Grasmere Gallop

On Saturday 3rd June I ran the Grasmere Gallop in the Lake District. I decided I needed a wee break on my own and then thought I could maybe combine that with running a race. I had a look and saw that I could run 3 17km trail race less than a three hour drive from home but the closing date for entries was that very day. Lucky! I signed up and on the Friday before I headed to the Lake District.

I stayed overnight in Windermere, the race was in Grasmere which was only a 20 minute drive away. I had no expectations what so ever but what transpired was possibly my most favourite race ever and certainly without any doubt the most beautiful and picturesque.

The day was warm. Very warm. I was seriously considering running in only my vest but the last time I did that (over a similar distance) I suffered sever chaffing on my arms so on balance I decided being too hot was the lesser of two evils. I arrived and parked in a beautiful green field surrounded by beautiful hills under a blue sky and with the smell of freshly cut grass in the air. The air was still, and on my drive in I saw an early morning, still lake, sunshine reflecting off the surface with a lone kayaker taking advantage of the peace and solitude of the early morning. Fair to say I was in a good mood when I arrived at the race start. There was a country fair feel about the place and I received a very friendly and smiley welcome from a lovely lady who gave me my race number. The only slight downer was that l was offered an XL t-shirt. Really?! I know I don’t look like a gazelle type runner, but seriously? I took a medium. It fits fine.

Pre-race caffeine hit

I like to arrive early to races (and everything really) because it’s more relaxing. After collecting my race number and registering, I had an hour to kill. I grabbed a coffee and had a wee lie down on the grass to soak up the sun. I people Watched and chillaxed. There were several different races on that all started at the same time. The 17km trail race, the 10km trail race, the 5km fun-run, the 10km Nordic Walk, and then a bit later the main event, the Under-55 Teddy Dash. I had never heard of Nordic Walking before the weekend but there were a lot of Nordic Walkers there in club kit from places near and far. I need to read about it and find out what it’s all about.

With 15 minutes to go to the start of the race we were asked to make our way to the muster point where we would . get the safety briefing and guided towards the start. We were serenaded by Iain the piper (whose day job is a National Trust Ranger who fixes the trails and paths) on our way to the start in Grasmere village (beautiful). We got underway to a cheer from most of the runners. The start was cramped as runners from all the race distances made their way through the narrow roads. I ducked and weaved and sprinted until l saw clear road in front of me. It was still busy, but I could at least run now. I was thinking ahead of time that if I averaged 5min/km then I could finish in about 1hr 25mins. Later on when I completed an 8min/km I realised it wouldn’t be that kind of race!

Every single step of this race was a joy and was stunningly beautiful. The scenery was like an idealised fantasy of how England looks. The Lake District is famous for (among other things) the stories of Beatrix Potter and the scenery I saw during the race looked straight out of one of her books. We started on a pretty little road running by quaint cottages and the most enormous rhododendron l have ever seen and in every shade of pink and purple. The course headed into woodland trail and things got tricky under foot. We ran by a cave beside a pond and I really would like to go back to investigate that another day. A day when lam not running by it as fast as I can.

The race took us through windy country roads, forest trail, grassy hills, shimmering streams, pebble beaches, and chocolate-box lakes. The flora and fauna was wonderful. Giant foxgloves. Lambs, dragon fly, rabbits, geese, ducks. To do it justice I would have had to hire a poet to write this blog entry. From an actual racing perspective the course was challenging. At the first point where‘the 10km and 1km runners split from the 5km runners, the 5km runners headed downhill as the 10km and 17km ran uphill. This was to be the first of many hills. The second time we split (when the 17km went one way and 10km another) the field really thinned out. Where I was running with about 15 others, suddenly it was me and 2 others. At about 8km we reached a hill that lasted about 2km. It was murder. It was steep and winding and it went on, and on, and on. I tried to run it but I noticed I was the only one doing so and so I decided to conserve my energy and start walking. It was too long to walk the whole way so I walk/ran to the top. Another runner chatted to me at his point.

”Was it the first time I had ran the race? Him too. He had heard about the ’half-way hill’ and this must be it.”

