Well the day had arrived for my return to the T184. This is the race that finally finished off my Achilles injury last year resulting in a 4 month lay off.
I have had quite a good year so far finishing the GUCR and the Thames Ring 250 and the Achilles has been no trouble at all.So was feeling quietly confident about this race although I know anything can go wrong in long distance races.
T184 is a184 mile foot race from the Thames Barrier to the source of the Thames in Cirencester, the full length of the river. What makes it more difficult is that it is self supported apart from water stops every 25-30 miles, competitors must carry all their kit in their backpack which in my case weighed 10kgs.
I stayed at the Travelodge in Woolwich met up with Lee, Jane ,Dave, Alan and Nina and headed out for dinner which was nice and then turned In for a early night.
Race morning was clear blue skies as we all headed off to the start. Kit checked by Paul Ali ,signed the waiver Ha ha,had the tracker fitted and we were off.
I started with Zoe who I have known for quite a while now and a fellow Spiner next year and also Adrian but was having trouble with my pack bottle holders so lost them while I faffed around . luckily Robin another Spiner next year and former MST buddy appeared and sorted me out. Stayed with Robin,Becky and a few others for a while but eased ahead through the crowds of London.
Got to Westminster bridge and for some reason decided to cross the bridge and go down the wrong side of the river , oh well just keep going. Shane did call me to tell me so at least I knew the tracker was working ok . Back on track before Fulham although not for long.
Got to CP 1 topped water and headed off . Now this got a bit confusing as I ended up the wrong side again and quite a way off towards Hampton Court but I found my way back eventually losing loads of time.
Into the first night and I felt ok and on to CP 2 where I had my first adventure food at about 2AM, this is where I dropped last year.
Soon after here I met up with Dave Baker and we stayed together for quite a while which was good fun. I first met Dave on the PoS and what a blast that was.
Nothing to much happened between CP2 and 3but we arrived at the Henley CP about 14:30 after finding a couple of benches for a 10 minute power nap. Cooked up a tomato soup and coffee and got ready to head off . The pack was starting to worry me now as it was cutting in to my shoulder so I was using my waterproof as packing under the strap.
Zoe was waiting for me here as she had been on her own for quite a while and needed some company.It was about here we met up with Ernie,Chrissie,Phillip,and Anthony once again but after a while Zoe and I found ourselves easing ahead.
Between CP3 and 4 Zoe started struggling with a swollen shin which looked like shin splints so she decided to play it safe and retire. The others caught and passed us while Zoe decided what to do but she did the right thing.
I decided to get moving from here and ran through the Reading Festival which was quite good and even with the drunks asking what the hell I was doing but they were all well behaved. I quickly caught the others and decided to keep pushing on for a while into CP4at Streatly 100 miles at 21:45
When I arrived here someone on a bridge shouted that I needed to go straight up the road to the CP so I did as I was told only to end up at the Ridgeway checkpoint .They asked my number so I said 16 and went into the room thinking this was strange to have a hall as a checkpoint. A lady was asking if I wanted my drop bag so I said no I am not allowed it until the finish. After about 5 minutes someone realised I was a T184 runner and Jamie appeared and guided me back to the correct CP Thanks Jamie lol.
Quick tomato soup and off .
This was to be a lonely race from here but something I really wanted and needed to do. I love running on my own sometimes as you only have to worry about yourself and can stop and rest when needed and pace as you feel.
So on to CP5 through the night, this stretch I found to be a real drag up through Wallingford and Benson lock and on to Shillingford where the heavens opened. Luckily for me I got to a sheltered bus stop so stopped for a brew .It was raining very heavy so I stayed here for probably 2 hours still no sleep though. Packed up and headed off along a busy road for a short time and back into the fields of long grass which now was so wet . Tiredness was setting in and my feet were soaked and sore, I had a really nasty blister from the TR250 which still had not healed but had taped it well . All I wanted to do was get to the CP5 so I could re-tape my feet. I desperately needed to get my head down but continued on to the CP.
25 miles till the next CP 130 miles done.
