I'll start at the start...
Hard-"prep"
The inspiration to do this came in a pub. Not so much a drunken dare or bet, but a nudge from a fellow off-road runner on the fringes of Autumn 2009. She said "You should give this a go", and showed me a piece of paper. On it was the Hardmoors site address. Being between challenges - I'd just done the 3 Atlantic Coast marathons - I looked into this. A March ultra didn't seem unreasonable, but I knew this was a step up from my previous 30-something mile efforts.
Training proper commenced about Christmas time. Whilst the general public moaned about the weather I got out and ran around various snow-covered areas of Yorkshire clocking up over 15 most Saturdays in Jan, sometimes low twenties, with a Sunday run and good midweek mileage. When the LDWA calender "thawed out" in February I had a drip-feed of easy-going 20+'s to feast upon. I clocked up a record personal mileage in January and wasn't far off in February too. Training peaked in Feb with a good Rombalds Stride and then a 36m out and back hill-run just two days later. I survived.... confidence built.
This was to be my first experiance of an ultra without food stocked CP. It wasn't all out unsupported as it had two cosy village halls on route where drop bags would be distributed to and tea/coffee was provided. Sorting out in advance what I would carry, what would go in drop bags, preparing food, was more prep than I've ever done before and I'm glad I took a day off to get this sorted and mark up the map before I set off up North.
Hard-"reality"
I've done some good running/walking/cycling in the North York Moors. Some good climbs, steep wooded-valleys and certainly many great views, are to be found - Langdale End area is good for starters. But compared to the Dales, Lakes and parts of Calderdale and the pennines they've often seemed slightly more tame, not so high, not so muddy. But they are still quite remote in places - inhabited just by tiny villages and hamlets - and have there own little weather patterns that can vary wildly from hour to hour and from the plains to north and west.
So then, could the Hardmoors 55, struggle to live up to its aggressive title? Well, for those who've done the Osmotherley Phoenix, the hilliest bit of that event - near the start - features after 22m of this.... and they've thrown in two extra climbs for good measure... and the sections either side aren't plain sailing either.
Due to the early start needed for this event I'd stayed over with Mark and family. So the early start to convoy to Guisborough - the end, dump a car and then travel back to Hemsley - the start, meant no rushing around following a 4am rise. Things were going well enough, well ahead of time, arriving about 50 minutes pre-start. I may have crippled a pheasent that tried to puncture my wheels near the White Horse, but life in the wild is harsh, which is appropriate for some sections of the days event along the exposed northern ridge paths of the Cleveland Way.
I faffed around at the start making last minute adjustments to my back pack contents and slinging some extra stuff into my drop bags and bag of warm gear for the finish. It was warm but raining so I added my best waterproof into my second drop kit bag, suspecting my starter might need a change by then if the rain kept up. It had been raining since the previous night so optimism off it stopping was outweighed by "gut feel" that it wouldn't. At least it wasn't windy. In contrast Mark seemed to be ready with half an hour to spare - I do envy those who can be so organised so quickly and without fuss. My tendency is to over-think, over-organise, over-pack and therefore end up muddling around last minute frantically checking the "small details" and often overlooking more important ones (more on that later).
Hard-"work"
With my warm clothes and drop bags safely stashed in the van for distribution along the route I was ready for the off. Jon Steele gave us an entertaining speel and then the manager/caretaker (?) of the Cleveland set us off -
and I want THAT job -
RING RING,
"Hello",
"Whats that.... a Cleveland way sign crooked near Sutton Bank..... I'll get my trainers on and I'll be there in 2 hours" :¬).
It was almost a dash through Helmsley to the official Cleveland Way start, it seems no matter the race length some people always blast off like its a 10k. Onwards and upwards along steady ascents and descents through fields and woodland. Scenic in a "parkland" sense, nothing hard or moor-like yet. The trend was upwards as we headed west, as I'd deduced in advance plotting the route on map. From Helmsley at about 250ft we undulated until we arrived at Sutton Bank at 9m and 980ft. Then followed a loop of the "White Horse" on the hillside which involved a descent down wet stone steps to the lower car park and first CP, some wooded trail and a step climb back up. A challenging little loop just to bring us back to the Sutton bank car park we'd just left. On the way out to the White Horse the leader had floated past in the opposite direction towards Sutton Bank, no long distance shuffler I can tell you!
Not sure why, but it was here it occured to me that I had not packed any footwear in to my dry clothes bag for Guidborough - DOH!!!! - an illustration of what I had said before about my tendency for organisational mishaps.
Thing started to get tougher out on the long northward stretch to Osmotherley. The Cleveland way sticks close to the high western escarpment edge of the North York Moors. On a clear day you'd have grand views over the lowlands towards the Yorkshire dales. Today, just mere snippets of this - like tree-lined Gormire lake visible beneath the murk as the path skirted the edge. We were surrounded by this low cloud for the whole section before Osmotherley. There was also a strengthening wind from the north-east gradually combining with precipitation to chill the left-hand side of my body. This section climbs very gradually towards Black Hambleton (1300ft) along about 10 miles of exposed moorland and often quite sloppy track. Mark and I had maintained a good pace, just slowing a little towards 20m, in truth we'd probably not taken enough food on in this early stage as we'd pushed on at sub 11-min/mile pace.
The turn off into Osmotherley was welcomed, dropping beneath the cloud and out of the wind raised our mood even before we got to the village hall and our first drop bag. I'd approached this as the first of three sections of the route. At 22m it was the longest, but also the first and had only really been made difficult by the weather. I dumped my wet t-shirt and sodden wind-proof top in the bag and changed for a long sleeved T and my lightweight "emergency" waterproof - my bulkyfull waterproof being at the Kildale drop, 20m away. It was nice to be dry again. I also gulped down the sandwiches and malt-loaf I'd planned to eat during the first section, washed down with tea and transferred drop bag food and drink top up into the backpack. We didn't hurry outside again, taking a luxurious 15mins indoors and heading back out with renewed optimism.
