tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51311674027096003532024-03-05T09:19:45.939+00:00Relentless Tenacity[Middle-aged, slow, stubborn, dogged and independent]TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.comBlogger829125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-72606886868647118982018-10-07T14:23:00.000+01:002018-10-07T14:41:33.475+01:00Race Report: Mornington Chasers - Regents Park 10K Series 1/6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One week to go to the <a href="https://www.centurionrunning.com/races/autumn-100-2018">Centurion Running Autumn 100</a> race, and what better way to keep things peppy but relaxed than a local 10K race :)<br />
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We've entered a couple of race series across the winter and through next year. A grand slam of 4x 50 mile races, interspersed with 6x 10K races. I <a href="https://www.totkat.org/2018/02/race-report-regents-park-10k.html">ran the last of last winter's 10K race series</a> organised by Mornington Chasers and I really enjoyed it, so when the entries popped up recently for the whole 2018/19 series we got a full series pass each. The first race of which was today.<br />
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The mission was "1 hour very very easy" from my training plan, so that fitted nicely with a gentle 10K and we jogged around together, chatting away. The route is a pretty 3.33km x3, mostly through light tree cover around Regents Park with some very very gentle undulations and past the zoo - the residents of which started waking up quite loudly on our second lap. It's a nicely run race with no queueing for registration, free toilets and bag drop, a water station at the end of each lap and a cafe next to the start/finish which is open by the time folks are done running.<br />
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We managed to keep things sensible and averaged just over 10mins/mile until I negotiated with my brain that although it wanted to have a bit of a leg stretch, today was not the day for that apart from a little 400m right at the end. So as my watch beeped the 6 mile mark, we opened up the throttle to an easy cruise at 8:20/mile and that felt really good. Bananas (which we declined), flapjack and water at the end before a quick tea from the cafe and a stroll to the tube to go home. Out, raced and home again in plenty of time for a civilised brunch and an afternoon on the sofa.<br />
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<br />TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-91181050165019390782018-05-24T11:40:00.001+01:002018-05-24T14:32:49.290+01:00Race Report: Cape Wrath Ultra 2018<div><img id="id_4be7_c4ad_156_75c9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEuSwNmOjgEDkGLgRByYgXNv5wz3vco55usNejfMBmxwDJs7tMtoBlSZZYRpvTv8u0BwlOO9Y41THDnPsJtxLv2h5a-l4s9rOn3taSzkussJJD5LCJeu4T1nIvuQn8B9JQezKQ7ZBedQ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 616px; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; display: block;"><br><br></div>The short version - I timed out at CP1 on day 3 after learning a lot about my lack of experience on technical trails.<div><br></div><div>The longer version...</div><div><br></div><div>The Cape Wrath Ultra is an 8 day expedition race, starting near Fort William and ending at the lighthouse at Cape Wrath after approximately 250 miles and 33k feet of ascent. Having run for 10ish days consecutively in the Scottish Highlands last year, covering about the same distance and the same elevation, I had a romantic idea that this race would be the same thing again but just with less weight on my back and slightly longer days to cover it all in 8 instead of 10 days.</div><div><br></div><div>Day 1 of the race was pretty fine. A bit too much road for everyone's liking, but nevertheless not far off what I was expecting at all. Camping with 7 other women in a huge tent was less scary than I thought, too. I was 5th into camp from my tent and in just under 5 hours so I felt pretty good about how things were going.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_46db_10ae_9598_8bf1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtTtdtNqjWHMtlXrfxoWC4F8_J3wFlz13rcLB6-jSTBpUMOf20IcHq3SbNI78QMgLA3FdvcAWziD9YOaC2glvdnHHu5i88lrBUgFZFj0nLAmu61kXz_eQ_V2G5SQnLMl7WyJFH1lrCg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 615px; height: auto; margin: 4px;"><br><br>Day 2 was a whole different ball game. With the forecast being for rain and wind all day, we all suited up in waterproofs in the morning and got pretty cold and with numb fingers within the first hour. I don't remember a huge amount about the route as it was all along boggy trails, stream courses and on trails where the trail wasn't visible, so I had to pay attention to the ground pretty much the whole way. Also there was a lot of wet boulders and in the final section around the edge of a loch, some scrambling over and asking the edge of rocky "paths". I felt anxious on behalf of anyone who would be covering that section in the dark later, as it was I made it in to camp a good hour and a half ahead of the course closure for the day. There were a few who didn't and were retired from the race.</div><div><br></div><div>So it took me 14 hours to cover 35 miles and 6.5k feet of ascent, but it was the descent that was hard on my legs and the frequent clambering over wet boulders and loose rock. I wasn't feeling great in my head and had a chat with some of the race staff about the likelihood I'd get around day 3 in the allowed time. I was facing 42 miles and a shit-ton of ascending but someone who'd done the race in 2016 told me that it wasn't as difficult going as day 2 had been so there was a good chance of being quicker. I went to sleep unsure of what I would choose to do in the morning.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_b2f8_8bba_4ec4_29cc" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWY49fGd_m88hG58zX15DUS1-3msnryQJ2xVjJ43-zhbCMBazPnu5YTkQhJIqXraTSjRN0OXsJqrwo7ZbEK-39usOxPsytpQotelp4vNUoYRAypmNxBjXSPpbQP72RvhMHwm0K16vcg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 616px; height: auto; margin: 4px;"><br><br></div><div>Day 3 dawned and I started out just as if I was going to head out for the run. I had some breakfast for once and packed up my day bag with water and snacks and set it into the sunshine (and very cold wind). The first section was a lot of uphill over very easy ground, so it was hard work but very manageable. We then came up over the top of a lower gap between two peaks and over the other side to descend down again. This is where it started to get hard.</div><div><br></div><div>The route was along what looked like a wall of boulders that had been placed to stop something from sliding down the mountain (see the first picture in this post - zoom in a bit). The problem was that the path to follow was over huge, loose boulders with big gaps in between. Prime territory for snapping an ankle (or trekking pole, it turns out) or twisting a knee pretty badly. This is surface that I've really zero experience on, so I was really really slow and I started to lose a lot of time. Then once we were lower down and I'd long lost sight of anyone else, the trail wasn't visible on the ground and some of the route was off-trail in any case. So I wasn't amazingly fast on some of this section until I passed one of the other runners and found it a lot easier to navigate due to not needing to look at my feet all the time.</div><div><br></div><div>I crossed the wide river further down than was recommended on the route, but it was a lot shallower there so I was fine with that choice. At this point I thought that passage point was the one with the 11:30 guidance time and I was right, but I didn't look at the time yet. I was demoralised still from the previous day and the earlier rocky sections and I think I'd checked out in my head already.</div><div><br></div><div>However, I carried on making progress towards the next CP, which had a hard cutoff of 12:30, still having not checked the time, but making easy ground. The route passed a camp site at that stage and for the first time in 3 days I really really needed a poo right now. However the camp site wasn't publicly accessible, so I couldn't use the loo. I had to find some tree or bush cover and I was, of course, now in a populated area. So I kept an eye out along the short section of road and spied somewhere I could hide for a swift one. Yes it was nettley and brambly and I got scratched and stung but at least I didn't crap my shorts!</div><div><br></div><div>Literally 300m down the road from that quick pit stop was CP2. And a 12:30 cutoff. And if I'd run it, I would have just made the cut off. But I didn't really want to, so I walked on in and when the race staff apologised for having to stop me, I was actually grateful. But at the same time disappointed and ashamed.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_f2f9_ad7a_e587_a814" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqLWhAhnQd6KowtZY5iayvB-574IDrCrz8gPkSPLzq0n4B6FK8iq6qhrlAiLVSOfyq0JAMqhvlUlCED9fbVA8QJRz9PLBSd2bokOtBxvp1waOAiusz-AZp6sPPR5eL9yd1llMofbbURg/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 616px; height: auto; margin: 4px;"><br><br>From the way the race was publicised, it had never crossed my mind that it would be this technical. So it never occurred to me that I'd need some more mountain skills than I have right now. I thought it would be a tough and honest load of climbing and running on trails which would give me a decent challenge but I'd get around within the time allowed and be wrecked at the end. In reality, it's really not that simple.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_2f4b_dd09_4dd2_fb2f" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW-W6PPBR8IxolN6pjdj7pEubI8GwEmygwS5QXQdrXRPmEJQd8rELftfVajVdJi2CV6HXFhvd6-GD8e3_av1iw13YPbZ45DT7tR3s3E0uagH4alZoSDMdYeONuHMohZT8vMGddWEbWSA/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>Folks who did well in this race were either mountain and/or fell runners or adventure racers with a lot of experience. And I think the race publicity is a little disingenuous not to be more clear about the terrain and surfaces and skills needed to be successful with this race. Yes they are clear with the distances, elevation and that you need "mountain skills" and to be self-sufficient. But, in my opinion, that's all too vague and encourages folks to enter who range from a bit under-prepared to fairly dramatically under-prepared. I like to think I'm more towards the earlier end of that spectrum. It's a pretty expensive race (logistics, equipment and staffing really kinda justifies the cost), though significantly cheaper than MDS, for example, it's still a fair old chunk of cash (even if you're not one of the Malaysians, Japanese, Australians, or Americans who came over to race it) and a race that's not without personal risk and I think there's more responsibility to be taken by the organisers on this front.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm coming away from it with a mixture of shame at my own lack of experience, disappointment at not finishing, and a little bitterness that the conditions were not made more explicit. I don't like being beaten and I want to be better at this stuff, but I also want a fighting chance to prepare for it, which I don't think I quite had here.</div><div><br></div><div>Time to rest and relax a little, with some active recovery, and think about what I want to do next and whether Race Across Scotland is still what I want to be doing in a couple of months.</div>TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-19598781192161608782018-02-04T13:39:00.000+00:002018-02-04T16:39:17.848+00:00Race report: Regents Park 10K<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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First race of 2018; woohoo!<br />
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Mornington Chasers run a <a href="http://www.chaser.me.uk/tenk/tenk.php">10K race series through the winter</a> season and I wanted an early race for this year to kick things off, see where I'm at with my speed work and just have a bit of fun really. At £19 for non-affiliated runners (£17 for affiliated) - chip timed and free bag drop - the February one seemed like a bit of a no-brainer really. Regents Park is so close to where I work and I know the park pretty well so it was easy to get to from where I live and a familiar set of paths and scenery.<br />
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Registration and facilities (free toilets, and changing and showers for a fee at the <a href="https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park/things-to-see-and-do/the-hub-sports-facility">Hub Sports Centre</a>) opened at 8am for a 9am race start, so I had to get up at 6am to get a good coffee in, let that work its magic (*poop*), feed the cats, make a travel mug of tea to drink on the tube and head out. And I nearly didn't get out of bed!<br />
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It was *freezing* and I was snuggled up warm in my duvet, really not wanting to get up. But as I checked out how my coach did last night at <a href="http://www.tejastrails.com/rocky100/">Rocky Racoon </a>(100 mile trail race in Texas), I saw he'd smashed it and come 3rd. That was the little bit I needed to tip the balance in favour of getting up and out.<br />
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Regents Park is quite pretty. I mean, it's a park and quite a big one so it's got a bit of head start on pretty, but there are lots of landmarks (see above), trees, sculptures and the zoo.<br />
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The race route was 3 laps of 3.33km each and it's virtually flat - very tiny incline and very tiny decline. My 10K PB was set in 2011, and my most recent quick 10K in 2014 at 52:38 and I was struggling with setting a sensible goal for today. I got a grip in the end and talked myself down from "PB or you may as well not have bothered". Having been building up my speed recently, I took a marker session from 2 weeks ago where I had to run < 9mins/mile for 40 mins after a warm up, and I'd held 08:40/mile for the 40 mins. So what I wanted to do today was to hold 08:40/mile for the whole race, which at that pace would be just under 54 mins. There were pacers for 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 mins so I wanted to be between the 50 and 55 min pacers and not let the 55 min pacer overtake me.<br />
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Knowing my brain, I set my watch to just record and not pipe up every mile with my mile pace. That meant that if I was off pace I wouldn't just throw in the towel and ease off to jog it in. I really am not good at making the best of a pace that's less than my target, so if I remove that information I'm more likely to just keep the effort up. And that worked really well! I ended up in a small group of ladies who were approximately the same speed and just tried to hold on to them as we leap-frogged a few times.<br />
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I got a bit grumpy at one point when a "helpful" coach from the running club at around the half way mark let us know that we were on for 54-55 mins finish. NOT HELPFUL! I lost heart momentarily and then spent the next few minutes persuading myself that he was probably a bit out and not very good at maths.<br />
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I picked it up at the 2km to go point and hoped I'd not over-cooked it. Having gone a bit too early at the Chase The Sun 10K on Wimbledon Common in the late summer last year, I was a teensy bit worried I'd just fade in the last 800m or so, but I was OK! One of the other ladies had a sprint finish in her and she stormed past the rest of us, which was lovely to see :o)<br />
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Over the line for me and BOOM!<br />
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Thank you very much; I'll take that! <a href="http://racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16586&RId=210">53:25</a> (<a href="http://racetecresults.com/MyResults.aspx?uid=16586-210-1-89086">race results official time 53:21</a>, so even better! Though it's currently incorrectly showing me as FV35 category rather than FV45.) And the first time I've seen a VO2 Max of 50 :o) 54s off my PB, but so much has changed since then!</div>
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08:35/mile average for 6.1 miles (though Garmin and Strava say it was 6.24 miles and 08:34/mile). Very happy with that! And finishing right at <a href="https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park/things-to-see-and-do/the-hub-sports-facility/the-hub-cafe">The Hub cafe</a> meant tea and some eggs were immediately available for brekkie. Perfect! (The Hub is also a sports facility with free toilets and changing rooms/showers for a fee.)<br />
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So glad I got out of bed! Thank you Mornington Chasers! This is a lovely, small and low key race. 330ish runners and a good distance to spread out over so no congestion on the course. I'll likely be back for some more :o)<br />
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Little bit of post-race stats analysis:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Cadence was nice and high, but started a bit too high and dropped off over the 10K (pink line in the middle)</li>
<li>Heart rate was a bit wrong for much of the race; optical monitors don't do well in the cold, especially if you're carrying some insulation. (red line at the bottom)</li>
<li>Pace (graded average, taking into consideration the elevation changes) actually increased across the 10K. (So either my warm up wasn't long/good enough, or I actually undercooked the pace from the start by a few s/mile.) (purple line at the top)</li>
</ul>
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<br />TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-74772212936945063592017-12-30T18:29:00.000+00:002017-12-30T18:53:16.150+00:002018 Is Shaping Up!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
2017 was a difficult year for running.<br />
<br />
At the start of the year, I ran <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2017/01/race-report-country-to-capital-2017.html">Country to Capital for a 3rd time</a> and it was an utter death march to get to the end of it. My slowest showing on that route, despite the pretty good conditions. I needed to grit through it despite having nothing to prove, I did need to use the experience to feel the discomfort of finishing in pain when I just wanted to stop. It wasn't going to cause lingering injury, so it was fine to push through it for 24 miles of unpleasant slog to learn how to do it for when there is actually something to prove. Then I was persuaded to run <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2017/03/race-report-moyleman-2017.html">The Moyleman </a>(which I'd failed to finish the year before - I'd had enough at half way and got a lift to the finish), which was actually quite fun despite the fact I'm not much of a fan of the South Downs. After that, it was a few longish weekend back to back runs before getting on with <a href="http://www.totkat.org/p/lejog-2017.html">the job of running the length of the British mainland, from bottom to top</a> (Land's End to John O'Groats - LEJoG).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.totkat.org/2017/10/lejog-2017-first-22-days.html">Things didn't go 100% to plan with that, and I had to take a few weeks out in the middle</a> which extended the impact of it further into the year than I'd intended. <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2017/11/lejog-2017-second-half.html">I did finish</a> and I have a lot of writing about it that I need to find time for still as well as dealing with all of the photos, but it was now mid-August and I had nothing planned for the rest of the year. With no idea of how LEJoG would go, if I'd be injured, or need weeks or even months of recovery, I deliberately kept the calendar empty. 4 weeks after finishing, with no target or pressure to do anything in particular, I entered a half marathon on a whim while I was abroad for work. And <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2017/09/race-report-seattle-craft-classic-half.html">pulled out a PB</a>, got cocky and entered a local marathon which I promptly DNFd (did 3/4 laps - just didn't fancy finishing in the dark and the laps were getting tedious). The final race of the year was another half marathon, at which both my husband and I managed to fall over and scrape up our knees. And that was the last run of any note in 2017.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuM0ffg6jjAW7L8jGXPHnnmlRrSbd93yZbG7pvMe5X-5GxLNDRet8m7H0qRRnAxMmUfFwrl73wUgWpI6FTwmdjGJFsw52G_5tIGSmHCcXC3qk1DC286uM_PDgJSHWmOFhGn1PKpJ_VQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-30+at+18.26.04.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuM0ffg6jjAW7L8jGXPHnnmlRrSbd93yZbG7pvMe5X-5GxLNDRet8m7H0qRRnAxMmUfFwrl73wUgWpI6FTwmdjGJFsw52G_5tIGSmHCcXC3qk1DC286uM_PDgJSHWmOFhGn1PKpJ_VQ/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-12-30+at+18.26.04.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Training Plan (red = not done, yellow = sort of done, green = done correctly)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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And I lost my mojo. The following weeks I found it harder and harder to get out for a run. Despite having recovered physically just fine from LEJoG, I was getting tired a lot and making poor eating and drinking choices which didn't help. Though I'd already decided that I wanted to train for a faster marathon in the Spring, I just ran out of giving a crap about running enough to do much of it, or with any decent quality.<br />
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However!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB6cjUrzDkwf8OSohyphenhyphen5ycO_5ySyBj16iYc9bFz853YcKVDJUJTElR-0_np5tSep53sIFT8j2kNQdRqQGAxJEOA1QtIMsNJmXwyB_K55E2Xe6rJU1GYWR1AVeldeg71oPlxCJuSAA3bA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-30+at+17.58.42.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB6cjUrzDkwf8OSohyphenhyphen5ycO_5ySyBj16iYc9bFz853YcKVDJUJTElR-0_np5tSep53sIFT8j2kNQdRqQGAxJEOA1QtIMsNJmXwyB_K55E2Xe6rJU1GYWR1AVeldeg71oPlxCJuSAA3bA/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-12-30+at+17.58.42.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbZ3GW5Tz2XNDkDCf7FP9kQGvkDVC8QmFa_su3UZUV2a62bl3lU0CX9pKkWTl7vp5q6_D4SgwDpjxKes2rNq2Y-qbnH4Ph5QZzbfN2fT3f-z-jbX2KKY8zrverVVNynNxcmsQApiDvg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-12-30+at+17.58.07.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbZ3GW5Tz2XNDkDCf7FP9kQGvkDVC8QmFa_su3UZUV2a62bl3lU0CX9pKkWTl7vp5q6_D4SgwDpjxKes2rNq2Y-qbnH4Ph5QZzbfN2fT3f-z-jbX2KKY8zrverVVNynNxcmsQApiDvg/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-12-30+at+17.58.07.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/athletes/1657911">Strava</a> featured me in a couple of their social media posts, which brought a few more folks to see my long run of the summer, then they featured me in their "<a href="https://blog.strava.com/2017-in-stats/">2017 in Stats</a>" blog post which was nice. And in the same breath as Sandra Vi who just beat the trans-America running speed record. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(though they somehow decided I'd broken a world record with my run, which I haven't and never said I did anywhere, and that I'd run top to bottom, which is back to front! I'd also had to stitch together the individual days running into <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/1137188970">one GPX file and call it a "hike"</a> instead of a run so it didn't mess with my annual running stats as I wanted to keep the individual day entries with the photos and messages from other people)</span><br />
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And <a href="https://www.runultra.co.uk/Articles/October-2017/LEJoG">RunUltra posted an article</a> of my run (word limits are hard!)<br />
<br />
And here we are, in the last days of 2017 and 2018's running calendar is shaping up pretty well actually! I've entered a few races and have a few targets to hit:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>April - <a href="http://www.maratonadiroma.it/?!a/=/home-en/">Rome Marathon</a>. Targeting London Marathon Good For Age (03:49:59)</li>
<li>May - <a href="http://www.capewrathultra.com/">Cape Wrath Ultra</a>. 8 days, multi-day, 250 miles</li>
<li>August - <a href="http://www.gbultras.com/ultra-great-britain-2018/">GB Ultra, Race Across Scotland</a>. 214 miles in under 100 hours</li>
<li>October - <a href="http://centurionrunning.com/races/autumn-100-2018">Autumn 100</a>. 100 miles, aiming just to finish</li>
</ul>
<br />
So the first few months of the year will be training to try to get me quicker again (it's a long time since I managed 22:36 for 5000m) but without losing endurance base for the longer stuff that comes afterwards. And I'll want to chuck in some fun stuff before, in between and afterwards - there are some work trips abroad which could present some fun race tourism opportunities.<br />