I found the navigation quite easy after my early detours
The next section I got quite stroppy with myself for losing my Montane beanie hat ,and was cursing my feet which were getting blistered now. I remember trying to unwrap a flapjack along this part but just couldn,t do it so stupidly told it to fuck off and launched it in the river,so decided to stop for a cup of soup and cool down and get my head back on track.It,s funny the smallest things which really piss you off in ultras. I had a sleep somewhere here for an hour just chucked my bivvy on the wet grass and fell on top of it , I remember thinking it was about 5am and I hope the farmer doesn,t come up in his tractor as I was just sleeping in the middle of a field
I remember coming to a sign in the woods at chimney meadows and listening to owls or whatever it was and seeing a man stood looking up at the tree , I was swearing at the sign thinking I had done full circle here as there was a sign exactly the same miles back , the man turned out to be a broken tree stump and I was ok and still on track. Sleep deprivation was really affecting me now as I was starting to see things that were not there.Trees were becoming people and branches animals ,gates were opening before I got to them, long weeds in the grass were sea horses and evil looking goblins. Rain showers were getting more frequent now and I needed sleep and quick. I trudged on knowing I was near CP6 but just could not go any further. My feet were agony here and I needed to re-tape my heel so I stopped at Radcot lock and had a coffee and dressed my feet .The plan was to bivvy on a bench for an hour after sorting myself out but it started pouring down again so I packed up and then realised I had left my socks in the bloody rain. So with soaking wet socks off I went to CP6 where Paul was waiting to top water bottles up.(Sorry if I was a bit grumpy Paul). Didn,t stay long here so carried on up the path where I found a war time shelter and it was quite clean inside so that was it head down time, socks off, food cooked slept for not long more food and coffee. It was so good to just get out of the weather and burst a few blisters ,re-tape feet and generally chill and re-group . My feet have never looked so bad and I was worried about trenchfoot. CP6 was 155 miles .
The weather was awful and had been raining constantly, it had been a really tough day and night for me and things were about to get worse.
After heading through Inglesham my maps finally disintergrated to pulp I was lost and with no river to follow trudged to the main road , rain pouring down, feet in agony and no idea what to do. I carried on and saw a massive barn fire about a quarter of a mile away , fire engines were tearing up the road a explosion came from the barn all I could think was the poor farmer all that hard work gone.I carried on down the road which was badly flooded and cars were going so fast it was a scary even though it was only about 04:30. Got about half a mile and turned back I did this about 3 times getting more and more fed up. After the 3rd time I just sat by a gate and have to admit after all I had been through I thought my race is over, I had been about 2 hours or more here and started blubbering, got my phone out and was just about to call race director Shane to come and get me when 3,4,5,6 headtorches appeared over the hill . It was Ernie ,Dave, Chrissie, Philipp, Anthony and Christine . It was the first time I would have some company since two days before. Someone was looking after me that morning, I was so glad to see them. We all carried on together through this part which I would never have found without maps. Into CP7 and 168 miles done,cooked up some hot food and coffee and all headed out for the final stretch. All of us were really starting to fall apart now and it was a really tough section but everyone was in good spirits.
My feet were so painful I had to use my poles just to take some of the weight off . Through Kemble and toward the finish . We had decided to all finish together which was a great feeling all holding hands running to the Stone marker .
I am so so happy finishing the T184 as it gives me the treble of big races this year and after the disappointing end to the year last year it so makes up for it.
I would just like to say a massive thank-you to everyone who helped out, without you all these races would be impossible so thank-you once again.
To Shane for giving me the chance to come back and beat this beast of a race thank-you so much, one of the reasons I had to finish was for you.
My feet are absolutely battered but will heal quickly I hope. This race has taught me a lot about myself and have learnt many things to take forward to the brutal Spine next year.
Saturday, 5 September 2015
Thursday, 23 October 2014
injuries and illness.
I actually forgot this but before Endure 24 I had entered the Spine race and work was busy so thought I would make the most of the running downtime by working a lot of hours to be able to buy the kit for the spine and T184 which was my next race.
