Hobbled

I am feeling really down at the moment having injured my leg badly on Sunday's run, it seems to have dulled my third Birthday. I haven't really mentioned it in full as I know that I have a habit of bouncing back from injuries really quickly but this time a lot has happened in my right leg, a case of "the straw that broke the camel's back." The injury appears to be in several areas of my leg:

1. The upper right calf
2. The outer hamstring (right leg)
3. The inner hamstring (right leg)
4. The popliteus muscle (back of knee, right leg)

Each of these pains are playing a merry dance as one fades, another surfaces. I walked to the station this morning, almost skipped, but as I got 1 mile into the walk everyone of the list cramped up. I bought a cold can of Coke and sat on the train "ironing" the knots out, pain killers work and I am stretching the leg out but I just want it to go now. I know I deserve a rest but when training gets to the levels it did it is really hard to drop down and see all the gains disperse... so yes, I am sad, grumpy and a little down at the moment.

Resting Heart Rate - Part 2

I repeated my recent sleeping heart rate experiment the day after to see if I could get some better results and was astounded to find that whilst the resulting graph was better plotted it is incredible to see that it is almost exactly the same as the previous one apart from my lowest heart rate reaching 40 beats per minute.

Looks like I had some crazy dream 4 hours into my snooze and I awoke with a heart rate of 44 bpm.

What concerns me is we are presented with Heart Rate Zone charts all over the internet which tell us to take our heart rate as soon as you wake up which I did and I am off the charts as my heart rate is too low or I have an equivalent heart rate of an 18-25 year old athlete...which is nonsense...so who do you believe?

Third Birthday

Yes dear reader, I can hardly believe it myself, this is my 3rd anniversary of starting to run again.

It started after I went to watch my Brother-in-Law in the London Marathon 2007 and made an agreement that we would run it in 2008 together, we never did but it started me down the road. The next day I bought a pair of Nike Air Pegasus from the local running emporium and the day after I was running my first 3.6 miles taking me 40 minutes or 11 minute miles which left me gasping for air for the next week! I laugh that 3 years later, when doing an ultrarun that is the pace I will be running sometimes, just 10 times further :-)

So there we have it, I will raise a glass of cider to the 5,000 miles I have run since then and hope to run many more after.

Resting Heart Rate

I tried out an experiment last night wearing my Garmin Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) to see what my heart rate was during the night and was amazed by the results

The gaps in data can be put down to my movement during the night and the HRM losing contact with my skin, peaks were possibly dreams. As the night moves on you can see that the trend is for my heart rate to drop and at one point was 42 beats per minute. The sharp rise at the end was caused by me being woken abruptly to look for car keys!!!

The long and short of it is there is very strong evidence to suggest I have exercise induced bradycardia

One for the trail

This is a great track from the film Aeon Flux and I would be lying if it isn't just an chance to ogle at Charlize Theron

I am in the News!

I have just found I am in the local newspaper after my recent 100km race at Crawley. Not the most well known of papers but still nice to see.

Click on the image to take you to the full article on page 13

NOT the London Marathon

I went for a great run with Richard today who harks from the great county of Essex who was keen to see,hear and run the sights of the beautiful Kent countryside, he was not to be disappointed.

Meeting at Clacket Lane Services on the M25 we soon found that the cost of parking was going to be £10 which we agreed was too much so decided to move off to the Grasshopper Pub just outside Westerham. Safely parked up we went out with the main intention of running as far as Forest Row via the 2009 London to Brighton route.

We were having a good laugh when we were met by a dog walker "The London Marathon is the other way" we smiled and carried on and so it went on, every walker would greet us with a similar greeting thinking they were the first to think of it...ggggrrrrr I think the Kentish Man needs new material.

Some great sites and sounds with a total of over 1,000 feet of climb, quite a tough little number to say the least which has caused a bit of a calf injury to my right leg which is undergoing TLC as I type.

Trail Word of the Week

Ping-Pong

1. back and forth or transfer rapidly from one locale, another;
2. rapidly or regularly; shift; bounce

This one has been provided by Richard S whilst we were on an excellent 23 mile trail run between Westerham and Forest Row after there was much discussion about the horrific bouts of pain in my hamstrings which seemed to move to one tendon to the other like a game of ping-pong! Well done Richard, a great word.

