Pilgrims Challenge 2014

This weekend was on of my key training events running up to the MdS - the Pilgrims Challenge, a 66 mile 2 day event in Surrey. This would have been a key distance and back-to-back training event but.... My ITB went just after the second check point running down hill. For a little while I wasn't 100% sure it wasn't just general fatigue in my leg so I kept going (I can deal with fatigue!) but after another couple of miles in the valley it became obvious that it was something more significant. I decided to carry on to the next checkpoint which was up a nice steep hill, this was actually a relief because it didn't hurt going uphill. The next 5 miles or so along the top were less fun and I needed up hopping down muddy paths but we got there in the end. Max, one of my tent buddies to-be who I had been running with up til the problems started very kindly stayed with me for 4/5 miles of fast walking and hopping down muddy slopes - despite me telling him to, he refused to leave me on my own. I felt very bad to have to abandon him at the checkpoint, and a huge fraud to have to get a lift to the overnight point - even more so as I got out and walked in next to people who were finishing - not a good feeling! So my first DNF...

...I even finished the Seville Marathon (my first) in a respectable time with my arrhythmia playing up and a heart rate upwards of 240/250 bpm so dropping out isn't something that comes easily. I had to remind myself that this wasn't my target event (if it had been I'm sure I could have finished, just in lots of pain!), and that I had more to loose than to gain by carrying on, potentially preventing me running the MdS if I damaged myself badly enough. So hopefully the right decision to stop where I did and not try starting on the second day. Sophie who I met at the end of the C2C, and had been running near for much of the day actually, told me she would knock me out if she saw me at the start line for the second day - I think she was joking... but it is good to have the support of more experienced runners, knowing when to stop.

Anyway, now the negative bit is out the way, back to the beginning for the positives from the weekend - and there were lots of them. The terrain was difficult - lots of mud which was very tiring and good training for sand. I felt my legs tiring a lot earlier than I expected (probably partially due to a fairly intense training schedule recently) but it was good to have some time running on tired legs knowing that we nowhere near then end - there will be LOTS of that in the desert!

There were also loads of other people doing the MdS and it was great to meet so many of them. Great like-minded people, really up for the challenge. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better in Morocco, particularly my tent mates to-be. There was loads of conversation about food, weight and kit in general, and the over night camp in the school gave a great opportunity to look at all sorts of different night kit. I also got loads of tips, specific and more general. Danny Kendall's Q&A on the Saturday night was really good - not sure I'm going to be going quite so extreme lightweight (or anywhere like as fast...) as him though!

My favorite part of the weekend however was when the final walkers made it to the finish and came into the canteen. We were in the middle of a talk but everything stopped and they got a round of applause and some hugs. This sport is so inclusive and I think it is great. Even the elites are so friendly and shot encouragement on their way past - so different from a road marathon which is so serious! While we were waiting for our bags back at the start on the Sunday I me a couple of older ladies (at least one of whom was a grandma!) who were just amazing. The had all done the MdS or equivalents and one had done 14 multi-day endurance stage races, including one on every continent (including Antarctica), and the North Pole. How many other events would you meet such amazing and inspiring people?

Overall it was a really friendly and well organised event - definitely one to go back and finish in future. It also struck me how far I have come now that only having completed 26 odd miles was disappointing - a year ago I would have been very happy with that (particularly given it was off-road), and other than the ITB problems, I could have easily carried on and finished in a very reasonable time.  Not all bad then!

Country to Capital 2014

So time seems to be going faster and faster and suddenly one of my key prep races has come around. Not being the final target I hadn't given this as much thought as I probably would have done and so despite this being farther than I have ever run before I wasn't really nervous. The furthest I had run in one go before last Saturday was 37 miles on the second day of The Wall, so this was going to be a few miles longer but at least I would be starting with fresh legs this time!