Well it sort of backfired on me and I ended up in hospital for a day .Had really bad chest pains after getting home from work at gone midnight, the mrs thought I was having a heart attack but I just thought had pulled some muscles so said I would see how I was in the morning. Well I just paced the bloody house all night in agony then woke her to tell her I thought I should go to hospital. Once in A&E I was rushed straight in to a ward where I was hooked up to everything , by now the pain was really bad so it was morphine time and more tests then more morphine. After being there all day the doc told me I had Pericarditus (inflammation of the heart lining) which I think is no big thing , just had to take tablets for a month. So gets home pain returns after morphine has worn off another night with no sleep. 8am in the morning the hospital calls and tells me to come straight back down, something to do with my chest x-ray. Turns out I had a massive chest infection which must have caused the pericarditis, so that was that 2 friggin weeks off work .That is why I wasn,t supposed to be running the endure race .
A few weeks after Kate suggested a training run along the 87 mile Ridgeway in preparation for the T184 and as I felt ok said yes. So I picked her and Avo (her collie) up and headed up to Nichola Newton,s house at Calne where she kindly offered to let me park and drop us off at the start. So Friday night we headed off along the Ridgeway and after having done the race a couple of times although in the opposite direction was quite confident with the navigation (oh how wrong was I).
Within minutes of running up the first hill I knew I was not fully recovered from the chest infection and was feeling tight chested and dizzy, we stopped at the top and Kate asked if I was ok just to walk , I said yes so she suggested we turn it into a walking adventure as we had our bags kitted out for the T184 race . We walked until about 2am and were a little lost so decided to pitch up for the night before the rain got heavier and were lucky we did as it poured down for the rest of the night. We set off again in the morning and the weather was so much better. We found the trail again and soon found a garage where we could stock up with food and drink Avo decided to go behind the counter where they were cooking food ,the staff were not amused but me and Kate thought it was so funny.
we crossed a main road and I thought we should go straight on but I let Kate talk me into turning right , and yes we went the wrong way. We walked for ages before we spotted some people coming the other way and asked if we were still on the Ridgeway ,which we were, but we were going the wrong way as in heading back to the start !!!!!!!! So back on track and walking the right way we eventually got to streatly where we were just to shattered to pitch up again so got a B&B for the night ha ha . In the morning we caught the wrong train to some bloody where and had to go back to some bloody where to get to some bloody where else . But we made it and the lovely Nichola Newton picked us up and returned us safe and sound back to her house and a lovely coffee and a laugh at just how inept we are at navigation. Although it wasn't the run we planned it was a good fun weekend on my part ,I think and hope Kate enjoyed it .
Well it sort of backfired on me and I ended up in hospital for a day .Had really bad chest pains after getting home from work at gone midnight, the mrs thought I was having a heart attack but I just thought had pulled some muscles so said I would see how I was in the morning. Well I just paced the bloody house all night in agony then woke her to tell her I thought I should go to hospital. Once in A&E I was rushed straight in to a ward where I was hooked up to everything , by now the pain was really bad so it was morphine time and more tests then more morphine. After being there all day the doc told me I had Pericarditus (inflammation of the heart lining) which I think is no big thing , just had to take tablets for a month. So gets home pain returns after morphine has worn off another night with no sleep. 8am in the morning the hospital calls and tells me to come straight back down, something to do with my chest x-ray. Turns out I had a massive chest infection which must have caused the pericarditis, so that was that 2 friggin weeks off work .That is why I wasn,t supposed to be running the endure race .
A few weeks after Kate suggested a training run along the 87 mile Ridgeway in preparation for the T184 and as I felt ok said yes. So I picked her and Avo (her collie) up and headed up to Nichola Newton,s house at Calne where she kindly offered to let me park and drop us off at the start. So Friday night we headed off along the Ridgeway and after having done the race a couple of times although in the opposite direction was quite confident with the navigation (oh how wrong was I).
