Team inov-8 Europe: March 2010

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll Time Trial - Owain Llŷr James

First of the weekly Tuesday night time trial's have started. Good training for the triathlon I think!!

3rd in Trunce 1 - and a big PB....Oops

(photo courtesy of the straggler - moving too fast for the camera....)
156-Trunce-2010-Race-1/trunce-10-race-1_0098
(photo courtesy of Richard Asquith)

Trunce1 - the wettest trunce I've ever done! For anyone that doesn't know, the Trunce is a series of races from Oxpring - each following the same course of 4.25miles with 550ft climb and 3 river crossings. You get points for your position at each of the 9 races in the year and 10 bonus points for getting a PB. So obviously for the first trunce of the year it is a clever move to race hard the 2 days prior to it!
My PB from the last 2 years was 34:09 - so ideally I was looking to race 34:00 ish....
I set off fast trying to keep with zanthe and sarah who were the leading women. By the first river crossing zanthe had pulled away a bit but sarah's descending skill meant I was with her. I then had a race against a guy who would sprint any time I tried to overtake until I dropped back then go back to being slow....
I dropped him when we got the the climb, and by the second river crossing sarah had dissapeared ahead but zanthe was about 60m in front. Sadly there is then a road section and this is where my legs felt the weekends racing! Zanthe pulled out another 100m on me on the road and so by the time I'd crossed the river a 3rd time and was up the hill it was me vs the clock. I knew I was running waaaaaay too fast for the first trunce but something in my brain wouldn't let me slow down just to get a slower PB. So I raced hard and finished in 32:15....oops.
I ended in 3rd and am currently leading the points race : I'm now relying on the fact that my legs were tired and conditions were wet to beat the PB though I think.... Still a good end to 3 hard races :-)

Monday, 29 March 2010

GB O Team Selection Race Win

Touch Estate Middle Distance Orienteering Selection Race

Frankly it had been a bit of a pants March up until this race what with a nasty cold that stopped me training for 11 days (the most day off since I had my son....now nearly 3!). However - I had a rusty but clean run and despite feeling a bit empty I managed to sneak the win with a 9 second lead over my fellow Inov8 Team mate, Rachael Elder (I was wearing lighter Inov8's than her .... my trusty X-Talons).

The race was one of two selection races at the end of a GB O Team training camp held near the Trossachs in Scotland. Good to see all the guys and the most sleep I have had in some time (again something to do with the 3 year old...)! Another team mate - Jon Duncan - will know what I am talking about!!

Sunday, 28 March 2010

MTBO Win and Lad's Leap Fell Race

On Saturday it was the first in the National League of Mountain Bike Orienteering races on Cannock Chase. It was also the first of 4 selection races for the GB Team for the World Champs.

The race was a middle distance race of 10.1km straight line (I rode 14.6km) with an estimated winning time of 50-60mins.
I set off hard as I wanted to get the best time I could to make it into the top 3 and was aiming to try and get sub 60mins. This time last year I was new to the sport and was hanging on for selection, it's amazing what a year can do!
I found myself riding hard and thinking ahead so I knew which direction I wanted to come into a control in order to ride straight through to the next. Route choice was key and I made myself make quick decisions and stick to them. Not all of my routes were perfect but in sticking to my choice I didn't loose too much time on the less good ones!
I made one error which put an extra climb into the race as I didn't notice a road that was not out of bounds next to the out of bounds area so rode down some off road tracks to reach the control. Even so, racing hard and concentating all the way through (normally where I slip up) payed off and I finished 1st in 59:00mins.
This is by far my best race to date and I am hoping the rest of the season will keep going this well or even better!

To loosen the legs off today I ran Lad's Leap fell race from Crowden - I forgot how much climb was involved!
I set off well and for the first 20mins was in touch with Jackie in 1st, however so were 2 other women! Before the descent 1st and 2nd position got about 1-1.5mins ahead, leaving me with another woman fighting for 3rd.She took a bit of time out of me running up on easy ground however then I started gaining across the rough ground and on the steap descent at the far end, my mudclaw 270's did their job fantastically (even though they are a year old now) and I took a good chunk of time out of her.
However, then the running went back to even ground uphill, and she came tearing past me! I couldn't respond and by the top of the climb she had enough distance to keep me from catching. I finished 4th and 1st U23, which considering yesterdays effort I was happy with!
Now the question is, to trunce or not to trunce. I would say no but its amazing what the spur of the moment can do to you....

Saturday, 27 March 2010

Why?

Reasons for walking 2,650 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail:

1) Escape. I think we all need to get away once in a while. Whether it's a weekend away or a 2 week summer holiday, it recharges the batteries and we come back feeling refreshed. I just find 2 weeks never long enough.

2) Perspective. Sometimes we lose sight of what we're doing and where we are going. We get stuck in the 9 to 5 and before we know it, we've retired! Time away from the usual gives you a different perspective and gives us new ideas and insights on where we are in life.

3) Because I don't want to be old and grey, with slippers and a pipe thinking - "Shit, I wish I had done that."

4) Because you get ridiculously fit, physically and mentally, and feel fantastic.

5) It's a test of your strength as a person. For all the good days, there will be some right stinkers too. If you can get through them all then it's a better person that comes out of the other end.

6) You don't have to wake up to an alarm clock.

7) You met loads of like minded people and make friends for life.

8) Or, put another way, in the words of Mark Wallington (Author of Travels with Boogie) -

"The best journeys have no motive. They are capricious affairs, made for no other reason than they exist, for no other goal than fun."

Read the Inov8 Blog & keep upto date with my Pacific Crest Trail hike.

Yellow Fever and breaking running machines

Pre-season training not blown away by sandstorm in Beijing

Work takes me to China every now and then, which is always fun and something to look forward, but the travelling takes its toll and busy schedules mean that cramming in a run before work often leaves me run down and I return to Blighty ill.

A late decision to compete in the London Marathon has put emphasis on higher than usual mileage (useful for the mountains this summer I hope) which meant that I needed to make sure that I maintained reasonable mileage whilst away. So when I woke up last Saturday morning and saw a yellow sky I winced slightly, but didn't think too much of it, as Beijing isn't renowned for having the freshest air in the world.

