Running and Training

Greensands Marathon 2009

2009-10-26T03:02:00.001-07:00

You know when you are up for a different kind of marathon when all the runners at the start are encouraged to sing ‘Jerusalem’ while the race director, wearing union jack running shorts holds up boards with the words on. We all huddled at the start having sung with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and the atmosphere was a good one. A lot of the usual running crew were there, and it was the first time I had seen many of them since my ankle injury put me out off marathon running for 4 months.
The first mile was hilly, but it was the beginning of the race, so I didn’t really notice it too much, I was careful, however, to take mental notes of the terrain as it was an out and back course, so every down would become an up later on. This was a little worrying as there was a steep downhill after about one mile and I thought to myself that this was going to be tough to go up after 25 miles.
The first point everyone was gunning for was the top of Leith Hill, the race organiser had enforced a 1:20 cut off for the 7 mile mark, which could be quite tough, particularly as many of my friends had run Beachy Head Marathon the day before as part of a triple with Dublin on the Monday.
I reached Leith Hill in plenty of time, now for the tough part. From this point the trail becomes somewhat more hilly. I made sure to make the most of each downhill and try to work my way up the hills as best I could. The next landmark I had in my mind was pitch hill, which I guessed would be about 10 or 11 miles in. However I took a slight wrong turning, and ended up reaching a road. The course was marked, in places, by red and while warning tape and occasional yellow arrows spray painted on the ground. The first clue to being lost was a lack of markings. Rather than turn back and try to work out where I’d gone wrong, for some reason I decided that if I followed the road a bit I would meet up with where the runners had to cross the road. Luckily this worked out well. Unfortunately this was where I met up with Allan.
He’s doing the triple.
And he’s caught up with me.
Damn.
We ran together for a while, I knew id missed the top of Pitch Hill and so was aiming for the turnaround point. I knew I must be getting to within a mile or so because the leading runners were coming back the other way and they were flying!
The start of the return leg was refreshing. I now knew every step was closer to home. It was good to see the people just behind me and offer words of encouragement and high five-ing my friends as we ran past each other, some looking more cheerful than others. After everyone had ran past, it was back to the business of running!
I was feeling it! The hills and time off running were starting to take their toll on my body. I was trying to keep cheerful and just forced my legs to continue, all I had to do was get back to Leith Hill which was the 20 mile mark and it would be easier from there. Allan had passed me and it just shows what good shape he was in to be running well on his second marathon in as many days.
Reaching Leith Hill again was a slight relief, because I knew it was predominantly downhill most of the way back, and I could get back in to a decent pace. Well...decent ish after 20 tough miles. I was wary of the last mile, I knew that it was steep, but wasn’t quite prepared for how steep and how the energy had been sapped from my legs. I knew I was going to have to walk up the hill, so I put my hands on my knees and struggled up the steps, my body slumped forwards so much it felt as though I was almost scraping my chin on the ground. The top of the hill was marked by a Gazebo and I knew that was it, half a mile to go and all downhill. Result.
I tipped forward and let gravity do the work. As I was running I was overtaken by someone who was making a lot of noise, groaning with every step, I thought I’m not going to let someone who sounds that rough beat me! I picked up my pace a little and kept him in sight. We turned the last corner to run down a field to the start, I stretched out and he tried to accelerate, but he had less than I did! I just got in front of him and in a mixture of smugness, madness and just for fun I started singing ‘Jerusalem’ well I started with it I might as well finish with it. Allan, who finished a few minutes before me saw me come sprinting down the hill, with ‘ride of the valkyries’ playing on the PA and me singing. He told me afterwards that he thought I’d lost it – but admitted it was a good way to finish a race!
I crossed the line in just under 4 hours, I was happy with that on that kind of course and was glad to be able to sit down! I picked up the usual medal and t-shirt, but also we received bright green backpacks, Bizarre. I was an amazing route and definitely well worth running, if you can deal with the eccentricity of the race and the organiser.

Clarendon 2009

2009-10-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

I woke up early, just like any other marathon. However this was not just any other marathon. It may seem like it. 26.2 miles, trail, nothing particularly special. However this one was special, very special. It was my first marathon in 4 months, the first one back after my ankle injury.
This gave me cause for a mixture of emotions. I was excited to be back running again. I have been running for a few months before, but no ‘real’ distances. But also was nervous as I wasn’t sure how the ankle will hold up over the distance. Only one way to find out...
This has been one of my favourite marathons, so I could think of no better way to get back in to running again, and it looked as though the weather would be on my side too. I was picked up by my good friend John and it was good to see one of my running friends after so long and the start of the race felt more like a reunion, meeting people I hadn’t seen for a good few months. Some of which I hadn’t seen for longer. I immediately felt at home and comfortable.
The race itself is a point to point, starting at Winchester and finishing in Salisbury along the Clarendon way.
I started off at a good pace and it felt good to be running again, but my legs felt heavy very early on, and the going felt tough. Luckily I knew that my legs often take a few miles to loosen up and, hopefully everything would be ok...
I started running with an old friend, Trent, from my old running club. He was running the relay, so had to run a 10km leg as part of a team of 4. It was good to run with Trent, was an opportunity to chat to him while I was running, and catch up. He took great joy in tell me that he only had a couple of miles left to run, so I told him that he was missing out on the best bits and the he should be way out in front. He finished his leg, I finished my warm up.
The strange thing about this race is that the half marathon starts 1:45 after the beginning of the full, in previous years it was 1:30 after the start and I had to pick my way through the slower half marathon runners, which can be a psychological boost, or a bit of an inconvenience especially on the single track trails, and even more annoying if they are listening to their ipods and totally unaware of anything around them. It totally baffles me why people listen to music while running in an event. Not only does it make them unaware of other runners around them, but they miss out on the atmosphere of the race. Might as well stay at home and run any training run..
This year they put the start of the marathon 15 mins earlier, which meant for me that I got past the 13 mile mark before the start of the half. It is a strange experience running along and suddenly there is this stampede of the faster end off the half marathon runners. I comforted myself by thinking that they are the kind of people that do things by halves! Though I do prefer being the one holding people up!
After about 17 miles this settles down and normal running resumes. And everything was feeling fine. However after about 20 miles, my right ankle started giving me some issues. But not where I had originally injured it. It felt like it had been twisted. I think this was related to the injury and made me come to the conclusion that I would have to spend the next year concentrating on ‘shorter’ distances, marathons rather than too many ultras.
I finished, I a good time and felt happy, my legs were hurting and tight, I was surrounded in the familiar post marathon ache that I had come to realise was one of the best part of running. It was confirmation of a hard day’s work.
I was back.
I was happy.

My First Run Back

2009-08-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

I had been off running for nearly 2 months now and the ankle was starting to feel better, the swelling had gone down and I had been doing the exercises I was told to do by my physio, so all was going well. However I really wanted to get back to running, I never realised how much I would have missed it , doing a large volume of running, I knew I loved running but there were times when I took my running for granted.
My physio told me to try going out for a run, he warned me to only go out for 45 mins at most and see how the ankle responds, and increase the time on feet by 10 mins the next time I was out. So I dusted off my running kit and headed out of the door
At first I deliberately took it very easy, I was unsure what would happen and I was cautious not wanting to make it any worse. I took the first few tentative steps and felt good, so I plodded on. I decided, as my first run back to run some or parts of my favourite trails. This turned out to be the best idea I ever had!
As I continued running, my ankle still felt fine and my confidence grew, knowing that I could run again properly. I ended up running for an hour (don’t tell my physio)
On any other day that run would be nothing special, in fact it was a touch slow and my legs felt heavy from the lack of running before. But on that day it felt like the best run ever, I could have run all day. I felt liberated and happy again. I never realised how much I got for running until that day.

