21 miles was the best i could do at the Coastal Marathon in Devon, but in my defence it had taken me 8 hours to drive from London to just outside Salcombe, the course was vertical in places, very very muddy and slippery. The scenery was stunning, seals, big waves, high cliffs and submarines.......
Hat's off too the people who finished, i jarred my back on one of the slippery sections and then a slight pull on my right calf was enough for me to call it a day, 21 miles in 4 hour was quite a hard slog. 3 weeks till the MDS i don't need to be getting any serous injury this close to the race.
But it does not get away from the fact that was my first DNF (did not finish) and that it my book is a failure.
All was not lost as i did have to walk 1 mile to and from the start, and later in the afternoon after a rest i walked 3 miles along the beach. so i did do 26 miles just not in one go and in the race so it is still a failure.......
Sunday 25 February 2007
Sunday 18 February 2007
Her Majesty could have popped out and cheared us on....
The Thames Path Ultra.....
50 Miles from Reading to Shepperton following the Thames Path (well the bits that weren't flooded or closed..) today's plan was firstly not to get any sort of injury, secondly to run the first 20 miles then walk the last 30 because that is what i suspect i will be doing on the 50 miles stage in the desert....now swimming trucks weren't on the essential items list but we could have done with them at the 5 miles stage as we found ourselves wading through freezing cold knee deep water one positive side to this was that it got rid of the tight feeling i had in both calf's....
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, Windsor castle was quite pretty, Tim rice (west end theatre bloke) said good morning...walked the last few miles with a lady celebrating her 50th birthday!! now don't let it be said that age dampens the competitive spirit, because with about 30 metres to go she sprinted off to cross the line before me.......
In the end the route was a couple of miles short of the 50 because of the flooding, but i finished in a time of 10hr 9mins, only 1 tiny blister to report and actually felt quite fresh....
Toady's lesson
Always keep a little back for the sprint finish even if you have just walked 50 miles!!!!
50 Miles from Reading to Shepperton following the Thames Path (well the bits that weren't flooded or closed..) today's plan was firstly not to get any sort of injury, secondly to run the first 20 miles then walk the last 30 because that is what i suspect i will be doing on the 50 miles stage in the desert....now swimming trucks weren't on the essential items list but we could have done with them at the 5 miles stage as we found ourselves wading through freezing cold knee deep water one positive side to this was that it got rid of the tight feeling i had in both calf's....
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, Windsor castle was quite pretty, Tim rice (west end theatre bloke) said good morning...walked the last few miles with a lady celebrating her 50th birthday!! now don't let it be said that age dampens the competitive spirit, because with about 30 metres to go she sprinted off to cross the line before me.......
In the end the route was a couple of miles short of the 50 because of the flooding, but i finished in a time of 10hr 9mins, only 1 tiny blister to report and actually felt quite fresh....
Toady's lesson
Always keep a little back for the sprint finish even if you have just walked 50 miles!!!!
Sunday 11 February 2007
The good old british weather......
Tuesday was sunny enough for just a tee shirt, thursday we had 5" of snow, and after a discussion about how i could not remember the last time it rained solidly for the whole day it did just that on Saturday......
Saturday:-
The plan was to go long again maybe 40 miles, but it was so cold and wet that idea was quickly forgotten, I decided that a slow run was probably a better idea at least this would reduce the time i would be cold and wet.
The result was 26 miles (a marathon) in 4hrs 45min with a 9kg (probably a bit heavier once it got wet) pack in the cold and wet and with a bit of a cold hanging around, no blister to report, but a fair amount of chaffing from my soaked clothes - ouch.....
Sunday:-
Beautiful sunshine, if not a little cold, felt good considering i had quite a hard day yesterday, once i was running the plan was 20 or so miles, after about 10 miles my shin started to hurt, so as not to do any further damage cut the run short, but still 13miles (a 1/2 marathon), stuck ice on my shin but it will OK tomorrow which is a rest day anyway.
Saturday:-
The plan was to go long again maybe 40 miles, but it was so cold and wet that idea was quickly forgotten, I decided that a slow run was probably a better idea at least this would reduce the time i would be cold and wet.
The result was 26 miles (a marathon) in 4hrs 45min with a 9kg (probably a bit heavier once it got wet) pack in the cold and wet and with a bit of a cold hanging around, no blister to report, but a fair amount of chaffing from my soaked clothes - ouch.....
Sunday:-
Beautiful sunshine, if not a little cold, felt good considering i had quite a hard day yesterday, once i was running the plan was 20 or so miles, after about 10 miles my shin started to hurt, so as not to do any further damage cut the run short, but still 13miles (a 1/2 marathon), stuck ice on my shin but it will OK tomorrow which is a rest day anyway.
Saturday 3 February 2007
Paying the price for clean trainers
06:00am start today, the aim was 8 hours solid walking covering 32 miles.
The early start was required so that i was back in time for the rugby (go johnny go), bit of a cold/sore throat thing going on but once i got going all was OK, the first hour was dark enough for my head torch (don't want to be falling in the canal this time of year) it was great to watch the sun come up shame it did little to raise the temp which was frosty to say the least, and i must say the birds put on a great dawn chorus
Everything looking good, about 12 miles out start to get a bit of a sore foot, must have something in my shoe, well it was the complete opposite it was what was missing that was the problem, i had forgotten to put the innersoles back in after i had washed them, this could turn out to be quite painful mistake.
Well i completed the 32 miles in 8 hours, but i did get 2 large blisters on my heals which are going to take a few days to settle down, very annoying, felt quite rough when i got back, quite feverish so watched the rugby at home and eat a big pizza...
Moral of the story, if you do get up at 05:00 in the morning to walk 32 miles check you innersoles before you set off!!!
The early start was required so that i was back in time for the rugby (go johnny go), bit of a cold/sore throat thing going on but once i got going all was OK, the first hour was dark enough for my head torch (don't want to be falling in the canal this time of year) it was great to watch the sun come up shame it did little to raise the temp which was frosty to say the least, and i must say the birds put on a great dawn chorus
Everything looking good, about 12 miles out start to get a bit of a sore foot, must have something in my shoe, well it was the complete opposite it was what was missing that was the problem, i had forgotten to put the innersoles back in after i had washed them, this could turn out to be quite painful mistake.
Well i completed the 32 miles in 8 hours, but i did get 2 large blisters on my heals which are going to take a few days to settle down, very annoying, felt quite rough when i got back, quite feverish so watched the rugby at home and eat a big pizza...
Moral of the story, if you do get up at 05:00 in the morning to walk 32 miles check you innersoles before you set off!!!
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