Gut Buster 2012

My last achievement of 2012 was completing the 10 mile Gut Buster multi terrain event hosted by My Sporting Times. The event was held at Butlers Lands Farm in Mortimer, Berkshire, and in my opinion was brilliantly organised. It was only £20 to enter which I thought was excellent value for money.

The site was pretty easy to find with ample parking (although inventive at times) and I only worried that I might not be able to get the car out of the mud at the end but all was well. The number of entrants was relatively small (maybe around 400 total) but around 70 didn’t turn up on the day! There were quite a few loos but the queue was so long five minutes from start time that the organisers very kindly started letting some of the ladies use the toilets in the organisers building which was a huge relief. The proper coffee van on site (fully working espresso machine – thank you!) was a nice touch. The atmosphere was cheery and the briefing very jolly.

As well as the 10 mile there was also a 10k route, both of which started at 9am and followed the same route for about the first 4 miles. The distance markers for the 10 mile route were in miles and for the 10k route were in kms. The route split was really well marked and there were loads of marshals (all in excellent spirit and with a good sense of humour) and marker tape so I never suspected I was going the wrong way. Because I was towards the back there were plenty of points where I couldn’t see anyone behind or in front so this was a big plus. The course itself was mostly off-road, across fields and farmland with a ford at 1.5 miles (we were encouraged NOT to run through it) and only around 2.5 miles on roads. Undulating is probably the right word as I didn’t encounter more than one hill I felt compelled to walk but due to all the rain we’d had in the area the ground was especially wet and muddy and therefore so slippery in places that It didn’t feel safe to run, being at the back of the pack as I was. There were two water stations on each route and some very welcome mulled wine and mince pies at the finish (free to competitors). We didn’t get goody bags or t-shirts but did get a really great personalised medal. You could opt to have your time engraved for an additional charge but I decided only to have my name added (which was free).

I “ran” in 2:02, was 152^nd out of 164 who completed the 10 mile course, and 51^st lady. I wasn’t aiming for any particular time, and my training plan had this down as a slow run anyway so I was happy to finish. It gave me a real sense of satisfaction for the rest of the day, knowing I’d done something active over Christmas.

Entries for 2013 are already open so do sign up if this has whetted your appetite. 

Fundraising Update - December

Somehow I've made it up to 14%! Actually I know exactly how it happened, thanks to some very lovely friends and colleagues and a couple of bakes sales. It's creeping up slowly but surely without too much badgering and I'm so grateful to everyone. So very grateful.

It's lovely to know that people have faith in me and feel moved to donate or sponsor me. It's helping me to step out of the door on days when I don't really feel like it, make me realise that I can already run 8 miles which is almost a third of a marathon and remind me that this isn't just a personal challenge.

In the new year I shall be buying a new pair of trainers with my Christmas money, getting my bike serviced and setting about the job of raising money a little more seriously. What with Christmas preparations I've not ha as much time as I would have liked, nor felt right about asking for money. I appreciate that some people are in a more generous spirit this time of year and that January blues (and reds) will be their own challenge but no matter. People have been keen to part with a pound for a home made mince pie.

This month I would like to give special thanks to Nana and Fran, both of whom have shown a huge amount of belief and support. Thank you.

Like Ice in the Sun

I've not been terribly good at writing on my blog of late. I blame Christmas preparations which I've dived into wholeheartedly. I am now at the end of the third week of my training plan and so far it's going ok.

So what have I been up to? Well December has been both bitter and mild in turn, prompting me to break out the merino and thermal leggings, my new rain jacket and the sunglasses. Kit is definitely not a barrier to my getting out of the door to go for a run, I'm set for all weathers and seasons. It was pretty during the heavy frost last week, seeing the spider webs on the street lamps. Things like that reawaken my enjoyment of running. I was knocked out by a cold this week for a grand total of 2 days but thankfully my immune system was quick to work and a 6 mile run sweated the last of it out.

I'm running three times a week and starting to introduce "Tuff" training, as I'm calling it, which is strength training in any guise I can manage. So far that's in the form of one of Davina's DVDs, doing the boot camp, arms and core sections. It feels good to feel that ache in my muscles again and I'm sure I can already see a difference in my arms.

