Battered and Bruised I Return

Battered and bruised I return empty handed from the GUCR but with no remorse. This year's race was a tough one with it raining continually for about 20 hours and the conditions under foot not ideal.

My main Race Report will come over the next few days whilst I catch up on a few things in my work and private life but just to report that I dis make it to just past the 100 mile mark when I realised that my feet were just not going to get me there.

I sit here now with a swollen knee, a few blackened toenails and 3 large blisters, one of which is blooded but spiritually absolutely fine actually smiling at what I accomplished.

Full report soon, I promise.

The GUCR preparation continues

My last run for the GUCR was a very gently paced run at a secret location in Kent. I had said I wouldn't wear my Monkey Feet again until after next weekend but the weather was perfect and the ground dry.

Back at home the running kit has had to be moved to another location whilst we have family over but I will be back on it on Wednesday and Thursday. The Crew in the form of Gemma and Sam have been in contact with loads of questions and I have been given the responsibility of compiling some notes about kit requirements, food, drink, pacing, goals and much more. Sent so far tonight

1. 5 x maps of course
2. 3 x official race Notes to Crew
3. 1 x personal notes to crew
4. 1 x Spreadsheet containing details of all checkpoints and subsidiary points

I am sure more questions will arise but:

1. The train is booked
2. The hotel booked (be it another person's name)
3. Notes of meeting of crew, where and when
4. Shopping list made
5. Crew t-shirts ordered and awaiting pick up in Birmingham

All that is needed now is a fantastic weekend which I know it will be but as my cat, Coach Maisy says (That is her in the picture above):

"A good athlete should always keep an eye on the weather forecast especially when approaching the BIG race but remember there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing."

Sorites Paradox

...and just like sorites paradox my GUCR pile of running kit and associated items of importance stack up. It started with a few carb gels, then a Buff, a pair of socks....

 

 

....then it seemed to grow such that one day it was a heap, one that is still growing by the day but this time The Delightful Mrs S has finally decided the 1700 year old thought experiment.*....

 

"It is a heap when I say so..."

* Sorites Paradox

Sorites paradoxes are a class of paradoxical arguments also known as little-by-little arguments. The name "sorites" derives from the Greek word soros, meaning "pile" or "heap." Sorites paradoxes are exemplified by the problem that a single grain of wheat does not comprise a heap, nor do two grains of wheat, three grains of wheat, etc. However, at some point, the collection of grains becomes large enough to be called a heap, but there is apparently no definite point where this occurs.

Monkey tattoos

The world of barefoot running never ceases to amaze me with different things that happen whilst running, yes there are injuries and I have seen quite a few of those this year, also improvements in my running strength....but not tattoos!

I was out doing a very gentle 10 mile run today, my last in Monkey Feet until after the GUCR in two weeks having a lovely time having planned it around the weekend's squalls thinking which kit I was taking to return home very comfortable. Taking my shoes off there was the usual detritus one finds on ones feet after a trail run but today it was completely different for the soles were as black as night.

No amount of scrubbing and scraping can get it all off so now I have a beautiful set of grimy feet that will imagine stay like that for another few days.

Today's run was pretty clean overall and can only assume I picked something up during my night run last Friday running through a farm yard...who knows?

Pins and needles

Feeling pretty pleased with myself at the moment finding the transitional recovery for my 32/7 back to back has been extremely successful with a nice gentle 5 mile run on Tuesday then a 5 mile night run on Friday.

The level of recovery shows that the fitness is there and now it just means tapering gently for the next two weeks.

Right, that is the good news the more worrying problem I had was on Sunday and Monday post Pony Express. Whilst relaxing in front of the television on the Sunday evening barefoot I felt a strange sensation in my right foot starting in the heel and then working its way around the edges of feet to the ball. At first I thought it was sharp grit or bits of glass in the carpet and having hoovered the area found it appear again in both feet...nasty pins and needles. Visions that the tough terrain of the New Forest had played havoc on my feet or they were not washed properly such was the unusual sensation I scrubbed them in the bath which actually improved them...but it was still there be it in a lesser amount.

By Tuesday it was gone and on hindsight looking at my feet they were ever so slightly puffy. So was the inflammation the cause, I think so...Is it something to worry about, I think not. I think the variable terrain, the high mileage (in the heat)  had irritated by feet a little and they were just telling me to watch it.

It is good to listen to the body once in a while.

Pony Express - Not a Race Report

Rising from my bed after the previous evening's Night Run I stepped with my right foot with trepidation noticing that my [bad] toe was still sore from the slight trip the evening before.

So with the Delightful Mrs S in the car I zoomed down to Southampton with no difficulty and was unceremoniously dumped at Southampton Central station by my family who were off on a mega-shopping trip and I on the train to Brockenhurst.

