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Digdeep Peak District 30 miles

I finally managed to spend a weekend in the Peak District. I am a big fan of the English mountains, even if I come from places where we would call them hills. I meant to visit the district for a long time, finally taking part in a race gave me the opportunity to go there.

I was looking for a longer run to do in August between Davide‘s NDW100 (post coming soon about that) and my September’s CW50. The Digdeep Intro Ultra 30 miles was perfect. It is part of a whole weekend of races so I was also tempted by the social aspect.

I left on Friday after lunch thinking I had plenty of time to get there, set up camp and see the talks that were in the program. Unfortunately the M1 was a continuous single traffic jam and took me over six hours to drive there (instead of three). The weather got worse and worse and when I finally arrived it was raining, I missed the talks and it was getting dark already.


I built the tent in the field near the Whirlow Hall Farm (the race headquarter). The first impact with camping life was not the best. The tent my good friend (and vegan apparel designer) Petr lent me was smaller then I expected. The field was muddy and full of cow poo but most of all it was not flat. I built the tent, had some food at the farm and then since it looked like nothing social was going to happen I went to try and sleep. It took me ages to fall asleep. Once I had to get up and take a walk as I felt too cramped inside the tent but that gave me the chance to see the sky at night with an almost full moon. There was quite a lot of wind so the day ahead was going to be interesting.

At 5am I was woken up by the noise of people getting ready to race the longer 60 mile race that was starting 2 hours before mine. It did not look like it was worth trying to fall asleep again so I got ready for my race too. The air was freezing cold and when we finally started running I was glad.

The course is a 30 mile loop around some of the best looking hills on the side of the Peak District near Sheffield and from the get go it was clear it was going to be a very good looking scenery.
After the painful final I had on the last two races I decided to take it relatively easy at the start. After a bit of fields and woods we arrived at the top of a beautiful hilly area full of Houndkirk Moor.

 

I felt a lot better and started accelerating a bit and at the first check point at Fiddler’s Elbow I was probably going too fast and that made me forget to check were I was going. I had the gpx file on my watch but I kept ignoring it and looking at markers and following people. We took the road and then realised we should have been on the path above. We went back and got on the right track. Good thing we did as that trail was the one following the top of Stanage Edge where it would have been impossible to get to if we had stayed on the road unless we were in for some rock climbing.

At the end of the ridge there was the unmanned checkpoint 2. We dibbed in and kept going. Less than 800 meters later we saw another dibber. I thought it was a checkpoint for the 60 mile race and kept going. That was a mistake. It was our checkpoint 3 too. Time penalty number one.

We ran down up and down a road for some more kms and then reached the checkpoint at the base of Win Hill. Going up the hill was a tough climb. The gnarliest of the race. Not a chance to run that one (the photo below does not do it justice).

Once at the top the view was amazing. The wind was crazy too and I did not envy the marshal waiting for the runners all day long at the top. This was just a bit after 20k and I was feeling relatively well. The climbs were harder than I am used to, but I was doing ok. Eating one gel every thirty minutes (even if I hated them, I will go back to my usual make) and drinking regularly. I made the mistake of not filling up the water bottle at any station yet but I thought I had enough to get to the next.

This is were disaster struck. Coming down from the other side of Win Hill the wind was so strong my eyes were watering and I had to use my hands not to fall on the steep rocks. At that point I might have missed an important sign and kept following the markers and a couple of guys ahead. After a while I saw that everyone stopped and looked at the map. I instantly looked at my watch gpx and realised what an idiot I had been not to look at it earlier. We had been following the 60 mile race markers for at least 3km.

We run back trying to cut down the hill and avoid going back up. We were going to miss checkpoint 6 at Aston but the time penalty (second one for me) was nothing compared to the time it would have taken us to go back. For fear of being lost alone I ran with those guys and not at my pace. By the time we joined the correct route at Hope village I had run 30k, 25k were still to be ran and I was feeling dead already. Mentally I was also a bit down as I hated myself for having run 5k more than needed. I was also out of water! I felt the gels stuck in my throat as if they had clogged my insides and basically felt a bit crap.

I put some music on (as always I waited until I was halfway through the race) which helped and continued running (I also managed to smile for this selfie).

The trail around a massive cement factory felt like lasting for ages but I finally reached the big aid station at Bradwell. I was so depressed to think I lost so much time. I had some real food, filled the water bottle and went out.

A long bit uphill was quite welcome as I had a chance to walk it and talk with other competitors. I ran down the other side feeling like I could not stop even if I had wanted to.

From then on it was an alternating of walk the hill, run a bit, walk again.

Then an endless bit along the river Derwent felt like it lasted an eternity. It was a very nice part of the trail, with the river down on the side, but it was flat and at that stage I would have preferred a bit of walking uphill and running downhill.

My wishes were soon granted and the final 10k of the race arrived, with a very long climb. I never felt so low in energy. I could not eat anything and my head felt light and my legs like made of wood. It lasted forever.

I finally recognised where I was as we got back from the same trail the race started on and when I realised it was actually skipping some parts we did in the morning I finally got out of the low point I was in. I even managed to run the full last 2kms and crossed the finish line completely knackered. Here is the Strava file if you are interested.

It was a beautiful place. The weather had been variable, sun, rain, mostly windy, but it was beautiful being out there. I am not too happy for having taken the wrong path and even less happy for having crawled the last bits. It was definitely a good lesson. I need to do a lot more long runs. The injury from last November really affected my fitness. Last year at this time I was so much stronger. Next month I will do my second 50 miler ever but I don’t think I will have much time to improve my fitness so I will have to be very rigorous in taking it easy and eating regularly. I cannot wait.

