Mud Run and Wildlife Parkrun

I've taken Scouts to the mud run a few times but I don't usually get to participate - usually too busy watching them.  This time there were enough leaders & helpers to be able to bring up the rear and have a go - got to make sure we don't leave them to drown in the muddy puddles.  As it had been quite a wet week and it was raining at the time there were plenty of muddy puddles and quite a few small muddy lakes too.  

The first tunnel wasn't too difficult, apart from the stench of decaying vegetation but any idea that you might not get muddy beyond the ankles was gone in the first second.  The trenches were great fun, muddy water that reached beyond the comfort zone and the pond reached right to the shoulders. Odd that the water and mud felt comfortably warm despite the rain and the evening chill.

This is after a swim in the pond!

Saturday was a wildlife themed parkrun and all runners were encouraged to wear a suitable fancy dress.  I'd seen some easy home made spider costumes so I thought why not.  A black t-shirt (worn inside out so the logos didn't show), black running tights, black running socks stuffed with bubble wrap, and a black hat with eight eyes sewn on and voila! one running spider.  Running in the costume was a little warm so I kept the pace nice and easy (though each lap was still 10 seconds faster than the previous one so good marathon pacing practice - only 23 miles to go) finishing 3 minutes outside my PB but who cares.  

As I drove out the site after the post run tea and chat two women who I'd been chatting to waved furiously and yelled at me to stop.  It seems I'd won first prize for the best costume!  Needless to say I had to put my costume back on and pose for a photo.

Running spider

And with that I've reached Wick and 800 miles running for the year.  Only 16 miles to John O'Groats then heading back south again.

Week 12 - March goes out like a lamb?

It's really felt like spring might be very close this week.  Warm sunshine, light winds and everything coming into leaf.  So a shock to the system today to be back to temperatures in single figures (and feeling not that far off zero) and windy conditions.

Tuesday's run was an easy five miles with the average pace smack in the middle of my current target range and each mile evenly paced.  Thursday was too nice an evening for running on the roads so instead of going straight out from work I headed home to pick up my trail shoes.  Despite the slower overall pace the uneven surface and steeper gradients put it firmly in the steady to tempo pace effort category for just over 7 miles.

Holly Walk in evening sunshine

Saturday's mileage has really ramped up at this stage in the training cycle.  The day started with a steady 3 miles at Parkrun.  All the fast runners must have been away this week as I finished 30 places higher than last week despite running 6 seconds a mile slower.  Pleased with my pacing on that one as each lap got progressively faster.  This was followed up by a hilly 7 miles at easy pace.

Sunday's long run was 16 miles this week.  Previous 16 mile runs in this cycle have been a real slog with rain, hail and high winds.  So although it was colder and windier today than earlier in the week it was still good conditions for running.  I've been practicing drinking a little every mile in preparation for the marathon in a few weeks time as I don't like chugging down lots of water when you get to the water stations.  I do need to stock up on gels or something similar - going to try experimenting with some Tailwind on the next few longer runs as I find gels hard to stomach in the later stages of a long run or race and cans of coke are hard to carry for 15+ miles.

Didn't do too badly on the strength training this week managing 3 out of 4 of the planned sessions.  Missed Saturday's due to need to let people into the Scout Hut for a coffee afternoon, bake and deliver a cake for an event at church, walk Marley and then finally lock up the hut again.

Stats for the week:

Miles:  38.86
Elevation gained: 716 metres
LeJog: 319.34 miles (half way between Shrewsbury and Tarporley)

Week 10 - More weather disruption and too much to do

As we approach the peak weeks in the training plan for the Stratford Marathon the volume of running goes up quite a bit.  And that has coincided with a week of pretty windy weather and a hectic schedule.  As always the strength training has been sacrificed and some of the runs cut a bit short on what was intended.

The plan this week was for a total mileage of around 37 miles - 4 miles easy on Tuesday (😀 - that went to plan), then 7 miles tempo on Thursday (😐 - only time for 4 miles, but did run it at interval pace rather than tempo pace).  Saturday morning was very windy with gusts of 53 mph.  And because of that Parkrun was cancelled because of the danger of branches coming off trees 😥.  The plan said 8 miles easy on Saturday which is possible if you do parkrun then one of the local loops which is about 5 miles but there isn't a convenient  mile loop.  I spent most of the day watching the weather forecast and waiting for the wind to drop which it did for a couple of hours so managed to get out for a bit.  

