In the lap of the Gods

I think I'm enjoying running too much at the moment. Pretty sure this stuff is meant to be hard work, yet I keep finding ways to have fun whilst doing so! This week included my first club run & a visit down to Dorset for more White Star Running insanity.

Cross Training

Perhaps spurred into action by the knowledge that Team Um Bongo Teamaster General Paul had been struck down by a back issue, Monday morning I decided to get in a DDP Yoga session in front of tv before work. I'm still yet to grasp fully the concept of core work, like broccoli I know it's good for me, I just haven't been able to fully embrace it.
I could feel the benefit straight away, lots of clicks as my back freed itself up. A slight cause for concern was my left shoulder, still playing up a bit after my Evil Knievel stunt show at parkrun.
The day had started well, before the yoga I'd hopped onto the scales and I've now lost half a stone since the start of the marathon cycle. In truth, I've simply clawed back to where I was before the break up binge. I'm happy for the progress though, heading in the right direction. I'm not trying to lose weight in a rapid, unsustainable way, more so just get a bit healthier, the marathon training is certainly having a positive effect.
After work I'd decided a gym visit was necessary, double PE after a long run! The Stansted gym is a bit smaller than Dunmow so I had to settle for a conventional bike over a recumbent. I had a very clear purpose, turn the legs over to aid recovery. 30 minutes of sloth like minimal effort cycling. I kept myself amused by trying to work out Coronation Street with subtitles, podcasts and a blog update. It was only in the final few minutes that I pushed myself, even then just a little bit. The whole point was to ease my legs into a bit of activity. The long run had left me with tight hamstrings, I was hopeful the cycling would cheer them up. I covered all of 6km in 30 minutes, I could have technically run faster!
I got home and constructed an almighty salad, once more being a bit off when it comes to portion control.
Satisfied with my efforts, Tuesday was a full day of rest. I'm managing to just keep myself on the right side of the line in terms of injuries. I have aches and pains, calves that are over worked certainly, but nothing pressing.

The Debut that nearly wasn't

Wednesday night is now club night, the main night of the week for Bishop's Stortford Running Club. I had left work early with a view to getting some errands done & leaving plenty of time to get down to the clubhouse. As I arrived at Tottenham Hale it became apparent that my plans were going to fail. Every train north was cancelled, no trains for at least an hour. Even then it would be onto replacement buses.
I had a brainwave, but it would require an almighty favour. Back southbound to Liverpool St I went & made a call to my Mum. A lift from Braintree was arranged & I was soon on another train out of town. I'd be due to arrive at 1828, giving us 62 minutes to navigate the A120 & for me to get to the club, ready to run.
Traffic was calm and I was home just before seven, with a promise of lunch at a future date the thank you to Mum & Steve for their help. My housemate had also kindly put some running kit together so after a very quick turnaround I was out the door and heading south. Some short cuts through an old estate I used to live on & I was soon parked up. I even had time for a quick kit change as my yellow Stort 10 (only thing I owned with a BSRC club badge) shirt was attracting every thunder bug in Hertfordshire.
The advantage of knowing so many people through parkrun was immediately clear, I was completely at ease, no newbie nerves. There was a huge turnout and the format of the runs was simple, find a group running a similar pace and distance to what you fancied. I was chatting away with guys I'd consider faster than me (Karl beat me in our showdown, Bekah was of a similar pace over parkrun distance, Denise & I had run together at the Stort 10, Simon got within touching distance of a 3:30 marathon, Mark was a regular 21 minute parkrunner, Matt was of a similar standard to Simon, Adam had won our fundraiser back in January, Lee & Pete were often varying degrees of distance ahead of me). The talk was of nine minute miles, 5:35/km in my language. This is the beauty of the club runs, everyone has different goals, some of the guys were coming back from injury, some were there for the social and the food that followed. I could hang at that pace with relative ease so joined them.
The plan was to head to the forest, reach The Shell House & then head back. This worked perfectly for me as I'd had fun getting lost finding my way back in Sunday.
Once into the forest we stitched together some of the various parkrun routes, pausing for some water at the fountain before turning for home. The second half was quicker as we embraced the tarmac and a group of us (Bekah, Denise, Mark & I) forced the pace a bit more. It was good to still chat to the guys as we ran, firstly it was an indication that we weren't pushing too hard, secondly I was familiar with all of them through parkrun but hadn't chatted at length. Mark being the fastest of us continued to drive us, soon Bedlams Lane was upon us and he kicked for home. Not knowing the route as well I waited a bit longer before I followed suit, embracing the chance to really stretch the legs out, finishing with at a 4:20 pace.
After a stretch it was into the clubhouse for refreshments. The setup is simple: run, eat, drink, club announcements, chat, home. Karl has stated the food is good enough that he'll sometimes pop down just for the after run social. For a fiver you get a hot meal and a cupcake, an idea that makes perfect sense as there's no need to go home and rustle up something later, or worse, find a cheeky takeaway. Chilli & rice were an excellent refuel, especially having run a bit further than expected.
After the announcements Karl, Paul & I ran through some parkrun stuff as others had headed off. Paul has been working on me since he joined the parkrun team, extolling the virtues of how the club could accelerate my improvement. So he was a happy man to see me walking away from the evening with new BSRC kit in hand.
I couldn't have enjoyed my first evening with Stortford more, or have been made to feel more at home. Phil, the club chairman extended a warm welcome during the notices, it dawned on me that being the local parkrun Event Director means there is no where to hide! I went home happy, very pleased with my decision to join.

