The Equinox 24 Hour Run (The Big One)

So, a 24 hour relay run then.

We arrived with the car full of food and clothing and set up the tent next to the running route on the final couple of kilometres; this meant the running-one could just shout on the way past and give the resting-one enough time to walk over to the Start/Finish for transition. We flipped a coin for who would start in the big bunch (there was a 10km race starting at the same time as the 24 hour run), and I (Sam) got to go first. By this stage it was a relief to be finally starting.

We’d obviously been training all Summer for this run, doing 10km runs and, in Rach’s case, a half-marathon to build up fitness and strength. However, one thing we couldn’t improve upon was reliability issues with our own bodies. Rach has historically had a bum knee which would regularly fail within 10km, causing severe pain. Throughout the Summer, she’d managed to improve its resistance to exercise completing all but the last mile or so of the Tewkesbury half-marathon before it gave up. As I have mentioned before, my joints are all made of chicken bones and fine glasswork, and about two months before the run I had to stop running altogether to rest a persistent achilles problem and some sort of toe injury which came out of nowhere. I did lots of cycling to keep up fitness, but couldn’t know how my body would fare with actual running.

I therefore lined up for the first lap with some serious trepidation: would my achilles/calf hold out, would my “running” fitness be sufficient, and would my body work generally for the whole race? The whole idea of running a 24 hour race was always going to be a Challenge for us, and it turned out to be exactly that.

We both found our first laps to be fairly pleasant, holding back on pace and taking the steep off-road hill gingerly to protect our legs for the “long run.” But overall it seemed like a good course. There was more off-road than expected, which takes more of a toll on knees and ankles, but the surface was generally flat even if the overall terrain was not. After finishing our respective laps we were quickly eating, drinking plenty, stretching and resting before the next effort. My second lap went without incident, although I didn’t have to consciously slow myself down this time, having found a nice rhythm. Unfortunately Rach’s second lap (thus our 4th) heralded the beginning of her traditional knee problems; around halfway it began to hurt, and by the time she handed the relay wristband over to me she’d been pushing through pain for the best part of 5km. Perhaps through some sort of resonance, both my knees decided to mutiny halfway through my following lap and suddenly it all got very real (as in “this shit” to use the parlance of our times). Running, or even walking, downhill became nigh-on impossible, and if you can’t go DOWN-hill then you’ve generally got problems. Arriving back, Rach had put knee supports on and (literally/figuratively) girded her loins for another lap which, by all accounts wasn’t a pleasant experience.

During this lap (Rach’s 3rd, total 6th), whilst going to the tent to get knee supports for my own failing synovial joints, I accidentally locked the only car key in the car. This was a bad idea. Combined with the crippling pain we were now independently experiencing, we took 30 minutes away from the track to find a solution to the new problem. Fortunately there was a series of very helpful people at the event and a, frankly, wonderful ex-copper helped us break into the tiny yellow car to once-again access all of our necessary belongings. I immediately decided to go back onto the track in the failing light to get another lap in.

This was my lap four, and it was horrible. As soon as I’d started I realised that I’d still failed to put knee supports on (what with all the excitement), although I can’t imagine they would have made much difference. It had also started to rain. The rain intensified and it got dark. Also pain happened in a chronic kind of way. By the end of the lap my right hip, both knees and right ankle were just awful. Some sort of tendon was just sticking out of my ankle, which was interesting. However, I got ‘round the course, albeit slowly, and by the time I’d finished the rain had stopped.

This just left a pitch black, sodden course for Rach to navigate, despite her ongoing pain issues. As usual, she smashed through regardless but, arriving back, had come to the same decision that further laps in the slippery darkness would be absolute folly for our defective limbs. We therefore had a rather frustrating wait assessing if and when it would be possible to do any more laps. And it was frustrating. Fitness was not a problem, but our joints really were. We wanted to be out there piling on the kilometres, but could really not afford to blow a knee.

However, in the morning I decided I’d do one more, regardless. We’d done 80km so far, and if we could both eke out just one lap, however slowly, we’d at least reach 100km. Rach wanted to go first, feeling a little improved from the enforced respite and bolstered by even more joint supports, so set off around the 10km loop. I could barely stand up, and could get from sitting to standing without using my arms a lot. It took her a while, and involved lots of “walking” but Rach managed her fifth lap. I then set off to complete the slowest lap ever using the most hilarious gait. The only time you could really call it running was when I got to the grassy hill which I went down backwards; that was surprisingly unpainful, as remarked to me by a lady who subsequently overtook me, but had copied my technique; on Rach’s last lap she had also decided to use the reverse-perambulation technique (great minds think alike). When I finished this definitely-final lap, Rach had decided she was going to try for one more! The thinking being, even if she failed, it wouldn’t reduce the amount we’d done.

