GUCR and a list of usual suspects

 

Having buried my head in the sand for far too long it is time to make the world know that I am race number 299 in the Grand Union Canal Run to commence on 2nd June 2012. The race pack is in the post winging its way to my door and looking at the names on the list and strangely I am looking forwars to seeing everyone of them at either the pub or at the start. Time to taper and taper well.

Mudtastic run

The email promised that it was going to be a wet and muddy run we were not to be disappointed. It seems that it has been raining non-stop for the past week and the Downs would be afloat with puddles and resultant mud and I couldn't wait to get out there.

I arrived at Duncan's house at 6.30am to find him waiting expectantly framed by his porch as would a Grenadier guard outside Buckingham Palace, jumping into the car we zoomed off to Green Street Green and noticed there were no pedestrians and very few cars on the road, we were two explorers alone in a world which was slumbering and trying to keep dry. Arriving at our destination we pulled on backpacks, trail shoes and hats to be met by blustering winds and near horizontal rain....Duncan and Jerry were in their element.

This was a planned 11 mile (18 km) run and I had a route in mind but a map in my bag in case we needed to review the route, boy was it a tough one as the mud was clawing with the puddles extending across the full width of the paths, the best way to traverse them was through them some being up and over our ankles. Rivlets of water poured off the paths making our feet tingle in the cold, mud splattering our clothing and legs.

Onto the Downs

We reached the highest section of the run, Knockholt church, in a reasonable time had a little break to get our legs together and then descended to the North Downs Way but found ourselves in a shoulder high field of Kale and as usual Duncan and I took an alternative route through it but along a tractor trail and by the end of it were absolutely drenched...brilliant.

We were now traversing the upper part of the Scarp and the weather came with a full force, the cloud base was down, the wind was up and it was driving hard buffeting us from the side. We slipped, skipped, laughed at the trail that unfolded, dodged trees and changed plans as we saw fit, this was an epic run.

We churned on finding an alternative route to take us off the roads as it was just too good to miss the mud but we were finding the weather, muddy conditions and terrain were paying their toll as we took the occasional walking break to recover and then continue on. My feet were cold now and stumped my ankle through one glade which was quite painful but numbed quickly as we took on the last section and back to the car with big grins on our faces.....the simplest of runs are by far the most fun

Serpentine

As the son of a Cornish  man I was often taken to Cornwall as a child to be seen clambering over the cliffs and coves of The Lizard getting rocks for my ever growing collection. The hobby was such that at 8 years old I had even bought myself a geology hammer with my saved up pocket money. On one of the holidays I disappeared for a little while to return triumphantly to worried family holding a fist-sized chunk of Serpentine rock. I was so proud of this piece of ubiquitous rock as I had climbed high up and out of sight of my family to get it and has followed me around for years much to the annoynace of various flat mates and partners.

Time to do something with it

I had another brainwave tonight as I have something I am equally proud of....my TP100 belt buckle. As I have no plans to ever wear it as a belt buckle there is only one other thing to do with it...mount it, on what? My lovely chunk of Cornish Serpentine...here is the prototype:

As always the ever supportive but Delightful Mrs S mentioned that it would look lovely in the downstairs toilet :-)

GUCR.....IS ON

Monkey feet and an overpacked backpack

I have made the decision today and it was like an epiphany "Why am I feeling so damn down...sod it, I am doing the Grand Union" and that is what I said to the Delicious Mrs S whose response was her ever supportive way.

"Whatever, put it in the diary and turn the TV up"

Although it has been in the diary for some months I have gone about my business this evening and have started to drop little bits of kit in the dining room to start the ball rolling. Nothing special, just my box and a few tins of caffeine drink and an old water bottle but it is a start and remains there as a gentle incentive.

Sunday's run

This proves to be a fun one as it is my primary club's annual internal 10km race which I don't generally take part in as I prefer my cross country run and escape to the countryside instead of traipsing the streets, however I will assist in timekeeping or marshaling duties when required.

My run will be with my good pal Bhundu who is a bare foot runner whom I tease about his "monkey feet" but still in awe of the way he pounds the streets unphased but the hard tarmac. I, on the other hand, will be running with a weighted back pack tomorrow, nothing too heavy but weighing about 4 kilos just to get the feel right for GUCR and to put a little bit of exertion into a 11 mile run which will be made all the more interesting with the promised rain, resulting mud and a few hills hitting my friend the North Downs Way for a very short time

Clutching at straws

The message from Liz on the running club's Facebook page read:

"... don't forget special training tonight at the Rec, 7.30pm start... bring some water, all levels welcome!..."

