July Night Run Report

Firstly this run was aptly renamed the "Not So Night Run" when it appeared that it was still very much day light at 8.00pm and the fact the majority of the runners were wearing sunglasses at the start!

I was really pleased to find that 10 intrepid runners, some veterans, but most welcome were some new faces who had heard about the events through the running grapevine. So at 8.00pm we started off but within 200 metres we had a short stop to tell the guys about the local history and that the farm we stood outside of was once a World War II listening post that intercepted radio traffic from the Germans.

We continued on, the pack was full of noise and laughter as we ran off down the road to pass a local pub that had a ghost of a highwayman that was hanged outside on the once well used gallows that have sadly long gone. The evening was a beautiful, bright one and the sun a golden orange that cast long shadows on the ground we were soon back on the road for a short period before we dropped down sharply into the North Downs and into the wealds. The photograph above was a short break to allow me tell the story of the the Norman Knight Vital who lived below in the valley who is shown in the Bayeaux Tapestry reporting back to William the Bastard of King Harold's army!

The run went on as we passed beautiful scenery and then dropped down into Shoreham and contined on along the Darenth Valley by the river to see the lavendar fields, tell a few stories and then, on reaching the Roman ruins we made a group decision to go a slightly longer route which would allow us to get to a nicer pub....beer is a good motivator :-)

By now the light was fading and almost unnoticed we were all had our torches on and were again going cross country along the edges of fields and onto the steepest climb of the night which left the lungs wheezing and the legs complaining. The humour within the pack was absolutely brilliant, there was some mild ribbing and teasing, jokes and chatter flowed as we began to get to a steep descent. I shouted to the pack "This is a 1 in 20 hill gentlemen" to which some wag shouted "Yeah, only 1 in 20 survive it" much to many a loud hoot from everyone. To say it was treacherous would be an understatement, suddenly the pack was quiet whilst concentrating the descent but barking out difficult areas...brilliant team work.

The next section was through an entangled wood, a much under used public path which is sadly going back to nature but it is my intention to get these paths used before they are lost. After getting out on to the road we had to negotiate a railway line  and much to our surprise we were passed by a train and then saw one in the station some 500 yards away and we called for care crossing as we kept an eye on it in case it left the station. Then someone shouted "I wouldn't worry this is South Eastern trains it is probably cancelled anyway" :-)

From this point you could see the lights of the pub at the 10 mile mark and I could almost smell the beer. I just love the landlady's face as I stepped into the pub and asked if she would serve 11 sweaty but not smelly footweary travellers and we greeted with open arms with the locals all giving us bemused looks. Our sudden arrival caused an initial furore in the pub and we were all soon chatting and laughing with the residents of the village. I had a lovely pint of warm British ale that I knocked back in about 4 large gulps....gorgeous. Saying my farewells to Sally, the landlady, I asked if was OK to do this type of thing again with a few more people and she was well up for it, good business for her and good to find a runner friendly pub.

So for the last push home, for the next 1/2 mile all we could hear were burps and grunts from everyone as the various fizzy drinks made their escape and we were able to get back to the start to find the doors of the pub open. I put my head around the door and apologised for our lateness and was told they were having "a private party" and asked if we could be invited to the private party to which we were warmly welcomed. I left the boys to get to know the locals as I wanted to get back home as well as drop off Rob and Bhundu to their houses.

In all, a brilliant Not So Night Run with some absolutely fantastic friends who always make these events so special. The distance was a couple of miles over the published one but we did add some miles halfway through to fit in the pub stop. The stories, whilst not being all ghostly, had a little bit of local history in it which I hope didn't distract from a wonderful run.

horas non numero nisi æstivas

...or translated from the latin:

I will only tell the summer hours.

 

Tonight I decided on the way out to grab the camera and see if I could take a few pictures along the way after watching the sunset across the fields of the local woods making the trees trunks turn blood red in its farewell caress I ventured deeper to run past  the William Willett memorial, a sun dial that celebrates his introduction of daylight saving all those years ago when the Summer Time Act 1925. I have to make an admission that I did sit down in the glade where the memorial stands for a few minutes of quiet contemplation before I went on...the first time that day I was completely alone and it felt good.