Section 2 - The climb out of Osmotherley mirrors the start of the Phoenix with a swift climb up to Beacon Hill (980ft) and then onto Scarth Wood moor - a return to no visibility, constant fine rain and wind. My early optimism that my thin waterproof would be upto constant "bombardment" was soon dashed. Following the drop to the start of Live Moor Plantation (456ft) there was an initial steep climb up onto an exposed Moorland ridge. This was a grim section. As it went on each flat section or minor drop would be followed by another climb. On the long north-easterly trek towards and then along Carlton Bank the wind was whipping over the ridge blowing masses of fine rain at us horizontally - like running through a carwash over and over again. It wasn't heavy rain, or strong wind, but it was constant and I was soaked by now. Is this what purgatory would feel like? Briefly I considered the possibility I may be forced to drop out, but I soon dispelled this, thinking "keep moving, keep warm". If I wasn't shivering I was ok, right? Others also fared badly here, some suffered so badly they dropped out later at Kildale. Towards the peak cairn (1340m) I pushed the pace for awhile as Mark had often been doing most of the lead running, but was possibly coping worse than me at this moment, not helped by having taken off his waterproof at Osmotherley. The steep descent towards Lords Cafe eventually came and gave us a little respite, chance to eat some food and for Mark to get his waterproof on away from the worst of the weather
An equally cold climb up to the Wainstones CP followed. We almost missed it in the gloom passing to the wrong side of the rocky outcrop, but were called back by the young lad of CP staffer. I felt for the guy stuck on this exposed, rocky outcrop. The Osmotherley to Kildale section was really packing in the climbs as the Cleveland way visited every ridge summit that it could. I did feel things could only get better, thankfully I was right. I'd mentally prepared myself for the Urra Moor crossing - the highest point on route and on the North York Moors with a trig at 1490ft - to be the worst. I was pleasently surprised, now away from the ridge there wasn't quite the same buffering by wind and rain. We reached another cold and single-manned CP at Bloworth crossing and turned north heading towards Kildale and off these damned hard moors.
It was a miserable uneven stoney track for a few miles, always a "pleasure" when you've done 20 miles, never mind nearly 40. I eagerly awaited reaching the tarmac road just for the smoothness and variety it would offer. When we did get to it I soon wished for softer ground as the descent started, the hard surface jarring my feet and knees. Things were soon better though, Kildale wasn't in cloud and the rain had ceased and the high moorlands were done with! 42.5m done.
There was a retiree at Kildale, she'd looked strong heading out of Osmotherley as we'd arrived, but now looked pale and cold sat down here, before she headed off to lay down. I believe there were several retiree's here. Though my lightweight waterproof had been inneffective on the moors it had dried quick, as had my T underneath - maybe it wasn't so bad up there? I had a warm tea, sorted my food for this stretch and had the luxury of a shoe and sock change. Mark and I left Kildale after about 20mins - a very long stop even by our standards on LDWA challenges. Increadibly the sun was out as we climbed from Kildale upto a hilltop woodland, now low in the sky it lit up the white buildings of Kildale a golden yellow. This meant for the first time today we were able to run in a single layer without discomfort. Climbing stiffly up to the Captain Cook monument I was tired but knew it was now a matter of "when" not "if" I would finish.
The sun had set as we made the last significent climb up to Roseberry topping, short but steep to another remote CP. Heading down the rough steps we knew it was time to don headtorches. Unfortunately my dithering changing batteries cost us a few more minutes and I got cold again. But now we were all systems go for Guisborough. Progress was a bit slow through wet and spongy moorlands, but the torch did its job and we had no navigational issues. Into Guisborough woods and it was warm and the surfaces were easier to run. The town was a sea of lights, still far below and I thought this would be quite a nice place to run around on fresher legs. Glowsticks and one further checkpoint marked the route out of the woods. Now it was just a mile along an old railway track and a turn to the finish at Guisborough Cricket club. We arrived in 12hrs 36mins, which is 14 minute mile pace, most of our early pace was lost between Osmotherley and Guisborough, which was the hardest section of the event by a distance.
Hard-"reward"
It would be pretty sadistic not to have a feast after such a long run and the Indian restaraunt in Guisborough obliged. Starter, curry, rice and nan washed down with a large beer. I didn't eat every bite, my hunger not matching my endurance today. No bad thing as I intended to eat and eat and eat for the next few days (and I have).
Learning the hard way?
It really wasn't that bad, the slow pace after Osmotheley meant my energy levels never went flat, I just got gradually stiffer throughout as expected. I started to feel a bit naucious at about 35m so I need further practice eating on the run. I also need a proper waterproof for future events, one that will keep me dry all day and night if required. I also need to remember to make sure I have dry footwear at the end, on this occasion I was able to partially clean and dry the shoes I'd worn for the last 12m sufficiently to wear them to the restaraunt - not ideal!
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Time is Short, Eternity is Long
At the time of writing in 2 days I'll be 6 hours in to my first 50+ mile run - hopefully around halfway! I shouldn't be, but I'm more than a little nervous. Those who see this who are more ultra experienced than me will hopefully be empathetic, or tell me to "quit my whining" and "grow a pair" those who don't run beyond marathon will think were all mad - until they try this - anyway. I guess the scariest thing is the jump from a longest run of 37m to 55 miles. In marathon training you only fear an extra few miles on top of your longest run, but I wouldn't be sane if I ran a 45-50 in training for 55. So it is a fear of the unfamiliar. Although I am confident in my training mileage and variety and how I have physically coped with it.
A quick catch up...
Woldsman
My last long run was on Saturday. I arranged to join Mike Blamires for a section of the Wolds Way. I was spoilt for choice as to which section as Mike planned to do all of it - after all he is training for the Grand union Canal race. I chose the, hopefully picturesque, section from Wharram Percy to Nunbornholme - a section I haven't done before as its a good 30mins drive or more to either end point of this section.
Unfortunately the niggle in his foot became a sharp pain on an ascent just before our Huggate checkpoint. After much discussion he tried to push on, but only gt another 200 yards before he decided it was not worth going on, this being training and not the target itself. It was a shame for Mike as 80 miles would be a great confidence booster for 145 miles - I can barely contemplate that distance on foot in one go. Dave and I did our best to reassure and Mike did seem ok about it.
It was a great running route with large dry dales and valleys, almost symmetrically scuplted out of the earth. After retrieving my car I coldn't resist heading back to where we'd left off for a few more miles. getting to about Millington where after having done one steep decsnt and climb I decided a few miles later at the top of the next to turn back. As usual the pictures don't quite seem to capture it - I suspect a camera which could do them justice may be too bulkly to cart around long distances. I'd ran through or into or over numerous beautiful and undisturbed dales today, many without the seemingly obligatory road through along the bottom that I'm used to in hiller areas. This all added to the sense of isolation and fulfilment.
In case you were wondering the title of this post is lovingly plagiarised from the clockface of a church on the Wolds Way.
Fight club
After noticing a sheep struggling with a lame leg a few weeks back I have been paying more attention to sheep [INSERT YOUR OWN JOKE HERE] - god knows I see enough of them! On the Wolds Way I saw several with a lame front or back leg, one poor blighter was running away from me at the top of the dale as fast as he/she could in tripedal fashion. Unfortunately I wasn't able to communicate my live and let live policy and persuade it to just stop and let me pass. Looking at them with their four spindly, narrow legs and large, fatty and wool covered bodies they look badly designed for hills yet always seem to hang around on them. With two strong legs us humans have no excuse.
