I've made what I hope is a very good decision today which is to ditch the garmin (and any kind watch) for the london marathon. this i hope will allow me to get into a natural rhythm and pace without constantly looking down at the watch to check the pace and adjust accordingly. This can have the effect of slowing you down too much when you feel good and making you speed up when you don't. So I'm sure this will help a great deal, in getting a far more consistent and natural pace not deditated by technology but by my own body and signals that my toes, feet, calves, quads, and hams will send the brain. This should then allow me to perhaps push on when I feel good and hold back a little when I don't. The proof will be in the pudding but the fact that I run my half marathon PB without a watch last year surely proves something.
We shall see but I'm well excited by this prospect... and the results will be telling...
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Saturday, 10 April 2010
LBAC Stag run
it was the monthly stag run on Wednesday at the club. a 2.5 miler (3 laps) blast around the park in LB. I was in the running to lift the trophy if I can keep the PBs coming. The format is based on your previous time which places everyone running on a staggered start. I started third from last out of 31 runners racing (a record number of turn outs for the club stag run!). I never like the beginning where you have to wait your turn and watch everyone else go off first. But the fun immediately begins when you start chasing people down. I knew I was pushing harder than before because of both my breathing and garmin pace. 1st mile in 5:46, the 2nd slower in 6:00 as my enthuasim in the early stages started to show. But I dug deep and continued pushing in the final lap still passing other runners all the way up the hill and over the finish line. the time 14:31 - a PB and 22secs faster than the previous month. I finished 4th and collected 22 pts for my troubles which puts me in pole position to lift the Stag Trophy in the final run in May. But I'm not counting my chickens quite yet and want to put in one last performance, and perhaps another PB.
see full write up and April stag results here - http://www.leightonbuzzardac.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=180&Itemid=32
see full write up and April stag results here - http://www.leightonbuzzardac.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=180&Itemid=32
Thursday, 1 April 2010
london 3 weeks away
With the memories of my first ultra win in the wiggle still fresh I must now start to focus on more pressing matters such as the small matter of the virgin london marathon. i went for my first run today since wiggle nearly 2 weeks ago. just down to the gym for a short work out to see how the legs are. all signs are good so i just need to ease myself back into the 14th week of the 16th week marathon schedule (not that i have really been following one).
i plan to focus almost entirely on pace and speed in the next 2 weeks to ensure that the 8 minute miling planned for london (3:30 finish) isnt a shock to the system. afterall ultras running at 10 minute plus miling are quite different so it will be interesting to see how (and if) i adapt. we shall see.
the plan for the weekend is a 1o miler starting at 9 minute pace and quickning to run the last 5 miles at 8 min marathon pace. Then on wednesday its the club stag run where i will need to bring out the guns and nail it to stay on track to claim the stag trophy. hopefully the weather will be awful so no one turns up and i get an easier time of it. :-)
i plan to focus almost entirely on pace and speed in the next 2 weeks to ensure that the 8 minute miling planned for london (3:30 finish) isnt a shock to the system. afterall ultras running at 10 minute plus miling are quite different so it will be interesting to see how (and if) i adapt. we shall see.
the plan for the weekend is a 1o miler starting at 9 minute pace and quickning to run the last 5 miles at 8 min marathon pace. Then on wednesday its the club stag run where i will need to bring out the guns and nail it to stay on track to claim the stag trophy. hopefully the weather will be awful so no one turns up and i get an easier time of it. :-)
Saturday, 27 March 2010
wiggle splits
The splits are in for wiggle! (see below) To normal runners (can i say that!?) they would look at these and say oh dear you slowed down from the first lap onwards. not very well paced was it. And if it was the london marathon or similar they would be right. but this was a rather different race with an elevation gain of over 1000ft per lap and on my feet for 12 + hours i was rather happy with how I kept it together and didn't slow down too much. Lap 11's 1h20m time can also be explained as I had to stop to remove my shoe and sock to stick back what was left of the patch covering my worn forefoot. I was also purposely going slower to try and time it right so I finished the lap around 6pm. of course that didnt work! as I was still 20 mins too fast. And I also wsted more time at the finish line on lap 11 before crossing the timing mat for a couple of minutes trying to work out if I had won, not won, could finish, or had to carry on.