Writing about not running for a change

2009-07-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

As I sat on that wall by the bridge on the canal, my head in my hands trying desperately to stop myself from crying uncontrollably, I took a strange comfort in the fact that I had stopped running. The initial most dominant emotion was that after thirty one and a half hours I could stop, my mind was free, no more having to kid myself that I was ok, no more forcing myself to believe positive thoughts, no more ignoring the niggling pains and the lack of sleep and the heat . But most comforting of all was that I felt content with what I had done, after all it doesn’t really matter who you are 122 miles is a long way! I felt that I had got everything I needed from that race and the only thing missing was the lump of metal that I would have got had I crossed the finish line in Little Venice.
The only thing missing...
The next few days were an uncomfortable mixture of sleeping, taking pain killers, regularly icing my swollen right ankle and hobbling to the bathroom. By now I had lost all movement in the ankle and putting any weight on it was impossible. I felt awkward and had the overly melodramatic feeling that I would never be able to run again, this is, strangely enough quite a common feeling for me after a big race if I can barely move the next few days, and it has no real place in my thoughts, of course I was going to get back to running, as far as I was concerned at this stage it was sore and swollen and when the swelling goes down, I’ll be ok to run again within a few weeks. Or so I told myself.
The first punch of reality is when I went to see my physio and good friend, Steve. He very clearly said to me that I would be off running totally for 3 months, at least. What?!? 3 months?!? And what do you mean ‘at least’?!? This was a bit of a kick in the teeth, running meant so much to me, not only on a physical sense, by keeping me fit and stopping me getting fat, it was also I kind of catharsis. Whenever I was having a bad day, I would go for a run, if ever there were too many things on my mind, I would run, and everything would have a way of getting sorted in my head and I could deal with everyday problems better. Now I did not have my running comfort blanket. But that was ok, I was sure that I could find some way of easing my urge to run, but that was at the back of my mind, right now all I wanted to do was to rehab my ankle properly and make sure I could get back to running. A big fear for me, is not only not running, but me being too impatient and come back too soon and has to be off for even longer, potentially permanently. I told myself that I’d rather rest and rehab for 3-4 months and be able to get back to running proper distances, than to have a recurring problem that would limit my mileage to the ‘shorter’ marathons, this gave me comfort in what I was doing by not running would enable to be run long distances in the future.
The first week or so was the most frustrating, simply because I couldn’t move too well, and upon Steve’s instructions, I was confined to resting and regular icing in the first week and I was mobile, but on crutches for the subsequent two weeks. This poses a massive problem being a self employed personal trainer, not only because I don’t get any sick pay, but it is quite a challenge demonstrating a lunge to a client, whilst on crutches. It was at this point where the bad emotions started to rear their ugly heads.
Was it worth it?
I had taken a few days off prior to the race, in order to relax and prepare myself, make sure I got what I needed etc. However now I was forced to take a couple of weeks off due to the injury. Two and a half weeks, no pay, and clients wanting to be trained. Time to get back to work. Still hobbling along on the crutches I spend the next few weeks getting taxis everywhere. The strangest thing coming back to work was people’s reactions to what I had just done. Most were impressed and congratulated me on how far I got, I was happy with this sort of reaction, because it made it easier to believe myself that I was satisfied with 122 miles. Some were sympathetic with me not finishing and I told them that it was ok because I was content with being able to run 122 miles and knowing that I didn’t give up, I didn’t break down mentally, I was just unlucky and picked up an injury. I said it so much I started to believe it. Most asked me ‘was it worth it?’ without even thinking I said ‘yeah, absolutely!’ as if it was even an absurd question to ask.
I had put the idea of revisiting the canal on hold, both physically, and mentally, I didn’t even write the report until 6 weeks after. I couldn’t deal with the emotions that I had unearthed during those 31 hours and the 24 immediately afterwards. I also couldn’t deal very well with the idea of not running. I had booked a few races a month after the canal which, had I not been injured I would have been able to run and there were races I was looking forward to running, by the time the first one arrived, I was still on crutches. I couldn’t walk let alone run. A few of my running buddies were running that weekend and I emailed, texted or phoned them to ask them how they got on. I was genuinely interested, but had this niggling thought in the back of my mind that I was jealous as hell and not at all interested just wanted to somehow ‘be a part’ of my sport which I love an cannot, at this time participate in. But not only that, I was missing out on my social scene, I had a number of good friend who I have met through running and the only times I get to see them is on a, practically weekly, marathon. For the first time I realised just how much of my social life revolved around running.
I had pretty much made up my mind; I didn’t think I could put myself through all that again. The race was the easy part. Living with the injury and the reality of not running has been tougher.
The biggest problem is I didn’t finish.
If I had crossed that finish line, I would have a consolation, I would have completed what I had set out to do. I would have that lump of metal. It would have been worth it. But I didn’t. I had spent the best part of a year obsessing about this race. Every day from when I decided to enter I thought about the race and crossing the finish line, I wondered what it would be like, how I would feel. I imagined myself sitting on the wall with James totally knackered but happy, I wondered what we would talk about.
I still have the same questions now as I did then.
It has only been recently, about 6 weeks after the race that I have seriously entertained the idea of running this next year. I told people that I loved it and would run it again, maybe not next year but in 2011. But (not very) deep down I was just trying to give myself excuses so that I would have to run it again, despite not wanting to go through the pain again for ‘nothing’. To say I got nothing from the canal run could not be further from the truth. The only thing that the ‘record books’ would say is ‘Nick Morrison-Smith –DNF’ if anything at all. If it was recognition I wanted I wasn’t going to get it here, it would make no difference if I had retire after 2 miles or 122. anyway, if I wanted recognition, I’m in the wrong sport for the wrong reasons! But It make a difference, a huge difference. When I talked to people most would ask ‘why?’ simple answer ‘To see if I can. To see how far I can go. To see if I can keep on moving.’ these questions were answered to varying degrees, although I had to stop, I felt I could have finished had I not got injured, and finished well. Although that would be a comforting thought for me knowing I had the mental toughness and physical fitness to finish the whole 145 miles.
My feelings about this race change on an almost daily basis. I loved the run and the course and support and atmosphere was fantastic, but it has caused me so much pain, both physically and emotionally and if I was to attempt it again, I would have no option but to finish, no matter what.
I know I can finish this race. I just haven’t proved it yet.

Grand Union Canal Race 2009

2009-07-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

This has been surprisingly difficult for me to write. My journey on that day was an emotional rollercoaster and I am still finding it difficult to come to terms with the events that unfolded within me over those two days, every time I sit at my desk to write this all of the emotions become unearthed again, perhaps this is a good thing not only to help me ‘move on’ from it emotionally but to remember why I did it in the first place and reinforce the lessons that I learnt, not only about myself and what I can achieve but about applying it to everyday life. So here goes, my Grand Union Canal Race.

The alarm went off at 0400, another early start, for another race, but not just any race, this was the one that had been on my mind for the last few months, I made myself a coffee and looked outside the hotel window where other runners were congregating to be bussed to the start, I ambled out and met up with James and Drew. Amy, my girlfriend and support crew, drove is through Birmingham to the start. On the way James decided he wanted a McDonald’s breakfast, so we stopped off, but only the drive thru was open, so we ended up walking through the drive thru and thank god they do porridge!

We congregated at the start and there seemed to be a strange atmosphere. A lot of people were saying, ‘why are we here’ etc, I knew exactly why i was there, I had been looking forward to this day, I felt surprisingly relaxed and said it’s not this morning I’m worried about, its tomorrow morning, so I was relaxed and I knew that today was all about chilling out and not going out too fast! It felt like the beginning of any other race for me. Everyone there seemed to know James, or at least to know of him, having read his report from last year’s race. There were a couple of people there who I had met on previous races, and it was comforting to know that there were friends around, who were about to embark on this adventure as well, and it was not just me and a bunch of random guys I’d never met!

We set off at 0600 and the start was exactly that, very relaxed. I had a couple of issues with some low bridges early on, being 6’3 it did make for some uncomfortable moments. I started off running with Drew and we settled on a 25/5 mins run/walk. I have never used a run/walk before, but I really liked it because it kept my speed down without feeling uncomfortable. So we were just plodding along happily, this was one of my aims for the day – to stay happy. I had received a lot of advice leading up to this race and one of the main ones was to remain positive throughout, because over long distances, negative emotions will finish your race early. We were running just a few meters behind Pat Robbins, the eventual winner, he was surrounded by a small group of other runners, as if he was some sort of minor celebrity, like flies round shit as my Dad would say. Drew and myself found this amusing, it was as if just running next to a guy who broke the record last year (and went on to break that this year) would be the key to running a good race...

We reached the 10 mile checkpoint after 2 hours of running, and I felt good, and was enjoying myself. This was a busy checkpoint as by this time there was not much spread and runners tend to stick together in the earl parts of a race. As we left the checkpoint we saw James running back to the checkpoint from ahead, he was running the wrong way! He cheerily told us that has water bladder had broken and he needs to fix it, or get something to replace it at that checkpoint. At least, I thought, he wasn’t in any real trouble and of all the people I know, something like this would not affect him too much. And sure enough, he was soon scampering past us and we all had a little laugh about it, keeping all of our spirits up.

I reached Hatton Locks after 4 hours, 22 miles. This was where Drew was to meet up with his family. Coming up to this checkpoint, Drew had said that some people would be struggling at this point, I didn’t believe that anyone who sets out to run 145 miles could possibly allow themselves to struggle after just 22. When we arrived I didn’t noticed anyone seeking help, so I chose not to believe it. However tough events seem to attract people who are under prepared. People tend to underestimate endurance events and enter them for whatever reason, and so don’t respect the distance, and don’t train hard enough and are surprised that they struggle or can’t take as much as they think they can, this is one thing that annoys me, and is especially noticeable in bigger, more commercial races. Surely this race was not one of those.

I was still feeling happy, I felt in good spirits and was making good time, well, the pace was spot on what I wanted to achieve. However it was at the 41 mile mark, things started to got a little bit awry. I developed a sharp pain in my right Achilles, which started to give me some trouble. I had experienced this sort of problem before on the second day of the Trings, with about 20 miles to go. I was feeling it now with over 100 miles to go. I reduced my pace to a 10/5 run/walk to try and delay the strain on the ankle. It was also around this point that Drew was starting to suffer and we were both very happy with this slower pace.