It transpires that Liz and a few other club members are taking a Coaching qualification and wanted volunteers to come down to be put through their paces, a win, win situation, they get the experience of coaching and we get a structured training session....I had promised to go!

What was my problem I hear you say Dear Reader, well I was just pooped. After donning my kit (I chose to wear my Skins for some reason) I traipsed out of the door, got 400 metres and started to walk....this did not bode well...I ran another 400 metres, legs like lead, I walked and so it went on.

I got to the woods to find that the path was just now one big mud bath...I walked then ran, side-stepping puddles and mud lakes finding the whole run took about 5 minutes longer than usual allowing me to get to the Rec, shoulders down and feeling miserable. It must have been obvious as the comment "He looks like a Bulldog chewing a bumble bee" passed my way and they were right.

The Session

WOW! These guys had done their homework, multi-coloured cones criss-crossed the field in a  multitude of patterns such that after a warm up around the field we were put through our paces, sprints, lunges, press-ups and slaloms with a long stretching routine at the end (stretching in Skins....not a good idea!). Great work guys, you will rock the assessment at the weekend.

The way home

Forget this bit, I didn't run, I staggered, plodded and fell into the armchair

TIME FOR A BREAK I FEAR

Putting it into perspective

Distance v Time

Let us look back on the past few years since I started the long game, I ran a 31 mile trail run in December 2008 and I was hooked, I wanted more and so the treadmill of events and training for them started, the never ending cycle of races, unnecessary races sometimes if you want the truth.

It came to a head recently when I realised that we were running along a stretch of road and I would say "Hey, I know this road, we ran along this on the XXXX race" or "This is a great drop, we ran this on the YYYY event" sounds great but when I was doing the XXXX  or YYYY event it cost me in the region of £10 to £20....when I was doing it in training it cost me nothing.

So what?

The truth is when I am doing it in training I am usually doing it with someone, no pressure, just running along and enjoying myself doing what I like....running. I don't need medals, in fact most of my medals and mementos are languishing around in various parts of the house in disarray ( apart from my TP100 belt buckle on the mantelpiece).

What now?

The first thing I have done is pull out of the Crawley 6 hour track run this weekend, I am simply not mentally prepared for it, I have a niggling muscle in my butt and I am asking for trouble. I was thinking of going for a PB for a marathon at the event but am happy with my recent Bungay time of 3:42. The Delightful Mrs S has also asked that I don't and for once I agree as I have been a a tad selfish of late in respect to running. So about an hour ago I pulled out to leave my weekend free and secretly I am releaved

GUCR?

I have a feeling this will be dropped and I will request a refund but this is the hardest call as I am extremely fit at the moment but feel that my dedication to the mileage is not up to scratch. Watch this space!

My fifth anniversary

1000 miles

I always call the day after the London marathon my anniversary as it was the inspiration I needed to get off my fat arse and loose some weight. I had been a heavy smoker for 20 years and have always enjoyed a glass of cider but gave up in 2006 but in doing so put on about 30 pounds in weight. The story goes that in April 2007 the Delightful Mrs S and myself went to watch her brother run the race and having completed it a family photograph was taken.....this was the turning point for it was the most horrific pictures I had seen of myself, overweight, sallow and tired.

The next day...

I was straight down to a sports shop, bought a pair of Nike Pegasus (I used to wear them when I was younger) did an internet search for local running clubs and the very next day joined and ran my first run of 3.6 miles in 40 minutes....I was pooped and Mrs S laughed as I stumbled through the door looking as grey as an elephant and sweating like a pig....but I was hooked.

A year later....

The club had arranged a 10km intra-club race and I was determined to get best of group and was exactly 1 year after I started and as I stepped from the start line 1,000 miles since I started having lost 20 pounds in weight. I had won my first club trophy, nothing special, just a recognition with what was a very pleasing 45:12 but for an overweight 43 year old made my day....I am still very proud of that mini trophy.

Nowadays, 10 km is just a warm up ;-) ( I joke here)

The rest is history

As my regular Dear Readers will know...the rest is history and if you need to know more then you have a few years worth of blog to read but from those heady days of running 3.6 miles to now where I have run 100 miles...it is just uncomprehensible, a life journey I thought I would never take having met some really amazing people along the way...thanks guys

The three faces of a run

One of those strange runs today that put me out of my comfort zone mainly because I was on a new section of the North Downs Way which later I realised I had run small distances on but not as a full run.

