15

Pembrokeshire Coast Challenge

After my first road marathon back in 1996, I could barely walk for 3 days afterwards and it took around a week or so before I felt strong enough to venture out for a 10k run. The thought of running a further 2 marathons on consecutive days would have seemed insane and impossible, yet that was the challenge that faced me and around 85 other runners who took part in VOTWO Pembrokeshire Coast Challenge last weekend. It was not only the distance that presented a challenge, but also the terrain and the weather.

The Pembrokeshire Coast in November has a reputation as being bitingly cold and incredibly unpredictable. Couple this with the gnarly and rugged coastline that has some formidable climbs and descents, and you have yourself a recipe for an exciting and challenging event. The guys at VOTWO have clearly spotted the potential for such events and have developed a series of coastal marathon challenges throughout the year; they also run similar events on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset (March) and the Atlantic Coast (August).

When I arrived in St David’s on Thursday evening, it was clear that the VOTWO had done this kind of thing before. There were clearly some administration issues that had to deal with, primarily as a result of the youth hostel we were supposed to be staying at being closed down at short notice. However, they handled this expertly and everyone was placed in alternative (and superior) accommodation in the surrounding area.

Day 1 Dale – Newgale
Having breakfasted, our kit checked and received a military style briefing from VOTWO Director Ben Mason, we were bussed the 20 minute journey from St David’s to Dale. Those walking the course had set out some two hours previous. There was plenty of conversation on our “runners” bus (one of four or so) going out, with everyone sharing war stories and gauging expectation levels. It was clear there was a real mixed bag, from seasoned ultra runners to first timers.

I wanted to travel light each day. Fortunately my Team Wiggle cycling vest has 3 large pockets at the back, ideal for storing the compulsory kit I wasn’t able to wear, notably the issued map, a whistle, compass, notepad and pencil, mobile phone (fully charged with emergency numbers stored) and chocolate bar (or equivalent). It was also compulsory to have warm clothing, a hat, gloves and at least 500ml of fluids. The only piece of “non essential” kit I had was my I-pod Nano, which for me is compulsory whenever I run.
We debussed and rounded up pensively waiting for the start. We set off with little formality and minimal fuss, everyone seemingly content to head out at a really steady pace.

Within a few hundred yards we hit the first of the days numerous climbs. I began to wonder what I had got myself into and whether my road running training would get me through the hilly off road course over the next three days. I had been pretty beaten up at the London to Brighton trail run in September; living and commuting in London is simply not conducive to trail running and I rarely get the opportunity to go off road.
Supposedly the flatter and easier of the 3 days, I couldn’t imagine how things could get any tougher. I realised then that event would be a test of self preservation more than anything else.

Once over the hill and the initial shock, I settled down to my normal pace and began to take in some of the breathtaking scenery on offer. The wind was whipping around and made me lose my footing for the first of several occasions as I picked my way through the furrow and troughs of the coastal path. There were no major incidents throughout the day and I managed to locate and fuel up at each of the three checkpoints with no hassles.

The finish was on the beach at Newgale and I crossed the line conservatively in 10th place overall in a time of 5 hours 9 minutes. Within half hour of finishing it began to get dark and I thought about the prospect of having to complete any of the following days in darkness. I further resolved to do all I could to keep within 6 hours each day; every km out on the course after dark was bound to take 2 or 3 minutes longer than in daylight.

Day 2 Newgale – Porthgain
We arrived back at the beach in Newgale and the place was living up to it’s name with the wind picking up to 25mph and gusting quite a bit more than that. This heightened the experience of running, at times, within a few feet of the cliff edge; fortunately the wind was blowing inland.
The morning briefing had forewarned that the terrain would be more difficult and it was a fair assessment. There were a few occasions where I was scrambling up rocks using hands as well as feet.
It was in the early part of the day that I had my lowest point of the event; I had been pushing hard and overtaken five or six people, including a group of 3 guys all dressed in black (whom I had mentally logged as the “MIBs”) before reaching the foot of a rocky and substantial hill.

