Loquacious ultra jogger

I had to laugh this evening, of all the many words I have been called I think my favourite is the above one. During the Around Westerham run on Sunday I got chatting to one of the ladies who said she was think of doing the Picnic Marathon in June, I told her I was doing it and we left it that.

I received an email tonight which seems to be sent to a few people and it read:

"After our lovely Westerham outing yesterday I am planning my summer runs.Gerry (yes - the loquacious sometime ultra jogger) was talking enthusiastically about The Picnic marathon."

Indeed it took the recipient one guess I was the noisy, talkative runner who does ultramarathons......or is it because he is avid reader of these pages :-)

Westerham Circuit

The day started after a glorious lie in and I was heard to surface at 8.00 am, although the clocks went forward this morning there was something special about seeing the lateness of the hour. We would normally be 4-5 miles into our run by then. Today was a leisurely stroll down to the kitchen, a bowl of Shreddies and a nice cup of coffee to see George's car pull up outside the house. I rushed out and we were soon on our way to The Grasshopper Inn on the A25 Westerham.

To our surprise 22 souls turn up for what proved to be an absolute belter of a run to Toys Hill and back towards the North Downs Way a mile or so from Knockholt and then back to Westerham. Had I listened to George I certainly wouldn't have gone for a 10.5 hill run on Friday. Every time I got to a hill I ground to a halt....but hey dear reader, enough of me.

As you can see from the route below, it was no easy run as it took us through Limpsfield Chart and there was much excitement as George and I realised we were passing Check Point 2 of the London to Brighton and then we wound our way down into some lovely back lanes and fields towards Toy's Hill Wood. The banter and chatting was almost continuous the whole way until we reached the outskirts of Toy's Hill Wood when the gradients took a somewhat steep ascent towards the hill itself. I was even heard to go quiet as the wear and tear of the past week really began to tell me I had over done it. I was soon seen to be walking the climb up to the church near the top of the hill when I saw a sight for sore eyes, Peter pulling out a plastic bag full of cups and a bottle of water he had hidden in the bushes. A quick glug of cool water, a few of us taking gels and we were see to scamper up the last prominence to the summit and then the sharp descent on the treacherous trails.

We were soon in Brasted Chart and during our descent of the hill we had a little altercation with a cyclist who took humbrage when one of the ladies accidently crossed his path narrowly missing her, I think he wanted to say something but realised he was outnumbered so left in a hurry.

Mile 11 saw us duck into a church yard at Brasted and a lovely cool mouthful of water from the church tap had us soon running towards my dreaded Hogtrough Hill, a spiteful hill that leads to the North Downs way and once at the top we were about 5 miles from home with some gentle undulations that took us back to Westerham.

I think it was agreed by all that it was a beautiful run, with great company on the first day of British Summertime....well done all

Caesar's Camp 30, 50 or 100 mile

Not really discussed as a group yet but I am tempted to do this alone but happy for company if people want to do this. My main priority is the London to Brighton but I am really keen to do the 50 mile option if I am fit enough after 20/09/2009.

The course is a real toughy, each loop is 10 miles in length and a loop has an incremental height gain of 1,520 feet and is all access road, tinder road and single path with not a vehicular road in sight. Looking at my recent performance and the fact I will be fit by September I would like to see myself doing this in the 12 - 13 hour mark which is more than enough if I get the pace right.

H.E.R.O.S. - Around Westerham Run

This weekend sees a sharp decrease in mileage from recent times as I taper towards the Compton Challenge. After last weekend's adventure I am feeling pretty confident even if my legs feel a bit tired after running 21 miles over the past two nights (both hill runs).

Tomorrow's run is a 17 mile trail run with the H.E.R.O.S (High Elms Run On Sundays) a great group of men and ladies from various clubs around the local area. This particular run is becoming a great pre-London Marathon training run and also a great taper run for the Compton. I have left a map of the route for you to look at below. I will be marking up my OS to get some practice in reading the route.

Daffodils at night

A bit of a change in post type today dear reader and just say that I went for a late evening run and was going down a quiet road with a few street lights and popping through the dimly lit road were a hundred golden trumpets, it was almost surreal but it was a little reminder that the clocks go forward this weekend and Spring is soon upon us. At last I can run during the light evenings...the trails await :-)

The Sevenoaks Circuit -30 mile Ultra

My night's sleep was finished at 6.00 am this morning with the shrill sound of the alarm beeping in my ear, fearing I would oversleep I jumped from my warm bed and tentatively pulled back the curtains to check the weather. I was in luck, a fine mist covered the ground and through it I could see a beautiful blue sky which provided a dim auroral glow to the world outside.