After meeting Gemma at Reigate and bidding our farewells to her partner Sam we set off for our 25-30 mile run at pace to then realise it was actually tough going. This was the first run since Tuesday last week basically as I didn't feel up to it but was hoping that today I would be rested both mentally and physically. Gemma and I were straight into the conversation and jabbering on about this and that which saw the first few miles fly by. We stepped out of some woodland to stop for a little while to enjoy a spectacular view across Surrey (note I wasn't in Kent today!) to take a nice picture where I felt great

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Indeed we were powering through the woods but stepped down from the pace noting that although it was cool, it was undulating terrain and this was a recce for Gemma to review the paths.

Conversation, as it usually does, moved to races and our various approaches to "The long one", how to deal with tiredness, other runners and a mix of subjects that floated in and out of our run as much as the scenery.

click to enlarge

I began to realise we were entering familiar ground as I started to enter paths I had either raced on or had crossed at some stage and was desperate to find the sign that denotes the 0 Meridian (which is in fact 100 metres too far east) and was very pleased to find it and get a picture of it with me standing by it.(I am amazed that I have obviously lost a little weight recently.)

We soon arrived to a horrible climb at Titsey Place but chose to push on to a view point to have a Smartie Cookie and a much needed drink to start the return journey...and this is when the wheel started to wobble and come off.

click to enlarge

I am not sure what went on, I think it was a mixture of general tiredness, sleeping and eating badly this week but most of all, dehydration. In the next picture, I am almost a broken man, you can tell by the body language which is sucken and low. I chose to kick on at a very much reduced pace  watching Gemma tippy toe around puddles and almost skip down the hills whilst I ploughed through them like an old cart horse.

Great lessons re-learnt today when I found my hands started to swell due to dehydration problems which was soon remedied when I drank a bottle of cola back at the car.

In all, a great 25 mile run out with Gemma that allowed me to get a few things off my chest as we ran along but it has made me think about future "Long" races which I may have to drop out of as I am just not able to recover so quickly now.

Smarties have the answer

With the plan to run 30 miles on Sunday I had a quick scout around the supermarket this evening for something tasty for a quick and easy carb load on the run. Saturday nights are always good for a bargain and my eye was caught by a perfect solution to my problem.......

Smarties Cookies

4 x Smarties Cookies for the princely sum of 50 pence....doing my sums, that is 1 for Gemma and 3 for me :-)

There is something ssooooo wrong about eating these but in fact they have everything an ultrarunner needs, fat, sugar and Smarties

When East Meets West

What a week! I have found it quite difficult to get out to run this week for various reasons and for a change I have put the family first over running as my youngest had done extremely well in her Maths exam and needed to celebrate and big daughter had her 18th birthday which definitely needed to be celebrated.

The Long Run

This is the run that may not have happened; Big plans had been made with a wonderful running chum, Gemma, whom I met and ran with at the Surrey Tops race last September. The plan comprised me driving to junction 8 of the M25, parking up in a cafe car park where I would meet Gemma, run 15 miles East along the North Downs Way turn around and go back to the car where her other half would take her home.

Then it all went wrong, big daughter needed a lift to the pub and to celebrate her BIG birthday and on getting into the car found it failed to start... gggrrrrrr. I now had a daughter in panic that her beer was getting cold and me miserable that I wouldn't get my cherished run in with Gemma.

A new plan bears fruit

I made frantic text to Gemma and ideas were thrown around about trains but it was impossible because of the times, in desperation (?) Gemma called me, looking back at the chat we both sounded miserable until we had a brainwave, why don't I run from home join the North Downs Way to go West, she run East to meet somewhere at around 15 miles into her run, she turns around and we run to her starting point and I get the train home. We both agreed that it sounded like a very fun plan. I was even allowed to be extremely geeky and tell her that if we timed it right we would be able to meet at the point where the North Downs Way meets the Vanguard Way, the zero meridian. I thought it quite poignant because if we turn North at that point we would get to the start of the Virgin London Marathon....both finished our telephone sounding quite pleased with our new plans.

Then it changed again!

In the middle of writing this blog entry the RAC man arrived, replaced the battery and the car now works fine. Back to the original plan but I still want to get to the 0 Meridian and Gemma and I will have 15 miles more of chatter to fill...brilliant.

The Lion

If you're attacked by a Lion
Find fresh underpants to try on
Lay on the ground quite still
Pretend you are very ill
Keep like that day after day
Perhaps the lion will go away 

Spike Milligan

Very few race photos...

sum it up.

Here I am digging in at 11 miles... not normally seen but I am often described as "In the Zone" when I have this look. 