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13

London Marathon Reject

If like me, you were one of the unlucky ones to have received a “sorry” letter from Dave Bedford this week, don’t let it get you down.
I have applied for the London Marathon every year since 1994; some years I have been successful, others not.

There are a few things you can do if you were unsuccessful:

1) Hang up your running shoes
2) Convince Mr Bedford he has made a mistake
3) Go for a charity place
4) Look for an alternative race

1 & 2 are clearly not viable options and if you are unable / unwilling to go for a charity place, you will probably want to find an alternative. To help you, I have set out my top five alternatives to the London Marathon.

1 Paris Marathon
Summary: French chic plus everything that a large scale city marathon provides
Date: 11 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Road, Flat
Field: 40,000 places, entry is open c21,000 places already taken
Enter at: www.parismarathon.com/marathon/2010/us/r2_sinscrire.html
Cost: 58 – 90 Euros
Additional requirements: You will need to submit a Medical Certificate with your entry

2 Boston Marathon
Summary: The 144th running of the world’s oldest annual marathon
Date: 19 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Road, undulating with the infamous “Heartbreak Hill” 20 miles in
Field: 25,000 places, entry is open
Enter at: www.registration.baa.org/2010/cf/RegAthlete/pg_WebApp.cfm?mode=start
Cost: $175 for overseas runners
Additional requirements: You will need to meet qualifying time standards and submit proof with your entry

3 Rotary Shakespeare Marathon
Summary:
Date: 19 April 2010
Terrain and profile: A predominately flat multi terrain course.
Field: 3,400
Enter at: www.shakespearemarathon.org.uk/
Cost: £23 / £25
Additional requirements: There is a cut off time of 2 hrs 25 mins for marathon runners completing the first lap and 6.00 hours for completing the course.

4 The Great Welsh Marathon
Summary: The 2st ever running of the Great Welsh Marathon, which takes part along the Millennium Coastal Park in Llanelli
Date: 19 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Billed as fast, scenic and traffic free
Field: 250
Enter at: www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/registrationinfo.asp?sp=&v=6&EN=52801
Cost: £22 / £25
Additional requirements: None

5 Brighton Marathon
Summary: Another inaugural event, this one is in “London by the Sea”
Date: 19 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Road and promenade, billed as fast
Field: 12,000 places already taken but, entry opens again in early November and there are a number of charity places still up for grabs
Enter at: www.brightonmarathon.co.uk/entry.html
Cost: £40
Additional requirements: Register on the race website for details of entry re-opening

However, why not take the opportunity to try something a little different? Ranked below are 5 ultra alternatives:

1 Forces March 2010
Summary: 131 miles over 5 days in as an individual or in a team of 4 from Ilfracombe to Bulford Camp
Date: 27 – 31 May 2010
Terrain and profile: Challenging, with many hills and valleys along the way
Field: Not published
Enter at: www.forcesmarch.org.uk/entry.asp
Cost: £115 per person
Additional requirements: Each team must have their own support crew and vehicle to assist with transportation, camp set-up and equipment supplies. There is also a sponsorship target of £1,000.

2 Underround
Summary: A 42km route visiting all 42 London Underground Stations
Date: Anytime you like!
Terrain and profile: The streets of London
Field: However many you can get
Enter at: The course details can be purchased at www.rorycoleman.co.uk
Cost: £10 for the course map
Additional requirements:

3 Two Oceans
Summary: 40th running of “the worlds most beautiful marathon”. 34.8 miles from Newlands to Constantia Nek, South Africa
Date: 3 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Offroad and undulating
Field: 10,000
Enter at: www1.twooceansmarathon.org.za/home due to open any day now!
Cost: R150 – R235
Additional requirements: 7 hour time limit. Age 20+ only. There are qualifying standards for overseas applicants.