After the race I had a sort of shower with a water bottle in the middle of the field under the rain and in the wind. It was even more painful than the race.

Then I waited to see the first people finishing the 60 miler and then went in my tent. Spent the time from 7pm to 7am sleeping. I only woke up at 1:30am to watch Mo Farah win gold at Rio’s 5k race. Amazing stuff.

The day after the weather was slightly better and I went for a hike. I saw from far away places I had been the day before and I was amazed in realising how much terrain we covered.

I then drove back home to finally have a real shower.

I enjoyed the weekend in the Peak District a lot. Shame there was not much social interaction happening at the farm. I guess the weather did not help much. I will definitely go back and do it right next time!

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I am back!

Reading about my training schedule last year was boring enough, so I am not going to annoy you by recounting my last 6 months of recovery from injury. I’ll just make a list of things I’ve learnt:

  • Injuries do not go away if you ignore them: as soon as I felt slightly better I tried running, even doing 15k sometimes. It was very silly of me.
  • When doctors say you should not run for 2 months they mean 2 months, not 1
  • Injuries do not come alone: I had a very bad shin splints but also an ankle impingement. When one was improving, the other was getting worse and vice versa. Learning which one is causing a certain bit of pain and how to tackle it really helps.
IMG_7066
Big Foot
  • Physios are really good for you: I went for half a dozen sessions at Physio&Therapy in Teddington and I cannot recommend them enough
  • Stretching and strength exercises are boring but useful: I spent countless evening doing more than an hour of lifting my toes to strengthen my feet and other exercises. One day I might do a post with suggestions on the best exercises and stretching.
  • Cross training can make you go less crazy: I did quite a lot of cycling and swimming when I finally gave up running for a longer period. At least I had a way of burning some energy and it is actually fun too. Especially cycling in Richmond Park early in the morning. When on holiday I went hiking too, it’s hard not to run when you are on certain beautiful trails.
  • Watching a youtube video does not teach you how to apply a kinesiology tape on yourself. Better leave it to the experts.
  • You can still wake up at 5am and do something: the first month I made a mobile game all by myself (if I had known I had 4 more months of not running I would have done it better, but if you want it you can download it here)
  • Being able to run 5k again without suffering is so beautiful it will make you almost cry
  • Going back to running 100k a week takes ages but you can take advantage of slower and shorter runs to work on your cadence, form and experiment with food.
  • Cancelling races is really tough: I had to give up on 2 marathons and the first 2 Centurion’s 50 milers. So no Grand Slam for me this year.

So we are in June now and finally, more than 6 months from the Druid Challenge, I am running again six days a week. The last couple of weeks around 100k each, with some adventures on trails too. The injuries are not completely gone away, but every day is better and I think I now know how much I can push (as if I’ve never said this before).

I am going to do my first race in July. I am doing the Hermes Running North Downs Way Marathon again. This time I was given a free entry by RunningHeroes.com (thank you very much) and I will try not to kill myself in the first half like I did last year.

But first I will be pacing my friend @manuontrail in the last 30 miles of the South Downs Way 100 next weekend. I cannot wait. It will be an adventure, most likely a night time adventure on some of the best trails around here.

I have more races coming up and more pacing duty for friends, but I am sure I will do loads of posts about those in the near future.

Stay tuned: I am back! (I can hear my 4 readers cheering).

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2015: my Ultra year

Here is the usual end of year post. It has been an incredible year for my running. Last year’s plan was to go from half marathon to ultra marathon and I made it.

2015 has been the year of the “firsts”: first marathon, first 50k, first 50 miles, first multi-stage race and unfortunately first serious injury.

If it had not been for the last 2 months where I could not run due to injury, the rest of the year I basically run 6 times a week (except for race recovery and tapering).

spotTheInjury

Here is my 2015 in numbers:

I have run a total of 3801 km for a total of 312 hours. Here is the usual Strava end of year movie.

I ran 14 races:

  • One 50 mile race
  • One 50 k race
  • One 3 day event (84 miles in total)
  • 4 marathons
  • 2 half marathons
  • One 10 mile race
  • 2 Park Runs (5k)

medals

Here is a summary:

January

I ran my first marathon, the Trailscape Ashurst Trail Marathon, where I learnt that I was not very good at pacing at all!

February

I ran my second marathon, the Trailscape Wendover Trail Marathon, where I learnt that the stomach can be your worst enemy.

March

I ran my third marathon, the Thames Meander Marathon, were I did my PB but I was not very happy at the end as I (again) completely paced it wrong.

April

Training got serious for the NDW50 and started running well over 100k per week. I did my first back to back long runs during the week ends and ran my first 50k in training (and felt like superman)

May

The “awesomest” month of the year where I ran my first ultra, the North Downs Way 50 mile race. I was an amazing experience and I was hooked.

June

I recovered fast, dedicated the month to speed training, ran a Bushy Park Run to check progress (matched my Bushy PB) and then ran the Richmond Park Half Marathon where I really enjoyed competing and finished 9th.

July

I went a bit crazy and ran a marathon one week and a half marathon the week after. In the North Downs Way Marathon I discovered that the NDW is a killer whatever the distance and that pacing was still unknown to me.

Pacing was not needed at the Wimbledon Common Half Marathon where I just went as fast as I could all the time, finishing 9th and almost beating my PB (the mud made it hard).

August

I took an holiday from racing by did a lot of running. I explored part of the Ridgeway and part of the South Downs Way (beautiful). Then I ran a lot in Italy, mostly running from crazy wild boars.