Within minutes of running up the first hill I knew I was not fully recovered from the chest infection and was feeling tight chested and dizzy, we stopped at the top and Kate asked if I was ok just to walk , I said yes so she suggested we turn it into a walking adventure as we had our bags kitted out for the T184 race . We walked until about 2am and were a little lost so decided to pitch up for the night before the rain got heavier and were lucky we did as it poured down for the rest of the night. We set off again in the morning and the weather was so much better. We found the trail again and soon found a garage where we could stock up with food and drink Avo decided to go behind the counter where they were cooking food ,the staff were not amused but me and Kate thought it was so funny.
we crossed a main road and I thought we should go straight on but I let Kate talk me into turning right , and yes we went the wrong way. We walked for ages before we spotted some people coming the other way and asked if we were still on the Ridgeway ,which we were, but we were going the wrong way as in heading back to the start !!!!!!!! So back on track and walking the right way we eventually got to streatly where we were just to shattered to pitch up again so got a B&B for the night ha ha . In the morning we caught the wrong train to some bloody where and had to go back to some bloody where to get to some bloody where else . But we made it and the lovely Nichola Newton picked us up and returned us safe and sound back to her house and a lovely coffee and a laugh at just how inept we are at navigation. Although it wasn't the run we planned it was a good fun weekend on my part ,I think and hope Kate enjoyed it .
Monday, 20 October 2014
Got to blog more !!
Right it is 13/10/14. I need to blog more.
Have been off running since the end of August due to the Achilles problem but more about that later.
Race wise this year has been difficult to say the least .
First run of the year was a 50k social run in the Cotwolds with some good friends from the ultra running community which was the first ever social run and bloody good fun to, me and Rich Cranswick were dressed as Musketeers , although there was only two of us we were joined at the turn a round by Nici Griffin who had set up an aid station for us all . And so The 3 Musketeers returned, well nearly, we quit a few miles short of the finish at a garage witch sold Costa Coffee (lovely Jubbly).
The Green Man Ultra was supposed to be 45miles around the outskirts Bristol but for me it ended up 49 and a half miles, as usual I took the scenic route (well that's my bloody excuse and I am sticking to it). will definitely do this again.
Next up was a training run with Rich Cranswick along the Kennet & Avon Canal , it was going to be a 100 mile run but turned out to be about 87 miles . Really good fun as ever with Rich.
Centurion Running Thames Path 100 in May was the next race and although my Achilles was ok I kept getting strange spasms in the muscle by the knee, which forced me to keep stopping to massage it away . This seemed to go on throughout the race. When I arrived at the 85 mile aid station I was in quite a dark place and really didn't think I could carry on . Luckily Phil , my bro-in law and trusty crewman was there as was Rich Cranswick .After a quick chat about how far was left Phil and Rich persuaded me to carry on . The following checkpoint I was so sick but with only 7 miles or so to go I had no choice but to carry on . Finished in about 25 hours I think . That was a tough race for me compared to last years quagmire. Still another finish though. James Elsons Centurion events are absolutely fantastic from the organisation to the marshalls to all the aid station volunteers. Centurion races I will do again and again.
The week after I was booked into Hope 24 which was a 24 hour race in a 5 mile loop through the grounds of a lovely park. I was doing this race with a good friend and of course fellow stringer Kate Hayden. I really didn't know how the bloody hell my legs were going to be after the TP 100, but surprisingly they felt great. The route itself was great a few short sharp hills and all off road . We were going along quite nicely but I couldn't resist bombing down the hills each lap and at about 40 miles my shin was so painful and just could not carry on so the race was over for me . Kate carried on with Avo her collie but was feeling quite ill so came back and had a sleep for a couple of hours then got up and carried on to about 80 miles I think which was amazing after the way she was feeling earlier. She slept all the way back and was still throwing up in her front garden when I left. She was ok though later. Another race for the diary loved this one.
Endure 24 was next , another race similar to Hope 24 but with many more runners involved and loads and loads of mud . I was still suffering with Achilles issues and shin splints so was not going to run..... much. I decided to run the first lap and then stop , but met up with Zoe Thornburgh who I did a few laps with and also paced Nici Griffin for a few laps at night to. So I ended up doing 35 miles, which I was not supposed to do any but hey ho didn't make it any worse . Great event but not one I would do again as I don't think there was much consideration for the solo runners from many of the relay runners barging past and I wasn't alone in thinking this.