4 Coventry Way Challenge
Summary: Walk or run the 40mile circular countryside route along the Coventry Way
Date: 18 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Offroad and undulating
Field: Not published
Enter at: www.acoventryway.org.uk/acw_chal-next.htm
Cost: £10 per person / £20 Team
Additional requirements: 15 hour time limit

5 Calderdale Hike
Summary: 36m or 27m route over the South Pennines
Date: 10 April 2010
Terrain and profile: Harsh and mountainous
Field: 350
Enter at: www.acoventryway.org.uk/acw_chal-next.htm
Cost: £10 per person / £35 Team
Additional requirements: A long list of rules: www.calderdalehike.org.uk/rules.html. Most notably, you must be able to navigate

My next event is the Pembrokeshire Challenge 3 day ultra on 6 – 8 November. My knee is still a little sore after London to Brighton but I am really relishing the prospect of spending 3 days running along the beautiful Welsh coast. Entries are still open if you fancy joining me (details here)

12

London to Brighton 2009

I applied to enter the London to Brighton Trail run several months ago. I ran the event last year in 13 hours 47 minutes, not a startling performance by any means; I ran pretty well but got horribly lost and delayed by probably 2 hours. My reason for entering again was to put the North Downs Demons to rest.
Since my Forrest Gump run back in August, I had probably run a total of 20 miles. That is not a lot in 4 weeks and certainly not the way I would normally prepare. However, work had become really busy and I needed to place special focus on this. As such, I had little time to do the training I normally do and logistically things were pretty difficult also.

The week building up to race day I was feeling nervous about the whole thing. I felt unfit, unprepared and the whole prospect of running 56 miles of trail from London to Brighton was very daunting. I knew very well that the course was tough and unforgiving and ideally, I needed to be on top form to run well.
I often get a little nervous pre race and I think that on the whole, this is only natural and healthy. This can be used in a positive way and I overcome the doubts by talking myself through my training, my preparation (from clothing to logistics) and my experience from other events. My confidence is then usually restored and I can get on with preparing for the race. This time however, I did not have the comfort of having trained as well as I would have liked and so the doubts were persistently nagging me.

So much so in fact that I was really tempted to record my first ultra marathon DNS (did not start). I reasoned to myself that this would not be as bad as a much feared DNF (did not finish) and would mean that I would also preserve my 100% finish record. It was the easy way out; I could do a long training run on race day and resolve to myself that I would train really hard for my next event to make amends. In addition, 2 days before the race I had a slight cold and somebody in the office mentioned it. My immediate thought was great, another (valid) excuse not running. I was starting to plan for “failure” and I felt really confused; I was disappointed that I ever felt this way in the first place, annoyed at my weakness and self doubt, relieved at times at the prospect of not having to run and also inspired when I thought of the exhilaration taking part in such events brings.

By Thursday afternoon I had to make a decision as Mat Browne was running the race also and he stopping at ours the night before (we live just 3 miles from the start). I told Mat that I was definetly going to run, but if the truth be known, I was still undecided. It wouldn’t matter to Mat either way, he was still OK to stay at over and he would run the race much different (faster) than me and so my not taking part would not affect his race strategy. I actually made the decision myself on Saturday afternoon. In the end I just shut off my brain and started to get my rucksack ready for the race. I shut out any emotions I had and just concentrated on the task at hand, methodically laying each piece of kit out on the dining room table and checking it against my checklist.

Looking back, I think I had probably made my mind subconsciously, but I still needed to go through this process. By the end of it, I had walked and talked myself through the requirements of the day and got myself ready for it mentally.

That done, I set about figuring what I wanted to achieve from this race. My goals were to:

1) Finish…
2) quicker that last year…
3) …which needed to be under the new cut off time of 13 hours
4) Navigate the whole way by myself

I had worked out the timings I needed to reach each checkpoint in order to meet the cut off times:

Once this was settled I began to feel much better about the event and actually started to look forward to race day.Mat and I left the house at 5:10 am for a 5:30 registration and 6am start. As we pulled out of my road a late night reveller came bounding down the centre of the road with his shirt shoes and socks in hand. I made the obvious comments about his sanity but then thought that actually, out of the three of us, most folk would consider him to be the more “normal”. An hour or so later we were registered and underway. There was a much larger field than last year and it was pretty awesome heading out with 250 others through the streets of North Kent.

