GG III

Had a long day out yesterday. Unfortunately most of it was in the car.  Set off at 6:30 to get to Grindleford in the Peak District at 9:00 for my third outing on the Grindleford Gallop.  This is a course that suits me more than some others due to the long runnable sections with just three hills of any size.  In the last two years I'd come 3rd and 2nd within the club which never happens in other, more hilly, races. 

I didn't know how I'd get on as I'd not run more than 10 miles in one go (and then only a couple of times) since last August and hardly been out at all until after Christmas.  However, I had managed to get out almost every day in February for 4-5 milers (mostly around the flat lands around Towcester where I work). This was unheard of as three times a week was normal for me.  As usual I was carrying too much weight (fat) for my liking. I'd mysteriously put on half a stone (3 kg) very rapidly in February taking me over 13 stone for the first time in years.  I've managed to get down to 12st 10lb but that's still a stone above racing weight.

Anyway, the weather was almost identical to the previous two years, a bit chilly but no real promise of rain and the risk of the sun coming out.  There was a record attendence by our club (Goyt Valley Striders) with nearly 40 members entered.  It was good to see the old faces again (and some new ones) as I'd not been out with the club for over a year.  (A 350 mile round trip for a training run is a bit excessive).

After a quick warm up we were off.  The usual dash for the narrow stiles was made and out onto the first hill we went.  That soon brought me to a walk as usual.  While strolling up, a new GVS face jogged past (this turned out to be Nick Jefferson who I'd never met before), closely followed by Peter Davis.  They disappeared over the top but I managed to catch and pass Peter as we entered Eyam village.  This set the pattern for the next few miles.  Peter passed me on the drag over Longstone Moor and I caught him again as we entered Great Longstone (where Stuart took this picture).

A bit of mind reading had gone on on the run down into Great Longstone.  Last year Peter had recommended using contact lenses.  Advice which I'd taken.  Along the stony track into GL I'd been thinking it was a good job I was wearing them instead of steamed up glasses when, on catching Peter he said "Bloody hell, I wish I hadn't told you about those lenses".  

Peter then caught me up on the disused railway line heading towards Bakewell.  I clung onto his shirt tails along the track only to see him disappear up the hill to Ballcross Farm.  I didn't see him again until the finish. 

The rest of the run was fairly uneventful. The cracking view down the Derwent valley from Calton Pastures.  Drop down to Edensor, through Chatsworth Park to Baslow then another walk up onto Baslow Edge (where I met Sally Hunter, who forgot to take my picture).  By this time the lack of long runs was showing in my weary legs as I plodded along the tops of the various edges (where, apparently, I passed Will Meredith, who forgot to take my picture).   

That final drag along the top of Froggat Edge to the road felt longer than ever, followed by a weary descent into Grindleford to finish in 3:13, a minute down on last year.  I thought I was 3rd in the club but Stephen Bull had somehow snuck in between me and Peter so I was 4th (7th overall in the M50 category and 68th/339 overall (still comfortably upper quartile)).  

I then managed to drive home to finish a long, weary but enjoyable day.  

Grindleford Gallop (Re-run)

Had another crack at the GG (21 miles, off-road, 3000+ feet ascent) yesterday.  After last year's pleasing performance I thought I'd be able to break that time, hopefully cracking the 3 hour barrier, but apparently it takes a little more than hope to pull that off.

The weather was an exact repeat of last year where it was cold enough to think about putting on an extra or warmer layer but then turned out sunny.  Fortunately, I guessed right as I went for the t-shirt under club vest instead of the Helly.  I didn't go for the club coloured shorts which caused so much mirth last year.  I was in stealth mode (all black) apart from the club vest.

There was a good club turn out again of some 20 runners, with this being a club championship event.  There were some notable exceptions though with Andy (last year's outright GG winner) having to work, Neil (last year's club champion) not able to make it and Julian (Duracell bunny) also not in.

(c)2011 Caz Whittle

After getting held up in the bottlenecks near the start last year I made sure I was near the front this year.  Even so, Al (running as a very poorly disguised Mat) took off like a bat out of hell (clearly too much London Marathon training under his belt).  Pete D soon overhauled me after a mile and they soon disappeared over the first hill up to Eyam.

I thought I'd be stronger on the hills this year but was soon reduced to a walk as the stronger runners over took me.  As usual I retook some of them going down into Eyam but the old freewheeling downhill technique has well and truly deserted me after my major face plant last April.

