2010 so far: Marathons, Orienteering, Intelligent sport (TM), Bob Graham support and Emigration
2010 has been a really interesting year so far, and I'm sure there's more to come. Trail marathons, orienteering, Intelligent Sport, Bob Graham support, and (last but not least) a move to Toulouse "en famille" for two years.
First I ran in my first two marathon distance events: two second places in very picturesque Endurancelife Coastal Marathons. My wife Jue meanwhile nailed 7 of them in 7 months for her "7x7" Endurancelife t-shirt.
I haven't orienteered regularly for almost 20 years now, but started doing some events these last few years as it's such a great family sport. Most have been small local events, but this year it seemed rude not to take in the orienteering JK Festival at Easter and national championships, with both being so close to home (the first in the south-west and second on Cannock Chase). Being first back on first leg in the "120 years" JK relay was a real buzz. Then I got another second (in age category) at the nationals, after being pipped to the post by a New Zealand resident, one of my old contemporaries Bill Edwards.
The Harvester orienteering night relay wasn't so close to home, but I made the trip down to Kent from my Mum's as she and my step-Dad Tony kindly looked after the kids for the weekend. It would have been yet another second place - this time for my club (Bristol OK) - if I hadn't mis punched at one control. I know that I stuck my SI dibber in the box at the correct control..but didn't hold it there long enough, or check that the box had flashed and beeped. My first mistake with electronic punching (do correct me if my memory is being selective). Really not great to make it on a relay where I blow out the whole team. But lesson learned.
Then there was the UK Challenger Trophy with Team Airbus. This year I joined the "Performance" all male team with my old friends Martin "Rabbit" Warren as captain, and Jon "Forrest" Price along with new guys "Max Power" and Chris, now known as Simon (sorry Chris!). Our performance in the main event wasn't at the level Airbus usually achieves i.e. we didn't win outright. However, we delivered where it mattered most in the Channel 4 televised Grand Prix stage, smashing the opposition with an outstanding team performance. We out ran the other teams, and nailed every single "Brain Cell" challenge, including the near impossible super pressurised finishing line challenge. See the action for yourself on www.dreamteamtelevision.co.uk under Streaming/Intelligent Sport.
The big project in 2009 was to run a joint Bob Graham round with my wife Jue. In the end illness and injury, and events beyond our control resulted in a bold attempt with inadequate preparation. We got to Honister (going clockwise), but it wasn't quite on. This year I decided to support Jue for a joint BG attempt with our friend Eddie Winthorpe. On the Tuesday before the attempt was due I found out that I had managed to land a two year secondment to Toulouse. Starting at the beginning of September. Due to this rather ambitious time frame combined with a fairly rubbish weather forecast, Jue made the right (but tough) decision to give it a miss. But with Eddie in unstoppable go for it mode, I headed up to the Lakes to support his attempt.
Despite heavy rain and strong winds over most of the day, Eddie was running ahead of schedule for much of the time. Unfortunately he had suffered a sprained ankle on the descent from Hall's fell in wet and gusty conditions (he was knocked off his feet!) and over the hours of running this started to catch up with him. Chris Gazeley and Trudy did an awesome support job, and Eddie was lucky to be able to tap into Chris' Osteomyologist skills. Never heard of them? Well, seeing as Eddie was scarcely able to get himself down to the road crossings fro Dunmail onwards, but after a 10 minute treatment at each one he had a couple of hours running without any problems, I would judge Chris' effectiveness as extremely high.
With this and the support runners (many thanks to Jim, Rod, Kate and Daniel) Eddie made it off Robinson (the last mountain) with enough time to jog to Keswick. But even with excellent treatment his problems had finally caught up with him and he could barely walk, and called it a day. Next time Eddie - you can make it with hours to spare in okay conditions and no injury!
But the really big project for 2010 has to be our move to Toulouse for two years. We have been looking at spending some time in France for quite a while (Jue has done almost two years of French evening classes) but this secondment was a bit of a long shot, so when we finally got the green light on 6th July, we didn't have much time left to get to France for the start of school term at the beginning of September. Moving house, selling car, finding new schools, and moving countries is still work in progress, but I am writing this from a hotel in Tournefeuille, a few hundred metres from our rented home to be. On Wednesday the kids will start school, and about then our furniture should catch up with us soon. So once we get over all the intial hurdles we're looking forward to some mountain racing (French style) and come winter some skiing in the Pyrenees, which are now only two or three hours drive away.