The green & gold

Dorset Invader Half

We were originally signed up to the Bad Cow Half later in the year. Yet for a White Star Running event it appeared to be a bit *whispers* dull. Seven laps and pretty flat for WSR. After Larmer Tree was a lot of fun Emily suggested we transferred to the Dorset Invader, a new addition to the calendar. It appeared to follow the WSR script: Trails, a shittonne of hills, fun, fancy dress, awesome medal. I was easily persuaded and the team at WSR were obliging with the transfers.
Despite the long distance runs, this had potential to be the toughest of the marathon cycle. Even more so when you factor in fancy dress. Paul had mentioned he wanted us to have inflatable armour and weapons, then nixed the idea as the heat might lead them to be discarded. I decided to take up the mantle, my aim was to run for fun, no time targets here. An eBay search for men's toga yielded some interesting results before I settled on this.....

Sure there would be soldiers and standard Romans a plenty, they needed a God to worship though! Conventional wisdom is to not introduce any new kit into a race scenario. What this doesn't account for is picking up a fancy dress kit from the post office en route down to Dorset! I'd be unsighted to the state of my kit until we got to the hotel, so had packed (or so I thought) a full set of running gear just in case. The journey south west was decent enough, the usual gruel around the M40-M3 was to be expected.

Bad Fuel

It was just after seven when we made it to the Travelodge in Amesbury & headed straight out for food. Rather than drive into Salisbury we chose a nearby retail park and with Harvester or Pizza Hut on offer, opted for Pizza. Deciding I needed the carbs, I ordered a large deep pan. About halfway through the second slice I realised how dumb the decision had been. Too much of a good thing, or in my case a little bit of a good thing and I suffer. The heavy carbs were bloating me. The problem is one of my own making, I like pizza, but my body doesn't. Had I opted for a thin crust I might have got away with it. Instead I'd naively gone for the carb loading option to my own detriment. 

Paul smiling away, might be due to the drugs attempting to calm down his back

The fear in the eyes, realising this was a bad idea

Better race prep

An appalling night of sleep followed, stomach cramps, toilet visits, feelings of self loathing. This was all my own fault & when I woke in the morning feeling empty in the stomach I knew the worst thing I could now do was try and eat too much for breakfast.
There was one benefit to bring awake between 2-3am. Over dinner I'd discussion my flirtation with a September half marathon to try and PB before Berlin. Emily & Paul had sensibly suggested this was foolish & that the goal was first & foremost Berlin. As I was feeling confident, I was starting to book in races after the marathon. Their solution, look for something in October or November instead. Having a website that lists all running events globally and is searchable bookmarked is both useful and dangerous. It means when constructing plans I can usually find a couple of races that fit my goals. It didn't take long for me to find the River Thames Half in Walton. Fast, flat and three weeks removed from Berlin, it offers me the chance to cash in on my marathon training. At least the hour awake wasn't completely wasted.

Race Day

It was soon time to head to the race itself, I wasn't changed into fancy dress yet, just had the base of normal running kit. I didn't pack a shirt so picked up the one I ordered from the WSR shop & Emily put it into her running pack. Toilets dealt with and back to the car we went to make final preparations. For the first time in my running career I was lubing my knees in case the toga rubbed & also my ears as the elastic for the beard looked like it could rub. Some extra safety pins held my sash in place and I was now ready to run, resplendent in purple!

Fear not humble Romans, your God is here

The weather was turning out to be perfect for a summer's day, not ideal for runners, especially those in wigs & beards!!!

After being called forward for an all fancy dress photo & a short run briefing we were on our way. Gary was joining Emily & I for a slow but purposeful run. From our Larmer & Dark Ox experiences we had established a walk run strategy to tackle the hills, accepting that there was little to achieve in running the climbs. 