September

I ran the High Weald Challenge 50k Ultra where I really enjoyed the company of Craig, but was not too pleased with the last 10k.

October

I ran the Royal Borough of Kingston 10 mile race where I finished 14th and got new PBs on 10k, 15k and 10 miles, but then took ages to recover from.

November

Another super awesome race! I did the Druid Challenge, my first multi stage event, I loved every second of it, ran 84 miles, finished 13th, but picked up a nasty shin injury.

December

Sad month. I only ran 5k here and there just to check the injury but things did not get any better. Luckily the rest of the year has been so amazing I did not mind losing 1.5 months of running.

What’s next?

In 2016 I will probably race a bit less (I already cancelled the January marathon due to the injury), but I will do more longer races. I have already entered all four 50 mile races from Centurion Running and I will therefore try to do the Grand Slam of 50s. In between I will definitely run some more marathons, maybe a couple of half (the local ones) and hopefully I will help my friends Davide and Manu pacing them when they come here to run the NDW100 and SDW100 respectively.

I hope you will have a wonderful 2016. See you out there!

 

 

 

 

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Druid Challenge 2015

After the last 10 mile race it was time to prepare for my first multi day event, the Druid Challenge, three days of running on the Ridgeway for a total of 84 miles.

I have been looking forward to this race for more than 6 months and I wanted to prepare well. The four weeks leading to the race went really well. I ran 6 times a week with a weekly average of more than 100k and did back to back long runs during the weekends. I started the first week with 30k on Saturday and 20k on Sunday. Then the week after 35k and 30k and the third week I did 40k and 20k. During those week I also did speed training twice a week, a couple of hill repeats and tempo runs.

Basically I prepared very well and I felt super confident. So I packed my bag and I was ready to go! Actually packing the bag has been quite a challenge as having to run 3 days in a row with no idea of what the weather was going to be like I brought a million things, plus an inflatable bed and sleeping bag.

Day 1

The train trip to the start at Tring took ages. I met another guy at Clapham who was going to the race too and we could not even get on the first train. It was so packed.

When we finally got to Tring we were just in time to get ready to start with the Elite group, which was fine for me as I registered as “elite”. Anyone that thought they could do the first day in less than 5 hours was elite. The idea is that the fastest runners start later so that everyone sort of finishes together and the checkpoints are ready etc. So walkers always started first, an hour later the runners and another hour later the elite. Depending on how you finished each day you were put in the elite or not. It was my aim to always be in the elite and it was not that hard to achieve.

From the Tring station we were taken by mini-bus to a farm where we could change (inside a silo) and listen to the race briefing. We were then driven to the start of the race, on the Ridgeway. It was pretty evident from the start that it was going to be a wet and windy day, but everybody was excited. We started with a bit of downhill that was probably the most dangerous of the whole race as it was on that white slippery chalk terrain that is characteristic of the Ridgeway. After that the rest was mud for the best part of the three days.

The first day was the longest, almost 30 miles and as I did not know how I was going to feel running for 3 days I took it relatively easy. The race leaders disappeared pretty quickly. Even if the whole race is on the Ridgway and I had the GPX file on my watch I managed to get lost many times. The first time after not even 3 kms and the second time 1km later.

The first half of the day went pretty well. After 20km we entered Wendover. It felt a bit strange as it was a Friday, kids were in school, people were in offices and we were running in the rain. After Wendover I think I took the wrong path again (I got lost there on my second marathon in February too), but after a while on the top of the hill I managed to get back on track. At that point we started overtaking quite a lot of walkers and slower runners which in a way gave me quite a boost.

I saved the mp3 player until halfway through the race which was exactly crossing the fields in front of Chequers. While trying to put my headphones on I lost one of the yurbuds. Sad, but I did not stop.

The rest of the race was a mix of emotions. The wind sometimes was very strong and the terrain slippery. I stopped to put my jacket on and felt terrible for a couple of kms. Then on a downhill bit I felt fantastic, then terrible again.

The last checkpoint was 10k from the end and I was really dead. The 8 or so km after that were the worst one, on endless flat fields with muddy bumpy terrain, hard to run on. Then it started getting dark and I did not want to stop and get my headlamp on so I started accelerating and felt I had more energy than expected and decided to race the darkness. The last 1.5k were on tarmac and I was happy to finally have some grip on the terrain.

I arrived at the school in Watlington were we were staying for the night pretty spent. 48km in 5:01 in pretty atrocious conditions.

After a hot shower and setting up my bed in the gym I started socialising a bit and it was a nice evening. I met a lot of nice people, the food was not too bad either and the evening went by pretty fast. A lot of people do this race to prepare for the Marathon de Sable so a lot of discussions were about that.

While eating dinner I also discovered I finished the day in 15th position which was a lot better than I expected.

shoes  mud

At 10pm the light were switched off and everybody tried to sleep the best they could. Not easy with all the snoring and people moving about. Even with ear plugs it took me ages to fall asleep. The excitement and the novelty of my inflatable bed did not help.

Day 2

The second day was the shortest (just a bit over a marathon) and that was positive as I was already afraid of being out of steam. I knew the rest I had during the night had not been enough. I even tried to sleep more in the morning as I was leaving with the 9am elite group. It did not help. I only managed to miss breakfast and I had to eat just two croissants with some water. Luckily half of my luggage was food. I had enough snacks to survive for a month.

The route on the second day started from the school where we slept so no need for a bus drive. It was raining very heavily and it was very windy. It was not going to get better any time soon.