However, plodding around a university running track at 7am, there was a strange taste in the air, different from the acrid flavour of coal and nasty small particles that you're not supposed to breathe in. It wasn't until later that I was listening to BBC radio in my hotel room that I heard that Beijing had been encroached in a pre-season sand storm, dumping thousands of tons of yellow sand from the Gobi desert in the city. Fortunately that was the worst of it, and I ran a couple of other days under beautiful blue skies.

It's a good job I had got my speed session out of the way the day before.

A first for this trip to China was that I managed to put two running machines out of order. There's a lack of green spaces in central China, so I end up doing a fair bit of running, when staying in the city centre, on running machines. However, at a hotel on the outskirts of town, the made in China machine conked out as soon as I put the speed up above 10KM/hr, throwing me off backwards. I was relieved not to leave that 'gym' injured.

Friday, 26 March 2010

Cartmel Ultimate Trails Race

Entering a race 5 months in advance to get a cheaper entry fee can sometimes seem like a great idea and it did last November when I entered the Cartmel Ultimate Trail Race. But the two week's after the Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon I was beginning to regret the decision as the legs were taking longer to recover and the forecast wasn’t look great for the Saturday after a week of dry weather.

The weather man wasn’t wrong; we arrived to a very wet muddy race course car park which we were told had been bone dry the previous day, over night rain had changed that. I went for a warm up with fellow DRC member Dougie Brown along the last 1km of the course and quickly made the decision to go with 212 x-talons as the trail had become very slippery and soft underfoot.

Just before the start of the race at 2pm the rain stopped and the clouds began to lift. The race started on part of the race course which was very soft going making for a quick start which I was able to maintain finding myself in the leading group of six runners, I was surprised how good my legs felt at such a quick pace. In the lead group were two runners from Leeds AC one of them being Martin Hilton who I expected to win, the lead group soon dropped down to four as we climbed a step tarmac road. I let my pace drop slightly so not to flood my legs with lactic, Hilton and Richard Anderson from Huddersfield kept the pace going at the front, we crested the hill and quickly descended before turning off the road and onto the trail which climbed steadily again. James Buis from Heaton Harriers joined Hilton at the front and both began charging up the climb together, I tried to stick with them but the elastic was beginning to stretch and, Anderson dropped off from the three of us. During the climb I thought that third would be a good result as my legs screamed at me and, as I tried not to let the gap from myself to Hilton’s and Buis’s get too big.

I was surprised that once the trail became flat again that I closed the gap down on Hilton and Buis very quickly, the three of us ran together for the next few km’s along some undulating fell, where Hilton would take the lead on the climbs and then I would lead on the descents. My legs were feeling good and strong; the pace had slowed after the first few initial swift km’s. As we neared Bigland Tarn (last time I was there was at the JK in 1992 when I was an orienteer) I sensed the Buis was beginning to slow as I sat on Hiltons shoulder keeping the pace moving. We came to a short road section which gently climbed, I increased the pace with only Hilton able to stay with me and I maintained the pace over the brow of the hill and back onto the muddy trail.

The trail skirted the small tarn along a narrow slippery single track path, I kept the pace going, the talons were doing there business keeping me firmly on my feet as the path twisted and turned. My legs and lungs were burning but I knew I had opened up a lead Hilton. The trail climbed a track before a another road section as I went through the gate I glanced down the track seeing that I had opened up around a 20 second lead on Hilton. I tried my best to keep the pace fast along the undulating 1km road section hoping that I could maintain the lead. I was amazed how comfy the talon’s were on the road they felt like a racing flat and there wasn’t any of the thud thud thud I had experienced with other fell shoes on tarmac.

Thankfully the road gave way to forest trail again as the race entered a very wet and muddy section; which wasn’t much of a relief after the tarmac as I had to chop and change my stride over and around large muddy puddles. I had also begun to catch up competitors from the Challenge event which started and hour before the trail race, which added to the muddy obstacles. It felt great to be in the lead but I didn’t know how close behind Hilton was so I kept the pace going as best as I could.

Another short downhill road section offered some relief from the muddy forest but this was followed by a very wet muddy field and a very slippery tough climb with ankle deep sticky mud, which sucked the energy out of my legs. Thankfully the mud changed to a compacted farm track then another downhill on tarmac, before cutting through a farm and onto a track leading down to ford just before the last muddy forest section and the last climb.

The last climb was tortuous; gravity was truly taking over and my legs were now feeling very heavy I struggled to maintain my pace up the muddy climb, I was glad I had recced the section on my warm up as it gave a psychological boost as the small muddy path undulated and weaved along. Quicker than I expected I started to descend the last hill before emerging back onto the race course and the final 300m’s to the finish. Finishing first in 1:10.26 two minutes ahead of second place Martin Hilton.

Thanks very much to Graham and the rest of those involved at VO2 Max Events for a great event, and to the all the marshalls out on the course.

Thursday, 25 March 2010

Ras yr Aran

A cold day for a race up a big hill in the quieter side of Snowdonia, with thick hill fog and large amounts of snow on the top ridge, but that's the fun of it! It's a race that suits Chris and I as it's a 3.5 mile uphill grind, then a 4 mile undulating summit ridge followed by the 3.5 mile downhill again - but no freewheeling on this one, even the downhill feels up.

It was a bit of a tester for me as Chris had already proved his mettle a few weeks ago on the South Downs, and the Highlander is only a couple of weeks away. After a long winter without racing it was good to get back into it, and Chris did his usual trick of starting fast. The photo above was luckily taken early on so we're both in it!(no I don't know what's going on with my Buff)

5.5 miles later Chris was more than a little surprised to find me with him at the summit before we turned for home and I immediately led him the wrong way down the hill in the mist. I eventually conceeded I was less than sure where we were, got my map out and headed us back onto the path just as we dropped out of the cloud. The GPS trace tells an interesting tale, but luckily no harm done as we were still well clear of the rest, and I just managed to get ahead of Chris as we covered the last couple of miles.

So, all looking good for the Highlander, Chris has earned the right to carry the Big Bag, and I'll look after the food.......