Ultrarunning

...how inspiring is this?

L2B revisited

Looking forward to tomorrow as I will be running the Stage 3 of the London to Brigthon route with Richard who will be doing the Rigeway 85 as well in August 2010. Plan is to meet up at Clacket Lane Services at 6.30 am and run down through to the route and join it as it crosses the A25 Westerham Road.

Just pulled out the 2009 L2B map book and will be packing my sack for a nice 20 mile(ish) run, trails look pretty dry but will be wearing my Nike Pegasus as it is a bit dusty from Troy Town onwards.

Looks to be a good run tomorrow and really looking forward to it.

To Malcolm

Be that my informative years were in the 1970's it is only right to remember Malcolm McLaren who died recently at the age of 64 years.

Into every tidy scheme for arranging the pattern of human life,
it is necessary to inject a certain dose of anarchism.

Bertrand Russell
Sceptical Essays

So to Malcolm, let's remember that the Sex Pistols created one of the best trail run songs ever

£50 burning a hole in my pocket

At Christmas I was given £50 of gift vouchers for Sweat Shop and looking for something to spend it on and have noticed that it is a very over-priced shop compared to others.

However, I have this £50 and looking to buy "stuff" , choices are put it towards another pair of shoes when required or to buy a back pack. I really want a back pack but am getting a little anal about what size I should get for my The Ridgeway. I particularly like the Inov-8 Pro 12 Pack, mainly because it will make me look really cool and match my jacket and gloves Do you think 12 litres is the right size? Kit I will carry will be:

1. Maps
2. Food & Water
3. Waterproofs
4. Thin under layer
5. Hat
6. Plus other stuff

Too big or small? Other ideas?

Caged Lion

Since my little trip last weekend I am still suffering from a little niggle in the back of my right knee/calf. Nothing too worrying but sufficient to make me think twice about running tonight afterall I have been through a lot over the past two weeks and I need to be careful.

I am however like a caged lion and am chanting at the bit to go out for a run and I find my inner maverick calling me to get out on the trail. I have a lazy day in the office tomorrow so may venture out on Friday and see if I can get out for a quick 10 miles.

Pace Graph

(Click graph to get full image)

OK, OK, so I was bored tonight but I got the count sheets back from Crawley today and so graphed them. The graph below shows my lap times over time and how they dramatically changed through the day.

Areas of interest:

1. From laps 0 - 105 or 4 hours I was running to achieve a marathon and the laps are all consistant apart from a glitch for a loo break at Lap 19 and tummy upset at 41.
2. At 105 my Father took over and here I think I made a tactical error in dramatically dropping my pace and introduce walk breaks, this caused my times to go very irractic
3. The the overly dramatic change at 7 hours or lap 163 where the graph seems to take an upward glitch when we changed direction and my times went haywire
4. Laps 180 onwards when my IT Band cramped and you can see the excessive time wasted with a BIG peak where I was tabled getting tortured
5. The Lap 225 when the realisation set in where I was possibly not goint to finish the job and I dug in and ran almost consistantly for 5 miles with no walk breaks, stubbornly digging in finding energy that I never knew I had.

A very insightful little graph and my Father has unexpectedly stepped in and mentioned my tactical error of reducing speed dramatically in the the second third which obviously effected my pace. This will probably be my last lap race but it has taught me some very interesting facts about myself.

You may have seen I mention the ego, the I, recently, ego nearly beat last Saturday. Look at lap 229 and the change that happened, ego was ignored and another part of me took control and the race continued at a set pace......this is a pivotal moment for my future training.

Ice and Cider

What do you do when you have a slight calf muscle pull? There is only one thing, ice and cider.

My stumble on Sunday has shown that it did cause a small niggle in the calf that only came apparent after I stretched out and cooled down tonight. What can I do? The best thing was an ice block in a towel against my calf and a couple of pints of Henry Westons...perfect.

The Future is Bright

I had a great run with the club tonight seeing us go out in a group of about 15 runners, spirits were high and there was a lot of banter in the group. Up ahead we saw a lone runner gambling along and at first I thought it was a lad running for the bus and as we neared he became aware of us and joined on.

"Where you going mate?" he asked in fluent South London teenage-ese, I told him about another 4 miles further to which he told me he was out for about 3 miles but he would join us. Who am I to turn an aspiring runner away so he joined in the group and he was asked a series of questions from the mob.

