St Albans XC race report

It was the third cross country fixture in the Chiltern League on
Saturday. The hosts for this one were St Albans Striders and a new
course at Veralium Park. It was a tough course with mud and hills!!
Just how XC should be. The format for the mens senior race was 3 x 3k
laps.

It rained the night before which made for perfect XC conditions. The
spikes were coming out! Bring it on. As far as the LBAC senior mens
team was concerned we were a little light. Many of our fastest runners
were enjoying themselves out in Lanzarotte at the Club La Santa
running champs. This left the rest of us to dig in and put in a
performance that will give the club a fighting chance in the 2
remaining fixtures to remain in League 1 - something we are confident
we can do.

The gun went and I was off. The start was sloping downhill and this
was a good opportunity to get early position before the first climb. I
was running far too fast for a 9k but who cares... no pain no gain.
The first up hill revealed the extent of the muddy conditions. Quite
frankly if you weren't wearing spikes you would have struggled to even
make I up the hill! It was that bad!! - meaning it was great ;-)

Santa's Dash pics

5 mile race & Santa's Dash Race Report

I haven't blogged for a while as there hasn't been too much to report
but this week was different with two races - a company 5 mile race
that I organise which attracted 20 staff and the Leighton Santa's Dash
on Saturday which I volunteered to be the lead 'Christmas Pudding'!

First it was the 5 miler on Wednesday. Called the BRE 5 mile
Anniversary Run it has been running every year since 1980. My first
attempt at this event in 2003 saw me literually crawl over the finish
line in 43 minutes! It was the furthest I had ever run back then!!!
Fast forward 8 years and I was chasing a PB and trying to better my
2009 time of 29:40. 2010 had been run in Santa outfits and wasn't
taken so seriously but 2011 was different. I've done a bit of speed
training in the last few weeks to try and increase the leg turn over.
The pre-race favourite and winner if he turned up was colleague Glen
Watts. This kid (he's only 24 or so) has run a 66minute half marathon,
and ran this course last year in 24:42 which was a course record.

I pushed hard from the start and Glen was right there with me. He had
said before the race that he wasn't out to challenge his own record as
he had a hard race coming up on Saturday in the National XC
championship. So he was a true gent and paced me around the course for
the first half of the race. There was I giving it everything and
breathing really hard whilst Glen just jogged beside me not even
trying! He's not human!! I had a normal watch on just to check the
half way split and final time. I'm definitely of the opinion now that
seeing your actual pace whilst racing simply doesn't help. The half
way split was 13:58 which I've never done before. At this point Glen
started to pulled away and I did all I could to hang on as he edged
off into the distance. Those behind me were a minute or so behind by
this stage. The second half has a few climbs so it is slower. Despite
this I pushed on up the final hill and down the last 400m straight to
cross the line in 28:30. Better than I had ever hoped for and a PB by
1:10. Loving it. Glen finished in 27:15 taking it really easy and 3rd
place in 32 minutes went to George.

Next up was the Leighton Santa's Dash on Saturday. This was a bit of
fun which I ran last year coming third whilst pushing Lili in her
pushchair. This year I was approached by the organisers (Leighton Fun
Runners) and asked if I wanted to be the Christmas Pudding! This was
an ominous task as it required you to be the lead runner and stay
there! No pressure then. The photos pretty much tell the story. It was
a 2.5 mile course from the centre of town a short double loop around a
park and along a few roads below heading over the canal and looping
back into town. It was always gonna be hard and hard it was! I had
expected to be given a bit of a head start but that didn't happen so
as the Town Mayor started the race I had to sprint off the line like
Ussain Bolt as 45 or so Santa's gave chase. Despite the brisk start I
had company and the lad in 2nd place wasn't going to give up lightly.
Considering I had 2.5 miles to run the pace we were running which must
have been sub 5 mpm was not sustainable. I huffed and puffed all the
way around as I managed to grow the gap slowly but surely. It was soon
all over as the Christmad Pud give good. I was effectively the pace
maker so couldn't take the real victory which went to fellow LBAC
running Billy Mead who pushed me all the way from the start to the
finish. Well done Billy great running. Don't know my exact time but it
was definitely sub 14 minutes.