This year I used a different feeding strategy.  I carried a 500ml bottle but instead of isotonic drink I started with 500ml of energy drink.  I also decided not to stop and top up at the checkpoints.  As with last year there were three drink stations, the latter two of which were also cake stations.  I had half a plastic cup of orange juice at each of them and took a piece of cake from both cake stalls which I ate while walking up to Ball Cross and Baslow Edge respectively.  I also popped the occasional glucose tablet. I'm not sure this was enough. Especially on the fluids.

Most of the walkers this year were very good, opening gates and waiting at stiles etc but I had a few cases of them blocking the route which brought out the trail rage in me.  I admit to expressing a few expletives in their direction. 
 
I think one or two bad words also slipped out as I slipped on one of the stiles and skinned my shin on the rock step on the way up to Longstone Moor.

Looking at last year's splits if I was to get anywhere near 3 hours I'd have to get to the third checkpoint (Longstone Moor) inside 1:05 and the sixth (Baslow) inside 2:10.  I managed the first (just, at 1:04:46) but failed the second (2:17:42), largely due to having trouble on my downhills.  I used to rely on them to make up ground but I really struggled this time with achey quads and a sore (only downhill) left knee.  Instead of racing down the lovely grass slope to Edensore I tottered down like an old man (yes, I have looked in the mirror recently).  

So, down through the lovely Edensore and into Chatsworth House grounds.  I remember running out of steam on this section last year but I found I was OK this time.  I could see the runners in front me and one o fthem was getting overhauled by the others.  As I approached him I suddenly realised it was Pete.  I wasn't expecting to see him again, although he had cycled from Whaley Bridge over to the start of the race so it was all beginning to tell in his legs.  (He cycled back after the race as well.) I offered him a glucose tablet and we went through the spinning gate at Baslow together.  That was the last I saw of him until the end but I was fully expecting him to pass me as I struggled over the last leg. 

The run along the edges was a little shorter than I remembered it but the run through the trees coming of Froggat Edge went on forever.  Then it was down the rocky path through the trees where I lost a good minute or two.  I nearly came a cropper on this path as I clipped a rock and tripped my self up (Pete saw a runner who did fall being seen to by some walkers and I saw him by the ambulance at the finish later.)  Safely reached the bottom, past the car park, over the bridge then finished ( a good ten yards shorter than last year).

My splits (below) show that I was up on last year (by a whole 19 seconds) at checkpoint 4 but gradually lost time over the next few sections ending up three and a half minutes slower.  All in all not too disappointed considering that the evening before I thought I might have to pull out due to a severe pain in my right side (suspect it was my bad kidney) which didn't disappear until I started the race.  I also think I allowed myself to become severely dehydrated which wouldn't have helped especially in those final sections.  

2010 Splits

46th

602

Mick Wren Goyt Valley Striders

M50

03:08:56

00:29:13 00:29:13

00:52:58 00:23:45

01:05:41 00:12:43

01:26:34 00:20:53

01:43:45 00:17:11

02:14:58 00:31:13

03:08:56 00:53:58

2011 Splits

61st

383

Mick Wren

M50

03:12:24

00:28:03 00:28:03

00:52:26 00:24:23

01:04:46 00:12:20

01:26:15 00:21:29

01:44:14 00:17:59

02:17:42 00:33:28

03:12:24 00:54:42

In terms of preparation for the Lakeland 100 I'm quite pleased with my level of fitness considering that I've been concentrating on core and short sharp stuff so far.  I was even able to go for a run over the Chilterns with the dog at 8 this morning.  Need to get some more miles in though.  

The rest of my clubmates put in some great performances with many breaking previous bests and others finishing their first attempts.  Notable amongst these was an amazing 3:29 from Katy (last years Ladies club champion).  There's been some serious training going on over in Whaley Bridge.  

Wrapping Up 2010

All in all its been an eventful year but I'll be glad to see the back of it. I lost my favourite uncle in October and my mother in November, the first a credit to the care and attention of the health service for keeping him going for forty years after a major heart attack, the second a tragic, and all too familiar, tale of indifference and lack of care from the same health service.

This blog has been a bit quiet lately, largely because I've been resting my knee, in the hope that it will repair itself, since completing the OMM at the end of October. I'm not sure the rest is working as my knee has been making its presence felt in the last couple of days. We'll find out in January when I start training again.

