up, up and away – maidstone half marathon race report

Sunday morning. 6am and I am slowly heaving myself out of bed to get to Maidstone for 8.30 where I have planned to meet Hauling My Carcass and our mutual fried Paul. Paul is a Maidstone native and had turned 40 the day before the race and decided that it might be a nice idea for us to run a Half Marathon to celebrate. When it was originally suggested about 6 months ago, it seemed like a fine idea but in the dark and cold of a Sunday morning hours before the race, I was wondering what I had let myself in for, particularly as I had not run a Half Marathon since March and had also had almost 3 months out with an injury.
Still, it was off out into the fog for a jaunt around the M25. It was cold and, arriving at the race HQ, I wondered if I should have perhaps opted for a long sleeve top. I found HMC and we quickly picked up our timing chips and race numbers, met up with Paul and, after a chat, we set off on the 10 minute walk to the start. The start itself is odd, placed in a non-descript road in a residential area, hundred of runners standing around in the road waiting for the off. Soon, a horn sounds and we are underway, firstly in a loop around the streets nearby – it is odd to pass the 13 mile marker after only 10 minutes running but soon we are venturing into the outskirts of Maidstone. We run along the side of anonymous “A” roads and the route seems to be a constant series of slight inclines – not enough at this point to tire you but noticeable. The first 6 miles or so is OK – not much to look at but the smattering of supporters dotted along the route offer encouragement as you pass. There were water stations at approximately 4 mile intervals but I had opted to take a bottle of Orbana with me whilst I ran so just sipped from that every few miles. The hardest part is around 7 miles where the road rises and rises… and rises passing through a few small villages as it continues to rise. This was the first Half Marathon that I had run without listening to music so distratcted myself from the hills by listening to the (very loud) conversation of the group running just behind me. The route then flattens out and undulates along the top of a ridge, giving you views of the surrounding countryside on this now blue-skyed day. Somewhere between 8 and 9 miles I was aware that I had a companion running alongside – she was quicker on the downhills than I was but I was faster uphill so we had an unspoken agreement that she would take the lead on the way down and I would on the way up. Having a running buddy at this point was great – we exchanged a few words every mile or so and generally kept each other motivated. Soon we were nearing the finish – looking at my watch, I could see I was close to a sub 2hr time. I asked my running pal if she thought she could manage a sprint finish, she politely declined and said she’d see me at the finish so I just went for it. The last 500 metres was a flat out sprint – shouts from the crowd urging me on. I finished in 1:59:17 which I was delighted with. I picked up my goody bag, medal and very, VERY bright race top, saw my running buddy, congratulated her on her time and thanked her for her support and went off to find HMC. Turns out he had run an absolute stormer and bagged himself a new personal best (you can read his account of the day here). Paul struggled in a while after, the hills having taken their toll on his knees which began to give up around the 10 mile mark.
The race is a good, testing Half Marathon. Smooth organisation, a friendly bunch of runners, good marshalling and crowd support. On a personal note, I had a great day… it was one of those rare races where the organisation, weather, atmosphere and my training and race preparation had all come together to make it very enjoyable event.

Soundtrack to this post: Funkadelic – Cosmic Slop

two things at once

After my little run around Ashtead common, it was time to get down to the serious business of training for the Maidstone Half Marathon. If the truth be told, the prospect worried me a little. I’ve not run more than 10k(ish) since June and the Ashtead 10k felt like a long way on these under-used legs. The other dilemma was that I desperately wanted to get back into running in the VFF’s. I wanted to combine the two, but knew that going out and immediately running longer distances in the Vibrams was a recipe for disaster.
So my initial couple of forays were in the Vibrams – the first a trifling little 3kms to see if I could still run in them. Yes… no pain, no blisters and no sore joints in the feet. So feeling a little more confident, I set off a couple of days later on a 6.5km run which took me out into the country, up a huge hill and then back down the otherside. Still no ill-effects so I was feeling pretty pleased with myself and my little body that has fixed itself.
But still there was the worry that in under 3 weeks I am supposed to run a Half Marathon and the kms were still lacking. Nothing for it but to get up early and head out first thing for a (not very) swift 15kms. Not being brave enough to attempt this distance in the VFF’s just yet, I pulled on the lovely Saucony Kinvara 2′s and went for a scamper around. It was foggy out so had to pair the bright yellow Sauconys with a flourescent yellow gilet so motorists could at least see me if they tried to run me down. I must have looked very fetching. It was a good run, but all the while I had iliketocounts cautionary tale floating around in my head. Fortunately, I returned home intact 1hr and 26 minutes later with 15kms in the bank. Another run in the VFF’s planned for later in the week (perhaps upping the distance to 10k this time) and then a longer run on Sunday…