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

PCT Facts No. 1

It was recently pointed out that fewer people have thru-hiked the PCT than have climbed Mt. Everest! Could it be that a thru-hike is tougher than climbing the tallest mountain on Earth?

Follow my attempt to hike 2,650 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail here on the Inov8 Blog.

Monday, 22 March 2010

CERIST AQUATHLON

Last race of four in the Cerist Aquathlon series today. Three out of four count towards the series, and as I could only do two, there's no hope of winning. So, the only thing to do, is try and win the race today.

Early start at 5.30am to get to Machynlleth for 8am registration. Swim leg is 400m with a 5km run to finish off. As there are only four lanes in the pool, it took some time for my turn to come up Anyway off I go. Although my 400m swim time of 5m 29sec is slower than the usuall, it still the best time of the day. Next came the 5k run, and at half way I was 5 seconds up on the opposition. A the finish I recorded a 5k time of 18:15. Like the swim, it was slower, giving me 7th overall on the run, and 3rd overall in the race.

Tarquin Cooper on skiing 1,000km across Norway

Update from Tarquin Cooper on the epic expedition to ski 1,000km across Norway.

"And I thought preparing for an adventure race was hectic! I’m currently in a small lodge near Lillehammer, Norway with a team of Royal Marines. And it looks as though a gorilla has been let loose – there’s kit everywhere, most of it spilling out of my corner...

...Tomorrow we begin our epic expedition to ski 1,000km across the country, part of which will retrace the legendary Heroes of Telemark trail. The route boasts three national parks and a vertical ascent equivalent to Mt Everest.

It’s interesting to see how these guys operate. The military way is traditionally the opposite of AR. Their ethos is safety first, prepare for everything and carry monstrous ‘bergans’ – or rucksacks. You can’t imagine how many surplus straps and weight these bags carry. There’s no way we’d make 50m, let alone 50k with that approach.

Bernie Shrosbree is helping bring them up to speed. A former SBS legend Bernie is a performance coach to the likes of F1 driver Mark Webber and James Cracknell and is also a pretty handy endurance racer.

He’s using his race experience to try and get the team to understand that we cannot stop to drink or change clothes. The train has to keep moving. It’s by far the hardest challenge. We’re a team of 13 men aged 19 to 52. That’s a hard dynamic to manage. The team is split between six young guys, inexperienced skiers but super fit and the old timers in their late 40s who are technically good and more energy efficient but not in best shape. At the moment the young bucks tear on ahead like boy racers. It’ll be interesting to see who’s out in front in ten days time.

Two days ago we covered 37km out training but lost over two hours in stoppages. So everyone is really trying to dial their hydration systems so we only have to stop every two hours. It’s not easy as tubes tend to freeze in these conditions. Foot management goes to whole new level out here – besides the obvious blisters, sweating is a real problem. Despite the cold, xc skiing is high endurance so over-heating (and dehydration) is another issue. Then the weather can turn and you're suddenly very vulnerable. It should be a blast though – that’s if I can work through mymandatory kit list and fit it all in my sack.

Follow our progress at tusentakk.co.uk"

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

BMC YOUTH CLIMBING SERIES - WALES

Not usually a sport associated with Inov-8, but although I only climb once a week, I qualified for the Welsh final of the Wales BMC Indoor Climbing Series in Cardiff over the weekend. Really good day with excellent facilities at Boulders in Cardiff. Got 8th in the end, not too bad for a part timer!!

Monday, 15 March 2010

Training

How do you train for a 2,650 mile walk?

You . . . well, walk!

I've been carrying a backpack with 10 litres of water (about 10 kilos in weight) whenever I go out for a stroll. Ideally, and unfortunately, this means going up and down a local steep hill several times. Monotonous but necessary. Of course I'm still going for longer walks as well, that's never boring.

2 hours of exercises each day such as raising a lowering a straight leg whilst sitting in a chair, with 4 cans of baked beans hanging off to make it harder - and it does hurt. Walking lightly exercises all of the required muscle sets but others, such as calf's and quadriceps need strengthening.

The psychological training I can't really do anything to prepare for, that kicks in when I set off.

Keep up to date with my posts and walk the PCT with me.

Success at BUCS

This weekend was the British University Orienteering Championships, hosted by Bristol University Orienteering Club.

Saturday was the Individual race in the Forest of Dean. My mind wandered a little bit as I was more concerned with not hurting my hip on the terrain while running hard (turned out not to be a problem) so was a bit scrappy and as a result finished 12minutes down on the winner (a bit lower than I had anticipated....
GG was in a tight battle for 1st place coming through the spectator control, however Edinburgh's Scott Fraser had grown wings and flew to victory, leaving GG in 2nd.

Sunday was the relays - There were a lot of strong womens teams and ShUOCs first team were aiming not to be beaten by the Edinburgh 2nd Team (6/top 10 in the individual were EUOC). I went out of first leg with some strong orienteers and by the spectator control it was apparent we were capable of much more than not being beaten twice by Edinburgh. I felt I was running very slowly, however this pace allowed me to spike everything and keep with Jess Halliday and Rachel Majumdar on the first gaffle. I then ran the 2nd gaffle and stayed with Mairead Rocke, Liz Bridge and Becky Hoare, however they edged ahead of me on the run in putting me into 5th. On my course I was fastest and set Lauren Ferrand off with people clearly in sight to chase down! She had a great run pulling up a position to 4th and coming 2nd on her course by 4s! There were a few teams not too far ahead at this point and Laura Daniel set off well. By the spectator control she was in 2nd with Anne Edwards of Oxford and Chloe Haines of Edinburgh hot on her heals! This meant a tense wait! About 9 minutes later Anne entered the finishing field just ahead of Laura! Anne was running hard, and Chloe was nowhere to be seen! ShUOC were in 3rd! This was an amazing race for us and my first BUCS medal!

Sunday, 14 March 2010

A Trip Down South

The Steyning Stinger Off Road Marathon

What an endurance event ! That just about describes the drive down there at least. I am, however, no stranger to "that" drive as i grew up in Sussex and spent much time up on the South Downs. I therefore had a very handy B&B (Parents house) just 5 miles from the start of the race and, as it turned out, a finely tuned support resource for during the race itself ( they popped up everywhere ).