Watch this space..
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Pete's 2010 so far
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
4th and 6th place at World Orienteering Championships, 2010 (Norway)
(Photo: Scott Fraser, Graham Gristwood, Jon Duncan)
Monday, 23 August 2010
The Terrex looms large....
This weekend sees the big adventure race of the year - the Terrex. Starting with a prologue on thursday evening the race proper then kicks off 'very early' on friday morning according to James Thurlow, the organiser. This is proper expedition racing - 4 days non-stop, with a good field of the UK's active adventure racing teams. Other big races in Europe and further afield have meant that the Irish teams are the most international enties, but hopefully that won't diminish the standard of the racing.
Inov-8 is well represented with the main team who have posted their own blog, but also Chris Near and I are racing as half of the Team planetFear.com. It's been a bit of a last minute scrabble as we were forced into looking for a new lady for the team only a few weeks ago, and with such short notice and such a long race, coupled with the fact that most other established racers are already competing, made for quite a hunt. No stone was left unturned and we evenually found Sally Ozanne hiding underneath one!
Sally brings a good background in endurance, paddling, biking and running and climbing to the team, and she happens to be an instructor at Plas y Brenin too! She's very much our new secret weapon, and we're ready to surprise the other teams..... . Everyone says she's very cheerful and very hard too. We're all certainly going to need to be both of those to win this race.
Follow both team's progress over the weekend at
http://www.adidas-ar.com/newsite/index.php
See you on the other side.....
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Mt. Werner Classic, SteamBoat Springs, Colorado
Sorry bit short of blogging time so just quick info from race week last sat.
16th Annual Mt. Werner Classic
Steamboat Springs, Colorado,USA
12mile 3472’ vertical mountain race
Aug 7, 2010
Results:
1st Paul Raistrick 1: 43: 29sec
Race start Gondolla Base Station 6930’ followed by 9.5mile ascent (with occasional descent) to summit of Storm Peak 10372’. Then 2.5mile descent finishing half way up mtn at top of Gondolla 9080’.
See:
Course:
http://www.runningseries.com/sites/ssrs.signup4races.com/files/imagecache/sponsors/Mt._Werner_Classic_Course_Map_and_Description.pdf
Media:
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/aug/07/mount-werner-classically-challenging
Friday, 20 August 2010
Snowdon Trial and R'adys Swiss MM 2010
Last week was a bit busy, with some terrex prep and the world championships mountain running trial followed by a road trip to the swiss alps!
On Saturday 7th August I (along with Rob Little) spent the day on ulswater with Kim, perfecting paddling and ropework ready for the terrex. I now have 2 star kayak under the new rules which will come in very helpful for adventure racing!
That night me and Rob headed down to Llanberis for the world champs trial the following day. I wasn't sure what to expect of myself here but having had endless PBs this year and feeling really strong uphill since riding in Portugal I was hoping I might be running well enough to make the U23 team going to Smarna Gora. The trial went from Llanberis up the tourist track to the summit of Garnedd Ugain, 4.5miles with over 900m climb! I set off well, not pushing it too hard on the steep start section and settled into a rhythm. My X-talons were perfect for this race, giving grip when needed but being fine for the less technical running. I could see Emma Clayton, Zanthe Wray and Ali Lavender (U23 team 2009) ahead but wasn't gaining any ground on them! I had a bit of a battle with a welsh girl as it got steep towards the top and suddenly I was past Ali and gaining on Zanthe. As it levelled off again the welsh girl pushed for the top and disappeared into the mist. Ali then came charging back past, running with her boyfriend for support. Thankfully the top had another steep section in store and I made it back past Ali in the last 200m. I finished 2mins 30 down on the 1st U23, this put me in 4th U23 position and an amazing 16minutes faster than in the 2008 trial! I think this means 1 place and 30s out of selection, which is very disappointing but I will be back next year to try again! This is the best performance in a race I've had this year so I couldn't ask for more than that.
The following Wednesday I set off with Wil on a road trip to Pontresina in Switzerland. A long drive later and a stop over night we arrived and set up camp for a bit of aclimatization before the r'adys Mountain Marathon which started on Saturday 14th August. Thursday we spent walking around and on Friday we ran up to the morteratsch Glacia (above). On Thursday I felt like I wouldn't be able to run anywhere, but by Friday evening, having registered I was feeling a lot more ready!