So overall we did 110km (Rach doing 6 laps, me doing 5) between us. We also temporarily lost the ability to walk. Walking down stairs is still unpleasant. Despite being a little disappointed at our knees (etc) at giving up so early, we were pleased to have gone so far and really pushed our limits. Suffice to say, running long distances is not our forte, so we’re unlikely to ever undertake something so contrary to our bodies’ capabilities again. Initial results seem to show us coming 9th out of 12 “pairs.” Also, when compared to the big teams and some solo runners, we actually “ran” more individually than quite a lot of the other competitors.

The main thing is that lots of lovely people have kindly donated to the worthy causes on

www.teamsnow.co.uk

Obviously there is still time to donate. Thanks to all of you who have already, and those about to.

Woop Team Snow!

A Forest: The DirtRun Summer Sizzler

So, last Friday evening we completed another run in the lead up to the epic 24 hour race. This was the DirtRun Summer Sizzler, an off-road 10km around mixed terrain. When we arrived there weren’t too many people about, and the race itself was probably a little undersubscribed. This meant we started near the front and went off a little quickly with the genuinely fast people. It was only after two rapid kilometres that we hit the woods. This was the one truly difficult part of an otherwise straightforward and relatively fast race. Unfortunately the route through the woods was confusing, dense with foliage (especially nettles), uneven and involved sharp descents and inclines (one where you had to pull yourself up on a rope). Despite having dropped a little behind Rach, I overtook her briefly in the woods as her group went the wrong way. I needed to “pull over” to let faster people through as there was barely enough room to run, let alone overtake. Once out of the wooded section, which was over 1km long, it took me a good couple of kilometres to recover before I could start pushing on again. Fortunately, anyone behind me was well behind me by that stage (perhaps lost, following an unwitting pied piper into oblivion, or eaten by monsters) and I started to gently reel in other racers over the flatter stages. It was really quite warm and dusty, but mostly flat, with only one proper squelchy puddle to contend with. I could even see Rach for most of the race, on the more open sections, but still couldn’t quite catch her. It was by no means a fast course, so our times were not wonderful, but we both placed quite well. Out of 55 competitors, Rach came in 15th in 55:01 and I was 18th in 55:48. What was even more impressive was Rach finished as 2nd placed female runner (of 18), so was presented with a couple of beers and lots of energy bars. I was 2nd placed Sam (of 3). There was no prize.

At the end of the race we received an unusually high-quality t-shirt and a free BBQ item. We therefore sat on the grass eating burgers we didn’t want before trying to drive to Manchester. There were photos, but Rach's ironically-monikered smartphone chose not to retain them.

We’re now going to crack on with training for the Equinox 24 Hour Race, only doing other intermediate races if they fit well with our overall preparation.

The day before we completed the DirtRun, the amount raised on the charity website surpassed the £2000 mark. This is pretty awesome, but obviously includes amounts raised from tandeming exploits as well. We hope to get near to the £3000 target by doing the 24 Hour Run in September, but there's still plenty of time for donations to roll in by then.

This ends the lesson.

Making Your Own Fun: Midweek Monster Duathlon

Now, it was our intention to compete in the Mega Manic Midweek Monster Duathlon at Castle Combe this week as a relay team. However, due to the distance we would have to travel to get there after work (65.6 miles one way) it was possible/likely that we wouldn’t get there in time to register for the event. Therefore as a more viable alternative we decided to run a Midweek Monster Duathlon of our own devising in the environs of lovely Upton.

The duathlon at Castle Combe was conducted on an actual race course, which is pretty flat, and yields very quick times. Our planned course was less flat, and involved more traffic but was still chosen for speed and avoiding too much altitude change. Also, as a “monster” there were three runs and two rides in the following configuration:

2 mile run
10 mile cycle ride
2 mile run
10 mile ride 
2 mile run

  We were hoping to complete it in less than 2 hours, although I wasn’t very confident of that happening. We started in one of our local car parks amongst the truckies with Rach doing all the running and me doing all the cycling. In the end we were surprisingly quick, finishing the whole thing in a couple of seconds under 1 hour 47 minutes. Despite having to run 6 miles (9.66 km) in three separate bursts, Rach still managed a kilometre in 4.14 minutes in the final leg. My second ride was completed with an average speed of 18.5mph (approx 30kmph) and a top speed of over 30mph. As we were using different GPS devices to measure distance/pace (having previously mapped the routes on Google) Rach did have to run around the car park once per lap, and I failed to record all the info for my first lap, but old-fashioned timekeeping proved we finished in 01:46:58. Roughly, because of the vagueries of my first lap, “transition” (in which I mounted or dismounted the bike before going/sending Rach off) and the fact I can’t be bothered working it out, I completed my 20 mile ride in 1 hour 4 minutes, and Rach her 6 mile run in 43 minutes. For a homemade, one-team, relay duathlon on public roads (with many undulations and some wind) that’s pretty damn quick. We’re pleased anyway. Today we are mostly aching. 