Team Um Bongo, ready to go

We had no real concerns over time, a desire to beat our Larmer Tree time and set a new WSR best would be nice, but not a priority. What was apparent the moment we started is that comedy beards are not advisable when running. Within the first kilometre I found myself struggling to breath and the whole beard was an unwelcome distraction. In the heat and sunshine I was dripping with sweat already! 
We had started to get some space on the course only to be bunched as we caught the back of a group waiting to cross a road, little did we know this was all of the tarmac we would see until crossing back. After a first venture through some woods it was time to climb over a stile. It would be fair to say I'm clumsy at the best of times, add a wig and knee length toga to the mix and the chance of injury increases. 
Note there was no mention of the beard. I think it lasted all of 3km. I'd looped it with my sunglasses to try and secure it better (perhaps lubing the ears was a bad thing). As we had entered the shaded woods I didn't need the sunnies & in taking them off the beard came off as a result. I couldn't be done with faffing so tucked it into my flip belt and enjoyed the respite. Now I just resembled Brian May at a toga party!!!
Once through the stile we enjoyed a downhill, wider trail and got into a nice rhythm. We were running well as a group,  alongside where the path allowed and in formation when not. At one point we enjoyed a downhill so much that our pace dropped into the low 5:00/km territory and it took some effort to rein this back in before we got too silly. 
At about 4 miles we stopped at the first check point, taking on some water, jelly beans & I had the opportunity to take the wig off momentarily to through some water over myself. Progress was good and spirits were high. Running through wooded areas was a test of both concentration & technique. It felt like we were the only three in the race for a while as we were blinkered by woods. We gave ourselves more space in order to both see the roots & avoid any whiplash from overhanging branches.
Once out of the woods we knew the worst of the course was to follow, but confidence was high. At one point Gary scaled a 4 foot gate. Me, feeling clever, unlooped the rope and walked through, only to be surpassed by another runner taking a route around a hedge to avoid all gate. My smugness lasted all of a second! 

Once through this gate & after a short descend we were due to hit what would become two miles of climb. Progress was decent & soon the signs you most look forward to at a WSR event were coming into view.

LOVESTATION AHEAD

The normal WSR aid stations are excellent. The Lovestation though, that is the cherry on top. Stop. One water to top up the bottle & spray over my head, one to drink, one cider, some jelly beans & babies, amazing watermelon, some photos, readjust wig, Lovestation completed proceed onwards to complete your run. We were afforded a fast kilometre before the climb resumed. At least I hadn't repeated my mini Scotch Egg faux pas from Larmer Tree so wasn't feeling the need to throw up!

Feeling good after Lovestation ciders

Lovestation offerings - decided against Schnapps

More Lovestation

Soon we were walking again & then the moment the course appeared to flatten we were joined by about 4 foot of foliage on either side. We tried running, soon realising it made little sense & conserved our energy. Aid stations excluded this would be the slowest part of the run for us.

From 15km onwards our pace whenever we ran was good & presented no problems for us. Emily was really driving her arms as she ran  & we all seemed to be running with purpose where the course allowed us to. 

Brian May filming the new series of Springwatch

There were times in run where my wide stride meant I had to seek alternative routes, some of the farm tracks were too narrow for me & the slight angle I run at on my left side due to hip rotation. From about halfway my hips had been aching from the awkwardness of the terrain & the constant uneven landings. After short stop at the final aid station in the 18th kilometre it was time to carry on & get the race finished. We repeated our post aid station custom of low fives & got focused once more. Some more farm track that we'd run out on had provided us with a nice surface to push on, allowing for another relatively quick kilometre.

This God Can

Unfortunately we weren't following the track back & were soon diverted off course & uphill. It was only now, in the dying moments of the race that Emily mentioned our walking stride wasn't offering her much respite. Being a bit shorter than us, my aggressive walking pace was forcing her back into running more often than not. Once Gary & I knew this we reined it in & asked Emily to set the pace, we didn't want to be leaving anyone behind at this stage of the race. Another run through a wooded area brought us into the final kilometre. 

Approaching the finish line

Soon we were emerging into daylight & one almighty hill came into view. This time though it was a massive downhill, easily the steepest we'd seen all day. A thirty metre drop was hard work, a struggle to not lose all semblance of form & stay vertical. I had to take a wider line in order to make the gate at the bottom & file in behind Gary, a more direct route would have seen me either collect him or the gate. Emily filed in behind & we kicked for home with the finish line in sight. Gary & I had kicked too much, so we slowed our pace to ensure Emily was with us as we crossed the line together.

Finishing with a smile

Once the almighty medal & goody bag had been acquired we had time to cool off. I was keen to get changed out of my outfit, the base layers had done their job, but were now really quite disgusting!

Awesome run bling

The Eat

A post race cider seemed like a good idea, whether Emily & Paul agreed quite so much as I snored my way home in the back of their car I'm not so sure! It was the finest west country cider you could find, chewy, you could barely see through it, it made for perfect refreshment (and counted as one of my five a day). A farm shop on site also provided some clotted cream fudge & some local sausages that would be perfect for dinner (I wasn't going to make it to my friend's BBQ, I'd be poor company sleeping away in the corner & smelling like a field). A small pot of rum & raisin ice cream was well received, as was the excellent muffin provided with the goody bag.

A very happy Chris post race

Saffron Trail Volunteering

After an early night & a bath to soothe my weary legs I was up at regular weekday time on Sunday. One of our local running event companies were looking for checkpoint volunteers & on scanning the route I'd realised one was only a few miles from home. After negotiating down a 0200 start time to 0630 I found myself sat in the Alfa, in the rain on a Sunday morning. The gazebo didn't look that appealing, despite all of the goodies laid out.

Lindley the Race Director explained the first runner was probably an hour away & to just relax. Luckily I'd prepared for such an occasion, writing a lot of this blog & churning halfway through Ed Smith's book, Luck over the course of the morning. 