I woke up early as I normally do before a big race and got my porridge down me (seemed a good opportunity to try out one of the dehydrated breakfasts I'll use on the MdS). I had organised everything the night before so was nice and relaxed and headed down the road to Wendover with plenty of time to spare. After registering there was lots of time to mill about which gave me the opportunity to chat to a couple of other 2014 MdS'ers - the first I've met!

At 8.30, 400 of us (it is amazing that there are so many crazy people out there!) headed out onto the country trails of Buckinghamshire. Couldn't have asked for a better morning - clear skies but not freezing, and the light on the countryside was beautiful. The only issue was the low sun that prevented you from seeing where your feet were going. It was mentioned at the pre-race briefing that there was some ankle-deep mud... I did end up quite muddy, all part of the fun and I didn't get any blisters because of it.

I hadn't appreciated quite how much the map booklets we were given were actually needed - in the past any races I have done have been pretty comprehensively way-marked. I was just sort of expecting to put my head down an plod my way through it... Fortunately there were quite a few people about who had done the race in the past and knew the route. I have to confess (a little ashamed) I was pretty lazy when it came to navigation, despite being used to running over the fells on my own and needing to keep tabs on where I am.

The first couple of checkpoints passed pretty quickly it seemed, running through some lovely countryside and pausing every now and again as we came to the odd gate or stile, or points where it wasn't terribly clear where to got (I'm sure I'd have had a better idea of where we were going I'd actually got my booklet out!). I was surrounded by a very friendly bunch and the conversation was great. I love how this sort of running is so much less pressured than running shorter distances and people are more relaxed.

After crossing over the M25 and carrying on along some more rural trails we reached the Grand Union Canal - easy navigation form here on I had been assured, with the exception of a turn off to Paddington 13 miles from the end (which was pretty obvious thankfully!). I have to confess that I wasn't hugely enjoying things at this point as I stomach had been feeling dodgy ever since the first checkpoint where I had pretty stupidly decided to try the fruit cake and carry on running with it. The cake was amazing (worth doing the race again just for that, and I'm not generally a fan of fruit cake), but I should have known better and I paid for it over the next 20-25 miles.

It was much easier going along the canal and despite the state of my stomach I managed to keep a better pace... until the hiccups. I HATE them! They're the perfect thing to make a dodgy stomach worse. I got to checkpoint 3 and decided that the best thing to do was have something to eat even though I didn't feel like it - either it would stay down or it would make me throw up - either way I'd feel better! And it did - a few miles down the canal just after the turn of to Paddington... I disturbed a poor young couple who had evidently come down to the canal for some quite time together with some of the most horrendous wretching noises I am sure anyone has ever come out with (secretly very proud of myself). I did at least manage to get a few meters past them and not do it on their feet, I'm sure they were very grateful.

Anyway by this point there were just over 13 miles to go, and I suddenly felt great. I sped off down the canal determined to make the most of my second wind while it lasted. After a couple of miles it wore off and I fell into step with a couple of other runners who I stuck with for the last 12 miles or so from Checkpoint 4. One of them, Sophie, was an experienced ultramarathon runner and MdS veteran who kept me going with a mixture of her 10 mins running, 2 mins walking routine which really helped with discipline, and some amazing motivating words. Nick, a professional sailor, found his finish legs shortly before the end and managed to pick up the pace (there was no way I could follow!) and Sophie managed to drag me (psychologically) to the end at a very respectable pace for which I am extremely grateful!

My body didn't seem to be in too bad condition all things considered, no blisters at all, which gives me confidence in the shoe and sock combination. I was carrying 3 to 4 kg in my pack which I think I could have done to make heavier (need to carry more on the next race). A good confidence boost overall though!

On the way into Paddington I caught sight of another C2C-er coming in the direction. We caught each other's eye and smiled at each other - no words were exchanged but you know instantly when someone has just been through the same pain as you and come out the other end wincing and grinning at the same time that you have quite a bit in common, and they stand out even in a busy station!