Sunday's plan was 18 miles but again windy, cold and hailstones thrown in 😧.  By the time the watch said 16 miles I'd had enough of being blown around so headed home instead of repeating a two mile loop.  Standing under the hot shower after being out was lovely.

Strength training though was well below what was planned with several sessions missed 😖 because of extra Scout meetings in the evenings.

This week's stats:

Miles: 30.78
Elevation gained: 446m
LeJog: 254.8 (just passed Hereford)

Week 8 - not going to plan

Week 8 turned out to be an even lower mileage than last week entirely due to going to Scout Camp for the weekend.

I'd swapped a few sessions around to move the long run to Friday and a short run to Sunday with Saturday as a rest day.  Up to Thursday it was all going to plan with the exception of missing one strength workout due to packing all the camp gear on Thursday evening.  Then it all went downhill.

A look in the fridge on Friday morning said that rather than going running I needed to go food shopping.  Add in trip to vets to collect wormer and the next thing you know it's 1200 and I need to leave at 1330 for camp.  

I had thought I might get a short run in on Sunday afternoon but by the time I got back, unloaded the kit and put it away and got home it was already five o'clock.  A combination of needing to get out to church and lack of sleep over the weekend put paid to good intentions.

This weeks figures:

Mileage: 14.2 miles

Elevation gained: 120m

LeJog: approaching the Avon Bridge

Swimming, Run for Rich and 12 hour challenge hike

In a moment of enthusiasm, and encouraged by a colleague who does triathlons, I signed up for some swimming coaching.  10 weeks to be precise.  The first session was yesterday evening.

Fortunately I'm not the only "beginner".  Don't take that wrong everyone there is a competent swimmer, beginner just means you've not had any formal coaching on technique since you did your 200m badge aged 10.   The session was good with plenty of variation on the drills and individual input from the coaches.  It's the first time I've swum with fins since the dreaded rigid plastic things I had aged 10.  It's a bit weird at first and the fins rub a bit on the top of the foot but it was ok.  

Even weirder is swimming on the surface while using a snorkel.  Despite having a cold all week and not being able to breathe through my nose as soon as I tried using the snorkel I had lots of water up my nose!  A nose clip definitely helps.  

I went to my first park run of the year in Cheltenham today to remember Rich who died unexpectedly last week aged just 33.  Rich was a keen ultra-runner, member of the core park run team at Cheltenham and all round good guy.  I ran the 9-2-5 event with him last summer - or to be precise we were both running in the same place at the same time but he'd lap me every two or three laps.  Despite the heat he didn't slow down all day, not even when he was eating his lunch.  I spoke to him just a few days before he died.  Rich was always happier talking about your goals than his achievements.  He could run a marathon in just over 3 hours yet he'd rather talk about how your last 3 mile training run went than his achievements.  

There was a record turnout at Cheltenham Parkrun with 723 runners, many wearing peaked caps - I'd never seen Rich without a cap so it was a good tribute.  There were some lovely tributes read and a minutes applause for Rich.  Run in Peace, Rich.

Today was the Scouts 12 hour challenge hike, which I joined at lunchtime once I'd got back from Cheltenham.  Compared to the last time we did this they set a cracking pace only slowing down in the last hour or so.  They walked from Chipping Campden to Sudeley Castle - a total of 19.1 miles and 599m of ascent.  So well done to Aidan, Amelia, Archie, Ben, Cameron, Egan, Emilia, Isaac, Issy, Izzie, Lily, Luke, Sarah, Thomas, Tom, Toby, Will, William as well as Leaders Kerry, Sharon and Darren, and parents Ben and James.  And thanks to David for being the support vehicle driver and keeping us supplied with drinks and goodies.

Life can get in the way

Just occasionally the rest of life gets in the way of running.  This week I've had:

Monday - Scouts
Tuesday - Leaders meeting
Wednesday - Church Night
Thursday - full day work party on the Scout Hut
Friday - hubby had a hospital appointment
Saturday - Standing Strong event in Birmingham

Today I managed to squeeze in a 6 mile run between the end of church this morning and the start of a special Thanksgiving Service this evening.

A fantastic week with lots achieved but not a lot of space for running.