Just before the 46 mile checkpoint, the canal enters the first tunnel, Braunston Tunnel, and the track leaves the canal and heads uphill, I took it really easy up the hill, as was the plan and with the ankle pain, I didn’t want to push it. I passed a lady pushing her bike up the hill and at the top I met her husband, he asked me what I was doing and I explain this to him, he was amazed and told me that they were cycling the length of the canal over 3 days.this lifted my spirits enormously and confirmed in my mind that I was involved in something truly special.

At the 46 mile checkpoint I felt I needed to get Amy to strap the ankle up to try to off load the tendon, she did a great job and got to work while I tried to eat something. I had been doing well and keeping the food coming in, another bit of advice I had been given was to keep eating whenever possible. I had taken an astronomical amount of food (and didn’t eat most of it) of all different types of things, because I didn’t know what I would want to eat and when. However at the 53 mile checkpoint I wasn’t feeling very happy or hungry. I was coming to terms with the pain in my ankle; I had allowed negative thoughts in. I sat down to eat some pasta I had premade, but could only just stare at it. Amy tried to encourage me to eat, but I was having none of it. I asked if we had anything else and she bought out a rice pudding, this went down a treat, as did the neurofen... I was reluctant to take anything before, but by now you couldn’t keep me away from them! But it was ok, because it kept the pain at bay and I could concentrate on just running. I forced myself to leave that checkpoint and plodded on, feeling totally miserable, thinking that I would be struggling to get to 70 miles let alone the 145. So I set out at a slow pace and after a few miles got back in to the rhythm of running and started feeling happier, especially as the painkillers were kicking in!

I just plodded on somewhere between a 10/5 and 15/5 pace and Drew had pushed ahead when Amy was strapping my ankle up. When I next saw him at the 57 mile checkpoint, he didn’t look too happy, and I left him to stick to his desired pace, so was now left to run on my own.

After 62 miles the track heads uphill and leaves the canal again as it goes through Blisworth tunel. At this point I got a bit confused of which way to go, as it follows along a road and I felt a bit disorientated, but I just had to trust my instinct and guess a little bit. Its always a bit of an uneasy feeling, especially after running 60 miles, but I just stuck with it, and sure enough after a mile and a half there was a sign directing me back to the canal, I felt relieved, and confident that I was on track.

At Stoke Bruene I managed to get confused further as I was expecting to see Amy at the first bridge and run passed a beautiful pub, I saw 2 people who were support crew for someone else, they told me that everyone else was on the other side of the canal. I had to get across and I really didn’t want to go back to the previous bridge. They suggested that I went over the lock gates. I weighted this up in my mind, I had visions of me cramping up getting on to the lock gate or falling in. I carefully climbed up and walked along the top, gripping the handrail tightly; I made it without incident, and continued running.

I reached the halfway checkpoint after 15 hours, 4 hours under the cut-off. This was the beginning of the night section of running. At the beginning of the race I was worried about running in the night as I had very little experience of it and didn’t know what to expect. However the daytime was so hot and sunny, that I ended up looking forward to the night, when it would be cooler. I settled down to a 5/5 pace in the night, and mentally told myself I was settling in for the night shift. Sunset is typically a hard time for a lot of runners, but for me this was great, I welcomed the cool air and didn’t put my running fleece on until about 10:30-11:00. I reached the 80 mile mark at midnight and felt this was a good time to sit down with Amy and have something to eat, so we had our midnight meal. I was feeling surprisingly good, swallowed down a couple of neurofen and headed off.

I was happily running along listening to my ipod in and just following the glow of my head torch and totally enjoying the experience of being cut-off from the world and everything in it, nothing existed outside my small dimly lit bubble. Running to me is an escape from everyday life, from stresses of work, and other people’s opinions, right now none of that mattered and I didn’t even have to pretend to myself or anyone else that it did. I was in heaven. Suddenly I saw someone stirring and get up from the park bench in front of me. Initially this freaked me out a bit, as I had been so wrapped up in my own little world that I almost forgot that people existed at all. I tried to make out what it was and at first thought it could be a tramp or a hallucination, but it was none of these. Bizarrely enough it was James, he told me he had fallen asleep and was totally knackered. I ran with him for about 3 miles until the next checkpoint at Leighton Buzzard. I waited here for Amy to get some food, as James continued on. Strangely enough amy managed to get a little lost, so I had to try to give her rough directions, by what I could see, which was just a big tesco’s I tried telling her raod names that I could see. She found me soon enough. Looking back on it, it seems obsurd that I was 90 miles in to a race, in thbe middle of the night in Leighton Buzzard trying to give directions to where I was. I guess for a lot of people this would be the most frustrating thing, but I was surprisingly calm. By this point I was just in getting it done mode. I never thought of the finish, just the next point I had to be at. So when I had to help amy, that was just the next thing that had to be done, so we got it done. We met up, ate, she tended to my ankle, which was starting to give me real problems and I headed on.

At this late point in the night a remarkable thing happened, mist was coming off the canal. It looked amazing. Initially it was annoying as hell as the mist was reflecting my head torch, so my vision was limited even more that before, I just concentrated on following the few feet of path in front of me. At that point I could have been anywhere in the world as far as I knew, I couldn’t even see the canal, just the shiny haze and a small section of path. As the sun rose, I saw more and it looked awesome. The sun rose over the horizon and the mist was filled with a mysterious glow, this cheered me up and I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the world, I felt a bit emotional.

I reached the 100 (well actually 99.8) mile mark at 6am, 100 miles in 24 hours. Although I had no real pace plan, as I really didn’t know what to expect having never run this sort of distance before, but I had the thought of 100 miles in 24 hours in my mind for the whole week leading up this run. I sat down and tryed to eat a pot noodle, this didn’t go down to well, so I went back to my trusty Baby foods. I sat at this checkpoint for a while, just chilling out. I tried to text my fried, Jonathon, who was planning to run with me from this point. He wasn’t there, so I told him that I had to press on, and I left the checkpoint.

I was now in familiar territory, tring cutting was the start of the second day of the tring to town race and I was looking forward to some familiar sights. Jonathon called me saying he was behind me and that he’d catch me up, I was looking forward to seeing him and having someone to chat to. So I just ran on and didnt really worries about him as he’d join me at some point.

As the day drew on it started heating up again, and we would be in for another hot one. I think a lot of people would have suffered from the heat on this race, I had spent most of the first day longing for the night just to bring the cooling air, and now it was to be another scorcher. I had learnt that Drew had pulled out after 80 miles, the heat had got to me and he told me after the race that he just couldn’t face carrying on with the heat as it was. I felt gutted for drew and I said as much to Amy, she told me that she wasn’t sure whether to tell me or not, but I am glad she did. I wasn’t going to be a victim of the heat. I was going through water rapidly and had to stop and ask a boatman if he could fill up my water bottle for me, he kindly obliged after I explained that I had started from Birmingham, its always an entertaining conversation and still to this day I enjoy looking at peoples faces when I tell them.

By the time I reached the 104 mile mark I was suffering. The ankle had been really causing me issues and every time I stopped I was limping badly. I walked the next 4 miles I was in a lot of pain and limped along for over an hour and a half, it was the slowest 4 miles I had covered since I was a toddler! I was hitting another low spot, I was hot, tired and was struggling putting any weight on my right ankle. I shuffled on, I had to keep reminding myself why I was there and I knew that this feeling would pass, just didn’t know when. It was at this point Jonathon caught up with me, his timing was perfect. He told me he’d manage to get lost, I thought to myself that’s pretty impressive as I didn’t get lost and I wasn’t totally with it mentally! We ran together for a couple of miles and I felt a whole world better, he had to leave me after a short while, but he had done enough to get me out of my rut, and I was very grateful for his help, even though I probably didn’t show it very well at the time.

So I limped on.

The heat was starting to affect me somewhat. The edge of my vision was blurring and I had to stop and ask another canal boater if he had any water, that sorted me out a bit, but I was still limping forward. I suddenly felt very sleepy. Even though mentally I felt good and was happy all I wanted to do was to find a grassy patch to curl up on and sleep, but no, I was here for a reason and has to continue fighting on, trying to ignore the constant nagging sharp pain emanating from my right ankle.

I managed to get to the 120 mile checkpoint, and I was in a bad way. I used this to take a bit of a time out and get some food on. By this time my ankle had swollen up quite impressively. As I got up to go, it was nearly impossible for me to get up off my chair. I had to continue. Finishing this race had been the only thing on my mind for the past 6 months, I was not going to let myself be beaten now. I was so close, so I pulled myself off my seat and carried on down the towpath. I felt every painful step nagging at me, teasing me, testing me. I even contemplated hopping, but that wasn’t going to happen. It took me an hour to cover the next 2 miles. I was 150 meters from the bridge where I was meeting Amy and I stopped, and broke down in tears. I texted Amy to come get me, I knew at this point my race was over. Amy walked out to where I was and without saying a work walked me to the bridge. I sat down and continued crying uncontrollably.

