady (an International we had been told pre race, although I must confess to not recognising either her face or her name) was in 6th place overall - although she was clearly working very hard. (She eventually knocked a massive 40 seconds off the course record - fantastic effort).
I counted the runners and in 18th place was one Martin Lascelles looking like he was out for a stroll in the park. And with a potential threat for his vet trophy - Phil Baylis from Axe Valley Runners - firmly behind him. Marvellous!
I completed my loop and started back down the track - meeting Lesley on her way up - and now it was my chance to feel smug that I was returning and that all those I met were still on their way out. It's mostly downhill on the way back except for the final climb up through the village, past the start and on to the race HQ at the primary school. I had hoped to beat last year's time, but it just wasn't my day and I recorded a personal worst for the course (46.06) and may just have scraped into 10th place. It was a very strong field this year - even last year when I still didn't have a brilliant run I was fourth overall.
Martin did fantastically well - he was only 10 seconds outside of last year's time, despite having done 32 miles the previous weekend and the lack of solid training. We waited for what seemd about 3 hours for the presentation to finally take place, only to discover that John Shapland from North Devon Road Runners had beaten him into 2nd MV50! What a disappointment. Due to the fact that he only weighs about 6 and a half stones neither of us had spotted him. As there are still no results to be found we don't know what the winning margin was and I also can't report on Richard and Lesley's results, but I'm sure they will tell you themselves.
We enjoyed an excellent lunch, and were treated (?) to Richard modelling his Everest/Father Christmas-keep-everything, including nearby mountains, dry poncho. I don't think they'll catch on in the running world..............
And so getting Christmas over with (spent the morning keeping to the age old tradition - no, not getting up at 6am to put the turkey in the oven and make the stuffing - the famous Xmas day run at big Phils' house - good turnout this year - about 14 of us although it was difficult to count because no one stood still for long enough). And the newer tradition of stopping at the Greyhound on the way back, at least this year we didn't have to abandon the car for later collection........
Boxing Day - another age old tradition, the Stoke Stampede. An interesting figure of 8 10k and another place that there is just no easy way to get to. Amazingly we were early, but that gave us plenty of time to eye up the competition before the half mile jog up to the start. Martin is so fired up at the moment that he had decided once again to forego the pleasure of plodding round with me and to race it instead.
Richard and Lesley were also on the start line (Lesley having remembered to pin her number on this time - luckily, given the distance from the car to the start!) and there was a large YTRRC turnout. I had my own agenda - to beat Pete Jakeman and get my revenge for his victory at the recent Street 5k.
Another downhill start - a real cavalry charge along a narrow lane down into the village and for the first couple of km I could see the green and white of Martin's vest ahead of me. Pete was on my shoulder and I was working hard to keep him there. The first loop is clockwise and includes quite a sharp climb, both Pete and another Yeovil runner, Mark, overtook me, but neither of them pulled far ahead and once we reached the top I was able to pass them as we headed back to the start and the village to complete the first loop. I didn't see Pete again, but Mark also overtook me on the climb at the start of the second, anti clockwise loop. Once again I pulled him back at the top and managed to open up a bit of a gap which he never managed to close again.
At about 8km I became aware of someone else catching me, caught a glimpse of bright yellow out of the corner of my eye and to my surprise discovered that Richard was behind me. I thought he was so far ahead that I hadn't even seen him! We ran the rest of the race side by side until the very end where Richard sprinted ahead to try and hold off the challenge of a Mexican bandit complete with Poncho, Sombrero and guns.
Unfortunately, as Richard was not sporting his own go faster, bright red Poncho he didn't win the contest!
I was quite pleased with my time of 42.06 which was half a minute or so faster than last year despite having done another 10k only 3 days earlier....until I saw Martin's smiling face and he smugly told me that he had done 38.29!
We have a contest which is who has the record time for each race that we do - and Stoke was one of the dwindling number of races that still counted as mine - until today when Martin had smashed my 2003 time of 39.09. Despite being a bit put out, I was also very proud, he is running so well at the moment and if there had been a MV50 prize today he would surely have won it. Lesley finished in around 52 minutes, a little slower than last year, but understandable in view of the stress she had endured over the past 2 days.