I took point and was then amazed to find that he had tucked in behind my shoulder and was not taking distance, when I sped up , he sped up when I sprinted away, he did too, pace for pace...this guy was good for his age (in transpires he was only 14 years old) and so it went on until we got onto the main hill and he grumbled about stitch or how he wanted water to which I scoffed and so he continued until at the top he flopped onto the floor to rest. Then from nowhere I said "In 2 years time when you are 16, come to our club and I will pay your first years subscription!"

I think it is worth it, that lad was a natural, he had the edge and was naturally competitive without knowing it.

I am not a number!

Outstanding...

Great Attitude

I love this attitude:

"When Abigail Meadows reaches a point where her brain gets fuzzy and her muscle fatigue makes her think she can’t take another step, she takes three."

A quote from: Learning Who I Am

Back on the trail

It is with great pleasure I announce that as of today I return to trail running and I can turn my back on the track apart from as a training aid.

I had a great 10 mile recovery run this morning taking us from Knockholt and around the North Downs Way and North into some of the surrounding roads and trails. I had a bit of a scare at one point when I tripped very badly on a protruding root and staggered quite a few steps out of control managing to stay upright....just.

The only worry is I think I may have done myself a mischief in an already tired and stretched calf, I'll take it easy tomorrow and keep it stretched for the time being.

Trail word of the week

diphthong

An unsegmentable, gliding speech sound varying continuously in phonetic quality but held to be a single sound or phoneme and identified by its apparent beginning and ending sound, as the oi-sound of toy or boil.

Ok, I hear you say, what is this one all about? We were out on a great trail run today running on and around the area of the North Downs Way, Knockholt when we found ourselves running through an enormous field of brown cows and calves, with it came the immortal quote as we greeted the many ungulates "How now brown cow" a perfect example of a set of diphthongs.

Je pense, donc je suis

I have been asked a number of times this week about my Crawley K2 100 km run and how I was able to keep going for such a long time and I have found that it is a really difficult thing to explain. I have however likened it to dualism where it is said mental events cause physical events. I want to explore this over the coming days.

A statement

I was chatting to my mate Tom on line at one of my favourite forums earlier and he mentioned he had bought a pair of new shorts...I only seem to have one pair at the moment and it is getting warmer. It was pay day yesterday and I just felt the urge and bought a new pair, soon to be delivered, I wonder what they will look like :-)

Volcanic sunset

So there it lay, by my side, on the train... a freeby newspaper announcing the Icelandic volcano and the promise of lavendar sunsets. With such news wafting in front of my eyes it was like a red rag to a bull.

I ate my meal with the family and then sneaked off upstairs and got my running kit on, afterall I had 2.5 miles of trail running to do to get to my chosen vantage point, a National Trust woodland area and I had to get there no later than 7.57 pm.

Staggering up the hill I had dreams of a purple sky but for some reason felt disappointed when I saw a glorious Peaches and Cream sunset through the Springtime woodland. Even though I felt a bit wobbly and sore it just made me happy...

After the sun dipped below the horizon I pottered off back on the trails where I am supposed to be....Jezza Bear is back in the woods at last.

Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk

"Formerly named the High Weald Walk, this route explores the variety of countryside around Royal Tunbridge Wells on the borders of Kent and East Sussex and is within the High Weald AONB. It passes through a rolling landscape of ridges and valleys with a patchwork of small fields, hedges and broadleaved woodland. On the route are Groombridge Place, High Rocks, Eridge Rocks and Harrison's Rocks, all sandstone outcrops popular with climbers, and Eridge Park, a remarkably unpopulated area for south east England."

Quoted text from LDWA website describing a great training run of about 27 miles.

I will be sufficiently recovered soon and looking to run this with Richard in May 2010, I have a feeling I maybe able to tempt a few of the local ultra fraternity to come along too and make a day of it.

Streeeeeetch

Today was the first time I have worn proper leather shoes as my legs have felt uncomfortable and the first time I have been able to run up six flights of stairs two steps at a time. However much this sounds impressive it has in fact been foolhardy my body is just not ready.

I have been feeling a bit down all day as my legs have felt extremely tight and the tendons around my knees sore and my right ankle tender. I rang my wife and told her I was going to book a session with a sports physio from my running club.