I started easy as I did not know how fit I was after the day before but I pretty soon got into a good rhythm. The first half of the route was actually the best of the whole three days. Up and down hills in the woods. Even if the weather was terrible the woods were lovely. Autumn is the best time to run. We kept on going between forested bits and open fields where the wind was moving you sideways.

We then arrived at the golf course in Nuffield where I got lost this summer when exploring the Ridgeway and it was a morale boost. I knew that there was going to be a nice long descent for a while and I really enjoyed it and picked up the pace. Then there was a long bit on the river which I had found very boring and I was afraid I was going to suffer. Instead I just concentrated on following the people in front (mostly Laura, the girl who placed second at the end) and when we got to South Stoke I was glad that part was over. I barely stopped at the checkpoint and kept going. Faster and faster. I felt good. I put my MP3 on and started overtaking some of the people that started with me. I was so into it I took the wrong turn at Goring but luckily recovered quickly. Beautiful town on the river by the way.

After that, at the 27th km there was a long climb. I ran most of it. Fuelled by some wafers and the thoughts I was well over halfway through. When I got at the top a Metallica song boomed in my ears and coupled with the descent made me do a fist pump and grin like an idiot. That high point did not last long. I had to walk a bit and lost some time before the final check point but then I knew it was almost over.

After that it felt like it took ages to get to the finish line. The final kms where on open fields beaten by such a strong wind I had to remove my hat and I kept on losing my footing in the mud. I was glad when it was over. It had been shorter and I did not finish spent, but I was so happy to be handed a hot cup of tea at the end!

Finished the day in 14th position: 43km in 4:32.

We were then driven to the leisure center in Wantage where we were staying for the night. Luckily I arrived early and managed to get a nice hot shower. Others were not so lucky. I have maximum respect for those people walking most of the route. They spend 9 or so hours in the mud, rain and wind and when they get in they risk of not having a hot shower! Even crazier were the two guys pulling a tire for 3 days, training for the Yukon Arctic Ultra.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting, chatting with fellow runners and mending the various painful bits. I had a sport massage that I found fantastic. It was my first one but it will not be my last.

I had a little pain in the right shin but there was nothing I could do.

After a nice dinner (hat off to the organisers, everything was like clockwork) we attended two talks. The first one was from course record holder Nathan Montague who talked to us about his latest victory at the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Desert Marathon. Very interesting and inspirational stuff. The second talk was from Rory Coleman. I have to say, I did not enjoy this last one much.

Then we were off to bed. This time I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly and never woke up during the night.

friends  sleepday2

Day 3

The third day I woke up with a bit more pain on the right shin, but not to terrible. The weather was still quite abysmal but everybody was pretty excited to finish the challenge. Again I started in the 9am elite group. We were driven to where we finished the day before and the first part of the run was basically in the same boring terrain as the end of the day before. I really tried to take it easy (sticking to around 5:30/5:40 min/km) and save enough energy to get to the end, but after a while I felt pretty good (same thing as day 2 basically). The pain on the shin went away. I kept on eating my salt sticks and gels and avoided the check points food. I had been very diligent all the other days and avoided eating strange stuff and that meant no issues at all with my belly this time.

After the first 16k in the undulating fields we started going up and down nicer looking hills and I accelerated a bit and left the group I was with behind. For a second the sun came out but then the rain came back. It was colder than the days before but that was actually better. At around 27km we arrived a Liddington where we had to run on a big busy road which was not fun, but I had a banana from the check point and kept on going.
Then a very steep hill had to be climbed, very muddy and windy, rain was heavy and everything was clouded in fog. It was a pretty tough part of the race. I was surprised to see people having a Sunday walk in those conditions. A bit surreal, you could not see that much ahead and then people walking their dog popped out of the fog, or people on horse back, all this in a killer wind.

Then when the fog cleared a bit I realised I was 15k from the end and I just felt like I could not run slow anymore. I had to go fast and I just went for it. I overtook a couple of people that had started with me and never looked back. At the last check point I did not even stop, I just showed my bib and kept running. I only noticed later I was going at under 4 min/km pace.
Then I saw a guy that I know was close to me in the race timing and decided I had to overtake him. I think he saw me and started accelerating too, but then he stopped to open a gate and keep it open for Niandi and I went pass them. We talked for a bit and I tried not to look tired and accelerated in the fog.
After a bit more of up and down on grassy hills there was the much awaited tarmac road leading to the end. The first half km was a very steep descent. People were walking down it but I could not stop, I just bombed down it.
I think that is where I injured my shin even more and now after almost 4 weeks I am still not running. But whatever happened to my leg that day it was worth it. Those last 15km were probably the best in my running “career”. I was dead and at the same time full of energy. I just ran as fast as I could, uphill, downhill, everything. I never felt so alive. Overtaking people, saying hi to the ones I had met in the evenings. It felt so good. I also felt it was the end of the week end. 15k and then it was it, I had to make the most of it.

The last couple of kms on the road were quite flat and I just went as fast as I could. It felt fast but it was actually just around 4:40 min/km but after almost 135k it felt fast. When I got to the finish line I was very happy: 46 more km done, in 4 hours 29.

The last part of the third day was really an amazing experience and finishing the whole 3 day race felt like an achievement to be proud of. I got my medal, went for a shower. Noticed my shin was a bit swollen, but ignored it. I watched the prizes presentations to the winners and then took the mini-bus to Swindon. The train trip back home was endless.

I only found out a bit later I had finished 13th in the whole race which is fantastic. I dreamt of being in the top 20 and I could not ask for more.

end

Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to be captured in any of the nice photos taken on the hills and wood, but if you want to see how beautiful and wet it had been, check these albums out: day 1, day 2, day 3.

