UltramarathonMike

Another long break since the last post which is about typical of anything at the moment. On the plus side I am feeling surprisingly fit am managing to get the miles in, despite a 3 month old with sore gums and an intermittent bolshy temperament (it’s a good job he is a smiley little monkey the rest of the time!).

Feeling fit is not just a bonus, it’s essential, as this weekend it is time for the Beacon Ultra. A fun but testing double loop from Talybont in Welshest Wales, from the chaps a Likeys.

Last years write up does a good job of conveying just how good the weekend was. Not only that it’s a good excuse too meet up with many of the folk from the MdS 2009 (tent mates and more) and enjoy some food, chat, miles and post race beer in The White Hart!

With a phrase attributed to arguably one of the greatest Computer Scientists, the inventor of the compiler and debugging, Grace M. Hopper, “It is easier to ask for forgiveness that it is to ask for permission” I went to Vickie on Saturday and asked for the forgiveness I probably don’t deserve,

This Saturday I found out I have a place in the 2010 edition of the Grand Union Canal Race, a 145 mile, non-stop race to be completed within the specified 45 hours … and you are not allowed to stop for more than 40 minutes at any one checkpoint.
The GUCR travels between Gas Street in Birmingham and Little Venice in London, taking in 145 miles of the Grand Union Canal, which is a coincidence.

Even with all these ultras under my belt and a not half bad result in the MdS my participation in this one is raising a few eyebrows and a look of “What?! Why would you want to do that? Is it *actually* possible and will you end up in Hospital, if not through injury but for your own safety? has this been done before, will you fall in the canal in the dark etc".

The honest answer is who knows but it’s going to be amazing finding out, and of course, getting to Little Venice in May.

• http://www.gucr.co.uk

Last December I spent 12 hours in the cold, the wet and the dark slogging around Rotherham in deep mud and what felt like one giant puddle. Yet once again I found myself back for more, only this time it was October the weather was pleasant, cool but not cold, not too windy, sunny but not too bright and well … almost perfect in fact.

I rocked up to the Dearne Valley College quite late to meet my good friend Andy Shirres who was coming down from Stockport. Andy has long been a part of themds.co.uk/forums and formed part of Tent 66 at this years MdS.
Last year I stayed in the sports hall but this year me and Andy were camping out in the luxury of the Volvo 940s, 6ft+ of flat space and enough room to sit up equals a quiet nights sleep, just the prep needed. It was great to catch up with Andy and share a pre race beer and the 5.5 hours of sleep was a real bonus too. 5.5 hours, undisturbed! Unheard of in the Blamires household of late!

We were due to set off at 7am and the weather was looking great, cool but not cold and dry. We set off in the morning light with the rest of the runners and soon fell into a nice pace. We mostly went the right way and I seemed to remember the route OK. As we headed toward Keppel’s Column we did make a minor mistake which looked like we cut a corner but as we ended well behind a group of people we passed earlier it wasn’t much of a cut!

Andy and I chatted to various runners (one of whom was a fellow East Yorkshireman) and enjoyed what was lovely weather for October.

In many ways the run was unremarkable and it’s difficult to write about, but that is not a bad thing, everything was going well. The scenery in the first half is not the most salubrious in the UK but I couldn’t complain. Me and Andy were running with … Andy, it was his first ultra but with many running years under his belt and some rather fine marathon times it looks like he was on to do well. He was certainly better trained than I was!

After the 25 mile mark we continued plodding along and Andy (not Shirres) pulled away, although ‘pulling away’ does take a long time in terms of an Ultra. The weather stayed nice, the ground was hard and we plodded on. At about 35 miles our pace was slowing a bit but it was inevitable with my recent training & baby based hiatus! At this point Mr Shirres proves excellent company and despite the look on the face his mood didn’t drop.

A few of the hills had us walking toward the end but we were hanging on well with no major problems, our running pace was not too much faster than the really fast walkers out there but we were a good hour ahead of the with 7/8 miles to go and we (slowly) pulled passed them and kept going.

After we hit the last checkpoint and the finish was just a few miles away I knew we were on good sub 11hr time. At 10hrs 50minutes into the event I knew we were close, I picked up the pace to something silly and kept shouting at Andy to hang on. I crossed the line in 10hrs57 minutes.