So all in all very happy.
Still haven't decided what to spend my £75 at wiggle on. Looking at a new pair of off-roaders as the inov8s roclites 315 took a beating in the wiggle and I don't think will hold together well or protect my feet enough in the 61mile Fellsman in May. any suggestions people?
LAP 1 - 00:52:45
2 - 00:54:04
3 - 00:55:16
4 - 00:57:46
5 - 01:03:41
6 - 01:03:39
7 - 01:02:02
8 - 01:08:02
9 - 01:10:56
10 - 01:11:49
11 - 01:20:04
12 - 01:08:16
Total 12:48:20
So all in all very happy.
Still haven't decided what to spend my £75 at wiggle on. Looking at a new pair of off-roaders as the inov8s roclites 315 took a beating in the wiggle and I don't think will hold together well or protect my feet enough in the 61mile Fellsman in May. any suggestions people?
LAP 1 - 00:52:45
2 - 00:54:04
3 - 00:55:16
4 - 00:57:46
5 - 01:03:41
6 - 01:03:39
7 - 01:02:02
8 - 01:08:02
9 - 01:10:56
10 - 01:11:49
11 - 01:20:04
12 - 01:08:16
Total 12:48:20
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Wiggle Lightning 12hr race report
The Wiggle Lightning is a new event (the younger brother of the Adidas Thunder Run 24hr). The clue is in the name. The wiggle 12hr is an event for soloists, pairs and teams of three to eight runners whose aim is to complete as many laps of the 9.1 km course as they can in 12 hours. Simple!
Back when I entered this race it was going to be ideal preparation for the Devon 100 which was then cancelled. So now this was not so ideal preparation for the London Marathon which is just 5 weeks away. However I was far more interested in running this ultra in the beautiful Mavern Hills than I am at the prospect of plodding around London.
The race started at 6.00am (sunrise at 6.01) in the setting of Eastnor Castle Deer Park in the middle of the Mavern Hills. And hills there were!!! Hills which I would become very familiar with through the course of the 12hrs. Like every ultra I’ve run to date the start was a low key affair. The gun goes and everyone sets off to little fanfare or excitement. Just intrepidation at what lays head. What was of interest were the teams competing whom should be setting of far quicker than the soloists and pairs. They did indeed set off quicker but not at the pace I might have expected.
The first 2km were straight up on soft grass and muddy trails. And to add to this the course director had decided to incorporate a ditch into the course which you had to cross from one side to the other 3 or 4 times. Amusing the first time… very slow going by the tenth! I used the first lap to get familiar with the course not knowing what to expect or what pace would be sensible.
The highest point of the course was at Herefordshire Beckon at the 3km mark. The views from here were great especially in the sunshine with clear skies for miles around. This weather continued for the whole day which was a real blessing. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos as I was running very light with just a water bottle. The fourth km went straight down, soft underfoot, where you could let go and let gravity take the strain (fastest part of the course – at least for the first half of the race anyway!). From 4km to 6km you then wound gradually uphill again, with the one and only water station on the course. Lucky I was running self-sufficient otherwise I would have been completely screwed. Clearly the organiser was not catering for the soloists. Note to race director for next time.
6km to 7km was definitely the most runnable part of the course. It was a lovely single track technical trail that twisted and turned through the woods, akin to a rollercoaster ride. A great feeling running through here even on weary legs later in the race.
7km to the finish/start area gradually descended on concrete farm roads with clear views of the finish area. You could even hear the tannoy system announcing team position updates. There were a number of switch backs meaning that just when you thought you were nearing the finish you turned and run back the other way before you the turned again and climbed up to the finish/start area. Lap complete.
