Oakley 20: a blustery morning in North Bedfordshire

Today was my first chance to run the Oakley 20, previous years have clashed with long standing arrangements to deliver navigational training. With clocks going forward by an hour and a disturbed nights sleep I was not feeling in the best place for this long run.

Despite what seemed an early arrival, by the time I had queued in traffic and been directed to the far side of the village to park and walked back to the registration point in the village school time was running out. Due to the rain no one was willing to leave the building, which made queening for race numbers and timing chips a  nightmare. Finally sorted and bag dropped with minutes to spare before the start time!

The race was along various quietish lanes and consisted of two loops, the first big loop and then a smaller second loop. This did mean quite a few miles were replicated. It started well, but my energy levels were seriously low, I didn't have my blood glucose monitor but if I did I'm sure it would be close to empty! The pounding on the roads took it out of my legs as well and it is a rather undulating course with lots of short but steep climbs, more so the second time around. To complicate matters the wind was pretty strong and we were buffeted by it as we ran, rarely did it come from behind.

As I approached Oakley at the end of the first 12 miles, the race winner came roaring past on his final lap. annoyingly still looking rather fresh and ready for more. The second lap was tough and I did give in on the hills and walk them. With little energy I'm sure to run them would have taken longer. Finally the school came in sight, but not the finish as we had to then run around a housing estate and enter the school from the other side. Somehow I kept going and managed to find enough energy to get across while the official clock was still on 3 hours 30 minutes. The chip time came out as 3:29:46, a bit slower than I would have liked, but considering how I felt it was a good time. Surprisingly it came out at 17 minutes faster than my last 20 mile race. Another 20 miles towards my Tanzania Challenge - 112 miles this week with walking, cycling and running. Tomorrow a day's rest, maybe the bike on Tuesday and then a week in France

Silverstone Half Marathon

This weekend was my first time running the Silverstone Half Marathon. I decided to run the local Park Run on the Saturday, which without time for a warm up resulted in me being a minute slower than when I ran back in January. I didn't feel too bad, so hoped Silverstone the next day would go well.

The instructions said to arrive by 10.30 am for the midday race, and as Silverstone has a reputation I allowed plenty of time. As it turned out going across country was a good move, as I didn't meet any traffic until I actually got to the Silverstone entrance. Parking wasn't too difficult and I had two hours to fill! Unfortunately it was bitterly cold so hanging around wasn't what I had in mind. The gathering area was around the pits, and there was a Adidas shop and small charity village, but not a lot of shelter. The warm cafe proved to be a popular spot as everyone warmed up prior to the race.
Heading for a last minute bag drop I met a fellow club runner, and another once out on the start line. With up to 7,000 runners expected it was difficult to see who was there. On the start line I found the pace runner I would have liked to keep in my sights. Sadly as the race progressed my legs felt heavier and heavier and the purple pacers flag gradually headed further and further away from me.
The race was a series of loops around the race track, support roads and other tarmac tracks around the circuit. While you were running in circles it never really felt like it as you were on different parts of the circuit. The start and end was on the main race circuit, but in opposite directions so it was difficult to know exactly where you were at any point. My pace deteriorated as the race progressed, but I just consoled myself with the fact I would finish. Another 13 miles towards week 2 of my Tanzania Challenge. Picking up a bit of pace towards the end, I just got in under the 2 hour window. This was five minutes slower than a hilly road marathon back in early December. However, on that occasion I hadn't run a 45 mile ultra two weeks earlier. Time to let my legs recover a bit as I've a 20 mile road race in two weeks!

Sunny morning ride

Contrary to the weather forecast, this morning turned out to be a great day to get out on the bike. Recent 'rides' have been confined to the turbo, so it was a pleasant change to be outside. The sun was shining, the wind whistled through the air so the temperature wasn't that great, but it was still pleasurable.