Now, I thought we were on holiday, but according to Wil we were going to win! So on Saturday morning I set off in the mass start with that target!
The weather was looking a bit threatening but it was dry when we started (if not a little cold).
We set off at a good pace and were racing with the leading group on the short mixed class. After a few. We quickly found our navigation experience to be of great benefit and meant we took some good lines that kept us in contention. At about 10km of running wil started to suffer a bit and sadly this was one section we couldn't rely on navigation for. Over an hour of track running with little nav option meant we lost a lot of time to the other teams, that we couldn't catch back even when it got rocky towards the end. A slight nav error (we were looking for a pond that turned out to be a marsh, with marsh that looked like a pond 100m from it) lost us a few more minutes and we made it to overnight camp in 3hrs33, half an hour down on the winners in 7th position!
We put the tent up and then it started raining.....and didn't stop....but got harder....a bit like the OMM....
It was nice to be inside a dry tent at this point, I didn't envy those who were coming in after 8hrs, drenched!
After a wet night in a tent it was difficult to prise ourselves out of sleeping bags at 6am, it was COLD! and WET! After making it out of the tent though it wasn't all that bad. We set off in the chasing start and caught the first pairing by the 1st control (although these were in the female pairs catagory). The major climb of the day came all at once (about 800m of it) heading to control 4. This was where we started to get caught, but wil was adamant we should be going slow, so I sat behind him in order to not get excited and follow teams passing us up the hill. One team looked set on destruction, with the woman trying desperately to hang onto the guy who was pushing hard up the hill. We emerged at the top and found lots of loose slate like rock to negotiate. Perfect! We moved quickly over this taking direct lines where others were taking slightly easier routes around. By the 5th control we had caught everyone we had been overtaken by and at 6 we caught a team that started 10mins ahead of us!
We were flying...then I fell over giving myself an impressive dead leg! And a lapse in concentration meant a mess up on the nav front losing us vital minutes and a position or 3...
We ran as fast and direct as possible to control 8 and then hammered it down the hill (this hurt a lot as my leg wanted to collapse underneath me and I insisted it didn't!). We caught one of the pairs that had overtaken us but finished just behind the team that had started 10mins ahead of us. We finished 7th again (very consistent) and 8th overall! Not bad for a holiday but not entirely winning :-)!
The first day we had run 19km with 900m climb, starting at 2000m, the second day 17km with 900m climb with a max height on 2800m.
Lesson learnt for next time is: 1) stay a bit longer at altitude beforehand and 2) buy a second map to avoid nav mistakes!
Now it's a bit of a rest before the Terrex on bank holiday weekend!
Thursday, 19 August 2010
World Orienteering Champs 2010 Trondheim, Norway
Offa's Dyke Path
For 177 miles (285km), from Chepstow in south Wales to Prestatyn in North, the Offa’s Dyke Path winds along the Welsh / English border, roughly following the line of the 1200 year old frontier earthworks that gives it its name. This magnificent long distance footpath ranges over terrain as diverse as any you would find in Britain : over the Black mountains, goes beside the banks of the meandering Severn and Wye rivers, through the Shropshire hills, follows canal towpaths and old drovers roads and it traverses the whaleback ridges of the Clwydian Hills.
The border country is the land of Merlin and Arthur, a land of history and legend, from which sprang Owain Glwndwr and the lord of the rings!!
Running
I decided to capitalize on time off from work, challenge myself and put in some hard mountain running miles. When running Offa’s Dyke Path was mentioned it definitely ticked all the boxes and my decision was made immediately. It also fitted into my travel plans as I would be returning to London from a Grand Prix Mountain Running race in Ebensee, Austria. A short train trip from London to Chepstow and Bingo I would be almost home!!!
My Route
Chepstow to Pandy, 33 Miles with 1610 meters of ascent.
Pandy to Kington, 32 Miles with 1400 meters of ascent.
Kington to Forden, 33 miles with 2000 meters of ascent.
Forden to Trefonen, 24 miles with 800 meters of ascent.
Trefonen to Llangollen, 18 miles with 400 meters of ascent.
Llangollen to Bodfari, 24 miles with 1375 meters of ascent.
And finally, Bodfari to Prestatyn, 13 miles with 700 meters of ascent.
