Jurassic Coastal Challenge

This year it didn't really suit the programme to hammer out the ONER with travelling to Washington and my 3 hour busting attempt, but I thought the three day challenge would give me a chance to actually enjoy myself and cover the distance of the old course albeit split into three pieces. 

I had roped Pete into doing this one with me. I had run his first marathon with him last year and also the Country to Capital 45 miler in January. This was going to be his first multi-day so had raised around £1000 for charity. Paul Rowlinson a friend of mine from the Sahara Race was also running so we all took the train down together after work on the Thursday night.

The base camp for the race was Chesil Beach Caravan Park in Weymouth. We got there about 8pm and ate a plate of lasagna before heading back to the caravan. The caravan was FREEZING on account of the paper thin plastic walls and I had to bang the 4 ring gas hob on for 2 hours to get it warm enough when we got in.

Caravan Bedroom: £19,250 new. RIP OFF.

One very good thing about this race was the down time. We'd be running from about 10:30 each day for between 4 and 6 hours, then back to the caravan park where we could put our feet up in the freezing cold in front of a tv and get fed in the mass cook tent each evening.

We got up on Day 1 about 9am & head down to the race briefing. It seemed pretty straight forward, we got in the bus and head south west down the coast to the start point. The finish that day would be 26.2 miles later back at the caravan park. They started us on a stretch of single track just before Golden Cap, a mightily impressive and extremely steep climb & the highest point on Englands South Coast. We ran down the hill and then began the hike up it. Immediately I settled in behind the front 10 runners or so and everyone power walked it as opposed to running, it was that steep. From the first slight incline my calves felt like they still had a lot of stiffness and soreness from last weekend in them. I definitely pushed myself harder in Washington than I would usually but Im still unsure why it took that long to get back to 100% again, usually Im ok within 48 hours of a marathon or most ultras. My plan was to go reasonably hard and see how I felt towards the end but this turned out to be a SHOCKINGLY bad strategy. The first section was extremely challenging to say the least. We climbed repeated hills and dropped down which tends to be as hard on legs as the climbs. 

Early Climb Day 1 its steeper than it looks trust me

Start of Day 2 heading out to Portland

Once through CP1 the hills petered out pretty quickly and we were into running along a muddy farm track alongside of the beach, flat but still very slow going due to the thick mud, regularly flooded. By CP2 I was gone. I hadn't eaten much and knew that I was about to start slowing down. As we progressed towards CP3 a few runners came past me and I began to pass a lot of runners and walkers from the earlier start times. To CP3 I was kind of all over the place actually feeling like I was pushing myself too hard but going way way slower than usual. I began to pick the pace up after CP3 and actually managed to make some pretty good time up in the final stretch but at that point I went wrong along the beach and lost a few minutes whilst i retraced my steps. In the end I came into the caravan park in about 4 hours 49 and went back to the caravan. Pete came in only a quarter of an hour later so a great first day performance from him. I had had a shocking time, hadn't enjoyed any of it and generally felt tired and p*ssed off about how badly I was running and not overly delighted to be back in the caravan. Despite all that I had actually finished 15th overall so not a disgrace out of 240 starters. Today totaled 3160ft of climb.

Day 2 I woke up and generally felt pretty tempted to get back on the train and go home. I just had no interest. Id heard good things about the views and the stage in general was touted at being faster than yesterday but I had ZERO motivation. In all honesty if Pete hadn't been there & more to the point if I hadn't dragged him down to the race I would DEFINITELY have canned it. Instead we put on our wet, muddy trail shoes and walked down to the bottom of the caravan park where todays start would be. The first 13 miles of todays stage were out across Portland Harbour onto the island of Portland itself, followed by a circumnavigation of the island via Portland Bill lighthouse before coming back down the ferry road into Weymouth. At that point we'd head East through the town and along the beach before the final 10km section of climbing up and over the hills past Durdle Door and into Lulworth Cove. I could NOT BE ARSED. We started running and Pete was quite clearly feeling pretty good and motivated to do well. I really envied how he was feeling right now, a bit daunted Im sure by the 2 marathons still to come but believing 100% that he was going to finish and therefore knowing that he was going to achieve something really great this weekend. I had discussed with Paul the previous evening how we on the other hand had entered on a whim because we felt like it and therefore had no motivation to compete other than to enjoy ourselves. When you're hating every single minute you do have to question WHY you still get up and carry on but WTF as Hully always says, any day on the trails is better than any day in the office....