Felt low on gas all through the run this evening and then I realised that I have run over 63 miles in the last 7 days and this was the reason.

Keeping it going

Big mileage in the last 3 days, 43 miles to be precise and I am surprised to say that in the last mile I was on fire and was seen sprinting off at the front of the pack for the obligatory race back to the club house. However little did the guys know the real reason I was pacing out....I was desperate for the toilet and had to get there quickly however I had to stop to walk the last 100 yards as it was uncomfortable! Suitably refreshed I rejoined the others at the  club house for the obligatory post run banter and discussions and went home via the woods at a much reduced pace.

Although I feel pretty good generally I think it is definitely time to retire my shoes which have done an incredible 648 miles and I have begun to note that my feet feel bruised and sore at the end of a run and a tendon in my right foot is tendor and slightly swollen in the ankle area. The shoes have worn through to the foam in areas so I think they are telling me something, not bad for 12 weeks though!

I think I will rest on Wednesday night and get some chores done at home, feet up and then get out for some big miles for the rest of the week

Knocking them out

With yesterday morning's short run in Shoreham I later went out for a 13 mile run along one of my set piece routes and after such a great run with Duncan and Sabina it just didn't cut the mustard with me plodding out the miles and came back feeling a little miserable.

This evening was somewhat different seeing me get out of the house in view of just getting an hour in so I chose to get out to the wood and stay there cutting up and down the pathways, in and out the trees, up and down the hills. I was really pleased to get home though as 30 miles in two days has left me a little tired but incredibly I feel fine, the interesting thing is will I be able to knock out 12 miles tomorrow? Time will tell.

The secret is out

After my recent mysterious post my name has been published and the secret is out!

It is official now and I can confirm that I am running the Thames Path 100 mile race in March 2012 and what makes me really chuffed is I have race number 109....yes, you have got it, a prime number :-)

So at  last I have a focus for 2012 as this will fit in perfectly with my Olympic Games duties later on in the year

Lavendar fields

Due to various domestic reasons I was unable to do my long run this morning so arranged with some members of the running club to come out on one of my favourite 10 mile downland routes. I particularly like this route during this time of year as the lavendar crops are in full bloom and the area of Shoreham, Kent is bathed in purple and the air heavy with the scent of this beautiful flower.

In a way it is sad that the famous hop fields of Kent are being replaced by lavendar (for the beauty trade) but at this time of year the farmers are forgiven as I selfishly enjoy the views.

I had a great time with Sabina and Duncan seeing us take on a 20% and 40% incline that had our lungs burning and the sweat pouring off our brows with the reward of outstanding views across the valley. I think we were all pleased with the distance as it gave us a chance to get some speed in and at the same time get some hill training in. That was my first run of the day and will venture out this evening for a flatter run in the woods

Night Run - In search of Ghosts

With only one week to go I am still researching hard and every page I turn I find more and more incredible stories about the local area.

The night run starts at The Pound, Knockholt, Sevenoaks, Kent and from there I have devised an artful run that will take us past a lot of places my companions will have been through but may have not realised the history of some of the places, one story that had the hairs on the back of my neck bristle when it mentioned that

"...a mother and child who wait eternally at a window..."

It is a chilling story with a fantastic connection to warfare and the spymasters of World War II. There is also a story of William the Bastard treading some of the paths we will run, that and many more...it promises to be a great night run.

Wet or Dry

I have moved to a new office area in my work building which now allows me the chance of a view of London, whilst sitting there this afternoon I could see an enormous black cloud loom over the city and then proceed to dump an extraordinary amount of rain. The level of the rain was such that I couldn't see the other side of the road at one point and then my mind wandered to the idea of a wet and muddy run.

With this thought in mind I rang up my buddy Duncan and I wittered on about how great it was that it was wet and did he want to go for a muddy run. Duncan, ever the gentleman, mentioned he would look out of the window and remarked about the weather.

I proceeded to walk to the station and was soaked  by the time I got there but I cared not a jot as I was going for a muddy run later. On arrival at my home station I was amazed to see that the roads were bone dry and there was not sign of any rain....to say I was disappointed would be an understatement and then it occurred to me that Duncan had remarked that there was no rain where he was! So off I went for the 25 minute walk to then find I had a smile on my face as the rain started to fall and drizzle for the next 90 minutes, I was going to get that muddy run :-)

Great run tonight, I got in 12 miles with loads of woodland and open path, I have scratched legs from low lying holly, mud in my toenails and legs that tell me we had a pacey run but have to admit that at one point the two of us were seen leaning on a 5 bar gate enjoying the scenery, you can't beat those moments.