I was fortunate to be joined on route by some great friends, mainly runners and tri-athletes. Ranging from good club runners to GB tri-athletes to Welsh International mountain runners who all made for fantastic company and adding to my motivation. I stayed at either YHA’s or with friends and was shown extraordinary kindness from start to finish.
Essential Kit
Inov-8 trainers, Roclite 315’s and an Inov-8 Race Pro 12 backpack.
The land
Wales is truly a magnificent country. Scenery to rival any where in the world, history and legend to match and warm hearted people fill our land from south to north. My journey over Offa’s Dyke gave me hour on hour, day after day of inspiration, peace and freedom while having an overriding feeling of being part of the countryside and environment.
Happy days.
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Joss Naylor Challenge
You have to be over 50 to take up this particular challenge so my involvement was in a pacing / supporting role – although maybe a useful recce for 13 years time . After a few weeks of mixed weather ( it is after all school hols !) we were blessed with the most stunning days on the Cumbrian Fells. I was supporting Dave Say ( Work Colleague, BGR completer, 3 Peaks Yacht Race oficionado and all round good egg). The 48 mile route from Pooley Bridge to Wasdale had to be completed in under 18 hours ( Dave is 61 although i think we need to see his birth certificate to verify that one ). So, with a 17:30 schedule we set off at quite a lick from Pooley Bridge at 3am on Sunday. A brilliant shooting star lit the sky above Loadpot hill and then we were greeted with a fantastic sunrise that wouldn't have been out of place in the alps. Road support at Kirkstone and then Dunmail before the long stretch over Langdale and the rocky hills beyond. It was definitely one of the best days this year to be out on the hills and to top it off we met a certain Mr Naylor on Seatallan who then accompanied us over to Middle Fell and then onwards to the finish at his house in Greendale. As he set off from the summit i could hardly believe my eyes ... wooden walking stick in hand and bent double he hobbled down the hill at a hell of a rate ! Finishing in a time of 16 hours 30 minutes it was a job well done and a day to be remembered for a long time to come. Chris Near
Ultra Tour Du Beaufortain
FAQ – "Why this race ?". Well, 3 years ago I just happened to be at the campsite in Quiege (start of the race and the "gateway" to the Beaufortain region) when a chap came along and started putting up banners for the race. I mentioned to him that I too did a bit of running and fancied doing a race whilst out on holiday. But when I enquired further about the actual details of the race I found that it was in fact 103kms over 2 days – not the sort of thing I'd be doing with little warning or after several really long days on the road bike . The race did however appeal and I guess it stayed lodged in the back of my mind . So to 2010 and the idea of finally doing the race once again came to the fore. This year was to be the first year that it'd be done as a single stage - 103km and 5850 metres of climb – starting at 4am with a maximum completion time of 26 hours. In the last few years I'd knocked off the three major UK rounds in respectable times and felt pretty confident that I'd be OK on this sort of thing but there were lots of unknowns. The weather was likely to be pretty hot and although I'd done this sort of distance plenty of times, the actual prospect of lining up with 200 others to race around something like the Bob Graham Round seemed a little ridiculous. Also, I wasn't too heartened to stumble across a magazine article for the Tour which recommended spending 5 days walking the route ! The pre-race organisation was great although we endured a 45 minute route briefing which made us think that we'd be navigating for the entire way. The opposite was actually the case as the entire route was marked and marshalled at any decision points. That explained why a Map and Compass was not even on the required kit list and why only 2 runners ( Me and Tim ) appeared to have maps with them at the start of such a huge race through the mountains ! We stood out for other reasons too – no knee length compression socks , golfing visors or hot pants !! Just pale grey- looking and pumping out sweat after only minutes of running up the first hill ( maybe the 1 day acclimatisation was not such a great idea after all !) 