So, what was it that tempted a "proper" hill runner to do a race amongst the "bumps" that are the South Downs ? Well, in order to the enter the Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado i needed a marathon time ( the 26.2 mile variety not the usual mountain marathon to which i am better accustomed ). There was, however, no way that i would knock out this distance on Tarmac so i decided to trawl the net for something more up my street - and bingo , this race cropped up on the radar.

The organisation for the race was almost faultless. Almost faultless in that they seemed to omit one key fact when informing runners about the starting procedure. The marathon started at 8.30am but any runners could start earlier if they felt they needed a bit more time. A great idea given that marshalls would not then have to be out for the whole day. I theerfore presented myself at the start at 8.10am, was counted through the start and duly disappeared off for a wee and a warm-up ( not that keen really - but it was about minus 3C ! ). When i returned to the start line the marshall was clearly intrigued as to what i was doing back so soon . It appeared that when you turned up to the start and crossed the line they started timing you . In effect , it'd be a 26.2 mile time-trial ! So, i set off for the second time .

The course was nearly all off road and took runners on several large loops that made good use of the many bridleways and footpaths. The tracks themselves were hardpacked to start ( frozen ) and then a really nice sticky clay texture when the sun warm up that top layer. There were gates, stiles, road crossings and boggy fields ..... rather reminicent of my school cross country days ( albeit slightly longer )

It could be quite hard doing a long time-trial but i guess i'm used to spending long runs on my own . All i had to do was find "the pace" and chug along. It may have been billed as a killer route but with only 3000 foot climb in the entire distance it was all feeling pretty flat to me . The drinks stations were regular , the mile markers ticked and , as most runners had set off before me there were plenty to catch. My parents rallyed around this quiet corner of Sussex to be at the next checkpoint and i seemed to be hitting my predicted times. Instead of flagging in the final miles i actually got a wee bit faster as i realised that i was almost done. One final slippery descent saw me stop the clock at 3.14.

I knew i had run pretty consistently well and i'd had no disasters but i was slightly surprised to see my winning margin was 8 minutes over 2nd place. At race HQ it was interesting hearing folks discussing the race ...... Torture, killer climbs, treacherous descents etc etc ..... did make me think - "Anyone for the Peris Horsehoe ????"

1 week on and the legs are back to normal and fully looking forward to a couple of Real Fell Races in the next couple of weeks before a few days Alpine ski-touring and then to Gairloch for the Highander Mountain Marathon.

By Chris Near

Lochaber - 14mile mixed terrain Race

Result:
01:17:05 Robbie Simpson
01:17:06 Paul Raistrick

Saturday 13th March 2010

Due to snow & ice scheduled "Larig Mhor" race was re-routed through 13.6miles of mixed terrain, North of Fort William.

Full results: www.lochaberac.co.uk

This was to be the furthest I have run off snow since mid December 2009, so I was looking for a fast run. Robbie Simpson (SaabSalomon) had also come over from snowbound East and ensured it was. I lead for the first 12miles but 2 miles from the end Robbie was back on my heals. A final 100m sprint for the line saw Robbie finish a couple of meters ahead in 77:05. I was most impressed by the way he came back from mid race, real mental and physical strength from such a young athlete.

Training in the Cairngorms and Norway has been tough and dark (respectively) for the last 3 months. Training with Jethro during his ski visits North in December and February helped me stay focussed on running as opposed to shovelling snow. Thanks.

Fortunately with a firmer snowpack over the last 10 days I have been able to add a high level training run round the Northern Corries most days. This is what makes winter running special.

But just as the snow is becoming runnable in the forests of StrathSpey I head back to work in Haugesund and the snow.

As we will be running on high level snow into the late Summer of 2010 in Scotland those tungsten studded ORocs cannot come out soon enough.

Saturday, 13 March 2010

Steep Terrain Snowboarding - Scotland 2010

Scotsman Newspaper - Magazine - Saturday 13th March 2010

Some photos from the Scotsman article. South Gully - Lurchers Crag, Cairngorms

See:
www.scotsman.com/scotsmanmagazine/Outdoors-Scotland-is-the-perfect.6150452.jp

Corrections:
"This August he will race..." (should have read)
"This August he hopes to race..."

"ice climbing grades stop at VI" (should have read)
"ice climbing grades stop at XI in Scotland"

Friday, 12 March 2010

About the PCT

The PCT is a long distance route beginning at the border between California and Mexico, near a little place called Campo, about 12 miles south of San Diego. It winds it way north through the States of California, Oregon and Washington and finishes in Manning Park, about 9 miles over the border into Canada.

It boasts the greatest elevation changes of any of America's National Scenic Trails, allowing it to pass through six out of seven of North America's ecozones including high and low desert, old-growth forest and artic-alpine country. The PCT is a trail of diversity and extremes. From scorching desert valleys in Southern California to rain forests in the Pacific Northwest, the PCT offers hikers and equestrians a unique, varied experience.

As the crow flies, the distance from start to finish is about 1000 miles. However, due to the PCT weaving east and west, the total distance is some 2650 miles. The ‘average’ thru-hiker (a person who completes the PCT in one attempt) takes around 6 months to undertake the trail and walks around 15 to 20 miles each day. ‘Zero’ days (rest days where no walking is done) happen about once a week. I’ll be posting some ‘Fun Facts’ about the PCT every few days. Here’s the first one:

It passes through three states (California, Oregon and Washington)
Climbs nearly 60 major mountain passes
Descends into 19 major canyons and
Ambles past more than 1,000 lakes and tarns.

Keep up to date with my posts and walk the PCT with me!

Thursday, 11 March 2010

Pete's first marathon

Pete tries Round 4 of the Endurancelife Coastal Marathon Trail Running Series

Okay, so it is true that I have run several races longer than 26 miles, including the Mugu 50:50 (albeit without the second 50 – I’ll blame that on carrying too much weight), the OMM/KIMM Elite probably counts as longer, and then there was the Bob Graham round. But I have never raced over anything particularly close to the classic marathon, and it’s always nice to try something new.

As you can read elsewhere on these pages, my better half Jue is trying to knock off all seven of the Endurancelife Coastal Marathon series. Usually this involves me spending a nice quiet weekend at home with the little people, but this time thanks to my Mum, I could play too.