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Oh, and I've been nominated for a Run Ultra Blog award, so if you like what you've read here, <a href="https://www.runultra.co.uk/Information/Awards-Shortlist">please cast a vote for me</a> (and you could win a shiny, new Suunto watch)!<br />
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<a href="https://www.runultra.co.uk/Information/Awards-Shortlist"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzseDINwRTIwykh4NktXPTLT139FSH7J0_Y262BwUSDVMglkv8QP6j2iXbNFdB7JbB2r3bwgxSeIlR-_hAKSRzoN6nR9tH8Oy5liAAKS1cdPX7Pa3Fj35VosY_A7I9XORwOJgcF4atg/s320/171204_Voting-shortlist-logo.jpg" title="" width="258" /></a></div>
TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-79714183969175365312017-11-14T12:30:00.000+00:002017-11-14T12:30:12.858+00:00LEJoG 2017 - The Second "Half"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd90C7ZLcnGniMjJldrry-omQZeUPFa7A_14Dvop31wXZyjoTCk7sBLSlBRWBMi_Tzmwbtd7DrIGcYkRxxTjD5xKm7DyqmyxBIUXE0x5vD0hoOx2qPpuOnMLc23If3Ea9fjzGmesGsFg/s1600/IMG_5477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd90C7ZLcnGniMjJldrry-omQZeUPFa7A_14Dvop31wXZyjoTCk7sBLSlBRWBMi_Tzmwbtd7DrIGcYkRxxTjD5xKm7DyqmyxBIUXE0x5vD0hoOx2qPpuOnMLc23If3Ea9fjzGmesGsFg/s640/IMG_5477.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Second "Half", <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">uncut, from Facebook posts as they were published...</span></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day twenty-two, part two.</span></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The disused railway from Innerleithen to Peebles is great for most of its length. Flat, even surface, vegetation trimmed back and a couple of lovely new bridges across the Tweed. Annoyingly it runs out short of Peebles and dumps you onto the main road, or you can choose to take a grassy path beside the river (which I did). This was never supposed to be part of my overall route, but having cut short early and headed to Innerleithen to get medical atte<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ntion, I needed to restart from where I left off to have a continuous route.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After a late breakfast in Peebles, I was back on the Cross Border Drove Road through forests, up and over Moors and enjoying some proper scenery for most of the rest of today's run. The forest sections were gorgeous; carpeted in dropped pine needles and vibrant green moss, with lots of new mushroom growth standing out bright red in the green carpet.</span></div>
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</span>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First day back and it's a shorter one, but my pack felt like I'd never put it down - no need to reacquaint myself with its weight and feel. I've an aching sole of my foot but that's normal for being on my feet all day carrying extra weight.</span></div>
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</span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Feeling ready for a long day tomorrow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Day twenty three!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">An exciting start today. I wasn't confident that the paths on the early parts of today's route would actually exist, so I was super pleased to find that they did. They were a bit... exciting though. Especially with a 9-ish-kg pack on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I started out with a packed brekkie at 6am and straight onto difficult trails that were narrow, slippery, rocky and with a good bit of scrambling involved. It soon got a bit easier onto the moors proper, around a pretty tarn an<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">d up a few hundred metres for a good view.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I did have to pay attention to navigation as it wasn't totally straightforward and obvious. It was boggy in places so my feet did get a bit wet but nothing awful and I dried them out when I got to Queensferry and stopped for a two hour brunch and tea break!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My packed breakfast got scoffed on the hoof as I was navigating through the delightful industrial estates on the way through Newbridge and Kirkliston as I'd decided there was no point stopping around there. Crossing the M8 and M9 and threading through the dead industrial estate wasn't all that inspiring and I just wanted to get to the bridge.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, having forgotten I'm staying about 3 miles short of the original end point of today, and starting at 6am, I was going to be a lot earlier than I'd told my Air B&B host would be the earliest I'd get in. So I sat in a cafe in Queens ferry for two hours and had a smoked salmon bagel, two pots of tea and a cappuccino over the course of two hours.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then it was time to go over the bridge. Oh boy was it windy! Which is to be expected over a long river crossing. And then more icky route through building sites (they're building a third Forth bridge) and depressing military land, ship yards and housing estates before a long road with no pavement to the end of the day. It was a 30mph road, but hey... why would drivers adhere to that on the middle of nowhere? (hint: there's no pavement!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Day twenty-four.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And I'm quite weary. There was a lot of elevation today; 29 miles and 3200ft ascent.</span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was far too much road before lunch, though it was all very friendly road. It all got a bit more lumpy, boggy and naturey after lunch. Moors, lochs, big and castles as well as freshly born cows.</span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was clearly far too smug about prancing over the bogs so far as I ended up knee deep in one up by the huge and very noisy wind turbines. Hey ho.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Too tired to write much now and need to take a gentle one tomorrow. It's a bit shorter thankfully.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Day twenty-five.</b></span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">THIS is why we do this stuff! And I can't even share a photo of how glorious the views were as I just couldn't capture it. My heart exploded and I cried.</span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The morning was a bit too much road again and a weird castle with a dried up, stinking river by it. Then after a tea stop at Crieff, I headed up into the glens. Initially I cried in frustration when General Wade's Military Road was nowhere to be seen from the corner of the golf course it was supposed to pop <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">out of. There was just impenetrable vegetation and fences. But when I'd problem-solved Aaron's that bit and picked it up later, oh boy was I rewarded.</span></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Up and over Gualani na Feing, I was reminded of how much Kilian Journet talks about crying in his book "Run or Die" as I had tears rolling down my cheeks at the beauty of where I was. I didn't want this bit to end. THIS is why we do these things; why we put up with lacerations, bruises, blisters, sore feet and aching muscles. It did have to end though and I had to descend onto the road to pass through Sma' Glen - which was also brutally beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">General Wade may be written about and stuck on information boards, but there's no love for his military road here and it again disappears into bog, farmland, behind fences with no gates etc so I was ignorant and followed it as best I could until the end point of the day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Back in a taxi to a B&B as there was nowhere to stay for another 30 miles from there. Back at it at 6am tomorrow for a long day probably bawling my eyes out at the scenery. No towns or villages from start to finish. It'll be the most remote day so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Day twenty-six.</b></span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What a day! The morning was a basic trundle along Rob Roy's Way, alongside lochs and through farmland to the only guaranteed so for food of the day at Kenmore. I got there half an hour before breakfast was supposed to start (09:45! Brekkie from 10:15!) but managed to get tea and a small cold snack to get on with. Then, of course, I couldn't finish my salmon and eggs breakfast.</span></div>
<div style="letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then it was off out and around the perimeter of the Tay Forest Park as none of the p<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">aths went across it, only end to end. Lots of road again, which is sad and boring. But then I got to head up through an estate's land and up into the moors. And up. And up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And along a shepherd's path untill it ran out. And I had to ford a fast moving river. Twice. And there was no path at all, just rivers, Heather, bog, hidden streams and rain. It was such tough going that it took half an hour per mile for a couple of miles of it. I had to keep heading up to stay away from the river and high enough to meet the bothy and the path back down on the other side of the moor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was hairy at times. The rivers were fast and the rocks slippery. The hidden streams under the bog and heather were traps for unsuspecting feet to swallow you up to the thigh and pitch you over. I got wet and stayed wet. My raw heels got more abraded, despite the good taping I did in the morning staying in place. But the views... I cried again. It was stunning and you just can't do it justice with a phone camera.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It took a long time to get down and to my place for the night; the road was too hard and my feet too sore to do more than shuffle after 28 miles and over a km of climbing and descent. But I found a great place to stay and, despite an hour of shivering towards the end of dinner, I'm tucked up and looking forward to a short day tomorrow and a lie in!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Day twenty-seven.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">OK. So I rarely get blisters. And in the first 680 miles of this little run, I had maceration in the first few days but no blisters at all. No hot spots and no rubbed skin on my feet. Two days ago I got a hot spot on the inside of each heel. I stopped to tape one up as that was niggling me, but by the end of the day the tape had worked loose and I'd lost a bit of skin. The other foot was heading that way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So the evening of that day I cleaned them up, applied tincture of benzine, put on blister plasters and then taped them on in the morning to hold them in place. In the soaking conditions of the day, the tape failed and the blister plasters ruptured. When I had a shower that night I had to bite down on a towel. The water touching the raw skin felt like fire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I dried them off carefully and applied more tincture of benzine - which basically felt like acid - and let them dry while I went for dinner. When I got back from dinner, they had leaked fluid down my heel and onto my flip flops. So I dried them off again and gave them a dusting with Zeasorb powder to absorb the fluid while I was in bed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the morning this morning it was more mopping up of leaking fluid, followed by applying adhesive wound dressings to cover the raw skin, then better tape than previously to hold it in place inside my sock and shoe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After a huge breakfast - I'd decided that as today was going to be very short, I'd have a lie in and breakfast before I left - I put on my socks and shoes and squealed. Yep. Open wounds hurt when you apply pressure, also the tissue around them is tender and feels bruised.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then it was time for being off and out and down the side of the loch with loads of other walkers. I could only walk as it hurt quite a bit; not just my heels but my feet in general too, and my quads. It took two hours to even contemplate more than a slow amble.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Up onto the moors, pretty quickly and away from the eagles, following a good clear track through sheep country. Very pretty again but not a lot of climbing to be done as the route stayed mostly down in the valleys. I did run out of track just over a bridge and had to trudge across boggy ground for a couple of miles again until the path picked up for no apparent reason at all again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a long stretch beside another loch, feeling like I wasn't making much progress as the scenery was huge and far away, then a slog alongside the A9 to the end point of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My heels are still a mess, but the tape held beautifully this time. I had to take it all off to let the wounds dry out again. They seem a bit better but felt like fire again when I dried them off and coated them with tincture of benzine again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today was intended to be 21 miles with 21 tomorrow, two short days for a bit of recovery. But due to accommodation availability, today was only 17 miles and so tomorrow will be 25 miles. If I'm as slow tomorrow as today, due to the sore feet, it's going to take longer than I'd hoped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm officially in The Highlands now though, so that's good!</span></div>
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<b>Day twenty-eight.</b></div>
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Despite my feet being a bit better this morning, today was mainly eclipsed by me bawling my eyes out for the last couple of hours because they hurt.</div>
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Starting out 4 miles behind where I'd like to have started from today (though the B&B I was in was amazing!), it was less of an easy day than intended. Especially given how quickly my feet went downhill and started hurting pretty quickly.</div>
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With no lunch stop available today, I had a big packed breakfast from the B&B but that didn't stop me from popping into a handy open cafe after an hour of running on the footpath alongside the A9, listening to this week's <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=417481080651&extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/marathontalk/?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer;">Marathon Talk</a>. Oh OK then, I'll have a bacon butty too! Two cups of coffee later I set off again. I had plenty of time until being picked up by tonight's B&B owner so I could easily afford a half hour stop and lots of coffee.</div>
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That said, I didn't know at the time that is slow to ambling pace after only a few hours on foot.</div>
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Today's scenery was mainly a loch in a valley, followed by lots of construction works for a new hydro-electric generator and a couple of 150 ton sub station thingies. I did have a heart-melting moment with yet another view that's impossible to capture with a phone camera. I had a go though.</div>
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I don't remember a lot of the rest of the route as I was sobbing into my iPhone. I decided to treat myself with last Friday's iTunes mix for me. It was a bit meh so I switched to something a bit heavier to get me buoyed up. It helped a bit but I was just miserable with the pain of my feet and how slow was my progress.</div>
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The B&B is great though.</div>
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<b>Day twenty-nine.</b></div>
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Back to the Garva Bridge to set off again in the morning. Later than I'd've liked but relying on the drop of service fun the B&B I didn't want to push it with asking to leave at 6am. So I started at 8.</div>
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The Carryairick Trail goes from Laggan to Fort Augustus and it's not exactly easy. 25 miles and the first 10 are tarmac path then it's rocky and there are a lot of rivers to ford. Fairly deep (calf to knee kind of depth) and fast moving so I needed to get my tr<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ekking poles out for stability. Seven of the bloody things. My feet didn't stand a chance.</span></div>
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The break point for the day was Fort Augustus and what a total shithole that is. Tiny, with narrow or no pavement, it's a horror show of tourist coaches all resending on tiny cafes and pubs that just can't handle the peak traffic. The place I went into for lunch stopped serving at 2pm; I was lucky to get a table and food. Many who came after me were turned away.</div>
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After what could only be described as a working class child's "tea" from the 1970s (a small, square roll with an unidentified part of a chicken, breaded and deep fried, and some oven chips and half a tomato) I headed back out for the final 11 miles.</div>
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4 hours of pain. 2 of which were spent crying so hard my throat got sore and even late in the evening my eyes were bloodshot and puffy. It was a dark 4 hours. I don't want a repeat of it, but it really depends on the terrain and whether my feet heal a bit more.</div>
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Who knows what day thirty will be like but I know it's going to be hard if I have to go through hours of agony for another 8 days. It's not the pain of potentially permanent damage like with my ankle tendons, but it's raw and firey and there's no respite until the shoes come off.</div>
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<b>Days thirty to thirty-three.</b></div>
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One highlight of a particularly tricky bit of road where I had to walk behind crash barrier along the edge of a step slope downwards; one of the barrier uprights ripped my shorts along one side. Field repair of 4 safety pins is holding the two sides together. They're not obscene and they're functional but I couldn't sleep in them as I'm pretty sure the pins would rip out.</div>
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There's a lot of bog in Scotland. And my route seems to go through a lot of it. In part I think it's because I'm staying to lower elevations, however gaining height didn't get you out of bog despite what you may think.</div>
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Additionally, there is a lot of investment in infrastructure; power and roads mostly. I've been past 3 new or upgraded hydroelectric dams and associated supporting stuff. And there are tracks and trails marked on the current <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=33622410535&extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/osmapping/?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer;">Ordnance Survey</a> maps that are now fully fledged A roads. So my proportion of trail to road running has shifted a bit the wrong way. That said, a bit of road can be a relief from the relentless bog at times.</div>
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I'm also in hunting and fishing country. There are deer everywhere and in the mornings as I head along estate tracks scaring herds of deer; I hear them making alarm calls before racing off away from me. The calls are immensely loud and high-pitched!</div>
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One of the nights of the last few, I had nowhere booked to stay (there's not a lot in the middle bit of the Highlands) and had planned to camp in a field behind the church at Croik. And what a lovely field it was too. However. The first problem was that it was getting midget, so I hastily put up my tent and managed to tear a hole in one of the outer bits of porch with my trekking pole. I think it would have been fine. But. I dived into the tent and threw my stuff in quickly. Not quickly enough. 200 midges had made it into the inner protective midge netting with me. No way could I sleep with those in there with me.</div>
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I had a bit of a melt down. Pulled down the tent and dived into the church. Having slept in a church porch in the South West, I was ok to sleep inside this one. However. The guide book inside the church said it was open only during daylight hours. So I had a complete melt down. What was I going to do? It was only 18:30 and I was falling asleep already. I made some hot food and ate it and rehearsed the pleading I would do when someone turned up to lock up the church.</div>
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As the sun got lower and lower, I kept falling asleep even though I was freezing, so I got my sleeping bag out as well as already having put on all of my clothes, and got inside that. As it got darker I decided I would chance getting my sleeping mat and foil mat out too. But nobody came and I slept through until time to get up again before dawn to get going this morning.</div>
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My shoes were still saturated from the bog the previous day, but my feet have healed a bit so they're less painful as long as I can actually run a lot rather than hike. Staying on the fore and mid of my feet keeps the pressure off my heels enough to stop this hurting. So when terrain or incline dictates that I have to hike, that's when my feet start to hurt and it gets worse the longer I have to hike or when the surface is very uneven - i.e. bog, scree etc.</div>
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Four days to go. One of which I still have nowhere to stay and with the midges, I'm not sure what I'll do. And two of which are the longest mileage days for a long time; 33 miles each and back to back.</div>
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I'm exhausted. Physically and mentally. Tomorrow is a super short and easy day, then it's super hard. I need to sleep and think about how I'll get through this last bit.</div>
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So there's this NC500 thing that's exploded the tourist industry in The Highlands. Demand for accommodation is far outstripping supply and it's a fight to get a room for the night anywhere. Good for Scotland! I hope it brings a great boost to the economy up here.</div>
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<a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northcoast500.com%2F&h=ATNnCv2uph4H6CQDzI-BO2ilBEpbqi6gmOsM7rdSQi74Bg4BD46v6BYvNLOGICRy0Ighc4ivGUeJgQKWqQnfajl9XwHWLI7mOqJ4ZW57W-3XCVxMze-jEA9iqYV6BVoHP7x9Tq25ytKrCRtF6gyb0dXcEnD2oqH47f0prv_uAbBCgS9allnNz_veISy23ElKcVOSkKb-5HT5hb-vJ-TQFPaZikZg3aeYGcAAVWwjQBUd_EN8sw963Q5aWDWvkXqQ9SsYpT_odoTnwalDKsmViOLIxzBGlfu-SJbLIwYUIA98oA" href="http://www.northcoast500.com/" rel="noopener" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">http://www.northcoast500.com/</a></div>
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I've managed to find something for tomorrow night now. It's miles from where I'll be and necessitates a touch and go taxi pickup on an area of no mobile coverage in the evening after a day of 33 miles at unknown pace. That'll focus the mind somewhat, especially with at least 10 miles of bog which slows me down to 25-30 mins per mile! Then I have a pickup the next morning at 05:15 to get back to where I left off, for another 33 mile day, but at least I will have slept in a real bed without midges! If I make that taxi pickup. </div>
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<b>Day thirty-four.</b></div>
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The shortest day. And all on road as there's no other way to traverse this bit without adding tens of extra miles.</div>
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It was tedious and needed a lot of concentration. On a single track road, and with a stiff head-wind, I couldn't hear anything coming from behind until they were practically on top of me. At least the oncoming ones were mostly viewable from a decent distance so I could see when they were simply neither going to slow down or give me any passing ro<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">om. 1 in 5 vehicles didn't slow down at all and expected me to leap into the verge to allow them to continue unhindered. Two camper vans who had a clear view from over half a mile of straight road beforehand, passed about 9 inches from me at around 50mph. Which was not in the slightest bit funny and I have to say that I yelled myself hoarse after them, using very creatively colorful language.</span></div>