So is it the rugged landscape that causes the biped and occasionally, grizzly, ex-sheep you pass on a long country jaunt. You could be forgiven for thinking so - but alas no. On my travels I have heard Sheep from neighouring dales have often strayed to there neighbours to communicate the time and place for sheep Fight Club. Its a grizzly, to death or dismemberment battle that would eliminate our imaginings of these four-legged death machines as being cute and cuddly forever - should we ever see it. However we never will, so I can only speculate and imagine on.......
Sizing up my opponent
Mothering Sunday took family and I to Over Silton (pronounced "Ov-aa"). This is a tiny village just to the south of Osmotherley with about the most remote and inspiring little church ever. I know this area through my Grandma being buried here, its not your average graveyard as picture aludes - with my Dad and other Gran posing near my trusty chariot. I've loved this area since my first visit for her funeral a decade ago. Which shows I've always been a lover of the outdoors, despite not knowing it back then. Whichever approach you take to the church you have to slop through mud and follow invisible paths up the grassy hill, The church itself could be mistaken as abandoned - no power and no running water as far as I'm aware. Also due to the tiny local population some of the graves are centuries old and some of the locals lived to good ages in what I'm sure were harder times.
This trip also gave me a chance to size up my opponent. Less than a mile east the Cleveland way passes on its way over Black Hambleton (399m), up above, and from a distance on the approach you can see the ridge towering up above the flatter land between Yorks dales and North York Moors. In fact if your doing the Phoenix this year - and you should - the large Plantation to you left just before the turn off down to Osmotherley at the end is planted on Nether Silton Moor.
A quick catch up...
Woldsman
I'd been at the car park a short while when Mikes support team - his dad Dave - turned up and informed me he was a little behind schedule. Not a pace issue, but he'd had navigational problems near the start, when it was pitch black not long after 3am. We passed the ruins of Wharram Percys ancient Church and climbed up the dale towards Thixendale - topping out at over 700ft. We ran a long for a few miles talking about mostly running. Mike was going well past 40 miles in but was suffering a niggle.
It was a great running route with large dry dales and valleys, almost symmetrically scuplted out of the earth. After retrieving my car I coldn't resist heading back to where we'd left off for a few more miles. getting to about Millington where after having done one steep decsnt and climb I decided a few miles later at the top of the next to turn back. As usual the pictures don't quite seem to capture it - I suspect a camera which could do them justice may be too bulkly to cart around long distances. I'd ran through or into or over numerous beautiful and undisturbed dales today, many without the seemingly obligatory road through along the bottom that I'm used to in hiller areas. This all added to the sense of isolation and fulfilment.
In case you were wondering the title of this post is lovingly plagiarised from the clockface of a church on the Wolds Way.
Fight club
After noticing a sheep struggling with a lame leg a few weeks back I have been paying more attention to sheep [INSERT YOUR OWN JOKE HERE] - god knows I see enough of them! On the Wolds Way I saw several with a lame front or back leg, one poor blighter was running away from me at the top of the dale as fast as he/she could in tripedal fashion. Unfortunately I wasn't able to communicate my live and let live policy and persuade it to just stop and let me pass. Looking at them with their four spindly, narrow legs and large, fatty and wool covered bodies they look badly designed for hills yet always seem to hang around on them. With two strong legs us humans have no excuse.
So is it the rugged landscape that causes the biped and occasionally, grizzly, ex-sheep you pass on a long country jaunt. You could be forgiven for thinking so - but alas no. On my travels I have heard Sheep from neighouring dales have often strayed to there neighbours to communicate the time and place for sheep Fight Club. Its a grizzly, to death or dismemberment battle that would eliminate our imaginings of these four-legged death machines as being cute and cuddly forever - should we ever see it. However we never will, so I can only speculate and imagine on.......
Sizing up my opponent
This trip also gave me a chance to size up my opponent. Less than a mile east the Cleveland way passes on its way over Black Hambleton (399m), up above, and from a distance on the approach you can see the ridge towering up above the flatter land between Yorks dales and North York Moors. In fact if your doing the Phoenix this year - and you should - the large Plantation to you left just before the turn off down to Osmotherley at the end is planted on Nether Silton Moor.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
"Headlong" into Spring
There are lots of good arguments for Spring having sprung, or not, but for me it started this weekend. Sure, last week looked nice, but that was only from behind my desk and 10ft of collidor and windows half obcured by tatty, broken, blinds that won't fully wind up. After a nice early start on Saturday it was nice to see temps of about 5c on the dashboard LCD dislay. This, and the lack of wind, made me decide to do the Trollers Trot in just a single, sleeved t-shirt layer....
The start of spring = the end off multilayer faff* in my outlook.
* "faff" is a technical term that has many meanings and uses, but in this case refers to the need to keep unzipping/zipping wind jacket or worse still removing it, stashing, removing and reapplying. Also apply the same to gloves and hat.
My decision was justified, I only really started to get cold descending passed the Barden resovoirs and then soon warmed up when into the river valley after the next CP. It was a lovely day for off-road running with little wind, no rain and aforementioned warmish temperatures. This more than justified a 4:45am rise for breakfast and a near 2 hour and 92 mile drive. The drive passed quickly enough. Queen Greatest Hits 2 had long since begun its second revolution of the journey and the fast tempo of Headlong** kicked in for the second time as I hit the winding, country, B road to Grassington. It seemed quite appropriate and a metaphor for my 2010 training so far, what with my goal being my first double-marathon length run.
** And you're rushing headlong, you've got a new goal
And you're rushing headlong, out of control
And you think you're so strong but there ain't no stopping
And there's nothin' you can do about it, nothin' you can do
No there's nothin' you can do about it
No there's nothin' you can, nothin' you can nothin' you can do about it
Seems like the sort of song that could be well used in a soundtrack to a video of some "all action" fell race and it returned to me at various moments throught Saturday's event. For most the route though, me and Mark discussed plans for events going forward what with Hardmoors imminent and future plans for even tougher stuff. At a point late on the course we passed a guy who - jokingly? - commented about our how we were maintaining constant conversation as we passed whilst he was struggling just to keep running.
Its been quite an exciting few weeks what with race instructions coming through the letter box, in some cases small booklets with maps and lengthy route descriptions. An early reminder of one of these today was seeing the snow-capped peak of Ingleborough on the horizon, which led to discussion of an upcoming recce of the potentially difficult Fleet Moss section across the boggy stuff. On a lighter note we also agreed about 4m in that it would be a good idea to hit a curry house in Guisborough following the Hardmoors to replenish a few thousand calories. We even speculated on a time, it will be interesting to see if we can follow thisn plan on the day when all the gory detail is placed within the high-level plan in my head.
