Looking Backwards and Forwards - The Ups and Downs of a Running Year

We are getting to the end of the running year, and I have been looking back on what was, in the end, not a very successful season. I have many happy and proud memories, but also regrets and disappointments.  I find myself looking back over a year of ups and downs (physical and emotional), shaking myself down, and looking forwards to next year, pondering how I can do it better.

Here are my thoughts....

Stroud Trail Marathon - What We Learned in 26.4 Brutal Miles

A couple of days ago I ran the Stroud Trail Marathon, alongside my friend and running partner G, running her first marathon. It was hard. It was very hilly. It was the hottest May day for four years which meant it was very hard. We had trained well, but by mile 8 we both agreed that we were feeling more drained that we would usually feel at that distance, and by 15 miles I was definitely flagging.

But for us this wasn't just the challenge of running 26.4 hilly miles on a hot day (though it was definitely that!) It was also a step along the way towards Race to the Stones, a 100km ultra, which is a scant 9 weeks away, so this was also a training marathon and a learning marathon.

And here are a few things I (we) learned....

Lessons from the OMM

Last week Pete and I went on our annual pilgrimage to whichever set of rainy mountains the OMM team pick. This year it was the Tweedsmuir Hills in the Scottish Borders, which was an area I had never visited.

We'd entered the "Medium Score" event, which is like a big orienteering event spread over many miles of mountains and moorland. As we crossed the start line we were given our maps, which showed the finish point for the day (and overnight camp) and many control points dotted around the area, with different numbers of points. We had six hours, carrying everything we needed for two days in the hills (tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food...) to get to the overnight camp, collecting as many points as we could manage. And then we'd do it all again the next day, with a new map and a new set of controls.

A short video of our exploits is here (although in reality we walked much more that the video suggests!)

This was our sixth mountain marathon, so you'd think we were getting the hang of it by now, but there is still plenty to learn.  Here's a few thoughts....

Big Bike Thing

For reasons that are lost in the mists of time (from about 4 months ago!) Kath and I are cycling to Plymouth to go to a wedding!

It seemed like a good idea when, sitting in a pub (inevitably!), we came up with the idea.  But then suddenly there was only two months to go and we were nowhere near ready!

I know to many people 200 miles is a good day's jaunt, but we had never cycled more than 20 miles before. So over the last couple of months we have trained (a bit) and got ourselves vaguely ready. This has luckily involved much gear buying, an activity in which I am something of an expert. Acquisitions have included a bike(!), racks, panniers, lights, lycra, locks, inner tubes and socks, and we finally have two road ready bikes to take us on our way.

We are setting off tomorrow to do 55 miles a day for four days, arriving in Plymouth on Friday evening.

Updates on Twitter #BigBikeThing.

Wish us luck.

Tribute to my Osprey Talon 33 - A long term kit review.

I love Osprey rucksacks. I have five of them, all different sizes, ranging from the big Aether 70, through an old rugged Ceres 50, a Talon 44 and down to a lightweight Venom 13.

But the one that I use the most, my favourite and constant mountain companion, is a four year old orange Talon 33. It has been with me everywhere. Mountain marathons. Days out training with DofE teams. Scrambling in Snowdonia. Overnight bivvies. Climbing centres. Weekend hotels. Long training runs. Running the length of Wales on the Big Wales Thing.

I reckon I have probably used it enough now to do a review of it!

Thoughts from the Wild

 I finished the Big Wales Thing some months ago, and have ever since felt a bit guilty and frustrated that I haven't really written anything about it. I know that I could write a day by day account of my 225 mile, 15 day journey through Wales, or extract some practical lessons for others that might want to do the same thing. Or maybe write some reviews of the kit that I used and the food that I ate.
But somewhere inside me those don't feel right. They might be useful or interesting in their own way, but they wouldn't express the real deep feeling that came from my journey, the complicated and mixed emotions.

Clarendon Marathon - We Did It!

Pete and I at about 18 miles!

A few years ago, looking at my OMM training schedule, I had spotted the Clarendon Half Marathon as a potential training event, but after a little pondering had dismissed it as being a too close to the OMM three weeks later, worried that I wouldn't recover from the 13.1 miles in time for our annual wander round the mountains.

I thought of that and how much my fitness must have changed yesterday as I was in the middle of the full Clarendon Marathon, a whole 26.2 miles of hilly paths winding from Salisbury to Winchester.