My three runs consist of an interval, a tempo and a long run. The intervals are kinda fun, but I think I need to push just a teeny bit harder and jog all of the recovery sections rather than walk some of them. The tempo runs are pretty standard. It seems, according to the pacing, that these are my usual, comfortable sorts of runs. That's not to say they're easy but just the sort I was doing most often prior to this plan. The long runs are a challenge though. I know I'm capable of the 8 or 9 miles that's been asked of me so far but I'm finding them so awfully BORING! I finished one a whole mile short the other day just because I was so bored of it. I had a new soundtrack to listen to but I was fed up of running the same roads. I can run these longer runs at the weekend during the day in the few light hours we get at the moment so I need to plan a bit more and take advantage of being able to go offroad. The shorter runs I have to do at night, mostly, so need to stick to the roads and therefore end up on the SAME roads time after time. It's taken me a while to realise that I need to go back to the running club and start running with people again. My fear of having to run faster than I am comfortably capable of and needing a break from the routine has prevented me so far but the new year will see me going back to being sociable with my running and being brave.

So, to date, my training has looked like this:
Week 1: 17.5 miles
Week 2: 18.5 miles plus 1 x Tuff
Week 3: 13.5 miles plus 3 x Tuff (and my 50th parkrun!)

Weeks 3 and 4 are a bit easier due to Christmas, with one week's worth stretched out over 2. I do have the ten mile cross country Gut Buster race to look forward to on December 30th though! That should get rid of the festive excesses...

Grimmed and Dared It!

On Sunday the 2nd December 2012 at 10:30am about 2,000 people, in various degrees of coldness, stepped over the start line of the Grim Challenge. This year was the 10th anniversary of the original Grim, an 8-mile race over Army Training grounds in Aldershot typically involving a large number of icy, muddy "puddles", a few nasty hills and a couple of cargo nets. 

I was meant to take part in this in 2010 but due to snow blocking the access roads it got postponed and I couldn't make the new date. I transferred to sister event Beast In The East but had unfinished business here. 

The race organisation was very good. My pack was sent out a good two weeks in advance, I got extra travel instructions in the week before and the event was very well sign posted. There was a key/baggage drop, changing tents for men and women, a good number of porta-loos which meant queuing was minimal, and a few reasonable catering stands. The course was enthusiastically marshalled and the only complaint I've got is that the 7 mile marker was quite clearly NOT at 7 miles. That was the longest mile of my life. There was some music piped out at a couple of points around the course which I rather enjoyed. The atmosphere was fantastic though, as I'm beginning to find with this kind of event, loads of spectators, lots of banter, some cool costumes and generally a lot of fun. The goody bag had a couple of snacks, some shampoo and conditioner and a pain-eze gel. The race t-shirt was cool but would have been even better made from a technical fabric.

It was a dry, bright day but very cold. The event is run on both the Saturday and the Sunday so although the ice had been broken on the water the day before, there was a good fresh batch on the Sunday too. The Brutal 10 I completed two weeks previously had stood me in good stead for this one. The course was far easier in many respects, despite being two miles longer. I am a little out of shape when it comes to distance running and I'd expected more mud to slow me down so the amount of the course that was "run-able" came as a bit of a shock. The lack of thick mud made this far less draining on the legs, but I was still knackered on the last mile. Going into the ponds wasn't so bad but coming out hurt like anything as the cold air evaporated the water and everything was slippery. 

The guys in this video (watch the left hand side right the way through) certainly threw themselves into it though!

I didn't get nearly as muddy as at Brutal though, which may have been a blessing. 

My friend Anita ran this with me and, bless her, we stuck together the whole way round, hanging on to each other through every pond and mud patch. She pretty much had to drag me through the last pond when she could have easily taken ten minutes off of her time instead. It made such a difference having someone to go round with. This was her first cross country event and I'm glad to say she loved it! So much so she's signing up to tackle Tough Mudder with me!

The winner came in at around 50 minutes so all credit to him. Anita and I finished in 01:37:22, much faster than I completed Brutal in, and a couple of my friends came in around ten minutes faster than us, despite injuries, which was great. All in all, a great event. Now I'm just looking forward to seeing the official photos.

Fundraising Update - November

In the past month I've managed to get to 11% of my target! I've not been harassing people very much via email, but I've raise a fair bit through cake sales at work and at the events my OH has been to with his coffee business. I've had one extremely generous donation, plus several other generous ones from colleagues at work.