It’s fair to say that the entire 9km (and a bit) were constantly up down but that the first half of the route was definitely tougher than the second half, although none of it was a walk in the park. So the strategy was to conserve energy on the ups, make good progress on the downs and keep it steady on the flats. In the early laps I was unsurprisingly feeling good and enjoying this challenging yet inspiring course. My first 2-3 laps were in the low 50s. I hooked up with two other soloists during these laps. One of the guys – Patrick was the winner of the Thunder Run 24hr last year (but I didn’t know that at the time). I would catch him on the down hills, and Patrick would pull away on the flats, which happened for a few laps. At around lap 3-4 I think I then passed him in the start/finish area whilst he refuelled and I didn’t see him again.
Refuelling was going to be an extremely important part of the race. As I mentioned there was nothing provided for soloists (unless you wanted to go into the catering tend for a burger) so luckily I came fully equipped with a stash of goodies. This included buttered malt loaf, flapjack, jelly babies, bananas, energy gels, and a snickers bar (and nurofen) all washed down with my SIS carbo drink. Yum yum. This was definitely the most I had ever eaten whilst running but I didn’t have any ill effects so I was very pleased.
The laps wore on and things got harder. I was running 9:45m/m in the early stages, which increased to 10:00m/m and then 10:30m/m and this theme continued. I don’t think pacing (no matter how good it was) would allow you to run even splits on such terrain. Inevitably the hills were going to grind you down and all you could do was to keep going no matter what pace, and still try to take advantage of the downhills. Even they got harder as the ankles started to feel a bit over-used.
By lap 5 or 6 I was feeling an uncomfortable rubbing under my right foot and the start of a blister. I decided I would get it seen to by the kind people at St John Ambulance at the end of the lap. I spoke to a marshal on the way around and asked them to call ahead so they knew to expect me. Every second counts! I had caught it early so they dressed it and all was good again….well as good as it could be 30 or so miles into the race.
I think it was on the next lap that I got the surprise of my life. Everytime you went over the timing mat in the start/finish area the announcer would say something like… ‘and here’s Stuart Blofeld from Leighton Buzzard AC’ or similar. This time however he said ‘and here’s Stuart Blofeld our race leader’. All I could say to him was ‘what’!? Surely my timing chip had been mixed up with someone elses. It was such a shock that I didn’t really know what to think or do. What could I do but just continue as I had been, as I slowly plodded up the hill to start another lap.
Knowing that I was 1st somehow changed everything whilst at the same time changed nothing (that’s as best as I can describe it). From this point on I just focused on one lap at a time. Trying not to think about being in the lead or how much time or how many laps I had left to go. Although I always had a lap target in mind which was 10, but at the pace I had set out at I was looking good for 11, perhaps even 12 at a push.
There isn’t a lot more to say of any significance until the start of lap 11. I finished lap 10 at 4.25pm with still 1h35m to go on the clock. I had run lap 10 in about 1h10m so I was facing a bit of a problem. 1) I ran much slower and time it just right so I finished lap 11 just after 6pm (but potentially risk getting caught), or carry on at a similar but painful pace, and see what happens with the prospect of running a 12 lap a real possibility which would have me running for nearly 13 hours (I thought it was called the wiggle 12hr!). The way I was feeling right then meant that running a 12 lap was not something that filled me with joy.
I plodding around lap 11 at a slow pace not by choice but because that was all I was capable of. With over 90km in my legs things weren’t pretty but it was now just a case of keeping going. Because of the team format I continued to be passed by much faster and fresher runners who were perhaps running their 2nd lap of the day. The give away sign of a team runner was A) their clean socks, and B) their inappropriate footwear with many running in ordinary trainers. But despite the poor choice of shoes they were still way faster then me, as all I could do was watch as they disappeared off into the distance.
My right foot was again playing up as the dressing applied by St J.A. had come loose, and became painful. I stopped and did what I could to reapply the torn dirty dressing to cover the worst effected area. To my surprise it did the trick, and I kept moving forward. Despite my slow progress I was still going too fast to complete the 11th lap at 6pm. There was still no sign of second place either. The way in which the route wrapped around the contours of the hills meant that you could see across the valley at one point and see if anybody was in chase. No one was.