Reclining in the Alfa

Intervals between the runners were long, this was the final check point, 65 miles into a 70 mile race & with a field of under 20 hardy souls taking on the route. I was in awe of the competitors, taking mileage to levels that I personally can't fathom. My stint on the aid station was due to end at 1100, I decided to stay on though until Nicki, one of Great Notley parkrun's core team made it through. Shortly before midday she emerged, smiling as always, slaying the demons from the same race last year & indulging in some custard before taking on the final 4.9 miles into Saffron Walden.

I made my way into Saffron Walden myself & ended up parking right next to the finish line. Seeing Rich from GNPR, his family & Nicki's sister there, I quickly did a lap of the town as planned & joined them to see Nicki finish. I gave a lift to a station to a chap who'd travelled over from Australia for a week & just happened to fancy an ultra whilst here!

Add station full of good stuff for ultra runners

With my first marathon approaching I've learnt throughout my time running to never say never. That said, I simply can't comprehend the step up into ultra running. Yet I find myself hurting more from speed than from distance & enjoying the mental challenge of more miles. I don't see an ultra in my future, but then again 5 years ago I didn't see a marathon either.

The Conclusion

Another very enjoyable week on the road to Berlin. I only ran twice, recognising that some rest was required. At this stage I'm very satisfied with my progress & want to make sure that every run has purpose, no junk miles is the goal.

Post race hobbit feet, appears my trail shoes allowed a lot of dust & dirt in

A time of 2:19:50 for the Dorset Invader would worry me without any context. 21 kilometres of non stop trail made it the toughest terrain I've run across. Sure Larmer tree was a bit slower, but the mud was a massive factor back in March. I couldn't care for the time though, we were actually 10 seconds under our nominal target. This half was my most enjoyable. I fully embraced the WSR ethos & dressed up for the occasion, loving every second of it. I ran with two good friends & the worked as a team throughout. There is no point in running this kind of race on your own, you miss out on the fun. Emily had suggested I could run ahead if I wanted to based on our current training levels, to me though, spending time with my friends was more important. We started together, we crossed the line together.

Definitely a hilly one

A year ago I was buying my first pair of trail shoes, now I find myself looking forward to insane trail races. Maybe it helps that WSR are a bit insane themselves, adding humour & camaraderie to what would otherwise be some pretty tough races. I don't associate trail races like this with time chasing, I think that allows me to enjoy them more. Running a road race the same way would feel a bit pointless.

This was also my first half since the marathon training has kicked in. This made for a noticeable difference, probably mentally rather than physically. Having run 20 miles the weekend prior for the first time, I knew this race couldn't defeat me. This was also Emily's first half since her marathon in May & well Gary, he'd probably just finished another fifty miler the day before or something! So all three of us combined were pretty strong.

If you're looking for an almighty challenge with a bit of fun thrown in for good measure, I can't recommend White Star Running enough. I'm already looking at their 2016 calendar (Bad Cow doesn't quite fit for my training), a family wedding clashes with the Dark Ox, I'm told it would be poor form to miss the evening reception for a night of getting muddy in Dorset! I can see a return to Larmer Tree in my future though, perhaps it is time to take on the 20 miler as well.

Please keep doing this guys, you're flipping awesome

Pero las llamas son peligrosas - Larmer Tree Half Marathon

Pero las llamas son peligrosas. 

As Monty Python has told us, Llamas are dangerous. Yet this didn't put me off entering the Larmer Tree Half marathon during the autumn of 2014. Like a baby distracted by a mobile above it's cot, I'd seen the medals on offer by those crazy folk at White Star Running, entered the Bad Cow event, then seen an even more awesome medal for the Larmer Half. I'd paid my entry & then took a moment to look at the course profile. Bugger. Oh dear, what have I done. Oh, I appear to have roped my friends into this madness as well? Looks like I'm set for a day of pain and a lifetime of excommunication then.
You seen White Star do indeed do amazing medals, but you have to work for the damn things. You want bling? You have to exchange part of your soul for it, but there will at least be cake at the end.
How did I even get to this point? The Cambridge Half the week prior was meant to be the full stop on this training cycle. Forget how, why was I even signing up for an off road half marathon with a huge amount of elevation? I know my comfort zone & all this needed was a pantomime donkey to kick me in the balls every kilometre to make this a less pleasant experience surely?
In truth I wanted to test myself. This time last year I didn't even own trail shoes & mostly ran on my own. Now I had a choice of trails or mudclaws & would be running with one of my best friends so that we could suffer together. The majority of my half marathons have been big events, in the first fifteen I'd wager that maybe less than 1km was off road. In elevation terms, cumulatively they'd probably equal the Larmer.
First of course, I had to get to the start line......