One extra benefit of not doing the official organised duathlon is that we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee. Therefore we’ve put that straight into the charity fund. Please feel free to help us support WaterAid, Oxfam, Disability Snowsport UK, Cancer Research and Honour Village Cambodia by visiting www.teamsnow.co.uk and donating what you can. Also, tell your friends about how we are mental and need help, giving them the relevant link. The 24 hour run is less than 3 months away now, and beginning to loom large in our consciousness. Hopefully all this training will go some way to protecting us from complete bodily disintegration.

Our next race is the Dirtrun on Friday 11^th July, which is a 10km off-road run. We’ll update you as per usual.

A bientot.

Mud, Sweat and... erm... Curry: The Malvern 10km

We have now also run the Malvern 10km. It was pretty difficult. After some pretty heavy rain and, for me, a pretty heavy cold we had the pleasure of running off-road around the Malvern area.

With no training completed in over a week due to the debilitating effects of a solid Summer cold, and still feeling pretty rough all 'round, I was not holding out much hope as regards a decent time. Both Rach and I had decided that I probably shouldn't run, knowing full-well that I would anyway. Also, the ground was really quite boggy in places (I saw one person lose a trainer right near the end), and in others particularly steep and frightening. As usual, any ground I made up on the uphills I lost emphatically when it was time to go downhill. And there were a lot of hills. But that's the Malverns for you. We also got to run diagonally across two wheat fields in necessarily single-file, with the plants brushing the outside of both legs; it required a huge amount of concentration and you couldn't stop, or overtake, and it was vaguely uphill.

Still, it was a lovely evening for it, and the hills provided some spectacular views of the Worcestershire/Gloucestershire area. The run itself was very well marshalled by friendly and particularly vocal individuals, and at the end everyone got a free curry, which is exactly what I didn't want. It was surprisingly spicy. Also, rather than the usual medal we each received a (potentially) practical snood.

Rach was her standard quick self finishing in 81st place (out of 252) with a time of 51:25. She does hate off-road running though, almost as much as my joints. I think she was the 8th Female runner too, but may be wrong. I still managed to creep into the top half of the table, despite impromptu coughing fits, in 108th, with a time of 53:51. So, all things considered, not bad at all.

We are only putting ourselves through each of these trials by mud, sun, pain and curry for two reasons: the first is for the charities here and the second is to prepare ourselves for the 24 hour run in September which we are doing for the charities here (exactly the same place). Please sponsor us.

Hopefully we'll be back to proper training soon. That'd be good.

We Run Now: Tewkesbury 10km & Half-Marathon

Another week, another run. Well two runs, for I was attempting an official 10km road race for the first time in a long while and Rach was taking on a quite literally massive half-marathon. All in lovely historic Tewkesbury.

After completing last Sunday's particularly warm Bulmer's Bash we also put in a good training run on Tuesday. I managed to run 12km, which is more than I've ever done in one go before. Rach clocked up just over 10 miles, which is quite a bit more impressive.

So we rocked up this morning in fairly good shape to register, queue for the toilets and vaguely warm up. The 10km run started before the half marathon, so I got to go some 5 minutes before Rach. The run was conducted on open roads (as in non-closed) which was quite interesting, but it didn't seem to affect my run adversely in any way. I got away fairly quickly and followed my plan of steady running with a "push" at 8km and a "kick" at 9km. What I wasn't expecting was the full-on sprint for the finish (I normally do a long-distance runner's sprint, but this was a out-and-out 100m dash for the line), brought on by a chap having the temerity to overtake me in the final section. I'm glad I did, because I pipped him to 25th place out of 191 finishers, in 46:50 (race time) or 46:46 (10km chip-timed time). Either way, really quite pleased.