Inspired by reading “Born to Run” recently, I figured that I’d ignore the lack of suitably long runs and races in my training schedule, and just go for it. With the right mental attitude (and a history of blagging it in long races) I was sure I could push through. It was only 27.6 miles after all. Having learnt a long time ago (don’t ask how long) that starting slow-ish and eating and drinking well tends to pay off AND avoid unnecessary suffering, I could have made life easier for myself. But sometimes it’s good to take it to the limit, and then take things a bit further, and remind oneself just what it’s like.

I started the race behind three other runners. It was good to be out on a beautiful day with no cares in the world and lots of nice coastal path ahead. Enthusiastic, and only a little too fast at this stage, I moved into the lead. Only to find I had got a bit too carefree and missed a very obvious marker. Thanks for giving me a shout lads – I could have ended up anywhere!

As we got further down the coast and the trail got a bit more technical again I moved back into the lead, and with a bit of space behind me eased back to a more prudent pace. I had opted to travel light, with just an empty 250ml bottle in with the rest of the mandatory kit in my Race Elite 2 bum bag (I did try fitting everything into the back pocket on my Gore tights). By the time I got to mile 7.5 and the first drinks control, I was a teeny bit thirsty. Should at least have made that a full 250ml bottle Pete!

It was at this point that Rob Houghton appeared from nowhere, having no doubt started at a more even pace, and asked if I minded him joining me for a bit. It was good to be out for a nice run with some company, and amongst other things we soon discovered that we had both been born in Kingston hospital AND spent formative years (about two in my case) in the nearby London suburb of New Malden.

All was well until I somehow managed to get a gorse spine clean through both (generally bullet proof) layers of my Roclite 315s. I’m sure I couldn’t do it again if I tried. So having stopped briefly to pull the offending article out of my toe I worked harder to catch Rob again. This was probably a mistake, since (we admitted later) we were both already going for it, a little bit.

The second drink station was next to the Kingsbridge estuary - a beautiful spot just after a run through mature trees. And the sun was shining – what a day!

All was well until somewhere around mile 16 my wheels came off, and Rob’s didn’t. I was starting to pay for eating less than one Clif bar and making a late start on my hydration. Oh, and starting too fast, and then going too fast again from time to time. At this point I had two choices: ease off to a pace that wasn’t too uncomfortable and get caught by the other runners behind, or hang in desperately, try to run everything (albeit a bit slower) and hope to come good again…or reached the finish. Only 11 miles to go…

Lots of mental effort later, with my calves cramping up from time to time, I had made it to the last drinks point. It hadn’t been easy, but the amazing scenery and the sunshine helped a lot, along with a nice run along the board walk and along by the marshes near Slapton. I downed plenty more fluids, and grabbed a handful of jelly babies. Running along the flat trail by the road I carefully chewed one jelly baby after another, convinced that the finish was just ahead. But I had forgotten the sting in the tail: one last climb over the headland by Torcross.

As I pushed up the climb one step at a time I looked down and saw a vaguely familiar figure in black below me. A minute or so later having walked “a few steps” I turned around to find the same runner closing fast. Time to get going. I ran the rest of the climb and was happy to find my legs still knew how to descend the muddy steps back down to sea level. Not far to go now, and I put everything into the flat run to the finish, finishing a couple of minutes ahead of Vaughan Lindsay (the man in black) to take second, some sixteen minutes behind Rob who greeted me enthusiastically at the finish.

Thanks very much to the Endurancelife team for another great event, and to the other runners for helping to make it such a great day out.

Tuesday, 9 March 2010

Jue James at Round 4 of Endurancelife’s 7x7x7 challenge, Beesands, South Devon (27/2/10)

Getting to the start line was a close run thing, but it was all worthwhile...

Amazingly I made it to the start of the 4th round of the Endurancelife’s 7x7x7 challenge. I ran round 3 with a strapped up ankle due to a plantarflexion injury from falling over a friend’s dog two days after round 2. Running a marathon on such an injury is not text book but at the time I had minimal problems. However, over the following weeks I began to get more and more problems with the back of my ankle and calf. Was it Achilles tendonitis? Or was it Achilles bursitis? The Friday morning the day before the Beesands marathon it became apparent that it was more likely posterior impingement syndrome secondary to the injury. All along I’d felt that the ankle was not properly aligned. I needed to get some advice/treatment quick or else the reality was the marathon whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifas off.

Thankfully I managed to get hold of Chris Gazeley (Osteomyologist) at the Gazeley Clinic, Iron Acton, Bristol and he very kindly saw me that morning. As suspected I’d manipulated my ankle (i.e. put it out of place) at the time of injury, and bio mechanically this had led to my tibula and fibula seizing up, strained muscles etc. As Chris put it – you can’t run if your tibia, and especially fibula, aren’t moving. Well you can, but it leads to problems!! I then spent the treatment breathing through the pain of having my tib/fib and my fibula head manipulated, plus trigger pointing on my soleus (calf) and plantar facia (foot). I then asked Chris if he thought I’d be mad to run an off road marathon the next day? His reply – anyone who runs marathons is mad, but you’ll be fine now! I left his clinic feeling sore but happy, armed with further advice on what to do pre-race.

Hubby Pete was also able to make it to this round so I was able to have a warmer, more sociable, night in the van. Overnight there was lots of rain but as with previous events the rain had subsided by the morning and the day looked promising. I’d taken my trusty Inov8 roclite shoes to run in, Pete had a selection! Thankfully he listened and went for the roclite shoes too. The size of the puddles on the ground near the van suggested that it might be a bit muddy on route. I was right! Later at the race briefing Gary the race director also mentioned mud as one of the risks en route, as well as numerous others including rocks, roots, branches, cliffs, steps, sheep, mad cows, mad farmers, tractors, fellow competitors. He also mentioned ‘a surprise’ in the village of Beesands.