The Wall - Part 2

Day 2

I woke up early and listened to the rain hitting my tent, trying to work out how stiff my legs were. Despite having a warm comfy bed less than 20 miles away I had decided to spend the night camping out with everyone else in order to gain some experience of sleeping cocooned in a sleeping bag with limited space to move. Other than wanting to continue to feel part of the event and not disappear off and come back when it was convenient, I thought it would be a good learning experience, managing recovery with more limited means than back at home.

Having waited for the rain to stop crawled out of my tent I went about sorting myself for the day ahead, getting fluids and food down me and the obligatory visit to the little boys room. I was ready at the start well before 8 am, the earliest start time, with several other eager runners, several of whom I had met during the previous day. We were all ready to get under way and start up the rather steep and scary looking hill we had heard about from the previous year, and seen people going up the previous day.

I was pleasantly surprised at the state of my legs – there seemed to be no obvious niggles, and while stiff, they weren't excessively so and certainly felt like they could keep going another day, though 37 miles gives plenty of time for things to go wrong! I was especially pleased as I was a little worried that I had gone a little fast the first day, and the fact that I didn't feel anywhere near broken helped buoy my confidence. The first climb certainly woke the kegs up but it gave a good excuse to walk early in and gave us something to bond over as we struggled up the heather covered slope. Once at the top it was a nice gentle bimble down the path onto the road towards Newborough with little ascent and I found a comfortable rhythm that felt maintainable with my tired legs, having a nice chat with a lady I had got talking to after the first pit stop at Lanercost the previous day. Curiously, the fact that they felt tired from the outset didn’t really bother me too much – it was expected and didn’t get any worse over the first few miles and so I sort of forgot about it and kept going.

The next stage of the trail took us over Whinnie Hill and down the path behind the house that I grew up in – it was quite a nostalgic experience running down through fields I used to go sledging in and then along the route by the Tyne to Hexham where we used to go on cycle rides when I was small. For me it added a nice personal touch to the experience, which certainly helped. 

I made it into the Hexham pit stop by the rowing club at the end of the third stage (13 miles) in about 2 hrs 8 mins , a bit faster than expected, but then there had been a lot of downhill to help things along. My mum and dad and their friend Sue were waiting to give me a cheer on which gave a bit of a boost, along with the other people at the pit stop clapping people in.

I quickly got my fluid and food down me and then carried on, over the Tyne and on towards Corbridge along a road I have been down countless times in a car and which was surprisingly flatter and shorter than I had remembered it to be. Just before Corbridge the markers directed us down onto the side of the Tyne, a nice change from pounding the roads. We then went up through Corbridge and proceeded to climb a long hill, longer than I remember it being which was quite mentally exhausting but I was pleased with my efforts, running a significant proportion. It was about this time that I started to regularly find myself around a very friendly pair called Dave and Norman, who I would end up running right to the end with. As there weren't many people around us at this point in the race, and sometimes fair distances between marshals it was nice to have people in sight. There was also another nice bloke running close by (who for some reason I never actually introduced myself to) who I had been running with on and off from half way through the third stage on the way to Hexham.

When the route took us back down by the Tyne I had a few miles where the others were behind me along a quite flat road. Although there had been no obvious alternative routes I could take I began to become paranoid after a little while that I had gone the wrong way – there had been a couple of instances earlier in the day where I had managed to miss signs through lack of concentration and Dave and Norman had had to correct me. Fortunately however I came across some course arrows directing me down on to the river bank and I was thoroughly relieved – I knew I couldn't have been far off (I knew the course followed the river at this point) but with those few miles to myself I had had far too much time to over think things! The section along the river involved some nice slidy mud and tall undergrowth which provided a nice change, with a particularly interesting bit with a steep slippery downhill to cross a rocky shallow bit of river. In retrospect that was fun, but with my tired legs I was fairly sure I was going to flying down the slippery slope into a crumpled heap onto the stones below. Fortunately I managed to maintain a little bit of dignity!