The halfway hill

Nice chat and when I reached the top (after 8min/km pacing) I actually said "Wow” out loud. The blue skies, the rolling hills, the view of the lakes. The sun on my back. Wow. The highlight of the way down and back was the little pond with the geese. Dragon flies hovered and dove past me. it was breath-taking. There was another shorter but steady uphill before we took a sharp turn into woodland and seemed to re-join some of the other races, I guess the 10km runners and Nordic Walkers. I was slowed down as I struggled to get by slower runners on the narrow paths, but as we reached a pebble beach I made a burst for it and made my way up the field. Nearly at the end now there was one more short, sharp climb before the home straight and the sight ofthe cottages and giant rhododendron again. I finished in 1:30:39. Results are in and I was placed 37th out of 172 finishers. I appreciated the free cakes and juice at the end.

Grasmere Village

A lot of races dubiously claim to be the most scenic (I’m looking at you Glenlivet 10km) but this one really is stunning. The only comparable race l have ran is The Beast in Dorset. I think in future I’ll only run summer trail races.

The Route

NB. This is what Nordic Walking is. Interesting. Idon’t think it’s a thing in Edinburgh.

N.N.B. What do sheep think about life outside their field? Do they think about it at all? Do they think their field is the universe? Do they gaze out into the world beyond the wall like we do as we gaze at the stars? Do sheep gaze out into the stars?

N.N.N.B. I need to find a way to make my mind wander more constructively during races.

Edinburgh Half Marathon 2017

On Sunday 28th May I ran the Edinburgh Half Marathon. This is my PB course, but on this occasion I wasn’t aiming for a very fast time. l am training for the Budapest Marathon in October and l have been looking to run a few half marathons as part of my training to get the race experience and to break up the monotony of training.

Kata was away in Budapest that weekend and my mum and dad were looking after Ruby overnight to allow me to run this race at the crazy ridiculous start time of 8am. I mean really. I had to get up at 6am to eat breakfast on a Sunday. Even after getting up two hours early for a race that started about 2.5 miles from my front door, I still managed to be rushed. I left home in plenty of time, walked half way there, realised I’d forgotten my post-race bus ticket back to Edinburgh and had to go home again to get it. I needn’t have bothered as the £5 I spent on the special bus ticket was not well spent. The bus was a 20 minute walk from the finish line and I could just have spent £1.60 on a normal bus ticket and I could have boarded right at the finish.

Ubiquitous pre-race selfie

It was a beautiful day and even before 8am it was 14 degrees but felt warmer. The sun was warm on my back as I stood in the red starting pen. I bumped into Katherine and Simon from the club and had a quick chat with them. I remember the start being very low key. Very quiet. I suspect most people were still half asleep. Compared to the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow, well it was incomparable. It was a similarly large, corporate type race/event but in contrast to Glasgow there was no atmosphere at all. No music, no loud DJs. Just a bunch of people standing about. I don’t even remember hearing a starting gun or horn or shout or anything to signal the start. It just became apparent that we were underway.

I enjoyed the race as I was running it. I didn’t push the pace too hard, I was trying to be consistent rather than fast. Normally when running a half-marathon I start out fast then bonk at about 8 or 10 miles and then drag myself over the line. This time around was the first time I completed a half-marathon with every one of the 21km under 5 minutes. That didn’t start as my target but it became it as I realised it was on the cards. As I ran, I wasn’t too tired, my lungs weren’t burning, I wasn’t watching the clock the whole way around, and as a consequence I felt relaxed and enjoyed myself. I know that when you have paid and entered a race then you should RACE, but I made an exception this time and I am comfortable with it.

Trust me, it was sunny and hot

Big shout out to the supporters in Portobello who were standing in their garden before 9am blaring music out of their speakers and screaming encouragement. I am grateful, but I am also sorry for your neighbours! Big shout out to the water station at Leith Links and their "Hello to Jason Isaacs” sign. That made me laugh. Big shout out to the young lady marshal in Musselburgh who was manic! I have never seen anyone so enthusiastically cheer strangers well done.  She also made me laugh.