I am trying to keep this one quiet

The facts

1. This time I even booked the race whilst Mrs S was in the room.
2. Mrs S could see me tapping away at the laptop with credit card next to me.
3. She is still looking at me suspiciously whilst I smile to myself.
4. I am sober.
5. The money came from my own account 

Yes Dear Reader I have just entered the next BIG race for 2012 and my training will continue as it is at the moment and give me the opportunity to really crank up those miles...I am being a  little coy as to where, when and how far but I promise you it is going to a brilliant run and I honestly can't wait. Keep watching this space as and when confirmation arrives from the organisers.

Flame On

I had an early start in the office today which saw me ducking into the local coffee shop for a take away beforehand for a day of quiet analysis time, documenting my findings with two conference calls in between to reinforce the findings. I had commandeered a small office, the whiteboard soon filled with actions and the black coffee flowed.....

Time to depart and I was seen whizzing off to the station with the thought that I would be away from the cars soon running with my buddies from the club...I have a feeling the coffee was working still because no sooner had I arrived home it seemed I was in my kit and out of the door. The vague plan was to take a gentle 3 mile run to the club, then run circa 6-7 miles and then come home via the woods...it didn't seem to go as expected for when I looked down at my watch on the way I found I was running at 8 mph (13kph) and on my arrival I was raring to go all initial thoughts of a slow run out of the window ready for a reasonable run out along a set piece 10km...I was soon to realise I was in a rather extrovert mood as I took the mickey out of my fellow runners as they did me.

My legs felt good, my heart rate comfortable and I was happily chatting at the pack when I was called off the pace and told to review the pace without realising it all the training seemed to have payed off......FLAME ON.

Jumping off the front I decided to chat in the middle of the pack having fun calling out irritating anecdotes such "This is supposed to be a running club.....not a walking club!" or "Continual Forward Motion" All with a cheeky grin and a wink :-)

The run home was supposed to be a gentle trot but looking down at my Garmin again my pace was ticking over arriving home with a good feeling. I just hope the over-decaffeinated day was not the reason for my unusually good performance tonight but just for once it was great to feel that the training was paying off and I was back from recovering from the various ultras I have been on recently.

Plans for the future!

Note the checkpoint is in the
middle of a lake

As some of my most Dearest Readers will know I went to Canada last year with the family to celebrate the Sensational Mrs S's 21^st birthday and had a brilliant time seeing a beautiful country with such wonderful people. Now it is my turn and my BIG 21^st birthday will be in 2015.

Now some would say that 2015 is a long way away but I have learnt that I must plan for the future especially when it comes to ultramarathons especially if they are in far flung countries. My big wish is to visit Iceland, the land of Fire and Ice, my dream to travel over a lava field whilst seeing glacier flowing from a  mountain is very strong!

So tonight I had the opportunity to do a little research and visited the Iceland Ultra website and when asked what I was up to by Mrs S I was amazed by her reaction. I am normally met with a tut or a growl when I mention a plan but tonight it was generally OK so pulling myself off the floor I think I have the makings of a plan...WOW Iceland...fire, ice and now running :-)

Herding Cats

That is how I felt like this evening when trying to see if George and Michael were running tomorrow! We had sent emails, some of crossed, telephoned, left messages on said phones, returned calls to find we were out and then to find the line was engaged, I think we are all a little too busy sometimes.

Finally getting through to George it was soon obvious that we all have no specific running goals at the moment so long runs are a little vague and this evening's great quote after asking George how far he wanted to go was answered with "Well you know me, anything between 10 and 50 miles"  Jeezz that narrowed it down then :-) 

Michael on the otherhand was a little bit more stoical after his tales on sinusitis and shivers deciding that he wanted to run for about 2 hours. So it looks like we will run to Michael's house tomorrow and do some short loops near to our houses, I hope so as I am feeling a little tired in the leg department at the moment.

Mesmerised

OUCH....that hurt!