One of the most amazing things about this race it the friendliness of other support crews, as you go through the checkpoint, you get to see the same people waiting for their runners, and everyone is in the same hellish situation, fighting against themselves to achieve one simple task and that is to finish. As I sat on the wall crying I texted James and some friends to tell them that I couldn’t continue, that my race was over. I got a couple of calls from James and my friend Charlie, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to them. It was difficult to even talk to Amy at this point. I was devastated. One of the things I was preparing myself for is wanting to drop out too soon, when after a few minutes rest I would be able to carry on and regret dropping. This was not one of those times.

I simply could not take another step.

I managed to pull myself together, emotionally, had some food and asked amy to help me in to the car. This was a supreme effort jut to get in a damn car, let alone the final 23 miles of the race. She phoned the race director to inform them that I had pulled out. That was it. My race was officially over after 122 miles and 31hr 30 of running/walking/hobbling, my body had had enough.

I was gutted to not have finished the race. I cannot describe how much I wanted to feel the weight of the enormous medal round my neck, while I sat on the wall at the finish with James sharing our stories of the race. However this was not to be. I was happy with my achievement though. I had got, almost, everything I wanted out of the race. It was such an amazing experience that everyone at some point in their life take them out of their comfort zone and do something that they don’t know they would finish, you will lean a hell of a lot about yourself if you do. The race records will simply show next to my name the 3 worst letters in endurance sport DNF. This would be the same had I pulled out after 10 miles or 122, however to me those two days on the canal were more than a DNF, more than just another race on the list, more than just a bank holiday weekend. I was an experience I will never forget. Still thinking about it now I have mixed feelings, but the strongest, most consistent emotion is pride of what I achieved that day, what I achieved for myself. I am thankful to everyone that helped me. Mostly to Amy who did an amazing job of looking after me, I can barely imagine how she felt staying awake for that long, making sure I had everything I needed at various points, and then driving me home afterwards while I slept in the car! James’ help and support leading up to and during the race was awesome and helped me get through some of the tougher points in the race, there were times when I managed to kid myself that I was doing it more for him, than for myself, this drove me on, not wanting to ‘let him down’ although I didn’t finish I was happy with what I achieved and so, I think he is too, but that’s not the point.

This was not about the destination, but about the journey

As the advert says – whatever you do take pride

Bungay Black Dog Marathon

2009-04-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

The day before this run I was sitting in my friend’s car, haven’t just been working and I said to him that I didn’t really feel like running because it would be a very early start, long drive up and not a very interesting, 2 lap road race. However, as with most running weekends, I had planned to run that day and so if I didn’t I would have absolutely nothing to do.
So I woke up early Sunday morning and got picked up by John at 6am ready for a long drive up to East Anglia. The constant pleasure of running is catching up with old friends and it becomes a social event in itself.
After the long journey up we arrived in a beautiful town and were ushered to park in a field., which apparently was covered in snow last year, no danger of that, it was already building up to be a warm day. We did the usual per race preparation, picked up our race numbers, met some friends and had the usual pre race cup of tea!
The race starts oddly enough in the middle of a road, we all lined up and I met Mark, who was running the Grand Union Canal Race in may and he ran it last year, so I took the opportunity to get some tips for it from him. The start of the run was pleasant and I knew it was a relatively flat course, so in was not afraid to push the pace a bit. I saw Allan, who at the Taunton race 2 weeks before ran a PB 3:10, he seemed a little under the weather today and just wanted to plod round so I allowed myself to settle at my own pace.
The first half of the lap was not the most pleasant, it was along a main road and I did not enjoy it very much. At about 6 miles it turned left off the main road on to smaller country roads through some beautiful little villages and I started to enjoy myself a bit more. I kept one eye on my time and tried to make sure each mile was around or slightly quicker than 7min30, because I knew that was a pace I can run at and would put me around PB pace. Things were going well, and the pace was consistent and slightly faster than what I was hoping for, but I felt comfortable and told myself that I deserved to run that fast and if I found the second half tough, it would be good training for the canal.
This never happened. My legs never gave up on me. I hit the 20 mile mark in good time and I started to think that I could not only beat my previous PB, but also challenge Allan’s PB, so I decided to keep pushing on and keep the pace.
With 4 miles to go I told myself that I only had 30 mins left to survive and at each point I encouraged myself to keep pressing on and that I only had 20 mins, 15mine etc of hell to endure. Having run the first lap I knew what to expect of the course and the last mile and a half is along a bridal path which turns left over a bridge and the finish is only 400m along the road. I pushed the pace in the last mile and felt good as I crossed the line in 3:07 and a new PB. I was happy, but more that I could maintain a fast pace while my legs were feeling heavy fir the whole 2nd lap. It was this race that tells me I am in the best shape I have ever been in and I now have confidence to tackle the monster 145 mile Grand Union Canal Race in 5 weeks time. Only one more marathon before I start preparing for the canal. Things are starting to come together... Well worth getting out of bed for.

Bath Beat and Taunton marathon double

2009-04-14T03:43:00.000-07:00

I turned up in bath, and was immediately taken with this beautiful city. So much so, I felt I wanted to wake up early before the race just to have a quick look round. I met up with Dave and Mel and we headed to the start of the race. Again this was am LDWA event, so it was a very casual affair. We met a guy called phil, who decided to run with us for a bit. We headed out with instructions in hand and the weather had cleared to be a great, sunny day.
I was looking forward to this run as i had heard a lot about it and it would be number 27 – averaging 1 a year for life!. The route was fantastic and definitely one that i would run again. However I fell victim to one of the rules of running ‘running isn’t boring, but boring people run’ after a few miles I had had enough of Phil constant inane chatter and I started to increase my pace, but he decided that he wanted to hang on. So I did the opposite and slowed down and stuck with Dave and Mel. Phil soon got bored and pressed on; he asked if it was ok, I said that it was!
I was much happier, running with Dave and Mel, it was a great day and we just plodded along at a casual pace. The lunch stop was in a village hall is a beautiful village, straight out of a picture book. The food was plentiful, and it was tempting to stay and eat for a while. At this stop we met up with a friend, and very good runner, Tom and it was amazing the difference in his conversation than that of Phil’s.
We were in no rush that day and it was really great not to have to race it and just plod along, chatting to friends and eating the food at the checkpoints, we joked that we actually put on weitgh with all the food on that run.
Taunton was a very different race, this was 2 laps on road and fairly flat. It was more of a half marathon – 1400 runners compared with 250 marathon runners. I travelled up with my friend John , we just relaxed at the start and watched as people desperately warmed up laced their shoes in the correct way and performed their favourite pre-race rituals. I was laying in the sun.... just before the start i felt a small stone in my shoe, so i quickly took if off, knocked it out and casually slipped my shoe back on, ready to go.
This really is a race of two halves, due to the large number of half marathon runners. The first half was great and very enjoyable. My legs felt surprisingly good, considering the marathon the day before. However after about 11 miles I started to get a sharp pain in my left knee, at first this confused me slightly as I normally get pains in the right knee. After this novelty wore off I realised that it was actually quite painful, I thought to myself I ran 20 miles with a painful Achilles in tring, so this isn’t going to stop me in this race.
So the pain became my running buddy for a bit, i figured its not going to go away, so we might as well run together. I guess this was karma for trying to ditch Phil the day before, now i have an even more annoying partner.
The second half was a lot quieter. The supporters had obviously got bored and gone home congratulating their partners and friends on their achievement in the half marathon. The only people i saw along the road were the marshals and a few confused looking people sitting outside the village pub clapping politely.
I had the usual difficulties around the 21 mile mark, made even tougher by the pain in my knee, but I was happy to sit in a plodding pace that I know I can keep up for a long time. So I just plodded on and was slowly overtaking people as I went. I chatted to the people as we passed, I explained that i was suffering a bit from the marathon I did the day before – the looks on their faces was worth all the effort.
I finished in a good time and was surprised to be offered a cup of Bovril at the end. That was a first!! I also say some of my other friends, one of which had just run a massive PB taking 10 mins off his old time. So he was happy. However, my friend John had a bad run and came in a few minutes after me. But that it the beauty of running there are so many people from different backgrounds with different rituals and the same race can deliver different results to these people, you can only tell on the actual day what is going to happen

