Training, Racing & Learning

Chester and Loch Ness Marathons - 1 week apart

Sun, 9 Oct 2011 19:37:12 +0100

Dropped of by bus 26.2 miles from the finish line of the Loch Ness Marathon, having to run to the finish and catch an airplane, not a good idea, but I did it. Chester Marathon featured the complete opposite; no pressure, perfect weather, no expectations or time limits. Two completely different races, one under pressure, and one to have fun and run with a friend.

Loch Ness Marathon - 2 OCT 2011
I flew up to Inverness Scotland on October 1st 2011 for the marathon race the next morning. I did not have any confirmation of a place to stay, but upon landing, took the bust to city centre, walked around and found a cheap youth hostel that had plenty of beds. Of course since it’s Scotland, so it was raining. Went to pick up my registration packet about 1.5 km from the hostel, the expo wasn’t that interesting except for the Gore Tex area which featured extremely high prices for everything.

The Hostel was located next to a few pubs that decided to host a karaoke night, and we all got to listen to drunk people thinking they were on some TV show. At 3 am, some guy came in trying to start a fight and causing a bunch of commotion cause he thought someone was in his bed. Eventually got up at 6:15 to start the pre-marathon routine of eating some bread, drinking, taping my feet and heading to the start area.

Stopped by the Columbia Hotel where all the other Wellingborough and District Athletic Club runners were staying as they were running Lakeland Hospice Charity. We all went to the start area where 85 buses were lined up for 3,000-4,000 runners. 7:30-9:40 was spent on the buses waiting to get out to the start line. It was raining there too, I dropped my bag, used the trees for a toilet and waited for a 15 minute delayed start with Colin, Alan, Les and I.

Alan, Colin, Les & I

I supposedly gave myself 4 hours to get to the finish because my plane left at 3:30, we were starting at 10:15 am, so I was pressing luck very hard. First few miles I held back like I was supposed to, did not feel like I was even running. But Garmin said I was doing 8:00 min/mile. I kept that pace through 13 miles, but kept dropping things I was carrying, and had to hold my phone for 5 miles, and kept losing my momentum after that.

The traditional slowdown of mine started around 16 miles, where I tend to walk. I liked the walking, but didn’t like adding to my time needed to get to the airport. Sort of walked, jogged, run the next 5 miles, and thought it would probably be best if I dropped out of the race and tried to get a taxi to rush me to the airport, but this only road was the only way to get to Inverness! So I just kept on going, praying, crossing my fingers that I would hopefully make the plane on time.

The last few miles were slow, legs just didn’t enjoy it, I just wanted to grab my medal and go. Stuart passed me around 19 or 20 miles, Howard passed around 20 or 21 miles, and Nick passed me with about 2 miles to go looking strong. I did go through the finish line, pushed my way through, grabbed my finishers technical t-shirt, goodie bag, and headed to the baggage pickup area. Got my bag, and started running back to town where I thought the taxi stand would be. 1.5 miles later running against everyone and getting weird looks, I found the taxi, around 2:45 or 2:50 pm. He drove the 10 miles to the airport, and I ran through having no checked baggage, got through security around 15:05 or 15:10 and made it just as everyone was boarding the plane. Snapped this photo, full gear and everything still one, happy to have made it!!!

Getting on the plane with full running gear!

I did not taper or reduce any of my milage throughout the week, but continued like normal after running Loch Ness and before the next marathon.

Chester Marathon 9 October 2011
For the Chester Marathon, I wasn’t 100% sure if I would run it or not, but got up at 3:30am Sunday October 9, 2011- just 1 week after Loch Ness - and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Chester, England, near the border with Wales. I was completely relaxed, arriving at the start at 6:30 and not really needing to rush to do anything. I walked around the start area, met up with fellow Wellingborough runners Sam and Kim, and we chatted for a while in the registration tent.

The race started a few minutes after 9am on the Racehorse track, and 2 minutes later all the 4:15 pace runners were crossing the start line. There were lots of people in the streets of Chester cheering all the runners on, this was nice as I haven’t been in a race in ages where there were people out cheering. We ran under the famous clock tower bridge monument, and slowly started knocking the miles away. Think I was averaging about 9 minute miles and felt very comfortable. The course probably was the most beautiful road marathon I’ve ever raced, and I truly enjoyed the countryside, the colourful leaves on the trees, the views of Wales. We ran in Wales from about miles 9-17, and there was some fierce headwind for a short part of it. Took some caffeine every 6 miles or so and did not start walking until the first hill at mile 17. Was good to get the rest while we walked, the legs really enjoyed it. Continued pushing it mile after mile, walking about a minute every mile or two. I’d forgotten to bring some salt in any form - and my legs were feeling the pain, but it wasn’t as bad as it’d been in the past so just suffered with everyone else. I so enjoyed passing hundreds and hundreds of runners who had hit the wall, while I was steadily moving. There was so much support and cheering from spectators along the last couple miles, it was really nice. Came under the bridge into the Chester Racecourse and ran the last 400 metres with a good sprint. Finished in 4:22:33 and was my favourite marathon of all time!

