Hello
A rather special race report here, the first ever Bramhall Park 5K time trial! Quick results below
---------------------------------
Time Position Age Grade %
20:27 8 / 89 63.08%
---------------------------------
A great first Bramhall Park TT. The sun was shining and there was a good turn out of about 90 people. This would be my first 5K and so I was unsure what speed to set off at. Half my Salford 10K time would put me at around 21:18, which I’d hope I would at least get that, but Bramhall Park has a few hills, so not exactly a fair comparison with the flat Salford 10K.
We started at the lodge entrance near Bridge Lane roundabout and went up the slope towards Bramhall Hall. Lee from Stockport Harriers was already several metres in front of me by the top despite him having had a big curry and beer session the night before, however he is about two leagues above me so that was to be expected. As we got to the duck pond, we crossed over to the other side of the park, and started the steep climb up. Along the straight at the top, Lee was still in sight… just!
As the second lap started though Lee was out of sight, and I knew I had perhaps set off a little too quick as Andy from Stockport Harriers overtook me, followed by another chap. I could hear a runner bearing down on me from behind and knew that they’d probably overtake me at some point.
As we started the climb on the other side of the park, the girl behind finally passed me (and went on to set the female course record!). Andy had pulled up to tie his shoe laces and I overtook him for all of about 10 seconds until he powered back in front again. The order stayed like this for the rest of the race and I crossed the line in 8th. I was really surprised how high up the rankings I’d come. I’d love to say it was down to my running ability, but I suspect as word spreads to the club runners I’ll slip into double digits, but for the moment I’ll enjoy my only ever single digit finish!
The organisation was great, and I’m eagerly awaiting the official results going up on the site. I thoroughly recommend people take part in future events (every Saturday @ 09:00), as 5K should be achievable for most able bodied people. If you’re tempted, sign up here, you only need to do it once, then can turn up whenever you want.
Given the frequency of Bramhall Park 5K TT I’ll just be recording the results of future ones, as otherwise it will take over this blog.
Cheers
Andy
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
London Marathon 2008 Special
Hello
------------------------------
Quick Results
position pl.age Race no. time Avg Pace
12537/23612 1372 22968 4:03:42 9:17 per mile
Splits
5 km 0:29:18
10 km 0:58:08
15 km 1:26:47
20 km 1:52:40
half 1:58:06
25 km 2:18:57
30 km 2:46:50
35 km 3:16:09
40 km 3:51:00
finish 4:03:42
------------------------------
The London Marathon was to be my first marathon of 2008, and what a memorable one it would turn out to be. I was able to stay just a 20 minute walk from the start line thanks to a good friend of mine from Uni, so thanks Vicky & Damien for the hospitality. In the starting area for the blue zone the atmosphere was great. I had some quick banter with a bunch of people from Iceland who had marathon tour t-shirts on of every one they’ve completed and they were trying to convince me to take part in the Reyjavik Marathon but sadly my summer holiday to Iceland isn’t at the same time.
My plan had been to run the first 10 miles slow (9:25 per mile), the second 10 miles at a medium pace (9:00), and then pick it up on the last 10k (8:35). I expected the course to be flat, and whilst the route did take in a few tourist attractions, there looked to be a big sparse patch of anything interesting round Canary Wharf though.
I managed to sneak into the back of wave 6 (out of 8) but this still put me towards the back of the masses. As I crossed the start line at Blackheath I was glad I was taking the first section easy as it was impossible to run at any speed, so I just tried to relax and enjoy the costumes and told myself I’d worry about the time later. After a few miles, the different colour starts merged and its traditional to boo the other colours which I did with vigour! Its little things like this that makes London a great Marathon for atmosphere.
As I approached Greenwich I passed a sight that will stay with me for a while. A fireman was running in full gear including breathing apparatus. I’ve no idea how heavy all of it was, but the feat was awe inspiring, a true hero! As we went round the burnt out Cutty Sark the course narrowed and we ended up stood still for a bit which was a shame so early in the race! As I turned the corner to start leaving Greenwich I managed to catch sight of Vicky & Damien, and even better, they saw me and snapped this great photo!