Having collapsed on the floor a bit, eaten the majority of an unfeasibly large banana and taken on some fluids I then got to watch the rest of the 10km race finish, and the half-marathon runners begin to come through. I recognised the first three as being particularly quick lads who had passed me even before the route bifurcated into two separate races (between 4 and 5 km). After what was a fairly short wait, and plenty of supporting clapping for other competitors, Rach appeared. She'd been happily smashing out the miles but had struggled with a small lucozade bottle which tasted of shampoo (or, rather, shampoo bottle filled with lucozade), a race number who gave up early on and tried to escape, and her left knee. Mostly her left knee. Fortunately it had the good grace to hold out until the last mile or so, but after that it was something of a painful slog. Regardless of these facts she finished 159th out of 650 runners and 13th of 242 females runners (!!!) in a time of 01:41:48 (or 01:42:02 race time). For her first half marathon that's quite frankly absurd. As far as I can work out, it's like running a 10km race in less than 49 minutes, twice, then running a bit more at the same pace for a laugh. Quite impressive I'm sure you'll agree.

All the results are available here if you enjoy statistics as much as I do:
http://fqevents.co.uk/results-tewkesbury-half-2014/

Now we're both a bit achy, and we're probably going to hold off on training until at least Wednesday. We're going to try to increase our speed over 10km now, as our upcoming endeavours are either of that distance, or something else entirely (think cycling and duathlon-ing). The next planned (competitive) run is the Malvern 10km on Wednesday 11th June. It's an evening run, which will be novel, and off-road again, so unnecessarily uncomfortable for our ankles, knees and other sympathetic joints.

Please don't forget we're doing this for charity. I know, most people run one race for charity (and they are good good people), but having done the tandem thing, we thought that a series of runs/rides/challenges culminating in a 24 hour relay race would be more like us. The relevant website is, as always:

www.teamsnow.co.uk

Thanks everyone for keeping involved, reading this and supporting us in all the ways you do. A bientot.

As an addendum, Rach has just brought to my attention that I've only ever run three on-road 10km races. Two of them being the Great Manchester Run, in 2010 and 2012, and this Tewkesbury run. My times over this four year period were 46:39, 46:51 and 46:46. Weirdly consistent and quite amusing. Must try harder.

The Beginning and the End (including Bulmer's Bash)

Bonjour. I may have mentioned earlier that we were intending to do lots of running activities throughout the Summer. I also suggested that we were considering finishing the season with a very silly event designed to test us both physically and mentally. As such, we have begun our planned runs by completing the Bulmer's Bash 10km run through the hilly orchards of the eponymous cider brand. I thought they were Irish, but is seems they (or at least their apples) are not. Furthermore we have signed up for a 24 hour ultramarathon to be completed in late September, because it seems like a good idea.

So today we woke up early and drove to another part of Worcestershire, despite the

ongoing complaints of my body (which probably could've done without the mighty Arsenal winning the FA Cup final in extra-time the previous day - extra-time equals an extra beer, winning equals a celebratory gin and tonic), and got ready for a 10km run in the sweltering heat. The planned course was very confusing, very off-road and very hot, with the estimated time of finishing being approximately midday. We have been preparing fairly well over the last few weeks and even with the "extra" beverages consumed on Saturday, the overall quantity quaffed was still very modest. However, we had not trained particularly for the heat, the short steep hills or the uneven ground. I took this opportunity to sweat profusely and lose all feeling in my feet. By the end of the race it felt as though everything below my knees was made of painful wood, providing little feedback and almost no confidence. That said we both pushed on and completed the race in, what felt like, a pretty respectable time and position. Rach obviously was well out of my sight within about 2 minutes and remained that way until the last (seemingly neverending) section when, apparently, I made a bit of time back. I still didn't see her though. She just runs off. Upon crossing the dirt finish line each competitor was cryptically asked "bottle or can," at which point they were given the respective container of low quality cider. Excellent. Just what you need when you're dying of dehydration. The run was awesome though, and not half as confusing when the marshalls are there to point you in the right direction. Also, with our excellent one-man support team there to cheer us on (thanks for that Monsieur Bines) it was all as pleasant as such an endeavour can be. A good start and great preparation for...

The Equinox 24 Hour Run! Yes, we will be running across mixed terrain as a relay pair for 24 straight hours. Essentially, one of us runs a 10km loop around the Leicestershire countryside, then the other one does it, and so on... for 24 hours. We consider this to be the insanely difficult end to a season's running. Any race which exceeds the "standard" marathon distance is considered an ultramarathon, and it's perfectly possible that we'll end up running two full marathons (or more) each in the 24 hour period. As such, we're asking for lovely generous people to donate to the charities previously specified. The website is now even easier to get to, as we've created an easier link. We're really pleased that the donations have already started. Please go to the website by clicking here:

www.teamsnow.co.uk

We'll add further details of the 24 hour race as we progress through our planned races. I've just found out the finishing times and positions. We were told there were 101 starters, but only 92 seem to have finished the race; this is important when I tell myself I finished in the top half. Anyway our personal results (which we are pleased with) were:
Rach - 41st of 92 - 52:53
Sam - 47th of 92 - 54:12

The next race on our calendar is actually next weekend, when we'll be travelling the short distance to Tewkesbury to do some (hopefully quicker/easier) road racing. I will be doing 10km (as that seems to be the ceiling limit for how much pain I can conceivably endure from my ankles) and Rach will be stepping it up to the half-marathon.