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12.8 miles done and my accommodation for tonight peeped into view. I stopped to take a photo with the bridge in view and as I set off again I lost concentration, tripped on a loose bit of gravel, stumbled and pitched forward onto the gravel and into the road a bit, knee and hand first. The weight of my pack unbalanced me and pulled me onto one side so I had to pick myself up pretty quickly to get out of the road. A motorbike stopped to check I was ok, which was very kind of them. I thanked them and said I was ok and literally done for the day with my rest place right behind them.</div>
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I'm just very tired with all the concentration needed; whether through bog or along the roads. It's really tiring mentally as well as physically.</div>
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<b>Day thirty-five.</b></div>
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Up at 04:30 to pack up, have a little while to prep my feet and a couple of cups of tea and head out as soon as it was light enough to see. Except, although I'd been left a flask of hot water to make tea with and dine fresh milk as well as a wrapped bacon sandwich for later, there were no tea bags. Luckily I still had a few sachets of coffee from a few B&Bs ago, so I had a couple of coffees instead.</div>
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Having had a good chat with a chap who'd hiked from the Inn to Badenloch Lodge yesterday, I had an idea of what the conditions would be like; boggy up to the ridge, then really good going after that with some gravel, bark litter and hard packed sand. And that was mostly how it went. My feet are doing better so the bog was less painful to get through than previously, though I did get completely saturated feet it was less of a problem. The dawn views across the three lochs were stunning, but I didn't want to be wasting too much time taking photos as I was worried about making my scheduled pick up from the station at the other end of 33 miles.</div>
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26 miles cross country was really nice, despite the initial bogginess and cold wet feet. I nearly scared the crap out of a guy doing some maintenance work at a boat house with his three black hounds who really wanted to lick my scraped knee. "Where have you come from!?" This at 08:10 and miles from anywhere <span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="smile emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" role="presentation" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/f4c/1/16/1f642.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /><span aria-hidden="true" class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px;">:)</span></span> He was extremely surprised to hear me say "The Crask Inn"with a big grin on my face because I'd made such good progress from there.</div>
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I lolloped off again, still convinced that my 6pm pick up was a little spicy and I didn't want to miss it (hah! my watch was predicting I'd get there at an increasingly early time, peaking at 14:22!). The rest of the off road bit was quite flat and uninspiring really. Long views across smaller lochs to hills that were being rained on, and a few folks out fishing (people!). Then came the road section.</div>
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Again since the OS survey of the area was done, a track is now an A road. A thankfully quite quiet A road, but still tedious and needing concentration to jump out of the way of cars, vans, and the very occasional truck. I walked a lot as I knew that even if I had phone signal to cancel my pick up, the next (and last) train wasn't due until 17:15ish. 2 and 1/4 hours after I actually made it to the station pick up point. It turned out there was a little cafe (yay!) where now, because I didn't have to pay a huge sum for a taxi, I could afford tea and a scone while I waited for the train (well, at least until 4pm when the cafe shut).</div>
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Why could I not afford to eat? I lost my debit card. It was in my little plastic travel wallet with my cash and I used it to pay for coffee at a cafe yesterday but by the time I went to pay up last night at The Crask Inn it was gone. Luckily I'd got out cash to cover the taxi fares as now the cash is all I have to get me through the next two nights! I've just enough to cover the two B&Bs (one is prepaid online and the other one is super cheap) and the two taxi rides. Now it's only one taxi ride I can eat real food tonight instead of my spare freeze dried meal! (And yes, I've cancelled my debit card.)</div>
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One full day of 33 miles to go and then it's a short day to the end. I need to hold on all my emotions until after tomorrow!</div>
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<b>Day thirty-six.</b></div>
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Another super early start, to get back to Forsinard from Helmsdale. It was the only place I could get accommodation and it was "interesting" at that. The owners were super helpful with my issue with the missing debit card and I had a surprisingly good steak for dinner. 04:30 wake up and I actually made porridge for breakfast - there was only cereal available in the morning and there would be nowhere to do during the 33.5 mile route to get food.</div>
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05:30 pick up a<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">nd a trundle back to Forsinard to set off again. The drive passed by a huge number of herds of deer at that time in the morning, it was lovely to see them up close as they usually run away when you're near and on foot.</span></div>
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The majority of the first 20 miles on foot was bird reserves and conservation areas. Compared with the rest of Scotland, pretty flat and dull to look at though. And fairly flat to run too.</div>
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Highlights of the day were seeing a couple of pine martens (too quick to get a photo) and a couple of wind turbine blades being transported on trucks. Lowlights were being pretty constantly bothered by flies. Normal ones just buzzing around me in twos and threes pretty much all day. Super irritating.</div>
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The final few miles on road were reminiscent of my final few miles of Thames Path a few years ago. The area being rather functional, uninspiring and the people (in this case, drivers) surly, mean and lacking in humanity.</div>
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33.5 miles done and my accommodation just about open enough for me to get into my room and inhale any food I had left in my bag.</div>
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A hot shower, hot meal and a lie in tomorrow morning are up next. I have 18 miles to cover and can't get to the finish point before 14:00 so I don't need to be getting up at 04:30 this time <span class="_5mfr _47e3" style="line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" role="presentation" src="https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fce/1/16/1f600.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /><span class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px;">😀</span></span></div>
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Just the glory leg left!</div>
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<b>Day thirty-seven; the final day.</b></div>
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And it was a short one at only 18 miles. With a deadline of not reaching the John o'Groats sign before 2pm as that's when Norm would be there to meet me. This meant I got a lie in until 7.30am before a super leisurely getting ready and having breakfast to set off at 9.30am.</div>
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The route was almost entirely on roads as there really aren't any footpaths that get you anywhere in this part of the country. And worse than that, a large section was one long straight road for 5.5 miles that stretched ahead interminably. Roads like that just make you feel like you're not getting anywhere so it can be quite demoralising.</div>
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I made super quick progress even hiking as the surface was good and my feet are healed enough now that hiking didn't hurt much at all. This meant I had to consciously show it down and hike most of the way rather than run as I'd be way too early at John o'Groats otherwise. That way tantrums lie!</div>
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Not much happened of note; the usual homicidal car drivers, for whom I have nothing but hatred and foul language, interspersing the decent human beings who appear to have common sense if not actually having read the Highway Code. Cows. Sheep. And a couple of pine martens. At one point, in the distance, a herd of sheep being driven from one field to a new one down the road. And then I saw the sea.</div>
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The sea heralded 4.5 miles to go. I thought I'd feel something at that point, but I didn't. I got angry for a short while as I thought I'd beat Norm to the sign despite me having deliberately slowed down for miles. Apple's Find Friends app was showing him as very far away and even with appalling mobile coverage and limited location updates it really looked like he wouldn't make it before me. The feeling passed. Yesterday I'd put on headphones and listened to carefully chosen music to provoke emotions - Alpine Symphony for a start - and it worked to an extent; forcing short periods of loud tears. That was the feeling I was looking for but it didn't happen today. I couldn't force it either as it simply wasn't safe to wear headphones on the road.</div>
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As I got to the final turning about 1/3 mile from the end, I saw the Seaview Hotel with it's LEJoG sign. So I popped in to get my stamp on my log book. I had time to waste so had a bit of a chat with the chap at reception. Then I ambled off very gently towards the final point of the route. Very slowly. Cursing a little.</div>
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At first I couldn't see the sign but once I'd figured out where it was, I broke into a run again. After all, this was supposed to be a run so I'd better finish off as I started. I couldn't see Norm so I just gave in and headed for the sign.</div>
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Done. I put my arm around the sign and stood still just too long such that other tourists asked me to take a picture of them under the sign. At which point Norm appeared. Now I was finished. Now I could relax a bit. But it felt functional and there was no emotion.</div>
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It's weird. And I don't want to over-analyse, but I don't feel closure. I wanted to feel a flood of something but it never came. I've run over 1,000 miles, from one end of the country to the other, by myself, mostly cross-country, and with no crew. I should feel something.</div>
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TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-14834082876107049032017-10-20T16:39:00.000+01:002017-10-20T17:25:39.629+01:00LEJoG 2017 - the first 22 days<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_17n" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; letter-spacing: -0.24px; line-height: 1.38;">
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The first 22 days, uncut, from Facebook posts as they were published...<br />
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<b>Day one done! </b><br />
More adventure than expected for "the easy introduction" day. Three detours, two electric fences, a million bunnies, a slow worm, lots of furry caterpillars, two barbed wire fences, five locked gates on footpaths/byways, one herd of over-affectionate cows, five miles of stunning South West Coast path, a peregrine falcon less than 2m from my head, one unavoidable quagmire of mud and cowshit, one quick coffee on the hoof, 20m of chest height brambles and gorse that took half an hour to get through, a little sunburn and a pub with no food at the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.24px;"><b>Day two done.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">Far less epic, thankfully! 29 miles and only a few detours; 8 foot bushes blocking a footpath nobody has used for years, one stupid mis-route by me, and one where there was no way to get to a cycle way that was 20 feet higher than the junction looked like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.24px;">With the less exciting situations came less epic scenery but still very pretty. Tons of wild flowers. A little more road than I would have liked, but I'm now 5% through the distance so that's pretty good</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.24px;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: -0.24px;">Tomorrow is a little shorter and ends in a B&B again but no local food so I need to eat before I get there somehow.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day three!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first 5 miles were great - easy navigation, quick progress and I had one job to do today... keep my feet dry. Yesterday they were soaked for a few hours towards the end for a second day in a row and got a bit macerated. What I didn't notice this morning was that I had a damaged bit between my big toe and the next one on my left foot. By just past mile 5 I decided to stop at a holiday park Costa for a coffee and a look at my foot. Half an hour later I'd cleaned <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">off the grit, powdered with Zeasorb and put some tape on the area to protect it. All I had to do was keep my feet dry and they'd have a chance to recover some more.</span></span></div>
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Cue mile six and "the farmer who plants right to the edge of the field", a need to take a route along the edge of said field and a butt load of heavy dew on knee high crop. Soaked feet in seconds and I had a meltdown. For the next 10 miles my feet got repeatedly re-saturated by my route traversing pretty much every hay meadow in the district.</div>
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There are still very many farmers who apparently hate walkers as they string wire and/or electric fences across footpaths and secure gates with barbed wire. I have to say that until I got to the B&B at the end of today I haven't felt very welcome here today.</div>
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And don't even get me started on the weird pub I got food in that had Nazi memorabilia on the wall...</div>
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There were some very pretty bits too though, and more British Bulldog cows.</div>
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<b>Day four</b><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: -0.24px;">...and I chose to stay on roads all day in order to pretty much guarantee dry feet. It did that and I got to see some pretty scenery, lots of wildlife and some crosses and standing stones.</span></div>
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The afternoon heated up and the sun beat down. Yet again I was glad of my white cycling bolero to stop my arms and shoulders from bursting into flames.</div>
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A fortuitous meeting in the pub at the end got me booked into a palace of a B&B and I was really glad to finally get to meet up wit<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">h a couple of friends I'd not seen in ages/were meeting in real life for the first time. Hopefully I'll get to spend more than a brief got with them again soonish!</span></div>
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I've cleared my first county! Hello Devon!</div>
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<b>Day five</b><br />
...and oh boy was it a doozey! There moors are simply stunning and the Tarka trail just perfect in my opinion. Miles of rushing river in the woods, my absolute favourite. This is the first day over 30 miles and it was always going to be a long one, but my foot is still not right and it got really sore about 20 miles in (having been just niggly until then).</div>
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I stopped at a station café for "meal" as there was going to be nothing else available all day, and met Percy the s<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">tation cat who clearly didn't give a damn about anything other than snoozing on a chair (I wish!).</span></div>
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I'm currently curled up in a church porch, next to a farm which is doing its best to get all the baled up hay in tonight before dew in the morning so it's pretty noisy and some of the noises keep making me jumpy. Hoping I can sleep and get off early tomorrow for another 33 mile day with even more elevation gain!</div>
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<b>So day six was as almost the end of it. </b><br />
My feet were in constant pain and that, on top of the constant re-routing, ducking under electric fences/over barbed wire, running away from homicidal cows, shedding by brambles and nettles, saturated feet within the first three miles again, beating down sun etc., took me beyond my limit.</div>
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I had a six hour meltdown. But made it to the planned end point for the day.</div>
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My left foot really needed attention and I'd just had enough. So after a<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> chat with Norm, agreed to take a rest day rather than call myself a failure and give in right away.</span></div>
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So I'm spending today with my feet up, shoes off, drinking tea and booking places to stay for the next few days to take the pressure off needing to do that each day - after the trouble I've had for the last 3 days I just don't want that to be an additional thing to worry about while I'm trying to just keep moving forward.</div>
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I'll see where I am in another six days and take it from there.</div>
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<b>Day seven</b><br />
...and I've downgraded the status of my left foot from red to amber. It's still not great but it's been dry all day. That on top of a day of being up yesterday seems to have done a great job of stopping it from getting really disgusting.</div>
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Today has been quite kind to me. No soaking of my feet at all, despite a good amount of off road, and the sun has been mostly behind clouds. The trails were in good shape for the first 19 or so miles too.</div>
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I targeted a National Trust c<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">afé for a mid point stop and it came a little late and had not the greatest selection of food (cake, pasties, sandwiches, soup and ice cream) but I stopped for an hour and a quarter there to have soup, a sandwich, a pot of tea and a bottle of fizzy water. The break really revived me as I wasn't feeling great to that point despite the good conditions. My mood was very low and I was yet again questioning everything. Lots of things already hurt only 3 hours into a 10 hour day on my feet.</span></div>
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The rest of the route was less great after that stop, more cranky farmers with low enthusiasm for footpaths but at least no electric fences or barbed wire. That said, my legs got a good scourging with nettles, repeatedly.</div>
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Final stop for the day was a lucky B&B that I bagged earlier in the day on the off chance that had room. I just beat the rain in to the farm house and was mobbed by the very affectionate cat, fed tea and cake and then got showered and dry.</div>
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<b>Day eight!</b><br />
And it was a day of humidity, bogs, river crossings, lakes, rain and flies.</div>
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A couple of reroutes needed and for the first time a farmer actually opened an electric fence to let me through as he saw I was headed onto the footpath! I got chased again a bit by summer cows and just about out ran them before they got bored. My feet did get soaked within the first hour but they did fine after recovering well there last couple of days. They were also not sore until the l<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ast hour rather than from the three hour mark onwards. An improvement!</span></div>
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No idea how far I actually went today - a mess up in my route planning meant I glued two days together so had no countdown to the end of today and given that my Garmin did that thing where it thinks I'm moving about while indoors, it added over a mile while I was eating brunch and drinking pints of tea. Oh well!</div>
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Another day done and I'm now 22% through overall AND I'll hit a new county tomorrow too.</div>
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<b>Day nine</b><br />
...and a day of crossings; the Clifton suspension bridge, the M5, the M4 and The Severn bridge. It started with eight miles of almost non stop running at the start! They then got soaked in some long grass and spent the rest of the day slowly drying out. Today saw zero: electric fences, barbed wire, locked/chained gates, lakes of cow/horse shit, pools of piss, brambles, hawthorn, thistles and carnivorous cows. There was one, single nettle sting.</div>
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A huge milestone came in getting out of the South West and into Wales (and straight back out again). 25% of the total distance done!</div>
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The trails were stunning today; it was glorious to be on well maintained, well loved trails and Offa's Dyke is one to go back to for sure. The day ended in a castle. With a banquet. Including soup. And no cutlery. No. Really!</div>
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<b>Day ten</b><br />
...and though I'm in civilisation and have plenty of data capability I'm not live video posting. I'm too down.</div>
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Today was chalk to yesterday's cheese. Though I got up to the stunning view point at Symonds Yat, I could l couldn't stay and enjoy it. Every day is about just getting to the next point without face-planting, getting too wet, stung, scraped or eaten by cows.</div>
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On paper, today was the hardest day of the whole route; 32 miles and 1300m of ascent. It also involved <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">a large circuit into Ross-on-Wye, which seemed unnecessary to me so I re-routed to cut off a good chunk after Symonds Yat which also dropped the climbing appreciably. However, it meant a lot of road. And road where the drivers are less than kindly and either refuse to make room at all, or give you an extra 50cm or so without slowing down at all (hello national speed limit minor roads!).</span></div>
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After a stop for some really really good salmon and tea for lunch, I finally managed to let some of the frustration out and did some top notch bawling almost all the way to the end. A little pause in the snot-fest to get through the streets to a park near where I'm staying and I found a bench to sit on and rest my feet a while while I bawled some more.</div>
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I finally hauled ass to my accommodation for the night and on discovering there was a bath, I sat in it, in my kit to give it its first proper rinse out in ten days.</div>
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I'm sore. My legs are made out of porridge and my feet really ache. I'm not sure I can be bothered to go and get any food; I've had a ham and tomato sandwich and that fabulous salmon at lunch time...</div>
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<b>Day eleven!</b><br />
Oh boy! So this was supposed to be my second longest mileage day of the whole trip. Elevation not too bad overall.</div>
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I started out, of course, through a wet field of hip-height grass within the first half hour *sigh* After a birthday call to the husband which made me quite teary, I got going for the the day feeling like it'd be OK given the lack of height I'd need to climb and the large percentage of the route off road.</div>