Outside of Greenwich I checked my time and I was only marginally down on where I was supposed to be, and felt great, though obviously it was still early days. Around the 8 mile mark I came across the Massai Warriors! An incredible sight, as they sang away and apparently planned to dance every now and then. The scene was made even more touching with some of our own armed forces who’d entered the marathon giving them an honour guard and running with them.
Sadly though the Massai marked a turning point for me in the race as the heavens opened and a fairly torrential downpour started. Brendan Foster bragged from his warm, dry commentary booth how he ran for a mile in bad rain the day before and it can help… well I’m not a fan of running freezing cold and soaking for 3 hours so I’ll respectfully disagree with the modern day father of British road running. All I could do to stave off the cold was pick my pace up to generate a bit more heat and I slowly dropped my pace to the 8 minute mile mark which I maintained from mile 11 to 14 as I entered the Canary Wharf district. I had not planned to be running at this pace, but it was the only thing keeping off the cold and wet but the cost from this would be felt later. It was during this peak running zone that I managed to see Dave and Pippa and the shout from Dave was something that may have made even the Massai Warriors flinch! My running gizmo produced the below graph, and for the sharp eyed, you may notice that total distance it claims I ran is 27.26 miles! I suspect this is a combination of normal fudge factor for GPS, the odd area of poor reception, and me not being able to take the racing line on many bends (also I’m pretty convinced mile 20 is wrong… there is no way on this planet I ran that fast).
By the 20 mile marker, my body was in a fair bit of pain and my core muscles were completely shot. I realised I had no hope of running at 8:35 pace for the remaining 10k but tried to keep close as long as I could. The game was up by mile 23 though and I broke, no longer able to keep up the pace that kept me warm, my decline accelerated and I was reduced to run/walking and by the time I reached the underpasses of Victoria Embankment I was down to walking for a minute or two at a time. This was a very black time for me and one that I was saved from by some phenomenal athlete dressed as Paddington bear as we kept leapfrogging each other. I have no idea how the chap had got so far at such a consistently good pace in a mascot suit. As the houses of parliament came into site, I thought to myself “I can’t let Paddington beat me” and I somehow found the energy to start running at a good pace again.
As I crossed the line I was utterly destroyed. This experience had been far more brutal on me then Nottingham (Nottingham is a more difficult course though) and by the time I’d got my bag I was not in the best state. Staggering fairly aimlessly around Ben somehow saw me, shouted and came to get me. I was on a different planet at this point and was hoping to try and get to the meet and greet tent to try and find Tony, but with the legs shutting down, my head in a bit of a mess, I was convinced by Ben to find warmth and somewhere to sit and so off we went. Thankfully once I'd warmed up and rested for 10 mins I felt a lot better.
Overall it was a fantastic experience, and I recommend anyone signing up to the ballot entry for next year which is open now. The atmosphere is electric and something to experience. A final thank you to Mike for his support in the build up and the friends who looked out for me on the course, it was a shame I didn’t see all of you, but the thought kept me going and looking out for people gave me something to take my mind off the pain!
------------------------------
Quick Results
position pl.age Race no. time Avg Pace
12537/23612 1372 22968 4:03:42 9:17 per mile
Splits
5 km 0:29:18
10 km 0:58:08
15 km 1:26:47
20 km 1:52:40
half 1:58:06
25 km 2:18:57
30 km 2:46:50
35 km 3:16:09
40 km 3:51:00
finish 4:03:42
------------------------------
The London Marathon was to be my first marathon of 2008, and what a memorable one it would turn out to be. I was able to stay just a 20 minute walk from the start line thanks to a good friend of mine from Uni, so thanks Vicky & Damien for the hospitality. In the starting area for the blue zone the atmosphere was great. I had some quick banter with a bunch of people from Iceland who had marathon tour t-shirts on of every one they’ve completed and they were trying to convince me to take part in the Reyjavik Marathon but sadly my summer holiday to Iceland isn’t at the same time.
My plan had been to run the first 10 miles slow (9:25 per mile), the second 10 miles at a medium pace (9:00), and then pick it up on the last 10k (8:35). I expected the course to be flat, and whilst the route did take in a few tourist attractions, there looked to be a big sparse patch of anything interesting round Canary Wharf though.