On Sunday I joined four fellow LBAC runners for a 13 mile offroad
jaunt in the countryside. A lovely morning with the sun shining and
wind blowing! Great times.

Watford XC Chiltern League race

Yesterdays XC race at Watford was quite a bit different from the
running I have been doing of late. LBAC compete in the Chiltern League
which features 5 races between Oct and Feb. I missed the 1st race of
the season so this was my first XC outing this year... Just 2 weeks
after SNOD too, so no speed training for the best part of a month (or
two!) going into this race. It was an undulating/hilly 6 miler in
Cassiobury park, Watford. All XCs go out hard and this was no
different... The gun went and we were off joistling for position. I
found my pace and fell in line behind a few team mates. Tom and Pete
quickly pulled away though (both sub 3hr marathon runners) so I went
about my own race not getting too carried away as I knew it would
destroy me in the latter stages. As I was expected it was really tough
going and my breathing was really hard from start to finish. Partly
because I was less race fit and also because I was pushing so hard.
It's the only real way to race XC... you do pace it to some degree but
it's at a pace that you know can only be sustained for a very short
time. Hopefully for the length of the race but that remained to be seen.

The course consisted of a first larger loop and 2nd slightly shorter
one. Both loops however climbed the main hills which we would be
tackling twice. As I said I was pushing hard throughout and breathing
heavy. I was passed by a rush of runners on the first half of the
first loop but after that despite running right at the peak of what I
was capable of I held my own and didn't lose many more places. The
pattern went that I would past runners on the downs and the up hill
sections but I would get passed on the flats. For me this worked the
best.

By the second loop everyone was spent so it was just about hanging on
and digging deep, and dig deep I did. The final hill was a real killer
but I pushed hard spurred on by fellow female LBAC team mates and
picked off a few runners as I climbed up to the finish which is always
a very satisfying way to finish a XC. Gasping for all the oxygen I
could get I crossed the finish line in 38:58 minutes and seconds for
the 6.05 mile course (measured on a mates garmin). I was as good as
dead but so alive at the same time! I dunno what it is about XC racing
but there's nothing else like it that makes you work so damn hard and
push yourself to your limits. I love it. I think the fact that you are
racing for your team more so than yourself is a huge factor in it. You
just don't wanna let anyone down but competitively you also wanna get
as close to your team mates ahead of you too!!

I finished 4th LBAC runner out of the 12 of us that ran, and 121st out
of 359 senior men overall. Time to get training and improve that for
St Albans XC on 3rd December.

The other reason for needing to get some essential speed training in
is that I've recently agreed to assist in the Leighton Santa's Dash on
27th November. I will be dressed up in full Christmas Pudding costume
and chased down by 50+ Santa suited runners over a 5k course. The
shame of getting caught is not something I want to think about so I
must in effect win... no pressure then. I just hope that no serious
runners would enter a Santa's Dash!!...would they? :-O

More SNOD pics

I won't apologise for ripping these photos off the marathonfoto
website. Their prices are absolutely scandalous! If they wanted to
attract more potential customers and real runners to buy their photos
they should charge sensible prices! And until they do I won't be
buying them.
>

Snowdonia Marathon Race Report

The final slippery descent at 25.5m into Llanberis

Snowdonia Marathon... An insight into one of the toughest marathons in the UK...

The night before.... I arrived in Llanberis to meet up with Nick Ham who was my roomy for the weekend and had very kindly offered a share of his twin room (I had left booking accommodation far too late!) Our minds soon turned to food. There was one particular eatery in town where all the runners were heading - Pete's Eats!! One Fish & Chip supper later all washed down with a pint of tea and I was a happy boy. We retired to our hotel for the night - Padern Lake Hotel and despite the Karaoke party right beneath our room a reasonable nights rest was had.