Soundtrack to this post: Polar Bear – Tomlovesalicelovestom

preparation, preparation, preparation…

I almost called this blog post Le Tour De Surrey but decided against it at the last minute…
Last year, Hauling My Carcass and I completed the London to Brighton Cycle ride. We had built ourselves some bikes (him a singlespeed and me a fixed gear) and there was a certain sense of satisfaction to be gained from completing the ride and doing it on something that you have created. Not long after, HMC brought my attention to the Dunwich Dynamo – a 200km, overnight, unmarshalled and unmarked ride to Dunwich in Suffolk from a pub in Hackney. “Not this year, you understand, but we could enter next year…”
Fast forward 12 months and it is almost upon us… 200km on a pushbike is a long way by anyone’s standards. It is longer than many of the stages of the Tour De France. It is also overnight. And we are not, I repeat NOT, finely honed athletes training full time. And we do not have top of the range, super light, race bikes… we have opted to build another couple of bikes and use those. Both are steel, both are at least 30 years old, both are now singlespeed.
We decided that we probably ought to do a bit of training before embarking on this little adventure so a 77.87km bike ride was executed on day 5 of Juneathon, followed 2 weeks later by the 85.98kms of the London to Brighton. It was strange how last year, the focus was on completing the London to Brighton and this year it was relegated to “a bit of training” for Dunwich Dynamo. We decided that we needed an additional long ride, with everything that we would need to take for DD to give us a good idea of what to expect.
At 8am yesterday, I arrived at HMC’s house with my bike in the boot of the car and a massive back pack containing food (lots of food), tools, waterproof jacket, bottle of water, hydration pack and an entire change of clothes. This was what I was planning to take to Dunwich so this is what I would train with. We set off just after 9am and made our way through the undulating Surrey and Sussex countryside, basically heading south. The route was mostly country roads and surprisingly quiet considering the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. A quick stop around 50kms and then we pushed on to 80kms when we finally stopped for lunch. We perched ourselves on a grassy bank outside a golf club on the outskirts of Ditchling and had lunch. Half an hour later, we were back on the bikes and, now heading East then North and with approximately 60kms still to ride, we decided that we would do two stretches of 30kms each with a little rest in between. At around 115kms we stopped for 10 minutes and agreed that we needed to find a place to buy Coca Cola… strangely we both began to crave it and maybe it was our bodies crying out for liquid and sugar and caffeine. Cola safely procured a couple of kms later, we then pushed through the last 30kms which contained one of the most horrific hills I have ever had the misfortune to have to cycle up. Steep, long and with a surface like an adolescents complexion it was really tough and saw us both dismounting, walking slowly whilst pushing the bikes and cursing.
Psychologically, the last 15kms or so is easy. and it was nice to be back somewhere I recognised and could almost picture how far we had left to go. We arrived back at 5.30 pm having completed 147.76kms. We were both weary but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be (helped immensely by the nice route plan by HMC and the almost perfect weather). Dunwich Dynamo is 50kms further but less hilly. The real test will be cycling through the night, but with under 2 weeks to go, I am feeling much more confident of completing it than I did.