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I still managed to get very sore feet.</div>
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Still, I planned a lunch stop that was in theory bang on my route and I didn't need to detour into Leominster to eat. I found it on Google maps and the pictures got me quite excited. As I approached, I was a bit worried it might not be open but when I headed to the counter I was greeted by the wonderful Dom, of <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=157874554272615&extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/Doms-Bike-Stop-157874554272615/?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer;">Doms Bike Stop</a>, who proceeded to be wonderfully welcoming and made me some heavenly tea as I figured out what I needed to eat.</div>
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To be honest, this was the best lunch stop I've had since I started. Dom's is a haven of good, locally sourced, tasty food with some quirky decor in 12 acres of land with space for camping and yoga retreats! Not what you'd expect for a biker café but it's brilliant!</div>
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Well fueled and after a great chat with Dom and his little boy, I headed back out for the second half of the day, where all the elevation was.</div>
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I had a mile along the A49 first though, which was less than fun. Then up into some woods and through stupidly pretty villages before deciding to bail a couple of miles early to take advantage of a B&B opportunity with a clean dry bed and a shower rather than kipping in a random field or church porch for the night.</div>
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My feet are so so sore. I just needed to be comfortable and clean and able to be nice to my feet while the opportunity was there.</div>
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Another county done and 30% through. Need to replan tomorrow given I've got an extra couple of miles to deal with from today. And I get to see Norm tomorrow too.</div>
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<b>Day twelve</b><br />
...and having stopped short yesterday I had to get creative to make the end point today. From where I was supposed to stop yesterday it was 32 miles and 1300m ascent, plus an extra 2 miles. The thought of that was not a happy one at all.</div>
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So I looked at the map until I fell asleep and picked out a path that was more direct, avoided much climbing, and the A49 (which is a death wish path; I wouldn't cycle on it either).</div>
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I did get to go through some ridiculously pretty <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">villages and valleys, but also across fields that had no sign of the footpath at all, though pretty useable and marked gates/stiles at either side. My feet got soaked again; no surprise there. My legs got whipped, scratched, stung, and coated in wet, itchy seeds. Hey ho.</span></div>
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A planned brunch stop in Church Stretton made me choke up a little. The café was lovely, the menu made up of everything I might have liked right then and I felt quite overwhelmed. Two pots of tea and some soup and a slice of game pie and I was stuffed. Having made really good time, I luxuriated in a 90 min stop before pressing on.</div>
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More silly-pretty villages and then a quite unpleasant yomp through a very difficult farm section and I stumped into the final stretch. With a twingey knee, though this bit was runnable I didn't. No hurry, well ahead of planned scheduling and still very early I was happy to stroll to the finish.</div>
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My shoes reek. I'm not too bad, but stingy and itchy legs and sore feet.</div>
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Taking a strategic rest day tomorrow at the end of the long run of long days. I have some accommodation to plan for the upcoming week or so and wouldn't say no to a bit of recovery and time to get the admin done. Including figuring out the key point of replacing my shoes, which are pretty battered already at 355 miles or so, mainly from being permanently wet and gouged by thorns etc.</div>
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<b>Day fourteen</b><br />
...and it was quite a damp one. I woke up at about 04:30 as the sky was getting bright and put on radio 4 while I dozed until 05:15, then started to pack up my stuff.</div>
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My tent was full of condensation on the inside because I forgot to un-velcro the vents at the ends, so I did my best to shake off as much as possible before packing it away. This was after putting my stove on to make a coffee and pack up all the insides of the tent while that cooled down. It turns out<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> a spider had crawled into the pot overnight, that I'd prepped with water and just turned on the gas. So when I came to tip in the coffee granules, there was a thick little web. No time to boil another so I just swiped out the web as best I could and drank the coffee anyway.</span></div>
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The rain started pretty much straight away. Storms were forecast and I was pretty apprehensive of a day out in that. But the drizzle let up almost straight away and as I made up the two miles from yesterday, the going was good.</div>
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I'd had a good tip on decent trails in the locale and it lined up with the direction I needed to be going in and made things pretty efficient. The Sandstone Trail is really really good. Well and clearly marked and very well maintained. This made for swift going - almost 4mph! (Don't laugh, I can only dream of that speed on this route with my heavy pack on!).</div>
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There was really only one problem solving section, but it was pretty advanced. A footpath that not only wasn't used recently but I'm pretty sure it was never that great. It was, in theory, along the side of a river, but was actually in a bog that was thick with various trees and bushes and waist height rushes, brambles, nettles and other greenery. I gave up after about 1/4 mile of being permanently worried about disappearing into the bog. I ended up climbing up a mud bank, hauling myself up using tree roots and some random disused farm equipment, over a barbed wire fence and into a meadow of waist height grass, heavy with rain.</div>
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There was some fairly pretty woods after that, then a road of death where I pretty quickly decided that I'd rather be angry and alive than right about the highway code and squished. Cue lots of jumping into the hedge.</div>
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Being a couple of hours ahead of schedule, I headed to what looked like a nice pub about 15 mins from where I'm staying. And a very nice pub it is indeed!</div>
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Tomorrow will be a bit of a slog as I'm a bit off route with tonight's accommodation as well as it being impossible to optimise or use roads as they're all pretty major into Bolton.</div>
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Head down and get on with it after a good night's sleep I guess.</div>
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<b>Day fifteen.</b><br />
I'm quite tired so this will be short. I woke at 05:30 to head out between 06:00 and 06:30 and was pretty much really not up for it today. The weather meant I wanted to avoid much trail as I was worried about flooding, so I did some rerouting to involve more road. I also had a couple of miles to catch up from yesterday.</div>
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Diversion within the first couple of miles and I didn't even bat an eyelid, just got on with it.</div>
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Not the prettiest section ever; there's a lot of urban sprawl between Liverpool and Manchester. A few nice bits though. I crossed the M6, M56, M62 and M61 today. Pretty motorway-tastic!</div>
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The wind and rain battered me for most of the day and it was over 22 miles before I could take a break. My hands suffered most due to being wet and wind beaten for hours and they were so cold I couldn't operate my phone or push buttons on my watch.</div>
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Then something weird happened. I was doing some map checking as I came around a corner and past a stopped white van; head down and focused. Two blokes started yelling from the van as I drew level with it "come on! Keep going! Keep going! Keep going!". I thought the usual "thanks random people who are being leary at me" and then a bicycle and runner came past me. And I saw the runner had not only some white headphones in, but a T-shirt on with a map of the UK on the back with a line from bottom to top! I called out "oh God! Wow! I'm doing that too!" and tried to keep up for a bit. The parked up van driver off ahead and it was the support van! "How long have you been going for?" I shouted after them, but with my hood up and the blasting wind I couldn't hear the reply. They carried on into the distance after the cyclist managed to fall off a bit in front of me, apologise and then carry on, saying "good luck!" to me.</div>
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I crossed over the Warburton toll bridge over the Manchester ship canal, which is pretty narrow and has no pavements and on the other side a little further on was the support van pulled over with its hazard lights on and the bike stopped in front. The runner was to the side of the van and I thought he was stopping for food from the van - really not a great place to do that given the road situation. I thought I'd grab a photo of the van as I drew level with it so I could look him up later. But as I got about 10m from the back, the runner got into the van, and the cyclist and van headed off!</div>
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No idea what happened there, but it seemed rather odd. Weird place to stop. And it'd be quite disruptive to drop someone back off there again later. Anyway. Maybe he was done for the day (11:30am?) or injured, or going to get food, or needed a poo (no easy opportunities on that road, I have to say). I guess I'll never know.</div>
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For lunch, I found a gorgeous pub with slightly jobsworth staff and great food. Odd mix, but there you go. After procrastinating for well over an hour over the brilliant beef and Stilton pie with gravy (I was freezing and needed heating up), I had to get on with it.</div>
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More miles of trudging along roads - at least with pavements around here - and more wind and rain and I eventually finished for the day. Tired, wet and sore feet and really in need of a hot shower and tea. Thankfully I have now had both.</div>
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<b>Day sixteen</b><br />
...and the apprehension I had about getting up into the moors in the high winds was blown away by the beauty up there. It was a blustery climb up to Winter Hill to the TV transmitter, phone masts and weather station, but the views were incredible.</div>
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I bumped into a running couple where they'd parked up at the bottom of one of the hills and he'd watched me come down from the top. We had a bit of a chat and his wife got out of the car to join us. They were a little skep<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">tical at first but very supportive and keen to hear about me in the news. That's not gonna happen I'm afraid! The run on to the next hill was great; actually runnable and glorious views.</span></div>
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My food stop at The Millstone at Mellor was all too brief. The place was really nice, relaxing and the food was very good - mushroom soup and a cheese sandwich of the best flavours and textures. I wished I could stay but I had to move on. 18.5 miles done on honest trails with stunning scenery done and I thought I had another 16 to go.</div>
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The next 5-6 miles were horrible. Disused footpaths, badly maintained farms/farmland and a total disregard for other people. I spent a couple of hours crying in anger and frustration to the point I felt sick. There was literally nothing I could do to change the situation - no rerouting possible as there just wasn't an alternative without getting back a few miles and onto major roads for even more miles adding hours and danger to my day. I just had to get on with it.</div>
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Finally I ended up back in good footpaths with good gates etc and I figured out I had less far too go than I thought. Almost 12 hours including 40ish mins at the food stop and that was a long day.</div>
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It started and ended with beautiful and honest trails on moors, but there was a truly horrible bit to get through in between. I'm exhausted. But I've had a bath (unexpected luxury!) And a really good steak and I'm feeling a bit better, though still whacked out.</div>
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Tomorrow will get an extra couple of miles tacked on from today's slightly early finish so it will be another long day to get through and with no rerouting possibility again if things get iffy.</div>
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I'm just so tired!</div>
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<b>Day seventeen.</b><br />
Wow! The Forest of Bowland is gorgeous. But also very very boggy. In between drooling over the scenery in the rain, I was mostly wading ankle deep in marshy grass and bog for very many hours. And then I hit the fells and the glory that is The Hornby Road which is several miles of gravel trail and really very runnable. It rained from the moment I got up until I stopped for food. I'd been so long wading in bog that I couldn't be bothered with finding shallow wate<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">rs through fords any more and just waded through.</span></div>
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Out I popped into a village where I intended to divert a little off the route to a pub for brunch but as I hit the village I found a farm café which was perfect.</div>
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A large vat of powerful tea and a cheese toastie and scone later I was ready for the rest of the day. At this point my phone battery case died through being saturated for hours. Not great as I was using my phone a lot for navigation up on the fells and there was some fine detail navigation I needed it for later on too. Thankfully the rain stopped and I tied the case onto my rucksack straps to air out for a few hours and that did the trick.</div>
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Running across mostly fells and forest today meant zero crap with lack of footpath accessibility, though I did get chased by sheep! No nettles. No barbed wire. No electric fences. Zero stress! The obstacles of nature are just there and that's OK. It's the fake natural obstacles of thorns, nettles and thistles where the footpath should be, plus careless or bitter land owners that frustrate and anger me. None of that today. Only one missing footbridge over a raging torrent which wasn't the end of the world as there was a path on the other side which got me there anyway.</div>
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I also managed to dip into North Yorkshire today, which just blows my mind completely. That's really in The North.</div>
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An honest and beautiful day today. If a little wet. Theme of the day... water.</div>
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<b>Day eighteen</b><br />
...is already fading a bit from my memory with today's day of rest, but...</div>
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The morning was very much a businesslike case of making progress as efficiently as possible. Having finished two miles out again yesterday, had I followed my original planned route it would have been 36.5 miles and 1400m of ascent. And despite really enjoying the moors and fells, I really needed to have a less stressful day. Also my phone battery case had totally died overnight due to being <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">soaked all day yesterday and I needed to have very simple navigation. So I took a track road which was unused by vehicles; I think I saw 2 cars in about 20 miles and 6 hours on the move.</span></div>
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I stopped at a brilliant little cafe for brunch and had the biggest pot of tea known to mankind as well as a pile of food and some time off my feet. My shoes are definitely tired, more of being ripped by spiky things and pounding with the combined weight of me plus my pack for over 500 miles. They're ripped inside and out and ready to be replaced. The good thing is I had ordered new ones for delivery to this weekend's stop.</div>
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The afternoon brightened up, the sun came out and as I crested Orton Scar, I finally took off my long sleeved top for the first time in the days. And the view opened up in front of me... another one of those that a photo does no justice to and words fail me.</div>
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Then the military aircraft kicked in and I got the most amazing display from jets and helicopters; fat, heavy helicopters that made me think there was a steam train over the hill. I just managed to capture a video of one, but missed the time one appeared overhead so low I could almost tickle its belly!</div>
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With the sun warming me and the brilliant air display, simple navigation and almost complete lack of aches and pains, the afternoon pretty much flew by and the day was over pretty early despite the distance.</div>
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Today I've been planning ahead, booking lots of places to stay and had a little rejig of the final few days to make things simpler and so that Norm can be with me on my last day.</div>
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It's weird. I'm poverty half way through but it really feels like the end is in sight, having taken a closer look at the next 20 days. Having split one longer day it's added a day but I'll take no more rest days now and I'll have three short days instead of only the last one.</div>
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535 miles down, 500 to go!</div>
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<b>Day nineteen</b><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: -0.24px;">...and the last day wholly in England. A short day at only 27.5 miles or so and very little elevation at only 700m-ish. Lots of very pretty scenery and an early brunch stop caught me by surprise at around 10:30 having started pretty late at just after 7am!</span></div>
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I stopped in a gorgeous bakery cafe which did perfect breakfast rolls and I had bacon, egg and black pudding in a soft roll with a pot of tea for two, with one cup. Bliss! It almost made up for being zapped by a s<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">tupid electric fence strung across the footpath earlier in the day that made me yell obscenities at the farmhouse nearby.</span></div>
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The afternoon was still going to be pretty short and easy so I lingered a while over brunch and had a cappuccino after I'd finished the other bits, while my morning photos uploaded. Having the next lots of days already booked and the days mileage being mainly shorter than they have been previously really takes the mental stress down a notch and I was pretty carefree. I picked up a cyclist shortly after lunch who came up behind me and asked where I was headed; "up to the top" I said. He said "oh, Watch Fell?" and I said "John o'Groats" as he headed out of earshot. 5 seconds later, he turned around and headed back for a chat as I jogged along beside him. Turns out he'd cycled it a few years ago in 7 days, he said. And he was surprised but also very understanding of me doing it alone (and with pretty decent average daily mileage!). After a few minutes chat he headed off into the distance, leaving me to it.</div>
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The rest of the afternoon was uneventful until I was getting out of the way of a large vehicle on one of the little roads I ended up on and something odd happened to my ankle. About 8.5 miles from my end point, it was fine at first but got increasingly painful to the point where I couldn't work out whether being on road and on level surface was better than off road and uneven but softer surface. It was pretty bad for a while and brought tears to my eyes. It then eased off a bit until I had to cross a field of deep grass and then it was almost excruciating before easing off again.</div>
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Having death marched the last 8.5 miles rather than running, I finally got to my accommodation for the night. Where they had great fun with their booking system being pretty much broken and they had no idea about my booking. But. I am now in the quiet room in the back rather than above the bar so I'll get a good night's sleep at least.</div>
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Having put my foot up for a while, my ankle is even more painful now so I can only hope that a night and lots of sleep will fix it up for the morning.</div>
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<b>Day twenty</b>.<br />
My ankle felt not too bad as I made tea in the morning but when I got outside and started to stride off down the road, I got sharp, hot stabs of pain. I hobbled back to the inn to get wi-fi to try to talk to Norm to get some perspective, but the wi-fi was totally dead. I tried to call but the mobile signal was too weak.</div>
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I then thought what I'd do is get to my brunch stop and see what happens.</div>
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I'd planned ahead for being on road for the majority of the first post<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> of the day and that helped. Staying on an even surface and mostly going uphill meant that the pain was manageable and I made reasonable progress. As the day wore on, I decided to check when the lunch stop opened for lunch. Oh dear. 4pm. No use! A quick reroute to a different one on a slightly longer route overall and I tried to call them to ask when they opened but the mobile signal was again too weak. I managed to find their website, which said they opened at 11:30 every day. Brilliant!</span></div>
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As I was making determined progress I was sure I'd get to the place before 11, but then some downhill came up and I couldn't do more than shuffle in excruciating pain as my ankle was very unhappy with it. I got to the pub just around 11:15 to find the sign outside saying "open every day from 4pm".</div>
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Shit.</div>
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I had planned to get food and some tea and strap up my ankle to see if that helped, but I ended up just having to sit on the grass verge of the road and strap up my ankle with no food or tea.</div>
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The next section I had a short bit of off road to help cut a chunk of distance out. Oh boy was that a bad idea. I had to take the tiniest steps and bawled my eyes out with the pain each time my foot landed off horizontal and flat. 1/2 mile took 20 minutes to cover.</div>
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Back on road again I re-routed to the end to be completely on road and sucked up the first stabs as I had to negotiate a 1/4 mile switchback down at 15% to the location of the Scottish border.</div>
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I was glad that even on a tiny road there was a sign indicating that I'd left England.</div>
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3.5 miles more and I got to my accommodation for the night and asked for help getting a doctor. Happy to wait for a 6pm emergency appointment, I sat in the lounge with an ice pack and a packet of pork scratchings for my breakfast (15:30...).</div>
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The hotel owner ran me to the surgery where I had to register as a temporary resident so they could get me on the system.</div>