Decisions made I jumped into my shorts and short-sleeved top, my Buffs were put in my sports bag and trail shoes placed by the door. A quick bowl of Frosted Shreddies and a cup of coffee soon had me leaping to the door to get in the car to George's house.

Arriving at George's at 6.45 am we hot footed it down to the Vines, Sevenoaks, the meeting and start point. Check in was a dream and we were soon kitted up with a mug of sweet tea in our hands as Peter from the club joined us for a quick chat. It was a really friendly atmosphere as it was highlighted that it was NOT a race and it was fantastic to have a laugh and joke with rival club members, it was commented upon that my club colours seemed to have changed from black and white to yellow over night!!!

At 7.55 am we were invited onto the path outside the cricket pavillion and we shivered quietly as we watched the mist burning off to what proved to be a hot, sunny day of running. We were off as about 30 runners slowly moved off at a sensible pace towards Knowle Park and entered one of the many gates to the 404 acre site. Within minutes we spotted our first of many Roe deer, a stag proudly, if not sure of a crowd of people in a multitude of coloured shirts, it was probably a little perturbed by my new club shirt in its glorious xanthous hues. Knowle Park at that time of day can only be described as stunning further enriched by the ground hogging mist and Knowle House popping its tower tops above the trees in the distance. We soon began to thin out and found ourselves on familiar turf as we joined the Sevenoaks 7 (mile) route and cut deep into the centre of the park and out the other side onto outskirts of Sevenoaks and out to the trails that circumvent the town.

Running was slower than normal trail or road racing as this run was hosted by the Long Distance Walkers Association or LDWA and we were required to following written instructions similar to:

Fllw path TR at st X field (120)


After a while we found ourselves on rural trails and sun hardened fields undulating as only the North Downs will, strength sapping stuff and the weeks of training proved their worth. About 5 miles in we were directed onto a side track and in the middle of a woods we found a large umbrella laden with sausage rolls, a mountain of biscuits and squash, later on we came to check point 2 where we found a beautiful oust house and nestled inside the barn area was the check point.I thought the fayre was pretty good a mountain of biscuits and gallons of orange squash.

The paths soon turned to fields and numerous, styles and kissing gates each sapping a little more energy from our legs. By this time the sun was up high and it was getting hot as we moved on through the directions and we started hitting the hills big time running over undulating farmers fields, paths and up onto the escarpment and ridges at the north of the Downs. At around 15 miles I was beginning to feel the going get tough and I feared that the wall was beckoning so I took on a carb gel and I was coaxed along by George until I surfaced from my dark point and got a second wind and we were able to move though the pack of runners. We were then directed up the escarpment and that is when we had to drag ourselves up a 45 - 50 degree gradient from 50 fasl to about 600 fasl in a very short distance feeling our leg muscles complain but after the ascent we skirted the North Downs Way and found ourselves seeing seldom viewed sites such as the sandstone quarries and railways lines that skirt the M20 corridor.

In all the days run was a tough, hilly foot bruising run through orchards, hop farms, rutted farmland, 400 year old oak and birch woods and rock hard fields often rutted by which ever ungulate deemed to live there. If you want a good run then I thoroughly recommend it but if you don't want to go ultra then there is the 15 and 20 mile routes which proved quite popular.

If there is one conclusion I will make from the day is that the LDWA really know how to put on an event, at the last 2 check points we were met by tables of food from bananas, satsumas, cereal, yoghurt, cut sandwiches, hot cross buns, tea, coffee and squash out of your ears. Probably not runner’s food but certainly welcome at mile 25 on a 32 mile run.

The night before

It only really dawned on me that I have to run 30 miles tomorrow over some of the most beautiful countryside in the South- East of England. The run starts in Sevenoaks and I just know Knowle Park will feature at either the beginning or the end of the run, 404 acres of deer park, I do hope we see a few deer tomorrow, I am taking my cheap digicam with me so I can take a few snapshots as we go by.