Me enjoying the race a little too much!

Kim, Sam and I - Chester Marathon
finishers 9 October 2011.

Northants 35 Mile Ultramarathon

Sun, 5 Jun 2011 08:30:35 +0100

June 6, 2011: Northants 35 Mile Ultramarathon Photo Album and Garmin Stats

Well, that was easy! 35.01 miles racing Northants Ultra in 6:39:23 (1 hour 20 minutes faster than last year). Everything went exactly to plan including hydration, food intake, carrying just 1 bottle with pre-positioned Gatorade on the course. No map needed and was 100% accurate. Favourite part was running with Paul Hurt for 19 miles watching everyone else try to follow us as we knew the course! We sped up a couple times ditching big groups that were just saving energy by following us, was a lot of fun.  
Struggled on one boring road part between miles 19.5-24, but after that was able to maintain a respectable pace. I wore full 2XU compression leggings (first time in a race or ultra) and really liked them. Sweet potatoes (yams) were perfect "solid" fuel to eat during the race. No feet or leg issues. Wore smart wool socks. At Check Point 5, I wrapped some gauze/elastic bandage tape around my calf/Achilles as they were trying to automatically cramp even though I had energy to go quicker. It did the trick! Interesting stat, Garmin says my moving time was 6:00:41 (10:18/mile) while overall time was 6:39. Really surprised how easy it all seemed.

New Forest Multi-Stage Ultra 60 Miles - 2 Days

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:32:00 +0100

New Forest Multi-Stage Ultra | The Pony Express
April 30th - May 1st 2011. 60 Miles - 2 Days.
3rd and 4th marathon in less than 1 month!

Back to Back races on 1 Weekend... 35 miles.

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:14:10 +0100

March 26, 2011: 2:16:10-
Finished a great race that had me thinking it was perfect training for the TransAlpine race in September. 13.8 miles in 2:16:10--Had one of the best 'mountain' races ever at the Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series Sussex Half Marathon. Climbing 2,000 feet, descending another 2,000 feet; on packed grass, a welcome surface compared to asphalt or rocks. The winning time for the "Half Marathon" was 1:52, this is the closest I've even been to the winner in any half race! Also tried very hard to maintain a steady heart rate around 170-175 bpm. Worked excellent as this is better than any pace indicator when you are running this kind of terrain.

March 27, 2011: Sort of starting to feel unstoppable! Finished 2nd Consecutive race in 24 hours. Oakley 20 Mile race finished under my goal time in 2:54:38 - which is a 20 minute Personal Record/Best! Think my legs forgot about the CTS Half Marathon yesterday. Kept a really good consistent and even pace the entire time.

Next race: April 2, 2011. A.I.M 6 hour track race at Crawley. Goal: 36-40 miles.

March 13, 2011 Nike Milton Keynes Half Marathon (1:46:32)
March 5, 2011 Amazing race performance. ULTRA.race Grantham 29 Miles.
Feb 20, 2011 The London ULTRA race 50K Championship (7:07:20)
Feb 13, 2011 Stamford 30K St. Valentines Day Race (2:41:59)
Jan 30, 2011 Marrakech Marathon, - photo album of Marrakech (4:39:00)
Jan 15, 2011 Country to Capital 45 Mile Ultra Photo Album: (10:46:21)
Jan 6, 2011 Tiberias Marathon Photos, Sea of Galilee, Israel. Race Report (4:42:50)
JAn 1, 2011 Wicksteed New Years Day - Awful race Report here (1:57:30)

Tiberias Marathon, Sea of Galilee, Israel

Thu, 6 Jan 2011 21:16:36 +0000

Got to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity to run a race in Israel. It was hot compared to what I'd been training in. Race day temperature around 65-70F (17-20C). Race start 3/4 mile from my hotel. Great atmosphere. i didn't understand anything everyone spoke Hebrew, but it was amazing. Actual race, I tried to start off around a 9:08/min pace to keep an even pace through first half and second half and to make sure I was not going out too fast like a previous road marathon. I ran with the 4:00 pace group all the way through the halfway and turn around point, but just sort of disintegrated and did horrible all the way back. I don't know why. Probably not training properly, maybe from taking 2 1/2 weeks off running in December. But I eventually finished in 4:42. As i was finishing a huge group with a famous or a few famous persons were running behind me, so it was like a huge fanfare coming into Tiberias, but it was really for that group. I took lots of photos and some video, but was more upset at the lousy finish time. Better luck next time.