Tony
Checking out the course
Monday, January 28th, 2008Over the last couple of weeks training has gone pretty well.. Although on the 19th a strange thing happened.. How this sorts itself out on the day I do not know exactly and look from advice from those who have gone before..
The day started off well when my running partner and I did an afternoon 6 miler with the intention then of doing the last two checkpoints on the real course.. The 6 miler went fine and so we went out had dinner with friends and then after a while we set off to find checkpoint 4..
On arriving and parking up we set off only to find that large parts of the route to be flooded.. Nothing too bad but detours none the less… That was until you go the Motorway bridge near Staines, once under the whole area was flooded and so the only option was to do a complete U-turn and scoot through the hotel grounds and then run through Staines until we could access the route again..
The rest of the route was passable, just something folk need to be aware of for the day. If it was flooded there it more than likely would be the whole way up too…After that the rest was a doddle although we only went to checkpoint 5..
Monday was a rest day, Tuesday saw me do an 8 miler with a lot of heavy kit on, Wednesday rest, Thursday 10 miler and that was it as I was very lazy. This week will be more brutal and I expect to push out quite a few miles by the end of it. Culminating in doing 12 miles on Sunday or there abouts as we will be doing Finish to CP 5 as a run then 5 to finish as a tab…
Hope everyones training is going well and only three weeks to go to the big event.. See you all soon…
No Comments »Training on course
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008Xmas was upon me very fast and the will to train was very minimal.. But with a couple of tick over run/walks I was more than pleased. Honest!!
Not being one to mess about it was straight back into the saddle when we returned to work. After arriving back late Friday I was up bright and breezy to conquer checkpoints 2-4 on the real-time TM08 course..
So it was the same routine as before in that my running partner met me at CP4 (which has a very nice tea room if you find the time to have a brew lol). We left my car and used hers to drive up to CP2. The weather was nice and chilly but not too bad. The route to CP3 was very mushy in parts due to all those ungratefuls who walk on the Tow path each day. But we jogged and tabbed our way along the route, which is easy to follow taking you past Cookham and through a part of Maidenhead into Bray Locks… Here you will find a couple of benches to rest on and a wooden hut for a quick change of clothing and the call of nature. (If required). This we did in 2 hours (not the call of nature the leg) which was way too fast for what we had planned, this being due to the two of us thinking we were Seb Coe and Paula Radcliffe. Not Arthur and Martha Higginbottom from Slouchville.
The next stage, after taking a nice 30 min break saw us then heading for the gatehouses and welcome teahouse at the finish. This leg, like the CP2-3 one has areas that are very mushy/muddy and slippery under foot. In some areas you can keep off the beaten track and run on firmer ground but for certain areas you have to put up with what is a slush pit type short bridal path.. The scenery is picturesque in parts, if you take the time to look. Especially when you get near to Windsor Castle. Going through Windsor (although only a small part of it) makes you stand out in a “Where’s Wally” style way as the shoppers in their normal wear are affronted by folk in lycra and muddy shoes carrying packs trying to look like athletes. Once again this leg is well sign posted and can be done without the use of a map (although one by the rules HAS TO BE CARRIED). So after sight seeing in Windsor and from Victoria Bridge we cracked on and completed the leg in 2 and a half hours. So all in all 5 hours including the break..
No aches were felt as we went in to collect our nice warm cuppa and a bite to eat.. Admittedly when I returned to my home and tried to get out of the car I had to remind my brain and body that the concrete blocks below my waist were in fact legs, and were needed to get into my home..
So Start to CP4 now complete and no issues at all. We are going to complete the shortest legs CP4 to finish in the next couple of weeks and intend to do them at the time we reckon we will do on the day. So head torches will be out and a late finish is anticipated. But as this will be when we know the Mong rats (private joke) will attack our bodies we have decided to just tab rather than run/tab to see how we fair time wise over the 16 miles..
If anyone has any questions about the route from the Start to Check point 4 please ask and I will answer as best as I can. For those who do not know the route there are toilets at each of the locks as far as we have noticed and anyone can use them. Some require a key from the Lock Keeper all have been friendly when we have approached them.
Happy new year to you all.. See you very soon….
Tony
No Comments »Cold training
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007Getting cold out there.. Last week saw me only train Monday – Wednesday and Saturday.
Monday was a steady 7 miles or so in the dark due to work commitments. Which is all good in the long term. It also allowed me to stretch my legs off after lolling about far too much making excuses on why I didn’t have time to go out.