Getting out of town was a problem, as art the top of the hill my back wheel seized and became dislodged, due to poorly adjusting it after the turbo. A quick fix and return home to double check everything, and I was off again for my first ride outdoors this year! Sadly, the weather was against me on previous possible trips. I had hoped to do the Wiggle No Excuses ride back in February, but the invite to the Raleigh weekend clashed. As a result I missed out on this opportunity.

It was good to be out on the roads again, mostly minor roads which took me out towards Bedford, before heading back. The return was actualy longer, as I headed east through Houghton Conquest. Leaving the village took longer than anticipated as I took several wrong turns before finding London Road. This took me out towards the A6, then a sharp right to Malden. On this windy road I was stick behind a tractor with tailor for several miles.

As time was on my side, I took a short loop around the outlying lanes before heading back into town. In total just under one hour and a half in the saddle and 20.6 miles on the clock. After a few months on the turbo I found the long hills a real chore, I need to get out more obviously.

So another 20+ miles done towards my Tanzania challenge to add to the runs, walks and turbo rides :)

wimpole Hall Night Run

Tonight a small group from my running club arrived at Wimpole Hall, the National Trust property near Cambridge ready for the organised Night Run. When we arrived it was a nice warm early evening, it seemed the 'night' part was optimistic. However, as the start time of 6.20 pm drew closer the temperature rapidly dropped and the light started to fade.

Once we got started on our 7 km run around the parkland, we were generating enough heat to keep warm and the undulating lumpy terrain proved a challenge at times, especially as the head torches did not always fully highlight the potential traps underfoot.

After Sunday's 45 miler I took it fairly easy this week, except for two 2-3 milers in the last few days and accompanying 10 mile bike turbo sessions. I was really pleased that I felt pretty good on the run and made good progress with the runners. As we approached the folly in the park we doubled back slightly, and this e enabled a view of the swirly snake of lights following along behind.

As we approached the house the runner from a nearby club, who had been playing leapfrog through the second part of the course seemed disappointed with the final stretch being more gravel than grass. The Inov-8 Roclite 295's coped well with the mixed terrain well. As I passed the finish line RJ was there with encouraging shouts, having finished 4 minutes earlier. My time was 35:21 for the 7K course, a pleasing result considering the terrain and my recovery period.

Tanzania Challenge

In June 2016 I will be traveling to Tanzania to be a volunteer Adventure Project Manager. I have to raise some funds towards my place, but as a holder of the Mountain Leader award I get a bursary. However, it would be good to exceed my target.

In addition, I have decided to try to cover the equivalent distance of traveling overland from London to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. The total distance is 6,880 miles, but there are two sea crossings - the English Channel and the Mediterranean. The distance of these crossings have been taken off the total to give a total of 6,614 miles. With 66 weeks to go that means I need to cover on average 100 miles each week. This will include running, cycling and walking (both big walks & general walking - step counter at the ready).

St Peter's Way ultra - 45 miles across Essex

An early start was required on Sunday morning in order to arrive at Chipping Ongar for 7 am and registering for the start of my first ultra. The end point, St Peter's chapel at Bradwell-on-sea has special meaning personally and I had contemplated doing this race before. On those occasions I had come to the sensible conclusion I was not ready, this year would be different. In preparation I set out to get lots of long runs under my belt, but reality meant I was desperately playing catch up in the last month - the longest run being 22 miles.

The conditions were to put it mildly, soft. The first half was like an extended cross country race, muddy, boggy and very wet. This made it tough going especially as I had compromised on grip in favour of comfort for the distance. The second half was more enjoyable and firmer under foot, following many of the twisting creeks, mudflats and salt marshes. A pleasant change from the mornings endurance. As the light was beginning to fade I made my way along the final stretch of sea wall and arrived at St Peter's with the aid of a head torch, tired but thankful that I had completed the 45 miles in just over 10 hours.

There were plenty of refreshments at the checkpoints, although I did take plenty of gluten free snacks just in case. At times I was with a few other runners, but mostly on my own. The directions were not always obvious and there was a few diversions along the way. Nothing too serious though. As ultras go this must be one of the toughest, it was good to finish and I'm not sure when I would run it again.