Just finnished reading this fantastic book about fell running by Richard askwith. Fell running is an area I haven't really got into much in the past, although I have done a fair amount of fell walking. My fell running career so far has consisted of running the stanhope fell race for the last 2 years (around 6 miles), but it's something I have enjoyed and want to do more of and I have entered the Chevy chase this year as a first step.
The book is partly a history of fell running including biographies of giants such as joss naylor, billy bland and Kenny Stuart and partly a story of the authors battle and final success on his 4th attempt to achieve arguably one of the toughest endurance events in the world - the bob graham round.
This isn't an organized event, but rather an invidually arranged traverse of 42 of the highest peaks in the lake district over a distance of 72 miles which has to be achieved in 24 hours.
One thing I have learnt from the book and from my own experiences in fell running is that is is a very different beast to any other type of running. Although the uphill sections are undoubtably tough I think that the key to succesfull fell running is the ability to run quickly downhill, frequently over unstable terrain such as peat bog, ankle snapping grassy tufts and rocky ground.
Basically there are 2 options:
1. Cautious style - hold back on the descent to reduce the risk of falling arse over tit or snapping your ankles in half.
2. Kamikaze style - a headlong descent into the abyss with no regard to personal safety as fast as is physically possible (which according to some stories in the book led to some almost 3 minute miles being achieved)
The most successful fell runners undoubtably adopt the 2nd approach despite the risk of serious injury and this is also one of the appealing aspects of the sport.
The bob graham round is something that has been in the back of my mind for around a year now and is definitely one of my longer term goals. Definitely not this year, prob not next but hopefully before I'm 40.
I was massively inspired by Some of the stories in the book such as the fastest traverse (billy bland 13 hours 53 mins), most number of peaks in 24 hours (77 mark hartnell) and for me the most impressive joss naylor 70 peaks in 21 hours covering over 50 miles and 25,000 feet of ascent. At the age of 70.
I love running and will always continue do so as long as I am physically capable, and stories such as those described in this book give me so much encouragement of what the human body is capable of achieving, and also for how long it can continue to do so.
A cracking read and highly recommended.
Sunday 26 February 2012
Saturday 18 February 2012
Gateshead park run
First Gateshead park run today, and my second after Newcastle a few weeks back.
Ran down to the start as my warm up, although given the wind and rain on the way down I can't say I was that warm by the time I got there.
Was good to see Tom Williams make the effort to come down to the inaugural event and he gave a few words of encouragement before the start which was good to hear.
I was at the start of the field and when the gun went off was surprised to find myself in the lead for the first hundred meters or so. I'm still relatively inexperienced in racing and am not used to being in this position, so was expecting to be overtaken by a good few people at least.
This did happen as one lad ran past and I decided to try and hang in behind him and see how things panned out.
After the first lap of the top field I couldn't quite hang on and found myself drifting off the lead a touch, but on the positive side a few glances back revealed that there didn't appear to be anyone challenging me from behind.
After another lap round the lake I hadn't gained any ground on the lead, but I hadn't lost any more either, and had plenty encouraging shouts from the marshalls telling me that the lead was catchable and urging me to push on. A good few of them were from fellow saltwell harriers, despite me not really knowing any of them yet which I really appreciated and spurred me on.
In the end I just didn't have enough in me to push for the win, but was still well chuffed to get second place 23 seconds behind the lead with a parkrun and 5k pb of 18.49.
In reflection I wondered if I could have pushed harder for the win but I have concluded that once I let him build such a lead I was never going to regain that ground. In future races if I am going to try for the win I need to stay closer to the lead and find the strength to push on when the time comes.
Since I've decided to race more often this year I'm learning so much already and have another goal to for this year now:
8: win a parkrun
Ran down to the start as my warm up, although given the wind and rain on the way down I can't say I was that warm by the time I got there.
Was good to see Tom Williams make the effort to come down to the inaugural event and he gave a few words of encouragement before the start which was good to hear.
I was at the start of the field and when the gun went off was surprised to find myself in the lead for the first hundred meters or so. I'm still relatively inexperienced in racing and am not used to being in this position, so was expecting to be overtaken by a good few people at least.
This did happen as one lad ran past and I decided to try and hang in behind him and see how things panned out.
After the first lap of the top field I couldn't quite hang on and found myself drifting off the lead a touch, but on the positive side a few glances back revealed that there didn't appear to be anyone challenging me from behind.
After another lap round the lake I hadn't gained any ground on the lead, but I hadn't lost any more either, and had plenty encouraging shouts from the marshalls telling me that the lead was catchable and urging me to push on. A good few of them were from fellow saltwell harriers, despite me not really knowing any of them yet which I really appreciated and spurred me on.
