DIY – The Perfect Training ?

At risk of sounding like one of those bleedingly obvious government research projects , apparently a month of DIY and no running is not such good training after all. After the Bob Graham Round 4 weeks ago came a knee injury ( Medial ligament?) and this happened to coincide with us acquiring the house next door which needed a complete makeover ( still does unfortunately !). So, late nights and early mornings spent loading skips and generally getting knackered. But, it's got to be good for you right ? – Well actually it appears not. And so to the Paps of Jura Fell Race

Admittedly the knee had eased a good deal by the time we went to Jura but then again i'd not run so hadn't aggravated it much. Still, 7500 foot of climbing and some hideous scree descents would sort it out one way or the other for sure. After last years race in the real pea soup i was convinced that it'd be a scorcher this year. Wrong again , another claggy day made for lots of nervous runners on the start line – maps were out once again.

Weeks of stressy work, no training, a sore knee and 4 ferries to get here i was far from the right frame of mind ( or physical shape ) for the race ahead. We'd left home in such a rush that i'd even left loads of kit ( compass , gels, whistle etc etc ) But, It's a long way to come and not race so i gave myself a kick up the arse and told myself to get on with it. Gaffa tape to stabilise the knee and some cobbled together kit and i made it to the start line.

After 15 minutes running we were in the clag and despite a momentary lapse in concentration on the way to the first checkpoint i found good lines throughout the race. I took the descents VERY steady for fear of trashing my knee and kept a reasonable pace over the Paps. It was quite heartening to be overtaken after an hour by Rob Jebb and Ian Holmes who had obviously had difficulties on those first few hills. I wasn't gonna be knocking out a PB today but i felt reasonably confident that i could still break the 4 hours and get that Whisky glass. The last 3 miles of tarmac felt like a long way ( it is actually 3.7 miles ! ) but i clocked 3:55 at the finish and was just Glad to have made it round . So,

Next up – Open 12 AR in June followed by the Tour de Beaufortain in the Alps in July ( a mere 100km of mountain trail ) ... best get the gaffa tape in.

Chris Near