Stability Through Motion

Well, my last big race of the year is over, so it’s time to reflect and to plan.

Plans for 2008, in order of priority, were as follows:

1. Sub 3:15 marathon
2. Sub 1:30 half marathon
3. Sub 40 minute 10k
4. 40 mile race for 40th birthday
5. 3:20 at Snowdonia Marathon
6. No injuries
   

So everything bar number 5 achieved - and the 3:20 plan was actually only decided fairly last minute. I’d targetted 3:30 originally, which I did achieve, and I did PB for the course, so I should be happy (but of course I’m not, grrr, argghhh, grrr).

I’ll have run 2,000 miles this year - my highest mileage yet, completed two road marathons, two 24 mile off-road races and a 40 mile ultra - my busiest race year to date.

Here’s a lovely chart - showing weekly mileage this year (and revealing also why Snowdonia didn’t go so well - comparatively low mileage in the weeks before).

Looking ahead to 2009 the major plan is to shoot for a sub 3 hour marathon. I’ll keep up long runs on the trails and fells as much as I can - but the plan will require more dedicated road miles and harder work. The spring marathon, wherever it ends up being, will be the prime target, but to be honest, I’d be happy to be closer to 3:05 there, then shoot for sub 3 in an autumn attempt.

Where to go in the spring? I didn’t get a ballot place at FLM, and need another sub 3:15 to guarantee entry for 2010. There’s the call of Antwerp, Paris, Rome or . . . Stratford on Avon! Then I’ve been recommended Luxembourg, so that’s a possibility.

So much for goals, targets and so on - I somehow want to combine that with the sheer easy-going fun of running along hill ridges, or down wooded slopes in the countryside.

Okay, more details on the race countdown to Saturday’s 8am race.

Tuesday: cut toenails, wash hair, chew nails.

Wednesday: Double check the map, double check the kit. Warm bath and lots of stretching and self-massage with a foam roller (that’s right).

Thursday: Last little run to keep the legs working. Final wash of running gear. Triple check I’ve got all the kit I need. Charge old PAYG mobile phone to be used on the run (for taking photos and emergencies). Collect together all the snack food I want to choose from on race day. I’ll try to leave some foods with my supporters so I can pick and choose. So far :

• pretzels
• jelly babies
• home-made peanut & oat bars
• apple
• dried mangoes
• yoghurt coated raisins
• protein bar
• banana flavoured alpro
• SiS gels (energy gels - blackcurrant flavour)
• Nuun electrolyte tablets - add to plain water for essential salts

I think that’s probably enough

Friday: drive to Buxton, recce the route to see just what these hills are like and where I might want to be met enroute. Eat a big big meal in the evening, and try to rest as much as possible.

The race is so close now, I’m beyond nerves, just counting down the hours and compiling endless lists - Tuesday: cut toenails (don’t do it too close to race in case they’re still sore) Wednesday: bake oat biscuits for race etc etc

I’ve created a race map - since the route is mostly off-road and there are few runners it’s going to be very easy to get lost. I scanned in the two huge OS maps, printed out the sections I need, drew the route on with highlighter and stuck them back together and covered them with sticky back plastic so I can run with them in bad weather. It still covers seven A4 sheets!

A run / walk in Fforest Fawr, near Brecon. Up Fan Nedd from the beautifully isolated Maen Llia standing stone, across deep bogs to Fan Gyhirych (2,300ft), then plummeting down to a disused railway track back south, meeting up with the Beacons Way and Sarn Helen eastwards again to Maen Llia. Some stunning scenery, better revealed later in the day when the sun started shining.

17 miles, 4 hours. First hour we only travelled 2.5 miles!

Followed this on Sunday with a nine mile plod round the parks. I’ve developed a slightly tight ITB (Illiotibial Band) so decided to rest it a bit this week.

Oh yes, and I really did get up to my knees in the bog and had to be hauled out! As a result my garmin footpod has completely died on me

Wahoo! Somewhat tempered by the knowledge that some heroes had only just finished running the full 85 miles of the Ridgeway in under 24 hours non-stop running, I managed my longest run ever on Bank Holiday Monday.

Princes Risborough to just below Ivinghoe Beacon and back again - only missed going up the Beacon because I got lost in the woods above Wendover - very annoying! Brief route description: Parked at top of hill in the big car park and looked for the Ridgeway acorn post to start me off. Great up and down hilly route as far as Wendover - via Coombe Hill, and past Chequers. Lost in the woods above Wendover for ages, crossly consulting the compass at every turn. Bit of a slog then to Tring, then through the broad alley of trees shown blurrily on the left, down to the station, then uphill towards Ivinghoe.

Lots of stops - to find my way, to chat to college friends I hadn’t seen in over seven years, both on the way and on the return leg where I caught up with them. Popped into a shop as I ran out of water at 25 miles.