I kind of got dragged around Portland by Pete running as slow as I could whilst not losing him into the distance i really did not give a toss about times and positions at this point but we'd decided to run together for Stage 2. Paul and his mate Jonesy an ex MdS runner were also with us. I had bruised the top of foot the previous day and that was really starting to affect my ability to run downhill jarring the front of my shin bone into the front of my shoe. Still it was fine on the flats and ups and I think we went through 13 miles in 2 hours 10 and then out along the coast we made good progress. By the end of the day the sun was out and we were on a stunning section of coastal path. I actually started to feel better about things probably because as a result of not running as hard I was eating constantly & had more than the 20% energy I felt like I had the day before. Pete seemed a little out of it towards the end but stayed extremely strong and actually managed to take a couple of photos of the scenery (below). We dropped down the steps into Lulworth Cove and finished in just over 5 hours. A much better day all round, 3195ft of climbing today.

Descent and Climb towards Lulworth Cove Day 2

Day 3 I went to the paramedic in the morning about the bruising all over the top of my foot. She said it didn't look good but that I should be ok to continue so I thought I would. The day began with the biggest climbs yet. For the first 10 miles it was pretty relentless culminating in one ascent which involved scrambling with use of hands & then this insane giant staircase climb into CP2 at 13 miles. In fact the days total climbing far exceeded either of the previous two at 4360ft.

13 miles into Day 3

Those two miles preceeding that staircase took us 24 minutes and 18 minutes respectively. I guess that 42 minutes for 2 miles puts the terrain in perspective, especially given that we finished in the top 20% of the field. Anyway at CP2 I met James Adams for the first time, running the ONER. James is running Badwater in July also so it was great to finally meet him. He looked tired but went on to finish the 78.6 miles in one hit a brilliant effort. 

The last 13 miles again I was just out of energy, not motivated, needed the lav and my foot was starting to punish me. We ran all but the now dwindling uphill sections and then emerged out onto the beach at Studland with around 2 miles to go. It should have been a pleasant way to finish but I was totally uninterested. On each days run I had ended up just switching off and putting one foot in front of the other to cover the distance. It wasn't overly hard, I always felt like I had running left in me and that I would finish without any issues if I could be bothered (which it turns out I could) but with just no motivation at all to go faster or to enjoy the stunning coastline which the last day showed the best of to us. Again Pete kind of dragged me over the line, we or rather he could probably have gone faster Im sure but I genuinely couldn't be bothered to push the pace anymore. We went up and over a sand dune and down a half a mile of flooded track into the finish area. Pete had done a great job and he was understandably pleased to be done. I grabbed my bags and we hitched a lift to the ferry across to Bournemouth, from where we got a taxi to the station. I got home about 8pm, actually not that tired because we hadn't gone that hard over the previous 2 days. 

As long as you don't mind caravan parks this is a good event and actually quite challenging. I think I finished 28th and Pete 34th overall so we did ok and really didn't go that hard (apart from my blow up on Day 1). I will be back to do the ONER but will make sure I don't rush to the States and back in 48 hours the weekend prior to run a sub 3 marathon next time.

Finishing Photo

Suntrust Washinton National Marathon

The Capitol

Coming Out of the Underpass Mile 10

Finish Line: 2 58 29 Gun Time. Absolutely over the moon.

I'm sitting back at Franks house in Arlington, Virginia just outside of Washington writing this. I flew out here last night with BA straight after work (5pm) who bumped me off of the flight and then managed to find me a seat back on it.

This morning we got up at 5:30am and had some breakfast before heading down to the start area at the RFK stadium. We ran a little late so had to drop the car and jog to the startline. It actually worked out pretty well as it was cold at the beginning and we didn't have to stand around more than 5 minutes. The played the national anthem which was moving as everyone seemed to take it quite seriously, and then off we went.

I had been training for this race specifically for a bout 5 weeks. My core training has gone well and I knew coming into Feb I was about as quick and as fit as I've ever been before. My intention therefore was to do a little bit of pace work and then throw down a sub 3 hour effort. Pace work for me involved going to the track and to the gym and running sessions of between 40 and 80 minutes at sustained marathon pace which needed to be 6 minute 52 second miles or less, or occasionally slightly faster. The faster runs were all 5ks where I would knock out 18:30 for the 3.1 miles. It was boring but I knew I was in with a shot.

I set my virtual pace partner on my garmin as we went across the start finishline. This tool on my watch basically tells me to the second and to the metre how far ahead or behind of a dictated pace I am at any time. It also beeps every mile and gives you a split for that mile of how fast you've gone. Simple enough, I run 26 and a bit miles all at 6 minutes 52 or less and I've done it.