For people interested in kit and nutrition I do not have much to say. I had to change every piece of clothing each day as nothing dried during the night. I only had one pair of shoes, the fantastic Saucony Peregrine. They worked really well, but sometimes I wished I had bigger slugs. Even with 3 days of wet feet I had no problems, the injinji worked as well as always. In three days (during the race) I ate 10 High Five energy gels, 12 Cliff Shots, 1 packet of Powerbar wafers and 12 saltsticks. I took very little from the aid stations apart from water and the occasional salty snack or half banana.

Now I have not been able to run for almost a month and it looks like it will take bit longer to recover fully. X-rays have not found anything so I guess it’s just a question of taking a rest. It’s hard not to run but I am seeing it as a forced off season before I start preparing for next year Centurion Running 50 mile Grand Slam.

See you on the trails!

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A handful of PBs

I felt quite good after the High Weald 50k, but I decided to rest for a couple of days.

Wednesday I did a relatively easy 10k run at 4:35. It’s starting to get cold in the morning! On Thursday I did a bit longer run, 13k at 4:42 and then on Friday a super easy 11k at 5:03. Saturday I fully rested.

On Sunday I went to run the Royal Borough of Kingston 10 mile race with the intention of doing my 10 mile PB. I don’t remember what it was before but I decided to aim for 1:01 which meant running the race at an average of 3:50 min/km.

The day was beautiful and sunny. The route was the one I usually do in the morning when I run 15k, plus a little loop at the beginning, so I was playing in my ‘hood. The race started at the Kingston market square, which is really nice. It’s the first edition of the race but there were quite a lot of people.

At 8:30 we started. I accelerated straight away to overtake as many people as I could and place myself in the top 20 group. From other local races and from the way I saw people warming up I had a good idea who was going to be in front so once I had only those people ahead of me I started running at my 3:50 target pace. I did not always manage to keep it but I was not too far.

From the 5th km I found myself running with another guy and we basically ran the whole race together pulling and helping each other. We managed not to lose any place and in the last mile he accelerated and I stayed with him only enough to overtake one guy, but then he went on his way.

I did not manage to cross the finish line in the time I had hoped and finished in 1:02 which is still very good and I am very pleased I also broke my 10k, 15k and 10 mile PBs. Plus I finished 14th overall which I am very happy with. Check out my Strava of the race here.

My wife was waiting at the finish line, which does not happen very often so it was a nice surprise. She took this video of my final sprint:

[wpvideo PedwALtA]

Overall a good week, recovered well from the 50k and achieved quite a nice result on Sunday. In the next couple of weeks I will increase the mileage again to get ready for the Druids Challenge.

See you on the road/trails!

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High Weald Challenge 50k Ultra Trail

Sunday morning the alarm clock went off at 4:20am. My second ultra was waiting for me, exciting. After the usual breakfast I drove to pick up @craigjmcelroy and together we went down in Kent for the High Weald Challenge 50k Ultra Trail.

I have been preparing for this race quite well with a lot of climbs while on holiday and quite a bit of long runs the month before. So I felt pretty confident and was aiming for 4:30 (ah ah ah!). Once we arrived at the beautiful Groombridge Place we picked up our bibs and in the freezing morning prepared for the challenge (with a visit to the portaloos).

At 8am the race director walked us to the start line and we were off.

We ran most of it together. Took it relatively easy at the beginning. Walked most of the uphills, speeded up a bit in the middle part, but in general we were trying to save some energy for the end.

I did not eat anything strange this time at the aid stations. Only drank water and ate my own gels. The day got warmer and we got into a nice rhythm. We even managed to chat a bit.

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The course was really nice. Not too hilly, something like 700mt of elevation in the whole 50k, so not too bad. The trail was muddy here and there, but nothing compared to the last time I was there (see my first marathon), but it was still quite a tiring terrain with very few fast runnable bits. Most of it was on uneven tiny trails on fields or in woods with plenty of roots and branches. A lot of fun.

Even if it was not marked particularly well (still better than expected) we managed not to get lost too much, either following someone else or looking at the navigation tool on the watch. Which is great by the way, the Fenix 3 is proving to be the best piece of kit I could buy. Luckily we did not need to look at the 20 page long road book given to us at the start.

Check out this video to see how wonderful the course and the day was. You can see me and Craig at 4:55 in one of the best downhill bits.

In the last 12k I struggled quite a bit but did not crawl, I just ran slower. Craig went ahead as he wanted to do it in 5 hours (and managed to do it). I went as fast as I could. The stomach was fine, the legs too, but they felt like they were coming off the hips. Every time I got into a rhythm I had to stop and climb over a stile. There were probably 25 stiles in the whole race and after a while they were really a pain!

I finally got to the end in 5 hours and 9 minutes, 24th place. My target of 4:30 (as always) was a bit too optimistic. Check out the Strava stats here.

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Overall I loved the race. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice 50k, especially on a sunny day like last Sunday. The scenery from the hills is beautiful, the forests are fun to run and you get to cross Winnie The Pooh bridge too.

I felt good for most of it and even the bits I suffered were nothing compared to previous races. I just regret not pushing a bit more at the end, but I think it was a good test for the Druids Challenge.

The only negatives, as far as I am concerned, are that the course could be marked a bit better and that there were no refreshment at the end. No bananas! Nothing, just some water. Strange as the aid stations were very well stocked, plenty of water melons, my favourite ultra distance fruit! The ceramic mug received with the medal was quite nice actually.