It really was a case of mixed feelings at this stage as it looked like I would win my first every ultra race if I just kept going, yet I still had the prospect of having to run another lap which loomed large in my mind. And so it was as I crossed the timing mat at 5:40pm with still another 20 minutes on the clock. The options were to declare my hand there and then with 11 laps complete (100.1km) with a time of 11hr40m or run another lap. The risk was that 2nd place would come around the corner before 6pm and run a 12th lap and snatch the victory. I really had no choice but to go out again, and make sure of the win.
This was probably the longest and slowest victory lap in history. I don’t know what I was feeling at that point. Mixed emotions of achievement, and astonishment, but mostly just the feeling that after one more lap it will all be over. And so it was that I finished lap 12 in the rapidly fading with a personal escort on a quad bike accompanying me for safety reasons. I was the last person on the course yet as I ran across the finish line I had won. I shook the race organiser’s hand who congratulated me, and said you know you didn’t need to run that 12 lap, but I knew that I did. It turned out that the 2nd place solo male (the guy Patrick who I was running with at the beginning) was half an hour behind me. In a way though the 12 lap did matter and showed me that I did have the will to continue even when I was being told I didn’t have to. Ultra running isn’t about taking the easy way out. It’s about leaving everything you have out there in the trails and I certainly did that in the Mavern hills.
click here for full solo male results
Back when I entered this race it was going to be ideal preparation for the Devon 100 which was then cancelled. So now this was not so ideal preparation for the London Marathon which is just 5 weeks away. However I was far more interested in running this ultra in the beautiful Mavern Hills than I am at the prospect of plodding around London.
The race started at 6.00am (sunrise at 6.01) in the setting of Eastnor Castle Deer Park in the middle of the Mavern Hills. And hills there were!!! Hills which I would become very familiar with through the course of the 12hrs. Like every ultra I’ve run to date the start was a low key affair. The gun goes and everyone sets off to little fanfare or excitement. Just intrepidation at what lays head. What was of interest were the teams competing whom should be setting of far quicker than the soloists and pairs. They did indeed set off quicker but not at the pace I might have expected.
The first 2km were straight up on soft grass and muddy trails. And to add to this the course director had decided to incorporate a ditch into the course which you had to cross from one side to the other 3 or 4 times. Amusing the first time… very slow going by the tenth! I used the first lap to get familiar with the course not knowing what to expect or what pace would be sensible.
The highest point of the course was at Herefordshire Beckon at the 3km mark. The views from here were great especially in the sunshine with clear skies for miles around. This weather continued for the whole day which was a real blessing. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos as I was running very light with just a water bottle. The fourth km went straight down, soft underfoot, where you could let go and let gravity take the strain (fastest part of the course – at least for the first half of the race anyway!). From 4km to 6km you then wound gradually uphill again, with the one and only water station on the course. Lucky I was running self-sufficient otherwise I would have been completely screwed. Clearly the organiser was not catering for the soloists. Note to race director for next time.
6km to 7km was definitely the most runnable part of the course. It was a lovely single track technical trail that twisted and turned through the woods, akin to a rollercoaster ride. A great feeling running through here even on weary legs later in the race.
7km to the finish/start area gradually descended on concrete farm roads with clear views of the finish area. You could even hear the tannoy system announcing team position updates. There were a number of switch backs meaning that just when you thought you were nearing the finish you turned and run back the other way before you the turned again and climbed up to the finish/start area. Lap complete.
It’s fair to say that the entire 9km (and a bit) were constantly up down but that the first half of the route was definitely tougher than the second half, although none of it was a walk in the park. So the strategy was to conserve energy on the ups, make good progress on the downs and keep it steady on the flats. In the early laps I was unsurprisingly feeling good and enjoying this challenging yet inspiring course. My first 2-3 laps were in the low 50s. I hooked up with two other soloists during these laps. One of the guys – Patrick was the winner of the Thunder Run 24hr last year (but I didn’t know that at the time). I would catch him on the down hills, and Patrick would pull away on the flats, which happened for a few laps. At around lap 3-4 I think I then passed him in the start/finish area whilst he refuelled and I didn’t see him again.