Race morning... a bowl of porridge was the order of the day with OJ and coffee. I was saving myself for the full Welsh breakfast only if I PB'ed today. This would require me to run faster than London 2010 (my last marathon over 18 months ago) and go sub-3:30! was it on....? Hell yeah!!!!

Race conditions... This was the subject of much debate and discussion on the Runners World SNOD forum all through the previous week. Would it be dry, or wet, warm or cold, windy or still... It turned out to be all of the above and more!! This made for some difficult decisions on race gear. How many layers were too few or too much? Do I start with a jacket or not. Gloves and hat too?? Decisions decisions... One very good decision the night before at registration was the purchase of a Buff. This is essentially a piece of tubular cloth that can be worn in a variety of ways on the head or neck. It doesn't sound like much but it was probably the one best kit choices of all!! And stayed on my head throughout the race keeping me warm enough without overheating.

The Start... Nick and I made our way to the start line a short walk from the hotel. We bumped in to Jez Bragg on the way and had a good chat with him. Jez was a late entrant and using this race as training for The North Face Endurance Challenge in San Francisco in November. Jez would surely finish in the top 10 today. What a legend. We started right near the front... Was this wise? In hindsight... absolutely the right decision! And we may even get on TV as a result! Welsh channel S4C has an hour show covering the whole race on Sunday evening, and available online too. So take a look...

We timed our start perfectly and only had to hang around for 5 minutes or so before we were off!!! Long enough to frantically discussed whether to start with wind/rain proof jackets on or off. Decision made and they were off and packed away in our waist packs with our energy gels. It was a fast start and I covered the first 2 miles in 14 minutes... Oh heck slow down Stu... But that huge hill through the mountain pass ahead should do that for us! And it did....

The Rain... It chucked it down buckets from start to finish with the occasional break which lasted all of 5 minutes. The first climb up Llyn Peris pass was soooooo long and very wet and windy. If this was the face of things to come then it was going to be one hell of a battle. And this was the case as the rain simply didn't let up all race. But this race has gained a reputation for throwing everything it has at runners and you certainly don't leave dissappointed. I don't think snowdonia does 'dry and sunny'!

Oh the wind!!... And I'm not referring to my room mate Nick! ;-) The wind was relentless too but it was also on our back at times. It was both friend and foe but you soon learn to accept it and move on. And accept it I did and move on I did too well under a 7:30mpm pace.

And talking of pacing.... I made the decision to NOT where my garmin for this race :-O yes that's right no minute by minute feedback of how fast or slow I was going, no averages, no actuals, no bpms, no fear!!! I was gonna run this one by 'feel' alone. I don't want to be a slave to the watch that could potentially spoil my enjoyment of this epic race. I was set free from the shackles and relied soley on my trusty London marathon freebie watch. It worked a treat for so many reasons. 1- I didn't really know my marathon pace anyway so what use would the splits and instant feedback be to me, other than a cause of potential annoyance and frustration, 2 - on such an undulating course the splits would no doubt be all over the place as you either climb, descend or pump out the miles on the flats. So constantly checking your spilts is of no use. It was a great decision!

The scenery.... This marathon has the tag as one of the most scenic and beautiful races in the UK (certainly for a road marathon). It was truely breathtaking with sheer cliff faces rising on either side of you as if they were gazing down on us as we threaded our way up and over the mountain passes. These gave way to sweeping views of lakes, waterfalls, and open fields but mostly mist shrouded valleys and villages below. It was certainly a good distraction.

The support... The locals were out in full force despite the awful conditions. Each village and town that we went through had spectators waving, offering words of encouragement and support, handing out orange segments which I gratefully accepted, and generally boosting your morale. It was great and most definitely appreciated.