So the bag is packed and have gone with the following:

• North Face Gulper containing:

1. 1 litre (2 pints) of Citrus flavoured Nuun
2. 1 x mug
3. Toilet paper
4. 7 x pieces of homemade fruit flapjack
5. Plasters
6. Multi-tool with knife
7. 1 x empty 500 ml bottle
8. 1 x 500 ml bottle of isotonic drink
9. OS maps 147 and 148
   

• Small bum bag containing:

1. 7 x carb gels (may not need all but being prepared)
2. Mobile phone
3. Compass
4. Spare Nuun tablets x 3
5. Camera
   

So it looks a bit heavy but as the bladder reduces in size I'll let the bottles take over as and when I get to the checkpoints. Kit being worn are 2 buffs, one for my neck and the other available for my head if the sun comes out, short-sleeved tech shirt and high cut shorts. Definitely a trail shoe day so my Adidas Kanadias will be out for a nice run as well.
So it is up for 6.00 am a banana and a bowl of frosted Shreddies with coffee and I will be off to meet George at 6.45 am for a quick drive to Sevenoaks for 7.15 am and then prepare for the run at 8.00am, as I write this dear reader I actually feel quite excited, roll on tomorrow.

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta

Getting a bit sick of pasta at the moment :-)

It tapering time again with a big dollop of carb-loading in preparation for the Sevenoaks Circuit on Sunday. It looks like the weather in Sevenoaks will be quite kind, cloudy with sunny spells with a high of 10 degrees. I keep an eye on it as you can never trust these forecasts.

I even decided to fold my OS 147 map correctly as it has been used so much recently, I don't know why I bother, it will only get creased again on Sunday:-)

Well it is official now!

I have a secondary affiliation with the Orpington Road Runners. The membership details came around tonight and will be collecting my shirt on Friday.

It is only a secondary affiliation but as my current club doesn't cater for Ultra running and if it did there are no members who are willing to go the distance. I'll run with Orpington on the longer runs, they are a great bunch and are really well organised with some really brilliant group run calendars and trail groups.

Brighton Trail (ultra) Marathon

I know this is a year away but this looks like the making of a great race the Brighton Trail Marathon. There are not many details at the moment apart from the fact it is slightly over the 26.2 miles but if I know the guys at Extreme Running they are going to put on a great show....and by definition an ultra run :-)

Let me get London to Brighton over and done with and then I can think of doing this one.

Red Mist

This weeks sees a rapid taper as I approach the Sevenoaks Circuit 30 mile trail run. For some reason this run has not really been on my run radar and it is all the more shocking when I was reminded that it was this Sunday!

So tonight's plan was to run at tempo pace to the club and then run at a nice gentle pace at the club monthly 5 km time trial.

That was the plan dear reader but oh no, every time I stand on the start line and the banter starts passing backwards and forwards or the elbows start knocking I see red mist and I belt off at full speed. Three of us went pegging off at full pace and within 3/4 miles were far ahead of our handicap pack and hunting down the group ahead of us. By 1.5 miles I had overtaken about 6 people and by 2 miles was stripping out another 15 as I crested a hill. The last 1/2 mile proved to be a little hard on me but I managed to pick 2 more runners off to finish 8th in the handicaps. I didn't measure my time but I have a feeling I did it in about 22 and a bit minutes.......wow. I reckon I could definitely get a sub-22 on fresh legs. Who said long distance kills speed.

Stage 2 - Complete

I awoke today to look out of the window to see a cloudless sky and the sun blazing over a beautiful March day.

George turned up at my house at exactly 7.15 am and we zoomed up to Keston at Checkpoint 1 of the London to Brighton. We were soon out on the trail and passed the Wilberforce Oak and descended towards the trails that circumvent Biggin Hill airport. It didn't start off too well as George and I made adjustments to our kit, lost a glove and reseated some loose straps but were soon on our way.

I was feeling pretty pleased with my navigation but made a couple of minor mistakes but we were soon back on track as we are getting very good at determining map scale versus distance run, we even turned up in someones back garden at one point as it really did look like a public footpath :-)

We soon calmed down into a solid run through to Tatsfield and down the escarpment towards Pilgrim's Farm. The picture above has been copied from a website as my camera lost focus but it is almost exactly the same view. Today was one of the first sunny days we have run this year and we remembered that last time we ran that route it was snowing and it was so cold my carb gels were freezing solid!