So, at 8.00pm this evening, I stepped gingerly out of my car then shuffled and hobbled over to his front door. Mike met me outside and took me to his treatment room and after a discussion about the general condition of my legs went about them. Incredibly as he ran his fingers up my thigh I could feel him find knots and kinks in the muscle and not surprisingly in my left leg which was where the trouble was on Saturday. I originally went for a 30 minute session but was really happy for it to go for an hour as he massaged, stretched and pulled tendons and muscles.

To my amazement I stepped from the couch a new person all pains and tightness gone and I was able to straighten my legs. Even now I can shake my legs as I sit here and all my muscles wobble like a bowl full of jelly...brilliant.

Limits

I found this brilliant podcast from WNYC RadioLab called Limits

This is a really interesting broadcast that talks about the limits of the human body and what makes an athlete doing endurance events overcomes the body's need to quit. Download  here...Limits

Once you have had a chance to listen to it watch the video of Julie Moss in Ironman 1982. It is uncomfortable watching but still amazing

Two Minds

As I ponder over the last few months of training and my epic run on Saturday I again find myself doubting my own ability and question whether I should continue long distance running.

The next major challenge comes in 20 weeks and I have started to write my training plan and as I write it I feel the cold sweat beading on my forehead. The weekly mileages will reach 76 miles at their height and average 54 miles!

Race Report - Crawley 12 hour ultramarathon

Wow where can I start, a day full of emotion mixed with mental and physical pain, a day seeing journeys of great courage and friendship. This report breaks away from my usual type of "then I did this and then I did that" or "At such and such place we saw...." Circuit running doesn't blend well to that type of report so I will provide snap shots and commentary from my Army of brilliant friends and family who gave up a good part of their weekend to help out.

---

It was almost surreal - 15 persons from all over the UK running/walking/and some shuffling round a 400 metre track hour after hour, but no complaining from anyone, even though some must have been in real discomfort.

Richard D

---

My day started at 4.15 am when I was awoken by my alarm which saw me drag myself to the living room where I had my kit layed out. Choosing to change at the track I got on some warm clothes and had a cup of coffee and pack the final food stuffs into my box and into the car.
I drove to the M25 motorway and along the way it dawned on me that either side of the road lay the routes and scenes of many of my training runs across the Downs. Those runs were the many journeys I have taken to this monumentous day. As always, the North Downs were spectacular in the pre-dawn light, mist hung close to the ground and the sky was clear, this was the signal the day would be warm and clear.

I arrived at the K2 Sports Centre at 6.00am and was allowed to drive the car to trackside which was a blessing as I had a table, chair, kit bag and crate full of food and drink to drop off. I was pleased I got there early as I managed to get prime a location for my table. I was pleased to find that my running number was 13, Pat the organiser apologised but I have a tradition that I always like to run with a prime number!

(Liz, ably demonstrates Jerry HQ)

The Start
At 6.50 am we were called to the start line and after a final briefing about lane etiquette we were sent on our way. My game plan was to stick at 2:16-2:20 mins/lap for the first 4 hours and try to obtain a marathon distance no later than 11:10 am and not be suckered into a pack run but stay seperate from the mob, a plan that proved to work as within 4 laps they were lapping me, after all I had 246 laps to catch them up! This proved to be a pivotable decision as at the first hour I was in 13th position but over the hours I was seen to move up the rankings slowly and steadily as runners dropped out one by one with injury or flagged dramatically to a crawl. I had planned to cut the race into 3 sections of 4 hours. The first to run a marathon, the second to consolidate my run and try and get 20 miles in and then the last third to play by ear.

The Torch
At about 10.00 am I saw a flurry of strange activity on the trackside and on coming stand-side I saw the organiser holding the 1948 Great Britain Olympic torch, it was handed to me (or should I say I snatched it from her) and I was allowed to run a circuit or two with this iconic symbol.

In this picture I take a momentary break for a photo opportunity.

---

Congratulations to you Jerry. I love the pictures, especially the one of you running with the olympic torch! Have a lovely day today.