So that's Christmas run and dusted. Now we have the New Year to look forward to and the Brown Willy, a 6 mile race over Bodmin moor on New Year's Day. At least I don't have to worry about retaining the course record since neither of us have done it before!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Bushy Park Time Trial & Ambition Life Lee Valley run
Well it couldn't last - 5 weekends at home with no races and Martin and I were both getting fidgety. My injury was steadily improving and the miles were starting to build up again, so a weekend away with not one, but two events sounded like just what we needed.
Friday evening saw us travelling up to London to camp overnight at Chertsey ready for the Bushy Park Time Trial on Saturday morning. This really is a fantastic event - it's free to enter, you register on line and once you've done it you never have to register again. It's held every Saturday throughout the year and the website is brilliant - up to date results appear soon after the event which not only tell you your position and time but whether it's your first event, and if not, what your PB is and if you've beaten it. http://www.parkrun.com
Martin & I did it in April 2005, so all we had to do was show up at 9am....and run. Despite being so far from home we weren't the only enthusiasts sporting Yeovil vests. Ex Maiden Newton Runner, Brian Mountjoy Row was staying with his daughter (17 minutes away at a warm up jog!) and joined us on the start line.
The route crosses the park to the southern boundary and then follows an anti clockwise loop around the perimeter before turning south along an avenue of trees to the finish. The paths are mainly quite smooth, easy running and it's almost completely flat. After his excellent run at the Street 5k on Wednesday evening, Martin decided to take it easy and jog round with me. I was hoping to beat my Street time but I had my excuses ready, lack of fitness, lack of racing, legs still tired etc. etc. to recite when I finished - in 21.26, 23 seconds outside of Wednesday's time. From there it was an easy drive to the Sweatshop, specialist running shop in nearby Teddington, where as BPTT runners we received a 10% discount and consequently were quite a bit poorer by the time we left the premises....................
Next day we arrived at Cheshunt station at 6.55am expecting the Ambition Life 7am start to resemble a YTRRC 7am start, i.e most people don't turn up till 7.10am and then you might start at 7.30 if you're lucky. This was after all billed as a 32 mile training run, NOT a race. Needless to say, I was struggling into my shoes and Martin was searching for change for the car park when the other runners set off into the darkness. Fortunately we managed to catch up the stragglers before they disappeared to find out where we were going!
The run followed the Lee River south towards London and was quite simply described as "follow the water"! As it was an out and back course the option was to run whatever distance you chose, some people were planning marathon distance, others were going "all the way". We set off without any clear idea of how far we were going to do. We ran a mile or so with Ambition Life Managing Director, Rory Coleman, with Martin quizzing him enthusiastically about the prices for various events and why they've gone up so much! I think Rory was probably quite pleased when we pushed on ahead and left him in peace!
The route was not quite as scenic as we expected, but it was flat, easy running and being completely new to us, we enjoyed it. We reached the promised cafe at 10 miles which was one of the options for turning back....and decided to go on. We reached the 13.1 mile point at a lock (the name of which I have deleted from my memory).....and decided to go on. And then we were so close to the turning point it would have seemed like wimping out so we ran right on to the Commercial Road Bridge, which according to my GPS was just over 16 miles.
The first few miles of the return route flew past as we ran with Graham, a Benfleet runner, who was carrying a pack weighing about 6kg as he is in training for Marathon des Sables. We listened in awe to his description of doing 80 - 90 miles a week, cross training, working and all fitting around his young family. Apparently there's this thing you can do called "getting your arse out of bed early". I'm not sure it'll catch on in the Lascelles/Cummins household, but it was interesting to hear about it. (Graham had completed the Ironman at Sherborne in 11.15). It was quite a relief when he decided to push on and we could drop back to a more comfortable pace!
By now the sun had come out and although still chilly, it was a beautiful morning. We kept going at a steady pace and the miles flew past as we ticked off various landmarks from the run out. We both "hit the wall" at about the same time - with 10 miles to go. From then on it was just a case of putting one foot in front of the other and telling ourselves what an excellent training session we were putting ourselves through.
Finally we crossed the last road and knew we had less than 2 miles to go, one final problem: As it was dark when we set out we didn't recognise the final stretch and we weren't sure at which point to exit the towpath! We made the right choice and as we headed towards the level crossing which stood between us and the station I remarked to Martin that I just KNEW the barrier was going to come down before we reached it......and sure enought it did, so we had to crawl up the steps and over the bridge to reach our destination!