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And the verdict is a sprain and needing a couple of days off. Lots of painkillers and a walking stick from the doc and I now need to cancel and rebook a lot of B&Bs.</div>
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<b>Day twenty-one.</b><br />
And after a two day break to try to kick start recovery with my sprained ankle, I was well into "one day at a time" territory.</div>
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I started out in the rain a few minutes before 6 and things felt pretty OK. I still couldn't flex my ankle without quite some pain, but there was more range of motion than the days before. (I'd kept it elevated, compressed and did flexing exercises every hour to try to get things moving better - that hurts quite a lot, but is pretty e<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ffective.) There wasn't a lot of scenery to be looked at, given the rain and being pretty much inside a cloud for a good while, and I'd had the luxury of being able to route on road until at least my brunch stop. So I made pretty good progress for a few hours. I did get a couple of folks pause to check I was OK and offer me a lift, which was lovely but obviously I had to decline.</span></div>
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Not long after the four hour mark, things suddenly got excruciatingly painful and I was reduced to a hobble, even with my walking stick. With a six and a half hour time estimate to my food stop, I had something of a swearing session. I was convinced that I'd have to drop at Hawick (pronounced "hoik", it turns out) and I bawled my eyes out yet again with the frustration and impending sense of loss. The tears come when I think I might have to stop before I'm finished. Yes, things hurt but that's almost never where the tears come from. I cry when I'm furious or frustrated.</div>
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I promised myself I'd have some tea and some food and see how things looked after that. And I stumped off down the road some more.</div>
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My chosen brunch café was closed. Permanently. But given that Hawick is a reasonable size, I had options and found a weird little place called "Damascus Drum" where I got a beef-filled bagel and a pot of tea. My ankle had been behaving a bit better in the final mile or so into Hawick and after eating, I got a takeout coffee and headed out to try it out.</div>
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It behaved! But I was about to have to go off road which really worried me. Thankfully the trail was pretty entry-level and with the brace on and my stick, I managed to make reasonable progress. They know how to do stiles in this country too!</div>
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The rain lifted a few times and I did get to see some of the pretty before the final climb to my accommodation for the night... where the host gave me the biggest bedroom with the best view and a huge bathroom, as well as not charging me for dinner as a donation to PHCuk. 36 miles and 1075m elevation. Done.</div>
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My ankle really needed me to have been continuing to do the flexing exercises; it's seized up quite a lot, but I'm doing my best to squeeze a few in without irritating it too much before sleep time.</div>
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Another 5am wake up tomorrow as it's another longer day and almost all of it off road, so slow going.</div>
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Yeah, not much running going on right now, but I'd rather keep making progress than not. I'm not giving up unless things get a lot worse.</div>
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<b>Day twenty-two.</b></div>
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Up at 5 this morning and off up the Cross Borders Drove Road. Up being the operative word. Lots of height gained and some glorious views (yes, again). In and out of trees and heather (a bit scratchy on the ankles). Then, after over 6 miles of mostly up, came the down.</div>
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And the pain.</div>
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And the grinding to an impossibly slow hobble as I used my walking stick as my right leg and howled in pain for two very long miles.</div>
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And that was that.</div>
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This was clearly bad and wrong. So I headed to a nearby village just off route and by chance came across a local health centre well pointed me to the Borders General hospital A&E department and called me a taxi to get me there.</div>
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Half an hour later and I hobbled into the waiting area. I was lucky that it was empty and quiet and got seen by a triage nurse pretty quickly who sent me off to x-ray in a wheelchair. I couldn't even put my foot down on the ground at this stage as that made me almost dizzy with pain. I ate half of my packed bacon sandwich breakfast as I was exhausted and ravenous through emotional energy expenditure. Whatever the result of the x-ray, there was no way I could keep covering these distances for another 15 and a half days with my ankle like this.</div>
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Two hours after coming through the door and I was packed off with a diagnosis of tendinitis, a pair of crutches, instructions to take anti-inflammatories for at least a week and a letter to my GP.</div>
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It's pretty clear that it's not going to even start getting better unless I give it a chance. And even drugged to the eyeballs with painkillers I can't cope with downhills at all, which is pretty unavoidable on this sort of route.</div>
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I'm resting up in Scotland for the weekend, popping in to Dunfermline parkrun to cheer tomorrow. Then I'll head home and think about what to do about this unfinished business. I've done 630 miles, there's 405 to go. I'd really like to finish the job, but doing it across two separate trips... does that "count"? Have I still run Lands End to John o'Groats?</div>
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TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-25189170306023272482017-10-18T20:48:00.001+01:002017-10-18T20:59:07.347+01:00Race Report: Suunto RunWimbledon MarathonWhat a lovely race! Set up on a grassy clearing on Wimbledon Common, the start/finish/registration area was like a mini festival! With a gorgeous gazebo containing a live music act, a couple of sponsor stands (one by Suunto, the headline sponsor, who were lending out running watches to try out for the race), a beach-style area with deck with deck chairs and bean bags, the registration and bag tents, as well as a coffee/snacks wagon (which also had a fridge full of beers for afterwards :) )<br />
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The race start time threw me a bit. 2pm is a tricky start time. What to do about eating for the day? Could happily run on nothing, but I didn't fancy not eating all day until well after 6pm so I had some eggs and avocado earlier in the day and hoped my stomach wouldn't mind that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwdV6_XSE_2KL-Qjf9Jk-TLiNX9MlipMavR1hF4JbRYsrgzgfHuMYWvvb5BVzYYzZ5awJIfA1SV8P-8eFX29Et-69dWkNsOVaJH2dCvNgGL0HjehQolJuvxv78DuNEos93yuMamme-g/s1600/IMG_5809.jpg"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIwdV6_XSE_2KL-Qjf9Jk-TLiNX9MlipMavR1hF4JbRYsrgzgfHuMYWvvb5BVzYYzZ5awJIfA1SV8P-8eFX29Et-69dWkNsOVaJH2dCvNgGL0HjehQolJuvxv78DuNEos93yuMamme-g/s640/IMG_5809.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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I bumped into a bunch of folks I knew before the start (@hairierhalf and @ultraboyruns) which was nice. And I headed out with little expectation other than a nice long training run with some trees, mud and the odd hillock. 4 laps of around 6.5 miles (or 10K for those who work in km) has the potential to be boring, but with this route and terrain, it wasn't that bad really.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBR5maWAeK81aJnluCekrfBSRBC5N9Jf5KlOI0dNOPgTIo1eoUOrUYIgapm2yRRfAsBPFPbzXZPfIz3yoscuff1rhASi66d7px6gUpkW896s5i3WrOit16LYC09WEt507SXpXNM1OjQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-18+at+20.57.15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="504" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBR5maWAeK81aJnluCekrfBSRBC5N9Jf5KlOI0dNOPgTIo1eoUOrUYIgapm2yRRfAsBPFPbzXZPfIz3yoscuff1rhASi66d7px6gUpkW896s5i3WrOit16LYC09WEt507SXpXNM1OjQ/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-10-18+at+20.57.15.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I spent a lot of the first 2 laps sat behind a lady with a <a href="http://www.centurionrunning.com/section/grandslam">Centurion 50 Grand Slam</a> t-shirt from 2016. Boy, could she motor and I had to be careful not to try to do anything stupid. I had nothing to prove and I'm not exactly trained for speed right now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfMSKVBrn24IAtFvokk3u4IbyPpsLe3EocI2g9izgAyKgbo5bj52FGlp25yPyVc-vHgtjecBOO44PoM9h6MD1Ipvg5RwT4wL-6zgqHKRB-1_SKMTb-0mJzeWRznpueYu2XOpKg9s0Eg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-18+at+20.37.17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="565" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfMSKVBrn24IAtFvokk3u4IbyPpsLe3EocI2g9izgAyKgbo5bj52FGlp25yPyVc-vHgtjecBOO44PoM9h6MD1Ipvg5RwT4wL-6zgqHKRB-1_SKMTb-0mJzeWRznpueYu2XOpKg9s0Eg/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-10-18+at+20.37.17.png" width="372" /></a></div>
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The laps are almost always my downfall. With the Clapham and Wimbledon 15K races in the past, I lost the incentive to finish the distance and more often than not bailed early to take a 5 or 10k finish and still get a medal because of the 3 race distance options. This time, with 4 laps of a marathon, 3 laps in and 3.5 hours with twilight looming I just gave up and let the niggles and soreness in various bits of me be the excuse to stop. I just didn't get on with the laps plus I felt crap, my legs and engine felt rubbish after 2 laps. I felt a bit sick, fat, lumpy, with dead legs and then my right foot got really sore. So I pulled up at the end of 3rd lap for a 20 mile run. That'd do for the day.</div>
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I was given a medal anyway, seeing as I'd gone further than the half marathon and the medal was the same for 10k, half marathon and marathon.<br />
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If I'd been in a bit more of a positive frame of mind I might have stuck it out for all 4 laps, but in the end I just wanted to go home and chill out.</div>
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The race itself was well organised, an interesting and varied route and a sensible number of water stations that were cleverly placed to service multiple distances through the route due to the layout of the route.</div>
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I'd recommend it as an introduction to trail marathons and while it's still small and low-key, it's very well supported with a lovely, mini-festival atmosphere. Maybe one for running with a friend next time! <a href="https://wimbledonmarathonfest.com/">Keep an eye out for it next year</a>!</div>
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TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-32413383052314952072017-09-24T14:12:00.002+01:002017-09-24T14:21:55.627+01:00Race Report: Seattle Craft Classic (half marathon)<div style="text-align: center;">
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Mr TOTKat and I discovered a while ago that it's really great fun to enter a local race when we go on holiday. And with the total lack of expectation on the day, <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2015/09/race-report-lancaster-castle-half.html">we often pull out our best times</a> - double win! </div>
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Since starting a job which involves a reasonable amount of travel, I've had to find reliable ways of minimising/avoiding jet lag so I'm not a zombie all the time. Running is a fantastic way to combat jet lag! Going West; I stay up as late as I can and try to get a run in just before sunset. Then get up and out for a run as soon as it starts getting light in the morning. Getting daylight on your skin and eyes really helps sort out the rhythm of the day and every time I use this method I just don't get jet lag at all! Heading East again it's the same in reverse, get out and get a run in as close to sunrise and sunset as possible to help reset that inner clock. It really works!</div>
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The second thing running gives me when I travel is that it's a great way to explore a new location. This latest trip to Seattle, I found a local half marathon on the first Sunday I was there, which was planned to end at a local brewery! A great opportunity to get up and out and seeing the area! I was a bit surprised at the cost of the race entry; yes it was tiered by how close to the date you entered and I was entering the day before, but still. Pretty pricey!</div>
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A quick cab ride to the running shop on the day before the race, to enter, pick up race number and the race branded beer glass and t-shirt (adding even more to the overall cost! doh!). And, because I'm weak-willed, I ended up buying a new pair of 3/4 tights (for some reason I seem to have only one pair of training/racing 3/4 tights at the moment and they have a hole in them from when I face-planted in them a while back).</div>
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Anyway! The race! It was really low key and small. Just under 400 people ran the half marathon and 350 ran the 5k (which started in a different place, but also ended at the brewery). There were pairs of pacers for all of these race targets: 01:30, 01:40, 01:50, 02:00, 02:15, 02:30, 02:45 and 03:00. Which was really great to see - this race was taking itself pretty seriously in terms of quality even though it was pretty small. The bag drop, portaloos and pacers were the indications at the start and I figured out the big contributor to the price later on.</div>
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The course was all on "trails". There is a concept of trails in the USA that's different from what folks in Europe would expect. Given that there's a lot of road in the states, huge distances between things even in towns that mean folks drive almost everywhere, there's little walking facility to get from A to B. So what happens in a lot of places is that there are cycle/walk routes carved through the urban area which are usually made easy for accessibility in some way; tarmacced, gravel, packed sand etc. This is what they call a "trail" and in the case of this race route, that's what the trails were. So really good surface underfoot for running quickly AND flat as you like! The weather was absolutely perfect too. Clear, bright and with a slight chill in the morning. It was all lining up well for a good time for me, so I went into the race with a back-of-the-mind aim to cruise hard, making progress to equal my PB or beat it. 3 weeks back from LEJoG and I was feeling quite good in the legs and engine with some of the runs the week before, so why not?</div>
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So I set off smartly and set out to make progress without blowing up too early. The sun was bright, the air crisp and cool and the runners started to pull away, but I let it happen. This always happens with a large proportion of folks not being so great at pacing - Marathon Talk describe this phenomenon and the tide going out. And the thing about the tide going out, is that you know it'll come back in again later. It always does. So knowing this and having experienced it umpteen times, I didn't get too caught up in trying to keep up.</div>
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As it was on trails and no need for a whole lot of road safety costs, soon enough it was obvious where a large chunk of the cost of the race went. 5 photographers, with 4 clustered together at a point on the course where the half marathon runners and the 5k runners would pass twice, and the fifth strategically placed on a hill to catch the big efforts. At this point, I'd been following a lady who looked to be hitting a pace I liked the feel of; not too easy, not too spicy. The tide was already coming back in again from the 4th mile or so and it felt great for the first 9 miles - just under 9 mins/mile is a pace that I need to concentrate to keep the effort high enough, but no problem to maintain for a good length of time at the moment.</div>
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Each time I gently passed her, she'd step up the pace again having eased off a bit, and pass me again. It kept me honest for those 9 miles. Had she not been there, I'm pretty sure my concentration would have dropped and I'd've slowed down and ended up looking at the trees and the river more. But at about 9 miles, I passed her at a dead turn point on the course and never saw her again. There was a little undulation around that area and I was taking advantage of the very slight downhill gradient to get a little help from gravity and I think that's what did the trick. Mile 10-11 had a slight uphill gradient (as did mile 8), which sucked a bit of energy and from there the pace started to feel tough to maintain. Only 3 miles to the end and I was on track for a PB, so I kept the gas on.</div>
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Then in the last couple of miles I made some errors. From before half way onwards, my watch was disagreeing with the mile markers by about 0.1 miles. My watch would tick over a mile marker, then 0.1 miles later I'd pass the physical one. It's never clear how accurate those markers are in a given race, so the doubts start to creep in about how long you have left to go. As my watch ticked over the 12 miles point, it was another almost 0.25 further on that I passed the 12 mile marker, so I thought I had almost 0.3 miles more to cover than my watch was telling me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2t_H92B4lC2WscZX9bifGuttFuIsgWNNyPul80QkumNoUi76eosJMiy_q4IGo4MnCLxoHmhCUB0skzo41s9mFIKt8UFv-T2UmwFpNR40abeKxIwUiRLLCSo49K2nADHqWcfcfysq7Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-09-24+at+14.20.07.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2t_H92B4lC2WscZX9bifGuttFuIsgWNNyPul80QkumNoUi76eosJMiy_q4IGo4MnCLxoHmhCUB0skzo41s9mFIKt8UFv-T2UmwFpNR40abeKxIwUiRLLCSo49K2nADHqWcfcfysq7Q/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-09-24+at+14.20.07.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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With the discomfort I was now in, I lost heart a little. I thought I was going to come in just under 2 hours by a few seconds, so I eased off a tiny bit and walked a few steps to adjust my t-shirt sleeves which were coming untucked from my bra straps (I'd tucked them in a couple of miles earlier because I was starting to overheat and needed a bit more surface area of skin available to cool down). Having had zero people pass me from after the first half mile, I now had a few folks go by. Not happy about that! Then the route twisted through some trees and up a couple of tiny little steeper slopes and I walked a few steps again there - I'd effectively given up in my head and, of course, it's your brain that gives up before your body. But then I heard the finish line! I turned a corner and it was literally only 100m to the finish! My watch just ticked over 13 miles about 200m earlier and I thought I had 0.3 miles still to go! Argh! So I sprinted over the line, hoping I'd not screwed it up too badly. My watch said 01:56:21! A PB!</div>
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No medals at the end because the race medals had been sent to a race in Florida by mistake and they were going to post them onwards to runners afterwards when they arrived in Washington (state). But there was a lovely picnic area with beer and food trucks on a field by the brewery and one free beer per runner (as long as you had ID to prove you were old enough - this is America after all!)</div>
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What great atmosphere with friends and family of the runners all getting involved. I sat myself on the grass by the prize giving area, where the pacers ended up congregating afterwards. I got to meet lots of local runners and felt really welcomed - fabulous atmosphere!</div>
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<a href="https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-33227"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZqz6lkHjut8rTF2L22NVxGeQhjF32y_lg-U3Lf8k6U_QN-pT5P4gyw9g3RqYpd9reZGQv3SW6M7RLSHHqZLKL0z0lm7OiaDLDDwOiEWNyp4gt3hLF_nkMwrkKIW7O4auz4s3FSyYnQ/s640/IMG_5763.PNG" width="360" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-33227">Official results</a> later in the day knocked a couple more seconds off - 7th in my Age Group (and first non-US female athlete over the line :oD - OK there were only 2 of us and the other one was a Canadian! There were 2 Canadian men too.). Very pleased with a PB by 57s when I've really not been training for speed and had no expectations or target for this race until the day before it. Very pleased with my pacing (apart from the slight cock-up at the end). Cheers!</div>
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TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-3379553413511078902017-09-02T21:17:00.001+01:002017-09-02T21:36:18.520+01:00LEJoG 2017: What's next?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzK6N-xn7uchv26QhPF4IpOgPxBqWBWgghgHC6Hl8b9RnZMk-yyZiyEJu_uX1adlktH31M_cCTn5EZo8MevTeJ_-G5UGiBug1UB_1uezdO_TxucCVv2YoA1xtQFV0AsV5kkDDf4Hs5gQ/s1600/IMG_2055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzK6N-xn7uchv26QhPF4IpOgPxBqWBWgghgHC6Hl8b9RnZMk-yyZiyEJu_uX1adlktH31M_cCTn5EZo8MevTeJ_-G5UGiBug1UB_1uezdO_TxucCVv2YoA1xtQFV0AsV5kkDDf4Hs5gQ/s640/IMG_2055.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">While I'm still decompressing from </span><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/1137188970" style="font-size: 12pt;">LEJoG</a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, I'm starting to think about what's next. I still need to write up the run but that's going to take time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the mean time... I've got a <a href="https://www.runwimbledon.co.uk/2017-events/">trail marathon</a> coming up and I've entered the <a href="https://www.maratonadiroma.it/?!f1/=/home-it/en/">Rome marathon</a> in April next year with the target of getting a "good for age" qualifying time for London (though I don't intend to use it). There's a plan forming for what comes after. Currently I want to build up to <a href="http://thespinerace.com/">The Spine</a> race. And I wanted to do <a href="http://ringofire.co.uk/">Ring o' Fire</a> then <a href="http://www.capewrathultra.com/">Cape Wrath</a> as preparation, and that works for <a href="http://ringofire.co.uk/">Ring o' Fire</a> but 2018 is a <a href="http://www.berghausdragonsbackrace.com/">Dragon's Back</a> year not a <a href="http://www.capewrathultra.com/">Cape Wrath</a> year. And I'm pretty sure that I'd be fine for <a href="http://www.capewrathultra.com/">Cape Wrath</a> but <a href="http://www.berghausdragonsbackrace.com/">Dragon's Back</a> would be too much of a leap by then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It seems like there's more thought needs to go into this to really figure it out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Plus it doesn't have to be races. <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/1137188970">LEJoG</a>, <a href="http://www.totkat.org/p/thames-path-2014.html">Thames Path</a> and <a href="http://www.totkat.org/p/north-downs-way-2016.html">North Downs Way</a> taught me that. But if not a race, there's even more choice! I'm a starving person faced with an almost infinite menu!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">What do you think?</span></div>
TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-86760440035373274412017-07-20T12:30:00.000+01:002017-07-20T12:30:30.547+01:00LEJoG 2017 - Getting Back on The Horse!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyMQBfzt41T9qt2ZGXzDoG0ApVQQkwA6Yw4_gx-4MucMGr-7ol5WhYzBCUPhoXqFrx54IK__RVBrfodMxTNQEZu16GsjO21lvBUKLlcE9ucge_jHqvOO3q5h_PIrYIVgCwbftFDjekg/s1600/19059587_10158998422990434_3884197791707698200_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZyMQBfzt41T9qt2ZGXzDoG0ApVQQkwA6Yw4_gx-4MucMGr-7ol5WhYzBCUPhoXqFrx54IK__RVBrfodMxTNQEZu16GsjO21lvBUKLlcE9ucge_jHqvOO3q5h_PIrYIVgCwbftFDjekg/s640/19059587_10158998422990434_3884197791707698200_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This time next week I will be on a train up to Edinburgh to change to a train to Galashiels, then a bus to Innerleithen before getting on my feet to John o'Groats.<br />