I managed to sneak into the back of wave 6 (out of 8) but this still put me towards the back of the masses. As I crossed the start line at Blackheath I was glad I was taking the first section easy as it was impossible to run at any speed, so I just tried to relax and enjoy the costumes and told myself I’d worry about the time later. After a few miles, the different colour starts merged and its traditional to boo the other colours which I did with vigour! Its little things like this that makes London a great Marathon for atmosphere.
As I approached Greenwich I passed a sight that will stay with me for a while. A fireman was running in full gear including breathing apparatus. I’ve no idea how heavy all of it was, but the feat was awe inspiring, a true hero! As we went round the burnt out Cutty Sark the course narrowed and we ended up stood still for a bit which was a shame so early in the race! As I turned the corner to start leaving Greenwich I managed to catch sight of Vicky & Damien, and even better, they saw me and snapped this great photo!
Outside of Greenwich I checked my time and I was only marginally down on where I was supposed to be, and felt great, though obviously it was still early days. Around the 8 mile mark I came across the Massai Warriors! An incredible sight, as they sang away and apparently planned to dance every now and then. The scene was made even more touching with some of our own armed forces who’d entered the marathon giving them an honour guard and running with them.
Sadly though the Massai marked a turning point for me in the race as the heavens opened and a fairly torrential downpour started. Brendan Foster bragged from his warm, dry commentary booth how he ran for a mile in bad rain the day before and it can help… well I’m not a fan of running freezing cold and soaking for 3 hours so I’ll respectfully disagree with the modern day father of British road running. All I could do to stave off the cold was pick my pace up to generate a bit more heat and I slowly dropped my pace to the 8 minute mile mark which I maintained from mile 11 to 14 as I entered the Canary Wharf district. I had not planned to be running at this pace, but it was the only thing keeping off the cold and wet but the cost from this would be felt later. It was during this peak running zone that I managed to see Dave and Pippa and the shout from Dave was something that may have made even the Massai Warriors flinch! My running gizmo produced the below graph, and for the sharp eyed, you may notice that total distance it claims I ran is 27.26 miles! I suspect this is a combination of normal fudge factor for GPS, the odd area of poor reception, and me not being able to take the racing line on many bends (also I’m pretty convinced mile 20 is wrong… there is no way on this planet I ran that fast).
By the 20 mile marker, my body was in a fair bit of pain and my core muscles were completely shot. I realised I had no hope of running at 8:35 pace for the remaining 10k but tried to keep close as long as I could. The game was up by mile 23 though and I broke, no longer able to keep up the pace that kept me warm, my decline accelerated and I was reduced to run/walking and by the time I reached the underpasses of Victoria Embankment I was down to walking for a minute or two at a time. This was a very black time for me and one that I was saved from by some phenomenal athlete dressed as Paddington bear as we kept leapfrogging each other. I have no idea how the chap had got so far at such a consistently good pace in a mascot suit. As the houses of parliament came into site, I thought to myself “I can’t let Paddington beat me” and I somehow found the energy to start running at a good pace again.
As I crossed the line I was utterly destroyed. This experience had been far more brutal on me then Nottingham (Nottingham is a more difficult course though) and by the time I’d got my bag I was not in the best state. Staggering fairly aimlessly around Ben somehow saw me, shouted and came to get me. I was on a different planet at this point and was hoping to try and get to the meet and greet tent to try and find Tony, but with the legs shutting down, my head in a bit of a mess, I was convinced by Ben to find warmth and somewhere to sit and so off we went. Thankfully once I'd warmed up and rested for 10 mins I felt a lot better.
Overall it was a fantastic experience, and I recommend anyone signing up to the ballot entry for next year which is open now. The atmosphere is electric and something to experience. A final thank you to Mike for his support in the build up and the friends who looked out for me on the course, it was a shame I didn’t see all of you, but the thought kept me going and looking out for people gave me something to take my mind off the pain!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wilmslow Half Marathon 2008 Special
Hello,
------------------------------
Quick results for this race below
Pos / out of Official time Personal time
868 / 3449 1:43:29 1:42:14 - PB
------------------------------
What a weekend! Two of my uni mates came up, we had Bakewell tarts in Bakewell, another good friend of mine proposed to his girlfriend… and she said yes, and the weather was glorious for the Wilmslow half marathon on the Sunday. Could life get any better? Well yes as it turned out!