What I Have Learnt Through Running

2009-03-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

Having just run my 26th marathon, i took the time to reflect on some of the lessons i have learnt from marathon running, lessons that have implications to real life, be it work, family or your own sport.
1) This counrty is beautiful, despite everything, we live in an amazing country. A lot of my freinds constantly complain about how rubbish Britain is, and it is very easy to get caught up in this mentality, especialy those who live in cities. Running has given me to opportunity to see some great places and scenery and fall back in love with this country
2) Hard work is rewarded, If you work hard at something you will get your reward. The most immediate example of this is in the trail marathons, working had up the hills,you will be rewarede with some amazing views and the sence of achievement of having done something that is genuinely hard
3) ..but you have to earn it. You need to work hard to get what you want. In training, there is no point in just ‘going through the motions’ you will not get anywhere and will be just wasting your time. If you are going to work at something, make sure you really do work at it.
4) When things go well make the most of it. Quite ofthe is a race, especially on the longer or tougher ones, i will plan to slow down or take it easy at certain points – usually time based, however, if there comes a point where i was planning on taking it easy, but i feel good, or are heading downhill, my plans will change, and you just have to go with it when when it feels good, because there will alsway be a time when things go bad..
5) Things will feel bad, but that will pass in time. Usually a far way in to a run, I generally feel rubbish, everything will start hurting and my mind startsto lose focus and i will just want to slow down or stop running. When this happens, and it will happen, i just have to enbrace the feeling and keep going on and doing what i am doing and in time the bad feeling will pass, and io will start to feel better again.
6) Patience. Running a long way needs a patient mind. A lot of people i talk to ask me if i get bored when i’m running. The simple answer is ‘No’ i have learnt patience, and usually there is a fair bit to be thinking about when running. So if you keep at your pace, and stay relaxed and patient, you will succeed
7) With persistance you will succeed. Endurance running is a sport of stubbornness. As mentioned earler, things will hurt and go wrong, but this will pass. But you have to keep going. Even with training. If your traing is consistant throughtout the week/months you will do well, even if you miss one or two sessions, due to real life kicking in, the persistance and conststancy will pull you through
8) Power of the mind. Runnning is mainly mental. There will be times when the only thing that keeps you going is your mental attitude and strength. You whole body will be protesting. But if your mind is in it, then you will be fine. I have seen good runners struggle, just because their, mind has failed, rather than their body.
9) In order to succeed, you must prepare to fail. Success and failure often go hand in hand. If you embrace the concept of failure and prepare, physically and mentally for this, then you will be less fearful of it and the consequences. If you prepare to fail you will have no fear.
10) You need to test yourself to find your limits. Sometome life is a little too easy, modern living has softened people up and made things easy. People dont know their limits. I order to achieve something impressive, you have to test yourself. Take yourself out of your comfort zone and see how truely great you can be
11) Starting the challenge is the hardest part. In order to challenge yourself, you have to start! Its easy to put things off untill tomorrow or find a hundred other things to do rather than go out and train. But I guarentee you that as soon as you make the first step, things just fall in to place
12) Dropping out, no matter how much it hurts, is harder than fininshing what you started. Trust me i know. I have one DNF (did not finish) and it still carries with me, it was one of the hardest things i have ever done, i never want to experience that feeling again, knowing that carries me through a lot of hard times. It is important to finish what ever you started, never leave a job undone
13) If you want something enough, you can do anything. Anyone can achieve anything, with only one condition: you’ve got to want it enough. If you do, you will put in the effort and do everything within your power to achieve what you want. If you fail, you will continue trying untill you get there and it will feel so much sweeter.
14) You are never too old to start something. A lot of my friends claim that they are too old to do something new, get a new job etc etc. That’s rubbish. Your body will only slow down, if you let it. Most of the time this is just an excuse, because they don’t want it enough
15) Your body can cope with a lot. You will have times when you feel dead and justv want to curl up in to a little ball by the road and cry, but you wont do that! Your body can take a lot more pain and discomfort that you think it can. You can take one hell of a beating and still come back for more in persuit of that one thing you want the most
16) You only compete against yourself. Competition is a very out dated process, and is not very relavent to modern living. Instead of worrying about what your rivals are doing, look within yourself. If you are the best you can be, it is irrelevent what anyone else is doing. Success comes from within
17) I love running. Simple as that

South Devon Coastal Trail

2009-02-27T05:34:00.000-08:00

This was my 25th marathon, and I picked a good one to celebrate with.
The weather was perfect, and it was probably the first good day of the year, so i was worked out well! i hadn't been training much during the week and for some reason, running hadn;t really been in the front of my mind, as it so very often is! But as usual, once i arrived I was very muc ready to go and looking forward to this race.
The race started in the Village of Beesands, outside the village pub, and headed out along the coastal trail. The running was tough, but the views were so spectacular my mind was quickly taken off the actual process of running. That is untill the trail gets 'interesting' and you have to do all you can to concentrate on your footing.
Usually when I run, especially when i am enjoying myself and in no real rush, i chat to other people running. it helps to pass the time and you get to meet some interestijng, and some not so interesting people and find out about why they run and what sort of training they do. I met one man, who was training for the MdS - you can pick these people out quite easilt, because they usually run with a backpack on... I was chatting to him and he introduced me to a concept i have never heard before. His plan was to 'under train' rather than overtrain! I, personally felt this was a foolish idea, because in the desert there is so much to worry about - sand, heat carrying stuff- that surely you would want the actual distance to be one that you know you could achieve. I didn't tell him this, because being one month away, nothing at this stage would make any difference, so i wished him luck and I carried on at my pace.
I ws loving this run, every step was a joy and the uneven, rocky surface gave me a bizzare form of amusement while i was running. i thought to myself that this was the perfect way to celebrate 25 marathons .
After a tough 10 miles I reached the first checkpoint, where i stopped and had some water, fuilled up my bottles, ate sone chocolate biscuits and just chatted to people. I take my time in the checkpoints, i feel that over a marathon distance, particularly the tougher trail runs, i am in no hurry, so i might as well enjoy myself. After the race, i was talking to a friend of mine, who is adament that she does not have time to stop at checkpoints, and she'd rather plow on through. which i think is a bit of a shame, because you lose something of the atmosphere of running and miss out on talking to some amazing people.
After the checkpoint, there was a long stready hill, that had a habit of draing the legs of energy, so i set out at a comfortable pace, the key is to keep heading up and you will eventually reach the top, and usually be rewarded with a great view, or a downhill section. Well at least i got the view!
It was a tough, hilly race and it felt good to be back running, after about 3 weeks away from any real event, and made me realise how much i enjoy this sport and how much i do get out of a challenging run.
So now i really need to think of where to go from here. I haven't really boked many races after mid march, yet. and so i have to start planning things again. Its got to the point for me, where i have to think about what i want to do with my running: I have enjoyed the ultras and would like to do some more, i also started the year with a goal of running 31 marathons, so that i would get up to 50 by the time i'm 28. i have missed a couple of races already this year for various reasons, usually fairly trivial ones, to be honest. This race showed me that there are some amazing races out there and that I should run and enjoy my running.

Town to Tring - and back again

2009-02-03T03:19:00.000-08:00

This race started off from a premier inn hotel, there were about 35 runners and the mood was relaxed. The start time was originally planned for 8 o’clock, but the day before, it was changed to 9, so every one had a bit more time to relax.
The start of the race was fairly simple, and we just ran to the canal from the hotel, and everyone was in good spirits. I remember thinking that this was my first encounter with the Grand Union Canal, which I am going to get to know very well over the next few months, so I was keen to enjoy the race. The beginning had a slight incline up the locks, but the race was generally flat in all.
The first 10 miles, were, mentally tough for me, but comfortable, I spent most of it running with James and Drew, both of whom are running the GUCR in May and they also ran it last year, I felt happy running with them, after a while we spread out, as James pressed on and Drew was feeling tight in his legs and slowed down a touch, so we were all happy to settle in to our own pace. I reached the 10 mile checkpoint feeling better and the next 10 miles were much more comfortable and I settled in to a relaxed run.
We past some narrow boats that people actually lived in, they looked like a step up from tramps and they were regularly going about their business, collecting wood, gutting wood and generally collecting things and painting various items. I wondered what they thought of a group of us running up and down the canal,
At the 20 mile mark I felt good and was really enjoying the run and the varying scenery from the beauty of some of the locks to the not so scenic area of running through the more run down, old industrial areas
The last 10 miles were tough and I just got my head down and carried on running, knowing that I didn’t have too far to go, I was determined not to walk, but also had in the back of my mind that I had to do this all over again tomorrow. The course turned off the towpath in tring and I had to pause to try and work out which way I had to go to get to the finish line at the hotel. I quickly made a guess and luckily it was the right guess and when I finished, I saw Ian and James who had finished earlier and we sat, ate the soup we were given buy the hotel and we all decided that it was tougher than we thought – this was a bit of a relief for me knowing that everyone else found it difficult!