No Dear Reader, not an injury but an insect attack, well I say insect attack, more a collision. The plan tonight was to get out into the open air and run a good 12 miles, nice and steadily, around the local woods and nature reserve then duck into some fields and through some woodland to switch back to home. As you can see the route took in a lot of woodland trail as I just wanted to get away from humanity for a hour or so. Little did I know that by avoiding humans I was going to come across dragonflies!

The weather this evening was very humid and quite warm which must have been the signal for a large number of dragonflies to appear around the local woodland rivers and ponds. As I ran alongside the river I was mesmerised by a number of them darting and skittering through the air around me when one took a sharp turn and bounced into my arm, it gave me quite a start enough for me to mutter an "OW"

Incredibly beautiful creatures and I have this strange feeling that this was probably a one off opportunity to see them this evening for tomorrow they will have gone...

Geeky Stats

After a grumble and mumble about my Mizunos at the beginning of June after my feet were wrecked at GUCR I vowed to search for a new shoe that would help me through the longer races and have decided it is just not as easy as it seems. After many a conversation about the subject I have concluded that over the period of 4 years your preferred shoe model will change in design so significantly that it possibly doesn't really matter what shoe you choose as long as it feels comfortable.

I currently wear the Mizuno Waverider 14 shoe and my most recent pair hold the following statistics:

Total Distance	598.2 miles
Number of Runs	38
Average Distance per run	15.74 miles
No.of Marathons	1
No of Ultras	5
Price per mile	£0.12

The upshot of this tale is I was checking through my Twitter feed last night and saw that a well known shoe emporium had  my shoes and they were offering free postage and amazinglly were offering them at £35.00 cheaper than normal. I am happy to say that I have bought them and made a brilliant saving of £38.99.

They will not replace my current ones for the time being but it was an opportunity not to be missed.

One for the Trail

After my comments on my blog about my bad run this evening I have to thank a Zimbabwean Pilgrim friend of mine who made a comment "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run" which is an excellent reference to that great song sung by Kenny Rogers - The Gambler and an excellent song for the trail.... as always, play it loud.

Think of Spaceships...

for a few minutes and move on!

After Sunday's run in Croydon I have rapidly developed a stinking cold, nothing too heavy but one where my nose is continually dripping and I am generally bunged up. After a long day in the office bashing a keyboard I really wanted to stretch my legs and against the advice of the delicious Mrs S I stepped from the door  for a short run with the club.

On arrival I was umming and arring as to which group to go with and eventually chose the slower group so that I could tease out my stiffened legs and started off with them but after about a mile I realised all was not well bidding my farewells into the adjacent woods and after another mile was quite "unwell". Cleaning up I felt a little better and carried on to finish my loop to make 5 miles to the car. I think I need to rest.

Time to think about spaceships for a few days and move on.

So why the bandana?

This is a question I get asked on quite a regular basis as to why I wear a Buff or a bandana and the answer is as varied as the colour and design of the two items.

I found the bandana that you will see in most of my running pictures in Canada on the Cataraqui Trail, Canada near the Indian Lake Road (between 40 and 45km markers on the map) whilst out on a training run on holiday. It was as if a gift had been dropped from the heavens because the flies in that area were horrific and biting me all over [reason 1] and since then it became part of my kit.

I also wear a backpack a lot of the time and after a good few miles the pack rubs my neck [reason 2] and as I run around in the Summer the sun beats down onto my neck and it stops me getting burnt [reason 3].

By far the most important reason, and one that proved its worth yesterday at the Croydon Ultra, is that as long as it is wet, I have had enough fluids. If it is dry then it is too late and I need to drink [reason 4] and to a lesser extent it can be used as emergency bandaging if I or another runner falls and hurts themselves [reason 5]

In summary

1.  Stop me swallowing flying insects
2. It saves my neck being chafed
3. Prevents sunburn
4. Indicates if I have drunk enough
5. First Aid kit

Here I am sporting my yellow one as I prepare for my next Cataraqui trail run

Croydon Ultra - Race Report

Spout Hill-17% of hurt

I arrived at the start of the Croydon Ultra this morning at about 7:15 am to see other runners had started to collect near to the cricket pavillion and the race organiser, Ian, had set up shop nearby. As is normal at these events the same old faces seem to surface with the obligatory 100 Marathoners attending to no doubt do a recce on the event, I think the two gentlemen I spoke to have about 800 between them!