Post Cambridge Half recovery

I'd rather unwisely agreed to a game of squash on Monday morning, feeling that the activity might be a good way to get everything moving again following the half marathon. My opponent hadn't played for years but had the shots, I soon lost the first game unexpectedly. I'd realised that he had little cardio so changed my game accordingly to try and wear him down to get back in. By 0-3 down it was clear that though this tactic was having some effect, there was more chance I'd need to call my opponent an ambulance that my appalling squash rising to the top. The match ended up being the last thing I needed, the more I fell behind the more I pushed, not exactly a gentle easing of the legs following a tough half!
My quads were still complaining throughout the week & it wasn't until Friday morning that I finally felt normal. Lucky then that I'd scheduled a run of the winter route around the forest with Karl from the HFPR core team. I was trying to film the course on a Go Pro borrowed from Notley's Len. Conditions were just about perfect & it was pleasing to see how much better the ground was underfoot. Unfortunately the battery died just after 4km as we entered the muddy phase. One downside to the improved conditions elsewhere on the course is that the muddy crescendo to the winter route had all but dried out, our runners would be missing out on the fun!
After finishing the run I was home, showered & onto the physio table before taking the train into London. I was there for the usual top up, but decided it was time to ask my physio to check on this nagging groin injury. A groin strain was the diagnosis, one that has probably been strained and recovered only to strain again repeatedly since first occurring last summer. No point in treating it on the Friday as that would rule out the half marathon. So I booked up a couple sessions to follow the half marathon, if the the basic diagnosis prodding was anything to go by, it would be damn painful. I was annoyed with myself that it had taken this long to get my physio to look at the issue. I'd put myself through some anguish in the months preceding as the injury manifested itself in different ways, I was just thankful that the injury itself was minor enough to still allow for a half marathon before being treated properly.

parkrun Pilot

Before I could head down to the west I had the small matter of the parkrun pilot at Hatfield Forest to contend with. The whole week had seen parkrun activity shoehorned into any available moment. Be it painting signage at 6am before work, getting home from overtime to build signs, spend the train journeys into London working on paperwork, if I had a spare moment it was filled with parkrun in one form or another. The whole week was tiring, I felt like a plate spinner, just about keeping everything going.
Even at 8pm when I'd got home from work I still had plenty to do. Signs still needed attaching to posts, the whole parkrun paraphernalia needed loading into the Alfa that was bursting at the seams. At half ten I took a dinner break and allowed myself half an hour. Sure the volunteer lanyards still needed making up, but I needed just half an hour.

One whole parkrun fits nicely into the Alfa

I slept pretty well considering, if I get as good a night of sleep for the inaugural I'd be pleasantly surprised. I had started to cut up Lanyards whilst waiting for a cup of tea to cool, but realised it would take far longer than I felt I had available to me so quickly chucked everything into my various boxes & loaded the remainder into the car & headed to the forest. The core team started to arrive at 7am and we set about trying to understand how to setup the course.
We seemed to figure it out & our volunteers added new roles such as stationary support to help get all of the laminates ready. By ten to nine the sun had joined us & we were saying hello to all of our runners.

Never will the parkrun kit be this neat ever again!

Everyone seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, our tail came through in under 30 minutes, perhaps they all knew I had to get down to Wiltshire. Sadly we had some IT issues, but after decamping to the estate office we were able to get the results uploaded to the parkrun test site and after some head scratching got them all sorted out.
We were also able to get some good feedback on the course & some tweaks we could make to the course & our processes. Even the results hiccup was an experience, giving us a chance to try the various options on the processing site to see how the outcome was changed.

The Larmer Tree Half

We've established how I ended up entered for the Larmer Half, blinded by the shiny. All I now needed to do was get there. Paul & Emily had made their way down earlier in the day to see Stone Henge & we'd all booked into a Travelodge nearby for some consistent mediocrity you'd expect. Regular readers will know that I recently added a random factor to my life by buying an Alfa. True to form, the Motor Control System Failure alert started the moment I pulled onto the M11 southbound. Nothing drive wise appeared to be wrong, so funk it, let's carry on. In fact, apart from being a bit beepy every time it is started, the Alfa was a joy to drive on it's first major journey.
I was soon at the Travel Tavern on the A303, catching up with Emily & Paul who wanted the low down on the pilot. After some carb loading in nearby Salisbury & an emergency purchase of plasters, it was time to sleep ahead of the further 40 minute journey down to the Larmer Tree Gardens in the morning.
I'd packed for every eventually, Cold, Ok and really warm, in fact I had enough kit for three runs! I'd also packed extra gels as the trail nature of the course would add time & therefore might need more replenishment.

Be prepared is what I was taught at Cubs

Paul was starting an hour before us for the 20 miler, so we picked our numbers up & mooched for a bit. This led to be purchasing another awesome White Star product, nothing if not predictable! The only pre race feedback we could give is that race category signage above the desks would have been handy & avoided being in the wrong queues, a minor issue though.

Pre race smiles....

Soon it was our turn to start, though the briefing was going on whilst I was still in a portaloo! In fact we ended up crossing the line at the back of the pack, not ideal but the course was wide enough initially to still get into a rhythm.
Emily & I had run together previously when I'd paced her at the HBO 10k last year, this was an altogether more relaxed setting. The nature of the course had led me to the belief that anything within 30 minutes of the Cambridge Half would be a good result. We had the bizarre sight of a pacing tractor at one point. It appears one of the local farmers had just driven straight onto the country lane & was now limited by the runners in front until they could find an appropriate point to leave the road. Fair play to the driver, seemed to be going at a nice 6:00/km pace, shame it was just too far ahead for us to grab a tow!