The Wilmslow half is a big half marathon, and had the usual big race atmosphere. My race plan was based on an article I’d read online about heart rate zones, and essentially was to keep my heart rate reasonably low (i.e. run slower), and gradually increase the speed in the second half of the race. My mate Dave from uni was also running but would be taking it easy as he had the Paris Marathon the next weekend. The race route is below.
As the race started I was running with a fellow Stockport Harrier, but he was too quick for the heart rate zone I was trying to stay in so I let him go and listened to my MP3 player. The course took us round the country roads of Wilmslow and past some very well to do houses with some kind locals cheering us on.
I saw Ben who’d come to cheer us on somewhere around the 8K mark and I was still keeping my running slow. I’d been following a chap who looked a bit Rasta with “Don Juan” on his back and he was proving to be a good pace setter. It was a slow-ish pace, and as I approached the 10K mark the time was 50:39. It had been a fairly consistent 5 minutes per kilometre for me at this point.
As I past the 12K mark I was over halfway and feeling very fresh. There was no horrible pain like at Buxton the year before, and I decided now was the moment to “put the smack down” as they say on WWE. Between now and the finish line, I ran every kilometre quicker than the one before, with the final kilometre being run in 4:06. I even managed to catch and then overtake my Stockport Harrier mate up who’d left me for dead at the beginning.
I crossed the line still with the feeling I had a bit left in the tank, with a new PB (1:42:14), but most importantly, a far better understanding of what works better for me on long distance races. My mate Dave who had been taking it easy put a turn of pace in at the end and crossed in 1:52:22 and is looking great for his Paris marathon attempt next weekend… good luck Dave.
The marshalling was excellent, and the race organisation was really good. The Wilmslow half is a very impressive event and fairly flat so definitely a good half for getting a PB on.
Cheers
------------------------------
Quick results for this race below
Pos / out of Official time Personal time
868 / 3449 1:43:29 1:42:14 - PB
------------------------------
What a weekend! Two of my uni mates came up, we had Bakewell tarts in Bakewell, another good friend of mine proposed to his girlfriend… and she said yes, and the weather was glorious for the Wilmslow half marathon on the Sunday. Could life get any better? Well yes as it turned out!
The Wilmslow half is a big half marathon, and had the usual big race atmosphere. My race plan was based on an article I’d read online about heart rate zones, and essentially was to keep my heart rate reasonably low (i.e. run slower), and gradually increase the speed in the second half of the race. My mate Dave from uni was also running but would be taking it easy as he had the Paris Marathon the next weekend. The race route is below.
As the race started I was running with a fellow Stockport Harrier, but he was too quick for the heart rate zone I was trying to stay in so I let him go and listened to my MP3 player. The course took us round the country roads of Wilmslow and past some very well to do houses with some kind locals cheering us on.
I saw Ben who’d come to cheer us on somewhere around the 8K mark and I was still keeping my running slow. I’d been following a chap who looked a bit Rasta with “Don Juan” on his back and he was proving to be a good pace setter. It was a slow-ish pace, and as I approached the 10K mark the time was 50:39. It had been a fairly consistent 5 minutes per kilometre for me at this point.
As I past the 12K mark I was over halfway and feeling very fresh. There was no horrible pain like at Buxton the year before, and I decided now was the moment to “put the smack down” as they say on WWE. Between now and the finish line, I ran every kilometre quicker than the one before, with the final kilometre being run in 4:06. I even managed to catch and then overtake my Stockport Harrier mate up who’d left me for dead at the beginning.
I crossed the line still with the feeling I had a bit left in the tank, with a new PB (1:42:14), but most importantly, a far better understanding of what works better for me on long distance races. My mate Dave who had been taking it easy put a turn of pace in at the end and crossed in 1:52:22 and is looking great for his Paris marathon attempt next weekend… good luck Dave.
The marshalling was excellent, and the race organisation was really good. The Wilmslow half is a very impressive event and fairly flat so definitely a good half for getting a PB on.