At 9am the race officially started, though this time around all competitors had to ‘dib’ which allowed a staggered start. Consequently it wasn’t such a mad dash. Soon the Beesands surprise was revealed to us: a little deviation onto the beach instead of staying on the road through the village. Just beyond the steps up from the beach was the start of the coastal path. I’d done the half marathon a few years previously but forgotten just how beautiful this section is. The first 11.4 miles was totally on the coastal path running up and down past Start point and Prawle point to the coastline opposite Salcombe. It was made all the more beautiful by the glorious day (yes I was over dressed!). The views were far reaching and it was an impressive sight of the competitors strung out along the path way into the distance (and behind). Extra interest was provided by the helicopter filming the event and the aforementioned mud. Yes lots and lots of deep thick slippery mud. At times it was more of a skate than a run, but still lots of fun.

Despite feeling overly tired before the start (not a good way to be before heading off on a 27.6 mile multi terrain run!), the section along the coast path invigorated me.

Jue enjoying the coastal path beyond Start Point

However, once off the coastal path onto the tracks and minor roads inland it became much more of an effort. On the steeper hills I was reduced to a walk by my lack of energy and my calf complaining (or was the latter just a good excuse to walk?!). Thankfully I kept eating and drinking or who knows what would have happened. On the more off road sections I felt a little better. However, the road sections were more of a drag! The only consolation was that I wasn’t alone in the suffering!

My interest was kept up by some fun, fast sections down a steep grassy hill and through the woods beyond. The northern part of the course was also interesting including a section on a raised boardwalk through a marshy area and then by the side of the river and waters of Slapton Ley to Slapton Sands. From there the last 2.6 miles was back on the coastal path. Mostly it was flat with a sting in the tail to get up and over Limpet Rocks, with the reward of the sight of the finish flags from the top. It was a slow walk up but a fast run back down, with the momentum somehow keeping me going the last few hundred meters to the finish. I reckon I’d lost about 16 minutes on my usual competitors, but I’d made it! The time was irrelevant. I was very pleased just to have finished as I’d not expected to be able to start and had run the last 16 miles or so on empty!

I felt very tired afterwards. I managed to drive the first part of the journey home but then handed over to Pete. I fell asleep for the rest of the journey, went to bed early, and slept again (after breakfast in bed!) until lunchtime. Then I went to bed early that night. I’m still overly tired and just don’t feel well. I guess it was more that just the physical exertion of the race. But despite all this I still hope to be at Little Haven at the end of March for round 5. These events are too great to miss.

Thanks again to the Endurancelife team for another great event and to Chris Gazeley for making it possible for me to run.

Munro bagging with a difference

Ski touring in the Cairngorms.

Just back from an amazing few days in Scotland, ski-touring in the south east Cairngorms. Conditions are absolutely brilliant at the moment, all the snow has accumulated over the past few months and has settled after a recent spell of warmer weather. I got to ski some Munros for the first time and over three days accumulated nine new ones. The photos are of us skiing off An Socach and skinning up Carn Gheoidh.

For once a week's leave from work has coincided with a spell of high pressure over the UK. I am heading to the Lakes tomorrow for some more long days of running, getting my legs ready for a go at a faster Bob Graham at the end of April.

Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon

Several firsts here, my first race as a Team Inov 8 athlete, my first blog for Team Inov-8, my first Ultra Marathon for 2010 and I finished…

On Saturday I toed the start line apprehensively of the second running of the Glasgow to Edinburgh Double Marathon, a fairly recent addition to the Ultra calendar which appeared to be growing in popularity with a 100 entrants this year compared to small field of 20 last year and, even the lengthening of the course by nearly 2 miles to 56miles hadn’t put entrants off!<

The race follows the Forth & Clyde and Union canals and takes in the Antonine Wall which I couldn’t remember seeing and the Falkirk Wheel before leading competitors into the heart of Edinburgh finishing at the Edinburgh Quay; we were told at the start ‘just keep the canal on your left and you wont go wrong!’ so no need to navigate on this Ultra.

The forecast was for a great spring day perfect for Ultra running, and I had a superb support crew in Paul Hart and Dougie Brown both experienced endurance runners from Dumfries Running Club to help along the way at the five checkpoints.

The race started very swiftly with two Scottish International 100km Athletes Grant Jeans and Stephen Mason taking an early lead, I opted for a cautious start running in a small pack chatting to Lucy Colquhoun for a couple of miles, till I decided my legs had warmed up and increased my pace to just under 7min/mile.

With the course following the canal towpath it made for a very flat course underfoot conditions ranged from tarmac to slippery sticky mud which made the going tough at times and, this was theme for the whole route which made trying to keep at a continuous steady pace difficult.

After about 8miles I soon closed down on Stephen Mason in second place and went straight past him, trying to keep my pace steady and not worry how far Grant Jeans was in front, I went through the first checkpoint at 13miles in 1hr 30mins; 6minutes down on the leader, so with a fresh fuel bottle in my bumbag and sunglasses on as the weather was starting to get really nice I continued my pursuit of Grant.

The next stage to the Falkirk wheel had the worse underfoot conditions of soft sticky mud which just clung to the trainers and weighed them down sapping the energy out of the legs and, causing me to zig zag across the path to find solid ground. The path became easier just beforeBonny Bridge as I got closer to the Falkirk Wheel our second checkpoint, where my support crew refuelled me and informed me that I had only taken 30seconds out of Grants lead.

I climbed the only hill in the course next to the amazing feet of engineering the Falkirk Wheel to join up onto the Union Canal which I would follow all the way to Edinburgh. I was surprised how picturesque the course was turning out to be specially with the different views from what I was expecting a rather monotonous canal run, like seeing the Ochills covered in snow the over side of the Forth Estuary as I started to leave Falkirk. The canal then goes through a very long dankly lit long tunnel which was a really bizarre experience as water dripped down from the tunnel roof.

Shortly after the tunnel I passed through the first marathon in 2:58.20 and a few miles later noticed Grant up ahead and trying to not speed up closed the gap and at 29.5 miles moved up into first place, just as my right thigh tightened up with cramp which was a common theme for the rest of the race.

I was able to maintain my lead on the following stage after Linlithgow to Broxburn where my Forerunner started having reception problems and showed my pace ranging from 14min/mile to sub 6min/mile pace, it even later on in Edinburgh started thinking I was going backwards as I saw the distance I had covered decreasing as I was moving forward!