Back to Trollers though. Really good conditions for what could be the final running of this event. Its a great round, challenging but not harsh, hilly, but mostly runnable. You start with a climb west out of Threshfield, up fields and onto a bit of muddy moor - this is where you can see Ingleborough. At Winterburn reservoir you turn south along a good track before a few minor roads and the first food CP at Rylstone. Soon after this is the biggest climb of the day onto possibly the driest and mostly runnable moorland path ever. This leads to a massive, steady descent past two reservoirs towards the next food CP. Then a bit of river valley as you head back north, eventually leading to a lovely green and steepsided valley where you find Trollers Ghyll, which inspires the name of the event and another climb to the last food CP. After this its a westward run on road, track and path, towards and into Wharfedale. From here its another stretch of flat river valley to the end. Mark and I agreed this year that the miles just flew by and I also remembered that this is one of the only events I've done where I feel I've "beat the banker" when it comes to hills - with short sharp climbs, but mostly steady and long descents.
I ran a 4:19 for 25m, which I am pretty pleased with because:
Great to see the usual suspects Claire and Mark, as well as Nick (Ham) and briefly Nick (Mellor), Daz (the slug - forum name, not an insult) and Chris Brown.
Sunday did nothing to sway my feeling for Spring, warm and cloudless again. I had a little run out in t-shirt and shorts. A plethora of cyclists, other runners and, pleasingly just the, one ipod wearing, stern-faced, nike-uniformed runner out there too (who I just had to overtake).
The start of spring = the end off multilayer faff* in my outlook.
* "faff" is a technical term that has many meanings and uses, but in this case refers to the need to keep unzipping/zipping wind jacket or worse still removing it, stashing, removing and reapplying. Also apply the same to gloves and hat.
My decision was justified, I only really started to get cold descending passed the Barden resovoirs and then soon warmed up when into the river valley after the next CP. It was a lovely day for off-road running with little wind, no rain and aforementioned warmish temperatures. This more than justified a 4:45am rise for breakfast and a near 2 hour and 92 mile drive. The drive passed quickly enough. Queen Greatest Hits 2 had long since begun its second revolution of the journey and the fast tempo of Headlong** kicked in for the second time as I hit the winding, country, B road to Grassington. It seemed quite appropriate and a metaphor for my 2010 training so far, what with my goal being my first double-marathon length run.
** And you're rushing headlong, you've got a new goal
And you're rushing headlong, out of control
And you think you're so strong but there ain't no stopping
And there's nothin' you can do about it, nothin' you can do
No there's nothin' you can do about it
No there's nothin' you can, nothin' you can nothin' you can do about it
Seems like the sort of song that could be well used in a soundtrack to a video of some "all action" fell race and it returned to me at various moments throught Saturday's event. For most the route though, me and Mark discussed plans for events going forward what with Hardmoors imminent and future plans for even tougher stuff. At a point late on the course we passed a guy who - jokingly? - commented about our how we were maintaining constant conversation as we passed whilst he was struggling just to keep running.
Its been quite an exciting few weeks what with race instructions coming through the letter box, in some cases small booklets with maps and lengthy route descriptions. An early reminder of one of these today was seeing the snow-capped peak of Ingleborough on the horizon, which led to discussion of an upcoming recce of the potentially difficult Fleet Moss section across the boggy stuff. On a lighter note we also agreed about 4m in that it would be a good idea to hit a curry house in Guisborough following the Hardmoors to replenish a few thousand calories. We even speculated on a time, it will be interesting to see if we can follow thisn plan on the day when all the gory detail is placed within the high-level plan in my head.
Back to Trollers though. Really good conditions for what could be the final running of this event. Its a great round, challenging but not harsh, hilly, but mostly runnable. You start with a climb west out of Threshfield, up fields and onto a bit of muddy moor - this is where you can see Ingleborough. At Winterburn reservoir you turn south along a good track before a few minor roads and the first food CP at Rylstone. Soon after this is the biggest climb of the day onto possibly the driest and mostly runnable moorland path ever. This leads to a massive, steady descent past two reservoirs towards the next food CP. Then a bit of river valley as you head back north, eventually leading to a lovely green and steepsided valley where you find Trollers Ghyll, which inspires the name of the event and another climb to the last food CP. After this its a westward run on road, track and path, towards and into Wharfedale. From here its another stretch of flat river valley to the end. Mark and I agreed this year that the miles just flew by and I also remembered that this is one of the only events I've done where I feel I've "beat the banker" when it comes to hills - with short sharp climbs, but mostly steady and long descents.
I ran a 4:19 for 25m, which I am pretty pleased with because:
- previous runs here have been over 5 hours;
- I had a larger and half-loaded backpack on - as a fellsman prep exercise. Though only half loaded I reckon I had 3/4 what I'll carry on that day;
- we started steady and patiently queued for a few stiles early-doors;
- legs felt a bit toasted beforehand after months of bigger miles than my usual;
- we took our usual luxurious food breaks at CP's;
- I never really "hurt" or felt I operated at full capacity;
Great to see the usual suspects Claire and Mark, as well as Nick (Ham) and briefly Nick (Mellor), Daz (the slug - forum name, not an insult) and Chris Brown.
Sunday did nothing to sway my feeling for Spring, warm and cloudless again. I had a little run out in t-shirt and shorts. A plethora of cyclists, other runners and, pleasingly just the, one ipod wearing, stern-faced, nike-uniformed runner out there too (who I just had to overtake).
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
The Trollers Trot...
...is this coming Sunday. Barring the Rombalds Stride this is my most revisited LDWA challenge, and one of my favourites. Lovely mix of hills, moor, countryside, good views and best of all its not really a trudge as the ground underfoot is by and large solid.
In the meantime I've been mixing it up. I went out running in the dark Monday night. Not feeling bothered to trudge around town I got my headtorch on and ran into the Country Park about a half mile away. Its only a small triangle of land wedged between the Humber, higher ground in Hessle and the Humber bridge. Originally part of this was a quarry, which means it has multi-level cinder paths and steps for an intense workout. At some stage post quarry an entire woodland has grown up within this park making it a nice place to run on a hot or rainy day. While I have this on my doorstep I can never truly complain, some people are miles from parkland or countryside, seperated by miles of concrete. I can drag out a single loop of this park into about 2m.
It also makes a slightly intense place to run at night, not much light gets in so I was like the "Blair Witch" project in fast forward. Looking around in the slightly green vision the light beam creates is quite spooky especially when you catch a reflection off water out the corner of your eye or when you see yellow eyes staring out at you from a few yards into the tree's. Though overall I reckon it was probably me putting the frighteners on the local fauna :¬)
Tuesday was a return to shorter distance and fast running. Ran up the hill to the humber bridge car park and the start point of the club's handicap league fixtures. Off a fair handicap I started strong, getting past the starters 15 and 30 seconds ahead within half the 2.9m distance. Its good when your running well enough to do this - demotivating when it happens to you. Anyway I pushed on through the overall downhill first two miles, breathing going from hard to animalistic by the final straight. The poor girl I overtook here, quite new to the club, probably thought some derranged lunatic was running up behind her. I hit the final straight and glanced at my watch - all I had to do was keep going to beat my course PB set last year. The fastest guy on the night passed me here, quite effortlessly, quite without grunts and growns, I figured I'd try my best to chase him home.
