Marathon No. 5. Hathersage to Ice Sheffield and back

Weekend off from doing an 'event' allowed me to do a route recce of the way I will be running home next weekend after the Sheffield Half Marathon. It turns out that running 5 marathons in 21 days alongside the rest of family life is quite hard work. I've been running a temperature all this week which started with uncontrollable shivering from 5pm last Monday and has meant intermittent paracetamol, putting layers on and off and then repeating. What would we do without down jackets?

I have also had abdominal cramps since Monday, so have been wondering whether I messed up with diet or hydration last weekend. I can't come up with anything concrete other than the realistic and highly probable knock to the immune system. Anyway having only been able to run about 15k this week, I am feeling rather tight in the muscles.

So with a rough route in mind I set off in the early warmth and headed up to break the massive wall of Stanage Edge at the old pony track and then head onto Stanedge Pole, round the back of Redmires reservoir and drop into Porter Clough at the very top of the westerly finger of what becomes Endcliffe Park.

The amazing contrast of the first 10k where I didn't see anyone to drop into the last 6k of busyness of families and dogs in Endcliffe Park. Here I headed towards but to the south of Sheffield going past the train station, Ponds Forge and onto the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal. I followed the canal all the way to Ice Sheffield arriving in a shade over 2hrs and after 23.8k of running, some 2.7k too far.

Right quick route edit to knock off some mileage for the way home. I set off back along the canal. Its great to be able to run along this canal, be relatively quiet and avoiding the cars, but its certainly not the most attractive part of Sheffield. There was also an 'alarmingly' high frequency of police sirens along this stretch compared to west Sheffield so I was pleased to get it behind me and head up the hill on the north side of Sheffield and along West Street. I had Saturday Shoppers to contend with and um'd and ar'd rather too long when I ran past a Subway. (Mental note, must go a slightly different way to avoid this temptation next week)

This route is slightly more direct and slightly hillier and does pass close to the hospital before dropping back into Endcliffe Park and the main climb home. I felt really tired by this point but was pleased with the route and it was great to see some of the places I spent a lot of time training 8 & 9 years ago.

The trouble with this hill is it only gets steeper and then suddenly you pop out on the top. Right, decision to be made. Back along Redmires, which is good ground, slightly further or give it beans straight over the top of White Stones Moor, slightly shorter but through the bog and another summit? Given the need to cut off a bit of mileage the latter was stupidly chosen as I was already knackered and this is an energy sapping route on a hot summers day. After going knee deep in the 3rd or 4th bog of the 'path' I bent down to adjust my laces and remove some mud and on coming back up my right diaphragm went into a painful spasm followed by loads of indigestion. It didn't ease and was just about bearable with walking not easing with even light jogging. 38k! Bugger. This meant walking the rest of the way back and trying not to strain it further. It was a long walk only made easier by the stunning views and the beautiful weather.

On getting home I nipped to the shop and had some Gaviscon. The stuff is amazing and after a couple of hours I was feeling vaguely normal. Another lesson learnt and I am now going to carry some of these in the pack, just incase I need them in the future. Following a quick review of the route I am now a lot happier that I can get back home at the right distance and following a descent route avoiding all the peat bogs in the process. I trust the weather will continue to stay good for next weekend! Rough plan for next week is to head round the half fairly comfortably aiming to go as close to 1:30 as the legs will allow and then grind up a long massive hill to Stanedge Pole before dropping down into Hathersage. Hoping for about 3:30 in total. I am quickly learning that there are far too many variables to make accurate predictions as this thing evolves! Either way I am now going to be running with my new best mate, Gav, to help keep things fine tuned. Its now time for bed!

Shoe Choice: Nike Icarus Old Knackered Blue and Greens.
Stats. Distance: 46.1 km  Elevation: 0.86 km  Total Dist: 217.1 km  Total Elevation: 3.75 km

Wilmslow Half Marathon. Oh, go on then just another half, I'm not driving!

So this is the first time I have run this half marathon for many years. I recall having run it approximately 4 times and have had mixed experiences on the course. In the past it's my PB half marathon and also one of my slowest, having stopped to soothe some blisters, dry out my socks, nice!, and then crack on. Hopefully there will be none of that sharnanigans today.

The weather forecast looked pretty awful for the run, noted as heavy rain showers and occasional sunshine until mid afternoon on the BBC website. So the whole family arrived at Pete's in Alderley, fashionably late as usual, and then Pete, James and I were driven by Mark to the start where we had the perfect amount of time for a quick warm up and line up for the gun.