The hills... Oh the hills! Is this a PB course? Well you will have to wait and see for that ;-) but on paper it shouldn't be with over 2,500ft of equal ascent and descent. I can say with some certainty that you cannot make up the time lost on the climbs whilst descending. The first climb from around the 2 mile mark to 4 miles was emmense especially so early on in the race and with the driving side wind and rain. But it wasn't unjoyable! You just had to grin at what we were being subjected to, and put one foot in front of the other and continue climbing whilst taking in the stunning surroundings.

Off-roading... Trail on a road marathon I hear you say!! Yes that's right. The long descent down the first mountain pass took us eventually onto the first trail section which continued to weave down the mountain side with cliff tops and a lake to our right. It was a blast to run and I overtook many cautious runners perhaps not so use to running this type of terrain. I was loving it. The second bit of trail in the race was promised at the very end with a mile descent to the finish. I was looking forward to that!

Fuelling... I had 5 energy gels in my waist pack which worked an absolute treat. Sweatshop didn't have my normal GU gels so I opted for a new Powerbar gel made with real fruit juice instead and they had a real kick. The caffinated one was an instantanous pick me up that had me flying and had a dramatic effect on my positivity! I was even singing 'oh what a beautiful day'! Lol. The water stations were frequent and had bottled water, and energy drink. The Powerbar gel did need to be washed down with water so I used these stops to spreadout my gel intake. I took four in total at around 6, 10, 15 and 20 miles.

The flats... Despite it's reputation it isn't all hilly and there were also long stretches of flat road beside several lakes on route to eat up the middle miles. These miles had to be fast if I were to get under 3:30 because time was obviously lost on the climbs. The early flat stretches were easy going as I probably ran a sub 7:15/30 pace. As the miles wore on though even the flats were starting to tire the legs. The stretch between 17-22 miles which was flat/undulating was the toughest of the whole race. Strange that it was the flats and not the hills that turned out to be like this. Although perhaps understandable as the pace was so much quicker on the flats that it demanded a lot of effort to sustain it.

Half way split... I worked out before the race that I wanted to hit half way inbetween 1:35 and 1:38. Any slower than this and sub 3:30 was going to be extremely tough if not impossible. The second half of this race is slower than the half, no question. Negative splits were out the question with such a tough final climb in store at 22 miles. Anyway I hit half way in 1:38 which was remarkable considering I wasn't wearing a garmin! What pacing even if I don't say so myself. But it was at the bottom end of what I think I needed to run to be on for a PB so clearly the effort had only really just began.

Cameradaire Rules... It wasn't only the spectators that boosted morale. In the second half of the race I made the point to talk to those runners that had been within the same pack as me for quite some time now. One chap Paul who I said hello to just after halfway was also targetting sub 3:30 and had run this race before. I asked if he thought we were on for it and his confident response that he thought we could was an extra boost. If he thought we could and I did then what was stopping us from achieving our goal? With this we set about tackling the final half running together, whilst at other times I stretched ahead, and then a mile or so later Paul would do the same. So we were working well together to keep the pace going. This was great motivation and helped me to really believe that I could do it.

The final hill... And so we approached the final hill which loomed large and I had heard so much about from other peoples accounts. It is this hill which has broken many runners that have run SNOD and been reduced to a 15 minute per mile crawl up the two mile stretch. I certainly couldn't afford such a pace and had no intention of being beaten by it. I dug deep and gave it my all. I had 4 miles remaining and around 40 minutes to cover this distance. A 10 minute mile average seemed doable I thought to myself. I approached a chap in a '100 marathon club' vest who had previosuly passed me, and I asked whether he thought we were on for sub 3:30? His response was not as confident as Paul's was earlier who was now 200 or so metres ahead of me on the climb. With this grim prediction but fate still very much in my hands I set off up the hill with new vigour. After everything I had given to this point not letting up the pace once I was about to blow it with 4 miles to go. I grunted and shouted to myself to haul arse and make light work of this mere hill. I didn't count how many I passed on the way up but it must have been well into the 20's and not one passed me. I had made it to the 24 mile mark on top of the ridge and was looking forward to the final 'easy' 2 miles of descent to the finish. How wrong could I be...