Ultra 12 was another new race and very good to although I had to pull out early after slipping on a sharp left turn off a bridge and tearing my groin (ouch) that bloody hurt. Would do this again to and its a good race for the newbie to ultra running.
Have been off running since the end of August due to the Achilles problem but more about that later.
Race wise this year has been difficult to say the least .
First run of the year was a 50k social run in the Cotwolds with some good friends from the ultra running community which was the first ever social run and bloody good fun to, me and Rich Cranswick were dressed as Musketeers , although there was only two of us we were joined at the turn a round by Nici Griffin who had set up an aid station for us all . And so The 3 Musketeers returned, well nearly, we quit a few miles short of the finish at a garage witch sold Costa Coffee (lovely Jubbly).
The Green Man Ultra was supposed to be 45miles around the outskirts Bristol but for me it ended up 49 and a half miles, as usual I took the scenic route (well that's my bloody excuse and I am sticking to it). will definitely do this again.
Next up was a training run with Rich Cranswick along the Kennet & Avon Canal , it was going to be a 100 mile run but turned out to be about 87 miles . Really good fun as ever with Rich.
Centurion Running Thames Path 100 in May was the next race and although my Achilles was ok I kept getting strange spasms in the muscle by the knee, which forced me to keep stopping to massage it away . This seemed to go on throughout the race. When I arrived at the 85 mile aid station I was in quite a dark place and really didn't think I could carry on . Luckily Phil , my bro-in law and trusty crewman was there as was Rich Cranswick .After a quick chat about how far was left Phil and Rich persuaded me to carry on . The following checkpoint I was so sick but with only 7 miles or so to go I had no choice but to carry on . Finished in about 25 hours I think . That was a tough race for me compared to last years quagmire. Still another finish though. James Elsons Centurion events are absolutely fantastic from the organisation to the marshalls to all the aid station volunteers. Centurion races I will do again and again.
The week after I was booked into Hope 24 which was a 24 hour race in a 5 mile loop through the grounds of a lovely park. I was doing this race with a good friend and of course fellow stringer Kate Hayden. I really didn't know how the bloody hell my legs were going to be after the TP 100, but surprisingly they felt great. The route itself was great a few short sharp hills and all off road . We were going along quite nicely but I couldn't resist bombing down the hills each lap and at about 40 miles my shin was so painful and just could not carry on so the race was over for me . Kate carried on with Avo her collie but was feeling quite ill so came back and had a sleep for a couple of hours then got up and carried on to about 80 miles I think which was amazing after the way she was feeling earlier. She slept all the way back and was still throwing up in her front garden when I left. She was ok though later. Another race for the diary loved this one.
Endure 24 was next , another race similar to Hope 24 but with many more runners involved and loads and loads of mud . I was still suffering with Achilles issues and shin splints so was not going to run..... much. I decided to run the first lap and then stop , but met up with Zoe Thornburgh who I did a few laps with and also paced Nici Griffin for a few laps at night to. So I ended up doing 35 miles, which I was not supposed to do any but hey ho didn't make it any worse . Great event but not one I would do again as I don't think there was much consideration for the solo runners from many of the relay runners barging past and I wasn't alone in thinking this.
Ultra 12 was another new race and very good to although I had to pull out early after slipping on a sharp left turn off a bridge and tearing my groin (ouch) that bloody hurt. Would do this again to and its a good race for the newbie to ultra running.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
2014
Happy New Year everyone.
Training plan for 2014Am planning on doing just small runs during the week apart from Wednesdays which will be a longish fast paced run between 10-15 miles ,then a back to back run at weekends .
Am still sorting races out to do this year and so far this is it
February 8th 50k Cotswold Way_______ fun run with ultra running friends .
March 1st 45 mile Green Man Ultra ____Bristol
May 3rd Thames Path 100 mile______Richmond to Oxford
May10th Hope24 hour race _________ Newnham park nr. Plymouth
May 24th GUCR 145mile __________ Birmingham to London ( missed out on the ballot ,hoping for a last minute place though) !!!!