The weather held off well with only a minor number of brief rain and hail showers to contend with. The race unfolded well and went to the rough plan. We aimed to send out a trail blazer in the shape of Mark to go low 80's and then Pete, James and I were to cruise home sub 95 minutes. This was executed perfectly and we arrived at my mid way point in 1:34:47. Pete decided that the car was more appealing to travel home in and that left me and James to head back to HQ in Alderley. Mark, following his taxi service, was to head out on the bike and catch me up to assist in bringing it home. I had planned that I would probably lose about 5 minutes faffing through the finish line and making any changes at Petes.

Pete was not satisfied that the route was hard enough so he had decided to add a hill in for me, citing some excuse that I didn't want it too flat. Guess which bit was his addition! I'm not sure whether it was the brutal ascent that was the problem or the full on cobbles testing my ankles that I enjoyed the most. I can only hope that there weren't too many people sat in their posh gardens up Swiss Hill as they would have wondered who Pete was and why exactly I wanted to do that to him.

The blip over and safely down onto the Cheshire plain Mark eventually caught me up, promptly took me off route and then declared that he didn't know where we were! Exactly what you want to hear with 5k to go. Luckily he came up with plan. Run under the next underpass and then straight up the side of the embankment. Then suddenly we knew where we were, well sort of where we were. There then remained a run back to Pete's with a quick out and back to make up the distance.

On turning the corner into Pete's drive I was met by a boisterous crowd waving, screaming and holding bunting. What a brilliant surprise and one that made the day. Finished a shade outside 3:15. I have to say that this was one of the most pleasurable experiences in running that I have had. It was sunny, sociable and well supported. Hopefully there will be many more like this. The day was topped of by a massive plate of baked spuds and Chilli. I ment to take a photo but there was no way that it was hanging around on the plate any longer than it had to. Thank you very much to Clare for the culinary delights; Pete for the sociable first 10 miles until the conversation became rather one sided; James was steering me through the traffic and people back to Petes; Mark for a sterling job was maintaining focus in the home straight and lastly to my welcome possy getting over excited with the bunting! Lastly I can't forget the wife whose continual support makes this possible. Bring on the next challenge. As some have pointed out on Strava, only another 36 to go. Simple!

Shoe Choice: Nike Icarus Stealths.
Stats. Distance: 42 km  Elevation: 0.28 km  Total Dist: 171.0 km  Total Elevation: 2.89 km

Looking forward to the weekend

I've been tired this week, so potentially things over the last 10 days catching up. Relatively its been a drop in weekly mileage but obviously hard to underestimate the effect of 3 marathons in 7 days. Still all good and hopefully is just a sign of continued adaptation of the body. The interval set tonight was hard work and not as quick as previous weeks. The quality definitely tailed off towards the end.

I have toyed with the idea of putting in another marathon towards the end of this week, however this seems unnecessary and potentially not wise so will just bimble through some relaxed running to finish out the week and instead focus on Sunday.

Am looking forward to a nice weekend. Firstly good opportunity to catch up with some friends I haven't seen for a while. I have planned to run the Wilmslow 1/2 marathon, along with 4000 others, and then Pete has kindly provided a GPX file taking us home directly to Alderley so he can put on a good spread for later. He will peel off at this point and then the route continues for the remaining 10 miles starting with going straight up the infamous Swiss Hill !! Cheers Pete.

Am looking forward to running with friends on Sunday and also strangely running on the road, which will be a nice break from the trails. Now where did I put those road shoes?...

Marathon Number 3. AKA Robin Hoods Bay Marathon.

The weather forecast stayed really poor for the Yorkshire Dales so a quick switch was made to the East of the country and the North Yorkshire Moors that was forecast for wind but unbroken sunshine. For once it was accurate and after a quick recce of part of the route in the afternoon yesterday I was talked into doing the route in reverse to try and get a little more protection from the wind and more importantly get a tailwind for the last 10k of the run.

After struggling to find anywhere to eat in Robin Hoods Bay, we came back to the Flask Inn and had Whitby Haddock and Chips and a pint of Theakstons Dark followed by a huge slab of cheese cake. Spot on and calorie laden for tomorrow.

Woke after the first night camping this year to glorious sunshine in the Grouse Hill Campsite. The location is amazing as its high up and with great views of the moors however this exposure also means that its going to be breezy!