I don't expect I'll be hounding people for money this side of Christmas but I will continue with the bake sales and any other little initiatives like that I can come up with. I'm still waiting on the collecting tins from the charity unfortunately :(

I'm confident there's a few more people who I've already contacted who will donate without any further prompting because I've had so many positive comments on my challenge. The combination of the five events is really making people sit up and take notice. The words "mad" and "crazy" are being used rather a lot but I was expecting that. I rather like surprising people.

The Running Show 2012

This weekend just past, 24-25th November, Sandown Park racecourse played host to The Running Show 2012. This was a free event (if you registered in advance) featuring a race, stands for top brands and retailers, workshops and seminars. I went along with my mum on the Sunday and had an excellent day.

The first 1500 people through the door each day got a goody bag and the chance to win some cool prizes if your bag contained a "golden envelope". As well as the usual leaflets each bag contained some gels, drinks tabs and a clif bar. The venue never felt overly busy, possibly owing to the race and running workshop during the day which occupied quite a number of people. I didn't take part in these but might consider it on another occasion.

There were two seminar areas with a full programme of talks throughout the day ranging from advice on training and injury prevention to barefoot running and kit choices. I attended one on marathon training and another on nutrition. The latter was given by Joel Enoch, who was on the Clif Bar stand most of the day, and was by far the most interesting talk on nutrition I've ever heard. I'm suffering from information overload on that subject at the moment as I'm researching aspects of my training but this was really clear, practical and compelling. He invited people to chat to him afterwards, something I took advantage of as I wanted a little more guidance on nutrition for vegetarians in training. He covered an A5 page with notes, gave me some clif builders bars and I came away with a much clearer understanding of how to structure and time my meals in relation to my training. The most important things I learnt:
- to use fruit and veg as the base of all meals, adding carbs and protein as appropriate
- to have basic building blocks you can swap out depending on your needs at that time e.g. your breakfast might be fruit, granola and yogurt. If you need more protein, swap out 20g granola for 20g nuts
- rice and beans together provide a complete protein for vegetarians
- you can download the "clifcast" podcasts from iTunes for more nutrition info

I sampled a great number of bars and gels throughout the day although hardly any were giving away complete sample bars, but it was an excellent way to see which textures you liked best. There were also lots of stands selling kit and providing gait analysis in conjunction with selling trainers. I bought a water resistant running jacket from Crew Room, which means I now have no excuses for not going out when it's raining, and my mum bought a very stylish long sleeved running top from Newline. Neither of these brands I'd heard of before but both were very appealing. Newline in particular offered a great line of stylish gear to rival (in my opinion) Sweaty Betty but at more affordable prices. Plenty of offers were available, from 10-50% off or 3 for 2 on a lot of clothing, and all stall holders seemed very relaxed about you taking things to the loos to try them on, or going off for a run around the venue for testing purposes.

I expected to spend 2-3 hours there but ended up spending almost 6 hours browsing, tasting, listening, wandering and generally enjoying. I thought it was a great event for all runners, whether ultra runners or new starters.

I'm now looking forward to putting some of my nutrition learnings into practice and putting my jacket to the test. I might do a post on that.

Three is the magic number

This week I've been keeping things fairly light with just three 3 mile runs. The first was Monday before work. These are always the hardest for me because I don't eat beforehand and so suffer from heavy legs and lack of energy. Going out in the frosty dawn and seeing the sunrise was worth it though.

Tuesday evening I'd planned to try a free circuits class run by a girl at work. I need to build he strength training habit still and his seemed a good place to start. My friend Anita was game too but we couldn't find the location despite directions. So we gave up and went home. A run helped to ease my frustration and there's always next week. Lastly was my 48th parkrun in the drizzle at Bexley. Apart from my 50 t-shirt being within reach it was nothing much to write home about really.

It's getting hard to motivate myself to run in the early mornings, on dark nights and in the cold, wet, windy weather. A couple of leisure centres in the area are offering free or cheap 7-12 day passes which I'm thinking of taking advantage of in December to build on my strength with body pump classes and so on. I'm reluctant to sign up to one long term but variety is always good. I've not been gong to running club recently but with my training officially starting next week I might start again, especially as I'm a bit clueless when it comes to longer routes in the area.

In contrast to my running schedule, my OH has been running almost everyday for two weeks. I'm really impressed with his dedication and hope to learn a thing or two. Normally I would start getting guilty and worrying that I wasn't doing enough (always one to want to keep up) but I can still outrun him on distance and my training will be under way soon enough.

What has encouraged and inspired me this week was the 2012 Running Show, which I shall write a separate post on in the next day or so. A really excellent event.