August 31, 2010

by the next full moon ....

I was out doing my hill reps on Tuesday night while a good friend bribed by a choice of 1 of 7 bottled ales, watch the kids after they went to bed (actually he watched telly). I noticed the near full moon breaking through the clouds. Next full moon it will be time for the round. I know if I kept training I would get fitter, but I somehow feel ready. Does not mean I will get around in 24 hours, but I feel I am capable of it and as ready as I will ever be.

We have a really good set of pacers and supports lined up and Jim Mann who I met on leg 3 of Paul Jacksons round is going to have a crack at the BGR with me. Should be interesting how some who is very fit, but has not trained specifically for the round does.

Myra away at a conference last week, so much fun had with kids and really had to pack the running into 3 days. Still managed 12000ft, but not much more than 25 miles on the horizontal if that.

Monday : Kids
Tuesday : 1500ft of 3 x 500ft hill reps. Managed just under 12 minutes for 1 rep of hill fort to bus stop and back up (in dark) which is a new Clive record. Also 1st time out in the dark for a while.
Wednesday : kids, no time
Thursday : 1500ft 5 * 300 reps
Friday : 3 reps of Cader Idris from the east side so 3000ft x 3 and 18 miles in total. 12 seconds under 1 hour to the top while juggling a mobile phone talking to a customer who phones when I was within sight of the top and running across the rocks at the top. Still able to run quite fast at the end as time running out to pick up kids. Legs still a bit tired from day before, but a great day out. 1st ascent 59:48, 2nd and 3rd about 1.15 so all at a reasonable pace.
Saturday : helping kids learn how to body board at Mwnt
Sunday : kids all day

plan for next weekend is to do legs 1 & 2, following weekend the Peris Horseshoe and then 2 weeks taper. It would be rash to claim that the Peris Horseshoe is part of my taper!

After 2 and a half years of training, 9 months of more intense and specific training, I am looking forward to the next full moon and getting on with it.

August 23, 2010

Sweden, German army motorcycle helmets and the strange world of Arthur Brown stop play




A combination of
  • A big day out on Saturday last week over legs 3 + 4 of the BGR
  • A week working in Sweden with a 8am meeting, a full day working and 7pm conf call
  • King family annual pilgrimage to the Beautiful Days festival in Devon
left little scope for training. I did run about 5 miles on saturday morning along some footpaths and stubble fields in rural Devon and can suggest with high level of confidence that I was the only festival attendee out of maybe 12,000 who put on a pair of running shoes and shorts and went out for a run. While waiting for a free portaloo I was talking to a chap wearing a german army motorbike helmet and a frock that my late grandmother would have found out of fashion. I made the point that I don't normally talk to men in a dress outside toilets and he made the point he does not normally wear a dress. I got more strange looks running out of the site at 9am, than a chap with a beard walking round all day in a frock and german army motorbike helmet which did not cause most of the festival 12,000 a second glance. Going for a morning festival run would have been a concept a little too far out for even The strange world of Arthur Brown.



Some weeks this is the price of having other great things in your life (family) and a job I have to admit I am blessed to enjoy most of the time. Always good to remember the BGR prime directive about collateral damage to the rest of your life. I could feel guilty about not training this week, but there is no point. The rest probably did me good and training hard when you are travel tired I have found to be counter productive.

I feel a serious week of hill reps coming on.

August 16, 2010

Paul and Marks BGR : Yet another blind date at Dummail Raise

  • Monday : rest
  • Tuesday : 5500ft 11 miles 5 reps up and down Plynlimon
  • Wednesday : rest
  • Thursday 1000ft 2 x bus stop to hill fort
  • Friday : rest
  • Saturday 13,000ft 27 miles legs 3 & 4 of BGR
  • Sunday : Brussells airport
so a total of about 19,500ft and 40 miles which is more like it. I really should have run on wednesday, but work and home life got in the way.

Saturday morning, 8am at Dummail Raise walking up line of cars on the grass verge asking if they were waiting for runners called Mark and Paul. Eventually found the road crew, among 2 other BGR parties and one doing the Joss Naylor, for Mark and Paul, said hello, eat breakfast and had a brew.

Mark came in 1st, looked good going well, had some beef stew(I had some at the end leg 4 and I can confirm it was the best food in the world ever), change of socks and pacers and off he went up Steel Fell. Paul came in about 45 minutes later, he looked shot, mumbling about not intending to carry on. A combination of a good talking to from his wife and beef stew persuaded him to carry on. It appears that his pacers on the 1st 2 legs did not feed and water him to the extent needed.

If you have never been a BGR pacer, it is quite reasonable to assume that the runner will ask for food and drink, rather than having to be pestered to eat and drink. I ran a 3rd leg of the Paddy with 3 very experienced guys who were very self contained and needed little water or food from me, so if that was your only experience of pacing, you might quite reasonably assume that you feed and watered the runner when asked, other than that you were there for company and carriage. It does highlight the need for a pacers apprenticeship and also for the runner to be aware of the experience of the pacers and to be clear what is needed of them. Anyone who offers to help on a Round is a top chap or top chapette just for offering, but sometimes you just don't know what is needed and I am certain the 1st time I paced a round I was at risk of not providing the support needed.

On leg 3, Dale, Jim and myself made sure that Paul eat and drank and by Calf Crag he was a recovered as a man who had done 30 miles and 12,000ft of up and down could be. Dale did the navigation, impended by a little mist, but still getting good lines. Jim and I played who can force the most food or liquid down Mark's neck without him getting visibly upset, but we eased up on the game by High Raise. Good banter, though it has to be said Paul had his mind focused on the task in hand. Scarfell Pike was standing room only. There were 2 climbers on Broadstand so rather than push past them, I went with the others on West Wall traverse which feels a lot slower and then down to Wasdale from Scarfell. It had been a great leg as a pacer. 4 people who had never meet each other before just coming together and getting on with it.