Pippa G (via the web)

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The Marathon runners
At 10.00 am more distractions happened on the trackside as 20 or so characters appeared, some in AC club vests ready to do battle on the track for 105 + laps. Now this was to be a sight as a bunch of marathon runners belted down lane 1 past you. I was joking that this would be the only time we would be in front of an elite marathon runner in a race and the wicked side of me took great joy in overtaking the back markers and lapping them even after 20 miles or so :-)

And so it went on

The race continued, the sunrise glorious and the air cool but by mid-morning it was begininng to tell us it was going to be a very warm day and to make it worse there was a strong breeze which hid the effect of the sun. At 11.00 am my lap counter changed and at 11:12 am the iconic 105 laps was called and I sailed through my first marathon.

My Father was the next to take the clipboard, poor Ol' Gramps was very concerned for me but I made a point of going over to tell him I was OK and that my tactics were changing during the second third wher I would drop my pace to about 2:30 min/laps, no easy thing but I dug in to then find that a second bout of my gut problems had resurfaced and I had to make a second dash for the toilet. Emergency over I traipsed back on track and continued my run. What with the tummy upset over I was now entering "Secondary Wall" territory which normally starts at about 28 miles and through to 34 miles and I was beginning to feel it so I stepped up the fluids, drank some banana milkshake and chocolate brownies and dug in

---

You're in a dark patch now Jerry, you know where you are, you'll come through it you always do

Theo (trackside)

---

The journey continued by now the sun was out in its full glory, there was a strong breeze and my amazing helpers called my times, reminded me to eat and drink. My lovely Jamaican Ginger cake was nearly finished and I was just starting the syrup cake, cheese sticks were a good finger food and pints of Nuun were drunk.


Sun Up

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OK he's doing quite well, though he's saying his thighs are hurting and he's not taking much on board.at 5hrs he'd done 30.32 mi
at 6hrs he'd done 35.05 mi
pretty warm out, but there's quite a good breeze so it's keeping him cool.

Ian (trackside to web via iPhone)

---

Me just before 2.00pm 40 miles in

The turn around
At 2.00pm there was more movement on trackside and the dreaded cone was placed on the Start line, this was the signal for us to change direction, I had trained for this in the preceding weeks and had been told it was a welcome release but I soon found that this could have been my downfall. One thing to be aware of is your pace on the turnaround as it takes time for you legs to adapt.

Sadly this was my problem, I stepped over to a water bucket of sponges, bent over ann I fely IT Band cramp up, I struggled on but I was in agony and limping badly. I was told by Ian to get a massage and so with trepedation stepped onto his couch much to the amusement of my friends as I squealed like a little piggy as my tormentor went to thigh like a Baker to his dough...but boy did it work. I took a big slop of Nuun and went on my way still hurting boy feeling better.

The race continued and now my recollection merges into one as my glucose starved brain went into autopilot. I was in the zone as I saw new friends arrive and go all doing a fantastic job keeping me fed and watered. I began to realise I was becoming snappy, decisions were beginning to be hard to make. The food went in, the drink went in but still the team cheered me on with calls to drink and eat. My stomach was beginning to reject solids and so I was surviving on brownies, cakes and banana milkshake with Coca Cola being a welcome change.

At about 5.45 pm I was informed I was on lap 225 and had 25 laps to go or 10 km, any training day I would have knocked this out. This was the only time that I felt my goal was out of touch and I had failed

---

You haven't come here to fail just get on with it and stop feeling sorry for yourself

Mrs Jerry and the Jezzarettes

---

I had been doing a run/walk strategy for the past 90 minutes and through my addled brain I knew I couldn't afford to walk any more so dug as deep as I have ever done so, the tendons joining my IT Band to my knees screaming and my right foot numb I plodded on, a new energy found as the last of the brownies and banana milkshake found their target.

Timers called "This is your fastest lap for over an hour and a half" and then again as I stepped into a steady rhythm, at 6.00pm I was in 7th place and I soon overtook the guy in front and was running 6th, the leader of the race came from behind and asked what had got into me as he was finding it hard to keep up with me. The end was in sight and the count was now downwards 8 laps, 7 laps, 6 laps...

---

To get to 100 Km with 5 minutes to spare was great - particularly since with an hour to go it looked like you were going to fall short but you put a marvellous spurt in towards the end to comfortably make the distance in the 12 hour time limit.