Cheers
Andy
Friday, March 21, 2008
Salford 10K 2008 Special
Hello,
Quick results for this race below.
Pos Num M Cat CatPos Pace per Km/Mile Time
203 238 181 M (097/182) 04.16/06.51 42:36
Well I was looking forward to this race as the Salford 10k is a fast course ready made for a PB. I ran it in 2005 (my first ever 10K) and recorded a time of 48:14. I was expecting to beat this time, but I didn't think that I'd set a new PB as my training had been more geared toward the London Marathon.
On turning up at the venue, I was impressed at how much it had changed since 2005. Now there is a wonderful purpose built sports venue with footy and hockey astro turf pitches and a great little sports centre. Salford has obviously been investing a bit of money in the area. The other thing of note was that there was a really strong headwind down the long straight. Having met up with a few of the Stockport Harriers, they were pessimistic about setting a PB with this wind as it was strong!
The course route is shown below and is two laps of the road network.
Quick results for this race below.
Pos Num M Cat CatPos Pace per Km/Mile Time
203 238 181 M (097/182) 04.16/06.51 42:36
Well I was looking forward to this race as the Salford 10k is a fast course ready made for a PB. I ran it in 2005 (my first ever 10K) and recorded a time of 48:14. I was expecting to beat this time, but I didn't think that I'd set a new PB as my training had been more geared toward the London Marathon.
On turning up at the venue, I was impressed at how much it had changed since 2005. Now there is a wonderful purpose built sports venue with footy and hockey astro turf pitches and a great little sports centre. Salford has obviously been investing a bit of money in the area. The other thing of note was that there was a really strong headwind down the long straight. Having met up with a few of the Stockport Harriers, they were pessimistic about setting a PB with this wind as it was strong!
The course route is shown below and is two laps of the road network.
The start was on time and there was about 500 so it was reasonsably busy for the first 3kms or so. The headwind really made itself felt as we crossed the river leading to the long straight section, and it was so strong that it reduced my speed to just above walking! I've never experienced anything like it in a city, up on a mountain yes, but in the city!?!?! Thankfully the bridge was a short section, and after that the houses just took the edge off wind so it was just a long strength sapping straight with the wind in your face. Another reminder of why headwind can be worse than hills!
As I passed the halfway mark my time was 20:26, which was a little faster than I'd been hoping for. At this point though it became a lot harder to maintain the speed and I noticed my bodies composure slipping which makes your running style suffer and become less efficient. I managed to pull it together during the back straight but by then my core muscles were spent and as I rounded the corner to face the windy bridge I knew I was in trouble.
During the last long straight a large group of people overtook me and I then threw everything I had to overtake them. Just as the finish line was in sight, I started feeling really bad inside and checked my heart rate which was dangerously high at 199bpm (for men, the simple maximum heart rate formula is 220bpm minus your age). I had to slow down, and the last 10 metres were slightly off pace. A graph of it all is below.
The blue line is pace (minutes per kilometer i.e. the lower the better) and you can see the difference the long straight made (3.5K to 6K) after which I wasn't able to recover the consistency.
Overall, it was a great race, and I'm happy with the time. Many of the Stockport Harriers managed PB's despite the wind, so some great performances out there. Gareth Raven from Sale Harriers won the race with an incredible time of 31:07, and the fastest Stockport Harrier time was recorded by Mike Shaw with 34:45. I hope to be back at this race next year, to try and set a new PB.
Cheers
Andy
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Stockport 10 Special
Hi folks,
Well I’ve been a bit slow writing this report, but here goes. The official results are here, and my quick results below:
Position Name Time
238 / 624 Andy Shirres 1:16:11
The Stockport 10 is a 10 mile road race round Stockport taking in Offerton, the outskirts of Romiley and Bredbury. With it being held during the run up to Christmas, I wasn’t expecting a good time as my training had been very intermittent and a few more beers than normal had been drunk!
The race started at Woodbank Athletics track (which is a superb facility by the way and the top public sports facility in Stockport in my opinion) and headed out into Offerton. The start is relatively flat and more downhill than uphill.
The first half of the race was relatively uneventful for me as I knew the roads pretty well, however the climb to Romiley after passing the Chadkirk was tough. It was a long fairly steep climb. I was glad to get to the top… or so I thought! On reaching the top, the course took a sharp left to reveal a shorter, but far steeper climb. This really took it out of me.