The pacing tractor

The first few kilometres seemed to fly by. A brief stop at an aid station for Emily to take on water & at one point she even suggested that maybe the 20 miler wouldn't be so bad (more on that later). Our initial pace was decent, though I had to keep reminding myself that this was not a race for the stopwatch, this was an experience race.
I found myself enjoying the run, truth be told, it was flippin awesome. I was completely outside of my comfort zone, technically injured & loving every minute of it. The terrain was constantly changing, the course was a literal roller-coaster, yet we were able to keep going.
Or at least we were.....
Then this appeared.
I've christened many hills in my parkrun career as a #hillofdoom. When this came into view it was a #hillofohthatcanfunkrightoff. The hill was expected, we'd seen it on the course map, but theory & reality are two different things. What didn't help was seeing it from a distance, you could see that no one was running up it. That's a slight untruth, we saw one person start running up it & then succumb to walking very quickly.

The hill comes into view

And then more into view.....

We chose to walk it up, it made much more sense. Perhaps if it had been tarmac instead of soft grass it might have been manageable. Even walking was tough, halfway up my groin made it's displeasure known, just another 8km to get my knackered body through. It didn't help that the painkillers I thought I'd packed turned out to be in the boot of the Alfa waiting for me upon my return. Bit of a failure.

The view from the top of the #hillofohthatcanfunkrightoff

If the ascend was tough, then the descend that followed was probably the most technical I've faced. My lack of experience in trail running came to the fore here. I decided running on my heels to be the most logical way. That didn't last long as the route kept turning & involved lots of branches that even Emily had to evade! Scuttling like a crab became the method & soon we were at the bottom of the hill.
Thankfully the Lovestation was waiting for us. Yes folks, you read that correctly, the Lovestation. White Star don't do normal aid stations. At this point you could hug a man with a kilt and a badger on his sporran, grab a cheeky cider or blackberry vodka. Perhaps a flat coke would take your fancy before you loaded up on cocktail sausages, mini scotch eggs and jelly babies. And of course no one leaves the Lovestation without a hug!

Emily & the badger merkin guy

I opted for flat coke (good idea), a jaffa cake (good idea), a mini scotch egg (bad idea) and some jelly beans (should have been a good idea). The reason a scotch egg is a bad idea, the size of one is roughly the same as your mouth, so chewing it whilst running isn't easy. Secondly, another chuffing steep hill followed the Lovestation, so trying to run uphill, struggling for air with a mini scotch egg blocking the intake seems like a bad combination. Thirdly, they repeat on you for ages, even when you try to wash them down with jelly beans.

The Lovestation

Goodies galore at the Lovestation

Once my attempt at scotch egg asphyxiation had been avoided we were ready to carry on with the rest of the run. With the post Lovestation hill out of our way we were able to get back into a bit of a rhythm. Mud seemed to be becoming the prevalent theme of the remaining miles. We thought some respite was due when we pulled onto a nice country lane, only for it to lead to the last aid station & a turn into more mud.

Won't these hills stop?

The "Say Cheese" function on the new phone generally produces confused gurning from me

The majority of the last three miles appeared to be mostly mud, with a bit of woodland trail mixed in with some hills. By now were we walking up any significant hill, especially the muddy ones as the trail shoes weren't providing much traction. It made much more sense to walk at a pace, easily the same pace as a tired run uphill & useful for preserving the remaining energy. Here the mudclaws would have been handy, but they'd have been pointless on the road sections. An attempted leap over a muddy puddle left both groins feeling it, thankfully no lasting damage, just a moment of pain.

More damn hills?

The miles of mud were starting to impact our pace, the legs definitely tiring. Thankfully we soon turned for home, the trail was coming to an end, it was time to cross the road to enter the Larmer Tree Estate. As we climbed the last gentle hill towards the finish we saw Paul to the side & gave him a wave. For some reason unbeknown to either of us we agreed on a sprint finish & I was pleasantly surprised to find some gears left. The race had been a test for the legs, but the cardio was still good.
No medals at the end, we established why already. Instead a choice of a beer or a buff (though I believe for contractual reasons they call them muffs). As I was driving I opted for the buff, a handy bit of kit for when I'm standing around in charge of the parkrun.
I walked through the finish area & found a post to collapse against. That was by far the toughest event I'd taken part in. At 2:26 & change it was the longest run in terms of duration that I've completed. Just over 300m over elevation gain, yet I loved it. I loved the challenge & the feeling of being outside of my usual comfort zone. The race taught me how to adapt to the conditions & by keeping going I realised that I can make the step up to marathon distance in Berlin. I could have easily not taken part, I had good reason not to, but by getting through I gave myself a confidence boost of knowing that I could win the mental battle, as well as the physical.