Mood: good until about 21 miles, tough thereafter, although near the end I actually felt I had more energy again. Food was a bit of an issue - my stomach shut down after 4 hours and I really didn’t feel I could eat anything more, even though I knew I would have to.

But that’s it - the longest training run required, from now on it’s taper time!

Just had to get this one down:

If you start to feel good during an ultra, dont’ worry you will get over it.”

Gene Thibeault

Distance: 31.5 miles approx (measured by currently unreliable Garmin footpod)

From: White Horse, Uffington car park

To: Barbury Fort, near Marlborough then back

Mostly a grey day with drizzle for about an hour, then the sun came out and burned my shoulders AGAIN, grr. The trouble is, after four hours of running, you don’t even notice that kind of thing and forget to put the lotion on - stupid, very very stupid.

I’ve learned that you can have downs but get up again, mentally that is, obviously there are ups and downs on the run because it’s the Ridgeway, and there are hills. Right, so after three hours or so I felt pooped, especially after the drag up from Ogbourne to the top of the Ridges again, and a couple of miles of rutted tracks. But following the downhill over the M4, I really picked up again. Was it to do with the oat biscuits? Simply a matter of fuel and energy? By 28 miles I was okay, but 30 to 31 was tough, and I had to walk the final 300 yards to the car park, slightly uphill.

Stiffer legs than usual when I got out of the car at home, but I managed a couple of fast circuits on a track the next day, proving that the old legs are managing to keep up with me.

My first race over marathon distance, though not really a race, was the Downland Challenge in July this year. A tiny event running 30 miles out and back from Clayton (near the Jack and Jill windmills on the South Downs Way) and Rodmell, further east on the SDW.

Since I’d already run 28 miles with no significant damage a couple of weeks earlier, I was hopeful this would go well, although I knew the South Downs were a tougher proposition than the Ridgeway. Much much hillock-ier, lots of up and lots of down and hardly any flat. What I didn’t bargain for was the heat - 28 or 29 degrees most the day, and cloudless. Ugh.

I might have made it round in the heat, it’s difficult to say because I’d made the mistake of tying my shoelaces too tight earlier in the day and walking round in my running shoes. By mile one I was already noticing the effect and stopped to re-tie the laces. Too late ! The damage was done. By mile 20 I was hobbling down the hills, the very bits I was most looking forward to at that stage, nice freewheeling breezy downhill stretches were agony to me.

TOP TIP: check your laces before you set out on a run - loosen them around the bridge of your foot, especially if it’s a hot day or a long run.

So, I made the sensible decision to pull out at the last available checkpoint, 7 miles from the end. A nice guy in a truck gave me a lift back to the start where I refuelled and chatted. I wasn’t the only DNF (Did Not Finish) by any means, many suffering from the heat alone, but I was really annoyed that something so simple as lacing could trip me up (hah hah!). The same shoes with the same lacing had never given problems before, but I guess the heat just made my feet swell. A week without running at all followed, but I’m now convinced that, lacing aside, hot July runs in the middle of the day are not a good idea for me.

I run because I love it, to reach that floaty feeling you get sometimes, that you could just drift along for hours with a small pack on your back, admiring the scenery. OK, sometimes I run too to feel the adrenalin rush, and speed past people when I can. But I don’t run so I can suffer draining heat, cramps, pain, blisters, excessive sweating etc.

To get back to the point, this means I will never ever ever run the Marathon des Sables. You can hold me to that. It’s just a pointless exercise in will and determination over pain and chafing.

. . . I’ll be running 40 miles this September to celebrate an appropriate birthday.

The High Peak 40 race is on September 20th this year, in Buxton. This will be the furthest I’ve ever run in a day, and probably the furthest I will run until I’m 50. This madness is inspired by the great fun I had at Swaledale, running on tracks and through fields in beautiful countryside. It may hurt the quads but it’s a lot more enjoyable than running on dual carriageways in Antwerp! Next year, the plan will be to return to road marathons, and get my times down further, but for now it’s ultra madness.

I’ll be seeing a lot of local footpaths in the coming two months, as I increase my long runs up to 33 miles.

Of course, for some purists, a race isn’t officially an ultra unless it’s 50 miles or over (so twice the marathon distance). But as this route is largely off-road and has 5,000ft of climbing, I think we can be forgiven for calling it an ultra. After all, no one outside the small band of loonie runners even knows or cares how far a marathon is, so who’s counting!

Simply fantastic! 24 miles in 4:01. I got lost, about 2 miles from the end, or I would have made it in 3:50 or so. Perfect blustry weather, not wet underfoot, views were out of this world, and all finished off with a pint of Black Sheep at the end, watching runners then walkers coming in for an hour. What an experience!