In the end I just didn't have enough in me to push for the win, but was still well chuffed to get second place 23 seconds behind the lead with a parkrun and 5k pb of 18.49.
In reflection I wondered if I could have pushed harder for the win but I have concluded that once I let him build such a lead I was never going to regain that ground. In future races if I am going to try for the win I need to stay closer to the lead and find the strength to push on when the time comes.
Since I've decided to race more often this year I'm learning so much already and have another goal to for this year now:
8: win a parkrun
Sunday 12 February 2012
Wrekka fell race
Finally took the plunge yesterday and joined the saltwell harriers. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now but just never got round to it.
This meant I was able to compete in the wrekenton fixture of the nehl which seeing as its on my doorstep would have been a shame to miss it.
As it was my first cross country race I didn't really know what to expect, all I knew was that I would be starting in the slow pack with it being my first race.
After the gun went off it was immediately apparent that there was nothing slow about this pack as the leaders flew off into the distance.
The track is 3 laps of a roughly 2 mile course on the fields between wrekenton, Springfield estate and lean lane including 6 grueling ascents of the pit heap.
As it was just below zero the ground was pretty solid (although slightly churned up in places), which meant that my choice to wear my fell shoes instead of buying a pair of spikes worked out ok, although I had the usual heel blister on my right foot by the end of the race.
I felt like I started off ok, but didn't have the energy to really push on much after the first lap and was overtaken by more people than I was overtaking which was pretty demoralizing as I normally like to start further back and try and overtake people.
I did manage a final sprint for the finish line, but ultimately this only meant I prevented the runners behind from overtaking me and didn't quite manage to catch the few runners I front of me.
Overall I enjoyed the race and according to my nike+ I went round in 38:04 on a 5:68 mile course overall. Not sure about my position yet but Donna reckons I was about 40th out of a few hundred runners which sounds about right.
Things I take away from the race are:
1. At the minute I think I'm probably a better road runner than cross country runner.
2. I want to get better at cross country, and to do so I need to work on my technique (running downhill and pacing myself for starters) and do more training on rough terrain.
Next race is beginning of march in alnwick.....
This meant I was able to compete in the wrekenton fixture of the nehl which seeing as its on my doorstep would have been a shame to miss it.
As it was my first cross country race I didn't really know what to expect, all I knew was that I would be starting in the slow pack with it being my first race.
After the gun went off it was immediately apparent that there was nothing slow about this pack as the leaders flew off into the distance.
The track is 3 laps of a roughly 2 mile course on the fields between wrekenton, Springfield estate and lean lane including 6 grueling ascents of the pit heap.
As it was just below zero the ground was pretty solid (although slightly churned up in places), which meant that my choice to wear my fell shoes instead of buying a pair of spikes worked out ok, although I had the usual heel blister on my right foot by the end of the race.
I felt like I started off ok, but didn't have the energy to really push on much after the first lap and was overtaken by more people than I was overtaking which was pretty demoralizing as I normally like to start further back and try and overtake people.
I did manage a final sprint for the finish line, but ultimately this only meant I prevented the runners behind from overtaking me and didn't quite manage to catch the few runners I front of me.
Overall I enjoyed the race and according to my nike+ I went round in 38:04 on a 5:68 mile course overall. Not sure about my position yet but Donna reckons I was about 40th out of a few hundred runners which sounds about right.
Things I take away from the race are:
1. At the minute I think I'm probably a better road runner than cross country runner.
2. I want to get better at cross country, and to do so I need to work on my technique (running downhill and pacing myself for starters) and do more training on rough terrain.
Next race is beginning of march in alnwick.....
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Goals for 2012
Been thinking about these for a while and I think it's always good to write these down do here's my running goals for 2012:
1. Run a marathon in under 3 hours
2. Run great north run in under 1 hour 15 mins
3. Try and get my 10k time down as far as I can
4. Do another ultra
5. Do a lot more racing than I did last year
6. Join a running club (prob saltwell harriers)
7. Enjoy my running and stay injury free!
1. Run a marathon in under 3 hours
2. Run great north run in under 1 hour 15 mins
3. Try and get my 10k time down as far as I can
4. Do another ultra
5. Do a lot more racing than I did last year
6. Join a running club (prob saltwell harriers)
7. Enjoy my running and stay injury free!
Kielder marathon race report
Didn't hit my target of 3-20 for the kielder marathon but I wasn't far off and now that ive had some time to reflect I'm pretty happy with the result.
The weather was always going to be a factor and whilst not quite as cold as last year it was windier and much wetter. Whilst running in the rain in the summer can sometimes be very refreshing and cooling, it's a different story on a cold windy October day and I think it was the rain that led me to make my biggest mistake of the day which I will come to later.