A pet hate of mine occurred again. A marshal in Portobello shouted the words of ”encouragement’ (and I know her intentions were good),

”Almost half way there!”

1 - I am not sure that it is encouraging to be told that you aren’t half way yet.
2 - No we weren’t. We were are at 8.5km (I checked) which is 2km and over a mile from half way.

l am aware that I am being grumpy but another thought occurred. There were a lot of pre-printed signs that must have been provided either by the event or by a charity that said ”I am waiting for:....” with a space for you to write the name of your friend or relative. Waiting? WAITING? Not what you want to hear when you are running 13.1 miles. That someone has been ”waiting” for you.

l saw all my club mates that were running somewhere out on the course. There are two hairpin beds, one in Holyrood Park, and one just before Prestonpans. I saw most of them running back towards me and I shared a high five George both times. The Prestonpans high five was a nice bookend to the race and I noticed that he moved across the road to my side to make it happen, so that was cool.

Medal and box of mystery.

I finished the race in 1:40:07 which was a bit annoying because even though I wasn’t going for a great time, I'd have liked to have ran ninety-something minutes, and lam sure I could have found those 8 seconds from somewhere. Ah well. Can’t complain really. l suppose it’s an OK time for someone that wasn’t really trying. Annoyingly, the weather at the end of the race was cool and overcast. Typical! I was chatting to a woman at the finish who mentioned to me that she say a runner in front of her with a motivational quote on the back ”Great things don’t come from the comfort zone." That was funny because I saw that runner too and his quote also made me think. Didn’t make me run any faster though!  Today wasn’t going to be my day for ”great things" maybe I'll leave that to the Budapest Marathon.

Sign of the times

Lidingoloppet

On Sunday 7th May I ran the Lidingoloppet (Loop of Lidingo) 10km trail race in Stockholm. 

Kata, Ruby, and I were visiting Rachel (founder member of Mostrunningist Year Ever) and Hector in Stockholm where they now live.  When Kata and I were deciding where we should see Depeche Mode on their European tour, the attraction of combining the concert with visiting friends was obvious.  And so it was that I ran 10km around an island in Stockholm. 

Depeche Mode at The Friends Arena - Amazing.

The race was on Sunday.  On Thursday (the day we arrived in Sweden) Rachel and I went out for what turned out to be a 11.5km run around the trails near her home in Lidingo, Stockholm.  It was a good run at a decent pace and I got some idea of the trails I would be running during the race.  We didn't run the race route on Thursday, but some of the trails we ran did follow some of the course of the race.

There were three separate races on the day.  the 50km ultra, the 26km, and the 10km.  Hector was running the 26km and set off at 09:30, half an hour before Rachel and I started the10km.  Kata and Ruby would join us later as unfortunately Ruby was having a rough morning (teething) and kata stayed in the flat with her to take care of our daughter and allow me to run the race.  Fortunately Ruby recovered well and more of that later!

I was asked by Hector on Saturday how I expected to do on Sunday.  I said that I could run 10km in 42 minutes or so and that it being a hilly trail (based on my Thursday run) I'd expect about 50 minutes or thereabouts.  Rachel scoffed.  It "wasn't that hilly" apparently and the terrain "wouldn't make that much difference".  Those words rang in my head during the race as I considered how I was going to confront Rachel regarding her alternative facts :-).  I didn't need to though as after the race, she mentioned it first! 

The race was a lot bigger than I imagined it would be.  I was thinking along the lines of the Winton 10k trail, but it was much bigger than that and much more of an actual race.  It started in a sports complex that was home to a running track and a football club.  The race started on the running track and was preceded by an organised aerobics type workout as a warm up.  I didn't bother, I had done my usual (for a 10km race) 20m - 30m sprints to loosen up my legs and raise my heart rate.

Hector leads the race.  They guy in the green top (in 4th) eventually won.

