Adventure Challenge and Juneathon Day 22

Today was a bit unusual for a Monday in that I didn't run solo, a friend from the running club agreed to go on one of my rambles and while I enjoyed sharing one of my favourite routes, I'm not so sure he was as impressed! We did get in a solid 10 miles and I felt better than I have in quite a while on a longish run.  It also unlocked the Adventure Challenge badge on Strava where it gives me the opportunity to buy an exclusive tank top for the bargain basement price of $28 plus shipping charges of $15 and taxes of $5.60 for a grand total of $48.60/£30.69. Ummm, no. I can't afford race entries right now so I'm certainly not buying a branded shirt that is the equivalent to 2 or more races! I do highly recommend the Strava site if you like tracking stats and participating in fun competitions although it can become addicting--not that I'm obsessed with getting QOMs or course records or anything like that (read: totally addicted).

The Limited Edition top I am not buying 

Juneathon Day 22: 10 miles of hills, roads, trails, fields, woods, canals, rain, wind, sun, and poppies.  We had it all today!

A run in the fields with the mutts at the end of yesterday's run, change the quality to 720HD for the best viewing.

Bakewell BDL

Being silly pre-race

Race reports are funny things, you (or rather I) need to get them written while they are fresh in your mind, hence there not being one for the Chaddesden Park cross country race earlier in the month which is a shame because it involved several very cold stream crossings and me taking a wrong turn.

Crossing the stream at Chaddesden Park

Today as you may have surmised from the blog title was the league xc race at Bakewell which is new to the schedule.  Bakewell, for those not familiar is a very picturesque market town that is famous for the Bakewell Pudding--we've driven through many times but because it is so incredibly popular with tourists we've not taken the time to actually stop so I could sample the dessert.  That was remedied today...as part of our warm-up a couple of us walked over to The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop so I could buy one for after the race.

Bakewell Pudding!

Wasn't I supposed to be talking about a race??? Today we were fortunate to have a beautifully sunny and dare I say it--almost balmy temperatures for the last day of November.  Didn't mean the course was any less muddy though! There were 3 laps which meant going up a big damn hill 6 times, in reality the hill wasn't terribly huge but it sure does feel like a monster when you're clambering up it.  

Is it a grimace or a grin?

There was also a water crossing but the course designers very nicely provided an alternative route around. It was shorter going through the water of course and the first two times round I took the high ground to bypass it but decided on the last lap that I HAD to go through it just to say I did, there was a second or two gain but alas my legs were too trashed to take advantage of it.  My favourite sections were the massive downhills because I was confident enough in my shoes and ankles to take advantage of them and just let gravity do the work.  The flat sections around the bottom of the course over the plastic gridding were slightly soul-destroying though, not quite sure why but for some reason that area just felt odd, almost like it was sucking the energy out of me through the soles of my trainers.

Definitely a grimace.

I made it almost all the way through the race without any mishaps (yay me!) until the last lap and instead of leaping over the wood creating the steps on the first downhill I caught the edge of it and my right leg shot straight out to the side along the very slick wood (Miss Oops is back!). Imagine a very deep side lunge and you have what I ended up doing while trying to leap past an obstruction. OUCH!!!!!!! It's not good when the marshall audibly gasps and asks if you are all right. It certainly put an end to me being able to muster up any speed.  

Hmm, speed. There wasn't any for me today except for the aforementioned downhills but I'm not whinging about it--no, really, I'm not!  I've come off a hard week of training mileage wise and I am just happy to have gotten this one done for the club.  There was absolutely nothing left in me at the finish line, couldn't even muster up one last minute sprint so if anyone had charged by me they would have taken it easily.  No clue about my finish position, I couldn't even talk when I was handing over the token much less think to look at the number.  Would I do it again? Of course I would!

P.S. The Bakewell Pudding was delicious. However the after-race homemade flapjacks provided by Catherine were even more so!  