We took about 5 hours 20 in total and although it had been really tough at the end we were extremely chuffed with that. We haven't even been running 30 miles per week for the past 2 months, and even better my Achilles was absolutely fine and still is today. Might even be able to fit in another race or two before the end of the year......................
Friday evening saw us travelling up to London to camp overnight at Chertsey ready for the Bushy Park Time Trial on Saturday morning. This really is a fantastic event - it's free to enter, you register on line and once you've done it you never have to register again. It's held every Saturday throughout the year and the website is brilliant - up to date results appear soon after the event which not only tell you your position and time but whether it's your first event, and if not, what your PB is and if you've beaten it. http://www.parkrun.com
Martin & I did it in April 2005, so all we had to do was show up at 9am....and run. Despite being so far from home we weren't the only enthusiasts sporting Yeovil vests. Ex Maiden Newton Runner, Brian Mountjoy Row was staying with his daughter (17 minutes away at a warm up jog!) and joined us on the start line.
The route crosses the park to the southern boundary and then follows an anti clockwise loop around the perimeter before turning south along an avenue of trees to the finish. The paths are mainly quite smooth, easy running and it's almost completely flat. After his excellent run at the Street 5k on Wednesday evening, Martin decided to take it easy and jog round with me. I was hoping to beat my Street time but I had my excuses ready, lack of fitness, lack of racing, legs still tired etc. etc. to recite when I finished - in 21.26, 23 seconds outside of Wednesday's time. From there it was an easy drive to the Sweatshop, specialist running shop in nearby Teddington, where as BPTT runners we received a 10% discount and consequently were quite a bit poorer by the time we left the premises....................
Next day we arrived at Cheshunt station at 6.55am expecting the Ambition Life 7am start to resemble a YTRRC 7am start, i.e most people don't turn up till 7.10am and then you might start at 7.30 if you're lucky. This was after all billed as a 32 mile training run, NOT a race. Needless to say, I was struggling into my shoes and Martin was searching for change for the car park when the other runners set off into the darkness. Fortunately we managed to catch up the stragglers before they disappeared to find out where we were going!
The run followed the Lee River south towards London and was quite simply described as "follow the water"! As it was an out and back course the option was to run whatever distance you chose, some people were planning marathon distance, others were going "all the way". We set off without any clear idea of how far we were going to do. We ran a mile or so with Ambition Life Managing Director, Rory Coleman, with Martin quizzing him enthusiastically about the prices for various events and why they've gone up so much! I think Rory was probably quite pleased when we pushed on ahead and left him in peace!
The route was not quite as scenic as we expected, but it was flat, easy running and being completely new to us, we enjoyed it. We reached the promised cafe at 10 miles which was one of the options for turning back....and decided to go on. We reached the 13.1 mile point at a lock (the name of which I have deleted from my memory).....and decided to go on. And then we were so close to the turning point it would have seemed like wimping out so we ran right on to the Commercial Road Bridge, which according to my GPS was just over 16 miles.
The first few miles of the return route flew past as we ran with Graham, a Benfleet runner, who was carrying a pack weighing about 6kg as he is in training for Marathon des Sables. We listened in awe to his description of doing 80 - 90 miles a week, cross training, working and all fitting around his young family. Apparently there's this thing you can do called "getting your arse out of bed early". I'm not sure it'll catch on in the Lascelles/Cummins household, but it was interesting to hear about it. (Graham had completed the Ironman at Sherborne in 11.15). It was quite a relief when he decided to push on and we could drop back to a more comfortable pace!
By now the sun had come out and although still chilly, it was a beautiful morning. We kept going at a steady pace and the miles flew past as we ticked off various landmarks from the run out. We both "hit the wall" at about the same time - with 10 miles to go. From then on it was just a case of putting one foot in front of the other and telling ourselves what an excellent training session we were putting ourselves through.
Finally we crossed the last road and knew we had less than 2 miles to go, one final problem: As it was dark when we set out we didn't recognise the final stretch and we weren't sure at which point to exit the towpath! We made the right choice and as we headed towards the level crossing which stood between us and the station I remarked to Martin that I just KNEW the barrier was going to come down before we reached it......and sure enought it did, so we had to crawl up the steps and over the bridge to reach our destination!
We took about 5 hours 20 in total and although it had been really tough at the end we were extremely chuffed with that. We haven't even been running 30 miles per week for the past 2 months, and even better my Achilles was absolutely fine and still is today. Might even be able to fit in another race or two before the end of the year......................
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