3:50 and a bit of 80's music is just what you need before the start at 4am. But, just how fast would people set off on something like this ? Surely not too fast ……… Well, actually it was Flat out along a forest road and then thank god , the first climb – all 1500 metres of it and a chance to get into a reasonable pace. The first half of the race was alpine running at it's very best . Some big climbs, single track ,rocky stuff and some mighty impressive mountains all at about 2000 – 2500 metres altitude. The route taking us around Pierra Menta was simply stunning. They clearly do do things differently in French races - The numerous feed stations looked more like large buffet tables. I guess they get used to eating this stuff during a running race but I searched along the table for something my stomach could actually tolerate in the dry heat . I bypassed the Chorizo & Salami, didn't fancy the plates of cheese either and certainly couldn't force any dry French bread down either. To top it off one of the marshalls actually offered to fill by waterbottle with strong black coffee !! Luckily there was some nice chopped fresh fruit – this along with numerous Powergels that I carried formed my diet for the entire race ( not forgetting a good quantity of Ibuprofen too). The halfway point was at the Cormet de Roseland – a fantastic road col that I had biked over many times before on trips through the Alps, most recently the day before the race as I tried to force myself to get used to the heat. At this point I had all but caught the 4th runner although he was out of the feed station and away before me. The next stage took on part of the Tour de Mont Blanc route and with this came the crowds. Reasonably Busy on the fantastic Cretes des Gittes ridge but on the descent from the Col du Bonhomme towards Les Contamines I felt like I was back on the Snowdon path on a Saturday afternoon. Glad to get off the TMB superhighway we made a sneaky climb over the Col de Fenetre and then a long contour path to the Col du Joly and Les Saisies before the final long descent back to Quiege . This second half saw me suffer from cramp in the quads to the point that I was struggling to run down any hills – at one point I took my bottle of concentrated sea salt and squirted it straight into my mouth . To my surprise it didn't taste too bad which was probably a bad sign ! I also felt incredibly sick whilst trying to eat or drink. I felt sluggish and had to give myself a talking to more than once. I slipped back on time which was frustrating and inevitably I guess I lost a couple of places , finally finishing in 6th position ( 14 hours 15 minutes ). It had been a real learning experience . On finishing, I vowed not to do the race again but 10 days later I could be tempted. I had done enough to get in the prize giving but knew I could have done much better and it was this that would draw me back to do the race again. I would be better prepared next time. Best bit ……. Finishing & promptly throwing up – but felt much better for it !. Worst Bit …. Thought of the final descent (1500m) with solid cramp in both quads Best kit ……. Carbon Trekking Poles – unimaginable pain without them. Worst Kit …. Map – really didn't need it as the route was so well marked Best Prize … Local produce – cheese & wine to enjoy for the holiday Worst Prize .... Boule cleaning kit & Beaufortain cheese-making DVD ! While the race was tough , for me it did only last for 14 hours ( the last runner came back in 25 hours ). The real endurance event however was surely done by the organisers who spent 3 days pretty much non-stop from registration to the enormous prize-giving ceremony and meal after the race. A huge thanks to everyone who made this such a great event. Details of the race can be found on the website www.ultratour-beaufortain.fr
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Welsh Triathlon Vest - Owain Llŷr James
I travelled to Parc Bryn Bach in Tredegar on Sunday in order to take part in the Welsh Triathlon IRC qualifier. An early registration at 6am, saw the best triathletes from Wales, and many from England who wanted to take part in the race prior to the Inter Regional Championship in September.
I was racing at 9am, which included a 600m open water swim, 12kM draft legal technical bike course, followed by a flat 3km run. 18 athletes walked into the cold lake at Parc Bryn Bach at 9am. I took and early lead, taking full advantage of my swim speed, before I was passed with 50m to go. A 100m run followed to the transition from swim to bike, which saw me re take the lead with an excellent transition.
A 12km cycle ride followed, which saw the eventual winner, Liam Lloyd from Llanelli, take the lead. The bike ride included 3 laps of two hills, a flat section and technical turns, which saw myself and two others competing for 2nd place.
Back to transition for the 3kM run saw me fighting for 2nd place and a possible Welsh Triathlon vest. At the half way point, I made my move and stormed ahead into second place, coming home in overall 2nd position in a excellent 3kM run of 9.09min.
Automatic selection was not an eventuality, as previous form was taken into account from all previous races. I've had a busy year, taking part and doing very well in a number of senior triathlons. I've also won the Salford Aquathlon series at Manchester, and was 13th in the British Aquathlon Championships at Hyde Park, London. With the Welsh Triathlon selectors watching closely, it was a long 24 hours before I was confirmed as a Welsh Triathlete. I'll return to Parc Bryn Bach on the 19 September to compete against my fellow Welsh, and also Scottish and English Regional triathletes.
Pictures can be seen on the sportpicturescymru website.
Sunday, 8 August 2010
World Championship Trial, Crone Ireland 07/08/2010
The race started from Crone Wood car park and finished at the summit of Djouce covering 6km with 691m climb.