Steely eyed, determined, in the groove

Bungay Black Dog Marathon - Race Report

The day started with a gentle knock at the door and in entered Rob who watched me grab my last bits of kit and both decamp to his car for the 2 hour drive to Bungay. I seemed to have shaken off my normal morning milaise and we had a wonderful chatty time catching up on old and new stories.

There was no messing about today as we did not have a race number so priority went to getting to Race HQ, fill in a form, hand over cash and get kit on. As we walked back to the car we spotted that the burger bar was been prepared and promised outselves a horrendous creation called a Darrell Burger comprising bacon, burger, mushrooms and onions in a bun!

The Race Start

You can tell by the top picture that the clouds looked ominous in the background but sunny to the front, this was a day of many weathers. At 10.20am we were called to the start but as we did the heavens opened and we were pelted by pea-sized hailstones which saw Rob and my "Ultra Senses" come to the fore, he getting friendly with a lovely lady and her over-sized umbrella and I racing over to a portaloo. Portaloos I discovered are the perfect wind and weatherproof alternative but stink!

After the usual H&S talk and benality we were pushed to the line and Rob turned to me to say " I feel a real pressure doing a road marathon that we have to do well" and so silently we mutually agreed that we were going to pull out all the stops, Rob on a 100km and I on an 84 km week it wasn't going to be easy.

The hooter sounded

We were off and I was straight into pace but a little too fast at 7:27, 7:46 and 7:52 for the first 3 miles so I settled in and found that it was only until the tenth mile I went into 8:XX min/miles. Rob was always in sight, if in the distance, and I had decided that he is just that much better than I so was happy for him to take off. This was a two lap race and the first half of the lap was a bit undulating and at one stage saw Rob pull up and sort out a shoe problem to than catch up to say "Don't worry this is the only hill" I was quite pleased to hear this as he scooted off....lying sod as there were another 3 of equal size that ate away at the calfs. 

My pacing continued, I was feeling good, all pain within threshold levels and was informed by another runner that "we were now on the flat section" and I was happy to keep at a very solid comfortable pace and amazed to step through the halfway stage in 1:43:11....what had got into me sub 8's on a marathon and I was on for a personal best.

Even with a one minute per mile drop in pace I was up for a PB so I decided to keep a constant pace but drop the pace on the hills, I only had 3 carb gels and was being supplied just water at the aid stations so wanted to run a tight race from now, new plans that gels were to be taken at a drink station nearest 18, 21 and 23 miles.

I was having a laugh now in the usual Jezza way, I was calling to the sporadic crowds to cheer me, flirting with the ladies at the drink stations all of this providing me much needed energy but then I was hit by the last 4 miles, a mindless, boring section that just needed to be stomped out.

"C'mon Fat Boy"

It was 25 miles, I hurt and I realised I had 13 minutes to get a PB and I was going to get it if I stayed at the pace I was at to see a familiar figure ahead in a red and orange top....it was Rob....time to hunt him down and as I approached I shouted "C'mon Fat Boy" to whizz past [read as shuffle in a determined way] to pass shining the cheesiest grin....no way was Rob going to beat me so energy renewed I pounded off to overtake 3 people and jump across the line to see to my utter amazement that I had pulled off a PB by about 2 minutes...chuffed is not the word

Time for one of these:

A Question I am often asked.

I am often asked "Are you always  marathon-ready Jerry?" and I often err on the side of caution and say "Give me a few days warning...yes"

There has been a big change in plans this weekend as I was planning to do a trail run on the North Downs Way from Box Hill with Gemma but she has a pulled calf so me mutually agreed to hold off the run until it has cleared up...so I have been found wanting dreading the thought of yet another Long trail run by myself......until..........

The text arrives

I was just sitting down with a well deserved cuppa after mowing the grass in the lower orchard whena  text sounded on my phone at 2.11pm stating:

"Ok jezza a long shot here. Are you busy Sunday? Fancy running the bungay black dog" [sic]

So with a quick phone call to Rob who was the text sender with assurance that I would check with the Delightful Mrs S and get back to him as soon as possible.

We met Mrs S in the shops near to where she works and after she interrogated me on whether I had mowed the lawn in the lower orchard and with me assuring her I had and had even cut the edges she agreed to my escape.

So there we have it, I have agreed to run a marathon with 20 hours and 19 minutes warning at the Bungay Black Dog Running Club......looks a good race too

Nice little treat

There is something special about running clubs and clubs in general such that outside we may come from different walks of life or social backgrounds but the memberships is a grounding where we do have a meeting of minds and a joined experience. I have often discussed my amazement that I have run with a person for months knowing very little about them but the day I see him/her in a business suit on the train they are a different person who I may not necessarily want to talk to.