Bredbury was mainly downhill though and so I managed to pick up on a fair few places after the ordeal of the previous climbs. One last challenge remained however… New Zealand road! This too is a long fairly steep climb and really takes it out of you and makes the last mile a hard slog.
The final stretch was back in Woodbank Park with the finish on the Athletics track. I managed to pick up a bit of speed for the last kilometre or so, and even managed to do a bit of a sprint finish.
After the race was great; I don’t know how Stockport Harriers managed it, but they had loads of “For Goodness Shakes” available for free to the runners (and this is a top recovery drink, that’s not cheap), as well as a fantastic goody bag with a hat for running in cold weather. The club house was even serving some top notch Hot Pot too. A better end to a race I could not imagine :)
Looking back, I may well have held a little too much back in reserve for this race, but I was happy with the result, and it leaves plenty of scope for a better time in 2008. I’d like to try and shave 10 minutes off my time for next year, so I better get some hill training in!
A special mention should go to the race marshals as they did a fantastic job as the busy Offerton road wasn’t closed for this event. The race wouldn’t have been possible without them.
Cheers
Andy
Well I’ve been a bit slow writing this report, but here goes. The official results are here, and my quick results below:
Position Name Time
238 / 624 Andy Shirres 1:16:11
The Stockport 10 is a 10 mile road race round Stockport taking in Offerton, the outskirts of Romiley and Bredbury. With it being held during the run up to Christmas, I wasn’t expecting a good time as my training had been very intermittent and a few more beers than normal had been drunk!
The race started at Woodbank Athletics track (which is a superb facility by the way and the top public sports facility in Stockport in my opinion) and headed out into Offerton. The start is relatively flat and more downhill than uphill.
The first half of the race was relatively uneventful for me as I knew the roads pretty well, however the climb to Romiley after passing the Chadkirk was tough. It was a long fairly steep climb. I was glad to get to the top… or so I thought! On reaching the top, the course took a sharp left to reveal a shorter, but far steeper climb. This really took it out of me.
Bredbury was mainly downhill though and so I managed to pick up on a fair few places after the ordeal of the previous climbs. One last challenge remained however… New Zealand road! This too is a long fairly steep climb and really takes it out of you and makes the last mile a hard slog.
The final stretch was back in Woodbank Park with the finish on the Athletics track. I managed to pick up a bit of speed for the last kilometre or so, and even managed to do a bit of a sprint finish.
After the race was great; I don’t know how Stockport Harriers managed it, but they had loads of “For Goodness Shakes” available for free to the runners (and this is a top recovery drink, that’s not cheap), as well as a fantastic goody bag with a hat for running in cold weather. The club house was even serving some top notch Hot Pot too. A better end to a race I could not imagine :)
Looking back, I may well have held a little too much back in reserve for this race, but I was happy with the result, and it leaves plenty of scope for a better time in 2008. I’d like to try and shave 10 minutes off my time for next year, so I better get some hill training in!
A special mention should go to the race marshals as they did a fantastic job as the busy Offerton road wasn’t closed for this event. The race wouldn’t have been possible without them.
Cheers
Andy
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Shepherds Skyline Fell Race Special!
Hello,
By now my ankles were well and truely knackered, and whilst my heart and lungs were OK (after a brief recovery section), the muscles that supported my ankles and stopped them from going over on the rough and uneven terrain were worn out, meaning my speed dropped dramatically.
Pos No Name CAT CAT Pos Time
206/235 171 Andrew Shirres M 59/64 67.30
I've been very lazy posting the report up, but a while ago I was invited to take part in my first Fell race (The Sheperds Skyline FR) by Kevin from work! Fell running for those not in the know is mainly off road running, particularly up rugged hills. There are many categories of fell races made up of two letters, this one was a BM. Whilst on paper the distance of 6.25 miles shouldn't have worried me, I was all the same very cautious of how I'd perform as I'm a big believe that conditions affect you more than distance, and hills are a bit of a weakness for me.
Unlike other races I've taken part in, Fell races seem to be very relaxed affairs, just turn up on the day, register (only £4, what excellent value!), stick the race number on your shirt, and off you go.