The first mile was ok, a downhill start but there were the usual crowd of people who think that their 'gun time' actually matters. In these races everyone wears a chip so that even if you cross the startline 10 minutes after the last person has done so, the computer records your time to cover the course, that way you dont get everyone crowding the front of the field to get a better time. Theoretically.

After Id skipped round these people the field opened up a little and half marathoners were mixed in with us as the course was going back to the stadium after 13 miles where they could finish and we'd go out on loop 2. I started with a 6:33 mile, then 6:29 then 6:13, 5km in 19:25. Too quick but it was almost all a gradual descent so I wasn't worried. 6:33, 6:42, 6:37 and then a climb at mile 6, 6:58, My 10km split was 39:45. Mile 7 6:39, 6:27, 6:32, 6:35, 6:51, 6:37. Half Marathon Split 1:26:04. My legs felt ok, a bit stiff in places but I never stretch and we'd started cold so I figured that would ease up. The sun was fully out by this stage and starting to become a factor. I had eaten a couple of mouthfuls of mars bar and drunk pretty much nothing but now I knew I was within shouting distance I planned to slow it up just a little and drink at every aid station, taking on salt to stop cramping problems. Next 10 miles:

6:55, 6:57, 6:46, 6:34, 6:18 (under a bridge so this was wrong), 6:45, 7:00, 6:50, 6:57.

At this stage, Mile 23, I was having some minor doubts, I kept almost bonking (hitting the wall) but keeping it just in line. I was pretty much red lining the whole way, working at maybe 85% to 90% of capacity so no suprise in that. I've learnt to listen to the very early warning signs of most things that can go wrong. As soon as there was a hint of stitch coming in I eased of about 2% and it went in under 20 seconds. Similarly when I felt a twinge of muscle fatigue or mental doubt I eased it off the same 2% and just put a mouthful of food down. I stopped at every aid station to drink half a cup of water and threw the rest over my head. When I say stopped I mean ran straight through at full pelt grabbing a cup and throwing it at my mouth so that some would go in. It feels a bit like when you're at the pool and you breath in water through your nose. The turnaround at mile 23 allowed me to see who was directly behind me for the first time in almost the whole race. Another feature of big marathons is that they have pace setters or guys wearing coloured vests who have either a balloon or a flag stating the time they are running for. With the slower groups at 3:15 and up there are big groups running just in front of behind of these pacers. When i spun around at 23 I found that the 3 hour guy was 1. alone ie. no one was sitting on his shoulder for pace purposes and 2. he was 40 seconds behind me. That was not a good sign I was supposed to have about 3 minutes in the bank at this point. The next 2 miles were over undulating roads which were a pain in the arse as every uphill however slight was starting to really hurt. I got over these and into the aid station at mile 25 bending around a nice downhill corner. 7:07, 6:58. 

I took on the last of the water and went as hard as I could for the last dead straight dead flat mile straight up to the stadium, 6:42, The last .2 mile or 365 yards bent around the outside of the stadium and into a finishing shoot. At the 26 mile marker I had 3 minutes 30 to finish and I knew I'd done it. I came through the sizeable crowds and couldn't refrain from a massive fistpump a few yards out, crossing the line at 2 hours 58 minutes 7 seconds and puking everywhere. To many this would seem a pretty ordinary feat as elite runners are busy hammering other marathon courses in 50 minutes less than this, but it was a big deal to me. I hadn't really ever trained to run a fast marathon and had put the groundwork in to do it, whilst this isn't particularly fast in the scheme of things it is nevertheless satisfying to see your hard work pay off. I finished 40th out of 2324 runners.

Frank had a mixed day but ultimately beat his own PB also running 3 hours 23. He was headed for a great time but hit the wall a little way our and slipped back considerably as a result. He wanted 3 20 to qualify for Boston but nevertheless he put in a great effort on little training and plenty of sleep deprivation as his newborn twins are up every 3 hours for feeding at the moment. They are 12 days old and 4 lbs each. He came across the line and puked on my shoes so it rounded off a pretty great morning.

Steyning Stinger Marathon

The second year in a row Ive run the small but exquisitely organised Steyning Stinger marathon. Peter Boquet my good friend from the 4deserts series was in town from Singapore for work and so he managed to schedule a flight for Saturday and squeeze the 'race' into the schedule.

I picked Bucket up from Heathrow Terminal 3 on the Saturday night and we head out to Steyning at 7am Sunday morning from Battersea. On route I had to have a quick pit stop behind a bush which made us late. In the end we turned up at Steyning Leisure Centre at 8:25 and I convinced the guy on the car park entrance to let us park right there. We registered and ran up to the start line to see the competitors heading off into the distance. We'd missed it by 40 seconds. They held us back and set us off exactly one minute after them. Classic entrance.
The first 5 miles tracked along the base of the downs before the first of 4 'Stings' sent us up to the South Downs way path. We started with 10 minute miles but slowed after the first couple due to the frozen ground and muddy hills. Once up on the Downs we kept a steady pace, without overtaking anybody and just enjoying the incredible sunshine and views across the Downs to Shoreham and the Channel.