We finally turned up at Checkpoint 2 at St Andrew's Church, Limpsfield Chart and stopped our watches for a homemade treat of a currant and oat flapjacks......power food, a good glug of sports drink and we returned back to Tatsfield where my sister had a fresh mug of hot tea and homemade chocolate brownies. If flapjack is power food then brownies are jet fuel, some have been put on order for September.

Great run, a good solid 19 miles of real downland running with a descent and ascent of the escarpment, this was certainly more than a soft road run.....great.

London to Brighton - Stage 2

I heard from the organisers of the London to Brighton on Monday that the course maybe changed very slightly this year but we won't be told until later on in the year.
The weather looks good this weekend so I am looking forward to getting out on the North Downs again and make a descent towards Limpsfield Chart and then return back to Keston again. It looks a ballsy run and one I will take with a little respect.

Here is the course

Little Frog

I was out this evening having a nice ~10 mile tempo run on and around the hills in my local area. Things were going OK and I was thoroughly enjoying the idea of being out on the road after a particularly boring day stuck in a classroom being trained in some IT dark art. I decided at a junction of one of my set piece runs to extend it out a little and get a rather nasty long hill into my day just to keep the stamina and cardio work in trim.

This hill is about a mile long and has a nasty twist at the end that you can never quite see the top and it is up to you how you approach it, slow and steady or with feeling. I decided on the former as I have to do a 50 mile week this week. As I got to the transition when hill becomes flat I ran along the side of a wood when I saw a blob on the pavement but didn't have time to react and trod on it SQUELCH. I stopped looked down thinking dog poo and then realised I had trodden on a frog...yyyyyuuuuukkk.

I squealed like a little girl and then kind of hopped and skipped flailing my arms around, as if that would help the little frog. My cat is hanging around my training shoes now and looking at them with great interest, they stink.

Just wondering......why are none of my runs ever straight forward?

...and then there were 7 (part deux)

Further to ...and then there were 7

Just as you think you have a full set of nails then you lose another! The long toe on my right foot felt funny today almost as though it needed to be cut as it was scratching so just before the club run tonight I decided to just snip it so it didn't rub. Wrong idea, as I snipped there was a sudden release of pressure and a jet of fluid.....yuk, I hadn't realised was a damaged toenail as it had not blackened.

I have a feeling my two long toe nails will never repair properly whilst I run so I will just have to make sure they are clean, clear of infection and not causing long term problems. Cool though, you should have seen the jet of fluid though :-)

BTW That is not my toe in the picture

8000 Calories....

...in addition to base metabolism! That is is incredible and is the expected amount of calories to be burnt on the London to Brighton run, absolutely staggering.

I have just received the first newsletter from the race organisers and this year the race date has been confirmed as the 20th September 2009 and much to my shock it is no longer starting in Greenwich Park as apparently they charge large sums of money for the priviledge.

Good letter, it put it all into perspective, "Do train but don't over-train" type of message. It seems amazing that just as we try out the first part of the course so the newsletter comes out, somehow I think we have got the timing right, we just need to get the quality in.....it is now becoming real

Stage 1 - Complete

I think you will guess that London to Brighton is going to feature quite a lot over the coming months as I step in and out of the major "stepping stone" races up to and including the BIG race.

The day didn't start too well as I awoke with a griping tummy and had to go to the loo three times even before leaving the house and was about to grab the buscopan when things appeared to settle down sufficient for me to feel I could do 20 miles on the road.

I got to George's house about 5 minutes late and as usual he was his forgiving self as I poured out my excuses. From there we drove straight up to Keston Ponds, or Check Point 1 and parked the car up and went straight on the run. The outward journey can only be described as totally boring taking in a large drag of the A21 and then a boring run from Bromley town centre to Lewisham. The good thing about this was the conversation level was almost constant and it seem to fly by. We even took on Lewisham Hill at pace and stumbled onto Black Heath ready for a well deserved break at Sir General Wolfe's statue, a big land mark in our life at the moment as it is the official starting point of the L2B. Quick juice up and we were off back along the OFFICIAL London to Brighton route. It is amazing that I have driven and run along that route so many times but now I know it is the L2B route it is like running on hallowed turf.

As we settled into the run we started taking mental notes, "24 hour petrol station, that's good, will have toilets" or "There is a friends house, we could drop off kit there" all these little things that may come in handy before the big day.