I lunged across the line and kept on running through the volunteer marshalls, watchers, and other finishers as I felt almost sick so seeked space. I regained myself and checked the watch.... and.... the result was good, 18:02, a PB by 18 seconds and my best time in this winter league season by 32secs. Competitive as I can be I was just slightly disappointed I hadn't, somehow, pushed harder mid-race to crack 18. Overall though, very happy, I sometime wonder if all the long slow running may be hampering any future attempts at shorter distance, but it seems the opposite is true. It seems only one hard-paced session a week works for me and I certainly get more out of that session because of this. Almost like the few fast twitch fibres I have, relish there day and appreciate being carried by the slow-twitchers for the rest of the week.
So only halfway through the week and its been a good one so far, maybe I'm appreciating the reduction in mileage with the Hardmoors less than 3 weeks away now. Also, I've just taken delivery of my new OMM Adventurelight 20 pack. Pleasingly, a lighter weight pack than my current smaller capacity one and lots of features to explore. Ninety-nine red baloons go by....
In the meantime I've been mixing it up. I went out running in the dark Monday night. Not feeling bothered to trudge around town I got my headtorch on and ran into the Country Park about a half mile away. Its only a small triangle of land wedged between the Humber, higher ground in Hessle and the Humber bridge. Originally part of this was a quarry, which means it has multi-level cinder paths and steps for an intense workout. At some stage post quarry an entire woodland has grown up within this park making it a nice place to run on a hot or rainy day. While I have this on my doorstep I can never truly complain, some people are miles from parkland or countryside, seperated by miles of concrete. I can drag out a single loop of this park into about 2m.
It also makes a slightly intense place to run at night, not much light gets in so I was like the "Blair Witch" project in fast forward. Looking around in the slightly green vision the light beam creates is quite spooky especially when you catch a reflection off water out the corner of your eye or when you see yellow eyes staring out at you from a few yards into the tree's. Though overall I reckon it was probably me putting the frighteners on the local fauna :¬)
Tuesday was a return to shorter distance and fast running. Ran up the hill to the humber bridge car park and the start point of the club's handicap league fixtures. Off a fair handicap I started strong, getting past the starters 15 and 30 seconds ahead within half the 2.9m distance. Its good when your running well enough to do this - demotivating when it happens to you. Anyway I pushed on through the overall downhill first two miles, breathing going from hard to animalistic by the final straight. The poor girl I overtook here, quite new to the club, probably thought some derranged lunatic was running up behind her. I hit the final straight and glanced at my watch - all I had to do was keep going to beat my course PB set last year. The fastest guy on the night passed me here, quite effortlessly, quite without grunts and growns, I figured I'd try my best to chase him home.
I lunged across the line and kept on running through the volunteer marshalls, watchers, and other finishers as I felt almost sick so seeked space. I regained myself and checked the watch.... and.... the result was good, 18:02, a PB by 18 seconds and my best time in this winter league season by 32secs. Competitive as I can be I was just slightly disappointed I hadn't, somehow, pushed harder mid-race to crack 18. Overall though, very happy, I sometime wonder if all the long slow running may be hampering any future attempts at shorter distance, but it seems the opposite is true. It seems only one hard-paced session a week works for me and I certainly get more out of that session because of this. Almost like the few fast twitch fibres I have, relish there day and appreciate being carried by the slow-twitchers for the rest of the week.
So only halfway through the week and its been a good one so far, maybe I'm appreciating the reduction in mileage with the Hardmoors less than 3 weeks away now. Also, I've just taken delivery of my new OMM Adventurelight 20 pack. Pleasingly, a lighter weight pack than my current smaller capacity one and lots of features to explore. Ninety-nine red baloons go by....
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Animal Instinct
Buzzing on a large Latte and post-hangover drunken euphoria, driving along the featureless M62 back towards Hull and singing out loud to various songs from Queen Greatest Hits 2 - I started to think about yesterdays run and decide that I am in fact a two-legged camel....????
Yesterday I tried out another excellent, low-profile, LDWA challenge, the Myrtle Meander. I'm guessing the name is derived from its starting point and the fact you can't run/walk it very fast as your climbing up and down large lumps of hill most of the way. Not exactly a fell run, but it did work out at 25m and nearly 4000ft up and down.
To summarise, I started steady behind the walkers as the the opening times for CP were about 12 min/miling. Not many runners and I caught up with a fair number of them by halfway. Good snacks, homemade cookies and sandwiches at CPs. I needn't have worried about being too fast as it was a tricky route in places, especailly as manouvering into and out of the Haworth valley. i also got lost once or twice, probably adding about half a mile to official distance. Highlights were the lightly snow-covered moorland section along Bronte way approaching Oxenhope and the forest section approaching Harden. Food was also good at end, yorkie puds and turkey stew (lovely) then chocolatey cake with chocolatey custard to top it off.
Running-wise I seemed to stop and start. I'm coming off heavy - for me - mileage in the last two months and looking forward to a taper for Hardmoors. What this, and last years, training has given me seems to be a "metaphorical" camels hump. Even on unwilling legs I can raid my reserves to get bursts of energy even after 20m - whereas a year ago I would be coming to a halt. Another example of this, one guy burst past me after I'd overtaken him minutes earlier before CP3 (9 miles), haring off at a pace beyond mine, looked like a strong hill runner and I didn't think i'd see him again. He then slowed to a walk again soon after the next CP - obviously more of a Cheetah or Leopard. I didn't see him again.
Being a camel ain't glamourous, like a thoroughbred horse or a greyhound in gallop, but I wouldn't swap this newfound animal ability. So - anybody reading this - what animal are you? prize for the best answer.
Yesterday I tried out another excellent, low-profile, LDWA challenge, the Myrtle Meander. I'm guessing the name is derived from its starting point and the fact you can't run/walk it very fast as your climbing up and down large lumps of hill most of the way. Not exactly a fell run, but it did work out at 25m and nearly 4000ft up and down.
To summarise, I started steady behind the walkers as the the opening times for CP were about 12 min/miling. Not many runners and I caught up with a fair number of them by halfway. Good snacks, homemade cookies and sandwiches at CPs. I needn't have worried about being too fast as it was a tricky route in places, especailly as manouvering into and out of the Haworth valley. i also got lost once or twice, probably adding about half a mile to official distance. Highlights were the lightly snow-covered moorland section along Bronte way approaching Oxenhope and the forest section approaching Harden. Food was also good at end, yorkie puds and turkey stew (lovely) then chocolatey cake with chocolatey custard to top it off.