May25th The Ox Ultra 35 miles______ Tollard Royal ,Wiltshire
June 28th Giants Head Marathon______Sydling St Nicholas Dorset
August 22nd T184__184 miles________Entire length of the Thames Path
Sept. 27th Cotswold Way century_____ Chipping Camden to Bath (unfinished business 3rd time lucky I hope)
Saturday, 7 December 2013
2013 review of my first year in ultra running.
Well I have come to the end of my first year of ultra running , so here is my review .
In short probably did one to many.
Should have rested more.
Got to sort Nutrition out !!!!
Starting with the Thames Path 100 my first 100 miler ,although tough because of the weather i loved every minute of it even when the Achilles put paid to a good time and to get under 24 hours was the icing on the cake. 23:19 hours
10 weeks later after being told I would never make the start line of the South Downs Way 100 by my doctor I smashed my 100 mile time to finish in 22 hours .
Ridgeway 87 was next in August and a lovely race but suffered with sickness for the last 25 miles but still made it in 20:25 and second over 50.
Next up was the Cotswold Way 102 but I had big plans to run home to poole from Bath after, but it went terribly wrong after throwing up for 35 miles getting lost a few times in the fog as well I had to retire at the 65 mile checkpoint, looking back I was not 100 per cent and I know from past experience what the CW is like so maybe I should have DNS it. I will return to finish what I started though.
Finally the race of the year. The James Adams and James Elson Race... The Piece of String (fun run) and what a race to end my year on. After having been on crutches for 3 weeks I really thought I would not even make the start but 2 weeks before I took a chance and gradually got back out running (physio told me no running until xmas at least ) I really do think ultra runners heal quicker than expected. The race itself was not measured in distance or time it was just to see if anyone would find the end and 2 fine runners did, but it was a fantastic experience and one which I would love to attempt again . In the end for me it was roughly 110 miles and about 26 hours.
Well I have a had a fantastic time this year and but for niggling injuries I might have done a little better. I really have no doubt that I love the ultra distances and I am going to extend the distances I run until I cant do it anymore after all everyone keeps telling me I am to old .
So this is for the doubters !!!!!Roll on next year !!!!!
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In short probably did one to many.
Should have rested more.
Got to sort Nutrition out !!!!
Starting with the Thames Path 100 my first 100 miler ,although tough because of the weather i loved every minute of it even when the Achilles put paid to a good time and to get under 24 hours was the icing on the cake. 23:19 hours
10 weeks later after being told I would never make the start line of the South Downs Way 100 by my doctor I smashed my 100 mile time to finish in 22 hours .
Ridgeway 87 was next in August and a lovely race but suffered with sickness for the last 25 miles but still made it in 20:25 and second over 50.
Next up was the Cotswold Way 102 but I had big plans to run home to poole from Bath after, but it went terribly wrong after throwing up for 35 miles getting lost a few times in the fog as well I had to retire at the 65 mile checkpoint, looking back I was not 100 per cent and I know from past experience what the CW is like so maybe I should have DNS it. I will return to finish what I started though.
Finally the race of the year. The James Adams and James Elson Race... The Piece of String (fun run) and what a race to end my year on. After having been on crutches for 3 weeks I really thought I would not even make the start but 2 weeks before I took a chance and gradually got back out running (physio told me no running until xmas at least ) I really do think ultra runners heal quicker than expected. The race itself was not measured in distance or time it was just to see if anyone would find the end and 2 fine runners did, but it was a fantastic experience and one which I would love to attempt again . In the end for me it was roughly 110 miles and about 26 hours.
Well I have a had a fantastic time this year and but for niggling injuries I might have done a little better. I really have no doubt that I love the ultra distances and I am going to extend the distances I run until I cant do it anymore after all everyone keeps telling me I am to old .
So this is for the doubters !!!!!Roll on next year !!!!!
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Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Piece of String the Finale
The Piece of String the final piece for me.
Well after leaving Kate it was a game of chasing the cut offs for me leading to Reading , I picked up the pace a bit but the Shin was starting to flare up now.