We set off at the firing of a starter pistol and ran a half lap of the track then out into Lidingo (pronounced Lee-ding-ah).  The first 2km was on pavement around the town.  This was quite straight forward and I was running 4:20/km pace which was fine.  My legs are a bit heavy from my marathon training (I should blog about that later) and my aim when I started was to finish in about 45 minutes.  Once we headed off the pavement and into the woodland trail EVERYTHING changed.  You could call the course "undulating" but that wouldn't really cut it.  It was "hilly".  I honestly can't remember a section when we weren't either running uphill or downhill.  so I found it Tough (capital 'T' intended).  I usually start to feel the effects of the effort at about 6.5 or 7km during a 10km race, but on this occasion it was at about 5km and I was just dragging a dead weight (mine) around for the second half of the race.  The course was very pretty, beautiful forest, blue skies, warm enough with a nice breeze.  It'd be great for a leisurely walk!

I changed my goal about 4 times during the race as each one became unachievable.  First to go was < 45 minute finish.  Then < 47 minutes.  Then just to beat the guy in front of me.  At 7.5km (I checked) there was a ridiculously steep hill that almost but not quite forced me into a walk.  I did push on, I did try my hardest, and when we finally came out of the forest and headed back for the last 1.5 towards the sports complex I dug in and tried to up my pace.  It was flat and on tarmac.  I may have been shattered, but I was in my comfort zone.

Some much appreciated bling.

In the end I finished in just under 48 minutes which is alright.  As I was on the home straight I could see and hear Rachel sheering me over the line which was much appreciated.  I was presented with a cup of lemon flavoured sugary drink by Rachel's friend Sarah-Jane which was VERY much appreciated.  Shortly afterward I saw Kata and Ruby standing at the side of the track, Ruby with a medal around her neck.  Turns out she had won her first medal under her own steam (she was carried around the Toddler Dash thingy in Cumbernauld) and I was ridiculously proud of her. 

Run! 

And.....relax.

Thanks to Rachel for inviting us along to the race.  Thanks to Kata for looking after grumpy Ruby and letting me run, and also for entering Ruby into her own race.  Well done to Hector for finishing 2nd in his race in an incredible 1:38:52.  He and the race winner were well ahead of everyone else with the finisher in 3rd nearly 14 minutes behind Hector.  Thanks also to Hector for giving Kata and I one of his prizes, and awesome 2XU running belt.  Thanks to the supporters that lined parts of the route  and shouted "Hey Ya!" a lot.  Thanks to the race organisers for such a well organised and marshalled race and for providing my first piece of bling in recent memory (and a bag of delicious bread rolls).  It was a good day and it's always fun to race abroad.  It's exotic!
 

Everyone's a winner.

Winton Trail Race

On Saturday 8th April, I ran the Winton Trail Race. 

I have never taken part in this race before but I had heard good things.  We started at Winton Castle on a beautiful Spring day.  There was a 10km race, a 5km race, and a 3.5km family event.  I took part in the 10km.  I arrived early with Kata and Ruby and we were able to take advantage of the beautiful castle grounds by sitting about and soaking up the sun.  Happily we bumped into our friends and fellow Hunters Bog Trotters John McManus, Mairead McManus, and Robin Thomas. 

Winton Castle.  Nice day for it.

This was a low key, fun event, and I set off on the race in a relaxed frame of mind.  The route was very picturesque and was mostly through wooded trail.  It reminded me quite a bit of the woods around Nemesvamos.  I pushed as hard as I could, and I overtook Mairead at about 3km.  I told her when I passed not to worry because I couldn't keep this pace up.  Surprisingly, I did keep the pace up.  Mairead said to me later that she was pleased I overtook her because before that she had settled into a plod and my passing her gave her an incentive to up her effort. Glad I could be of some help :-)

Spring has sprung.

So it was fun.  And sunny.  There was a downhill and straight back up again when we went across a bridge over a stream.  There was a steep uphill just at the very end but apart form that it was pretty flat. 

Ruby was camera shy.

The organisers were so friendly.  The finishing medal was a biscuit!  On a ribbon!  A biscuit medal!  Afterwards Ruby was given a spare one by a friendly helper and Ruby then inserted a biscuit the size of her head into her face. 