About 8 miles down the road just before Keston when I encounted my first challenge of the day. A fellow runner asked me if I had packed energy powder into my bag and I knew instantly what this meant. I stopped and opened my rucksack to a plume of white powder that had covered everything inside. My immediate thought was a negative one; how could I carry on now, with all my food, spare clothing and equipment ruined? I had double bagged the powder as usual, but a rogue bic biro at the bottom of my rucksack had pierced through.

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11

Brinsley’s Forrest Gump Adventure.

Wednesday 19th August 2009. I am standing in the kitchen, listen to Heart radio, getting my running kit ready and still contemplating what I am going to do. I had taken 3 days off work and had it in mind to “go running”. I had nothing planned at all; the only thing I did know is that I wanted to do something a little different.
My race number and course map for London to Brighton had come through the post the previous morning. I was flicking through the map and thinking about reccying part of the course when I heard Jamie Theakston invite Heart listeners to call in and talk about what they were going to do for the day. I grabbed the phone and dialled up.
Amazingly I got through straight away. I still had no clear idea on what I was going to do, but I was really excited now and couldn’t hold back my enthusiasm, blurting out to the researcher that I was going to “run all day” and yes, I was well aware that it was going to be the hottest day of the year. What I said obviously appealed in some way and we arranged that I would be live on air in 5 minutes. It was 8:30 am.

I didn’t have time to call any of friends and family before I was on air talking about my plans for the day. It was all a bit of a blur to be honest, I seem to remember quoting Forrest Gump and talking about running around London all day until I dropped. I must have sounded like a complete fruitcake. Jamie found the whole thing pretty amusing but kindly asked any listeners who spotted me to give me a wave or friendly toot; I was wearing my bright orange Wiggle vest and would be easy to spot.
By 9:00 am I was heading out the door and ready to start my adventure. I had no route planned, just a vague idea of running a semi circuit around London for as long as my body would hold out.

I hadn’t headed 200 yards down the road before I got my first toot and wave, one of at least a hundred on the day. I guess that the notion of a guy running around in 30 degree heat caught the imagination of the good people of London, most whom would be heading to work or going about their normal daily lives. I headed out onto my familiar route, the A20 into London. Whenever I am working in town I do this same route 4 or 5 times a week and the familiarity was a comfort. What struck me within the first few miles was how hot it was already at 9am in the morning. I had drunk 750ml in just 40 minutes. I would need to be very disciplined to keep up a sensible drinks routine throughout the day.

This may sound easy enough, but I know from experience that six or seven hours into a run, your body starts playing tricks on you. There comes a point when you can no longer rely on hunger and thirst to dictate when you should eat or drink. There will even be times when the thought of either makes you feel queasy. Basically, it’s then that you have to rely on the basic principles, that your engine needs continual fuel and hydration to keep cool. About seven miles in I deviated off my usual course and it was at this point that it felt like the adventure was really beginning. I made a promise to myself that I would use the voice recorder on my phone to keep track of my route, calling out the names of the major junctions I passed on the way. Again, this kind of promise is easy to keep when your body and mind is under little or no pressure. However, apply just a little of either and the prospect of pulling out the phone, locating the program, hitting the record button, talking for a few seconds and stowing the phone away safely becomes really (REALLY!) irksome.

71 Miles to Portsmouth and Wiggle central. An idea for another day…?
Heading through New Cross, Peckham, Camberwell and into Richmond, I was really enjoying the morning sunshine. I planned to stop and eat in Richmond and found myself a plot at the foot of a memorial / fountain on Richmond Green. I stuffed down half my pre made pasta carbonara, glugged down a litre of Viper and fought off an urge to crash out and soak up some rays with the rest of those enjoy the sunshine.

It was around the Twickenham area that the lack of structure and route began to really get to me. I had gone down a few roads but then had to turn right round and go back on myself. This might seem trivial but it was really bothering me. I had an overwhelming urge to set myself a goal and target that I could work towards. I recognised that this was part of my character coming through and I could either go with it or fight against it. Whilst contemplating what was best, I stumbled across the Capital Ring for the first time that day.

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10

The 50 Mile Challenge.