I woke up the next morning and my legs felt surprisingly ok, however I didn’t sleep very well because I was coughing for most of the night and I felt sick in the morning. I felt like I didn’t want to get out of bed and run today, but I knew that I would anyway, because this was what I had chosen to do, and more than likely if I start running I’d either feel better, or something else will feel worse to take my mind off the sick feeling! So I rolled out of bed and had a reasonable breakfast and headed for the start.
I met up with my friends from the day before and we were all chatting about how we felt and what we expected from the day ahead. I started to feel better even before the start and was eventually coming round to the idea of running it all again! The race director informed us that 10 people who were supposed to do the 80 mile option didn't come back for the second day. I felt pleased with myself for not making that number 11, and happy that i was there to start the second day no matter how rubbish i had felt.
We started out and I quickly settled in to my own pace, determined not to get too carried away at the start and enjoyed the first leg. Most of the scenery was fresh in my mind from the pervious day, and now I was moving through it at a generally quicker pace and my legs felt ok, they felt a touch ‘empty’ but not really heavy and I saw James at the checkpoint and he helpfully told me that the legs never really feel much worse for the rest of the day.
I started to struggle at about 17-18 miles in, my right Achilles tendon started to give me pain and I tried to shut this out of my mind, and relax knowing that I can struggle through 20 miles, as I did for Thames Path, I just knew I had to stay positive.
My legs by this point had stopped talking to me, they were aching, as they had been for most of the day, but I think they realised that they were not going to win this argument and were sulking. However my left Achilles now wanted to be part of the action and started hurting. This was an amazing sensation and a whole world of pain for me! The worst parts came when I had to run (walk) up the bridges and down again and just in case that didn’t hurt enough they became very painful when I started running again, and then settled down to a constant pain once I had established a regular pace.
I was so glad to see the 30 mile checkpoint. At this stage in the race I was in a whole load of pain from my ankles, but mentally felt positive, as I had only 10 miles to got and even if I had to hop/crawl/roll my way to the end I was not going to pull out at this stage in the day. So I carried on.
I one good thing about the pain in my ankles was it limited my speed, so my legs felt ok. And I had discovered that it felt worse when I stopped and started again, so the plan was to mot stop and it would actually feel better! This worked ok, but I had to walk ip the bridges because the incline made the ankles worse, so I had to make the calculated decision to have to take the hit when I started again. The last section was slightly frustrating because landmarks that I thought were closer to the start on day 1, seemed to be much further away than I remembered! But eventually the canal stopped and the course turned off onto the street, it was a simple straight route to the finish line at the hotel at the end. I was relieved to have finished and I was greeted by James and Ian who were already halfway through their post race Guinness.
I sat down and for the first time that day my legs were happy with me, relieved to be not moving. We sat and chatted about the race and future races, with not real hurry to walk home again! The day after, both ankles have swollen up – the right more so than the left and the right ankle has been sore, my personal memento of my efforts from a good weekend’s running.

Portland Coastal Trail

2009-01-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

These races are very well organised. we arrived at the race HQ in plenty of time, and it was a large hall in Portland, where there were some developments going on for the Olympic rowing events. I was particulary amused to see that i was listed as on over 60, i'm definately not that old! at the start I met up with a group of the usual running friends and we had the usual chats about running and setting future plans.
The race started at 9 o'clock and we ran through the builing works for the olymipics, we then truned off the road and headed up a long hill to start the day! I just had to put my head down and plod up the hill, determined not to walk at such an early stage. the course then flattened out and there was another short but very steep climb. the run then turned on to the coastal trail, a very scenic and beautiful part of the world, the trail was very rocky underfoot and at time the going was very tough up and down the trail.
We reached Portland Bill at the halfway point of the first lap of two and the trail was a shallow, but steady incline onling grassy/muddy paths, this turned back in to a coastal path, and it was very muddy, wet and close to the cliff edge, glad i had good trail shoes on!!
this path continued along the cliff edge throught some great scenery and then it turned to a very steep decline to the toughest part of the course. The train led to the pebble beach, and we had to run along the pebbles for a mile and a half, the pace slowed down dramatically and i was determined not to stop on the beach, just because it was difficult, i kept to my pace and plodded on. the most amazing feeling was when I came off the pebbles on to the tarmac again. I felt like i had a spring in my step and the change of terrain made the next mile feel very quick and easy.
A mile after the pebbles, was the second lap of the course, this follows the same trail as the first lap. I haven't run many lap marathons, and a lot of people seem to not like them. However, I was looking forward to running two laps of such a great and scenic course, and i had a clue as to what was coming up! the first hill was tough and i had to walk for parts, at this point i caught up with my friend James and he was struggling, he was just coming off illness and so his legs felt heavy. we chatted for a bit, but i decided to press on.
When i arrived at Portland Bill, I had one think on my mind - That bloody Beach!! the tr
ail felt good and at this point i was catching up with the slower Half Marathon runners, I gave them a friendly warning about the beach. I descended to the beach and aimed to keep going throughout, witht the psycological advantage of passing the Half marathon runners who were struggling. After about the mile, i just had to walk, the stones, just gave no grip and it totally drains any strength in the legs. The last mile felt like a breeze after the pebbles and i finished, tired and relieved.

Thames Path Ultra 50 miles

2009-01-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

I had to endure another early start, but these are becoming quite standard for these races, and i wasn't worried about not getting enough sleep. And i figured, i'd have to get used to running tired during the grand union canal race.

This event is a strange one, because I learnt that most people running it were doing is as training for something more, most commonly the Marathon des Sables - 150 miles in 6 days in the Sahara desert. I has staying at James's house, he was supposed to run the event too, as he was in training for the MdS, although he'll point out that every run is a great event in itself, and i would have to agree. However, he had succumbed to a dose of Man flu, and could not race, so he walked me to the train station, and, whilst sulking that he couldn't run, wished me good luck, and gave me directions from Reading station to the race start.

I arrived at the 'race HQ' when it was still dark. it was a tent in a field in Reading, lit by the organisers van, and a small group started to gather, and I signed in, recieved my map for the course and had my bag checked to make sure i had everything i was told to bring. I had some time to kill, and so i decided to chat to some people, one of which i learnt was someone who i went to school with, i didnt really recognise him at first, but it was amazing to meet someone at such an event. Shortly before the start, i met my friend Ian Sharman, and we where chatting, and suddenly there was a huge downpour of rain, all the runners huddled together under the tent, and we all thought that this would make the run even tougher than originally thought. Fortunately, the rain subsided and the rest of the day was clear.

The race started at 8 o'clock and i quickly settled in to a comfortable pace, and we all passed a recreational runner and she asked me what we where all doing, I told her we were running 50 miles, and offered for her to join us - she turned the offer down (not sure why..)

I felt comfortable for the first section, and as the course led in to Henley I was lifted by how beautiful the place was, and as the sun came out and there where rowers practicing on the river and a large group of the runners were trying to avoid colliding with the coaches bellowing instructions from their bikes. One of the rowers commented that we were the only people who made him look sane, I couldn't argue with him! Shortly after this meeting i can to the first checkpoint at about 10 miles. I was going to make the most of the checkpoints, so i stoped and took my pack off, and had some food. Set off and felt good, legs felt fresh. And i felt comfortable the path was fairly easy to follow, although at times it was very muddy and made progress a touch slow at times and i reached the second checkpoint (approx 20 miles) feeling good and in good time.

i started to feel the distance at around the 26-28 mile mark, and my legs started to feel heavy, and i was thinking that my early pace would catch up with me, but i did manage to get to the 30 mile checkpoint without too much drama. and im very good time and i felt i could hold on for the last 20, which i was expecting to be the toughest part and every step would be the fartherst i'd ever ran before, so there was a lot of positives to help me through any tough parts.

I set out from the 30 mile checkpoint with the sole intention of getting to the next checkpoint, 10 miles further along. I tried to keep the thought that i had 20 miles left to run out of my head, and focusses on the miles achieved. Reaching the next checkpoit was the only thing that mattered to me for the next 2 hours. At approx 32-33 miles i started to feel rough! and as well as the heavy feelin gin my legs, i was starting to feel ill, and i was nearly sick, near Eaton. I managed to compose myself and a few steps later i was greeted with a spectacular view of Windsor Castle, which lifted my spirits and helped me get back in to running. In distance running, the small victories really are important and something that you have to celebrate to yourself, this is something James told me, and it is something i try and keep in mind for the next 20 miles.

I had strange urges during this race, i rememebr at one point having the overwealming feeling that all i wanted to do was curl up in a hedge and sleep. There was also one occasion where I had a conversation with my legs -out loud. i felt that they needed a little encouragement..

During this race i felt mentally strong - in some of my earlier marathons, I would stop and walk, because i was feeling the distance, but i feel this was more a mental issue than physical. However i was forced to walk, my legs did not want to run. But i felt that it was ok, I let myself walk for a small bit and then started a slow run and managed to settle into a comfortable stride.

As I reached the finish line, my initial feeling was relief that i had managed to get to the end of the race! I collected my medal and was directed to a room where we could get a cup of tea. I shuffled to the room and sat down for the first time all day. My body was relieved to have stopped moving, it was the best feeling i had ever felt. I just sat there, happy to be resting. I then had a mile walk to find the train station home, it was a slow walk!! I learnt that Ian had won the race in 6hours 11 minutes, recording a new course record

One of the lessons i took away from this race was that i could keep together mentally even when everything was hurting. Although i felt my pace was immaturely inconsistant, something more experience of these distances will correct, when i slowed down, my mental strenght took over and it allowed me to enjoy the event. This helps my confidence for the Grand Union Canal race, because there will be plenty of tough, low moments in that race!