One groin knackered on me, one knee knackered on Emily

After 50% extra miles & 66% more elevation, Paul was in an advanced state of seizing up

The Eat

Did I mention that WSR laid on free food afterwards as well? After changing into some slightly more pleasant clothes we wandered gingerly back to race HQ, which was now acting as a food hall. On finishing we'd all been given food tokens & after Paul had mentioned Mac & Cheese there was only one thing on my mind. Combined with a big pint of full fat coke it was precisely what I needed. After the food we were all starting to feel slightly more human & ready to make the journey north, the Alfa beeping all the way!

Under this mountain of food is a magma of mac & cheese

A driving home snack, real men eat quiche

Proper dirty beige food in the evening once home. So much beige

The Conclusion

My slowest half marathon. My longest run. The most elevation consumed in a run. Who cares, it was flipping awesome! The first four years of running were an ode to tarmac & getting faster. This past year I've found myself starting to embrace trails, experiences & the social side of running. Spending a couple of hours running with a friend around some stunning, albeit challenging countryside was a great way to spend a day. Rarely do I run & take lots of photos, that wasn't the case during the Larmer, not taking yourself or the race too seriously was the order of the day.

Stole us some peacocks as a temporary replacement for medals. My peacock, Burt is particularly partial to Mountain Dew & Black Jacks.

The guys at White Star Running made the day just about perfect. A chat to a friendly race official whilat queuing for a post race drink made it clear why the event worked so well. They're all runners & designed the event based on what they'd like to see at events. Cool medals, well stocked aid stations, funny signage, free photos, an event with personality. The Cambridge Half a week prior was the kind of homogenous race that could have been staged in any city, the Larmer Races were one of a kind.
The decision to sign up was on a whim based on the medal, the satisfaction on completing the race was measurable with any other high spot in my running career. I'll be back at a WSR race again in August for the Bad Cow weekend & I for one can't wait.

The course profile. Ouch.

Cambridge Half

I don't think I've ever been quite so relaxed about an event. I was almost apathetic, indifferent to the Cambridge Half. The original aim had been to target 1:50:00, training, illness, fitness and carrying too much weight meant that wasn't going to happen. Not having a target freed from worry. Mentally I found myself with an uncluttered mind for the first time in months.
Joel had enquired as to what I was aiming for, I casually stated a sub 2 would be nice, but I wasn't fussed, miles for Larmer a week later would be good. He had toyed with an attempt at 2:15 and I'd offered to pace, but he didn't feel overly confident so we parked that idea.
On the morning of the event I quickly checked what a sub 2 pace would be; 5:41/km, gulp, quicker than anything distance wise I'd managed for a while, but races always give you a little performance boost.
After a midweek run around the forest with Simon at Hatfield Forest parkrun summer course record holder Jack, I felt in decent shape. I found my groin / abductor playing up a bit, but not enough to stop running (doesn't hurt whilst running). I should really get that checked before Berlin training starts in earnest.
I was that ambivalent to the race that it wasn't until around half nine in the evening that I found the race pack! With a half five alarm set I managed to get all of my stuff together, no double or triple checking either, this was like a new me!
It had been nice and warm during the day as a group of us had installed permanent signage for Great Notley parkrun. It was nice to sign off my time there by contributing.
After a quick bath, yes the bath is finally back in business!!!! I was off to sleep, ready for what would be my 15th half marathon in the morning.

Pre Race

Chuffing cold. I was absolutely chuffing cold wandering Midsummer Common. I'd followed the instructions and got there early. I had nearly two hours to kill after the park and ride dropped us off. I need to get myself some nice elasticated jogging bottoms to take to races, my knees were knocking with cold and I was far too lazy to take my running shoes off and put jeans on. Nearly five years a runner and still learning this stuff.
I parked myself next to the Erdinger Alkoholfrei Beer stand to catch folks as they came in. Fellow HFPR core team colleague Sam was also running, aiming for a 1:54 so I'd not be running with him!
Fellow Um Bongo cohorts Joel and Fergie arrived, Ferg outdoing me in the cold stakes by being in only his running gear! We queued up for 20 minutes for a tea to get halfway down the line and realise no one really wanted a tea by the time we'd get to the front of the line! For once I wasn't full of nervous energy, so constantly rejoining the toilet line wasn't necessary. Bag drop was a nightmare, thankfully Nic had the buggy and was happy to hold bags. As ever an event was slightly underdone in terms of toilets and bag drop volunteers. As I was in a good place this wasn't playing on my anxieties though.

Pre Race - Smiling far too much

On my way to the start it said hello to a couple of folks I'd recognised from our parkrun fundraiser. It was great to start seeing folks from what will be our Hatfield Forest community.