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Yes! I'm finishing the job! The <a href="http://benunsworth.co.uk/kate-lejog/">little line on this map</a> will get all the way to the top corner of Scotland!<br />
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<a href="http://benunsworth.co.uk/kate-lejog/"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="856" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zW4-sNdTt0Bk21GGGi8zPAiiK0vgrEmeQEWaheeG9SIC9Hoo7ZIPw3Oat4UAFTYXxtktjva9nsoYrOvWDkbxJlWd5EH3jyeRa1gKkQpY9gAvelZRM6_k_bSyzO7HewJbe_OU0-jtKA/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-07-17+at+19.20.09.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm going to be running straight through for 16 days in a row, but given the days are less demanding than in the first 3 weeks this is very approachable and achievable. There are only 2 days over 30 miles, 6 days under 25 miles of which 2 are 20 miles and 1 is 13.5 miles. The elevation is pretty gentle too. I'll camp 2 nights and the rest is in B&Bs/hotels.<br />
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16 days of greenery and scenery in your social media feed, in between the crazy of the world. 16 days of mundane, simple, lower levels Maslow's needs griping to distract you from Brexit and Trump! It's back on! Get the message out there! Get people <a href="https://twitter.com/totkat">following</a> and <a href="http://phcuk.org/lejog">sponsoring</a>! Let's smash my £5K target funds raising for <a href="http://phcuk.org/">Public Health Collaboration</a>!TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-9770122548831127642017-06-21T18:32:00.000+01:002017-06-21T18:36:54.267+01:00LEJoG 2017 - looking back and forward<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGePMP-KqE5DtBHFWtJCGvBLXlJseAmzkqAeotUmFDbaSCFFruz6zGeRB0M5qyfSwiiksSsvyj3r_ica7BI9K4EzbwBBCWN-ukWfbju3nJVlr-qe5TsXEpFDTGe5HCStfmjJKqP2VCfA/s1600/IMG_2614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGePMP-KqE5DtBHFWtJCGvBLXlJseAmzkqAeotUmFDbaSCFFruz6zGeRB0M5qyfSwiiksSsvyj3r_ica7BI9K4EzbwBBCWN-ukWfbju3nJVlr-qe5TsXEpFDTGe5HCStfmjJKqP2VCfA/s640/IMG_2614.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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If you don't follow me somewhere else on the Internet, the latest is that I had to stop after 21 and a half days due to excruciating pain in my leg, most likely tibialis anterior tendinitis.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT__DG_kuBC3-RmV2_A6hW60pz_iTbaD3u7FBg9CYfMzKBmc6Q_r7a9UHhyphenhyphenb3y2dEpwkE6-5G3ujvGvP_h8KhyTxYU3tlwrobjpSkl4P1aLoLyJP4Tef1aEp0HtyRIKu7fqGW3QGTu3g/s1600/IMG_2690.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT__DG_kuBC3-RmV2_A6hW60pz_iTbaD3u7FBg9CYfMzKBmc6Q_r7a9UHhyphenhyphenb3y2dEpwkE6-5G3ujvGvP_h8KhyTxYU3tlwrobjpSkl4P1aLoLyJP4Tef1aEp0HtyRIKu7fqGW3QGTu3g/s320/IMG_2690.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHPDV_lfeNKLfRgUuXqpR2pTt3Jh47BX35QMZ1Ps6cLwGhYOpioysJ1nOq5WMy_yrNzudS8fpQiWh-0cIbUxEGStKF1uPHkOJpuOtVkUor-NsyWQaZQjvV8TtHprnygiHu7HA4GaGJg/s1600/IMG_2775.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHPDV_lfeNKLfRgUuXqpR2pTt3Jh47BX35QMZ1Ps6cLwGhYOpioysJ1nOq5WMy_yrNzudS8fpQiWh-0cIbUxEGStKF1uPHkOJpuOtVkUor-NsyWQaZQjvV8TtHprnygiHu7HA4GaGJg/s320/IMG_2775.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDun2DGAQtwneT-A9iFb5O3PCwvG5RO84NpaRPnKwkAy62YjZ0Pr0zUecU_fJJfTrebFCnMAhhtigCLegCsVFhslYG2tAta8f-Vg1bF-jFYzSXVAKi5PZC45iHjiFWNYmbIz4bQ7fGWQ/s1600/IMG_2816.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDun2DGAQtwneT-A9iFb5O3PCwvG5RO84NpaRPnKwkAy62YjZ0Pr0zUecU_fJJfTrebFCnMAhhtigCLegCsVFhslYG2tAta8f-Vg1bF-jFYzSXVAKi5PZC45iHjiFWNYmbIz4bQ7fGWQ/s320/IMG_2816.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUr4RXtonvL5tSZV_MwU7o-R4aMR3J3wbAJCATg3e3l1aIRLHY7r_JZ-zSKdbTpF5hmWqJY1KjBlvNVQVjSUQ-9Rc0xj53duucWDMjja9aI-kidtKS0-XAgNwNNHxmFTquHCfjW-Mog/s1600/IMG_2885.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUr4RXtonvL5tSZV_MwU7o-R4aMR3J3wbAJCATg3e3l1aIRLHY7r_JZ-zSKdbTpF5hmWqJY1KjBlvNVQVjSUQ-9Rc0xj53duucWDMjja9aI-kidtKS0-XAgNwNNHxmFTquHCfjW-Mog/s320/IMG_2885.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I tried to rest for a couple of days to let things heal, after a local GP had a look at it, but even staying off it for 2 days made zero difference to the amount of pain once I'd really got going for the day's distance. I tried strapping it and bracing it, but it got so painful that I ended up howling with pain and unimaginable amounts of tears and snot streaming down my face for the well over an hour it took me to get down from Minch Moor to Traqair. At that point I was in the most pain I've ever been in, including when I broke my collarbone towards the final 15km of the bike leg of <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2012/09/im-703-galway-ironmanireland.html">Ironman 70.3 Galway in 2012</a>. So I decided to get myself to the nearest A&E as I was worried that it was something broken. Luckily for me there was a health centre in the village a couple of miles away and they helped me get a taxi to Borders General hospital. I left the hospital with a pair of crutches, a letter to my GP, and instructions to stuff my face with Ibuprofen and paracetamol for a couple of days and then just the Ibuprofen for the rest of the week. I'd been avoiding NSAIDs to that point, due to it being a super bad idea to take those while doing heavy exercise. After 2 days, however, the pain was hugely reduced to the point where I was OK walking a bit without crutches, but my leg/ankle still got creaky and sore after a while. So, I've been really doing nothing now for a few more days (it's 5 days now since I stopped) and there's a little swelling still and some restriction in flexing my ankle in either direction (I've been doing exercises to make sure it doesn't get stiff), but I've been tentatively looking at when I can get back and finish the route. Sure, I could have taken Ibuprofen for the remaining 15.5 days and carried on in the hope that it worked well enough and didn't cause my kidneys to give up, but I wasn't willing to do that to myself. I'm stubborn, but not totally stupid.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to @benunsworth for making this brilliant map!</td></tr>
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I've done 630 miles. There's 405 left to do. I need to avoid (Scottish) school holidays and key work events and negotiate *another* 2 weeks unpaid time off, but it looks like later in October might work and I should be well recovered by then.<br />
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Looking back, it's slightly surreal to think of how far up the UK I got - well into Scotland, not far short of Edinburgh. I saw some beautiful and very varied scenery, pretty villages, brilliant cafes, pubs and B&Bs. I problem solved my way through many obstacles: ankle to shoulder height nettles, gorse, thistles, holly and hawthorn; electric fences; barbed wire; herds of cows; very anti-social land owners (hey, yeah, I'll just stick a head-height bank of soil and a ditch across the entire width of the field and an electric fence, a hawthorn hedge and some barbed wire!); broken stiles and bridges; broken/locked/wired shut gates; missing bridges; unrelenting sun for 2x days with no shade; cold; wet feet for 12+ hours; 45-50mph winds while up on the highest point of the moors... etc. I've met some really lovely people and been shown great kindness many times. I've spent days where the only talking I've done is saying hello to cows and rabbits. I've gotten a *lot* of vitamin D! And I've raised over £3,500 for <a href="http://phcuk.org/lejog">Public Health Collaboration</a> (so far)! My muscles and engine were fine throughout. I slept really well. I used every single piece of kit I'd packed except the two things I'd really only need in the more remote bits of Scotland - a fabric bucket for collecting water, and a water bottle with a filter in it.</div>
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It's been an amazing experience; sure, there were tough bits and I got frustrated and upset a good few times mainly due to people being unthinking/inconsiderate (e.g. car drivers who have no idea of the highway code and how to deal with pedestrians). But it took a biomechanical breakdown to put it on pause for now.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G098rP708oXFprMN0l9JeJ-BWoLxUkO-iyQURRgnUZtuoh90Q6xqZq_gkV-JxLZEr653MluERzJ9mAsEi0adMPOf8M3M4seQ_zQjC1hhRdvFA3knerqeGuya0A9fpoaBnGgFYbvg6Q/s1600/IMG_3418.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G098rP708oXFprMN0l9JeJ-BWoLxUkO-iyQURRgnUZtuoh90Q6xqZq_gkV-JxLZEr653MluERzJ9mAsEi0adMPOf8M3M4seQ_zQjC1hhRdvFA3knerqeGuya0A9fpoaBnGgFYbvg6Q/s320/IMG_3418.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTAYvFs8PeVsWr3BWYF2zWCj8futVQef047H9foKZlgabdsR7VYOF_z-HDyNZ-SBUVHvdnWOMjM7X65YnODQl0qQ2FZrxSt8SfJv530MpRAkbNiZxmZnPEG7oOKtACWbpyztDgVYqwrA/s1600/IMG_3737.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTAYvFs8PeVsWr3BWYF2zWCj8futVQef047H9foKZlgabdsR7VYOF_z-HDyNZ-SBUVHvdnWOMjM7X65YnODQl0qQ2FZrxSt8SfJv530MpRAkbNiZxmZnPEG7oOKtACWbpyztDgVYqwrA/s320/IMG_3737.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1fbZoWflSd_u_RgOZ8df_CUNBf58KkOqehd85WtdxfnKDsX0ghQLmvDcNNYUO2E7X2vgehmOLXcpDNem9L-HZorBN1eY4jn1wBk0R9Lqzzy4k-jhoK7MYVubVL3T84-AiuictmgnTIA/s1600/IMG_3863.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1fbZoWflSd_u_RgOZ8df_CUNBf58KkOqehd85WtdxfnKDsX0ghQLmvDcNNYUO2E7X2vgehmOLXcpDNem9L-HZorBN1eY4jn1wBk0R9Lqzzy4k-jhoK7MYVubVL3T84-AiuictmgnTIA/s320/IMG_3863.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFePdOjuWsQODlNvyEUUUCH_Og8QyM9QDEr7riCizTWPMLRHXTTdRTVJ1egNfgnD6htuZraaEv1zgmR4g2gNNqE1EZrP2R1-VsBccgBUiIeuK7UuPa9Oc7x1-dggw4X6P9G4W_wXJrQ/s1600/IMG_4091.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFePdOjuWsQODlNvyEUUUCH_Og8QyM9QDEr7riCizTWPMLRHXTTdRTVJ1egNfgnD6htuZraaEv1zgmR4g2gNNqE1EZrP2R1-VsBccgBUiIeuK7UuPa9Oc7x1-dggw4X6P9G4W_wXJrQ/s320/IMG_4091.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've got pretty bad blues - I wanted to do it in one, and I'm really missing being out in the countryside whatever the weather. Need some time and care before anything hard - physical or mental.<br />
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TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-61367888872860799762017-05-20T12:00:00.000+01:002017-05-21T20:30:53.164+01:00LEJoG 2017: Following Along - My Progress<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe align="center" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="454" scrolling="no" src="https://www.strava.com/athletes/1657911/latest-rides/deeef1e039b3beb8dd0bf7e82dfd669c1e1f3bb5" width="300"></iframe></div>
TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-40079082206876235812017-05-08T18:58:00.000+01:002017-05-08T18:58:36.979+01:00LEJoG 2017: 2 weeks to go, final tests & checks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2 weeks to go and this is the last weekend that any training will make a difference to fitness levels on the day that I start this thing. Having had 5 days with no training due to a combination of a cold that hit me hard and fast and transatlantic travel for work, I'm a bit nervous of my overall training consistency and trying hard to put my trust in what coach James has to say about it all rather than looking at my Training Peaks historical log and freaking out. 45 miles of back to back run (including a sneaky <a href="http://parkrun.org.uk/">parkrun</a>) done and it wasn't too bad! Slightly niggly knee, but that's how things go in the last few days into a big event - all the psychological demons crawl out in "fake symptoms" to freak you out. They're almost always not real.<br />
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This weekend I also needed to do final kit tests and checks to make sure everything I already tested still works and any replacements are good. With 25 miles on Saturday, an overnight camp at Saddlescombe Farm, and 15 miles on Sunday, most problems should shake out with kit.<br />
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Since I last did a big back to back weekend with a camp in the middle, I've replaced all of this:-<br />
<ul>
<li>Waterproof top: new Montane Minimus - better waterproofing for the same weight as the old jacket. (CHECK! Works nicely under my pack and is super light.)</li>
<li>Shorts: new Icebreaker Comet Skort - slightly lighter and way cuter for the same coverage/comfort. (CHECK! Comfy, doesn't move around too much, looks great!)</li>
<li>T-shirt: new Icebreaker Comet Cap Sleeve - slightly lighter and less shoulder coverage. (CHECK! Comfy, doesn't move around too much, looks good, allows better air-flow!)</li>
<li>3/4 tights: new Icebreaker Impulse - less see-through and comfier for the same weight. (CHECK! Comfy, kept me warm overnight!)</li>
<li>Water purification: new Travel Tap - built into bottle, no batteries needed, less stuff to carry (slightly lighter in combination).</li>
<li>Sleeping mat: Thermarest Neo Air X-Lite (Womens) - longer, more insulating, more comfortable (but heavier). (CHECK! Comfy, kept me very warm overnight, moves about a bit but I'll figure that out.)</li>
</ul>
I've also now booked somewhere to sleep the couple of nights before I start. MrTOTKat and I will head South West on Friday and stay around Penzance so we can parkrun together on Saturday - I would really love to see lots of parkrun friends at Penrose on Saturday before I go!<br />
<br />TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-43886839189029434692017-04-21T12:30:00.000+01:002017-06-21T17:27:25.783+01:00LEJoG 2017 - the final month preparation...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/lejog"><img alt=" Donate to Public Health Collaboration UK" border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJ_-kH6b82plHKjx20zHp12uSzshOWFpBK6RtWjGXSgiiITAuuwaKOaP8ngvmbG3St63IZWCr5bstPr6bBEbHLyDJlAdnutBAee_-BfU-jO4SdFgtmO3UP0Sn_KXN1UNr-TFZUXbpzg/s640/PHC+Logo+-+300dpi+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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One month to go!<br />
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Route plotting is done. Kit is mostly locked in, with a couple of changes to test before completely finalising. Training mostly done - in so far as you can train for this sort of thing. And now it's a great time to talk about the charity I'm intending to raise awareness of and funds for...<br />
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<a href="https://phcuk.org/">Public Health Collaboration</a> (PHC) is a a charity dedicated to focusing on improving public health in the UK, through research, providing resources and information about issues relating to lifestyle and health in this age of avoidable and reversible obesity, diabetes, dementia and other metabolic syndrome related problems that increasing number of people are suffering from. <a href="https://phcuk.org/board/">The advisory board</a> is made up of consultant cardiologists (<a href="http://doctoraseem.com/">Dr Aseem Malhotra</a>), psychologists, (including<a href="http://www.curoseven.com/"> Dr Tamsin Lewis </a>- <a href="https://twitter.com/SportieDoc">@sportiedoc</a>) GPs and a <a href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/acero/contacts/john-iain-broom/">Professor of Obesity research</a> (Prof. John (Iain) Broom).<br />
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<td align="right"><image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRUKt0uEh70cv5aSPXQtalY50mw5D7G5khKNN_c60YmIhQw8Sj_gp3gh_HAW8MveFCjLMQFN5XyAwM5If_-UaZ7w15sxfHRLn9Rm-NrUFauPsdhxzbCFPsUOuufe7tnw6pgy9ozn-QQ/s1600/Dr.-Aseem-Malhotra-Circle.jpg"></image></td>
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<a href="http://www.totkat.org/2012/10/fat-to-fit-to-ironman.html">I was pretty overweight myself in the past</a> (only *just* technically obese by the BMI ratio measure), and when the shock(s) came and I started to take control, I eventually came across lots of information relating not just to weight loss and healthy weight maintenance but also the impact of diet on other factors than weight, including brain and heart health. Thanks to an initial curiosity and refusal to believe that counting calories for the rest of my life was the only answer to maintaining a healthy weight, I crossed paths with Dr Tamsin Lewis, who set me down the path of learning and research into what goes on with what you eat and how it affects your body in the short and the long term. And taking control of these things for myself (11 years on after losing 30kg, I'm still a healthy weight <a href="http://www.totkat.org/p/blog-page.html">and started sport 6 years ago, finally really able to enjoy it!</a>). Yes, there are ranges of behaviour and response, but there are limits and at some point things start to break in the short and, more horribly, the long term becomes a lot less long even when once of your symptoms is not becoming overweight.<br />
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So... take a look at what <a href="https://phcuk.org/">PHC</a> are about and then head on over to <a href="http://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/lejog">my fund-raising page on TotalGiving</a> (all donations go directly to the charity) and consider giving a little to help turn the tide of poor health in the UK for now and for the future!TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-50792521852138126042017-04-02T21:03:00.002+01:002017-04-02T21:12:32.228+01:00LEJoG 2017 - 7 weeks to go. This just got real!7 weeks to go...<br />
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Last weekend I went for a back-to-back 20 miles Saturday and Sunday, with a camping kit test overnight in between. This is the first time I've slept out with all of my gear and the first time I've really gone any appreciable distance with full pack. And it went really pretty well.<br />
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Yes, I got pretty cold overnight. But, hey, it's March! Even in Scotland in June it won't drop that low overnight. All my kit was good, except for the sleeping mat, which moved about underneath me and just wasn't that great. I kept finding it half-way down my back and off to one side. So, I've gone for a slightly heavier, full length one instead. Which should arrive this week.<br />
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I also came across a number of obstacles...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gHvbaY6qzlsTmLo4XuBNIvwJGU7cMpyKLUyc5uydWLesj2FIeNX_Tyfii6pw8HUSjlUv6cpugf7infJjzLRONxXuYBGjpP6fsJaE8U5lEOB3Q4w5U0x6DSrMc3mX6w7AUL6WQ02PGw/s1600/17523005_10158585563930434_6904970465703320380_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gHvbaY6qzlsTmLo4XuBNIvwJGU7cMpyKLUyc5uydWLesj2FIeNX_Tyfii6pw8HUSjlUv6cpugf7infJjzLRONxXuYBGjpP6fsJaE8U5lEOB3Q4w5U0x6DSrMc3mX6w7AUL6WQ02PGw/s640/17523005_10158585563930434_6904970465703320380_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't even...</td></tr>
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Locals...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57eOLbhRX9S6Bhye0d_olJsoNqRGbFgT0PSx6j0Fo5jRaB2Tg_-U2dA0fl4yshOidD8ZIv4kW-RaP1wkIe71s7agMloeXiVODvrpXmUd4hQw1MFZgq52cyxSgua0_yotuZfElK8AiAw/s1600/17457700_10158585564040434_5783268594963611938_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57eOLbhRX9S6Bhye0d_olJsoNqRGbFgT0PSx6j0Fo5jRaB2Tg_-U2dA0fl4yshOidD8ZIv4kW-RaP1wkIe71s7agMloeXiVODvrpXmUd4hQw1MFZgq52cyxSgua0_yotuZfElK8AiAw/s640/17457700_10158585564040434_5783268594963611938_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SO! FLUFFY!</td></tr>
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And trials...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfFDQBPZzhyphenhyphenyXKH4ivIv4003LZJnaVVVCgmIrIvmbeAYNib0KEsLPbZUM07DOYinn_PRUN9ymje0GKVT8ur-htyGJhJN02sb8556e3T8mLe8fViaVUqnqMeTJ_lMXYsvNYMOVQRzpeA/s1600/17425882_10158589140380434_5966084539120003538_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfFDQBPZzhyphenhyphenyXKH4ivIv4003LZJnaVVVCgmIrIvmbeAYNib0KEsLPbZUM07DOYinn_PRUN9ymje0GKVT8ur-htyGJhJN02sb8556e3T8mLe8fViaVUqnqMeTJ_lMXYsvNYMOVQRzpeA/s640/17425882_10158589140380434_5966084539120003538_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gave up after 6 miles of this and lots of folks not being sympathetic to a pedestrian observing the highway code</td></tr>
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I've been ticking through plotting the route, heavily inspired by <a href="http://www.brackwalks.co.uk/e2e.html">Linda Brackenbury's book</a>. Her route really took my fancy as it's one of the shortest I've seen and it avoids roads a huge amount. Her trip was over 70 days and mostly ended each 15ish mile day in a hostel or B&B, which all lines up to being perfect for me to use and modify where necessary. I've combined many of the early days in pairs, but left some of the later, more lengthy days of her route in place so there are some 20ish mile ones when I hit Scotland and it gets a bit hillier. So I'm looking at 37 days as a minimum and 42 as a maximum right now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actually not Scotland, but a tiny bump in Central Park, New York</td></tr>
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I've also been run-commuting with my pack fully loaded. Doing between 5 and 7 miles each day so as not to overload myself unnecessarily. And this carries through when I'm traveling for work, so there's a bit of a temperature variation as well as scenery (and more than a little trouble with GPS where I am this week).<br />
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I'm nervous. I'm not quite finished plotting the route yet and problems with the Ordnance Survey web site every now and then, usually when I've actually got time to dedicate to route plotting, really isn't helping. And then there's the map buying to ensure I actually have OS maps when I'm not in mobile data coverage... ($$$!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ON-Yrc8CxjkwdH6vpcCQV5YzH03aVLpWZfqNSlg_U9ewl9ePSy7hSg6528kzt5XFTvDP_OjCDJ3GHoBSaulckQb6yfELPctRRhZQPIiPpH3Ju1TlGi3S_d7BMThgOy-CefIs6qc6-Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-04-02+at+20.31.50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ON-Yrc8CxjkwdH6vpcCQV5YzH03aVLpWZfqNSlg_U9ewl9ePSy7hSg6528kzt5XFTvDP_OjCDJ3GHoBSaulckQb6yfELPctRRhZQPIiPpH3Ju1TlGi3S_d7BMThgOy-CefIs6qc6-Q/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-04-02+at+20.31.50.png" /></a></div>
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Not long now!TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-10388899118149340792017-03-27T22:06:00.000+01:002017-03-27T22:09:09.858+01:002017 Curry Recipes: 1 - Butter Cauliflower and Chickpeas<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_hhZ16rGBtiGu_GPhwXTZMjXk7khlCEeeu7z7vX4eQKSGGPxTaQgnNzOD1_6V91B1_LA79r_obQ5D78xK5AtW-JmtYoD2d5g_2cyggMkuZ2q2VnMV7GxGX3oV_TmyhHXT2xOMwU58A/s1600/IMG_2230.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_hhZ16rGBtiGu_GPhwXTZMjXk7khlCEeeu7z7vX4eQKSGGPxTaQgnNzOD1_6V91B1_LA79r_obQ5D78xK5AtW-JmtYoD2d5g_2cyggMkuZ2q2VnMV7GxGX3oV_TmyhHXT2xOMwU58A/s640/IMG_2230.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
I've finally got 10 mins to write down the first of my current trio of great curry recipes, so here it is!<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
<br />
Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>1 large cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets</li>
<li>1 tin of chickpeas (drained)</li>
<li>1 medium onion, sliced finely</li>
<li>100-150g salted butter (for a vegan version, use 100g coconut oil)</li>
<li>1 small can coconut cream (160-200ml)</li>
<li>2 tbsp Garam Masala</li>
<li>1 tbsp turmeric</li>
<li>4 large cloves of garlic, crushed</li>
<li>150-200ml double cream (for a vegan version, double the amount of coconut cream and omit this)</li>
<li>1x red chilli, sliced finely.</li>
<li>1 pinch smoked paprika</li>
<li>1 tbsp ground almonds</li>
<li>2 tbsp toasted, desiccated coconut</li>
<li>salt to taste</li>
<li>toasted flaked almonds and coconut chips or shavings to serve</li>
</ul>
<div>
Method:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Toast the desiccated coconut and set aside.</li>
<li>Toast the almond flakes and coconut chips/shavings and set aside.</li>
<li>Sweat the sliced onion in a pan with half of the butter until the onion is translucent and sticky.</li>
<li>Add the cauliflower chunks and the rest of the butter, tossing the cauliflower until it is coated with the hot butter.</li>
<li>Sprinkle the turmeric and paprika into the pan and toss the cauliflower until it is fully coated. add more butter if the cauliflower doesn't get fully coated with the golden liquid and you can see white patches still.</li>
<li>Cook the cauliflower for a little while until it starts to soften.</li>
<li>Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two, then add the coconut cream.</li>
<li>Cook the mixture and as it thickens, add the double cream, desiccated coconut and ground almond.</li>
<li>Cook until the cauliflower softens nicely, add a little water if the sauce gets too thick - it should end up thick enough to stick to a spoon and not drip off.</li>