Heartbeat

It's now eight days since I finished my ultra marathon challenge.  Amongst all the things I noticed on finishing was how high my resting heart rate was at 69 beats a minute (it's usually in the low 50's).  Clearly a sign of the stress I'd put my body under in running 140 miles over four days. 

The good news is that gradually over the week my resting heart rate has been dropping, 64 beats a minute on Friday, 59 yesterday and today 56.  Another day or two and it should be back to normal showing that I've pretty much recovered from the event.  Once that happens, and assuming the residual soreness has gone as well, I can get back to running again.

The even better news is that as of today my run has raised £1142 towards next year's Scouts trip to KISC.  So a massive thank you to everyone who's sponsored me and there's still time to drop by our Just Giving page and make a donation.

Planning ahead

This time last week were were at the end of day 1 of the Westminster to Cheltenham run.  Today we've been discussing "Rachel's Revenge".  If you've followed the story of the run you'll remember Rachel had to drop out after day 2 as she'd gone down with a stomach bug.  Day 3 was the day she was really looking forward to, long and hilly - her favourite running conditions.  

So we need to get back to Reading and run the route to Swindon with her.  Of course the logistics are not so easy.  We will need to get overnight bags and runners to Reading, then transport the bags to Swindon along with providing support to the runners along the route.  And the days are getting shorter along with the weather deteriorating.  The Ridgeway is pretty exposed in the winter and we will be running in the dark for longer.  We will either have to go in the next couple of weeks or delay to the spring.

It will all depend on how quickly we can recover.

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me - £937 raised so far.  It's not too late to drop by our Just Giving page and help send 36 Scouts and Explorer Scouts on an international adventure next year

Day 4 - Swindon to Cheltenham

Another early start that I almost missed.  I'd silenced the notifications on my phone so I didn't get beeps in the middle of the night when junk e-mails arrived.  What I hadn't realised is that also silences the alarm!  The flashing of the screen did wake me but about 10 minutes late.  

The blister that developed yesterday was extremely painful as it's quite deep - in fact it woke me in the night when I rolled over and it pressed against the mattress.  So padding that was something that had to be done before I set off.  Which ate (pun intended) into my time for breakfast.  In fact Scott and I both left with breakfast in our hands sourced from Neil's wonderful supplies as the hotel didn't start serving until an hour after we wanted to be off.


Scott was really suffering from the beginning.  Overnight his left shin had swollen to double its normal size and was bright red - a worrying development as it can be an indicator of a serious problem.  We hobbled out the door at 0640 as Jez took a picture for the twitter feed.

Leaving Swindon - only just daylight

Jez had warned us that there were a couple of wet fields to cross - he wasn't kidding.  Within 15 minutes of leaving our feet were soaked.  We quickly fell behind schedule as it wasn't possible to run in the mud and Scott was struggling to run even on solid ground.  He also had a problem with the insoles of his trainers moving around and sliding out of position.

Within a few miles we were back on the Thames Path, though here the Thames looks very different from when we'd last seen it.

River Thames near Cricklade

It quickly became apparent that we were in serious calorie deficit from yesterday and suffering from lack of recovery time.  Even though the day was warming up we were both still cold and wearing hats, gloves and windproof jackets.  That was to get worse during the day with both of us suffering the dreaded "bonk" at around the 20 mile mark, even though we'd refuelled whenever we'd met Neil.  

Wild cyclamen growing along the path

With all the different problems we were barely covering 3 miles an hour at times.  That wasn't good when we had a team of people waiting to greet us at the finish who still wanted to get home in time for tea.

Jez caught us up around lunchtime, shortly before we met up with Neil.  That didn't stop us diving into Rendcombe post office for sustenance.  

Meeting Neil came just in time for me as I now had wet feet for over 6 hours.  When I came to change my socks and trainers the sole of my right foot was just beginning to turn white.  Another hour and I'd have been in serious trouble.

Jez kept us moving during the afternoon counting down the miles until we would meet the team rather than miles to the finish - good psychology there.  It seemed like a long time but suddenly we popped out onto the road and there they were a hundred yards away.  There were high fives and hugs as they took us under their wing to help us over the final three miles.  

At the supporters meeting point

We'd done it! We had run, walked, shuffled and (in Scott's case) limped all the way from London to Cheltenham.