Lost one, won one

Like so many in the UK running community this past week I received the "Sorry" magazine that I was unsuccessful in the Virgin London Marathon lottery.  Guess that means I should get off my lazy arse and make up a running plan to try and train for a "Good For Age" entry time for next year but that means I would have to knock over an hour off my current marathon times...and try not to get injured in the process (again).

However the next day I noticed a post on the UK Women's Running Magazine facebook page that I'd won an entry into the Red Bull Steeplechase! I'd forgotten even entering the competition! Granted I knew I would get knocked out well before the final stage but who cares, this is an area I've been itching to run in anyways and to get a medal, hoodie, a bag, and a lunch for doing so...hell yeah! Ok, I've gone a little overboard on the exclamation marks, lol.  

Here's where things go a little awry--I've not felt well since Thursday so the nutrition has not exactly been stellar, ie I've not ate or hydrated enough for a hard-core trail run and Friday morning's normal run wiped me out. Not good but there was no way I was passing up the chance to run in the Peak District--did I mention we would get a hoodie as well??? 

Sporting the club colours--represent, y'all.

I've had some calf issues on the hills lately so thought the compression sleeves might be a good idea this time around. Looking at the crowd pics, I was not alone with that train of thought.  They did help but really the only thing is to get out and train on those hellacious inclines.  To me, the above shot also shows how bad I was feeling pre-race.

Wonder what's going on here? And just WHY did my partner take this pic? 

Apparently there was a malfunction with the gun so the guys didn't get the "On your Mark, Get set, Bang!" on their start. Us ladies did though ;-)

Ready to run! 

I think it must be an unwritten law in the UK that the majority of fell races must start with an evil uphill climb and this one was no exception.  The difference is that this is this one required the use of all your limbs to get up the steep incline--in between gasping for air, another girl made the comment that it was her first race to require the use of her hands on the ground to get up the hill...Wasn't my first but it doesn't make it any easier! 

And we ran! Until this started, then we hiked

And then we clambered. 

What goes up must come down...Eventually. Before we got to that point though we had to try and find a decent running rhythm on the undulating rock steps.  Which were slippy. And very hard, especially in shoes with no padding and hard plastic studs on the bottom.  

The downhill to match the uphill in the beginning was a doozy.  Slippery wet grass that hadn't dried out from the morning's frost made me appreciate the shoes I was cursing metres before. I was able to grip in and make my way down sideways fairly fast(ish)--speed is all relative when it comes to fell running.  Of course the moment I didn't grip in quite well enough and slid down a foot or two on my bum was probably the fastest part of that descent. Grass is nice and soft and I didn't find any rocky speed humps so no blood this time around.  

Not long after the steep downhill and before the halfway point of the first stage is where I started to get into trouble though.  I had already dialed down the speed I would usually do something like this at because of not feeling well but then I started to get dizzy spells. There was one mile where I'm not sure how I even made it through because it was so technical and I was having trouble focusing on the trail, I do know I stepped aside for several runners to allow them by but the rest of is a blur.  Fortunately I'd packed a 9bar in my spibelt and was able to swallow three bites of it, that seemed to help but I knew at that point I was done for the day even though I had a comfortable margin to continue on for the 2nd stage.  

I had a bit of a nice surprise at Bamford, walking up one of the last inclines I started getting heckled by my partner who had driven over to visit his mate while waiting on me.  It perked me up but I still didn't run that damn hill, lol.  As a matter of fact it energised me so much that once I reached the chutes and saw I was 71st female (cutoff was 85) I thought I would go ahead and run the second stage...that lasted right up to the point where we turned out of the field to go upwards again and I started feeling light-headed once more.  At that point I turned around and walked back to call it quits and catch a ride to the finish line on the shuttle bus, there was no need in endangering me, the others around me, and worse case scenario having to utilise the rescue services.  To continue on in an easily accessible road race is one thing, to do it on something like this would have been completely irresponsible on my part.  