Take Tuesday for example, I was hanging around at the meeting point, talking the usual stuff of upcoming events, training, injuries and the like; A lady runner approached me and out of the blue said "I have been meaning to give these to you for months Jerry as they have been in my bag....enjoy" to which she handed eight satchets of High 5 Zeros in various flavours worth about £5.00....then disappeared into the pack.

Chuffed is not the word...bloody marvellous is, as I will be taking a few with me on Saturday, decadent I know, but tasty nonetheless :-)

An unusual training run

The weekend proves to be the chance for a great training run of 5,530 ft (1680 m) of ascent over 34 miles (55 km)

Starting here

Turning here

 

and finishing here 

Yes, indeed another early start but this time I have to take an early train to the start and then run with the option of turning around at the halfway mark or just going home. More news during the course of the week about plans but so far I am thinking about packed lunches.

Sleepy Head

"...and as I stepped up onto the first place podium and ducked down to have the gold medal placed around my neck I felt a hard CLUMP to the side of my head..."

Falling out of my deep sleep I heard the Delicate Mrs S say "OI, are you supposed to be running?" rubbing my head from her thump I jumped from my bed to look out of the window to see Micheal standing in the driveway looking forlornly up at my window. Running downstairs I went out in my pyjamas to apologise and then to get my kit on. I glugged a luke warm coffee to then jump into his car for a short drive to the start of our run.

That Dear Reader was why in a matter of 15 minutes I was dreaming of a gold medal and now toeing the line in the cold and wet. Michael has been suffering from some strange ear/nose/throat problem for about 6 months and today was his second run promised to be 2-3 miles which was finally 3.8 miles (he chose to take a detour, not me)

Time flew by such that we had to continue our conversation over tea and toast back at chez nous.

Well done Michael, we will soon have you back doing ultras..........I am now going off to see if I can claim that gold medal back in dreamland

Easter + Run = Fun

Another great outing with the HEROS (High Elms Run On Sundays) which always guarantee not to disappoint and this year it was like any other, great people making an enjoyable run.

This particular run is an important run in the event calendar for anyone about to undergo their Spring marathon taking the participants on a 21 mile run up to the roads running parallel to the North Downs Way at Knockholt and then back home via Biggin Hill. It is also unusual as the HEROS move their meeting point to The Buff pub, which happens to be the meeting point of the Orpington Road Runners. Being amorphous group it is not always easy to organise these events as a lot of the word is via mouth on the trail but Facebook did a great job this year extending the conversation, such that I decided to take 2 litres of water and some plastic cups to Badgers Mount hiding it in a bush to later find someone else had taken 5 litres with plastic cups. We therefore had 7 litres between about 15 of us at mile 5!

A run of two halfs

The group strung out quite quickly, it was not a race but everyone had set goals in the form of distance and time, I being one of them as I wanted to get back to my roast lamb and potato lunch with the family so just after 7 miles a few of us jumped into cars, whilst I ducked down a side path by St Katherine's Church, Knockholt to go cross country and trail with Peter, Roy and another gent at some blistering pace, ankles twisting and  feet tripping. I was glad to have Peter there as he knows the paths like the back of his hand and I finally learnt the "proper" route [read as most direct] to the Buff pub a very useful 12 miles in the bag. It appears the others got back happy and uninjured from the longer run although there are reports one took the bus from mile 16 onwards!

Is it just my mindset?

Whilst out and around in Biggin Hill I saw this piece of graffiti on a kissing gate. I am not sure what it refers to but it seems quite fitting that it is on one of my favourite paths that can get me to the North Downs.

Kit Wash

I went for a lovely trail run by myself today along some of my well trodden paths and was surprised that there was nobody around, just me. It was only about 10 miles in distance with a short break at the cat sanctuary where I had the opportunity to see Elmer from a distance but I soon realised that there was nobody at home so chose to retrace my steps.

The weather was threatening rain so I put on my OMM smock at about mile 2 when I realised it really smelt even though it does get a good rinse in the rain, it was high time it got a rinse off when I got home. I forget that this top gets a good battering at times and has been through rivers, over muddy trails and travelled many a mile on my back....and it smells.

On my return I ran a sink full of warm water and dropped it in to soak leaving it for an hour, the resulting water was a horrible yellow/brown colour and I rinsed it off in the shower where it drip-dried. I can safely say that it smells a little better but I must remember to rinse it out more often....next battle is my backpack which STINKS, I think I will leave that for another day, I'm not that brave.