I ran the vast majority of that 4^th stage mentally ticking off the familiar railways stops into Newcastle as I went (Stocksfield, Prudhoe, Wylam… etc.) in a rhythm that didn't seem too hard to maintain until we were a mile or two from the final pit stop. At this point (crossing the impressive disused railway bridge at Wylam) the couple of miles I knew were left to the pit stop began to seem never ending, though I did have Dave and Norman in the distance up front to help drag me a long.

Eventually that slog into Newburn was over, and I made it into the pit stop tent just in time to avoid being drenched in a heavy downpour. I was greeted by a comforting sweet smell of toasting waffles – some of the marshals had put a couple of waffles in front of the jet heater in the tent which I thought was a great idea, unfortunately I couldn't stomach one at that point and I grabbed a banana and headed off munching as I went.

At this point my nameless friend I had been running near all day gained a second wind and disappeared, with what must have been an impressive surge of energy. I wasn't in any state to be doing anything remotely similar! I did at least know that as a minimum I could walk the last 7 miles to the end, achieving my aim of completing the race. What I didn't know was how much I could persuade myself to run!

Dave and Norman had set off a couple of minutes before me and they quickly came into view around a corner up ahead. I caught them up and we set off into Newcastle together. Strangely it wasn't much more painful to run than it was to walk, and although I knew I would get to the end significantly quicker if I carried on running it was very very tempting to walk. I am hugely grateful to Dave and Norman for keeping me running over those last 7 miles, it would have been so much more difficult to manage the same pace without them.

We got down onto the quayside and kept expectantly looking out for a first glimpse of the bridges as we rounded the curve in the river. There were the odd small turns we had to make round obstacles on the quay which under normal circumstances would have been easy, however by this point rather being able to dart round them it was more like maneuvering a small oil tanker… The legs were very tired by this stage! 

Eventually the first bridge came into sight and the thrill I had been waiting for started to build. As we approached the first bridge we passed a couple walking down the quay and the gentleman asked where we had run from. At the reply ‘Carlisle’ he responded ‘Bloody Idiots!’. It was a great comic moment, and as he had uttered it in a strong Geordie accent it felt entirely in keeping with the location and experience.

I have loved the view the bridges over the Tyne between Gateshead and Newcastle for as long as I can remember. Running under them, counting down to the Millennium Bridge and the finish, absolutely exhausted and emotional was an amazing experience. There were no crowds or spectators apart from a few at the very finish, but that didn't matter, the rush was better even than the end of the Great North Run where there are thousands of people lining the seafront. Despite being more knackered than I can remember, I ran under the Tyne Bridge and found some energy to pick up the pace which, helped by the man in front, turned into a (sort of) sprint over the Millennium Bridge and into the finish. 69 miles, 12 hours 25 minutes and 23 miles over two days, and my first ultramarathon over!

A thoroughly knackered and pretty red Tom! 

The Wall - Part 1

On Sunday 23^rd of June I completed my first Ultra distance event, The Wall ultramarathon, a 69 mile race across the north of England, from Carlisle Castle to the Baltic Quay in Gateshead. There was the option to do this in one (Expert class) or two days (Challenger class), and I am very glad I decided to go with the latter. The rationale behind choosing this option (other than me being a wimp) was that it would be good practice running along way (32 miles) one day, sleeping in a tent stuck in the shape of a sleeping bag overnight, and getting up and running another long way (37 miles) the next morning.

Day 1

I am fortunate enough to have grown up in Northumberland and I was able to persuade my parents to drive me over to Carlisle the morning of the race. I arrived in time to drop my bag to be taken to the half way point at Vindolanda and make my way into the castle with half an hour to spare before the start at 8 am. The crazy people taking on the whole distance in the Expert class started an hour earlier and by the time I made my way into the castle there were plenty of people milling around. I felt a moment of intimidation as I looked around at all these very fit and experienced looking people, but I soon got chatting to some people nearby as I debated if I should pin my number to the front of my top or onto by rucksack, and if my timing chip needed to go around my neck or could go in my bag.