We went to the pub for a quick beer and pie and then drove back home. It was a good day and going to a race with someone you know is definitely more fun than going alone.

The days after I felt fine, no pain anywhere, which is also a good indication that I should be able to run the second Druids day. Not sure about the third!

I decided not to go to the Cardiff Half Marathon next Sunday as I have not heard from Brooks about the bib I was supposed to get for free. Plus it is a bit too far and I would need to dedicate the whole weekend to it. I will instead do the Kingston 10 mile race that is just outside my door. I can do it and get back home as if I just went for a training run. I am aiming for a 10 miles PB. We’ll see.

Have fun!

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Pre-50k race post

In the last two weeks I have tapered to get ready for my second ultra, the High Weald Challenge 50k.

Am I ready? Yes I am!

Last week I ran a total of 87k. Still a bit, but no speed work. I ran 10k on Tuesday (5:11 m/km) to recover from the previous hard weekend. Then I did 12k on Wednesday (4:37 m/km, felt good) and then Thursday and Friday I ran the same 15k route. I wanted to try out the navigation tools of my watch as the High Weald race looks like it is not going to be well marked. The website provides a big pdf with instruction to navigate the course but knowing me I will get lost in the first 5k. Luckily they provide the gpx file of the course. So I tried my own gpx file from Thursday and told the watch to make me run that route again on Friday. It seems to work quite well. I don’t think it will make me not take the wrong turns as the map is quite tiny and the arrow that indicates the direction is only changing when it’s too late, but at least it will tell me straight away if I am off course.
On Saturday I did an easy 13k run (4:34 m/km) as I did not have much time. My hero of a wife was graduating that day!
Sunday I ran 21.1k in my trail shoes, so Bushy and Richmond Park as usual. I felt good, ran a new trail I had never tried and saw the biggest deer ever. After almost 4 years of running in Richmond Park I still find new places to explore, amazing.

This week I took it even easier. I don’t want to do the mistake I always do and get to race day already tired. So I only ran three times. I wanted to do Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, but on Tuesday it was raining so much that I decided to go back to bed. After all it was not a training week and I wanted to take it easy and avoid getting a cold. So I ran Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (today). 10k, 8k and 5k respectively. Going very slowly. It is fun to do that sometimes, arrive home when it is still dark, not tired at all, no heavy breathing etc.

So, I feel ready. I have never tapered so well. I tried to sleep more (not always succeeding), I drank more (water), ate pasta and pizza, foam rolled every evening etc. I also feel the last 2 months of training, with loads of trail and uphill running, have been very good.

I will be going to the race with Craig and I am looking forward to running with someone for a change. Hopefully he will not run away and leave me behind straight away.

I think it will be an interesting race, it is my first 50k after all. The place looks amazing. The race director is a kick ass ultra runner so I am sure the route will be a lot of fun. Let’s just hope we do not get lost and the gpx file in the watch does the trick.

I’ll update this blog with news on the race as soon as possible.

See you!

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Holidays!

Here is a post with a quick update on what I have been up to in the last 3 weeks. Obviously I ran a lot, which was made easier by the fact I was on holiday for 2 weeks. I went to Italy to enjoy some rest. The weather has always been amazing and very hot. I managed to run a lot on the hill behind the seaside. I explored some amazing locations with beautiful views on the hill son one side and the sea coast on the other. It’s a shame I never bought my phone with me so I do not have any photos to post.

The main issue with running the trails this summer was the amount of wild boar I encountered. There is a real invasion right now in the Savona region. You cannot go for a run anywhere without meeting some boars, even on the road or on the sea side, and they are quite scary when they are big and are with their young ones. But let’s go in order.

After the long run with Craig and South Downs Way recce I rested for a day and then ran a 10k recovery run before leaving for Italy.

The first full day there (Thursday) I went for my usual 10k loop on the coast with a couple of hill climbs. I wanted to acclimatise to the hot weather before doing anything longer. Then on Friday I put on the trail shoes and went for the highest hill, the Monte Mao (400 something meters) behind our place.

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Photo stolen from the internet

I took the straight path which required a lot of power hiking more than running. It’s a shame this summer (again) someone tried to set fire to the hill and part of it is all burnt and black. From the top I kept running on the crest and went up and down 2 more “peaks” and then run back going around them for a total of 13 tough kms.

On Saturday I went back to road running and did 20k on the coast at 4:32 m/km.

Sunday I did more road running but going up and down the hills and spotted the first boars: 15k to complete a 68km relatively easy week.

Most days during the holidays I also tried to improve my swimming, but I am really not that good. I used the Open Water feature of the Fenix 3 to record my swims and they are really disappointing performances.

The week after I did another rad hilly run of 13k and then on Wednesday I went again up Monte Mao. This run was really adventurous as I first had to change path to avoid a boar and then when I was on top of a hill I took the wrong turn and found myself stuck with nowhere to go. I turned around and found another boar in front of me. This time I got scared. The “beast” started making noises and coming towards me. If I went right it moved left and vice versa. It was always in front of me. I tried to circle around it and when I got up again on the path it was there waiting for me. My heart went racing. I decided to run down the hill in the middle of the bushes as fast as I could hoping it was not where the boar wanted to go. Luckily after a while I crossed a dirt road and took it all the way around the hill and back home. It was a 14k run with a scary encounter.

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Photo courtesy of Mr. Angsat

The day after I went for a 16k road run at 4:34 to avoid more encounters, but then on Friday I decided to go trail running again. I was told to try the “Passeggiata Dantesca”. It’s a 12k loop on the hills behind Noli. I added to it 4k to get there and back from home. It was beautiful. Not too steep, but the views were amazing. The trail goes from rocky parts to single tracks in the woods and ends with an old Roman road. I loved it.