The OMM was another of those "why the hell am I doing this again" experiences that are great in hindsight. Dave and I had upgraded to the A class this year, just when the planners decided that as the hills of Dartmoor aren't so big they'd up the distances. We must have done 32 miles on the first day and 20 on the second. Day one was tussocks, bogs and gorse with reasonable weather (cool and dryish) while the second was a day of more tussocks and bogs with a few swollen rivers thrown in all topped off with driving rain and hill fog. I'd invested in a new Terra Nova Laser Competition tent which is a nice one man tent but is very cosy for two. Even so I must have slept for the best part of ten hours. All in all a good weekend.

So, looking forward to next year, apart from a possible participation in the High Peak Marathon (40 odd miles of night time peat bogs)in March I'm going to stick to more runnable trails. I've entered the Grindleford Gallop again (go to go for that 3 hour time) and I've just gone and entered the Lakeland 100!

So watch this space.

Boy Racer

Well more like Old Git Racer but that hasn't got the same ring to it. I seem to have caught the race bug recently. In the last four weeks I've run the Vanessa Chappell, Castleton and Boar's Head Fell Races and today I ran the Chiltern Chase multiterrain 10k. I think that that is more races than I did in the whole of 2009. This is me in the Boar's Head closely followed by two of my clubmates.



The results illustrate the fact that, as much as I love hill running, I'm not actually very good at it, or rather, not suited to it. The more climbing in a race then the lower in the field I finish, exactly halfway at Castleton (6 miles, 1500' ascent), better than halfway at Boar's Head (7-8 miles, 1300' ascent) and top 10% in the Chiltern Chase (10k of low rolling hills). Other factors, such as the lack of joggers (and ipod plonkers) in fell races and my reluctance to run over rough ground after my recent fall, do have an effect but I do go backwards uphill and catch up downhill and on the flats. My performance in the Grindleford Gallop further illustrates this. I was way in front (2 minutes per mile faster) of people who are beating me in shorter fell races.

Having said all that I am enjoying the competition with those around me in the races. There's a cluster of us in the club who are of similar abilities so we are getting some good toing and froing in the races. Great fun.

I'm looking forward to some much longer races over the next few months.

Grindle(ford) Fruit Cake

A week after rediscovering Kendal Mint Cake (KMC) due to having no gels left for the Berkhamsted Half Marathon, I discovered Grindle Fruit Cake (GFC). The £12 entry fee for the Grindleford Gallop (21 miles, 3,000 ft ascent or 34km, 925m ascent in new money) was easily recouped in the drinks, cakes and soup available both on the course and at the end.


This was my first attempt at this event. I was hoping to get somewhere between 3 hours and 3:30. It was also my first run in Goyt Valley Strider's club colours (including my club coloured shorts which have caused much mirth in the club due to their shortness). There were 28 club members in the event so we had a good turn out. There were over 300 runners as well as a similar number of walkers who'd set off 90 minutes earlier.

It was one of those strange days weatherwise where it was difficult to tell how it would turn out. I'd intended to run in just a t-shirt, club vest and shorts. While killing time before the start the weather changed several times from sunny to cold. (We were also entertained by an usually large number of blokes applying vaseline to places that I didn't realise had friction issues.) I then swapped the t-shirt for a long sleeved Helly-Hansen themal top. This proved to be a wise decision although I did get too warm in sheltered sections. I even had club coloured gloves (which I'd found on a KIMM a few years ago). On the shoe front I wore my Salomon Speedcross 2s hoping that they'd be OK over this distance as I'd not run more than 5 miles in them previously. I had hoped to use my new Salomon XT-Wings but they were late in being delivered. (They arrived over the weekend.) As it turned out the Speedcross were brilliant. To top it all off I carried a large bumbag containing waterproof jacket, 500ml drink, phone, energy bar and KMC.

To start we all gathered in a field with no start line to speak off. The starter made the usual inaudible instructions before a hooter had us off over the field. A stile and narrow track after the first hundred yards explained the mad dash from those in the know. I don't mind being held up a little bit at the beginning on a long run as it stops me dashing off too fast.


My strategy for the race after last week's reasonable half marathon was to treat it like a half with a bit (a mere 8 miles) tagged on the end, rather than a marathon with a little bit (5 miles) chopped off. So once I got the chance I started moving ahead overtaking a few runners. Then it was up the hill from Froggat to Eyam. This was quite steep but I managed to run a large chunk of it. I'm beginning to think that I've made a small breakthrough in hill running. I don't seem to be overtaken quite as much as I used to and seem to be able to run more hills. Still a lot of room for improvement but nice and early in the year.