David A

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..and so the 250th lap came and I was told that I had time to spare and could crawl it and still have time to complete my target...there is something obscene about not crossing a line whilst running so I ran over what I thought was the line and stopped and then the official shouted "Wrong line get over it" whoops I could have been caught out by 2 metres!

I have to admit the last lap (251) I walked but I don't care this was my biggest challenge, the furthest I have ever run in one go and I raised over £1000 for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

OUCH

The question is with an image like this one did Jerry actually finish the 12 hour race?PS...that really is pain on his face

Tabled

In an absolute panic at 7.15 pm I realised that I had forgotten to buy the folding picnic table I had been promising myself for weeks.

I have learnt that during races that comprise circuits that it is really difficult to bend down to pick up drinks and food from the floor and good "experienced" runner always seem to have a small table with all their comestibles on it. So nipping out under Mrs J's Running RADAR I managed to get a really cool folding table to go with my folding chair.

Short cut

Another two pre-race traditions completed... a hair cut and a scrumptious cafe meal comprising beans on two toast, a LARGE bowl of chips and a mug of steaming hot builder's tea with three sugars. Hooray for carb-loading.

Feed Me!

The shopping for supplies to get me through Saturday has just been completed, so far I have:

• 1 litre of Banana Milkshake
• Tate & Lyle Syrup cake
• Jamaican Ginger Cake
• 3 Peperamis
• 6 strips of crispy bacon
• 1 avocado
• 20 Carb gels
• 1.5 litres of Coca Cola
• Raisins
• Dried apricots
• Pretzels

I think that will keep me going for a little while

Competition Time

I have just downloaded my Garmin to clear out some old runs ready for Saturday and I came across this run...I wonder what I was doing that day?

Rivalry

Great news tonight, I was just on Twitter and noticed someone had contacted me saying:

"@ultraKent Hope all is well, looking forward to see you on Saturday."

I am really pleased as it is my old track and trail rival Joao whom I ran against at the Faversham 6 hour last year and the Country to Capital this year. So far the score is:

Jerry 1 - 1 Joao

So it looks like there is going to be a little race on Saturday, I wonder who will win this time.

Stiff as a board

The carb-loading begins for real today but what with the dramatic drop in running distance and lack of general training I can feel my legs already becoming heavy and if I sit down for too long they become stiff. I was laughing that I look like an old goat wandering around the office today.

Feeling good about Saturday but I must admit I am getting a little nervous now.

Rocket Fuel

The chocolate brownie order has been placed with my neice and I await Friday when I can collect them. Apart from chocolate I would love to know what she puts in them, they are like rocket fuel and better than any carb gel on the market.

I had them when I ran London to Brighton with a cup of hot tea...gorgeous.

Trail word of the Week

Picadae

The family of woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks.

Why? this was my only company on my track run this morning, she just sat there watching me go around and around, thanks Mrs Picadae

Three fluffy kittens...

...eaten by a Big Brown Bear.

Today I was scheduled for a 6.2 mile run which turned into a 9.2 mile run when I found my legs feeling great and my body ticking over nicely. As I was feeling comfy and my pace was melodic, constant and without strain so carried on.

The Number of the Beast

My distances mount up to today's 666 miles so far this year. One more maintenance run on Sunday on the track and then feet up until next Saturday's BIG one.

Prostate Cancer - Donations top £800

100km in 12 hours 10th April 2010

Beyond all expectations donations have hit the roof...can we make it £1K?

The Flower Duet

Under the dense canopy
Where the white jasmine
Blends with the rose
On the flowering bank
Laughing at the morning
Come, let us drift down together
Let us gently glide along
With the enchanting flow
Of the fleeing current
On the rippling surface
With a lazy hand
Let us reach the shore
Where the source sleeps
And the bird sings
Under the dense canopy
Under the white jasmine
Let us drift down together

Fluid motion

I decided not to run at the club on Tuesday evening, afterall they were doing a speed training session and I am tapering, the two do not go together. The roads were dry tonight and I fancied a nice gentle run out for about 10 km and so after my chores I ventured out.

The sole purpose of tonight was just to go out run, enjoy it and feel good at the end...boy did I feel good but my ankle is still telling me something is wrong but I think it will calm down soon.

Slowly but surely it is all coming together, two more maintenance runs and then my big run....ooh eerrr.