From Broxburn there was a short 5mile section to Ratho where the final checkpoint was before the last section into Edinburgh began and the pain and monotonous of the route really started to kick in mainly due to not knowing my pace or distance with my Garmin playing up but also with being in the built up area of Edinburgh not knowing how soon the finish would appear.

Finally I could see the end of the canal but not the finish as it was conveniently hidden round a corner, I tried a sprint finish but only managed a small increase of my pace as I exuberantly crossed the finish line in 6:22:56, 18minutes ahead of the rest of the field place and, a new course record.

A great way to start the year off!

Monday, 8 March 2010

Back to winning ways...

Open5 Success
A good race both on bike and foot means a return to the top of the table.
After a win at a local night mtb score event and good run out orienteering around Coledale on Thursday night, last week was topped off by a gloriously sunny day of Adventure Racing in and around Sedbergh in the Western Dales. After being too optimistic on the bike in the South Pennines, we looked at this map differently, and as well as route choices, we decided which controls we would prefer to drop before the start.

Once we had started and knew the control values the plan was confirmed - we'd drop one far out control on the bike and aim to leave plenty of time for the run. The bike went smoothly, with fabulous riding on the fast and dry trails. Coming into transition after exactly 3 hours gave us the confidence to stretch out on the run, our X-talons proving once again the perfect race shoe on the varying terrain - rock, ice and mud, hardpack, steep fell and grassy fields. We left one run control worth only 5 points and headed off the fell to where solid navigation through a maze of farms and footpaths brought us in to finish 14 minutes early. 580 points out of 600, our highest total so far in these events.

Looking forward to racing as well again in North Wales on Easter Monday for the final Open5 of the season.

Pwllheli Triathlon Owain - Llŷr James

Pwllheli Triathlon.

During the 20km bike leg. Finishing my 5km run to come in second in my first senior triathlon.

Triathlete Owain Llyr James was in action again last weekend, competing in his first senior triathlon. Owain is currently sponsored by Revolution Bikes of Bangor and Team Inov 8, and competed in the Pwllheli triathlon on a cold sunny morning, with 71 athletes taking part.

This race came on the back of Owain’s aquathlon win at Aberystwyth in February.

No 1 and first to go in the pool was Owain, with a 30 second break before the next athlete started. A good swim by Owain saw him having the best swim time of the day by a margin of 43 seconds in a 400m swim time of 5 minutes 18 seconds. Next discipline was a 12 mile time trial, before returning to the leisure centre at Pwllheli for the start of the 5km run around the harbour in Pwllheli. With about 300 meters to go on the run stage Owain was passed to come in second.

G3 Fell Race Series Win!

It was fairly clear from very early on that I was not going to have to work as hard as the last race to win and to take the G3 (Guildford 3) series win with a clean sweep. For whatever reason, unknown, my previous rival did not attend.
I still worked hard though and finished in 8th place overall, 4 mins 20 down on the men's race winner but 5 mins 26 clear of the next woman.

I did get beaten by my orienteering coach....but I must have had a hard week training or something....

The Lakes

I've had two weekends up in the hills in the lake district, in glorious sun and tshirt/shorts temperatures in the last month and I am starting to believe it's always sunny there!
(picture above Pike o Blisco in Feb)
This weekend, after being put back together by Kim I had enough range of movement in my hip to do a bit of work on my ascending skills! I had decided the open5 wasn't the moment to check I could run or bike so on saturday I headed off up Harter Fell on a gentle run to test the waters, and as that was ok ish, I decided to recce the Coniston fell race route on the Sunday. Best idea ever! Blue sky and snow made for great views, and wetherlam proved a challenge to practice ascending on! I wore my Mudclaw 330s which coped well, even on the compact frozen snow, although I did take a bit more care on the sheet ice we found going up swirl how. The X talons Wil was wearing appeared to do a better job on the slippier sections (but I think part of that was who was wearing them....)
The best line down from Old Man was dangerous due to compact snow ( I didn't fancy a repeat of my sledging incident off Red Brook in the Kinder Trial - There was further to go off Old Man!) so we diverted a bit - will have to check it out again before the race. Now I have to wait and see if my entry made it in in time! Fingers crossed!

Welsh Orienteering Champs

A beautiful spring day showed Bwlch Nant yr Arian off to it's finest - crystal clear blue skies and a bracing northerly wind made it hard to get a comfortable clothing choice. It must have been 20 degrees in the sun out of the wind, but felt about -20 in the windy shade!

The area was a good one for me - lots of tough tussocky open hillside with decent climbs, mixed with dark woodland areas, rough felled areas and Narnia type nobody's-ever-been-here-before areas. All of it physical, and all of it felt slow.

As it happened every else must have felt the same, as I finished first running up on the open M21 course instead of my M35 age group. I think I had about 8mins over 2nd place, but results aren't up yet and I'm going on heresay!

It was a busy day for the rest of the family too as Jenny got value for money on the W35L course, we think finishing 2nd, and Eben got to see the Red Kites being fed just before prize giving - an amazing sight as 20 or 30 huge raptors circle above the visitor centre then dive to the feeding station. Well worth a visit if you're in the area (2pm winter, 3pm summer). The bike trails looked good too, but I was babysitting so didn't get to try them.

Shoe wise I was using the old prototype Mudclaw O 340's with the metal dobs, which have had a hammering over the winter. They have been a fantastic training aid in all the ice we've had (and are still having). Jenny has been running in those Kahtoola foot spikes, which are excellent, but it's been really good to just pull on the 340's and know that I'll have traction in the worst conditions I've been training in. I can only recommend a pair of the new O shoes to anyone who regularly finds themselves running in snowy conditions, whether orienteering or not.

Next stop is the Highlander with Chris in a few weeks time. He's going like a train at the moment, and we're looking for a 3rd win there, hopefully in Torridon '08 type conditions!

Tim

Friday, 5 March 2010

The Preparation.

It's February 27th 2010, 2 months before I make my first steps on the Pacific Crest Trail. There is gear strewn around my spare room, boxes opened with boots hanging out, lists of things to do, stuff to buy, arrangements to be made and bits to organise. This is the part I don't relish, I just want to get out there and start walking, the mechanics and organisation, whilst necessary, annoy me.