Made it - Jez, Neil, Scott and I at the finish

Today's reasons to be cheerful:

- first female finisher of the Westminster to Cheltenham run
- oldest finisher of the Westminster to Cheltenham run 


Today's stats:

Distance: 31 miles (141 miles from Westminster)
Elevation gained:701 metres



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19/09/17 - edited to add additional photos

Day 3 - Reading to Swindon

Sadly Rachel hadn't recovered overnight and was unable to continue  today.  A huge shame as I know she was looking forward to clocking up a record distance in one day.  

The hotel didn't start serving breakfast until 0700 so we left without our morning coffee.  Fortunately I'd come prepared and brought several tins of rice pudding with me which made an acceptable alternative to porridge.  I don't think you see the best of any city in the early hours and I was glad that I had Scott running with me as we made our way from the hotel back to the Thames Path.  

We walked for about 40 minutes trying to wake up our legs and get breakfast to settle in our stomachs.  On days 1 & 2 we had been running for 25 minutes and walking for 5 minutes but that felt too much for today so we cut the runs down to 15 minutes.  It was all going well on the Thames Path as far as Pangbourne when the route suddenly left the Thames and headed over a significant hill.  From that point on we were running the level sections and downhills while walking the uphills.

We knew there was a coffee shop in Streatley but sadly we arrived before it opened.  We pressed on up the hill towards the Ridgeway and found this elephant sculpture in a garden

It wasn't long after that to our first rendezvous with Neil at the 14 mile point.  It was cold and misty by this point so we both picked up more clothes before heading up onto the Ridgeway itself.

At least the Ridgeway was well signposted.  Once we left it it was detailed navigation using the map all the way to Swindon where we arrived 12 hours 56 minutes after leaving Reading.

The day then seemed to be one long slog up hill and down - too slippy to run in many places.  Neil met us twice more on the Ridgeway then a final time about 8 miles before our destination.  He really is the unsung hero of this weekend, without him we wouldn't have got this far.  

Reasons to be cheerful:

Longest distance covered in one day
Longest distance covered in one week
Fresh dry socks after 30 miles - bliss

Reasons to worry:

My knees are very sore
I have a large blister on my left foot - where my foot was pinched between my trainer insole and the side of the shoe.  Hopefully a change of shoes tomorrow will help

Today's stats:

Distance: 47 miles. (110.4 miles from Westminster)
Elevation gained: 809 metres

Day 2 - Slough to Reading

Not such an early start today although we hit the trail at 0800

Neil (our support crew), Rachel, Scott and I at Slough

The route took us down through Eton and past the famous school

Eton

From there we joined our old friend the Thames Path again.  Pleasant running by the river, it wasn't long until we reached Maidenhead.

We met Neil just past Maidenhead at about the 11 mile mark.  He'd brought us a veritable smorgasbord of goodies which went down very well at this point

Refuelled we pressed on along the Thames Path.  It was at this point we came up with the idea of a where's the nearest loo app.  Obviously the idea for this was spurred by the need of one of the team to answer a call of nature and not a loo in sight.

Diversion around a building site

It was just after the diversion that Rachel started to feel poorly so we stopped by the river for 20 minutes while she ate some food, then carried on walking steadily - any progress being better than no progress - and hoping that she would soon recover.

2 hours later, and with us still walking, we were caught up by Jez who is a much faster runner and had taken the luxury of catching up on a couple of You Tube videos before leaving Slough

River Thames

Another hour later and we found these characters - I think we all felt a bit like they looked

Shortly after this we met Neil for the second time just north of Henley on Thames and re-stocked on water and boiled potatoes for the last 10 miles into Reading.  Rachel decided to keep on walking while Jez, Scott and I ran on ahead.

It's been a challenging day as we've been on our feet for 9 hours.  Time now for more food and another early night.  Tomorrow is the longest day at 47 miles and I don't think any of us are feeling that confident about it.

Today's stats: Total Distance:  35 miles. (63.4 miles from Westminster)
Total ascent:  165 metres 

19/09/17 - edited to correct image orientations

Day 1 - Westminster to Slough

On a normal day there's only one 4.45 in the day and it doesn't have a.m. after it!.  But today isn't a normal day.  Out of the house at 0530 - boy was it nippy around the knees at that time - and on the bus at 0630.  