Tuesday saw me go for a fast paced run over 8 mile, once again just to blow the cobwebs out after only running at race pace over the last couple of outings. This was enjoyable and even though it was Baltic it didn’t cause a big enough excuse not to go out :O)
Wednesday The dreaded Orienteering day.. 55 mins over a ridiculously short course considering the time. However it is a work out and although I hate it (only on days I perform badly on the courses) it is an hour on the feet.
Saturday Just tabbed 6 miles with race weight on and to keep the legs ticking over.. Overall a steady week to ease me into Xmas. Let’s hope the old motivation keeps me going over the festive period.
If this is my last post before the New Year Happy Xmas folks and hope you all have a good un… Cheers Tony.
No Comments »Research
Thursday, November 29th, 2007On Saturday my running partner and I decided we were ready to attack the course and use it as a real time worst case scenario session. Due to work, we unfortunately couldn’t meet until 1pm at checkpoint 2.
We then cross decked kit and drove down to the start point. Here I left my own car to the mercy of the skateboarders (no problems at all btw), bonus was the car park was free on a Saturday, bad news is I didn’t know that till the machine swallowed £4 of my cash due do it breaking..
We set off not long after, with our kit we expect to carry on the day. Our plan for the real event was to run 5 miles, then tab 5 miles hit a checkpoint and then continue after a quick kit change with our support team. This however became obviously an impossible task due to certain parts of the route, if in the same condition, being mud traps and not worth the injury to attempt. So a 50/50 split over the entire 10 miles is more likely as opposed to strict 5 miles running THEN 5 miles tabbing. We followed the OS mapping to the letter and in the main it was fine. Although we took a detour due to bad signing around a field which added probably ½ a mile as well as a quick rummage through some blokes garden :O). Lots of interesting things to see especially the really posh house with the miniature train track running through its grounds..Bizarre!!..
The first 10 miles were both scenic, fun and very easy on the body. We arrived at the Church in 2 hours after running 5 mileish and tabbing 5 mileish… All easy to find, and as I said easy to navigate. I know now I do not need the map for that section although it will be carried. The church provided, by its enclosed entrance a nice warm place to sit and change out of our wet kit and into something dry as well as a place to get some extra fluids and food on board… Thankfully the Vicar/Priest never turned up as he would have been in for a shock to find men and women semi naked drying off in his church entrance.
By now it had become dark, which in all fairness was a bonus, so we set off again at 4:08 pm and decided to treat this leg as a night time one and see how slow we would be if we just forced marched it all the way at around 4-5 MPH…. Navigating at night was pretty easy and standard in our jobs. Only the forks in the tracks at certain points caused concerns but the trusted signposts were there to ease any concerns and matched the mapping…The route nearer the end became harder work due to the earlier rain turning it into a real mud bath and it started raining again..
The end was welcome and after having the joy of realising the first car was still there we sat down in it to assess any aches and pains.. Both of us were fine and we had done the 20 miles along with breaks in just over 5 hours. Considering we tabbed around 2/3rds of the course this was very good news and made us realise we were well on track to get to where we want to be on the day..We had been sat there in the car only 5 mins and by now the windows had steamed up…Bearing in mind this is a very quiet out of the way car park we were pleased to have attracted the local police who were expecting to find something different from the two muddied up man and woman chatting about Thames Meander.. It did bring even more humour into the day as we realised what they thought we were up to. :O)
Over the next few weeks we will be doing legs 2-4 and 4 to finish. Thankfully we are in a position to train the longer distances on the Tow Path as we both live within driving distance. Overall a great day out and nice to push out the distance and go at the slowest pace we ever intended to go and still nearly hit our predicted best times.. The next day we both only had slight aches as would be expected. Good times…:O)
No Comments »Training and Orienteering
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007The last couple of weeks I have been putting in some miles but not enough according to my schedule. Saying that as I believe the second half to be all top two inch (brain induced will power) I reckon i’m more than on track at the moment.
I’m still Orienteering on Wednesdays and have actually started improving that much that i’m only 10 mins off my Nemesis who has been doing this since he left the womb :O)
So the will to continue Orienteering once I have beaten the press ganger may not be there.
Apart from that two weeks ago I did a 6 mile kit march carrying 15kg which was done in 1 and a half hours very very comfortably. Followed the next day by a long swim and a hard gym work out.