I doze off every night imagining the first few weeks walking through the southern Californian desert. Daytime temperatures in the 90's and the nights dipping to below freezing. I think this will be the hardest section of the whole hike. Unrelenting temperatures, gear being worn in, my body screaming 'What the hell are you doing'? The first 3 weeks in particular will be the sternest test, once I get through that I know it can only get easier. . .

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

4 Go Wild in Patagonia

Adventure Racing team Helly Hansen Prunesco have retained the Wenger Patagonia Expedition Race title after a gruelling 6 day race in Tierra del Fuego, becoming the first team ever to do so...

Treated like celebs before the race with lunch at the Santiago Polo Club courtesy of local sponsors Prunesco between flight connections, followed by pre race interviews for TV in Punta Arenas, we tried to keep expectations in check, at least in public... It wouldn't be very British to be public about our desire to win the race again, and it would also be very presumptive - this is a very tough race and much can disrupt even the best laid plans.

However the fact was that we were in Chile for 2 reasons; to see parts of Tierra del Fuego that are difficult for even adventurous tourists to see, and to win the race again. To be honest anything else would have been a disappointment. We could not know the calibre of the opposition but had the experience from last year to build on so would not be giving it up without a serious fight. The previous experience also allowed us to make some changes to the kit we´d use, and which ultimately meant less suffering this year than last...

Right after the race my head is fried – 10 uncomfortable hours sleep over 6 days will do that to you - but in summary it turned out much like we´d expected. We knew that the race would really shake out in the mountains - specifically the big mountain stage. But prior to that they were some big miles to be clocked up on foot and bike.

The first stage along the beach was fast as 6 teams sought to establish some form of psychological advantage. In hindsight the pace was daft, it´s fairly pointless fighting over a few minutes at great physical expense when there are hours to be gained and lost later in the mountains. The Germans shot off into the distance only to lose it all with a nav error, the Swiss, Spanish and Canadians also finished the stage in close proximity. This had shaken out those teams with aspiration from those with just personal ambition. We kept ourselves in the mix and set off first on the bike after a swift transition.

The long bike sections are linking stages and reminded me of some of the horror of last years race. The wind is incredible and just incessant, it howls in your ears like a banshee for hours on end and sends you slowly mad. It also make actually riding quite difficult at times, at times we averaged just 10kmh into the wind on the flat despite best efforts at a chain gang, and many times we were just blown off the bike or into a ditch. Extra challenges cropped up with the lack of a transition bag (and hence food and maps for stages 3 &4) but we kept plugging away, knowing that the mountains were all that really mattered.

By the time we arrived at the Cordillera Darwin we had a few hours over other teams and they had already started to crack a little. We were in good shape and set-off into the mountains in the company of Mike Kloser (filming for Hatch TV) in the early hours - perfect timing. We knew that daylight in the mountains is the most valuable commodity as there would be many times that navigation would only be possible with the benefit of daylight with the maps provided. Bruce later endeared himself to a checkpoint volunteer by describing the maps as cartoons, to find that the volunteer was also the cartographer...

I could spend a week describing this and the following stages and in no way do them justice. They're a sublime mix of extroardinary beauty and extreme physical and mental challenge, both expected and unexpected. This included finding the promised Tyrolean was not in place over a fast flowing river which delayed us by many hours before we decided to swim it - not something I was keen on...

Exiting the stage after 2.5 days, we had build a massive lead as the other challengers struggled to cope. So the last 2 stages should have been fairly comfortable, but that is never the case with Patagonia, and unsurprisingly there was a sting in the tail... We were told the final foot stages were mainly marked and easy trails so relaxed, cut our kit to a minimum, and looked forward to some easy running and an early finish. Cue yet more decimated forest, disappearing trails, beaver dams and a howling blizzard for good measure as we fought our way finally to the finish. Quite a subdued affair in the early hours, and not great TV, but this final twist had drained the last of my mental and physical reserves and I could barely stand as I fought back the tears on the finish line. My 42nd birthday and what way to celebrate it.

Keep an eye out for the TV programme which should air on Channel 4 and Sky later in the year. We had a sneak preview of some of the footage at the post race party and it is spectacular, especially the helicopter footage. More photos are available at the event website and via the team website.

Monday, 1 March 2010

The Pacific Crest Trail in Inov8 boots.

On Monday, April 26th of this year I will place a hand on a twenty foot high metal border wall that separates southern California and the USA from Mexico. This dry, lonely place, about 20 miles south of San Diego marks the starting point of the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650 mile, 6 month walking route that ends at the border with Canada.

From desert to glacier-flanked mountain, meadow to forest, sub zero temperatures to highs in the 100’s, bears, snakes, exposure, fatigue and all manner of obstacles to overcome make this not only a huge physical challenge, but a massive psychological one as well.

There is a good argument that footwear is the most important piece of equipment to get right. Traditional wisdom states (correctly) to go as light as possible. Because of this many long distance walkers wear trainers. This means they have little support on the soles, little on the ankles, and no waterproof lining for wet conditions and the higher elevations covered in snow.

I’m proud to be using Inov8 Roclite 288 GTX’s for my expedition. Providing the light weight I need with the protection as well. The rules for foot wear on long distance walk are being re-written . . .

Noon Stone Fell Race

Saturday was the first English Championship Fell Race near Todmorden. It looked good and muddy with patches of snow before we started so I chose the mudclaw 270 to run in. It was a good choice and I flew past people coming down the first hill.
We then headed over stoodley pike and I kept the effort relatively easy, knowing the 3 miles of bog monster was still to come and I was planning on pushing hard through that, hoping to take a few places.
Running down towards the res, the piece of muddy banking I put my foot on gave way beneath me and I hit the deck hard, landing on my hip and my head. I managed to keep going another mile to the moor on the other side, but I was going very slowly and the minute I tried going uphill it was apparent I couldn't carry on. I couldn't raise my hip high enough to run up hill.
It was really dissapointing to have to stop the watch and turn around, back to stoodley pike but watching everyone run past me and knowing who was behind me reassured me that I am in the good shape I thought I was and looking at the results I was on for a big PB. So I need to look forward to the next race and get my hip moving again before then!

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