Running-wise I seemed to stop and start. I'm coming off heavy - for me - mileage in the last two months and looking forward to a taper for Hardmoors. What this, and last years, training has given me seems to be a "metaphorical" camels hump. Even on unwilling legs I can raid my reserves to get bursts of energy even after 20m - whereas a year ago I would be coming to a halt. Another example of this, one guy burst past me after I'd overtaken him minutes earlier before CP3 (9 miles), haring off at a pace beyond mine, looked like a strong hill runner and I didn't think i'd see him again. He then slowed to a walk again soon after the next CP - obviously more of a Cheetah or Leopard. I didn't see him again.
Being a camel ain't glamourous, like a thoroughbred horse or a greyhound in gallop, but I wouldn't swap this newfound animal ability. So - anybody reading this - what animal are you? prize for the best answer.
That was the Wheeldale Tandem that wasn't
So at about 8:10 the event was cancelled. Many headed out and ran it anyway. A few from my club and I decided to get back on the main road in case the snow restarted and this wasn't possible later. We covered over a dozen miles from the Hole of Horcum - pic above - to Stape - being the first to break the news to the marshalls there the event was cancelled - then over moorland to Goathland. It was a wonderful run, crisp snow underfoot, clear, windless and sunny and good company. Pic right shows us crossing the North York moors Railway line - no danger in this as it doesn't run again till about April. Once back in Goathland there was the small matter of running back along roads to the car, including the main Whitby to Malton road. I'm not so keen on this and I reckon there would have been a cross country route, but in the event we all played safe.All good fun and 18.5m covered. Must admit I didn't finish it feeling another 10m would be "coasting". Possibly the effect of the non-stop 5-6m of undulating road at the end, when my body was in stop/start off-road mode. But, the next day following a fish and chip feast I was up and at it again....
I woke to a thin carpet of unexpected, fresh, snow. I just had to leave a few tracks. 15.5m of edge of wolds. Big smile on my face. My estimation of distance from map was way off, looking beforehand I'd estimated 13-14. Quite tired by end as after the hills at start I hit the flat Humber-side path. Nice at first running on a low bank between river and a watersports lake. Then gets a bit grizzly and hard work on a section where the path has collapsed into the muddy beach getting my nice snow cleaned trainers very durty.
Pic above-left show whiteover on the edge of the Wolds - looking at this featureless section actually hurts the eyes a bit when there's snow on the ground and sun in the sky. Right, another pic of Welton dale, my spiritual home.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Wolds Wanderer
I had a day off work Monday 8th. The original plan had been to recce the Wheeldale Tandem, which is run this coming Sunday and I'm part of a team for this with a faster runner. I don't usually recce, but thought it polite so as not to keep my partner waiting too long at the meet up point of the two routes 20m in. Rules dictate that he can't start the last few miles until I arrive and we have to finish together. Its supposed to be a tricky one to navigate and takes in some inhospitable parts of the North York Moors.
But, the logistics of this seemed too tricky to do alone so I decided I'll bluff it round on the day. Plan B was a long run along the Wolds Way from Hessle where it starts along a long stretch to another town from where I could bus it back. But I layed in a bit long so figured on route that by time I got there I'd be taking buses in rush hour in smelly running clothes. Not appealing when its two buses and over a one hour journey (even without rush hour delays).
I was already on route when I ditched plan B and decided on plan C, follow the route mostly along Wolds Way as per B, but turn back after so many miles. As this was to be my longest VLSR before the Hardmoors this would be tough whatever I did, so covering the same ground twice shouldn't be a reason not to - mental discipline isn't my fortay. Also, on these country long runs there is always something new to see or something you haven't noticed before. An early highlight was geese flying in V formation low over the humber then turning inland just in front of me, nearly brushing the low trees, superb.
So I plodded onwards on mostly good trail ground with a thin mud coating, rarely horrifically deep or wet meaning I fell into a steady pace between 10-11min/mile. Not to say it isn't hilly though. There are several steady foot hills that are runnable as you venture a few miles from the riverbank into the edge of the wolds. These each rise and fall upto a few hundred feet at a time until you get to Elloughton Dale. Now temporarily off the Wolds way, here there is a steep drop and rise in the space of half a mile - fun in the winter mud - before a steady climb onto the top of the Wolds. Here follows another drop down into Brantingham Dale and terrain that will be familiar to Rudolph Romp-er's. I then followed the Wolds way along the dale road towards further hills and South Cave - run in the opposite direction at end of the Romp. To my surprise in the early miles it started to snow, in a few very weak showers. This refreshed the air but cooled my face enough for the hat to come out. In fact the hat and gloves were to come in and out quite a lot. I remember thinking at the end I probably had a hat, glove or both transition in every mile; I'd warm up in the valleys, cool into the North-easterly wind or on the hills, I'd also usually warm in tree cover - except if exposed to that wind.
With future, unsupported events in mind I was drinking every 45mins and taking on solid food - sandwich and malt loaf - every 90 - almost metronomically, just doing a few mins early or late if I could do it when walking up a hill to minimise slowdown. Climbing out of Brantingham Dale this route shows its teeth with two short, but steep climbs and a drop inbetween. The first takes you up to the top of Ellerker North Wold (see left - taken on a past and warmer venture), a feast for the eyes on clear days with views south east over the flat Humber and Trent estuaries, and down into the tree-lined mini dale that is Woo Dale (see below - picture from Walkingenglishman.com). I was out of Woo Dale again in the space of a few minutes, with a climb up Mt Airey which it isn't sensible to run even when your not running so long. At the top I crossed between the farm and grass airfield. In the summer there is a barking sheepdog here, as well as a giant friendly pet pig, which trots upto you as you pass - moments like these make my day. Today it was cold and both were conspicuously absent, probably indoors/barns. This is the highest point of the route so far, only 400ft, but remember I'm running from about sea-level.
In keeping with the geography so far there is soon another drop to the edge of South Cave. The winding road up to this farm also services about two other houses. It is tarmac these days but very much single track. I hadn't noticed before but suspect the highways agency may have adopted it or something. It now has give way markings and a proper street sign. I suspect it was discussed on a Friday morning as people were anxious to get out for a liquid lunch.
"What shall we call this road going up to a steep hill to Mt Airey farm in South Cave"
"Steep Hill"
"Seconded, now who's getting the first round in??"
I now left the semi-comfort of well trodden trails near villages/towns. All there was from now until I - hopefully - came back this way in a couple of hours were farm houses and a few road crossings. Don't get me wrong, its not exactly wilderness, but its worth not forgetting on a long run if your energy stores deplete unexpectedly early or you suffer "digestive discomfort", your reduced to walking and the weather worsens - which would't take much as it was already cold enough for snow with an ice-cold breeze - you need an escape route! I was ever concious of this as this would be my longest unsupported run to date.