This last week has seen me able to train with my Thames Meander Partner for the first time. On Monday I ran alone for 5 miles, Tuesday was a working day but Wednesday and Thursday saw us out at night running 8 miles then 7 miles. It was great to get out there and run together.
We have both decided now (or for now) to run 5 miles, tab 5 miles, checkpoint, kit change then off again.. This in theory will make us well under time and on for a good finish. Friday, Saturday and Sunday saw rest days due to travel and Monday saw a return to the running alone with a 5 miler at pace to blow out the cobwebs…
Overall I know in myself my stamina is very good and things at this moment in time are going nearly to plan. After a couple more run/tabs this week we both intend on doing 20 miles on the tow path this week end so if anyone is about look out for us.
No Comments »A busy week
Friday, October 5th, 2007Legs seemed to react well to the race from Sunday. So I decided to take Monday off.
With the Man flu a thing of the past
Tuesday started well with a nice gentle 3 miler to release the legs…
Wednesday due to work commitments I failed badly at anything other than pushing buttons on a computer, however my fingers did benefit from a great work out!!!!!
Thursday I made up for missing Wednesday by doing a 4 miler in the morning along with a 4 miler in the afternoon.
Friday I intend doing a longer run around 8 miles before taking
Saturday off due to having something important to do which will totally take over my day.
Sunday Planning to go for a nice long swing and a bike ride in the gym at work.
Training will go up another level next week hopefully with the introduction of Gym and Swimming every second day just to mess my body up even more. I am getting the buzz back for this kind of training though so happy days. Or am I just going through a Mid thirties crisis???? Happy training peeps…:O)
No Comments »Mortimer 10k
Monday, October 1st, 2007After gradually starting to increase my running days and distances to get some miles into the legs I decided to start racing again. Something I haven’t done since I was around 20 year old.
My first outing was planned to be the Mortimer 10k in Reading on 30th September, this seemed to be ideal as my training week fitted this perfectly.
The week started on Tuesday with a steady state 5 miler followed on Wednesday by orienteering something that I hate with a passion but it does get you out running for around an hour, this seems to be a lot more difficult than a normal hours running too for some reason.
Thursday was again a solid 4 ½ miler with Friday a day off. Saturday started really badly as I had contracted the most feared illness for any man. That being the dreaded MAN FLU. nothing can describe this illness but every man knows just how bad it is!! No run today then, just sweat it out and Sunday will be fine….Or so I thought.
I woke up in a pool of sweat Sunday morning at 06:30..Not a good start, straight away I knew the dreaded MAN FLU was still with me. Should I bin the race and stay in bed feeling sorry for myself. Yes of course I should and that is just what I did!!!!
Not really I got up showered changed sorted out my kit had breakfast and jumped in the car heading for Reading. What I expected I do not know but I was met with some of the most polite folk I have met in a while. Along with some rather bendy, freakily clothed club style runners chatting about how many races they had done this month lol..
So I went to hide in my car thinking I would be way out of my depth especially with MAN FLU… Did I mention I had MAN FLU btw??
Anyway the race was about to start I finished my water like a good boy and straight away felt like the Sahara had took up residence in my throat. MP3 player on, music booming and me and Des O’ Connor were off (NOT). The first 5km seemed to fly to be honest and I hit there in 22 mins, this couldn’t hold and it didn’t I had peaked too early and the bloke I was using as my pace maker disappeared…I really now needed water as I was spitting sand as the waterfall from my nose started to flow again..
Who said running was fun??? Thankfully at the 6km point an oasis appeared, well a little girl and her Dad??? Handing out water in nice cups that when you collected them and tried to drink it went all over you and none in the mouth. If you are reading this I thank you…. I did need the two drops I managed to get down me so badly..
The rest of the race seemed to take forever up little irritating hills that sapped at your legs when all you wanted to do was sit under a tap of running water to quench the thirst…
The finish was now in sight and a young lad came alongside me to let me know if I put on a spurt I would be a sub 50 man?? So I beasted what was left in the tank and crossed the line in 49:54 I think it was, or 49:57?? Collected my medal and free water( this time in a bottle) then went back to the car in a strange mood…I was happy that I had dragged myself to the race and completed it but really hated the fact that I didn’t get to run full tilt due to MAN Flu LOL..
I plan to do a few more events between now and Feb and hope to extend the distance, 10 miler, half marathon and then full marathon.. So today I had highs and lows. But even man down I cracked 50 mins, so I really have to be happy don’t i??? Roll on next week…
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