IceMan Cross Country 12k Race

Getting up at 6:40 on a Saturday morning to go and run in the cold is not everyone's idea of fun but I was really looking forward to this. I was very tired and did struggle to get out of the house but I made it to Clapham Junction with 3 minutes to spare.

An easy trip to Ask Vale and then a 5 mile cycle to the race in Deepcut took less time than expected so I had about an hour to stand around in the cold. Not pleasant.

Race started at 10 and I needed a quick comfort break just before the gun so I found myself at the back of the field. This meant a slow first mile as I got stuck at tight pinch points and had to run around people. By mile 2 I was in my stride and loving it.

My plan was to push fairly hard. I enjoyed a previous HumanRace cross country event (WildMan) back in November but was disappointed in my finishing position so I wanted to do better. I really pushed on the hills (there were lots of them), tried to be braver downhill and aim for a 10k pace on the flats.

I felt good and only tired in the last mile or so. I'm still waiting on my official position but my pace was over a minute per mile faster than the WildMan so I'm delighted.

9:45 - 3 or 4 pinch points in the first half mile where everyone had to walk.
8:12 - Space opened up. Started running well
7:52 - Chasing down and passed someone
8:15 - Still feeling good, attacking the hills
8:12 - Still good
8:33 - Beginning to tire
9:08 - The first mile and this mile is where I lost the 2 minutes I needed for sub hour.
2:17 - Wanted to beat a man in a silly hat. I beat him :-)

Disappointed with mile 7 but overall, I'm very happy.  The only downside of the day was leaving my SealSkinz cycling gloves on the train.  Its very annoying.  I left them on the seat next to me.  I'm sure the girl sitting opposite saw them as I was standing with my bike for about 5 minutes before I got off.  Oh well, better go shopping.

Marathon number 7 or Ultra number 1

What the hell was I doing. Some time back in late summer, I was feeling over confident about life and decided to enter a autumn/winter marathon. I was coming off the back of my Etape success and decided that a normal marathon wasn't challenging enough so went for a hilly, cross country event in Wales.

With my teacher training course, my running build-up had been patchy and I was shocked by how quick the race came around. On my drive to Wales on a wet and windy Friday night, I wondered what the hell I was thinking.

I arrived at my B&B at 10pm and went straight to bed. I got up a 6am, had my porridge and set off to the race. I was fairly casual about my gear compared with how I have been at previous marathons even though I had to carry lots more than usual - water, space blanket, whistle, first aid, gels and phone.

The other contestants where the usual set of skinny, tight wearing 'outdoors' people with buffs i.e not me. I always wonder why XC runners mostly wear tights but road runners mostly wear shorts. I did have my own buff for the first time as it was given away free with Cycling Plus this week which was a bit of luck.

It was cold and windy but not raining. It wasn't due to rain until the late afternoon but I still put on my raincoat as it was chilly. An announcement was made that because of flooding (it had been raining for 3 days solid), the course would take a detour and as a result, was now 28 miles. It was no longer a marathon but technically an ultra.

We set off at 9am and it was straight over a dune and on to the beach. It was wet but not too soft so progress was good. Then it was off the beach and through some fields to the first hill. It was big and everyone was walking. A couple tried to run for a bit but they weren't going any faster than the walkers.

After a short plateau at the top we came down the other side along a wooden path. It was slippy and I didn't feel very stable and it wasn't long before I fell on my back-side. I was ok, just a dirty knee and a thorn in my hand.

I reached the first checkpoint and used the dibber. The next 6 miles were fine. I had fallen into a good rhythm and was with a group of about 10 other runners. We climbed the second big hill before check point 2. I had another gel, some jelly babies and a biscuit. It was then over some really tough sand dunes before reaching the coast again at mile 11.5.

The beach was a killer. You could see for over a mile and the wind was right in your face. You could see about 30 runners all shuffling against the wind trying to get to the same point and no one looked like they were making any progress.

I eventually got to the end of the beach and felt ok, especially as I had passed quite a few people. However, feeling ok was short lived as we climbed 300 feet through a forest to get over the peninsular.

The war of attrition then began. The rain started, the wind got stronger and it was just putting one foot in front of the other for mile after mile. All I was focusing on was getting to mile 20. That felt like a real breakthrough. The terrain remained tough with lots of water, deep mud and rocks. Because my legs were getting tired, I was finding it increasingly hard to navigate over the rocks without walking which slowed me down.

We reached the last checkpoint at mile 21 but I knew we had 7 miles and a really big hill to go. It was at this point that my right knee started to hurt. Just a twinge at first but mile after miles, it got worse and worse. Up hills were ok, running on the flat was fine for about 3 or 4 minutes at a time but down hills were painful. I tried to take my 4th gel here but was nearly sick so didn't bother.

We got to the final hill and it was big. A thin stream of people were making their way to the top and into a cloud (yes, it was that big). We trudged up laughing at our pain. It went on and on. Once we got to the top, it was bleak. Visibility was bad and the rain was heavy.

After another 20 minutes of this, I finally saw the finish. It was down a very steep slope which made me want to cry. Whilst others skipped down in glee (or slid) knowing it was about to be over, I had to gingerly make it down using one leg. If I put any weight on my right leg my knee screamed at me.