In the evening we went for a 6k walk up the same hills in the moonlight and torches. Amazing night. Full moon, clear sky, you could see half of Liguria from there.

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In the meantime I kept on checking my phone for UTMB updates and messages from friends in Chamonix. It was an epic race for my friend @unknowndest. He finished 27th, second Italian!

On Sunday I went for a long 24k run with my sister Alice (she is a kick ass biker). She followed me on her bike and we went up the hills and then down to Finale Ligure and back home on the coast. It was a very hot morning, around 30 degrees at 8am. And that was the end of the week, for a total of 83.5k and the holidays were getting to the end.

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Photo courtesy of Alice

On Monday I did the “Passeggiata Dantesca” again, but slightly changed it to get back to Spotorno faster, so I cut out the Roman road and did the normal road. Still a very nice loop, 15k at 5:58 with 400mt elevation.

On Tuesday, our last day in Italy, I went for a quick run on the coast: 15k at 4:27. Even there, on the promenade, I had to run away from wild boars! There were 6 of them, 4 young ones who ran away and 2 massive ones who ran towards me!

We flew back to London on Wednesday. All in all it was a very nice holiday, very hot, I ran in new places, swam a bit, ate a lot and mostly had a chance to see friends and family for a bit.

Thursday I went out for a run in my usual places, but the impact after the holidays was too much. Instead of 30 degrees it was 12. It was dark already, the park was closed. Back to reality! I did 15k at 4:37 m/km, not bad.
Friday I did a bit of speed training, which I had neglected while on holiday (having focused on up and down running). I did a 2k warm up and then 7k tempo run at 3:56 m/km. Tough, but rewarding. Concluded with 3 more km of cool down.

For the weekend I had planned to do two long runs back to back. I partially succeeded. On Saturday I did 35k at 5:00 m/km going around both Bushy Park and Richmond Park with some bits on the river. I enjoyed it a lot. I suffered a bit in the middle part, but then felt good and strong the rest of the way. When I got home I thought I would not be able to do a long run the day after. I still tried. I wanted to do 30k, instead I did only 23k. Still, it was a good running weekend that concluded a nice 116k week, one of my longest.

I will do more long runs and speed work next week and then start tapering before the High Weald Challenge 50km Ultra Trail. I am looking forward racing again!

Have fun!

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Adventuring (part 2)

At the beginning of the week I was not feeling too well so I took it quite easy. Rested on Monday, ran 13k on Tuesday (with no energy at all) and then rested again on Wednesday.

On Thursday I was feeling myself again and went to do some uphill repeats in Richmond Park. I first did a 3k warmup and then five 400mt uphill and then rested 400mt downhill. Quite intense. On the way back home I also did some sprints instead of just doing a cool down.

In the evening I went to another Like The Wind event where The Montane Spine Race movie was shown. I liked it a lot. See the trailer below and if you get a chance to see it do not miss it. The film makers were there to answer questions, one of the runner was there too to tell us about his experience. All in all a very nice evening.

On Friday I took it easy. I ran 11.5k at 4:48 in Bushy Park. Very strange morning, very foggy. At one point a white stag ran out of the mist and into the bushes, quite spectacular.

Saturday I finally managed to go for a run with Craig. We have meant to go for a run together since last year, preparing for the NDW50. We never managed to until this week. We ended up doing 32km from Kingston to Mortlake and back. We did not go too fast but I was very tired at the end, maybe it’s because I am not used to talk so much while running. We then went for a cold beer on a river pub, in the sun, it went down really well (I had a killer hiccup in the evening, but that’s nothing new). Craig: nice one, let’s do it again.

Then on Sunday I went to explore new trails. I have never run on the South Downs Way. I have walked part of it, but had not seen enough. So I woke up very early, 5 am, drove down to Eastbourne, left the car there and then took a train (2 actually) to Falmer and then looked for the SDW. The plan was to run the second half of the SDW50 which I will race next year. Falmer is perfectly halfway and the train station is close to where the SDW meets the A27.

I started running straight outside the train station but after less than 2k I stopped as my watch had all the settings reset from the previous firmware update and it was in miles and showing me data I did not want to see etc. I did not want to run 40k+ without the right settings so I stopped, fixed the issue and started again. What I did not notice was that where I stopped I should have crossed the A27 and go into the SDW, instead I kept running on the side of the road until I arrive to Kingston Near Lewis where I asked a friendly lady how to find the SDW. I was not too far, I only had to climb a hill and I would cross it.

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The sun was shining and it was quite hot. I knew it was going to be a long run and I was still a bit tired from the day before so I forced myself to take it easy. I also knew I was not going to cross much civilisation and there was no point in going back or taking shortcuts. The car was at the end of the trail, I had to run it all. It was quite a good exercise in pacing and I am very happy I managed to be consistent. I never felt like I was going to crawl. I ran well on flat and downhill and run most of the climbs.

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The view from the top of the various hills was amazing. I have to say, I like the North Downs Way, but on a day like Sunday, the SDW is ten times better.

I steadily kept on going. I did not force myself to eat too many gels and my stomach was happy. I might try not too eat gels every half hour during races like I always try to do. 45 minutes, an hour is probably good for me.

It started getting cloudy and windy and at times it felt quite chilly. I had a jacket with me in case I needed it, but I did not use it. I felt that if I kept on moving I was not going to get cold. Another reason to keep going. At times I felt very far away from everything. I met people walking around but it felt very lonely at times, me versus nature. I listened to some music and loved the whole feeling.