Refuelling was going to be an extremely important part of the race. As I mentioned there was nothing provided for soloists (unless you wanted to go into the catering tend for a burger) so luckily I came fully equipped with a stash of goodies. This included buttered malt loaf, flapjack, jelly babies, bananas, energy gels, and a snickers bar (and nurofen) all washed down with my SIS carbo drink. Yum yum. This was definitely the most I had ever eaten whilst running but I didn’t have any ill effects so I was very pleased.
The laps wore on and things got harder. I was running 9:45m/m in the early stages, which increased to 10:00m/m and then 10:30m/m and this theme continued. I don’t think pacing (no matter how good it was) would allow you to run even splits on such terrain. Inevitably the hills were going to grind you down and all you could do was to keep going no matter what pace, and still try to take advantage of the downhills. Even they got harder as the ankles started to feel a bit over-used.
By lap 5 or 6 I was feeling an uncomfortable rubbing under my right foot and the start of a blister. I decided I would get it seen to by the kind people at St John Ambulance at the end of the lap. I spoke to a marshal on the way around and asked them to call ahead so they knew to expect me. Every second counts! I had caught it early so they dressed it and all was good again….well as good as it could be 30 or so miles into the race.
I think it was on the next lap that I got the surprise of my life. Everytime you went over the timing mat in the start/finish area the announcer would say something like… ‘and here’s Stuart Blofeld from Leighton Buzzard AC’ or similar. This time however he said ‘and here’s Stuart Blofeld our race leader’. All I could say to him was ‘what’!? Surely my timing chip had been mixed up with someone elses. It was such a shock that I didn’t really know what to think or do. What could I do but just continue as I had been, as I slowly plodded up the hill to start another lap.
Knowing that I was 1st somehow changed everything whilst at the same time changed nothing (that’s as best as I can describe it). From this point on I just focused on one lap at a time. Trying not to think about being in the lead or how much time or how many laps I had left to go. Although I always had a lap target in mind which was 10, but at the pace I had set out at I was looking good for 11, perhaps even 12 at a push.
There isn’t a lot more to say of any significance until the start of lap 11. I finished lap 10 at 4.25pm with still 1h35m to go on the clock. I had run lap 10 in about 1h10m so I was facing a bit of a problem. 1) I ran much slower and time it just right so I finished lap 11 just after 6pm (but potentially risk getting caught), or carry on at a similar but painful pace, and see what happens with the prospect of running a 12 lap a real possibility which would have me running for nearly 13 hours (I thought it was called the wiggle 12hr!). The way I was feeling right then meant that running a 12 lap was not something that filled me with joy.
I plodding around lap 11 at a slow pace not by choice but because that was all I was capable of. With over 90km in my legs things weren’t pretty but it was now just a case of keeping going. Because of the team format I continued to be passed by much faster and fresher runners who were perhaps running their 2nd lap of the day. The give away sign of a team runner was A) their clean socks, and B) their inappropriate footwear with many running in ordinary trainers. But despite the poor choice of shoes they were still way faster then me, as all I could do was watch as they disappeared off into the distance.
My right foot was again playing up as the dressing applied by St J.A. had come loose, and became painful. I stopped and did what I could to reapply the torn dirty dressing to cover the worst effected area. To my surprise it did the trick, and I kept moving forward. Despite my slow progress I was still going too fast to complete the 11th lap at 6pm. There was still no sign of second place either. The way in which the route wrapped around the contours of the hills meant that you could see across the valley at one point and see if anybody was in chase. No one was.
It really was a case of mixed feelings at this stage as it looked like I would win my first every ultra race if I just kept going, yet I still had the prospect of having to run another lap which loomed large in my mind. And so it was as I crossed the timing mat at 5:40pm with still another 20 minutes on the clock. The options were to declare my hand there and then with 11 laps complete (100.1km) with a time of 11hr40m or run another lap. The risk was that 2nd place would come around the corner before 6pm and run a 12th lap and snatch the victory. I really had no choice but to go out again, and make sure of the win.