I eventually made it home practically hoping over the line. I forgot to stop my watch and I can't find the result printout so I'm not totally sure of my time but it was around 5:50. It doesn't sound great but it was an extreme course. 30 minutes later, as I drove away, there were still people coming off the hill so I wasn't last. Hooray.

Food
Breakfast - Porridge, toast, coffee, High5 4:1 drink, water
Gels - SiS at 4 miles, 10 miles, 15 miles and half at 21 miles
Other - Biscuit and handful of jelly babies
Hydration - I carried and drank 1.5 litres of water, 1 bottle of Gatorade (yuk)
Hydration - 3 cups of water on route
After - For Goodness Shake and Burger King

Stats
Distance: 28 miles (45km)

Time: 5:50:00 ???
Elevation Gain: 3900 feet (1188 meters)
Weather: Nasty
Winner: 3:44:4
11st Female: 4:03:34
Me: 5:53:38
I finished 113th out of 169

Other Photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonlewis/sets/72157622943129638/

Salvaging a poor day

Today was supposed to be the Turbo X Salomon cross country 10. A wet, muddy run on difficult terrain; the ideal preparation for my cross country marathon. However, on Saturday night I realised the car was double booked.

My kids had a fashion show event (don't ask) in town and Cath needed to take them there and back so I would have to make my own way to Bordon in Hampshire. I looked at the trains but the usual rubbish Sunday morning service was in place with the first train getting into the closest station too late to make the start, even if I took my bike. So the only option was to cycle the 42 miles. An extreme day but worth it if I pulled it off.

Bordon is not too far away from Haslemere where I used to live so I thought I would be able to find it. I printed out maps, set the alarm for 5:40 am, got all my bike and running gear ready, fixed lights on my road bike and went to bed.

The alarm went off and I jumped out of bed and got breakfast ready fast. I knew that the sooner I could set off, the better. As the forecast had said, it was wet and windy but had stopped raining. I rode out in the empty roads towards Wimbledon, Kingston and Cobham. This was all familiar territory but it went wrong as I got to Aldershot. My map was done using A and B road numbers but all I could see were names which were no help. I knew I was going wrong but just tried to head in the right direction.

Time was slipping away and by the time I left Farnham, I was only just going to make it. It was then that I must have taken a wrong turn as I cycled and cycled looking for signs to Bordon but nothing. It was 9:55 when I saw a sign and in said 6 miles. Pointless. The race had begun and I was not going to be running it. I was gutted. It was a race I had been really looking forward too. Normal road races are ten-a-penny but these cross country runs are a lot rarer.

I had 50 miles on the speedo so I decided I would cycle home and make it a century and save something of the day. Trouble was, 5 miles later, the Almighty got angry and decided to flood Surrey. No one told me I was going to have to build an ark and my flimsy rain jacket was doing nothing. I could hardly see and it got quite scary.

I persevered for another 7 miles but decided I couldn't go on. It was beginning to shiver violently and I was worried I would get hypothermia. I got to Godalming and got a train home shivering all the way, having done around 65 miles.

I got home and sulked for a couple of hours. Outside the weather cleared so I go angry, got my running gear on and set out. My legs where tired and I was slow but I forced myself round my 11 mile loop. All was not lost. Nearly two thirds of a half ironman :-)

Quicksand 15

What a great race. Truly unique.

It started at 6:30 am with my alarm. Had my wife not nudged me, I would have switched it off, turned over and gone back to sleep. Thanks dear. I got up, had some toast, coffee and tried to eat my porridge but didn't finished it. I was feeling a little queasy. Nervous I guess.

The drive to Margate was easy enough. 90 minutes and I arrived before 9am. I sorted myself out and chatted to some people before walking down to the beach for 9:50. After a short briefing, we were off.

The first mile was along the beach and it was ok. Some pools of water and a little uneven but the sand was compacted and firm underfoot. This was going to be alright. It was then briefly onto the promenade before going back onto the sand. This time it was a little softer. The sand was looser and gave way underfoot, there was seaweed and stones you had to avoid. This lasted 3 more miles.

Up a sharp hill and onto the cliff top, the first water station and then back on the beach. This was a really hard section where the beach was completely covered in large flints and stones. It was very hard on the ankles.

It was then on sand until mile 7. Some of the sand was hard but there were many soft patches that really sapped your strength. It was then up a large flight of steps onto the cliff top and the turn around point.

The return journey was mostly the same and I was doing ok. I had a gel at mile 9 and kept my pace somewhere around the low 9 minute miles until mile 11 when we rounded the headland into the wind. The westerly wind was strong and it was all I could do to concentrate on each step and just keep going. I focused on the person in front and just tried not to lose ground.

It always feels like a race will never end and this was a prime example. The miles ticked by very slowly and with less that a mile to go, I could actually see the finish but it didn't seem to get any closer. I realised I was in with a shout of sub 2:20 so I had a 'sprint' finish and sneaked it.

I was really delighted with my effort. Its great to know I could run 15 a lot quicker or run 18-20 at the same speed and I've still got 8 weeks until the marathon. Happy days.

Time: 02:19:22
Distance: 15.00 miles
Pace: 9:17 minute miles
Elevation Gain: 162 m
Weather: Partly Sunny & Windy