I could see a runner in front of me and he kept looking round ,I stupidly thought I was catching one of the other lads.
Caught up and it was really nice indian chap over here for a year working in the industry I am in. He asked if he could accompany me for a while and it turned out he had done a 50 mile run in india .The Shin was starting to flare up now and was getting painful.
But he was in awe of what we were doing and even wanted to kiss my feet , after nearly 100 miles not a good idea.
He ran/walked with me for 6 miles taking photos of me to send home. he was also saying I was running faster than he normally runs and he had just got a PB for 6 miles . Anyway he left me and I phoned James, not being sure where the hell I was but I was on the right road to the aid station , arriving there my shin was quite bad but with 2 lovely ladies looking after me I didn't want to show what a wimp I was.. Yes James I know Gemma your wife was one of them and I think Jany to. I needed some painkillers now and luckily Gemma had some ,she had to phone james about timing and I had about 2:30 to make it back to streatly .
Easy Peasy 2hours 30 minutes to do about 12 miles .
Oh How Wrong Was I!!!!
But I am glad I didn't have to run through here at night!!!
I left Reading with the Thames Path map and headed out on the Path, was unsure at one stage if I was going the correct way so asked a walker if I was on the right route , no English was the reply, another walker, no English, bloody hell where are the normal people then found a chap walking a collie just like mine , and relief, just keep going he said how far have you run , from Bristol I replied . why the f*** do you wanna do that, and it was great just to say because I can and he shook my hand and congratulated me and then produced a £10 pound note for my charity. when I told it wasn't a charity run the look on his face was amazing.
So ,happy I was still going the right way helped a bit although the painkillers weren't really doing much.
So onwards and upwards to pangbourne through some fields which seemed to go on for ever to Goring on Thames which I knew was really close to Streatly .
Now I don't know what happened here but I got bloody lost
and ended running really fast now because I had to be back by
2:00pm .At one stage I was comfortably inside the time.
If I had not gone wrong I would have made it easily ,but hey ho.
I finally got to the Morrell room at 14 :15 to be greeted with
big cheers from everyone , even the Winter 100 runners
clapped and cheered which was really nice.
James came over and said I could carry on if I wanted which
was nice to hear ,so I asked where the others had been sent,
hoping he was going to say the Thames Path but he said the
Ridgeway as soon as he said that I thought no way would my
shin stand up to that ,I know the Ridgeway quite well. If it had
been the Thames Path I really think I would have carried on .
So that was it I never found the end of the Piece of string but I know one thing I loved every minute of it and would love to be in it again next year.
All my fellow runners were bloody awesome.
All the aid station volunteers were just amazing as were all the helpers doing what they could to help us.
Just a last big thank-you to James Adams and James Elson for a wonderful race .How the hell are you going to beat this next year ,Thank-you once again and see you in May for the TP100.
Well after leaving Kate it was a game of chasing the cut offs for me leading to Reading , I picked up the pace a bit but the Shin was starting to flare up now.
I could see a runner in front of me and he kept looking round ,I stupidly thought I was catching one of the other lads.
Caught up and it was really nice indian chap over here for a year working in the industry I am in. He asked if he could accompany me for a while and it turned out he had done a 50 mile run in india .The Shin was starting to flare up now and was getting painful.
But he was in awe of what we were doing and even wanted to kiss my feet , after nearly 100 miles not a good idea.
He ran/walked with me for 6 miles taking photos of me to send home. he was also saying I was running faster than he normally runs and he had just got a PB for 6 miles . Anyway he left me and I phoned James, not being sure where the hell I was but I was on the right road to the aid station , arriving there my shin was quite bad but with 2 lovely ladies looking after me I didn't want to show what a wimp I was.. Yes James I know Gemma your wife was one of them and I think Jany to. I needed some painkillers now and luckily Gemma had some ,she had to phone james about timing and I had about 2:30 to make it back to streatly .
Easy Peasy 2hours 30 minutes to do about 12 miles .
Oh How Wrong Was I!!!!
But I am glad I didn't have to run through here at night!!!