The organization seemed to be a lot better than last years unagural event and I managed to get into the car park without too much hassle. Then came the decision. I had bought a new running coat the week before and I was deciding whether to wear it or not. At the time the rain was more of a drizzle rather than a lashing storm, but I still had over an hour to go before the start of the race and the rain was set for the day so I decided to take the soft option and go for not just the coat which I had never wore before but a cap to keep the rain off my face too.
Probably the worst part of the day was the long queue for the bus to take us to the start , but I did get chatting to a a canny Scottish lad who was doing his first marathon.
Fast forward to the start, it took less than a mile to become aware of my 2 biggest mistakes of the day. Firstly although it was still raining ( and would continue to do so for the whole race) I was roasting more or less as soon as I started so the cap came off and so would the coat if I had somewhere to put it. It wasn't waterproof and by the end of the race it was a sodden mess hanging off me.
The second mistake, and one I really should have learned from was that the pockets of my running shorts are definitely not the best place to keep my gels. Every step I took led to them bouncing up and down, threatening to jump out at any minute. To be honest, I don't think either of these mistakes made much difference to my eventual time, but they definitely made a difference to my enjoyment of the day and are things I will have to address in future races.
To meet my goal of 3 hours 20 meant about 7-45 pace and thanks to my Nike+ running app I could constantly monitor how close I was to this.
One of the biggest keys to marathon running is pacing yourself, and going easy in those early miles. The first five or so miles were very comfortable and I was averaging around 7-30 miles despite all the constant up and downs that are a key feature of the kielder marathon.
Although this was only my third marathon ( fourth if you count the highlang fling ultra I did in April) I knew that the real challenge begins at around 18 miles as this is when your energy supplies are shot and you are in danger of hitting the wall. This is something's I experienced very badly at my first marathon in Edinburgh, and also at kielder last year so although I felt ok for the first half of the race it was something that was always in the back of my mind.
The time this point is reached at kielder is roughly when you run over the dam at the south end of the lake, and although I felt a lot better than I had the previous year at this pout I made an error that would define the rest of my race.
As I tried to perform the difficult task of eating a gel and taking a swig of my water bottle at the same time with freezing hands I dropped my bottle. The good news is that I managed to catch it, but the bad news was that I doing so led to a massive cramp in the back of my thigh which reduced me to a temporary walk. I managed to get going again pretty soon but my leg was sti very sore and I felt like it could go again at any minute and the constant up and downs defiantly didn't help.
At the same race last year by the time I got to 20 miles I was really struggling and my pace slowed dramatically. I had slowed this year too but that was partly due to my cramp and although I didn't feel great I definitely felt like I could push the pace a little more although I was still a little apprehensive in doing so for fear of blowing up and missing my goal time.
By the time I reached 22 miles I was just below my target pace, but not feeling any worse so made the decision to up the pace for the last 4 miles, feeling confident that I had enough left in the tank to get me through.
Almost immediately my cramp kicked in again and I wad again reduced to walking. Again I tried to get running as soon as I could but the pain was so bad it was more of a hobble than a run, although I did get back to running at pretty much the same pace ad I had been on before the cramp kicked in.
At this point I realized that I wasn't going to break 3-20 but I could still beat last years time of 3-34.
Between then and the end of the race I had to stop another 2 times due to the cramp, but I forced myself to keep going and try to get over the pain.
It was so frustrating to know that I had it in me to go faster but the cramp prevented me from doing so.
By the time I got to 400 meters to go I decided to make a break for the Finnish line and managed to pick off a few runners, but predictably the cramp kicked in again and I ended up barely walking over the Finnish line in 3-24.
Ive now had a fair amount of time to reflect on the race and and have the following thoughts/lessons:
1. Don't be scared if the weather and dress down
2. But a belt with gel pouches
3.cramp - my biggest problem on the day and the most worrying as I'm not sure how I'm going to get round this in future marathons. The 2 most commonly accepted causes of cramp are dehydration/ salt loss and asking your muscles to do something on a race that you haven't asked them in training. I don't think that I had done anything massively wrong in any of these areas as I had done plenty long training runs up to 20 miles, and had hydrated well and took enough gels during the race.
I think that maybe in future training I need to maybe go over 20 miles, and experiment with salt tablets/ectrolytes .
4. Having now completed 3 marathons I've now got the confidence to know that I can go the distance and I now need to work on my speed. My aim next year is to go under 3 hours ( not in kielder though ha ha) and I think Ive got it in me. The question is how far under I can go, and that is what I want to try and find out in the next few years.