Race Report: The 50 Mile Challenge

When alarm clock one of the two I had set the night before went off, I awoke feeling refreshed and with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

This was to be my first ultra marathon of the year. As always, the underlying demons of self doubt were creeping in as I brushed my teeth and thought about the day ahead. Had I really done enough training, would I be able to push on when the going got tough and would my body stand up to the onslaught it was about to undergo?

I had already neatly packed my kit the day before and I passed it silently as it sat idly in the corner of the kitchen. I went ahead and made coffee and porridge, conscious that the kit was “watching me” and running my mind over the kit list perched delicately on top of it:

Race number & pins
Race instructions & directions
Team wiggle running kit
Spare Teko performance socks x 2
Pearl Izumi wet weather top (long sleeve)
Pearl Izumi wet weather top (short sleeve)
Pearl Izumi wet weather jacket
2XU tights
Spare shorts
Spare shoes
2XU Calf guards
Space blanket
First aid kit (inc blister plasters, scissors, iodine, Ibuprofen)
Maximuscle Viper Energy Bars x 6
2 bananas
Maxi Muscle Viper (enough powder for 6 litres, split into 12 x 500ml bags)

Each item was carefully labelled (in permanent marker) and stored in a pre-designated part of the bag so I would be easily able to locate each in a hurry. This may sound a little over zealous on the admin front but I have enough memories of being cold, tired and confused, trying to fumble around in a bottomless bag in order to locate a much needed energy gel, a glob of Vaseline or a warm and dry top to have the sense to employ some kind of a system. Many of the runners on the day had large (clear) plastic storage boxes for all their kit and these would have worked just as well (and probably better).

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9

Training for an ultra marathon.

With my first ultra marathon of the year only 2 weeks away, I am starting to feel all the nervousness and excitement that such an undertaking brings. I have been fortunate enough to have trained consistently over the past six weeks and have built on the base level of fitness I already had having trained for the London Marathon back in April.

I am often asked how I train for an ultra marathon. There are many different approaches and most runners have developed their own schedules to fit around work, family and other commitments. The common theme that features in every schedule however, is the LSD – The Long Slow Distance run. The important thing is to build up the mileage of the LSD slowly each week (a 10% increase each week is generally considered a reasonable measure). Your base level of fitness and the distance you are training then determines the length of your training schedule. For example, if you are regularly running a 5 mile long run and are training for a 50 mile ultra, you will probably need around 20 weeks to get in shape. If you are regularly running a 20 mile long run, you will probably need just 11 weeks.

I have put together an excel spreadsheet which generates an ultra marathon training schedule based on distance, current running ability (length of long run) and target time.

You can access this and download and print your schedule by using the following link.

Ultra Marathon Training Scheduler

You will need to factor in a weeks recovery at the end of the schedule but using this as a guide, you should build the requisite times and distances in your legs to help achieve your goals.

I am entering the taper week before the 50 mile challenge in Canterbury on 19th July. Work commitments mean I could be in Belfast, Dublin, Blackburn or London over the next few weeks. I have trained through hale, thunderstorms and 90 degree heat over the past few weeks, so if you see a crazy runner in a bright orange vest at ludicrous times of the day in ludicrous weather, chances are it is me.

8

Eltham Park & The North Downs Run.

Eltham Park 3.5 KM

Having arrived back from Disneyland, Paris the previous day, our little family were tired and weary when we went to bed on Saturday night. I had a pretty restless night and woke up at around 5am (still on Mickey time) to heavy rain. I thought to myself there is no way Alfie is going to want to get up and go for a run in that. Fortunately when I woke later at 7 am, the skies had cleared and we looked set for a glorious day.

There were 5 of us taking part in the 3.5 KM event this year, myself, Chris (13), George (12), Jack (6) and Alfie (5). The event is one of a series of 3 on the day, organised by the New Eltham Joggers, the others being a 5 mile run and 1 mile fun run.

The 3.5KM fun run was the first event of the day. This was the longest race for all but me and so our target was simply to finish and avoid walking if possible.

The course took us through the pretty woodland of Eltham Park. The guys really enjoying the novelty of trail running, as they had only taken part in road races before. I think this lack of familiarity and the distraction of the woodland really helped them along and I was surprised at how they were running, especially our little ones.