juneathon day 20: juneathonitis and london to brighton

Juneathonitis – noun: injury, real or imagined, obtained during a constant exercise routine undertaken in the 6th month of the year. See also complete Juneathonitis and compound Juneathonitis.
And on Saturdays run, I think I had my first case, which I shall call Juneathonitis of the second metatarsal. And it was such a little thing that caused it, I am actually quite pissed off that it happened.
I was out on my run on Saturday morning and it began to pour, really hammer down for about 5 minutes. During this 5 minutes, I was rendered partially sighted by the combination of rain on my glasses, volume of rain falling from the skies in front of my eyes and sweat being washed into my eyes by the rain. So this injury is clearly the rains fault. And the tree’s fault too. The tree that pushed it’s root up into the tarmac causing a bump about 2cm high and 2cm round to stick up from the surface of the path. Which I couldn’t see in the rain and which I landed on in the Vibrams, with the ball of my foot and I felt the bones in my foot kind of flex around it. Except the one that landed directly on the bump kind of flexed the wrong way. And now it hurts. Quite a lot when I walk but much more when I run. So I may be doing more cycling than running for the rest of Juneathon.
And talking of cycling… Today’s paltry Juneathon effort was a 5.7km round trip on the bike to the bikeshop to give it a little TLC after yesterday, which brings me nicely on to…
Sunday’s London to Brighton saw us up early (6.15am) to get everything ready for a 7.30ish exit to drive to Clapham Common. There were three of us riding: myself, Hauling My Carcass and his Mum, but there were also HMC’s Dad, wife and 10 month old son travelling in the car with us and who would drive to Brighton to meet us once we set off. We loaded the Mystery Machine with the bikes and bags and people and set off. We parked up in Balham, unloaded the bikes, said our goodbyes and cycled the remaining mile to the start on Clapham Common.

A fully laden Mystery Machine

The whole race is very well organised so once at the Common, we headed straight for the Start Gate. Starts are staggered and we had been allocated an 8.30 start which actually didn’t set off until about 8.50 but no-one really minds. The route out of London is slow as the volume of cyclists trying to navigate the capital’s already messy roads. I noticed my headset was quite stiff so stopped briefly at one of the roadside bike mechanics for him to give it a tweak and a few minutes later we were back on our way. As you leave the stopstart of London the field thins out and it is possible to hit a reasonable pace and before you know it you are into the Surrey countryside with it’s undulating landscape, each uphill rewarded with a sweeping, freewheeling downhill. This is what I missed out on last year as I was riding the fixie and HAD TO KEEP PEDALLING. This year, on the singlespeed, made for much broader grins. We stopped at The Crown pub at the top of Turners Hill to eat the food we had brought with us. I had a 465gm tub of pasta and I’m astounded that I ate the whole thing and some flapjack and jelly babies and a Voltz Energy Shot and then managed to get back on the bike. The second leg saw us get absolutely soaked as not one but two heavy rain showers drenched us. The scene of the second drenching was Ditchling Beacon, the highest point on the route and, I can confirm, completely impossible to cycle up on a singlespeed. There were plenty of people walking and even the hardiest of hill climbers were spinning in their lowest gears to get to the top. I had to give up when the combined force of my legs, my body weight and all the strength I could muster in my arms was not enough to turn the cranks any more. But there is no shame in walking this part of the course. The long, descent into Brighton should have been a high speed, whooping career down the other side but, because of the lashing rain, the surface was incredibly slippery and we were (rightly) marshalled to keep our speed down. A bottleneck at the bottom and then it’s back to stopstarting as we snake our way through Brighton to the finish on the seafront. There is quite a crowd there to meet you at the finish and their cheers and waving and support allow you to pretend, just for a second, that you are about the collect the maillot jaune.

85.98kms later beside the seaside

So to someone who fancies taking part I would say, definitely do it. At least once. Take more food with you than you will need. Get the bike checked over before you set off. Train a bit. Watch out for the handful for whom this is the only bit of cycling they do – for they will weave and snake around (often whilst talking to their friends and not paying attention) and it is these people who almost had each of the three of us off in seperate incidents. Wear a helmet. The marshalling is great, the organisation is great, the support from the crowds dotted along the route is great. Take a waterproof jacket and suncream and a sense of humour and you will have a fantatstic day – as we did.

juneathon day 19: brighton – briefly

Firstly, thank you to everyone who wished me good luck for today’s London to Brighton Cycle Ride. Secondly, apologies that this is going to be a short post as it’s late, I’m knackered and I want to go to bed. I promise that I will give a full and frank account of today’s activities in tomorrow blog post.
So… the highlights: Up at 6.15 am to get everything sorted and to get ourselves to Clapham Common, start the ride at 8.50 and make slow progress through South London. Once out of London, it was a fairly straightforward trip. The route is great, marshalling fantastic and the support when finishing in Brighton, 85.98km later, is enthusiastic. Could have done without the two very heavy downpours but a great day nontheless. More tomorrow but until then… Good Night.