The weather was always going to be a factor and whilst not quite as cold as last year it was windier and much wetter. Whilst running in the rain in the summer can sometimes be very refreshing and cooling, it's a different story on a cold windy October day and I think it was the rain that led me to make my biggest mistake of the day which I will come to later.
The organization seemed to be a lot better than last years unagural event and I managed to get into the car park without too much hassle. Then came the decision. I had bought a new running coat the week before and I was deciding whether to wear it or not. At the time the rain was more of a drizzle rather than a lashing storm, but I still had over an hour to go before the start of the race and the rain was set for the day so I decided to take the soft option and go for not just the coat which I had never wore before but a cap to keep the rain off my face too.
Probably the worst part of the day was the long queue for the bus to take us to the start , but I did get chatting to a a canny Scottish lad who was doing his first marathon.
Fast forward to the start, it took less than a mile to become aware of my 2 biggest mistakes of the day. Firstly although it was still raining ( and would continue to do so for the whole race) I was roasting more or less as soon as I started so the cap came off and so would the coat if I had somewhere to put it. It wasn't waterproof and by the end of the race it was a sodden mess hanging off me.
The second mistake, and one I really should have learned from was that the pockets of my running shorts are definitely not the best place to keep my gels. Every step I took led to them bouncing up and down, threatening to jump out at any minute. To be honest, I don't think either of these mistakes made much difference to my eventual time, but they definitely made a difference to my enjoyment of the day and are things I will have to address in future races.
To meet my goal of 3 hours 20 meant about 7-45 pace and thanks to my Nike+ running app I could constantly monitor how close I was to this.
One of the biggest keys to marathon running is pacing yourself, and going easy in those early miles. The first five or so miles were very comfortable and I was averaging around 7-30 miles despite all the constant up and downs that are a key feature of the kielder marathon.
Although this was only my third marathon ( fourth if you count the highlang fling ultra I did in April) I knew that the real challenge begins at around 18 miles as this is when your energy supplies are shot and you are in danger of hitting the wall. This is something's I experienced very badly at my first marathon in Edinburgh, and also at kielder last year so although I felt ok for the first half of the race it was something that was always in the back of my mind.
The time this point is reached at kielder is roughly when you run over the dam at the south end of the lake, and although I felt a lot better than I had the previous year at this pout I made an error that would define the rest of my race.
As I tried to perform the difficult task of eating a gel and taking a swig of my water bottle at the same time with freezing hands I dropped my bottle. The good news is that I managed to catch it, but the bad news was that I doing so led to a massive cramp in the back of my thigh which reduced me to a temporary walk. I managed to get going again pretty soon but my leg was sti very sore and I felt like it could go again at any minute and the constant up and downs defiantly didn't help.
At the same race last year by the time I got to 20 miles I was really struggling and my pace slowed dramatically. I had slowed this year too but that was partly due to my cramp and although I didn't feel great I definitely felt like I could push the pace a little more although I was still a little apprehensive in doing so for fear of blowing up and missing my goal time.
By the time I reached 22 miles I was just below my target pace, but not feeling any worse so made the decision to up the pace for the last 4 miles, feeling confident that I had enough left in the tank to get me through.
Almost immediately my cramp kicked in again and I wad again reduced to walking. Again I tried to get running as soon as I could but the pain was so bad it was more of a hobble than a run, although I did get back to running at pretty much the same pace ad I had been on before the cramp kicked in.
At this point I realized that I wasn't going to break 3-20 but I could still beat last years time of 3-34.
Between then and the end of the race I had to stop another 2 times due to the cramp, but I forced myself to keep going and try to get over the pain.
It was so frustrating to know that I had it in me to go faster but the cramp prevented me from doing so.
By the time I got to 400 meters to go I decided to make a break for the Finnish line and managed to pick off a few runners, but predictably the cramp kicked in again and I ended up barely walking over the Finnish line in 3-24.
Ive now had a fair amount of time to reflect on the race and and have the following thoughts/lessons:
1. Don't be scared if the weather and dress down
2. But a belt with gel pouches
3.cramp - my biggest problem on the day and the most worrying as I'm not sure how I'm going to get round this in future marathons. The 2 most commonly accepted causes of cramp are dehydration/ salt loss and asking your muscles to do something on a race that you haven't asked them in training. I don't think that I had done anything massively wrong in any of these areas as I had done plenty long training runs up to 20 miles, and had hydrated well and took enough gels during the race.
I think that maybe in future training I need to maybe go over 20 miles, and experiment with salt tablets/ectrolytes .
4. Having now completed 3 marathons I've now got the confidence to know that I can go the distance and I now need to work on my speed. My aim next year is to go under 3 hours ( not in kielder though ha ha) and I think Ive got it in me. The question is how far under I can go, and that is what I want to try and find out in the next few years.
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