Registration was swift and efficient with me getting the lucky number 7 ( I was well chuffed as it was a prime number....long story) so dumping my race box and quickly donning my remaining kit we were called to the start line, 12 for now but the course was soon to have 22 of us attempting the course.

First Stage

The course was made up of two sections, the first took us South of Croydon on a tough little hill number which I relished as I soon found myself second in the field eating away at the hills and miles to take me to the top of the course and out of the suburbs into the surrounding countryside, being very aware that this was the section that would batter the legs I took a "Walk the hill, run the flat" strategy which worked really well and I was pleased I studied the course gradient prior to attempting it as there were some choice ones in the bag, one was 17% and at 12 miles into the run certainly pushed the right buttons however I soon stopped grumbling when a one legged gent with a prosthetic limb came in the opposite direction. All was looking good for me now, it was a downhill section but the heat of the day was coming through and I soon found myself getting the halfway mark in 2 hours and 11 minutes, I was on fire and was well on for a sub 5 hour if I could keep the pace.

At the checkpoint I grabbed some gels, stocked up on water but was now a little miffed as the guys who were behind me had miraculously made up about 10 minutes on me and come in from the other gate... no prizes in this race but it irritated me a little. I moved off quickly in hope that they would squander the time and I was off for the route to Catford.

Second stage

This is where I can safely say the wheels came off in my race, at the start I took hold of the race directions and placed them in a plastic sheath and had not realised there were basic maps in the rear and attempted to follow the (very poorly) written instructions finding myself in a park area looking for a cycle path that was not obvious and wasting good time running backwards and forwards until we came out on a road to then find we were in a completely wrong part and wasted even more time trying to get back on track. By now the two guys who had caught me up had gone ahead and I attempted to find my way through the network of paths which soon found me lost again and had me doing a 1 mile detour as I tried to get to a named train station so that I could resurrect my navigation. By now I was in a real grumbly mood as I knew my great work at the start of the race would have been squandered and lost.

I was soon back on track and I found that the bad route directions failed me again as I spend way too long looking for a non-existent checkpoint that took me yet another 2 miles off course and had me irritated as I was now short on water and we were in the hottest part of the day by now I had wasted a good 30 minutes of race time looking for my way.

I decided to return to home and my mood was raised when I saw other runners coming in the opposite direction some between 4 and 5 miles behind me and so I raised my pace. Water very low now I was soon on scrounge mode looking for anybody washing their cars or gardening and just as I was about to give up on water I saw someone who was all too happy to oblige. Now with water I had 4 miles to go and on finding the correct route made my way home noting that my 30 mile time was 5:15 and would have been an enormous PB had I got back to the clubhouse but it was not to be so I just went into concentration mode and just knocked out the last three miles with the intention of just getting back in one piece.

The finish

As I turned into the cricket club at the end I saw Ian waiting for me with cold drinks and snacks a very welcome sight after a very hot and dusty 33 miles. All grumbles and moans were left on the course and we had a good laugh and joke which was great as it just reinforced that these types of events are just brilliant. Results in saw me come in 6^th which I am very pleased with and I know that had I not had the various map issues would have certainly come in fourth or possibly third but we will never know and frankly I am not too worried just very pleased that my fitness has returned.

In conclusion

Ian put on a great show today and it was just misfortunate about the directions. This was an inaugural race which are always the most difficult as it the first time they are "tested" by runners. The Croydon Ultra is a welcome addition to the South London and Surrey area and I hope that it will become a permanent fixture in the years to come

Let's get ready to rumble

Click to enlarge

The prodigal son returns to his birthplace to run the inaugural Croydon 30 mile road race on Sunday....last time I raced there was when I got a 64 minute 10 mile my lifetime personal best for that distance, let's hope that bodes well for tomorrow but I was 18 when I did that!!!.

My kit looks paltry compared to the Grand Union Canal Race  but all the same very important, so here it is ready to be boxed and loaded.

IAU Trail Ultra Championships

It is is 9th July 2011 and it is the IAU Trail Ultra Championships in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON RACE DAY