Not knowing the course and what the ground would be like I decided to use the f-lite 230 which proved to be a great decision as a lot of the race was over stone tracks and most of the grass tracks had been sheltered from the rain. Another perfect performance from what is becoming my favourite shoe.
Like the last few weeks the weather was changing every 5 minutes from strong sun to heavy rain. After a few hundred metres I was in 7th position as we made our way up a narrow stone path before leaving the tracks and heading up a steep grass track through the woodland, I think by this point I was in 4th . I finally came to the short but rocky descent which allowed me to move into third position. As we started the final climb I was passed by two, the whole field seemed to be picking up the pace but I couldn’t go with them. I watched them gradually pull away and could hear a couple catching me. As one of them came level I worked alongside him until about 50metres to go and gave it everything finishing in 5th place in 37:36.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Photoshoot in the French Alps
The last few days have been one of the most intense and enjoyable ones this year. 
I was invited to model for Inov-8 and had the honour to be photographed by one of the most reknown photographers, Alex Telfer and his crew. I arrived in Geneva Monday afternoon where the first shot took place. The theme throughout the entire shoot was to add that extra punch, vibrance and energy to each picture.
This was actually the first time ever for me and my partner to model and I loved every second of it. Luckily the weather was steady for the time being and after we were all set and done in Geneva, we headed off to Chamonix in the French Alps and enjoyed a nice meal in a cosy busy restaurant.
A dream came true for me when I was running on the trails of the UTMB race course surrounded by the stunning beauty of the Mont-Blanc area the next day. Alex decided to capture the moment of us running up and down some ridges while the sun was breaking through the clouds. It was such a mystical atmosphere up there when you can almost 'hear' the silence.
Alex shot about 1100 pictures in only three days and the best ones are going to be printed in catalogues and brochures for Inov-8's fall/winter 2011 collection.
MTB racing without a map!
Last Sunday I did my second ever pure mtb race in the Midlands XC series at Birch Hall near Dronfield. The first mtb race I did last November was not a great success as we arrived a bit late, didn't recce it and I ended up a bit out of my depth for the first lap and then trying to build my way back up after that!
This time I was determined to get there in time for a warm up lap....and I did...just! My friend Helen was having door issues as her front door had eaten her key and refused to lock so we left a bit later than planned and without Helen or the new On-One Whippet which she was meant to be riding!
The Thursday before this we had been up to Stanage Plantation to take some photos of the new Pissei kit that Planet X are selling and have a ride around on the Whippet - it certainly lived up to its name! Very responsive and good fun!
At 10:20 I set off on a warm up lap of the 5.5km course, back on my massi. The first section was wide and uphill on grass, then came a bit of track before we hit the single track! There were a few rollers then some steep downhill with a berm that I wussed out of (taking the B route), then a good climb on slippy wet stone where it was faster (well for me anyway) and less effort to jump off and run! At the top it was back onto track before the final (and most fun in my opinion) bit of single track with lots and lots of rollers and steep drop offs! It was then race for the finish on tracks!
This all took just under half an hour - cutting it a little fine for the 11am sta
rt....
All the women set off together and the pace was fast from the start. I started on the back row but was quickly up into the leading group. I lost a bit on the first proper bit of climb, legs were still feeling the lakes running of last weekend slightly!
I settled into the race a bit better after the climb and was trying to hunt down the riders ahead. I was a bit unnerved by the fast overtaking by people riding faster than me in other catagories, but just had to trust they knew what they were doing! More unnerving was me overtaking (but I didn't crash so its all ok)!
After the first half of the first lap I didn't overtake any women or be overtaken by any women. I finished the first lap in just under 26mins. The second lap was harder work and I was about 1.5mins slower, overall taking just over 52mins for the 11km race. This was enough for 3rd in the Sport Catagory and 5th overall which I was very happy with :-)!
It was a lot of fun if not a little painful! The new shorter stem on my massi helped a lot with handling around the single track and the Pissei kit was very comfortable! It also survived my one crash into a thorn bush! Think that will be packed for the Terrex!
Today I saw Kim the physio about my ankle still hurting when running downhill, turns out the ankle is ok, probably some bone a bit bruised still and that is what is hurting. She loosened off my hip and bum that had tightened up a lot through compensation, so some stretching and time for bruising to go away and it should be fine by the Terrex!