It turned out that they were newbies as well which was comforting, and we got chatting about the challenge ahead. I also got chatting to a friendly gentleman call John who, I noticed had a Raidlight bag that looked very much like the ‘standard’ MdS bag, with a Union Jack sewn on to it. It turned out he had done the MdS four years previously and was very patient with my sudden barrage of questions. I also bumped into a pair of fellow (but infinitely more experienced) Challengers I met in the registration queue the previous day. I started to realise that there was no need to be intimidated; the atmosphere was so much more friendly and relaxed than at all the road races I have done previously. Some people new to this scale of challenge and others old hands but all in it together for the long journey over to Newcastle.

After a short introduction and brief we were sent on our way, moving slowly together out of the castle gates (and despite a warning about trip hazards on the way out I managed to almost go flying 10 metres over the start line!). The route took us onto the banks of the River Eden and out of Carlisle into the country side. I found it difficult to know if I was going at the right pace, my fresh legs wanting to speed my forward past people, and my head trying to rein them in. After 5 miles or so I fell into step behind pair of very amiable gentlemen and got into a comfortable rhythm. We continued to see each other passing each other every now and again for the most of the remainder of the day. I loved meeting people, albeit briefly sometimes, as I went along. 

 

After 15 miles we reached the first pit stop at Lanercost Priory where there was great support from the spectators that had gathered to meet runners they knew. I had not expected it at all, and it really gave me a boost. I quickly got a couple of cups of fluid, a banana and some peanuts (which have never tasted so good) down me and carried on… just 17 miles and few hills to go before the camp at Vindolanda. The elevation profile of the route is such that the first day has a net height gain and the second a net height loss, with the majority of the first day’s height being gained over a couple of long steep hills in the second stage. To my surprise I didn’t really mind the hills, in fact they presented a very good excuse to walk and use some different muscles.

At the top of the first hill soon after the first pit stop we got our first sight of the Wall, the remains of a turret and a short section of wall. Despite having visited more eastern bits of the wall many times over the years as I was growing up I don’t remember ever having seen this part of the wall, and the next few miles along the road past sections of wall to Birdoswald Fort and Greenhead. It was great to be discovering new areas so close to home.

I kept going, feeling remarkably energetic and in a comfortable rhythm all the way to Greenhead wondering if my energy was causing me to overdo it a bit, knowing very well that that energy could evaporate in a second. I knew from experience of the area that there was a long and very steep hill up out of Greenhead, and it turned out to be even longer than I remember it being! I got to the top of it maintaining a reasonable walking pace, though I was not pleased to discover at the check point at Walltown Quarry a short while after that there were another 8 miles to go which for some reason suddenly seemed like a long way away! I was starting to flag a little at this point, but set off again after the usual couple of mouthfuls of fluid and a handful of jelly beans. In retrospect these last 8 miles were the nicest of the day, up in proper Wall country with great views and a break from pounding the tarmac, though I wasn't really thinking along these lines at the time. The last 4 or 5 miles I just wanted it to finish and I was very glad when we started to see supporters by the side of the track leading into Vindolanda.

I was absolutely knackered with I finished and couldn't have contemplated going any further. I have a huge amount of respect for all those people carrying on to Newcastle. I got my soup and sat down to rest for a little before going to find my bag and put up my tent, drinking it slowly to let my stomach adjust (it had been feeling a little churned up for the last few miles). It was just before 2 pm and I had until 8 am to wander about, get a massage, relax and do my best to recover for the next 37 miles.

Tents at the overnight camp - that dark hill in the background on the right is the first challenge of the second day - we had plenty of time to admire it!