Just a short post on yesterdays training run along the Greensands Ridge. This was a reccie for a race in 2 weeks time which is a relay event with 6 legs of differing lengths along a 33 mile section of the Greensands Ridge (GSR). Teams that enter (mostly local running clubs) are then allowed to have solo entries too. So myself and fellow lBAC club rummer Pete who is also running solo ran legs 3,4,5 and 6 yesterday to familiarise ourselves with this fantastic trail.
We took the cars out to the finish and one of us drove back to where we were starting from. A bit longwinded but the only way to cover a point to point course without doubling back. We started in Evershot village - your typical English little village with pub, by the cricket green in the centre and quaint pre georgian cottages. This point is just over 10 miles into the GSR route. The route itself starts in Leighton Buzzard and finishes in Northill which is where we were heading to.
We were running by 6:30 (up at 5 again!) and so nice to find a friend willing to run at the same crazy times as me. Thanks Pete! The GSR is an undulating route that mixes, terrain of grass fields, compact sand (as you would expect from the name), some techincal single track stuff, and wider gravel paths. It all made for a great run. Navigation was fairly straight forward with regular GSR 'deer' waymarkers along the route although some are positioned in the silliest of places making them pretty hard to spot. Pete and I missed a few turns but quickly corrected our mistakes, and learn?from these for the actual race.
It was a great run that rose the heartbeat at times but it wasn't the running that caused this - one point we acrossed a field of bulls but they were quite 'friendly' looking and of the wooley variety but we weren't going to take any chances. The other 'incident' was with 3 angry barking german shepherd dogs who were guarding their territory on the other side of a worrying low wire fence that separated them from us as Pete and I tenatively walk/run along a narrow path right next to them. Not a nice experience expecially when one of them made an effort to jump over the fence. Stupid dog owners.
We completed the 22 miles in 3h35m. Average pace was a leisurely 9:45 mpm. Perfect. And 3000 calories burnt, which I did my atmost to regain over the day by eating eating eating :-Definitely the best bit about running long!
Considering that this was just a week after the C100 i'm happy with my recovery. Whilst I can still feel the effects on some of the hills it wasn't anything over the oridinary, and I expect to being fully race fit in 2 weeks time. Not that i'm planning to 'race' it full on. I'm hoping to approach it as a 33 mile training run, to get more miles in the legs in my continued build up to the 100 in August.
Great post again Stu. I agree with what Ken and yourself said on Facebook about building the Running Stupid community. I haven't befriended you on Facebook as it insisted that i know you which i don't. Just out of interest do you know how many English Stupidheads there are ?. There are some differences you are a long ways down the road to being Ultra Man and i am at the beginning of my journey more fat then fit. But like you Ken inspires me.
ReplyDelete