A change of socks and some food on my part, some TLC for Mark and his feet, a change of pacers and a new name for the 1st hill on leg 4, Yew-Bastard. Navigation was done by a chap called Ian who I think it would be fair to say knew Leg 4 as a navigator so well as not to put a foot wrong or to even hint it might be a possibility. I did little as a pacer on leg 4, I think I held a bottle of water once once, shouted a few words of encouragement on Great Gable and did a bit of torch shining coming down the hill to Honister. Other than that I was just along for the training. The 3 pacers Paul had were just what you would want for the task in hand. I missed out Steeple, choosing instead to phone home and have a chat with the kids before they went to bed. The subsequent sunset was spectacular, I will post the pics from my phone when I get a chance.

The few words I exchanged with Paul suggest a really nice chap, but he really did go inside to get the strength to get him round. This meant after 11 hours in his company over some of the toughest mountain terrain in England, I don't really know him at all. I hope some day we will have a few hours for a beer. He really did dig in and grind it out coming from being well behind schedule at Dummail Raise. I was travelling to Sweden for work the next day, so could not hang around for Paul to finish leg 5 which I regret, but that the breaks.

I did find the walk up Red Pike hard, I was probably a bit down on food and fluid by that time and also was carrying a reasonable amount of weight in a rucksack, so it is probably not a shock I was finding it a bit hard going after 18 miles and 9000ft. I tried a new gel from Torq which coach Jon recommended which has a nice Strawberry yoghart flavour and that was a lot easier to get down your neck that the usual SIS gels. It also perked me up straight away.
I did feel a lot better than the 6 weeks previous when I did legs 3 and 4 with Tattenhall, moving a lot faster on the downhills and finding the uphill also easier. Having eaten and drunk more, but also being it cooler and not having getting up a 1.30am probably helped.

As I got a lift back to my car at Dummail, we found out that Mark had finished in 20.56 which is a fantastic time.

I admit I had a slight(being a bloke we can only admit to a slight one) tear of joy when I got a text that Paul finished his round in 23.46. I was pleased that collectively as pacers we did our job. The huge contribution of Paul's wife and Mark's partner as road crew in terms of providing the worlds best beef stew, moving pacers around, tending needy feet and delivering a good stiff talking to. What really got Paul round was digging deep inside and grinding it out. I saw a huge amount of mental strength being brought to bear on legs 3 and 4, which is in relation to my attempt at the end of next month, was both inspring and sobering.



August 11, 2010

A round runs on its pacers

I decided to have a harder than usual set of mid-week hill reps and did 5,500 ft and 11 miles via 5 reps of my favoriate little track up and down Plynlimon from the west. 1000ft of climb in a mile is good value and the decent is soft and the terrain is varied, so it is good training for both climb and also getting fluent on the descents. I felt quite tried yesterday until I started running, then it seemed to come together. Sunset was out of this world and some dusk running allowed me to ease into getting my night running head back.

Of course, repeating the same path 5 times give some time to think about the BGR and the logistics. Since December 2009 I have been involved as a pacer in a Winter BGR, a BGR Ladies Relay and a Paddy attempt. This weekend I am pacing some folk for their BGR attempt. I have found being a pacer a wonderful experience, though at times rather sobering. I have been run into the ground twice only just being able to keep up (this seems to be a common experience and the rucksack is often blamed). There is so much to learn and its a great way to get to know new people, some you probably won't meet again, some you keep tripping over.

I am just about there in terms of pacers now. I don't know that many fell runners socially, so have had to reach out a little further and the response has been great. Some people have already booked things, but suggested others who might be free. People who I have only meet once in a dark lay-by at Dummail Raise or know by reputation have stepped up to the task. I just hope I can do them justice and am so thankful for their time and experience.

August 9, 2010

bits, but very good bits

This week has been made a little more difficult training wise to get the big day in by the needs of childcare as Myra and her sister went on their annual trip to London. In fairness, I could have had a big day out on Sunday, but decided to spent it climbing with Tim around which we squeezed 6000ft, so actually it has been a good training week. It mean's more bits than I would have like, but thats the tradeoffs.
  • Monday : rest
  • Tuesday : 4 * 1000ft reps on Plynlumon. Each rep was 31 minutes, so pleased I did not get slower.
  • Wednesday : 3 miles in wood (work and kids constrained)
  • Thursday : 4 * 300ft reps (work and kids constrained)
  • Friday : rest
  • Saturday : 1 rep of Cader Idris in the evening. Top in 61 minutes (I tried sooooo hard to break the sub hour) 3000ft. I also had a a very physical afternoon helping a mate take some trees down which I found harder than running per unit time.
  • Sunday : Climbing with Tim. Walk up with rucksack with Rope and gear (good training no doubt) to do the Kircus route on the crag on the back of Pen yr Olewen 1500ft. A good thrutch up the 5a crack in a wonderful situation. run up Moel Shabod from the south west (bog, do try it) 2000ft. So a total of 35ooft.
Total of about 12,000ft which is good, but would have liked a big day out. Next week we are pacing 2 chaps (on leg 3 of the BGR at least) I replied to on the fell runners forum who requested some extra pacers which should be fun. Going for a monster week next week, see what happens.

Putting together plans for my BGR, still a pacer short for leg 1 and a navigator short for leg 3. Anyone free on the 24th of Septembers who likes walking/trotting fast over mountains at night, let me know ?