In all a great morning run, not my favourite as it was all road but next week we will do a trail section which will make me feel happier as I just love the freedom.

Great days running, nice one George.

London to Brighton - Stage 1

I have to keep it near the forefront of my mind that all I am doing this year is all about London to Brighton and I have to prepare myself, not just physically but mentally for this mammoth task. One of the thngs that we must do is make a reconnaissance of the route. I have been able to search around the internet and find some Garmin downloads of the route from someone who ran last year.

The plan this weekend if it is agreed, is to park the car at Checkpoint 1 in Keston, run to Greenwich by any route and then return along the L2B route back to checkpoint 1, about 18-20 miles. I have added the route below to.

Grit and determination

After the wet and winds of Tuesday so we meet the calm and cold of Thursday! I decided to leave the house and go for a run and get out of the town and hit some country, not that I would see it but it felt like an escape for the evening. I was wearing my smock, shorts, gloves and Buff but felt OK temperature wise.

As I ran out of the outskirts of the town and ran through the connecting roads through some woods I noted how quickly the temperature was dropping as I gained height. I was doing an uphill/downhill out and back.

About 7 miles into the run I had to stop momentarily to let a fast truck go by and then realised too late it was a gritting truck AAAAAAAHHHHHH, I didn't have time to step back and I was hit by a cloud of swirling rock salt.....ooooohhhh that stings, my poor cold legs. What made it worse was the bugger came past me again about a mile down the road and caught me by surprise, my that grit smarts :-)

The trials and tribulations of a long distance runner!

What a night

I knew it was going to be wet tonight but certainly underestimated exactly how wet!
Attendance at the club was pretty low tonight with only about 30 of the hardiest souls standing at the club meeting spot. Morale was high and thankfully the Club Secretary shut his mouth for once and we were able to scuttle off for our runs. I was planning to go with the fast group tonight but what with the rain and the remnants of my chesty cough I decided to go with my usual group.

It was quite a laugh, we were going to get wet so why not enjoy it? After a while the wind really picked up and the gust were picking the rain up into a fury by the time we had completed a reached half way it was quite a little rain front.

It was quite good tonight as the pack leader shouted "See you back at the Club", the signal for a pack race and so I took the lead and kept a 7.40 m/m pace...considering the conditions and my chest a blinding run.....

2940

Yes, that is the whacking number of calories I will save per week if I stop drinking 2 pints of cider a night.....that is 440 calories more of a normal adult males required calorie intake per day, it is staggering. Now if you include the packet of cashews as well at 2450 calories per week, I am now saving 5390 calories per week in unnecessary calories...If I don't slim down now what can I do?

Ouch!

"What," I hear you shout dear reader "in the Hell is that Jerry?" No, no, no some of you are thinking I am talking about porn, no I am talking about thorn!

OK, I am just trying to be clever as I was desperate for a picture of a thorn and all I could find that was reasonably interesting was this picture of thorn. So what is this all about?

Well you can probably guess from the introduction it is something to do with thorns and you would be right. Today I ventured out onto the trails again with a couple of buddys and it was proposed that we only do 2 hours as they were training for the Lake Windermere Marathon in May 2009 which I was quite happy to as it was my first run since my chest infection and didn't want to overdo it.

The run was great, usual mickey taking and banter like "With all this beauty on our doorstep what would you rather be doing, lying under your warm duvet or enjoying this run?"

Lovely cool day, a couple of stops to get bearings among other things and we would stomp off again. We basically treated it as an out and back due to time constraints.

We were just within 2 miles of the car and were just running along the edge of a field of horses when I got this horrific stabbing pain in the sole of my foot, swore like a trooper and hobbled until I sat. I yanked off my trail shoe and saw this enormous thorn had pierced the underside of my trail shoe and up through into my foot. The thorn had stabbed into my foot by about 5 mm. Due to the fact that my shoe soles were covered in the poo of every ungulate in the local area, I could not see where the thorn had poked through so had to snap off the thorn as best I could with a stick. I then had to run the rest of the way with the remaining thorn shard digging into my foot, ouch.

The problem now is, how do I remove the remaining shard without destroying the insole and integrity of the shoe and should I be worried that a poo covered thorn has been buried into my foot. Another trial and tribulation of a long distance runner living in deepest, darkest Kent