The final descent... For a start the descent didn't start at 24 miles like I had thought and we continued to climb and undulate along the top of the ridge now on to trail. These weren't fast miles as I had hoped. When the descent did finally start it was far from easy. Road shoes on slippery grass, mud and rocks are not the ideal combo! It was now raining hard and it was a case of picking a line and getting down safely.

The 'fall'... WIPEOUT!! One second I was on my feet the next I was over on my left arm and arse sliding down on the rocks and mud. Ouch! No time to waste though and I bounced up quickly surveyed the damage and continued down. I overtook more runners on the way down this tricky part of trail and got back onto the tarmac road. The descending wasn't over though and this last part on road was extremely steep with my toes crushing into the end of my shoes. Applying the breaks was near impossible.

The finish line... it eventually flattened out and we were back in to the town of Llanberis. At this point I was now sprinting and wanting to go as much under sub 3:30 as possible which finally seemed to be a reality. I turned the corner, and another and another and there was the finishing arch ahead on the high street. I felt amazing. The pain was gone. I couldn't feel the rain anymore and I had finished. What an awesome marathon. The time on my watch was 3:26.51 :-) I dropped to my knees and kissed the ground - a bit dramatic you might think but there was a very good reason for doing this! My timing chip that was tied around my laces had come unstuck earlier in the race so I was now holding it in my hand and had been for the last 7 miles. So to make sure of an official finish and time. I placed the tag on both timing mats under the finish arch to be certain.

I collected my Welsh slate coaster from a volunteer and whooped with joy at what I had accomplished. In all honesty I had no idea if a PB was possible on this course and my training for this race wasn't exactly text book. With few long runs, little hill work and low mileage this all added to what was a great feeling at the finish. To better my London marathon time in Snowdonia on such an amazing course in such awful conditions was the icing on the cake.

Official chip time and position just in!!! 3:26.43. 115th position overall out of 1418 finishers.

Thoughts turn to Snowdonia Marathon

So there's less than a week to go now until my big marathon of the year... Snowdonia in North Wales. My concern at this point is that I'm not nervous enough about the prospect of racing in one of the toughest marathons in the UK. I'm just looking forward to it emmensely :-)

In terms of training in the lead up to this its been a little hit and miss but this hasn't appeared to have dented my confidence. My goal in the summer when I turned my thoughts to this race was to go sub 3:30 which would be a marathon PB. I posted a 3:30.06 in London in 2010 and haven't raced a marathon since then. So where is my fitness now? That's the big question... Have I improved and if so by how much? I honestly do not know the answer to this one, which adds an extra bit of excitement to the race.

The Snowdonia course profile is reported to add anywhere between 10-25 minutes to a flat marathon time. A faster marathon runner would be at the bottom end of this scale with others somewhere in between. But its not an exact science and this is a mountain marathon of sorts so the weather and conditions will also play a large part.

For the record I'm hoping that i'm fit enough to run an equivalent 3:15 flat marathon time which may see me duck under by PB. But its a big unknown. At this point I thinking that I won't wear the Garmin as I really want to run by feel and with it being so undulating the course profile will largely take care of the pace. Wearing a garmin can also have a negative effect on your running by slowing you down unnecessarily. If for example I find myself running at a 7:15 mpm pace which feels really comfortable and sustainable but I see this on the garmin i'm liable to think... Oh that's a bit fast for a marathon i'd better slow down. Without the garmin i won't know and therefore my pace should be far more natural. The fact that I actually don't know what my marathon pace is adds to the arguement not to wear the garmin.

So a simple stopwatch will do the job just fine and allow me to check some mile splits from time to time. I think the half marathon spilt will be the crucial one and tell me whether i'm on for a sub 3:30. The second half is far tougher than the first so there will be no negative splits here. I would hope to go though the half between 1:35 and 1:40.

Between now and Saturday I think its a case of total rest with perhaps a short leg stretcher on Thursday and walk around some of the course on Friday in town.

Wish me luck!