I try not to dwell on the above negativity and look at the positives, I still felt fresh at the steady pace and I was now hitting countryside I see less often giving me a sensory uplift to distract from the cold facts. First the climb through Little Wold Plantation, a sedate dog-walkers paradise. Then from Coomber Dale a drop into the deeper Weedley dale, once a home of the railway. Then follows the longest wooded section of the day, heading into Drewton woods, initially on a flat path but towards the end the climb steepens to necessitate a walk as the wooded walls of East Dale (see left - from walkingenglishman.com) rise before spitting you out into a field. The next way marker after a following a field edge and a short section of single track road, is the old fashioned style High Hunsley Beacon - erected for Golden Jubilee celebrations. This marks todays highpoint at, a not exactly dizzying, 550ft above my starting point. But the regular elevetion gain and losses so far do mean I've run LSRs in the southern Peak district and Yorkshire Dales that weren't much hillier.
Onwards towards Swindale, another change in scenery, being a shallower sided grassy dale, and the start in a trend of long, steady undulations and climbs for the miles towards Market Weighton. Ironically my planned mileage will turn me back at the top of the last significant climb.
Back to Swindale, having quickly dropped a fair bit of height to around 200ft, I consider slowing down for my 3 hour food stop I see two runners coming towards me at hard pace. In front, driving on, a short, strong, determined runner who I think I recognise as one of the local "hard men" of running - supposedly he runs the 24.5m Rudolph's Romp route weekly in training. I didn't recognise the guy hanging 10 metres back, though he looked more to be "hanging on" than driving on. I said hello in passing but refrained from saying, "only 5m to go mate", figuring any attempts at encouragement - or sarcasm - may not be helpful. With them out of site I slowed to a walk for my 3 hour treat - my reward for progress.
The valley had been warm out of the wind, even the back of my hands had warmed up without gloves. But, I was soon climbing again and taking the bitter wind either face or side on. Up a few muddy paths between road sections and I hit another marked trig point at about 500ft A few hundred yards later I decided it was time to head back. Though I knew I'd been running a fair old time, it didn't feel like it in my legs, but I had in fact run just over 18 miles. I turned around for what turned out to be a good few miles of downhill, flat or very steady climbs, taking me up to the mid-twenties. The journey back through Swindale, East Dale and Drewton Woods right to Weedley Dale was all runnable and overall downhill. I made a very slight variation before the climb out of Swindale, not cutting the corner as when I dropped in, instead running right to the end for a shorter climb out. This is the true route of the Wolds Way but Rompers cut the corner. I think I may know why....
..... Mole hills everywhere..... hundreds..... Ohh my god!!.... had I strayed into the Valley of the Death Moles?! Or is just my imagination giving me a temporary distraction? Either way I wouldn't come down here at night.
The descent back into East Dale was hazardously muddy and steep as always. At least the mud may have offered my quads some protection. I made good progress through the woods, again warming up for some time protected by nature from the elements. As I ran parallel to the old railway track route back up Weedley Dale - Hull-Barnsley line my father believes (though it seems an odd direction) - the first of the many bigger climbs on the return swallows me in its cold shadow. In fact the next few miles contain a succession of walk uphill and painfully quick, run downhill sections. Hard enough on the way out, on the way back this starts to really exact its punishment. Though, frequent "system checks" verify these are good pains - hard-work endured achey and stiff legs, swollen feet - not the bad pains - potential or actual injuries. You have to differentiate the two or your minds over-active safety mecahanism defeats your body. I've learned the longer you run the more you need to conquer the "demons" in your own mind. Of course training helps to make the miles pass easier, but your mind also needs to cope with hardships both real and products of imagination. I hope I can be strong enough to cope with some of the long day, and night, runs I plan this year.
Miles pass without distraction from man or beast, my 4.5hr food stop has been and gone climbing Coomber Dale and I now know my plan is working as I have food for the one last stop that I will need. I'm not fearing the final few miles or counting down, this is good, though definately getting harder. I keep walking up, running flat or down and my pace holds fairly steady, just slowing a bit towards the end. After my last food stop I get a boost running through the plantation down to Ferriby. Is this a sign of things to come or just a temporary boost from the food and the nice steady downward angle of the hill. As with many runs its not the hills I fear now. When I leave Ferriby for the final stretch along the foreshore to Hessle I know its near another 3m - 2 of which are flat and will see me taunted by the monolithic Humber Bridge, which only grows right at the last minute.
I stop and walk on the flat a bit whilst I sup a bit of energy drink - I'm a bit narked that i have loads left so could have been taking more energy on. Not that it matters, I'm here afterall. My flat pace is now the same as my overall pace. Which is as good as I could have hoped for. No horrific burnout on a remote hill - not today. I pass under the humber bridge, its like a magnificent finishing gantry, a short hill from home now. I get to my front door, stopping the clock on 6hrs and 55mins, a distance of 36.9m, the ascent and descent is in the region of 4800ft, which is quite a lot in an area with no monster hills to speak of. Its a definate confidence booster, this was the condition I set myself on the way towards Hardmoors, if I can do 66% distance ok, I can grind out the rest.
In the closing miles I promised myself a burger and chips as reward. This turns out to be a disappointment, guess I've used up my quota of good fortune already today.
But, the logistics of this seemed too tricky to do alone so I decided I'll bluff it round on the day. Plan B was a long run along the Wolds Way from Hessle where it starts along a long stretch to another town from where I could bus it back. But I layed in a bit long so figured on route that by time I got there I'd be taking buses in rush hour in smelly running clothes. Not appealing when its two buses and over a one hour journey (even without rush hour delays).
I was already on route when I ditched plan B and decided on plan C, follow the route mostly along Wolds Way as per B, but turn back after so many miles. As this was to be my longest VLSR before the Hardmoors this would be tough whatever I did, so covering the same ground twice shouldn't be a reason not to - mental discipline isn't my fortay. Also, on these country long runs there is always something new to see or something you haven't noticed before. An early highlight was geese flying in V formation low over the humber then turning inland just in front of me, nearly brushing the low trees, superb.
So I plodded onwards on mostly good trail ground with a thin mud coating, rarely horrifically deep or wet meaning I fell into a steady pace between 10-11min/mile. Not to say it isn't hilly though. There are several steady foot hills that are runnable as you venture a few miles from the riverbank into the edge of the wolds. These each rise and fall upto a few hundred feet at a time until you get to Elloughton Dale. Now temporarily off the Wolds way, here there is a steep drop and rise in the space of half a mile - fun in the winter mud - before a steady climb onto the top of the Wolds. Here follows another drop down into Brantingham Dale and terrain that will be familiar to Rudolph Romp-er's. I then followed the Wolds way along the dale road towards further hills and South Cave - run in the opposite direction at end of the Romp. To my surprise in the early miles it started to snow, in a few very weak showers. This refreshed the air but cooled my face enough for the hat to come out. In fact the hat and gloves were to come in and out quite a lot. I remember thinking at the end I probably had a hat, glove or both transition in every mile; I'd warm up in the valleys, cool into the North-easterly wind or on the hills, I'd also usually warm in tree cover - except if exposed to that wind.