I left Reading with the Thames Path map and headed out on the Path, was unsure at one stage if I was going the correct way so asked a walker if I was on the right route , no English was the reply, another walker, no English, bloody hell where are the normal people then found a chap walking a collie just like mine , and relief, just keep going he said how far have you run , from Bristol I replied . why the f*** do you wanna do that, and it was great just to say because I can and he shook my hand and congratulated me and then produced a £10 pound note for my charity. when I told it wasn't a charity run the look on his face was amazing.
So ,happy I was still going the right way helped a bit although the painkillers weren't really doing much.
So onwards and upwards to pangbourne through some fields which seemed to go on for ever to Goring on Thames which I knew was really close to Streatly .
Now I don't know what happened here but I got bloody lost
and ended running really fast now because I had to be back by
2:00pm .At one stage I was comfortably inside the time.
If I had not gone wrong I would have made it easily ,but hey ho.
I finally got to the Morrell room at 14 :15 to be greeted with big cheers from everyone , even the Winter 100 runners
clapped and cheered which was really nice.
James came over and said I could carry on if I wanted which
was nice to hear ,so I asked where the others had been sent,
hoping he was going to say the Thames Path but he said the
Ridgeway as soon as he said that I thought no way would my
shin stand up to that ,I know the Ridgeway quite well. If it had
been the Thames Path I really think I would have carried on .
So that was it I never found the end of the Piece of string but I know one thing I loved every minute of it and would love to be in it again next year.
All my fellow runners were bloody awesome.
All the aid station volunteers were just amazing as were all the helpers doing what they could to help us.
Just a last big thank-you to James Adams and James Elson for a wonderful race .How the hell are you going to beat this next year ,Thank-you once again and see you in May for the TP100.
Piece of String Part 2
I thought quite early on that the route would take us back to Streatly, and was quite pleased as I had been wanting to do the Kennett and Avon Canal as a training run for ages so here it was but in a race.
Kate and I were running along discussing what we thought the distance was going to be and we both thought about 150 miles, at one stage we even said we could end up joining the winter 100 race.
Kate ,Ian and I were going along quite nicely when we lost the bloody canal,but as a bonus after wondering around we found a lovely coffee shop and all had a cappuchino,it was fantastic.Eventually with directions from the girl in the café we got back on track.
Ian was suffering with a stomach bug and was feeling quite ill but we persuaded him to keep going from the aid station.
Back on track (literally) and we plodded on to Devizes to the next aid station where Ian had decided to drop out which was a real shame .Dave who was the only person behind us kept popping up at the aid stations just as we were leaving each time , he had a good plan with the run walk run and was looking good on it .
It was dark now so headtorches donned and ipods at the ready we headed off again to, I just don't have a clue where we went next . Kate was having real difficulties with bad cramping in her quads through the night but she is made of stern stuff after all she has completed some big races 2 of which were the Grand Union Canal 145 miles (which I really wanted to do next year but missed out on the ballot) and she also completed The Thames Ring 250 miler.
During the night I started having a few issues with the stomach and was hoping it wasn't going to be another night of being ill.
On we went toward another aid station Kate singing away to her music and me belting out Jessie J , Pink and Bowie songs Thankfully nobody else could hear us. Just before the the next aid station I was feeling really sick so Kate gave me some ginger hoping it would settle my stomach, did it hell, when we reached the station I threw up and all I could taste was ginger ,Thanks Kate.Ha Ha. We left there and continued on our journey.
The sun was coming up and it was still nice weather ,even the night didn't seem that cold. Kate was still soldiering on and I really felt for her now although I was still trying to push her on. We got to the aid station where James greeted us and I had my first ever pot noodle ,probably not the best thing after throwing up but I had to eat something or my race would be over. James told us we were near the cut offs so we had to get a move on eating our noodles as we pressed on. By now Kate was clearly in trouble and kept telling me to go on she was going to pull out .I think she did amazing to get that far and it was a pleasure to have her company to that point.
Thank-you Kate you are truly a tough cookie!!!!
Part 3 to come soon!!!!!
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