As usual I managed to pass a few on the downhill section into Eyam and onto the first checkpoint. Then it was out the back of Eyam and into a green lane which was soon spoiled by a gang of X-cross motorbike riders making a right racket and smell. I can't be doing with motorised off road vehicles ripping up the countryside.

This section was quite poignant for me as it was where my dad died nearly exactly 32 years ago (7 March 1978). He was out walking on his own and had a massive heart attack aged 47 and here I was aged 51 running through the same area. I suppose a little part of me runs to get away from a heart attack.

After crossing the A632 Stoney Middleton to Peak Forest road it was up over a series of fields, past control 2 and onto control 3 overlooking Monsal Dale. I started to nibble the KMC at this point. This section was now downhill via a farm track and road to Great Longstone where I spotted a trio of grey haired ladies(cauliflower heads as my mother calls them, and she's one too) that I'd also seen in Eyam. They'd reappear every few miles during the race. I was almost on first name terms with them by the end of the race. Again I claimed a few scalps on the down hill section and a few more on the flat section along the Monsal Trail disused railway line to control 4. This was the first cake stop. A large table was creaking under the weight of a variety of cakes wrapped in clingfilm. So I grabbed a large chunk of fruit cake and a drink. I used the remainder of the trail to ease off a little and eat the cake.

Just above Bakewell we left the trail and up the steep hill to Ballcross Farm (control 5). On the way up we crossed a golf course and had to ring a bell to warn the golfers. I bet they were sick of the bell ringing so much that day. I managed to walk and run my way up the hill. At the top we set off over the smooth grassy Calton Pastures as the sun came out properly. It had turned into a cracking day.


By this stage I'd gotten into a pattern of being caught by the same few runners on the uphills then dropping them on the flats and downs. So it was down through Edensor, past Chatsworth and onto Baslow and the second cake stop where I stopped to refuel (another cake and topping up my bottle). My chasers caught me up here and disappeared off up the Bar Road hill while I was refueling. I thought I'd lost them here as they disappeared up the hill. On the tops they were a good half mile in front of me.


I wasn't making any ground on them until we finally started to descend off Froggat Edge. I slowly but surely pulled them all back in until I was back in the lead. After crossing the A625 the path split and there were no signs so I had to wait for them to tell me which way to go. So off I went again and managed to drop them on the fast downhill section to the finish.

I'd hired a cottage in Hathersage so that my family could come up for the weekend as I wasn't going home due to the race. Unfortunately my youngest daughter couldn't make it but everyone else was there. So, I had a fan club waiting for me at the finish. My wife spotted a Goyt Valley runner approaching the finish. "Look, there's one of your Dad's clubmates" she said to Vicky and Lucy. "It is Dad!" they replied. I must have looked bad for my wife not to recognise me!


I dabbed my dibber at the finish and was handed my printout according to which I'd finished 40th (out of 40, so far) in 3:08. Not bad for my first attempt. I was third in our club (and first M50) after the amazing Andy Pead had won in a new course record of 2:24 and Julian (ultra runner extrodinairre) in 3:04. Looking at the result splits I'd arrived just one minute behind Julian at Baslow. I certainly didn't expect to be that close but if I'd known I might have made an extra effort to try and finish with him. The results when published had me at 46th. I'm not sure how that happened.


Overall, I really enjoyed the run. The course is nice and varied and suits me with its long downhills and flat sections. The weather helped of course. The organisation was good (apart from that missing direction towards the end) and the cakes were especially welcome.

I'll probably do that one again. After all that 3 hour barrier needs to be broken. (I wish!)

Events for this Year

As you may know if you follow this blog I'm not a massive race junky. I generally just like to run but it's good to enter the odd event as an excuse to run somewhere new or interesting. Last year for example I only did three events, the Ridgeway Run, the 3 Peaks Race and the OMM (Day 1 and day 2). However, this year I've already entered 2 (Grindleford Gallop (21 miles) and the 3 Peaks (24 miles, again)) and am eyeing up at least a couple more already, the Swiss Alpine K78 Ultramarathon (50 miles) in July and the Ridgeway Challenge (85 miles)in August.

I might get in a few others (Saunders LMM, OMM, etc) and maybe the Zermatt Marathon as well. That should keep me busy.