Training

2009-01-10T02:03:00.000-08:00

Seems a while since i wrote here, Also seems a while since i ran a marathon, last one was hastings, then there have been 4 weeks off before i run the Winter Tanners, wich i am looking forward to for that very reason.
Working in a gym, i do get people calling me crazy, thats just standard, but i also get poeple asking me about what training I do for the marathons. Now running multiple marathons automatically brings up the problem of recovering and tapering etc, i touched on this on a previous post, i conventional wisdom, it is advised that you should tapre for 1-2 weeks, reducing the amount of running you do and the intensity, and if you do fewer marathons, that is very sensible and it is what i would generally advise. However, if you run a marathon one week and another the next, what happens. The answer is simple, for me. I do whatever i want to do! for me running is a very free form of exercise, the very nature of lacing up your shoes in whatever weather and just running in the woods or the streets, it is a kind of escape from the rigors and routine of everyday life, so why over complicate matters with adding routine and limitrations to your running?
I know many runners who plan their running weeks and srick ridgidly to heart rates and paces and certain distance intervals, this is all very good if you are a serious athlete trying to get that extra edge, but very few of us are.
I never plan my running or training. I run because i enjoy running and if, on a certain day i don't want to run, i simply won't, because I don't see the point on forcing myself round a training run when I am either too tired or simply my legs don't want to run. (That is very rare though!). i am reminded on something my friend James wrote on a similar vein and he says he doesn't train, because that sound s too serious, he runs because thats what he likes to do, simple as that. I also like to explore various routes and get a little bit lost, especially in the local woods, i did just that yeasterday and was rewarded with finding a new trail, enjoying the views of a frosty, misty woods, which just had to be seen to be fully enjoyed and a feeling of being content in my running, and ready for the rest of my working day
So if you do go for a run today, leave all the gadgets at home, you'll probably run better being significantly ligher, and just run free, that is afterall, why we satrted running in the first place.

Hastings 100th Anniversary Marathon

2008-12-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

Hastings marathon is run as a one off event. It was set up to mark the 100th anniversary of the marathon distance, that was originally run in the 1908 London Olympics, and again in December in Hastings. the route was designed to be as close as possible to the original route, won by Billy Clarke in 2:37.16.
I had the original intention of running this one in fancy dress, but when i got there, i decided not to, not sure why, just had the feeling that i didn't want to run in fancy dress, and running is something i enjoy, so if i'm going to have more fun not wearing fancy dress, then thats what i'll do. When we arrived we were ushered into the town hall, which was a grand building, not like most town halls i've seen, which resenble more of a barn than anyting else, this was a large, smart looking building where we could change and help ourselves to a pre-race cup of tea!
The event was well organised and there were about 1500 runners. At the start i met James, who had run 50 miles the previous day and had a christmas party the night before - i must admit he didn't look too great!
We set off and the first 6-7 miles felt a bit tough - i didn't feel too great and that was the hilliest bit of the course. around the 8 mile mark, We were passed by 15-20 Bikers wearing santa suits - I didn't know what was the stranger sight, them or us!
The route was a really pleasent route and i managed to keep a very consistant pace throughout, this began to show in the second half of the race, when i found myself constantly passing people, i though to myself that they must have miss-managed their pace, but then i thought, thats what i usually do and this is one of the first races where my pace was consistant throughout.
i felt i was capable of running the sub 3:20 marathon i was robbed of in the 4 2 go. the last 5 miles was along the prommenade and was dead flat and very straight and it was awesome being able to see all the runners ahead of me!
I felt good, and at the 24 mile mark decided to increase my pace slightly. I arrived at the 26 mile mark feeling good and in good time, so i decided to really push it to the end - encouraged by a lady runner, who ran with me for the last 5 miles, and i wanted to beat her! i came in at 3:14.15, taking a massive 10 mins of my previous best, that i got in New Forest. I felt great! never thought i'd get a sub 3:15 marathon this year, and i did it on the last race of the year.
The momento was a horse brass, which i liked, i like things that are different to a medal, keep things interesting.
James came in under 4 hours and said that has hangover cleared after about 3 miles...
There seems to be a point in running where the 'rules' don't play a part anymore. I ran a 9 mile training run the day before running a PB. James ran a 50 miler and had 8 pints of Guinness and 3 hours sleep before running sub 4hours, and Ian ran 30 miles the day before coming 7th in the hastings marathon.
I was also told that this course wasn't a PB course....
People say I'm crazy for running a high volume of marathons, some tell me that it cannot be good for me, but it seems that running is the cure not the cause.

The Art of Getting Lost

2008-12-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

Gatliff 50km is one of the Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) runs. these are always good fun and very interesting. They are very cheap events, you can sign up for less than a tenner and are informal, laid back affairs. Don't be fooled, though you do get a lot for your money, most notably the food! there were 5 check points along the route, and all had drinks and you are guaranteed a few chocolate biscuits and some cake. On the flip side, the route isn't marked like 'traditional' marathons, you are given a route description and have to follow the instructions, which are open to regular debate between groups of runners mid-route.
So you end up measuring the distance by paragraphs rather than miles, or kilometers.

XGA & keep to LHS FD. XGA & T1/2R across FD. XST & ahead along RHS FD. Fllw round to XST by GA. XRD & TL. In 25m TR along TK. Pass buildings & XGA. Straight ahead over FD to XST. X railway. XST & keep to RHS FD. XST by GA. Ignore 1st turning & then TL on 2nd TK

Added to the confusion, a lot of the routes didn't follow footpaths, just led through the middle of a field with very inquisitive horses.
So with these events getting lost is pretty much a given! you are always going to add mileage due to wrong turnings and add time due to sitting on a tree stump frustrated that you just cannot find the 'XST in CNR of FD' untill someone catches up with you from behind and runs straight to it without any trouble. So the only way to get through these events without going mad or just breaking down in tears is to expect these frustrations and keep a sense of humour about yourself and enjoy it!
The food makes up for the frustration. There are very few races you can imagine where at the halfway point you can sit down, have a cup of tea, couple of sandwiches and some chocolate biscuits - i think they should consider this for the London Marathon! It is worth taking the time out and enjoying your meal.
As well as trying to work out where i was and were i was trying to get to, my progress was somewhat hampered by the mud! I have never known that there were so many different types of mud and that you could, quite quickly, become expert in identifying the types of mud and which would give you best grip to avoid sliding around and not getting anywhere like a mad cartoon character!
The event was totally enjoyable, the scenery was amazing throughout and was very well organised. If you dont mind getting lost, muddy, wet and cold you will be rewarded with an event that is relaxed, with a great atmoshpere and well worth the enrtry fee!

Stupid Questions

2008-11-07T00:10:00.000-08:00

when i tell people about my running, they are usually a handful of stupid questions, that almost everyone asks me. Everyone who runs, will know these questions.

Don't you get bored?
No. in face i never get bored while running. It is strange to think in this modern society where people are spoon fed everything they do, that without some sort of external influence people cannot be entertained.
Running, for me is a great time to think and to actually spend sometime with myself without having to be entertained by someone else, it gives me the opportunity to collect thoughts, and clear my head, particularly after a stressful day.
If you are running in an event, it is even harder to get bored. In races i havent done before, my mind is kept occupied by where i am going, and especially with trail marathons there is always the scenery to keep me entertained.
If you really do need to keep your mind occupied, wait till its starts to really hurt! then you can have something to think about!

Is it bad for your knees?
Though i hear this one more as an excuse 'no, running will damage my knees' etc.
This, however is a myth. your lifestyle will damage your knees. This is based on the thought that the body is in some way inherantly flawed, and i often hear people commenting that the knees is a badly designed joint.
Really?
The knee, along with the rest of the body is perfect. It has to be, it has evolved through 3.5 million years to work the best way it can. The knee does exactly what it is supposed to do.
the problem arises through modern life puting undue stresses on the body, that it isnt designed to do. Industrialisation has led to more sedentary lifestyles and sitting down has become a regular activity. This puts the body out of line and causes muscular dysfunctions, these in turn alter the way that the joins move because muscles are being recruited to do jobs that they are not designed to do. So, for example tight hip flexors, caused by sitting down, causes lengthened glutes, which destabilises the hip. This in turn causes the knee to destabilise and so pain can occur
Also, our bodies are designed to adapt to stresses put on it, so over the years i have been running and building up my running, my body has been adapting to this stress, by laying down more cartilage in the knees joint and increasing the synovial fluid, to act as a shock absorber.
So to pervent this pain, we need to 'teach' our bodies how to move as it was designed to, the easiest way is to get off your arse and do something!