<li>For the final couple of minutes of cooking, add the sliced chilli, then drained chick peas, then Garam Masala (don't cook that too long or it will taste bitter).</li>
<li>Season with salt to taste (don't add it too early or the chick peas will harden and be crunchy).</li>
<li>When ready to serve, spoon onto serving dish and garnish with the toasted almond flakes and coconut chips/shavings.</li>
</ol>
</div>
TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-1178758325513445812017-03-19T15:25:00.003+00:002017-03-29T11:13:26.274+01:00LEJoG 2017 - FAQs Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOIjXaI6iNW81w3xEiyIU9B4Y48cD8ezCN4MN5LZxWcSUDPWPywE_4StQNX5jBeJFwGYbVus_26mUN5q2WuFEReKvsbtOcTqs337G2EG67pRbfzRyVZHzqQglQs69O1C8o_FkdD6kyg/s1600/Englishwoman_in_a_sedan_chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" id="id_a7f4_3f7_a5e_5eb5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOIjXaI6iNW81w3xEiyIU9B4Y48cD8ezCN4MN5LZxWcSUDPWPywE_4StQNX5jBeJFwGYbVus_26mUN5q2WuFEReKvsbtOcTqs337G2EG67pRbfzRyVZHzqQglQs69O1C8o_FkdD6kyg/s640/Englishwoman_in_a_sedan_chair.jpg" style="height: auto; width: 640px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="gmail_msg" style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">It's definitely time to put out some FAQs here as I've had more than a few questions so far:</span><br />
<br />
<b><i>1 - <span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">Who/What charity are you running for?</span></i></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">I'd normally get pretty pissy with this question in relation to races and/or touring runs. I run because I enjoy it. I may not be an elite athlete and I'm never going to win a race, be fastest at anything etc. but I really do enjoy it. I also find it uncomfortable and distasteful to beg for money from friends, family and strangers, especially for enjoying myself and doing something I'm pretty sure I'll achieve.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">However. This is different. 1000 miles is an 'ing long way, especially considering I'm carrying all my own stuff. So it's actually a challenge that I'm not certain I'll complete. I also finally have found a cause I really do care about (and they just got charitable status, but not yet set up on a mass fund-raising site yet, so watch this space). This time, yes, I will be raising money and awareness for <a href="https://phcuk.org/about/">PHCuk.org</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://phcuk.org/about/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt=" PHCuk" border="0" height="164" id="id_e069_2884_adf9_49cd" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGaPbdb2bTDQ3aQa-3ChNvE_GkOZhiGU309nJLtUnduEt734PArGXS7iBfwEUxjJb5d3gVUCiLqu97bJYZvHZ0GS6B0KnmvnOr-ztUYowj9HYXcAXa1ZCKaPzDAvPIe16VpFfdNI3-Q/s640/PHC+Logo+-+300dpi.png" style="height: auto; width: 640px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="gmail_msg" style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span class="gmail_msg" style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"><b><i>2 - You're running a long way, in the middle of nowhere a lot; what about food?</i></b></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
Yep!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
So. I almost always run before eating; my stomach is just happier that way. I'm OK eating *while* running but generally in the morning it works out better if I start out before breaking fast. I'm intending to eat one meal per day, usually. It worked really well on my 6 day running tours and I often eat 2 or fewer meals per day anyway these days. I'll carry some emergency food for when I end up camping wild and away from anywhere I can buy food for the day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
On a related note; water. I'll be carrying 1.5L. That's heavy. Water is all over the place, in shops, pubs, cafes, etc. as well as springs (there's a ton of them all over the place) and I have capability to purify 80L over the time I'm away.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQcIJhyid8aXrMnvELV9eqTViwo1JrXbd4U7b1q1rCgxFQhTjM2cObxNAgWGrj6Y9HdM3JYm0MqCe-Sz7gThMOhaGMgaiQLE3KJs7STGPB1a5yWkPplL5JgrjAsIJFUvEKoJdhw_jvQ/s1600/carrying-water-by-donkey-or-horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" id="id_5972_c22c_e10f_bd31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQcIJhyid8aXrMnvELV9eqTViwo1JrXbd4U7b1q1rCgxFQhTjM2cObxNAgWGrj6Y9HdM3JYm0MqCe-Sz7gThMOhaGMgaiQLE3KJs7STGPB1a5yWkPplL5JgrjAsIJFUvEKoJdhw_jvQ/s640/carrying-water-by-donkey-or-horse.jpg" style="height: auto; width: 640px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<b><i>3 - Have you practised putting up your tent in a howling gale and downpour?</i></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br />
No.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">Three points on this one. A. I'm not intending to camp every night - I'm carrying a tent for the times I want to stop for the day and there is no hut/bothy/yurt/barn/B&B/hostel or cheap hotel. B. There are extremely few exposed parts of the route I have mapped (plus, I'd have to be really unlucky to get that sort of appalling weather in June). And C. my tent is *extremely* easy to put up. In a light breeze, it takes just over a minute. (and a couple of minutes to put away)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyluCpIfMmthOmaMpHzEBEuhnOldPjAFBxYqfpMFL89A_9yX2veQtjJsObtvLqd1ndE6Prv6Hf3DuMgAdQ2DB3R3j_572PHLeVNC2s3qU9kQjwTIWGH-k3ZM78ZUu6b3CaXyzalnRciQ/s1600/IMG_1958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" id="id_c01_c26f_e5f0_7488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyluCpIfMmthOmaMpHzEBEuhnOldPjAFBxYqfpMFL89A_9yX2veQtjJsObtvLqd1ndE6Prv6Hf3DuMgAdQ2DB3R3j_572PHLeVNC2s3qU9kQjwTIWGH-k3ZM78ZUu6b3CaXyzalnRciQ/s640/IMG_1958.JPG" style="height: auto; width: 640px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br />
<b><i>4 - Have you checked your stove is safe to use inside your tent?</i></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
It isn't.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
Again, two points. A. see above about weather/exposure. and B. Heck no! It is *never* safe to use a gas camping stove in an enclosed/unventilated space. If I'm camping and the weather is appalling and there's nowhere nearby to get a warm meal/drink, I just won't have one. It won't kill me.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br class="gmail_msg" />
<b><i>5 - Can I come and run with you?</i></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
Mostly no. For safety reasons, my location will be known to very few people, and by a satellite tracker. I may make an exception for the last day of my run, which is planned to be only 8 miles up to Duncansby Head, but *when* I'll get there is pretty much down to how things go in the 36-41 days before that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_9de8_65e2_55fb_3468" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbE19Jnmv4-ykb-jg6GanbSx5ym2cK9huokn5gokWcUBWwOeHqwoWJCf2RWAA2NK7vCxGpMx4vud8rj0PBqPePEaXJYZNIlN1zW90zCXQ5A3ZG2cIIQVebkvy1dDJEoN6sme-3xoZFg/s1600/mcmurdorangerplb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" id="id_4b6d_83c0_ef6c_dd8c" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbE19Jnmv4-ykb-jg6GanbSx5ym2cK9huokn5gokWcUBWwOeHqwoWJCf2RWAA2NK7vCxGpMx4vud8rj0PBqPePEaXJYZNIlN1zW90zCXQ5A3ZG2cIIQVebkvy1dDJEoN6sme-3xoZFg/s400/mcmurdorangerplb.jpg" style="height: auto; width: 337px;" width="337" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'll have a PLB a bit like this one. But not this one. A different one.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" id="id_7d6f_7226_866c_d0ec" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzRozdr6EKhJfDH5-0vhUAbMIMI9eXyHByU9hoTR_tXiKhn1nHH8Y6waqhrRi3y4x63qlz0-rgzdMm6vyem7Rwk3Nw_Q1LbB5VC2pB183kGJv5sOd_e26NApq7c_kIbzBJ4Vtb5RBUg/s1600/IMG_1808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" id="id_c799_b446_7255_f744" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzRozdr6EKhJfDH5-0vhUAbMIMI9eXyHByU9hoTR_tXiKhn1nHH8Y6waqhrRi3y4x63qlz0-rgzdMm6vyem7Rwk3Nw_Q1LbB5VC2pB183kGJv5sOd_e26NApq7c_kIbzBJ4Vtb5RBUg/s640/IMG_1808.JPG" style="height: auto; width: 480px;" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">HELLO HORSEY, CAN I GET PAST PLEASE?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<b><i>6 - Safety?</i></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
This is the big one. I'll never be more than 15 miles from civilisation in some form. I've got a satellite tracker/personal locator beacon that will last for 45 days of active tracking at a 10 minute interval before I need to replace the battery (and I'll have spares).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
Being in the UK, there's pretty much nothing venomous enough to really do damage, and no large predators that would want to eat me. I'm reasonably experienced with bull, cow, sheep and horse wrangling where I need to get by and they're in the way.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUD1kNQ5t54t2KhQr-63solWg3CvTAylgFA7sYpNAovGsaYYsXaPw0KisqPO2YzwspRBUEn4Fq1ZeW0xrrpQIgOGF4k8FESnknMwRQgiNLjpx_VVI3rxLc3uDvP6R14qyN0lJhADc31g/s1600/IMG_0964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" id="id_eda3_21a3_2e6e_7e86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUD1kNQ5t54t2KhQr-63solWg3CvTAylgFA7sYpNAovGsaYYsXaPw0KisqPO2YzwspRBUEn4Fq1ZeW0xrrpQIgOGF4k8FESnknMwRQgiNLjpx_VVI3rxLc3uDvP6R14qyN0lJhADc31g/s640/IMG_0964.JPG" style="height: auto; width: 640px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXQRu1NC4IUahmjXHNimze9fXMuke3acdff9qoRAJWYM66cjeedqqWIOMlfhFqgiyoVkfbYRwFXFukbDnEglF5g-2BL7kZLi_RIbnennw9w9U-N0g44tA98QAi5MrbOxt99wK-Pw7Zg/s1600/IMG_1807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" id="id_dad3_cc05_b103_dea4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXQRu1NC4IUahmjXHNimze9fXMuke3acdff9qoRAJWYM66cjeedqqWIOMlfhFqgiyoVkfbYRwFXFukbDnEglF5g-2BL7kZLi_RIbnennw9w9U-N0g44tA98QAi5MrbOxt99wK-Pw7Zg/s640/IMG_1807.JPG" style="height: auto; width: 640px;" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<b><i>7 - Aren't you going to get really tired?</i></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
Yes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
And... I'll get hot, cold, scratched, sore shoulders, sore feet, back ache, cut, stung, grazed, blisters, sun burn, wind burn and chafing. I'll probably have nights with very little sleep. I'll also trip and/or fall over, especially when I'm tired. And I'll make poor decisions through inexperience and/or tiredness. I've also got a route that avoids any of the particularly difficult parts of the UK; the Pennines, most of the Lake District, the Cairngorms. Anywhere really high that can get difficult in "weather" is off the route.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
This isn't a walk in the park. It isn't easy. It's a very long way. I'm not deliberately setting out to sit on a spike here, but without increasing the time for the trip (which would cost me a lot of lost earnings at work) and spending a *lot* of money and/or carrying a *lot* more kit, it's not going to be a luxury trip.</div>
TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-29893426736656863742017-03-14T21:27:00.000+00:002017-03-14T21:27:54.066+00:00Race Report: Moyleman 2017<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeHjCm7lMalGjA-lVIMHRiIUZnXyfcvRYIUyHrGITlGyTzcNuf01N46bUS5Mq8c3VR9MqGjFcliW8b0D2Fe9Y0hrZi-3oH3S4J32cDGf73dfeGA7UxUCJAwG4aElqiH3ENJ9qyOy7aA/s1600/IMG_2148.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeHjCm7lMalGjA-lVIMHRiIUZnXyfcvRYIUyHrGITlGyTzcNuf01N46bUS5Mq8c3VR9MqGjFcliW8b0D2Fe9Y0hrZi-3oH3S4J32cDGf73dfeGA7UxUCJAwG4aElqiH3ENJ9qyOy7aA/s640/IMG_2148.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Trail marathons are never 26.2 miles long. If you want exactly 26.2 miles, run a road marathon. The same applies to any standard distance race name applied to off-road running. And I'm OK with that. More than OK in fact, but it often results in weird conversations with non/road runners afterwards.<br />
<br />
Other Person - "Oh you ran a marathon? What time did you get?"<br />
Me - "Um, 5 and a half hours."<br />
Other Person - *disappointed noise*<br />
<br />
Most people know "The Marathon" as the race that's run in the spring in London and are unaware that there are other races of that distance that are called marathons too. A subset of those people think that marathons are 26.2 miles run on road and/or don't realise that they're not always flat, and so any time under 4 hours (or whatever their weird uncle ran 15 years ago) is usually greeted by "oh that's alright then" but anything over 4 hours is usually considered pedestrian. Fewer still understand that there are such things as marathons that are run off-road, and sometimes even up and down hills, moors, bogs, mountains even. And once you go away from flat and off the road, all bets are off with times. But, these are generally not people whose opinion I value when it comes to running.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP36pK-4eJ5NDra75OUV3ImQa9ETR1lG-aVosuIFGoHMqL5XGu5qR4L62BS5NpaMPCsxXnfvwMKv1MokLBizYDG-uskjRnfeyyNZLbeofyUBn2HJembr5dFwgM_KxDAHQ1lKq1xUiDVA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-03-13+at+08.55.16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP36pK-4eJ5NDra75OUV3ImQa9ETR1lG-aVosuIFGoHMqL5XGu5qR4L62BS5NpaMPCsxXnfvwMKv1MokLBizYDG-uskjRnfeyyNZLbeofyUBn2HJembr5dFwgM_KxDAHQ1lKq1xUiDVA/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-03-13+at+08.55.16.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Moyleman is an off road marathon run in the South Downs. It's a bit hilly, occasionally muddy and is actually approximately 26.2 miles. I attempted it last year, but ran into trouble on the day and pulled out at half way. It was the first of two races that helped me to understand that my stomach prefers to start a morning run empty (turns out I can eat fine while I'm running or afterwards, but sometimes when I eat before a morning run my stomach isn't happy about it and gets painful).<br />
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I went in with an aim to get around with no heroics; approx 50 mile pace. Conditions much better this year for this race. No slippery chalk and very little mud. A touch warm for the first half though. Took a long time to warm up properly, felt really lumbering despite only 1kg pack. Trashed my quads quite early on with really bad descending - seems I've forgotten how to do that. Got pretty pissed off with water station 2 (mile 10) having no water; I'd not re-stocked at mile 5 because I'd not had much of my bottle, and had about 1/4 bottle left at that point. No water for me!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaBZWI-2RZpJwlc07n5nv6D81fG60JOuHhBt5oPmM1RBazyZOkh7Ko0dWLIiHJxhxvsYZUwhMQar6iGb4hAeHcsD5CtGlAkWtOimyEqcjMF9zVh8onFhEZYmCHAevlvNlfSTv51dtXw/s1600/IMG_2142.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaBZWI-2RZpJwlc07n5nv6D81fG60JOuHhBt5oPmM1RBazyZOkh7Ko0dWLIiHJxhxvsYZUwhMQar6iGb4hAeHcsD5CtGlAkWtOimyEqcjMF9zVh8onFhEZYmCHAevlvNlfSTv51dtXw/s640/IMG_2142.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Got pretty bored with the scenery and had a bit of a chat with myself at half way where the only way to DNF was to walk into town and wait for a bus - might as well get on with it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPJP7SzWkFT8MukU1aoj8rQhylVMuKHHUgMRH9WVlw1ffx74KD-qIR6-l0vPZKJZ4htIaf5KftSxWTcnZ7tKQYkUH-tNevAx_j9UveLyVjzgjt54S-fiLQCtJ2R8AeiX1ckSGgV5QMQ/s1600/IMG_2149.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPJP7SzWkFT8MukU1aoj8rQhylVMuKHHUgMRH9WVlw1ffx74KD-qIR6-l0vPZKJZ4htIaf5KftSxWTcnZ7tKQYkUH-tNevAx_j9UveLyVjzgjt54S-fiLQCtJ2R8AeiX1ckSGgV5QMQ/s640/IMG_2149.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Half way/relay handover point was a shambles; couldn't even find the water tables due to relay runners crowding around them. Eventually figured it out, filled up and carried on. Over the last half I overtook about 20 people, which was psychologically boosting. Squeaked my way down the last couple of hills - quads pretty sore and "sprinted" the last 150m or so. 5.5ish hours, pretty happy with that given the "no heroics" goal. Quads are pretty ruined though! 3,200ft of ascent and even more descent overall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiis564OsIC_MwgcBtPhDtXn3vQlUjGXEt81DNJXN8e_AYhJnYr7IkreFNY1hwvSKzAXRYrx6QoSHCJO27jkNver2zPpheLnx7amAt_ExX5ewOaD7BlN8SUtsIfyxVaynTwFQffXi7HDQ/s1600/IMG_2155.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiis564OsIC_MwgcBtPhDtXn3vQlUjGXEt81DNJXN8e_AYhJnYr7IkreFNY1hwvSKzAXRYrx6QoSHCJO27jkNver2zPpheLnx7amAt_ExX5ewOaD7BlN8SUtsIfyxVaynTwFQffXi7HDQ/s640/IMG_2155.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-61554103232539596422017-03-08T14:50:00.001+00:002017-03-08T14:53:11.259+00:00LEJoG 2017 - 10 weeks to go!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNz1_XYcsHTYvivs7o6YtAOQZZyIDxky1fqQWRuX4vcDn_M6cgBI8A4ewQnXoN9fDUZnR6hzkmh3QvLsHztN-Q4Vb6qp5TmFY46jpZBzhQS3ql3C9u550gMNAAQmdqHhyphenhyphenT8qQKnNkCaA/s1600/IMG_3346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNz1_XYcsHTYvivs7o6YtAOQZZyIDxky1fqQWRuX4vcDn_M6cgBI8A4ewQnXoN9fDUZnR6hzkmh3QvLsHztN-Q4Vb6qp5TmFY46jpZBzhQS3ql3C9u550gMNAAQmdqHhyphenhyphenT8qQKnNkCaA/s640/IMG_3346.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmtea!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've got just over 10 weeks to go before I start running from Land's End to John O'Groats. That came around quickly! Training, in as much as you can train for this sort of thing, went through a bad patch for a couple of weeks but is turning a corner again now.<br />
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I had a stretch of maybe two and a half weeks where every single run was awful. I couldn't hit the pace on any efforts, everything felt really hard, I was too tired and stressed to fit in all my planned runs and I was getting really wound up about it all. But then, as with all endurance events, things started to get better again. Running to/from work is helped by great views like these, now that the days are getting lighter:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89KSAN4hF1UCJJbi3lZPxF-kCjtbWZGmc0DylzMwQ2LihfHBlm-DzItEqXEEL3HMMQ1H-vA5VwYYYvw6-kKw4m3TpekpUl4ttG7QC0gMrA1PUlxpfuphXcNdRu9m8Y4gsg3BwjBekPw/s1600/IMG_2042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89KSAN4hF1UCJJbi3lZPxF-kCjtbWZGmc0DylzMwQ2LihfHBlm-DzItEqXEEL3HMMQ1H-vA5VwYYYvw6-kKw4m3TpekpUl4ttG7QC0gMrA1PUlxpfuphXcNdRu9m8Y4gsg3BwjBekPw/s640/IMG_2042.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hello goosey!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsjvvo4gan7IwKOUwh3zpGRFkON_gvQ4_YxFLtOkHsyMx7LpbgU9gLG-2rSDNOYByVHHwYOVZIz2eianbthH_feolec-99XpA-k039Gv1x0C6hOWbmLLYsiTdCBrd7737G7ub1xJKWg/s1600/IMG_2050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsjvvo4gan7IwKOUwh3zpGRFkON_gvQ4_YxFLtOkHsyMx7LpbgU9gLG-2rSDNOYByVHHwYOVZIz2eianbthH_feolec-99XpA-k039Gv1x0C6hOWbmLLYsiTdCBrd7737G7ub1xJKWg/s640/IMG_2050.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turns out it's quite good running on that bank in the morning before the tourists descend</td></tr>
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And my local trail haunts are gorgeous:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGN_IIqvLK2u_bn28z1iMJIScUwJ43_QO4TipbTr1IS1s5gtzjIsBJDRrYjwyDGx5ONdlOFThdXDx7kC8S7Z5rZBfGeLqIAFh8ksd3-LZfkDrLS-cfpySPBMycI0_nlujStqBjJFWu2g/s1600/IMG_1983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGN_IIqvLK2u_bn28z1iMJIScUwJ43_QO4TipbTr1IS1s5gtzjIsBJDRrYjwyDGx5ONdlOFThdXDx7kC8S7Z5rZBfGeLqIAFh8ksd3-LZfkDrLS-cfpySPBMycI0_nlujStqBjJFWu2g/s640/IMG_1983.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North Downs Way - my absolute favourite so far.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH4p5iVV8wukbJZCY3qMx0xpE1ZzVFp3gYvi8djAf4b0nkc-QvL5OSvpsuGNNrivQIHd1SBN14Tj_spFbAF8kuw2nrHIEtgwvauIqrhX76pKdxuiKeudhU21OXmyHLXJx8BdtUXuYGA/s1600/IMG_1986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH4p5iVV8wukbJZCY3qMx0xpE1ZzVFp3gYvi8djAf4b0nkc-QvL5OSvpsuGNNrivQIHd1SBN14Tj_spFbAF8kuw2nrHIEtgwvauIqrhX76pKdxuiKeudhU21OXmyHLXJx8BdtUXuYGA/s640/IMG_1986.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This run stopped me from going totally bonkers recently!</td></tr>
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A few administrative points are coming together too; I have found a charity I would like to support and I'll talk more about that in a few weeks time once they've sorted out Gift Aid applications and I can link to a donations page for folks to help the cause. Looking to get one or two companies to support a little too, waiting to hear back from folks who know how to do that sort of thing because I have no idea how to go about it (too damned English and self-effacing!).<br />
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I've tested out putting up my tent and my tea/hot food making capability:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2N9x5-FAPrto7NUDClPAJAYQpcUXC82pmGcVr0G9wEo4x9hdqkhBQyMFCDEngG0iTWeMlVpr-kadgVh_v0BHd6rnLqnZvmhxQAVIH-xXcjol4OtmVTHwxS655_XihuAeWh8uZ56aLag/s1600/IMG_1958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2N9x5-FAPrto7NUDClPAJAYQpcUXC82pmGcVr0G9wEo4x9hdqkhBQyMFCDEngG0iTWeMlVpr-kadgVh_v0BHd6rnLqnZvmhxQAVIH-xXcjol4OtmVTHwxS655_XihuAeWh8uZ56aLag/s640/IMG_1958.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Needs a bit more practice with the roof tension.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrqo9emiBjEIt1HXhVea1Ww3xS3toCPyCMb6d1VXpBDhTYAjXxQ9s1SIM80KPuNLv5hfIwyn-pHyhdpczuQfyf8P7Mgesnjb5ItyKXCnX8cVxPJ8QPe4Lu1GdZL8U2ajbJppCwniPDQ/s1600/IMG_1959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrqo9emiBjEIt1HXhVea1Ww3xS3toCPyCMb6d1VXpBDhTYAjXxQ9s1SIM80KPuNLv5hfIwyn-pHyhdpczuQfyf8P7Mgesnjb5ItyKXCnX8cVxPJ8QPe4Lu1GdZL8U2ajbJppCwniPDQ/s640/IMG_1959.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super roomy, length-wise and I'm not short.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiro-AzZI90KhQiOl40ONK-oKap9M6GnZIgfRAA-iQ9gyMbwykwwDGiZsr9e4j9bdLG0Q4tabzvpTuCQtB-p7CrO63c0H888yFRGEKOV7XE6th5VfuXjExwuVl_ThHl69hGF5D0Xucr8Q/s1600/IMG_1960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiro-AzZI90KhQiOl40ONK-oKap9M6GnZIgfRAA-iQ9gyMbwykwwDGiZsr9e4j9bdLG0Q4tabzvpTuCQtB-p7CrO63c0H888yFRGEKOV7XE6th5VfuXjExwuVl_ThHl69hGF5D0Xucr8Q/s640/IMG_1960.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This little fella is my best friend! And my trusty Asics :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And after a false start with a different 30L one, I've found a pack to run with that fits properly, doesn't bounce around when I run and has perfect capacity for what I want to take with me. It makes me feel a bit self-conscious when I run with it at the moment as it's designed for and marketed towards the Marathon des Sables market, but it's perfect and thanks to <a href="http://www.myracekit.com/">MyRaceKit</a> for shipping swiftly so I could get on with using it and getting used to it!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.myracekit.com/product/raidlight-ultra-raid-vest-30l"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5d_RZ4CRZmXdt7LKLDQL-6DglTe4nsaUX2mg8RnrGOG9KCOmmvKVHQqiiZXAINgu9kdiQwse-G5LnQ79K41y08FxqYcFAiuv92BaeqZek-77bJDOSoL7zgRWnjAZbQ-nQbIichn_jsQ/s640/IMG_2122.JPG" width="480" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.myracekit.com/product/raidlight-ultra-raid-vest-30l">Raidlight 30L Ultraraid Vest (shown here with iSIS Freeloader solar cell)</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I've also put my spreadsheet skills to good use with a tool to figure out pack weight depending on what I'm carrying. I just select the number of each item, it calculates the total weight and it's reusable for any event or training run :)<br />
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<br />
<iframe height="400" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K-xPotdrO0x32Ss1hpDQZrPV9uQwOPiJp__y5q2DF5A/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true&widget=true&headers=false" width="720"></iframe>TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-63608902379424508822017-02-17T20:12:00.001+00:002017-02-17T20:12:27.426+00:00LEJoG 2017 - Filling in the blanksOnce upon a time, when I was a teenager, I learned how to use a map and compass. I was intending to do a Duke of Edinburgh bronze award and went on a course to learn how to navigate. I have no idea why it never went any further than that and I never ended up using those navigation skills in anger. I didn't end up going on expedition and I didn't get a Duke of Edinburgh award.<div><br></div><div>That was 30ish years ago (ow. that sounds like a long time!). And with various races across unmarked trails or off my comfort zone with three various barriers to navigation I've tended to stick to races or routes that are marked in some way; either by race organisation or it's a National Trail and had those lovely acorn signs all the way along.</div><div><br></div><div>Now I have a Very Long Way(TM) to run later this year, on a route of my own design that is not marked in any way. I don't want to get lost. I don't want to waste time and energy on taking wrong turns or missing right turns. I need to be able to navigate and not fall apart if my technology fails. Errors add up and I've only got 6 weeks to get the job done!</div><div><br></div><div>So I'm off to Cumbria to take a basic navigation course; map, compass and the landmarks of the countryside. I'm hoping to learn a bit also on rough navigation without map and compass, just general geographical direction. Let's see how I do!</div>TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-5585199027532374302017-01-18T12:30:00.000+00:002017-01-21T14:11:55.545+00:00LEJoG 2017 - starting to plan<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzcKvtWuDe89R9L1_ApUKBGhSJl-PWJiFzrfUZE4DG0q8FBOzZWDYaFfTfDViib7QvGyQD_gmMJ0D-ssBOfwtM9Uji5mUcVy4uZJrMVd-xeqDMM3dW6el9ytFvBkZFHiBOPqeFJ-3zA/s1600/compass.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzcKvtWuDe89R9L1_ApUKBGhSJl-PWJiFzrfUZE4DG0q8FBOzZWDYaFfTfDViib7QvGyQD_gmMJ0D-ssBOfwtM9Uji5mUcVy4uZJrMVd-xeqDMM3dW6el9ytFvBkZFHiBOPqeFJ-3zA/s640/compass.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