Biscuit medal.

Results are in and I finished in 44:39, 31st out of 243.  Not bad.  It's under 45 minutes which is always a good target for me when running a 10km race.

Well done to John McManus who won the race in a fantastic sprint finish with the guy in second and in a time of 36:52. 

Most Runningist Year Ever - Day 1000

On the 2nd March 2017, I completed Day 1,000 of the Most Runningist Year Ever.  I achieved this feat on a skiing holiday in the French Alps.  Thanks again to Kata for making it special for me, preparing my deck chair and beers for my return.  The runs in Peisey were tough due to the altitude and the inevitable running up and downhill in the snow.  I felt really pleased to have completed 1,000 days though. 

1,000 Days, beers chilled. 

Once I got back from holiday, the Hunters Bog Trotters made the effort to tell everyone in the pub about my landmark and invited everyone to come to training and then have a beer with me to celebrate.  Very much appreciated and thanks to Kata (and then Captain Sarah) for organising it.  Beers in The Stockbridge Tap were great and a lot of people seemed genuinely interested to hear about how I ran for 1,000 days in a row.

I never considered when I started this madness that I might actually complete 365 days never mind 1,000.  The first two of The Most Runningist Year Ever was agony.  It was when I was 4 months in that I thought that I might actually do this, and only because I realised that stopping now would mean that I would have to re-start and 4 months of running is a lot to make up.  Then I kept going on the hard days because so many people were interested that I couldn't face telling them that I wasn't doing it any more.  Now running every day is like brushing my teeth, except there are probably some days when I don't brush my teeth! 

When I started this 1000 days ago in 2014, Ruby wasn't even an idea.  Now I am father to a wonderful, beautiful daughter and husband to a wonderful beautiful wife.  Throughout the most significant and astonishing period of my life, I have ran every day.  Kata was in labour with our daughter for three days - I ran every day, even managed to get a run in when I got home from the hospital on the day our daughter was born.  I ran on the morning of our wedding day.  Thank you to Kata for supporting me in doing this. 

It's an adventure and I am certain it has made some difference to my life outside of running.  I just don't know what.  I'll think about it sometime. 

Hungarian Christmas/New Year Running

Over Christmas and New Year, Kata and I spent 3 weeks in Hungary with her family in Nemesvamos and then just the three of us in Budapest.  It was chilly out there.  Like, REALLY chilly.  To keep The Most Runningist Year Ever going I ran most days in the forest next to Kata's village.  Once in Budapest I ran along The Danube or else On Margaret Island, the spiritual home and birth place of this whole thing. 

Here are just some photos I took on my runs...

Forest Selfie.  It was chilly. 

Hunting hide on the edge of the forest.

It was chilly...and misty.

Beautiful.

Nemesvamos from the forest edge.

Private Property

Christmas Eve in Nemesvamos

Christmas Eve in Nemesvamos

Christmas Day in Nemesvamos.  Roman Ruins.

New Years Eve in Budapest

New Years Eve in Budapest

Frosty

A View from Margaret Island

Margaret Island Running Track

Running on the running track on Margaret Island on New Years Day, it was so busy.  Much busier than usual.  I think a lot of people were starting New Year's Resolutions.  I was however the ONLY person running in shorts and I got a few shouts and cheers from strangers.  It was funny.

Naked Streaking Streak Streaks On - Dunbar XC 19th February 2017

So once again we ran in the Borders XC series, once again Kata forgot her watch, and once again she borrowed mine, and so once again I was "streaking naked".

Kata preparing to run

Beautiful beach, beautiful day

Dunbar XC is held substantially on a beach and is gruelling.  To say the least.  The course is very beautiful looking out across what is tenuously the Firth of Forth and may well be actually The North Sea.  Unfortunately being a cross country race, I spent the vast majority of the race staring at my feet.  It was beautiful, great running conditions. 

I want to say "Life's a Beach", but I avoid clichés like the plague.