This was probably the longest and slowest victory lap in history. I don’t know what I was feeling at that point. Mixed emotions of achievement, and astonishment, but mostly just the feeling that after one more lap it will all be over. And so it was that I finished lap 12 in the rapidly fading with a personal escort on a quad bike accompanying me for safety reasons. I was the last person on the course yet as I ran across the finish line I had won. I shook the race organiser’s hand who congratulated me, and said you know you didn’t need to run that 12 lap, but I knew that I did. It turned out that the 2nd place solo male (the guy Patrick who I was running with at the beginning) was half an hour behind me. In a way though the 12 lap did matter and showed me that I did have the will to continue even when I was being told I didn’t have to. Ultra running isn’t about taking the easy way out. It’s about leaving everything you have out there in the trails and I certainly did that in the Mavern hills.
At the finish!!
On the podium.
Click link to see official photos -
click here for full solo male results
Friday, 12 March 2010
LBAC Stag run
Wednesday saw the LBAC club stag trophy run which takes place on the first wednesday of each month. The format is a handicpapped start based on ability which gives all those competing an equal chance of success basd on your individual improved performance over the season. There are 7 stag runs over the season with your best 5 counting towards your final score. Its run around a short loop three times to total 2.5 miles in distance.
So far I've already missed 2 stag runs this season so the pressure is on to compete all those that remain if I am to post a qualifying finish total. On Wednesday I was far from feeling good having just about recovered from fever the previous weekend and nursing a cold, but I wasn't gonna let this stop me. So I donned by running gear for the first time in near enough a week and trotted down to the start. A smaller than usual field assembled for the start. smaller is good as you are obviously competing against fewer people giving a greater chance of finishing higher up.
The first person past the post gets 25 pts followed by 24, 23 and so on all the way down to 1 pt for 25th place. So far this season I've scored 22 pts, and 20 pts so want to keep up the avg. I was called by Dave - the official LBAC Stag ajudicator who does all the maths and works out the handicaps etc. 15 seconds to go....
And I was off... and breathing hard from the start as the cold evening air and blocked nose all work against me however I deep in and go for it. 1st lap completing and I'm passing a few people, 2nd lap and I'm passing a few more but feeling it!! pace was a 5:50 minute mile so not slow but being such a short race you know the end is soon in sight! Final lap and I'm really starting to feel my early pace but hanging on and still passing people. I crossed the line in 3rd and get 23 pts for my troubles and a PB time of 14:50. So still in with a chance of lifting the stag trophy in May :-)
So far I've already missed 2 stag runs this season so the pressure is on to compete all those that remain if I am to post a qualifying finish total. On Wednesday I was far from feeling good having just about recovered from fever the previous weekend and nursing a cold, but I wasn't gonna let this stop me. So I donned by running gear for the first time in near enough a week and trotted down to the start. A smaller than usual field assembled for the start. smaller is good as you are obviously competing against fewer people giving a greater chance of finishing higher up.
The first person past the post gets 25 pts followed by 24, 23 and so on all the way down to 1 pt for 25th place. So far this season I've scored 22 pts, and 20 pts so want to keep up the avg. I was called by Dave - the official LBAC Stag ajudicator who does all the maths and works out the handicaps etc. 15 seconds to go....
And I was off... and breathing hard from the start as the cold evening air and blocked nose all work against me however I deep in and go for it. 1st lap completing and I'm passing a few people, 2nd lap and I'm passing a few more but feeling it!! pace was a 5:50 minute mile so not slow but being such a short race you know the end is soon in sight! Final lap and I'm really starting to feel my early pace but hanging on and still passing people. I crossed the line in 3rd and get 23 pts for my troubles and a PB time of 14:50. So still in with a chance of lifting the stag trophy in May :-)
Thursday, 4 March 2010
taking it easy...
It seems I incurred more damage than I thought on last Sundays 17miler in Ashridge. The poor choice of shoe (off-roaders) afforded me less protection and cushioning on the roads, and subsequently the pounding that my feet and ankles took has resulted in them complaining ever since. So I've been very cautious and only went out today for the first time since Sunday to give them time to mend. Seems they are in a reasonable state however still unsure what strategy I should adopt for this Sunday's MK half. The original plan was to chase my PB however this may be asking for trouble, and with only a further two weeks between MK and the Wiggle Lightening 12hr race I think I may opt for self-preservation rather than 'all or bust'. We shall we on Sunday...
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