With 120 days or so to go, planning is kicking off now!<br />
<br />
Things to plan:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Route</li>
<li>Kit</li>
<li>Emergencies</li>
<li>Training</li>
<li>Sponsorhip?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<u>Kit</u> - <a href="http://www.totkat.org/p/lejog-kit-list.html">I've had an initial think about kit</a>. I'll need the flexibility of camping and sometimes camping not at a camp site, so that will appreciably add to my pack weight. This could get tricky and it'll mean getting used to a decent pack weight carefully without injuring myself. I'll also need to figure out how to put my tent up (paved garden means I can't do it at home) and try it out a good few times.</div>
<div>
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<u>Route</u> - I want it to be as off-road as possible, but not being stupid about taking a trail route that's 25%+ longer and way more difficult than roads in places like the South West. e.g. I *could* take the <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/south-west-coast-path">South West Coast Path</a>, but that's really difficult and appreciably longer than going inland a bit, staying North of the A30, and taking some back roads in between footpaths & bridleways. Ideally I'd like to be on <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/">National Trails</a> where practical as they're generally scenic and well-marked, so navigation is easy. I see the <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/pennine-way">Pennine Way</a> and <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/offas-dyke-path">Offa's Dyke</a> or maybe the <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/cotswold-way">Cotswold Way</a> featuring at least in part.</div>
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<u>Training</u> - I'm chatting with <a href="http://www.centurionrunning.com/section/coaching">my coach</a> this coming weekend, about the shape of this year and how we did a good job for Thames Path and North Downs Way the last two times. In some ways, you can't really train for 40+ days on your feet, but you can sure make it easier at the start.</div>
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<u>Emergencies</u> - will depend on routing as to what provisions I'll need. More thinking once the approximate route is taking shape. Suggestions and recommendations welcome when that happens!</div>
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<u>Sponsorship</u> - I've been considering whether to raise money for a cause and/or ask for help from outdoors companies. Though I generally sit on the side of doing sport for the love of it, I'm leaning on the side of choosing to raise money for <a href="https://phcuk.org/about/">PHCuk.org</a> through this challenge. Public Health Collaboration is doing stuff I really care about and I'd like to support that. LEJoG will be a genuine challenge for me - previous events and races I've been pretty sure of completing, but this is a different game altogether. If I decide to go through with that, I'll set up a JustGiving page for it.</div>
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It's also going to be expensive to do this run. 4ish weeks of unpaid time off work (after I've used up my holiday allowance for the year), plus kit and consumables adds up. I've no experience asking for help from companies, so no idea how that might go. It'd really help to get a few items covered though and there are some companies products I already love and swear by that I'd love to evangelise (<a href="http://uk.icebreaker.com/en/home">Icebreaker</a>, <a href="https://www.petzl.com/GB/en">Petzl</a>, <a href="http://www.garmin.com/en-GB">Garmin</a>, Haglofs...). If anyone can help with that, please let me know!</div>
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<br />TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-45890736914898564132017-01-15T17:36:00.001+00:002017-01-15T18:05:02.588+00:00Race Report: Country to Capital 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Country to Capital is a landmark in the race calendar to kick off the year. Starting in Wendover, winding through woods, back lanes and fields to Uxbridge then on canals from there to Little Venice,. 43-ish miles in total, there's a lot on tarmac in the first section,;the rest can be muddy and slippery and the unrelenting flatness of the last 23-ish miles pretty harsh.<br />
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It was awesome to know the course pretty well. Having run the race twice previously (<a href="http://www.totkat.org/2014/01/race-report-country-to-capital-that-was.html">2014</a> and <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2016/01/race-report-country-to-capital-2016.html">2016</a>) and gone for a recce run of the first 13 miles on Christmas Day, there was no need to worry about route finding at all. Yes, the route isn't marked, but if you know it already that doesn't matter.<br />
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We'd agreed we'd run this one together as a "nice day out". Unfortunately it wasn't that nice really. The forecast of overcast then sunny and dry didn't pan out. It started off chilly and breezy, then it started raining, which turned into snow. The cold set in early. We zipped through CP1 without stopping, only slowing to get our timing chips checked in. The checkpoints at this race are pretty limited in terms of food choices (which is good, as my strategy is in-out-gone): mainly cake and jelly babies, but some savoury at CP3 and the end (mini pastry snacks - pork pies, cheese and onion things etc.). They're really good at checking runners through and helping to fill bottles, but beyond that it's pretty minimal and nothing hot, which is hard on a day like this.<br />
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I noticed my breathing wasn't quite right early on - breathing too hard for the effort level. Then my right hamstring got niggly and my brain wasn't being supportive of running well. I got a bit whiney, but <a href="http://www.onehundredandthree.com/">MrTOTKat</a> stayed mostly within earshot and waited every now and then for me to catch up. Darkness in the brain was telling me to give up, but that's actually quite hard to do on this route. Checkpoints are far from any useful transport options and as it's point to point, once you're beyond a certain distance you may as well get to the end anyway for the time it would take.<br />
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From well before hitting the canal at Uxbridge, I was finding it hard to run the flats all that much. So we were run/walking already before 20 miles in. Compared with the 2 previous runnings of this race I've done, I was in much worse shape at this stage. Food didn't help and the cold was causing difficulties with my hamstrings. Even when it stopped snowing, it was still really chilly.<br />
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<a href="http://www.onehundredandthree.com/">MrTOTKat</a> was awesome. I was whingey and petulant even at time, but he was encouraging and supportive; if he'd not been with me, the last 23 miles of the race (and in particular the last 12 or so) would have been miserable instead of just difficult. We jog/walked until the last checkpoint, where it turned out we were 65 mins or so ahead of the cut-off time so we could walk the rest in if we really needed to.<br />
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We crossed the line together, freezing cold and in the pitch black. Almost last, but together and in good spirits. It took warm food, many hours and an additional 3 layers to stop shivering hard with the cold. The medal was nicer than last year's, but I think I might have finally realised after three times with this race, that I simply don't enjoy the route. I need to remember that when I'm next tempted to sign up for it.<br />
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<br />TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-83012267508597441062017-01-07T14:59:00.001+00:002017-01-17T15:56:10.939+00:00LEJoG 2017 - a 1,000 mile training run<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Not the actual route as all on road would be miserable. More off road is appreciably longer!]</td></tr>
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I've wanted to traverse the length of Britain on foot for quite some time and a couple of years ago a window of opportunity almost came up, but then I got a job again so it didn't even get to the planning stage.<br />
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Due to an extremely flexible and accommodating employer, I have the opportunity to do it this year. Starting in May-ish, through June into early July-ish (depending on unforeseen circumstances and work schedule in May). I've got 44 days to get to Land's End, run to John O'Groats and get home again, and that's including contingency. It'll take a day to get to the start and a day to get home afterwards, so that's 42 days to cover something around 950-1100 miles, depending on the route I end up with, and a lot of elevation. And carrying all my own stuff.<br />
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Of course, finding a route is the hard part. I've already spent a day getting really frustrated with trying to get out of the South West using trails and avoiding the <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/south-west-coast-path">South West Coast Path</a> (because <a href="http://yellingperformance.com/2016/07/31/the-long-run-some-of-the-way-home/">it's really super hard!</a>). It turns out most of the roads in the area have no pedestrian facility either (thanks <a href="https://www.google.com/streetview/understand/">Streetview</a>!). So I now have OS Landrangers <a href="https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/maps/landranger-map-land-s-end-isles-of-scilly.html">203</a> and <a href="https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/maps/landranger-map-truro-falmouth.html">204</a>, up to <a href="https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/landranger-map-weston-super-mare.html">182</a> (thanks to a buy-one-get-one-half-price offer), which I will be laying out on the lounge floor to try to get a much higher level view of where the trails/off-road paths are in relation to each other and have another go. Once I'm out of the South West, routing gets a whole lot easier with some good other <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/">National Trails</a> in <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/offas-dyke-path">Offa's Dyke</a>, the <a href="http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/pennine-way">Pennine Way</a> etc.<br />
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It's all an elaborate training run for <a href="http://deadwater.run/multi-day-ultra/">Deadwater</a> at the end of July though! And an excuse to blog a bit more in the planning and the running of it, and take a bajillion photos.<br />
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<a href="http://woobox.com/bcwjz6"><br /><img alt=" Vote for me!" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnuOyIWQZM9xdlTX5KC_RGHfosBTO0504vS-XXPbVco1C29marXF80yP9yqApIASr_ykxRliw6cfjs4MAHv34cI6eRVYuSYQYyilceJldtDEYslkv2kKYY5u9xI3qS39GimKnyOXpeg/s320/161017_Final-voting-logo-1.png" width="258" /></a></div>
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<br />TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-23619561577400120832016-12-24T15:58:00.005+00:002017-01-15T15:17:10.861+00:00Deadwater: A Goal in 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I like multi-days :o) With a 50 runner limit, by submitting an application that doesn't guarantee entry I was pleased to be accepted into this race: "<i>235 miles, over six stages. It starts in Deadwater on the Scottish border, and it ends at Flint Castle in Wales. Getting an entry today is not an automatic acceptance. We will take only runners that we believe have sufficient endurance experience to take on the challenge. We will notify you either way.</i>" And the image above is what arrives in your email to let you know you've been accepted once your application has been assessed.<br />
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TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5131167402709600353.post-39410169805040930282016-10-17T12:23:00.000+01:002016-10-17T15:43:52.746+01:00Race report: Centurion A100 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I learned a lesson this weekend.<br />
<br />
Having had the <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2016/08/race-report-centurion-ndw100-2016.html">dream come true race at NDW100</a> a couple of months ago, I should have been nicely set up for a solid second 100 miler at A100 this weekend. With 10 weeks in between the two, there was time for a few weeks of recovery, then a couple of weeks of maintenance/re-building and a couple of weeks of taper. This is what those 10 weeks looked like though:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li> Sitting on my backside, as planned, with a cheeky parkrun at the end.</li>
<li>A few gentle jogs, as planned and a flight to California, little parkrun.</li>
<li>Busy week at work in California, 3/6 planned runs, missing the long Sunday run, flight back to the UK.</li>
<li>Flight out to Massachusetts, hot & humid, 5/6 runs, not too bad!</li>
<li>Flight home to the UK/out to Michigan on Monday, really humid & hot, parkrun on Saturday and 2x 15 minute runs in the week.</li>
<li>Flight back home to the UK, knackered, slept for 3 days. Short 3 mile jog and a half-assed attempt at CW50 (managed 25 miles of starting slow and getting slower).</li>
<li>2x 30 min jogs and <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2016/10/race-report-tough-mudder-full-south.html">a 10 mile obstacle race</a>. Coming down with a cold.</li>
<li>3/5 planned runs, long run cut short. Getting sneezier and coughing.</li>
<li>3/6 planned runs, chesty cough really kicking in.</li>
<li>1x 30 min jog. Chesty cough. Declared "fine" by the doctor on Thursday morning.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Basically, well under 50% planned sessions started, some cut short, not well, 60+ hours of travel over 3 weeks. This does *not* make for great preparation for a hundred mile race.<br />
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Having not really sat down and thought it through, I toed the line at A100 on Saturday morning. Felt pretty OK, a bit more chesty coughing, but that cleared up after about 3 hours of running. The first leg was actually lots prettier than I remember that part of the Thames being, but I got a warning shot over the bows. A short set of steps and my legs felt super heavy going up them. Drained. OK, I'd done around 18 miles at the time, but they shouldn't feel like that after 18 miles on the flat and very gently (5-ish hours marathon pace). Quick dark patch, but then I ignored it and carried on - no point getting wound up about something at this early stage, it only gives fuel to the demons when they arrive later.<br />
<br />
I motored in to the end of the first leg in just under 5 hours (just less than 25 miles in to the race). Feeling sluggish compared with how I expect to feel at this stage I was still pleased to be doing pretty well for a reasonable, not-death-marched finish in another 75 miles or so. I declined my drop bag - 4, out and back legs to the same central check point gives access to your drop bag 3 times during the race - as I didn't need anything from it, I chugged some Pepsi, filled my water bottles and got out onto leg 2.<br />
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Leg 2 and the first of the Ridgeway ones - I expected a bit of climbing but it didn't come for a good while. I didn't recognise this section for a while until I realised on the outward stretch to the turn-around point that I'd run it in the opposite direction at <a href="http://www.totkat.org/2015/11/race-report-xnrg-druids-challenge-84.html">Druids last year</a>. This was one of the delightful, hugely runnable descents that I flew down at Druids, kicking through the leaves and not even noticing the tons of tree roots that lay beneath. Hiking up in the dwindling light, the rain started bang on schedule at 5pm. Still under the protection of the trees, I whipped out my waterproof and stuck it on before getting out and into the pretty torrential downpour. Good move as it meant I was completely dry inside that jacket (one I bought in a massive tantrum in the Lake District last year after getting completely soaked to the skin in a different one). The turnaround point eventually came and I hid from the rain in the gazebo to get out my head torch and chomp on some ham. Leaving wasn't too hard (lovely though the volunteers were!), I lost my marbles a little as I asked on the way out of the aid station which way to go. Hm. It's an out and back. This is the turnaround point. Which way do you think you should go? (that was my inner monologue after I'd been pointed in the right direction and stumped off for a bit drinking my slowly diluting Pepsi in the rain).<br />
<br />
The second major warning shot was hitting the lovely runnable descent. There was still daylight so it should have been still safely runnable. But my legs weren't playing ball. More my knees and hips were jarring painfully - my gait was all wrong and I couldn't run downhill comfortably at all. Darkish moment again, but I had a chat with myself about being about 30 miles in and of course things were going to be not feeling great as I'd just run 30 miles - it's a long way!<br />
<br />
Darkness fell and I switched on my head torch. This was the bit I was looking forward to. Solitude, at night, in the woods. This was one of the big reasons for being here after enjoying the overnight so much at NDW100. I started to enjoy the dark and the owls hooting and a super long stretch without seeing anyone at all. Glorious! This is why I run long! But the visual contrast between tree roots and trail was too low. Once; I kicked a root really hard, twisted and almost fell down a steep slope to the side but pulled up with the muscles in my back and midriff to save me from hitting the deck. That really hurt my toe and my back. Twice; same again a couple of miles later only on the other foot and this time so hard that 24 hours later my toenail is about to come off. Again I saved myself from hitting the deck, but at the cost of really twisting my back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmZjGdd7A9eeWdPWS7n0dxRRGOi-QcLY0ImSWUQanTpEtCfs_A1CyhVytFllqhMC1uxmqkvoAEvYQoejf3mRpg7skppramwuUBgPUS1NCMSXm707W1vYKDIXl-Jj-JFavAl6Rbf46Vw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-10-17+at+11.37.07.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmZjGdd7A9eeWdPWS7n0dxRRGOi-QcLY0ImSWUQanTpEtCfs_A1CyhVytFllqhMC1uxmqkvoAEvYQoejf3mRpg7skppramwuUBgPUS1NCMSXm707W1vYKDIXl-Jj-JFavAl6Rbf46Vw/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-10-17+at+11.37.07.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Miles 23.5 to 25 - according to my watch 24-32.</td></tr>
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I came in to the aid station 4 miles out from the central base point feeling pretty good. Ready for a quick turnaround with a cup of Pepsi and a water refill, I chugged out again in less than a minute. At this point I was fed up with my watch to the point of wanting to throw it into the river. On the first 25ish miles out and back, there was a section of the return leg where it lost its tiny little mind and clocked in 9 miles over a mile and a half of actual distance, with times that started out at 06:59 and ended at 0:48/mile. I'd seen a couple of miles earlier in the run with silly quick times and thought it was a one-off weirdness and I'd have to mentally allow an extra half mile or so to the end, but this was now beyond annoying.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Xgk5wDn7Z88fHxM8xgMyWW2EQWLu-HKjM0UrPum3Vfsd_2nC0ykC8XDq5YVPRgSPwFeqkty4PtBalTlxNSUZIWlVUlWNQ2rRegWzgmC7OAT3tOVUZ1re_wmXyibEHAU88zjjiQGPfg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-10-17+at+14.30.39.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Xgk5wDn7Z88fHxM8xgMyWW2EQWLu-HKjM0UrPum3Vfsd_2nC0ykC8XDq5YVPRgSPwFeqkty4PtBalTlxNSUZIWlVUlWNQ2rRegWzgmC7OAT3tOVUZ1re_wmXyibEHAU88zjjiQGPfg/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-10-17+at+14.30.39.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uhhh, OK Garmin *pat*pat*pat*</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
About half a mile beyond this aid station, the wheels catastrophically came off. I was jogging along pretty slowly and realised my glutes and hamstrings had stopped playing. My back was pretty sore and bending down, to clear some debris from the inside of my shoe, it was twingeing unpleasantly. I couldn't actually run at all, there was no power in my legs, and not long after that a runner ahead of me took a walking break and I realised I wasn't catching them while I was jogging. I tried some food to see if that helped - a delicious peanut butter filled Clif bar (oh *why* can't you buy these ones in the UK!?) - but it didn't seem to make much difference. Thoughts came and went of being well over 80 miles into NDW before being anywhere near this slow (totally untrue actually, due to the elevation profile of NDW!) and it didn't feel great to realise that (bad brain - lying to me!). Shortly after that, a couple of other runners actually walked past me while I was jogging. Not good. Very not good. My glutes felt congested/sore/weak, as did my hamstrings - not even half way in to this race and my legs were shot. I had no idea what my pace was as my watch was in la-la land so I was ignoring it completely, but I knew it was less than 3mph and that would make for a touch and go finish in under 28 hours.<br />
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And that was that. I called it. At Goring, the central base, I came in and sat for a bit with some tea and a tub of cold rice pudding. Chatted with MrTOTKat, James, Nici, Louise and Melissa, who were all very encouraging and made it super clear that I could get to the finish as I had 16 hours to cover 50 miles, which I could walk if I wanted to. But when I stood up, my legs were like a baby deer's. I was wobbly, unsteady and lacking in much control to go forwards. I know I could have jog/walked it in to just about beat the 28 hour cut-off, but I didn't want to finish like that. I didn't come to this race to walk for more than half of it (having hiked a few earlier sections, and the second 2 legs being slightly longer than the first). I did really want to run into the dawn as that is a glorious experience, but I wasn't going to get that today. I knew why I was in this position and I wasn't happy about it. It was 100% my responsibility and I'd gotten over-excited about doing another 100 that I was simply not in a fit state to do. I cried through sheer frustration and disappointment, and James was really good about that. I was also angry that I'd let a few people down through my own ego drowning out the pragmatic part of me. I was angry with myself for all the people who'd wanted to run this race and I'd gotten a place that they'd wanted and was throwing it away. I could have marched on for some more miles, but there was no point in doing that for the heck of it. I was pretty perky, awake, full of energy and enthusiasm for getting through the night without sleeping, but my legs were simply not on the same page.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ya think?</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.centurionrunning.com/">Centurion Running races</a> are super professionally organised, staffed by genuinely lovely people with runners needs front of mind at all times. I can't praise the staff and volunteers enough - and I'm hoping to give back some by volunteering a couple of times in 2017 (I loved it at 2014 NDW!). It's a great community and I'm glad to be a part of it!<br />
<br />
I will be back though to the Autumn 100. The first two legs are lovely and I know I'm capable of the distance, I "just" need to put in the smart work beforehand to give it the respect it's due. Onwards and upwards!TOTKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12439490220805413628noreply@blogger.com1