I spoke briefly to Angie Sadler (who had a stunning result in the Commonwealth Games, and of course in the RRR50!) at the finish line. When I got in the hall Nick Ham was there waiting and looking remarkably well, he had finished in a remarkable time of 9hrs 13minutes.

I’ll certainly be back next year, though I do yearn for the challenge of the short days provided by December!

• http://www.hmarston.co.uk/rhac/trail/rrr.htm
• http://ultraploddernick.blogspot.com/2009/10/rowbothams-round-rotherham-50mi.html

Addendum: I was underestimating Nick who completed in 09:13 rather than 09:16.. so he did even better!

This weekend I tried something new, OK so it’s not really new but when your shiny MTB has only come out three times since new last Novembers Real Ale Wobble launching yourself into a Mountain Bike Marathon is a change…
But that’s exactly what I did and at 9am on a typical Autumn day I found myself at the start of the 26.2 mile Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon. The weather was typically autumn and the rain was about to start.
After gathering at the start line (somewhere near the back judging by the amount of people crammed into the narrow lane ahead), we set off and were almost immediately hit a steep climb which seemed to get steeper and steeper and then featured a Llama. Although steep my fresh legs meant I was able to cruise up at a reasonable speed (faster than many of the punters around me at least!) in the middle ring and made the top of hill feeling good. Once out it was straight off road and the mud and mayhem began, I could see the lead riders easing well ahead, but I was managing to keep my pace and grab a few places at the same time.
It wasn’t long before the rain started but that only adds to the fun! The track we were on was a green lane with vehicle tracks made out of large sunken blocks which made for a fast but very bumpy ride, the downhill to a small village and the first checkpoint on a railway bridge barely stopping I grabbed a piece of cake a drink and continued climbing. A short while later we dropped into a small down and then climbed back out onto the moor, the steep up some moor and speedy down was the order of the day. They were great climbs, really pushing the tired legs when all you wanted was a nice cruise downhill. Many of the uphill’s (and some of the downhill’s!) had people pushing there bikes.
I had been chatting occasionally to a local called Graham who had done the route many times, he outlined the route ahead and said we were on for a good time. Last year he was 3hrs34 and he was after a faster time this year, he was on for it as well. This was good as so was I! Considering I was hoping to pull around in around 4 hours things looked good. He predicted we would get passing all those who have gone out too hard and were starting to suffer. He was right.
One of the most beastly downhills of the route hit at about 20 miles, most where off the bikes walking along, some had fallen off, some for safety purposes. I hung on and managed to keep myself on the bike, in one piece and gain a number of places, though the battering I took from the gully ridden, rock laden drop off was apparent. My quads just above the knee (specifically on the right) had taken a battering from all the control work whilst not pedalling. This resulted in the start of cramping when I pedalled. I needed some electrolytes but with only a few miles to go was it worth it? I decided not and pressed on. I was slowed slightly and couldn’t quite keep up with the pack I had joined.
The last climb towards Sowerby Bridge came as a surprise and, like most people, the middle part had me walking as it was just quicker. The tired legs unused to mountain biking couldn’t cope! I crossed the line in 3hrs18minutes, just a few minutes behind Graham.
A great day all around, great company from the chaps I went with (Tom, Ian, Simon and Rich) a well organised event and a great route. What more could I ask for?? OK OK – Sub 3 hours next year!!

A Google Map of the route is here.

Another busy couple of weeks have seemed to fly by with work, DIY and of course trying to mitigate the pain of the Round Rotherham 50 with as much training as possible.

To that end a good club session last weekend was followed up with nice speed session on Friday evening and a good run around the Beaver Trail (with an ending variation) has sharpened me up a little and yesterday I finally managed to get out with my friend Adam for a nice 8.5 mile recovery run around town in the cool dark evening.

Sunday started out cool, clear and sunny and, though it did feel warm later on it was just right for a Sunday morning ultra pace run. The picture above pretty much captures the moment for me.

I have known Adam since probably before I could say words of three syllables or more and he used to run, like really run. After a 10 year (10 stone!) hiatus he is back shedding weight and feeling good. Last night was the first time we had got out, partly due to the fact that he is now running up to 10k and mostly because we both lead busy lives. For someone who claimed to be able to only run-walk a 10k we did a 10k together (I did the extra to/from his house) comfortably, chatting all the way around in under an hour. It’s great to see him back on the road.

So, a long one tomorrow and then to get ready for next weeks MTB Marathon