This overall was a brilliantly organised event and I would definitely do it again--hopefully under better personal circumstances.  The marshalls were excellent and VERY encouraging (except for the one bloke who was more interested in his phone), the scenery is gorgeous, and it's extremely challenging.  The only complaint I could make would be the stewards not being aware of the amount of parking left at the top before sending several cars on up, that created some snafus because there wasn't a good turn-around place at the top.  Another tiny complaint is non-race organisation related but more other runner related--the British love of queues goes out the door when it comes to races!  I was practically shoved out of the way several times at the registration table...lol, I'm supposed to be the rude one being American and all (stereotypes, eh?). 

The bling

The swag was top-notch as well, we received a drawstring bag to put our gear in at the start, a medal, a canvas bag, a hooded sweatshirt, lunch, all the Red Bull you could drink as well as beer or cider if you wanted.  I had to say no to the beer tent though, I was feeling too ill.  

The obligatory aftermath pic

I have to talk about the hoodie some more, it's AMAZING. Very good quality, nice drawstring, the hood itself is lined with thermal type fabric, it's not the typical black, the graphics on the front and back are nice and it has THUMBHOLES!!!! Yes, I'm gushing about thumbholes, it's a female runner thing I think. 

Monday-Wednesday catchup

Friday's knee issue led to me taking two days off and I managed to catch a little something as well (sneezing, sore throat, achy joints, etc) so the weekend was pretty much a wash as far as getting anything productive done. Monday night was a short easy run with both the mutts to test out a Christmas present from my partner, the Silva Trail Runner II headlamp. There will be a more comprehensive review as soon as I get a chance to try it out properly.

Last night's workout with the club has been dubbed the Speedy Lampposts run by one of the other members and it can be a killer.  There's a pacer that maintains a 9 minute per mile pace and everyone else turns around and goes back 1, 1.5, or 2 lampposts then tries to catch back up to the "rabbit". Once you've caught back up, you catch your breath then do it all over again, it's much harder than it sounds but like everything it's all dependent on how much effort you put into it.  The difficulty is also increased by what is at first a slight incline that just keeps going and going.  After that part is done there is a much more laid back run up a steep hill then we run full out going down the other side of the hill.  Very good at simulating a race situation in that it forces you to keep pushing hard to catch up.  Good stuff, I love having the opportunity again to train with people who are faster and better than I am.

Speedy lampposts details

Today the conditions were less than ideal due to the 20 plus mph winds so Elsie and I headed out after lunch for a no-pressure trail run.  We both enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and since there wasn't anyone else out at that time, she got some off-leash running time. I'm kind of wishing I'd chosen a less hilly route though, my legs are still trashed from last night.  

Look ma, no leash! 

Fungi. Anyone know what type of mushrooms these are?

I think I should have worn my trail shoes. And turned the flash off.

 

Photo of Ben so he doesn't feel left out :-)

Breakfast..? Hills please !!

Ok, I admit it. I love running hills. Yes I'm one of *those* people that spout the "hills are speedwork in disguise" quote as well as my tried and true favorite "let's make that hill our bitch".

Don't get me wrong, a flattish race rocks for getting personal bests but for training I love me some hills. And when I say hills, I mean the real thing, not those soul-sucking, mojo-stealing, what the heck is wrong with me, why am I going so slow, goes on forever false flats.

No, I want the real thing.  Something that goes up and you're staring at it wondering who's gonna win, you or that hill.  And there's such a charge as you near the apex....lungs burning, breath hitching, legs aching.    Nearer and nearer and you're wondering am I gonna make it? Is this hill my bitch? Or is it gonna make me slow and falter until I finally concede that it's the master as I walk the remaining distance?

Today I won the battle of wills, didn't let my mind tell me I couldn't, convinced those legs to keep churning, made those lungs hurt just that wee bit more.  And what a gorgeous place to do so, only traffic I encountered was crossing over Hwy 50.  Cows, birds, squirrels, trees, and the sun were my companions.  Absolutely fantastic.

I did stop to take a photo of a cemetery...y'know the whole life vs death contemplation business. Highly overrated if you ask me (the contemplation part that is).  Plus I was wondering if I'd survive the hills back, lol.  Note that I said hills, not mountains...that's a whole other ballgame that I've yet to tackle.

Sooo.............. what WAS your breakfast of choice this morning?