Stupid Ideas

2008-11-06T15:27:00.001-08:00

Well, i did it,
On Friday i was chatting to James about the Grand Union Canal Race, a 145 mile race he ran in May 2008. Talking to him running up to and ever since, he's been trying to convince me to run it, i've tryed to remain casual about it, but ever since it has been playing in my mind, almost every day.
While i was Chatting to him about it, the entry form was e-mailed to me - this must be an omen (not sure if it was a good omen!). Before i could change my mind, i filled in the form and sent it off as soon as i could. By Monday, the entries were closed, so i was glad to get it in when i did.
Just got to wait to see if i am accepted.
I am excited and nervous already. Half of me wants to do it more than anything, the other half thinks i should steer well clear! Will have to see which half shout the loudest!
So now i've got to focus on that on race in May.

Snowdownia Marathon

2008-11-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

Snowdonia
Another really morning for a race – I’m getting used to these by now! This was one I’d been looking forward to, since my parents retired to live in Wales, it was a great excuse to go and visit them.
We left the house at 6.00 am and drove, in the dark to the start. Not entirely sure where I was going, we arrived at Llanberis, where the registration was and we were in plenty of time. At registration I bought a buff and gawped at the biggest trophy I have ever seen!
We jumped on the bus taking us 2 miles to the start at Nant Peris. Once off the bus we were huddled in the rain and the cold, with not a lot of shelter, but to my surprise I met a friend I hadn’t seen in years! Last time I met Matt he was in the 20 stone club, and today he had lost a lot of weight., I was surprised to see him, but is was awesome – he was training for Marathon de Sables next year. And I saw james, who was running his first of 3 that weekend. We all huddled together at the start trying to get some protection form the relentless welsh rain. I could see that this was going to be a test of character.
There was a long wait for the race to start, but we did head off eventually! The start was tough, the first 5 miles were steadily uphill and into a heavy head wind, people all around me were wearing rain proof jackets, that blew up like kites. I’m glad I didn’t were mine. The race settled down and I found a comfortable pace that I could sustain in the horizontal rain.
At about the 15 mile mark, I saw my dad, who came to see me run,a dn he was wrapped up against the elements, and I remember thinking that he must be colder than me, and I was wearing less clothes! He later told me that the wind was so strong, that he had to hold the cart boot open to stop it from blowing closed.
As soon as I got to the 21 mile mark, we hit the big hill, this was an incline of 3 miles! I had to mentally tune in for this and kept saying to myself that if I walked, I’d never get started because I’d have to start uphill. So I kept struggling up the hill. I did feel that something wanted me to get up the hill, because every now and then there was a sudden gust of wind pushing me up the hill. At 24 miles all the height gained was lost down the steep descent. This was tough, because, it was sufficiently steep that the cramps building up in my legs from earlier in the race, were really threatening to slow me down and some of the heavy gusts were head on and I had to work to go down hill.
At the 25 mile mark, I felt relieved, only a mile to go and I was at the bottom of the hill. However there was a slight incline and I had to work hard to avoid cramping. I held on and crossed the line in 3:40. I was very pleased with the time, especially in the conditions.
After finishing, all I wanted to do was to get in the car and warm up! I had never been that cold and wet before and it felt horrendous! I was sitting in the front seat of the car, shivering. I eventually warmed up and felt much better. I looked at my slat coaster that I got for completing the marathon. I like in when marathons give something other than a medal, it adds interest, and looks good in the display cabinet. This will be one that I will cherish.

Running The Double

2008-11-06T14:52:00.001-08:00

4 2 go
The day started at 5, I woke up form my very broken sleep on a z-bed wrapped up in my sleeping bag in Dave’s living room. I joined the others, Dave Ross, Dave Bailey and Mark for breakfast. My first feelings where that I was horrendously tired. I hadn’t slept very well that night and estimated that I must have had around 3-4 hours sleep. Whether this was because of nerves or not, I do not know. Nerves? This was no ordinary marathon; this was the first of 2 in 2 days, my first double marathon.
The idea of double marathons is not a new one and some of the friend I had met in past marathons had done several, however this was my first. The idea came about a few weeks previously during another marathon, when I was running with Dave Ross and James Adams and they mentioned that this was the next double and both races were worth doing. So I thought ‘why not!’
However it is easy to make these decisions when you are weeks away from the event!
We left the house at 6 am, and I was still tired from lack of sleep. The plan was to drive to Hackney – near the finish of the race. After about an hour of driving we arrived in hackney and had to find somewhere to park the car for most of the day, the problem being the only unrestricted parking places in Hackney was in the middle of the housing estates! – I was not holding my breath to the car being still in one piece when we got back to it! The next part of the mission was to get to the train station, which was a short walk away – although 2 kids we asked for directions said it was too far to walk, about a mile.
Too far to walk?! Nothing compared to the ground covered over the next 2 days!
We got to the train station and managed to catch the right train. On the train we met up with James, and spent the rest of the journey catching up and talking about future races we had planned.
The start of the race was fairly well organised we all got our race numbers and shirts, and had the pre-race briefing. We assembled at the start and on time we set off.
I felt good at the beginning, and for the most part ran with James, we chatted as we ran and it past the time very effectively.
After a couple of hours of comfortable running, James fell behind and I kept going at a constant pace. I did feel a touch worried as James has a lot of experience of running doubles and I thought I should be taking this a bit easy, however I felt good and mentally strong, and I thought that if I did get a good time, maybe even a PB, I could run the race tomorrow with a clear head and enjoy it and run with Phil. So I carried on at the pace I started at.
The race was flat and the only difficulty u had was the heavy head wind. I did try and draft behind runners for a while as either they overtook me or I overtook them, but running behind a marathon runner doesn’t make for the most effective windbreak!
As I cane towards the end of the race, I asked another runner, who had a Garmin on what distance we were at, he said we had about 4km to go. This was welcome news as I was on for a good pace and looking at a 3:20 marathon time. So I stretched out for the last bit, feeling good, I saw tape and balloons in front of me, and thought that I was to turn off to do another loop, but it turned in to the finish line. I crossed the line, at a time of 3:12.27. My initial thought was ‘hang on, that’s a bit quick!’ but felt good.
Other people crossed the line and with a confused look on their faces looked at their Garmins. After I found Dave, who came in second, it became apparent that the course was about a mile short! This was taken in a bad way by a lot of the runners. James refused to even acknowledge it as a marathon. This news was hard for me to take, because I was doing my first double and I ran at personal best pace. So I was clutching at reasons for the marathon to be counted. My current standing is that the marathon counts as a marathon, however would not count as a personal best.
After much disappointment and lengthy discussions over the actual distance of the race, it was time for us to head off and find the car!
We got a taxi back to the estate in Hackney and the car was still there and we drove home. In the evening I met up with a friend of mine for a large meal. I had to re-fuel from the days race and load up for the marathon the next day.

Clarendon
Woke up at 8:00 feeling a lot more awake than I hid the previous day! Assembled my running kit and waited for Phil to pick me up at 8:30. to go round top his house for a pre-race breakfast. This was going to be Phil’s first marathon and he was starting to get nervous! This was helpful to me because it took my mind off the fact that I was going to run the second marathon in as many days, today was going to be all about getting Phil to the finish line of that race!
Congregating at the start I met up with dave, dave , and james who I ran with the previous day, introduced them to phil, and we loaded our bags on ot the bus to be shuttled to the end of the race in Winchester.
It was raining
Last year I ran the same race and totally enjoyed it – part of the reason for entering this race in the first place! I recall it raining that year too, but the rain subsided and it ended up being a beautiful sunny day. Today, however, I wasn’t so lucky! We line up for the start, and as we set off my legs felt tight and heavy, making every step a challenge. I felt like I normally do about 20 miles in! the start was the usual pleasant affair and Phil commented on this noting how chatty everyone is.
We turned off the road and all the rain had taken its toll on the trail! It was covered in mud and all of the slower runners were dancing around the puddles with limited success, this is when James came bounding through the puddles splashing everyone shouting that they are going to get wet one way or another today!
My legs felt heavy for the first part, but after 7-8 miles they had got used to running again and loosened up and I started feeling good. Just after half way, I caught up with Dave, which surprised me and worried me, he is normally a great runner, I ran next to him and chatted, this comes as a lesson about marathon running – marathons are never easy. And no matter how good a runner you are, mental strength is important. Dave said that his legs felt fine, but his mind was struggling. It is never good to pass a friend like that, but it does help knowing that evern better runner struggle too.
During this time I also had a chat with James, he was saying how times like this are useful in the longer races, they give you points of reference, so when you are 30 miles in to a 50 mile ultra, you know you can run for 20 miles when your legs feel like they don’t want to continue. Which will be one of those comments that I’ll be repeating to myself in such situations.
At about 18 miles, phil started feeling the distance and was cramping up. I was determined to stay with phil to help him round, because when you are struggling in a marathon it can be one of the loneliest feelings. So our pace slowed down. We slowed to a walk/run as Phil’s legs will allow. I tried to keep his spirits up, and at one point we ended up singing.
After a tough last 6 miles for Phil, we crossed the finish line in 4:10, and met up with some friend of ours at the end. It felt good to run with a mate and help him through his first marathon. It was a great race and a great atmosphere and I had completed my first double and felt good for it. Giving me a lot of confidence for future events.