So I ran anticlockwise and picked up the early morning sunshine initially with a following wind so was stripping off early. I made good early progress down into Robin Hoods Bay. The hills were not too bad compared to the peaks and the majority of the first 1/4 were bone dry and good paths making for a decent excursion.

 After that the fun and games started with realising how out of date the OS Maps are compared what's actually happened to the trails. Farm and access tracks had been extended, footpaths no longer existing and bridleways that were at best one set of sheep hoof prints wide. Then add in bleak moorland and seeming headwind all the way round and you have a recipe for hopefully the longest (timewise) run of this campaign.

I had it in mind that I wanted to do every offroad marathon in under 4 hours. Realistically potentially with the elevation in some runs (ie. Kinder Dozen in excess of 10000 ft of climbing) and inevitable poor weather and terrain I knew this was likely to not happen. I just didn't expect it to happen quite yet!

Still next weekend is a nice flattish outing on the Cheshire plain. I must dig out and dust off those road shoes!

Shoe Choice: Nevica Nevis. Bit had for the early hard trails, good after that.
Stats. Distance: 47.3 km  Elevation: 0.86 km  Total Dist: 129.0 km  Total Elevation: 2.61 km

Easing back into a normal week.

Monday and Tuesday were hard moving around with lots of soreness when still for too long. Had a little bit of a pull in the calf today but nothing a good interval set couldn't load out of pain tonight. Had a good amount of energy considering which bodes well for the rest of the challenge. Bring on the weekend. The weather forecast doesn't look great for the Yorkshire Dales this weekend so we need to come up with an alternative run instead of 3 Peaks. Thinking caps on and keep a close eye on the weather forecast....

The day after... Bolton Hill Marathon.

This is the first time I have turned up at a marathon feeling half dead from running a 40k run the day before, but hey at least I turned up to give it a go. The drive up at just over an hour really helped the legs get ready for the run as did the brutal ascent from the gun.

Still with that out of the way, its pretty much downhill to the finish. Oh bar the sting in the tail which is with 8 km from the end and gives welcome relief to the joints even if the heart is making a bid for freedom.

The trails are rugged awkward stone set mostly, with some muddy bits and some tough steep road descents. Views were incredible all the way round.

Really pleased to get round this course with tired legs, although I did spend a worrying amount of time thinking that this was a stupid idea and not wanting to ever run again. Those thoughts stopped with about 3 km to go and following hobbling to a bench near the finish line a sense of elation bathed the battered body.

2 down, plenty more to go!

Shoe Choice: Nike Icarus. Happy with the choice.
Stats. Distance: 41.7 km  Elevation: 0.9 km  Total Dist: 81.7 km  Total Elevation: 1.75 km

And... We're off at a Grindleford Gallop..

It's finally time for the challenge to start and why not start without messing around. I have therefore scheduled in 2 marathons in the first weekend. I have just completed the first one and it's great result to get 40km under my belt but in the same breath realising that I have approximately 1600km to go!!

I had the pleasure of Jonny C to accompany me and we chatted about all sorts of crap most of the way round. Mostly about how stupidly fast everyone went off at the start. He came up with a theory that only runners in red vest are allowed to wear calf socks. (I think he was delirious at the time). Thank you JC for your company on the way round.

The race is well organised, marshalled and friendly. Great cakes at all the checkpoints and you even had the option of a sit down cup of coffee at Hassop! Conditions improved all through the run which started in the drizzle, eased, fogged then burnt through to sun by the end. The route passes some classic low trails of the peaks, undulating from Grindleford to Froggatt Bridge, over to Eyam, Great Longstone and on to Bakewell via the Monsal Trail. Then over and into the back of Chatsworth, down past the house and off to Baslow to climb up to Curbar. Once you break the ridge you turn North by the Eagle Stone and head along Baslow Edge, Curbar Edge and lastly Froggatt Edge before running down through Hay Wood to the finish. Well not quite as I ran home as well to make up the mileage.

Great scenery especially in the last 1/2, not just due to the fact that the fog had cleared. Trails were not too muddy considering the amount of rain this winter. I ran the latter part of this route home from Bakewell a few weeks ago and it was awful, but luckily its dried out a lot.

Shoe Choice: Mizuno Wave Harriers. Happy with the choice.
Stats. Distance: 40 km  Elevation: 0.869 km  Total Dist: 40 km  Total Elevation: 0.869 km