As I write this update on the 18th April, two months after the race, details of the race are hard to recall so I will keep it brief.  Another reason that my recall is sketchy, is that I was out the previous night at my Gran and Granda's 70th Wedding Anniversary celebrations and I had quite a bit to drink.  I was puffing and panting the whole way round and was full of beer.  I was finding it difficult to run and my goal was to finish as quickly as I could so that I could stop running. 

Happy Anniversary Gran & Granda

The course was pretty flat (as you might expect of a beach) with only one very short and steep uphill.  When not slogging through sand it's extremely cross country and very unpredictable terrain.  Some cross country is trail like, some is very cross country.  This was very cross country. 

This was the last of the Borders XC Series for 2016/2017 and my club, Hunters Bog Trotters won the series in both the men's and women's competition.  Well done to Tom and Georgia!

Ruby Hates The Beach.  Really.  She Hates The Beach.

Streaker Runs Naked - Borders XC 29th January 2017

Apparently, running every day is called "Streak Running" or "Streaking".  Amongst the running community, running without a watch is known as "running naked".  The title of this blog entry really wrote itself. 

Day 968 of my "Running Streak" was the 6th leg of the Borders XC Series in Peebles.  I ran this race once before and one time before that I held Kata's bags while she ran it.  We arrived in good time before the race and parked about a 5 minute walk away from the start.  Somehow between arriving in Peebles and getting to the race we managed to make ourselves late and very nearly missed the start.  It was a bit of a panic to find Sandra who had volunteered to look after Ruby while we both ran (thanks Sandra!), but we just made it with seconds to spare.  Kata had forgotten her watch and was training for The London Marathon - her need was greater than mine and so she borrowed my Garmin.  So it was that I streaked naked across Peebles. 

Picture of me at Peebles XC

It's a good course, proper cross country, and challenging.  The race starts with running around Haylodge Park. It was slippy underfoot due to the rain the day before, but mercifully it wasn't raining on the day.  From there it's riverside trail and I managed to get into my stride and overtake quite a few runners.  It's very picturesque indeed and the course takes you over a bridge where the runners behind you pass underneath.  From here it's uphill through the forest and again I managed to make up a few places and overtake some runners who had already started to walk.  The forest section comes out into a field with a gruelling uphill which makes MOST people walk.  One runner next to me made a comment about walking it to "save energy".  I think he was half joking but his strategy made sense to me and my aching legs and so I walked.  The uphill slog takes you back into the forest before starting back down into a field again.  I actually zoned out at this stage.  You know when you are driving on the motorway and you suddenly realise that you don't remember the last 15 minutes or how you got where you are?  Well that happened to me on the downhill forest section of Peebles XC. 

Picture of my watch at Peebles XC.  Also Kata. 

Before the race I was wondering about whether to ear trail or fell shoes.  I wore fell shoes and once again I gladly sing the praises of my Solomon Fellraisers.  The downhill section was very slippy and a couple of times I slid down a metre or so before my studs dug in and gave me the confidence and grip I needed to push on hard.

This is actually the hardest part of the race.  After running downhill through the field, it's through a stream and a gap in a wall, down another field then around and back up the same field!  It's mentally and physical torture.  I actually saw Kata at this stage nearing the first corner of the field just as I was heading out.  I remember seeing her at this stage the last time we ran in this together and this time around she was much closer behind me.  

The route

From here it's on to the finish.  A narrow, muddy ridge through the tree root covered forest needs concentration then it's the home straight...or so I thought.  I picked up to sprint finish the boggy home straight only to discover at the end that there was a hairpin bend and I still had another 100 metres to go.  I glanced over my shoulder - no one in any danger of catching me and so exhausted I coasted until the finish. 

I picked up Ruby from Sandra (thanks Sandra) and headed back quickly to support Kata who was not far behind.  With Ruby perched on my shoulders we got a smile from Mummy as she ran by.

I finished in 33:54 - not bad.  The distance (according to my watch which Kata was wearing) was 6.78km.  Remarkably Kata was musing beforehand how long it would take to run the race.  I made a guess based on a 5min/km pace.  6.78km is 33:54 is EXACTLY 5min/km.

After race snacks.