The Race

There appeared to be three two hour pacers, yet they'd decided to run as a group, which is bizarre as you usually split them up a bit within a pen to stop massive bunches of runners. The start was very prompt and within a couple of minutes I crossed the line, the pacers already blasting off. I wasn't going to try and hang with them, I knew 5:41/km would deliver me across the line in two hours and I had no idea how the race itself would go.
You'll often hear of people starting too fast, it has certainly been the case for me in other races. I'm now finding though that once a race has a decent number of runners (4,500 at Cambridge) you'll generally find yourself slower than expected in the first kilometre due to everyone being quite compact. I've tried to start at pace before and found myself getting wound up and frustrated. This was almost the zen race so I just accepted it for what it was.
The first kilometre was also slightly uphill, no point over exerting and I wasn't surprised to get through just shy of six minutes, 18 seconds in deficit. Here the experience of this being my 15th half allowed me to relax, just get into a rhythm and everything will sort itself out.
Another second over in the second click, but that was a good indicator that I'd already settled into a pace. Cambridge was as flat as I could remember and after some ring road fun we were treated to the first entry into the city centre.
It was barely half nine and I was already searching out shade, the sun did indeed have it's hat on, hip hip hooray, unless you're a runner of course! Some tight turns throughout the city made the course challenging for a pancake flat one, the only hill of note during the first lap was merely a steep bridge!
I felt good and by five kilometres was on track and consistently under target pace. An elongated out and back gave me a chance to see Joel on the course. A bit more on the course here. OSB the organisers had put together a nearly nice loop that included three visits into the city centre. Here a combination of supporters and bemused tourists gave a big event feel, as did proper barricades with the title sponsor branded across them. Compared with the Helsinki City Run, this felt very much like an event being embraced by the city.
After the third city section we were heading back out towards Midsummer Common. A brief chat with a parkrunner from Wimpole was rudely interrupted by some clown purposefully barging through people and then giving the finger. Sadly in an event of nearly five thousand people there's always going to be one arsehole (I did spot his runner number later on, just saying OSB....). On the whole it felt like a very sociable event.
I soon found myself at the start of the second lap and thanks to some consistent kilometres under target by around a minute. I was into my supply of High 5 gels by this point, though feeling good I was guarding against my trademark 10 mile fade.
Instead I found myself maintaining pace, slightly slower than 4-10km, but still either just over or under target pace. In fact, my pace held up throughout and I found time to chat with various other runners as we wound through the city. The support was absolutely fantastic.
As I approached Midsummer Common for a second time I felt good, but ready to call it a day. I'd managed my fuel tank nicely as I entered the final click, spotting Fergie to one side.

Finishing strongly. And colour coordinated for once....

The finish was misleading, you entered the common only to be diverted away for a bit of an out and back. So near, yet so far!
I didn't feel a sprint finish would achieve anything, but the gun time clock was counting up to 2 hours so with the crowd also counting my last stride was a little leap to secure the gun time sub 2.

The Conclusion

A pleasantly surprising result, 1:57:42. My pacing and energy had been good throughout and my expectations had been surpassed. I even saw fellow core team member Sam just ahead of me in the finish funnel. He'd clocked a time only 40 seconds quicker than me & looking at our times, I was slowly reeling him in as the run continued. I'd managed to come in just behind the pack of two hour pacers, they must have been around three minutes under pace, which would have been too much for many looking to pass that threshold for the first time.

Sam & I more pleased with the medals than alcohol free beer

I was very pleased with the effort. The long runs during this training cycle had all been of decent quality. Though the speed work had been minimal, once I'd skirted round the bad weather at this time of year & the coughs & colds that come with it, I'd trained relatively well for this half. This was the first time I'd been going into a half not feeling under prepared. Usually I find myself missing a couple of crucial long runs & getting to the end on fumes. During this cycle I'd had a few long slow runs over the 10 mile mark, running time rather than distance & over much more elevation than you could find in Cambridge. Given the preparation there is a lot to be happy about with this result. Sure, I could look back at what was meant to be a 1:50:00 attempt, but my focus changed very early on. This run turned into another long run practice before the Larmer Tree Half. A completely different run, except for the 21.1km distance.

A good quality medal

One item of concern was that my constant partner since August was again present. More groin pain, mainly before the run & afterwards. Something must be wrong, it's time to get this checked before marathon season starts.

The race itself was very well organised. As ever, some more toilets would make sense, especially with the amount of space on offer at Midsummer Common. Plenty that were queuing would have either missed the start or be running round with full bladders. The PA was clear, though way too loud in the post race village, was like someone rudely shouting over everyone! No official photos either. £18 per digital image is just extortion. Surely at even half the price you'd sell plenty, it is a self defeating pricing policy.

The Eat

Despite a Steak & Honour van in the race village, I had eyes for only one thing. Once Joel had joined us after a 2:19, it was time for a visit to the ice cream van. Sadly £2 for a 99 Flake is par for the course at events these days, but I couldn't care, Mr Whippy was needed after what turned out to be quite a warm run. The organisers had laid on alcohol free beer as well for every finisher. I tried to enjoy it, but firstly alcohol free takes the one main point of beer out and two, a big gassy pint isn't what the doctor ordered.

Mr Whippy all round!

I'd reserved my Cocio chocolate milk for the journey home & asked Paula to pick up some good burgers whilst out for my evening sustenance. Served in a brioche bun, with baked parma ham, brilliantly melty dutch cheese, avocado and some thousand island sauce, I'm getting good at putting these burger combos together.

I has burger. Very good burger.

No rest for the wicked though, I had an afternoon of parkrun sign making before I could allow myself a chance to relax.

You don't see the signs because you're blind...