With future, unsupported events in mind I was drinking every 45mins and taking on solid food - sandwich and malt loaf - every 90 - almost metronomically, just doing a few mins early or late if I could do it when walking up a hill to minimise slowdown. Climbing out of Brantingham Dale this route shows its teeth with two short, but steep climbs and a drop inbetween. The first takes you up to the top of Ellerker North Wold (see left - taken on a past and warmer venture), a feast for the eyes on clear days with views south east over the flat Humber and Trent estuaries, and down into the tree-lined mini dale that is Woo Dale (see below - picture from Walkingenglishman.com). I was out of Woo Dale again in the space of a few minutes, with a climb up Mt Airey which it isn't sensible to run even when your not running so long. At the top I crossed between the farm and grass airfield. In the summer there is a barking sheepdog here, as well as a giant friendly pet pig, which trots upto you as you pass - moments like these make my day. Today it was cold and both were conspicuously absent, probably indoors/barns. This is the highest point of the route so far, only 400ft, but remember I'm running from about sea-level.
"What shall we call this road going up to a steep hill to Mt Airey farm in South Cave"
"Steep Hill"
"Seconded, now who's getting the first round in??"
I now left the semi-comfort of well trodden trails near villages/towns. All there was from now until I - hopefully - came back this way in a couple of hours were farm houses and a few road crossings. Don't get me wrong, its not exactly wilderness, but its worth not forgetting on a long run if your energy stores deplete unexpectedly early or you suffer "digestive discomfort", your reduced to walking and the weather worsens - which would't take much as it was already cold enough for snow with an ice-cold breeze - you need an escape route! I was ever concious of this as this would be my longest unsupported run to date.
I try not to dwell on the above negativity and look at the positives, I still felt fresh at the steady pace and I was now hitting countryside I see less often giving me a sensory uplift to distract from the cold facts. First the climb through Little Wold Plantation, a sedate dog-walkers paradise. Then from Coomber Dale a drop into the deeper Weedley dale, once a home of the railway. Then follows the longest wooded section of the day, heading into Drewton woods, initially on a flat path but towards the end the climb steepens to necessitate a walk as the wooded walls of East Dale (see left - from walkingenglishman.com) rise before spitting you out into a field. The next way marker after a following a field edge and a short section of single track road, is the old fashioned style High Hunsley Beacon - erected for Golden Jubilee celebrations. This marks todays highpoint at, a not exactly dizzying, 550ft above my starting point. But the regular elevetion gain and losses so far do mean I've run LSRs in the southern Peak district and Yorkshire Dales that weren't much hillier.Onwards towards Swindale, another change in scenery, being a shallower sided grassy dale, and the start in a trend of long, steady undulations and climbs for the miles towards Market Weighton. Ironically my planned mileage will turn me back at the top of the last significant climb.
Back to Swindale, having quickly dropped a fair bit of height to around 200ft, I consider slowing down for my 3 hour food stop I see two runners coming towards me at hard pace. In front, driving on, a short, strong, determined runner who I think I recognise as one of the local "hard men" of running - supposedly he runs the 24.5m Rudolph's Romp route weekly in training. I didn't recognise the guy hanging 10 metres back, though he looked more to be "hanging on" than driving on. I said hello in passing but refrained from saying, "only 5m to go mate", figuring any attempts at encouragement - or sarcasm - may not be helpful. With them out of site I slowed to a walk for my 3 hour treat - my reward for progress.
The valley had been warm out of the wind, even the back of my hands had warmed up without gloves. But, I was soon climbing again and taking the bitter wind either face or side on. Up a few muddy paths between road sections and I hit another marked trig point at about 500ft A few hundred yards later I decided it was time to head back. Though I knew I'd been running a fair old time, it didn't feel like it in my legs, but I had in fact run just over 18 miles. I turned around for what turned out to be a good few miles of downhill, flat or very steady climbs, taking me up to the mid-twenties. The journey back through Swindale, East Dale and Drewton Woods right to Weedley Dale was all runnable and overall downhill. I made a very slight variation before the climb out of Swindale, not cutting the corner as when I dropped in, instead running right to the end for a shorter climb out. This is the true route of the Wolds Way but Rompers cut the corner. I think I may know why....
..... Mole hills everywhere..... hundreds..... Ohh my god!!.... had I strayed into the Valley of the Death Moles?! Or is just my imagination giving me a temporary distraction? Either way I wouldn't come down here at night.
The descent back into East Dale was hazardously muddy and steep as always. At least the mud may have offered my quads some protection. I made good progress through the woods, again warming up for some time protected by nature from the elements. As I ran parallel to the old railway track route back up Weedley Dale - Hull-Barnsley line my father believes (though it seems an odd direction) - the first of the many bigger climbs on the return swallows me in its cold shadow. In fact the next few miles contain a succession of walk uphill and painfully quick, run downhill sections. Hard enough on the way out, on the way back this starts to really exact its punishment. Though, frequent "system checks" verify these are good pains - hard-work endured achey and stiff legs, swollen feet - not the bad pains - potential or actual injuries. You have to differentiate the two or your minds over-active safety mecahanism defeats your body. I've learned the longer you run the more you need to conquer the "demons" in your own mind. Of course training helps to make the miles pass easier, but your mind also needs to cope with hardships both real and products of imagination. I hope I can be strong enough to cope with some of the long day, and night, runs I plan this year.
Miles pass without distraction from man or beast, my 4.5hr food stop has been and gone climbing Coomber Dale and I now know my plan is working as I have food for the one last stop that I will need. I'm not fearing the final few miles or counting down, this is good, though definately getting harder. I keep walking up, running flat or down and my pace holds fairly steady, just slowing a bit towards the end. After my last food stop I get a boost running through the plantation down to Ferriby. Is this a sign of things to come or just a temporary boost from the food and the nice steady downward angle of the hill. As with many runs its not the hills I fear now. When I leave Ferriby for the final stretch along the foreshore to Hessle I know its near another 3m - 2 of which are flat and will see me taunted by the monolithic Humber Bridge, which only grows right at the last minute.
I stop and walk on the flat a bit whilst I sup a bit of energy drink - I'm a bit narked that i have loads left so could have been taking more energy on. Not that it matters, I'm here afterall. My flat pace is now the same as my overall pace. Which is as good as I could have hoped for. No horrific burnout on a remote hill - not today. I pass under the humber bridge, its like a magnificent finishing gantry, a short hill from home now. I get to my front door, stopping the clock on 6hrs and 55mins, a distance of 36.9m, the ascent and descent is in the region of 4800ft, which is quite a lot in an area with no monster hills to speak of. Its a definate confidence booster, this was the condition I set myself on the way towards Hardmoors, if I can do 66% distance ok, I can grind out the rest.
In the closing miles I promised myself a burger and chips as reward. This turns out to be a disappointment, guess I've used up my quota of good fortune already today.
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