Arriving at the Brockenhurst College I saw the final race briefing from the XNRG Race Director, Neil Thubron, as I ducked into the hall to put the final bits of my kit on. Today I was running light with a litre of fluid, a long and short sleeved top, shorts, trail shoes and light weight gaiters. I also carried a rubble sack which was invaluable as I was running across dense heathland and any other bag would have ripped to pieces on the thorns and gorse.

 After my briefing I was let loose at about 11.30 am some 30 minutes behind the elites and 2.5 hours behind the walkers. I was provided with an Ordnance Survey map of the route in a plastic folder and with it I took my trusty bag and a pair of scissors. This was my challenge, navigate the unknown course unguided, collected rubbish and look after any back markers... I just LOVED the feeling of individualism that this type of job does, the self-reliance and secretly FUN.

I had heard that there were wild horses in the New Forest and I imagined they were scarce and hiding but was soon amazed when I saw hundreds throughout he day quite happily crossing roads, munching the grassland. Then there were deer, cuckoos, cows and bird life, my jaw dropped for part of the race as I realised that I was in an outstanding area of natural beauty. For the first 10 miles there were plenty of people to greet along well trodden (and ridden) trails but after navigating a heath and collecting some water from Check Point 1 I was all alone, not a person in sight, I assume that they tended to stay near the towns and villages and didn't venture onto the wilder trails. I was in my element, jumping gulleys to gather the signs and tape, my legs ripping against gorse and holly trees my Dirty Girl gaitors protecting my ankles amazingly well.

From Checkpoint 2

This checkpoint is 16 miles from the start if it were a straight line but due to the nature of the course it is in fact just 2 miles by road! I was told that I would start to catch people up at this point so it was just a matter of plodding out my miles at a nice "GUCR pace" which I did with the intermittent breaks of clipping down the odd sign or tape. The route then tapped into a series of disused railway lines, perfect for GUCR and so I ducked into training mode and use the long stretches where there were no turns to dig in, my legs were tired remembering I had run 7 miles the night before, then the turn off at mile 19 caused an issue for there in front of my arrow marker and me was this:

Yep, a Highland cow, probably the most docile wild creature I have ever met. He looked at me whilst chewing cud, a look of bemusement on its face as I chatted to him telling him he was in the bloody way...he moved..so cutting down my sign I then found him blocking my path down to the road, so a slap on the rear moved him on so I could move on back into the woods and then onto a long hard slog along another disused railway line.

It was only time.

There ahead of me in the distance I saw the tell tale sign of the back marker, the limp, the walk of purpose. It is not easy trying to be invisible on a trail that has only two people on it and it was only until we came to a switch back that my cover was broken and the runner stopped and invited me to join her. This was an amazing lady that was no stranger to long distances, this was a lady who had already run30 miles the weekend before and had discovered an injury.

We slugged it out over the next 8 miles, conversation was sporadic and fleeting but she remained focussed and in good humour as I ducked in and out of the course to grab my tapes. 

Then the route became, drier, harder to touch and houses became apparent, children playing in the fields, we were nearing a village, the school, the driveway, the finish as my back marker walked strongly to her finish line..... a lovely thing to see. She didn't care coming in last, it was her birthday and this was her party.

Big thanks to the gang at XNRG for allowing me to be part of it....great race.

 

Friday Night Run - Monkeys and Deer

It transpires a few of my running club mates are training for a 24 hour relay race and have some amazing plans put together as their approach. This weekend a few of them were trying to simulate the conditions of the race by do 4 x 5 mile runs including a night run, this is where I step in.

So at 7.57 pm I swept in to the car park and was met by Tricia, Samantha and Vince waiting patiently for me and then commented on the fact that I had possibly gone over her run brief when I told them it was 6.6 miles but I hoped the extra mile would show them some nicer views of the area.

It was until 10 minutes beforehand that I chose to change to my Monkey Feet and stepping onto the road towards the open trail I was happy I had made the choice as the ground was firm but sufficiently damp to give it some give. The evening was still light but it was good to get the others used to the idea of going from night to day with us chatting about race plans, calling out hazards.

Laughs were soon joined with curses and screams when my planned route met a disused railway line which was mainly quagmire for the first 100 yards and then the serious part that I had laid out in my plan to jump and duck the very root ridden path and soon had us calling hazards out...perfect.

Later on as the night took hold we were running through a copse when there was sudden movement up ahead from left to right and then a rush from the right when two roe deer ran to haven...a wonderful sight. In fact the whole run was nice with nocturnes awakening and their opposite running to ground.

Only bad bit was whilst running through a rape field and my (bad) little toe getting hooked in a rape stem and yanking it, the next sentence I shouted was just a string of swear words from A to Z. Worrying times as I was supposed to be running 50 km the next day.

Run over, BIG grins on the faces of Vince, Sam and Tricia I believe they had a great time, next time we will need to do it totally in the dark.