As usual, expect fun. 

Back dans les Bacs

Once again the huge interval between blog posts makes the whole process of re-starting quite daunting and difficult. However, there is eventually a purpose behind this new attempt and that's to appraise anyone who might be interested of our general plans for the Summer. But before all that we must go back to (briefly) fill in the gap between last September and now (literally the whole Winter).

We ran a cake stall on Tewkesbury Farmer's market a couple of times, which was quite fun, not profitable in the least, and probably unnecessarily hard work. Whilst there Rach appeared on the local BBC radio, which was lots of fun.

Once Christmas was over and done with, we went to the Alps for two weeks snowboarding.
 
For the first week we returned to Peisey-Vallandry in the tiny yellow car and hammered the old stomping ground. This was after a 19 hour non-stop (except for the ferry) drive to Annecy. Fortunately it snowed all the first day which, whilst making the first Saturday's 'boarding a bit rubbish, set a good base for the rest of the week. It was then gloriously sunny, and probably a bit too warm, every day. A lovely time was had by all, and the tiny yellow car proved beyond all doubt that it was as awesome on fresh snow as it is on tarmac. Who needs chains? Chumps, that's who. Oh, and we had a bit of a dress-up on the last day. I was a dragon. Rach was a monkey. It certainly amused people, and made us quite popular.

 The second week we mostly spent living in the valley near Grenoble and visiting a couple of other resorts, namely Chamrousse and Les Sept Lacs. On both occasions there was an extreme surfeit of snow causing much hilarity. In Chamrousse there was half a metre of "pow" on the pistes. It made for some serious leg-work. Mucho mucho fun-time though.

Later we went to Grand Bornand near Annecy, which again had massive snow, and enjoyed their pistes. Whilst traversing a severely off-camber, off-piste/on-piste, foliage-strewn red run (yes, apparently these things exist), I managed to snap off one of the screws on my bindings. I therefore spent the last two hours riding a board secured primarily by two thin tassles removed from my jacket zips. It was a bit loose. Still fun though. God I love snowboarding.

We then drove back via Epernay. That is the abridged version of our Alpine holiday.

Now we're, once again and in addition to our day-jobs, promoting the fun and wonderful Sunshine Festival. This year we're looking forward to The Beat, whose hits include "Tears of a Clown" and "Mirror in the Bathroom." I also want to see Boney M's "Ma Baker," Dr & the Medics' "Spirit in the Sky," The Sweet's "Block Buster" and literally nothing by The Blow Monkeys. Really can't wait for the festival itself, 'cause if it's half as much fun as last year it'll be great.

That edges me towards the plans for the Summer. As a result of our intensive promoing regime we don't actually have that much time. Regardless, we've decided to take on a few physical and mental (mental, chicken oriental) challenges. Hopefully, as a result, we might earn a few extra quid for the very worthwhile charities we've been supporting. One of these charities has become even more significant to us as Moomah B has just worked at Honour Village Cambodia for six months, is still overseeing their social work programme, and will be returning at some point in the not-too-distant future.

We've recently run a couple of organised 10km races, and I had a go at an absurdly windy duathlon (run-cycle-run) in preparation for our Summer of challenges. I know. We did actual 10km runs in mere preparation. And me, with my body made entirely of chicken bones, broken glass and pain sensation. Anyway the current list of exciting challenges is as follows:

May

• 10km Bulmers Bash off-road run
• Tewkesbury 1/2 Marathon (Rach) & 10km run (Sam)

June

• Malvern 10km run

July

• Midweek Monster Duathlon (total 6 miles running, 20 miles cycling to be done as a relay)
• 10km Dirtrun off-road run

There are also a few others that we intend to enter, but won't be able to confirm until nearer the time. So the list is only likely to increase. Suffice to say we'll be busting a gut (probably literally in my case) to complete some proper challenges in the little precious free-time we have.

Also, we're hoping to line-up a truly mind-bendingly stupid event in September which will be announced in due course. It wouldn't be Team Snow without some crazy, half-baked idea where preparation is key, but conversely sadly lacking.

So that's the update. My intention is to blog with the results of these things and at any interesting juncture throughout the Summer. Expect tales of interest!