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At the 24th km I arrived at Alfriston. Looking at the map the days before I had planned to stop here to refill the water bottle and maybe get some quick food. The village centre is really nice and tiny. I went into the only little shop I saw and bought 1 litre of water, a packet of crisps and a box of jaffa cakes. I had run out of water half an hour earlier so I was quite thirsty and drank half a litre straight away and ate the crisps in two seconds and then started running again. I think I stopped for 5 minutes but it was enough to give me strength. I knew I was over the halfway mark. While running I ate some jaffa cakes. They work really well for me. I carried the packet almost until the end and I ended up having an orange hand at the end.

After 4 more kms and a couple of tough climbs/step I arrived at Exceat. A place I know well as I walked there a couple of times. It is very touristic and was packed with people.IMG_6725

Knowing the area made me fell like I was almost at the end, but the toughest 10 miles were waiting for me. Running up and down the Seven Sisters is really hard. I walked 2 climbs but ran all the others. Very tough after 35k, I cannot imagine how it will be at the end of the SDW50.

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The view from there, even without the sun, is amazing and it makes you forget how tired you are. I finally ran into Eastbourne. Did a couple more kms in town and then stopped. I had run 43.5k in total and I had enough. I wanted food. Unfortunately the town was over crowded due to an airplanes show or something. I was hoping to get a shower on the beach and then go for some fish and chips, but you could hardly walk around. Too many people. I bought a massive cappuccino (proteins!), had a banana and some snacks and drove back home. Happy.

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Overall a very good week. Two nice long runs in the week end, one in good company and one in beautiful settings. I ran a total of 105km. Next week I will rest a bit and then start the build up for the next race in September: the High Weald Challenge 50k.

See you!

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Adventuring

It has been a nice week. Quite a bit of running and a nice week end of adventuring in new places.

On Monday I decided non to rest as usual and instead I went for 14k run entering Richmond Park from a different gate than usual. Then I went up and down my new favourite hill. I ended up with an average pace of 4:44 m/km. I took it easy at the start and accelerated towards the end.

On Tuesday after a 3k warm up I did a 5k tempo run at 3:49 m/km. Finished the session with 2 more kilometres of cool down to head back home.

On Wednesday I did a relatively quick 13k at 4:37 m/km and on Thursday I ran 11k easy.
Friday I rested to have more energy for the week end.

Saturday I decided to run somewhere new. In November I will run the Druids Challenge, which is a 3 stage race on the whole length of the Ridgeway. I have seen part of it in previous hikes or races, but I wanted to explore more of it. I could not find any way of using a mix of car and public transports to avoid having to run back to the car. So instead of doing 2 hours by bus or train I decided to leave the car in one place, run out for 15k or so and then run back.

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The day started a bit cloudy but I knew it was going to get better. Unfortunately I did not manage to leave as early as I wanted. I drove to South Stoke, just a bit north of Goring. I wanted to start running on the path, with no bits of road and that was the closest place I found. I started running north.

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The first part was on flat ground following the Thames. Very nice area, nice houses, rowing boats, cows etc, but the path was super slim and on very uneven big bunches of grass, so it was not a pleasure to run. I can see it being an ugly bit to run with 70+ km in the legs from the day and bit before.
After 4km the path goes through North Stoke, that is a nice “boutique” village with beautiful cottages, church, water mill, etc. Then after a couple of boring km through a golf course the best part of the run started.
The path turns abruptly east and leaves the river and goes up toward Nuttfield. That part of the trail goes through woods and a dry river bed and it is a lot of fun to run.

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Then when I arrived at Nuttfield the trail went through another golf course but this time actually very close to the greens. Trying to follow it without running where I was not supposed to I lost it. I went on another trail (which was fun too) and after a couple of kms I realised I was not going in the right direction. I asked a couple of mountainbikers that almost run me over but they had no idea where the Ridgeway was so I ran back to the golf course and once there I decided to run back to the car.

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Going back was even more fun and once I got to the river the sun was shining and it was very hot. At the end I did not run the 30k I wanted, but 29k at 5:12 m/km was good enough. Beautiful places, beautiful day.

Here is the Strava of the run.

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I also took a very motion-sickness inducing video with my phone while running on the way back:

Sunday me and my friend Jamie went for our annual hike. We do one every August, this is the third one in a row. Chilterns Hills two years ago, South Downs Way last year, Kent this time.
We left the car just outside Rye and walked out on a very large, grassy and flat area full of cows and sheep. I have never seen so many sheep or sheep poo in one place. The sky was blue, the sun was very hot, but there was a bit of wind that made it bearable. We got sun burnt without noticing it basically.
After about 10km we reached the cost at Camber Sand. It’s a very large beach and that day was full of people. We sat on the sand to rest a bit and then we walked back to Rye following the harbour.
We walked a total of 15k. It was quite an easy walk as it was all flat, but very enjoyable. I would not do it on a rainy day as the beauty of it is in the large expanse of fields which are nice in the sun, but might be a bit boring and sad in the rain.

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We did a small tour of Rye which is very nice, very much a tourists attraction with old English houses and a castle. It’s a shame the view form the top of the village is ruined by the industrial/harbour bit below.
After a pint and fish and chips (me) we went back to the car and drove to a crazy place: Dungeness. It’s quite a surreal place. Almost looks like a nuclear blast aftermath. I cannot imagine how it is to live in those small houses in the middle of nowhere, but it is worth visiting as there are not many places like that.

Overall a very nice week. I will try and run somewhere new next week end too.

Have fun!