Our pack was spread out a little by the time we crossed the line, with Chris finishing 1st in 20:58, followed by Jack, Alfie and I in 21:43 and George in 22:18.

“Can we pose like rappers?” “Well, yes, I suppose so…”

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7

ING Luxembourg Marathon

3 things that Luxembourg is famous for

1 The financial centre
2 The radio station
3 The radio station

I cannot say that I would have ever have visited the Grand Duchy had it not been for an invite to take part in the ING Marathon through my employer. With race fees being so expensive these days, the opportunity to “run for free” was simply too good to turn down.
I had been running pretty solidly since recovering from the Flora London marathon. My hamstring difficulties seemed to benefit from the extended rest period post London and my last training run pre Luxembourg was a 10 miler the weekend before in the hills and along the seafront of Benidorm (I was there for a bachelor party, but that story is for another time).

Whether my body had become weakened by the stresses of “The Dorm” is the subject of much debate at home. I am convinced that I would have come down with the bug in any case; Mrs G is convinced it was all of my own doing and has no sympathy whatsoever (despite the fact that she is suffering with the same thing now).

The general rule of thumb when suffering from any kind of cold / flu symptoms is to run only if these are above the neck. I toyed with this notion and considered that the congestion in my chest was not that far from the very bottom of my neck and so I was probably ok to run.
I went to Luxembourg with the goal of simply finishing the marathon so I could tick it off the list. If anyone asked what time I was hoping for, my response was to finish the marathon the same day; Not as silly as it sounds as the Luxembourg marathon is one of the few that has a evening start (6pm) and a 6 hour cut off time.

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6

Flora London Marathon

Along with 38,000 others and I took part in the 14th Flora London marathon on Sunday. I am sure most will have watched the dramas on TV or perhaps have been there in person. For me, this was my most enjoyable London marathon to date, even though I missed out on my target time. First we need to go back a little…

Tuesday 7 April, 20:18:35 (ish). I was on the treadmill ticking over at 12km with Kelly Rowland in my ears telling me “it aint gonna be easy” and that I had to “Work” when I felt it. It started with a few small spasms in my hamstring (which I ignored) then developed into a twisting and tightening pain (which I ignored) until my leg locked up and forced on a Long John Silver moment (I took note).

I had never had any problems with my hamstrings but am used to (as with most runners) sore calf muscles. I have been wearing my 2XU calf protectors to bed most nights for the past month and have pretty much eliminated my calf problems.
However, since 7th April, the injury gremlins have been invading my right hamstring. Sometimes they allow me to run for 10 miles with no problems, other times they sneak up and bite me when I am doing something as innocuous as walking up the stairs.
I eased off my marathon training earlier than my scheduled taper in the hope that the enforced rest would be sufficient to aid recovery. I went for my last 4 mile run on the Wednesday before Sunday’s race and everything felt pretty good.
The first few miles on Sunday were fantastic. Lyndsey and Alfie had waved me off at the start and I had shared some good banter with fellow colleagues and runners Mathew Browne and Neil Daniels.

Left:- Brinsley and Mat Browne at the start of the Flora London Marathon 2009

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5

Horses For Courses.

Horses for Courses

This weekend took on horsey theme with the Grand National on Saturday and the Paddock Wood Half Marathon on Sunday.
Having had the joy and surprise of seeing my £2.50 each way bet on Mon Mome come in at 136-1, Sunday was always going to be a good day.

Our running group has grown over time and for the first time we needed to take 2 cars to accommodate everyone. I was taking part in the half marathon and hoping for a sub 1:30. Alfie (front, whinnying) was running the 2k fun run along with mum (front left) and 2 friends, Ryan (rear left) and Chris (rear centre).

As we gathered at the post for the start of the fun run I smiled as Alfie jostled to get near the front of the pack. There were no problems with the tape and Chris and Ryan took off like a pair of thoroughbreds with Alfie trying his utmost to keep up with them. I tried in vain to rein him in but in any case, he tired after a few furlongs and then settled in to a more comfortable pace. We had a good canter around with Alfie pipping me at the post for a 12:19 watch time finish; there was no official time or placing for the fun run.

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