We arrived in London just after 0930 the bus having crawled the last 10 miles, honestly we could have run faster.  Actually that's where this challenge started.  A couple of people on the bus from London to Cheltenham saying the could run faster than the bus out of London.  

A team photo in front of the Houses of Parliament and we were on our way.  

The W2C2 Team - Jez, Rachel, Scott and I along with Euan who joined us for today.  The rest of the team are raising funds for the mental health charity, MIND

By this time the weather had warmed up and it was pleasant running alongside the Thames in the sunshine, though the miles of tarmac and concrete paving were hard on the feet.

Pagoda at the Peace Park (sorry about the picture quality, taken on my phone)

Boat trip?  Maybe not today

Tweeting a progress report just before we left the Thames

Shortly before the half way point we met a couple of walkers heading into London.  We exchanged greetings and they asked us how far we were running.  Their reaction on being told 138 miles was "oh my giddy aunt, that's a long way"*

At the half way point we left the Thames and joined the Grand Union Canal.  At this point my phone decided it had had enough of Racedrone and unknown to me had shut it down, leaving it looking like I had been abandoned at Richmond.

Locks on the Grand Union Canal, the only point on the route where there is a noticeable ascent

It was at this point that the weather started to cloud over a little but it was still warm and dry.  It was only as we approached the turn onto the Slough branch that it started to rain.  

About 3 miles out of Slough we were met by Neil our support crew who had run out to meet us.  Not only that he'd checked us all into our hotel rooms first and carried our bags up to our rooms.  Now that's above and beyond what you expect from your support crew.

So I've now been revived by a hot shower and some food - just the start of replacing the estimated 3800 calories I've used today.  We're meeting shortly for dinner then it will be an early night in preparation for tomorrow's run.  


Total Distance:  28.44 miles
Elevation gained:  256 metres

*actually their reaction was to come out with an expletive that definitely isn't appropriate for a family friendly blog

10, 9, 8, 7, 6 ...

When we started planning this run there were 10 people interested in taking part.  Gradually that number has dwindled.  Clashes with other events, injuries in training, a nasty kidney stone needing surgery and a case of Lyme Disease (picked up on an ultra event in Canada) have all conspired to reduce the number down to just four*. 

Assuming none of us over-sleeps tomorrow Jez, Rachel, Scott and I will be on the 0630 bus to London.  Getting there will take about 3 hours.  Getting back, well I’m estimating at least 35 hours of running will be needed, possibly more as it’s likely we will all slow down as the event goes on and tiredness takes it toll.  It’s a month’s worth of running crammed into just four days. 

Thinking about too much it isn’t a good idea.  It would be to easy to freak out and panic.  So I keep telling myself it’s not a 138 mile run.  I’m just going to run a mile 138 times.  All I have to do to get to the end is keep running the next mile. 

Over the next four days we’ll be posting updates on twitter (@w2cultra) throughout the day so follow us there as well as catching up with the detail here in the evening.

* Given that I’ve spent the day at work sat next to someone who’s been shivering, coughing, sneezing and generally looking like they are going down with flu that number could go lower still.  The joys of a sick absence policy that encourages people to come into work when they are unwell and spread it round everyone.

Time to Pack

I need to get my bag to Neil our support driver tomorrow so this evening was all about packing.  I seem to be taking a lot of stuff.  Partly that's because I'm trying to guess what the weather will be like in five days time.  Will it be t-shirt and shorts or long sleeve top and running tights or even full waterproofs?  It's so much simpler when you just look outside, get changed and go for a run.

And the terrain varies from tarmac to muddy fields necessitating taking a number of pairs of trainers.  

Road shoes, hybrid shoes, trail shoes plus a pair to wear in the evenings - though 7 pairs might be excessive!

The other thing is I simply don't know what I'm going to want to eat while running, what appeals one day can fail to appeal the next.  So I've packed a selection of food which seems to take up half my bag:- chocolate biscuits, syrup biscuits (which I caught the cat trying to steal), Jaffa cakes, Kendal mint cake, dried fruit, pancakes, waffles and peanut butter, rice pudding, yoghurt coated bars, fruit and nut bars, cashew nuts, fruit juice.  That's in addition to all the cake, potatoes, crisps and coke that Neil has kindly stocked up on for us.

Then there's things like all the chargers and cables for mobile phone, torch, running watch which seem to need a bag of their own.  

No running today: resting now until Friday.


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