The sun began to warm up the ground as we plodded on through 15 - 18 miles and the frozen mud began to turn into clay like porridge. Pete began singing/ screaming vocals from Iron Maidens live back catalogue as we rounded the golf course just outside Shoreham.

On the way down from there we hit checkpoint 4 at the 19 mile marker. Pete was interviewed by one of the marshall's who recognised he may have been from out of town given the revealing tight lycra shorts, muddy arse and beaming smile at least 4 hours in and with another couple to go. The man in the ambo popped his head out and asked if we were ok. We were more than ok we were ROCKING.

We hit the 18 - 21 mile section of the course where you get sent off to round a big hill. On the return section rounding the last bit, Bucket slipped on the porridge and fell on his arse into a thorn bush. There was a muffled scream of protest but he got up and soldiered on like the true endurance hero that he is.

We got through to 21 miles and began the 2.5 mile climb which is the final sting up to the downs. At this point the conversation somewhat died but we muscled on through to the last aid station at 23.4 miles before eating some biscuits and heading back down the track and to the leisure centre. 

We were out for a massive 5 hours 55 in the end. A good 2 hours and 8 minutes slower than my race last year but it was a throughly enjoyable day out. Bucket seemed to have a great time, made better by the free fry up and shot glasses at the end.

We drove back and went down to the pub for a few beers, some wine and some cointreau. In the end we hit the sack about 11 ish after skyping both Frank and Hully.

What a great weekend.

Early 2010 Training

Starting to get the kind of miles in that I hope for on a regular basis. I still get frustrated that really I only have enough energy for 10 miles a day during the week and then something longer at the weekend once but I have to be realistic. That sort of schedule can still add up to 60 miles per week and from experience is easily enough to get me through most events and then have a period of exceeding this for a few weeks leading up to really long races. I know from experience that running 12 - 13 a night plus a 18 - 22 at the weekend (albeit with a heavy pack) is enough to run me down into the ground and require sleep at during the day. 

This year has been ok so far but even with 4 marathons/ ultras under my belt in 2 months its still not really enough for me. I have lacked real quality long training runs at the weekends, rarely exceeding 10 miles in one go in fact. Each week consists of 8 - 10 runs during weekdays ranging from 3.5 miles in and out of work (most days) and then a 10km at pace thrown in once or twice a week at lunchtimes. I figure this is enough but I wonder if I would be better taking all of the mileage in a day and running it in one hit rather than breaking it up ie. 14 miles on a Monday rather than 4 in to work, 7 at lunch, 4 home again. The problem is this isn't the way my time works out, if i didn't do it the way i do i would sit on the bus to work - boring, stay in at lunch - boring, and be late home every night ala desert training - a problem. Whether this new regime will pay off or not will be dictated by performance at Washington in 2 weeks time. All my long runs this year have been as part of races. 3 hours 59 on the first weekend of the year just to get back into it and prove to myself I could still run a comfortable marathon after the excesses of the Sahara. 45 miles at Country to Capital very slow just building up strength. 30 miles at Winter Tanners the weekend after, massively pushed sections of the course and was a very tough work out. I tipped just over that all to easy to cross line of exhaustion for about 48 hours after this and that may just have been enough to tip my over the edge for the following weekend and throw me out of the Thames Trot 50. London 50km was the first sign that things were pretty good. The first 10km I was flying under 7 min mile pace by a distance and I was through 26.2 in 3hr26 without much pushing. With wandering around lost for so long in Richmond Park my true marathon time there was probably about 3hr15 and I could have shaved masses off of this. So all in all I have to accept that my marathon effort in Washington should be ok but I would feel better with say an 18 miles at 6:52 p/m under my belt rather than just 12 or so. Who knows what that last 6 - 8 miles will be like but if I get myself in a good position at 2 hours ie. 18 miles I should be able to go for it and hang on.

Badwater and FC508 are paid for now so just the logistics to sort out. Im not even going to think about FC508 until Ive run through Death Valley and over the Alps at the end of August. There's no point.

So the next 4 weekends I'll be running 5 marathons. That will really make me feel a lot fitter and healthier especially if i can break 3 hours at Suntrust and finish the JCC without issues. I need to tell myself to enjoy that 3 dayer rather than race it but for me sometimes those two things go hand in hand....