The start was quiet a challenge as the "path" (more of a deep worn out groove in the earth) was very narrow, was rammed with the 200 or so other runners. It was quiet a steep climb, and of course the off road nature ment that it wasn't smooth and stopped me getting into any comfortable pattern. It was good to get to the top of the hill and hit a "flat" stretch, but even this was uneven which slowed me down as will as sap my strength.
Getting round the top of Stoodley Pike marked the half way point, and I'd held my own for a mid packer at this point but a small trickle of people had been overtaking me. What was now revealed in front of me though was a really sharp decent. Some people just flew down it seemingly throwing caution to the wind, I just struggled desperately trying to stop myself from falling over from going too fast. I lost a fair few places and started to notice that a few times I was coming close to going over on my ankle.
At the bottom was a longish flat stretch which I tried to recover on, but what followed was hellish! We now had one really steep slopes, everyone I could see was reduced to walking and by the end of it my back was really hurting from being stooped over for so long.
By now my ankles were well and truely knackered, and whilst my heart and lungs were OK (after a brief recovery section), the muscles that supported my ankles and stopped them from going over on the rough and uneven terrain were worn out, meaning my speed dropped dramatically.The rest of the course was downhill and towards the end I could hear the footsteps of a person trying to overtake me, and given that the race had flattened I used my road legs to great effect to stop them from overtaking. In the grand scheme of things though my placing was well down the rankings, but my aim had been just to complete this, and the weather had been brilliant, and I'd really enjoyed the experience. Clearly more training in this extreme off road environment was needed though!
What was really impressive though was the chap who finished first who got round in 39:25 which is quicker then I've managed to do the exceedingly flat Manchester 10K, no idea how he did it!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Nottingham Marathon Special
Hello
Apologies for the delay in putting up the Nottingham Marathon race report. I left to go on holiday the next day and have been struggling to find time since.
Anyway back to the report. Quick results for those short on time are below:
ChipPos ChipTime RaceNo Name GunPos GunTime
463 out of 1059 03:58:26 10187 Andrew Shirres 457 04:00:02
My training had been very broken leading up to this race and whilst the confidence had taken a little dint from this, the recent passing away of Jane Tomlinson reminded me people with far more troubles had overcome the Marathon distance and I drew strength from that. I had originally targeted less than 4 hours but with the training I thought at best I’d only have a 50/50 chance to get that, but I reminded myself this was more about the distance than the time.
I arrived in Nottingham on the Saturday and stayed with a mate (thanks Jim). I woke up Saturday morning a little nervous, but very excited. My mate Ben was particularly hard core and drove up from London on the morning to see my first Marathon, though I think he gets a quick out of seeing me in pain! After wolfing down 3 Wheetabix and headed off to the start.
As we arrived at the start the atmosphere was well and truly building up with thousands of people milling around. I ate my banana, did a few stretches and handed my post race bag to Jim. I moved closer to the front, watched the clock tick down, and then we were off! Almost straight away I realised I’d drunk too much water and I needed the loo! Thankfully, after 500 metres there was a public loo so there was no need for a Paula.
As the race unfolded we ran through the streets of Nottingham city centre and headed out towards Wollaton Park. I was being cautious with my running and making sure I was holding something back, but despite this I started to slowly edge ahead of my Runners World pace band which was set for a 3 hours 50 minute finish as well as ever so slowly begin to overtake runners.
Wollaton Park turned out to be a beautiful place to go for a run, and as I started nearing the end I noticed the crowd cheering a little louder as I ran by them. Not having become famous for my Marathon running yet I began to wonder why this was, and a quick look round my shoulder revealed that the cheers were for Spiderman who was right behind me and going from strength to strength!!!!
As I left Wollaton Park I passed through the most memorable water stop of the course. Not only did two bottles of water slip from my hands onto the poor volunteers handing them out, but the volunteers were the local American Football team for Nottingham University fully kitted out! Not wanting to hang around to see if these chaps would take offence I shouted a “Sorry!” and notched the pace up.
As I ran along Castle Boulevard, I managed to catch up with Spiderman and as we ran round the corner we entered the home straight for the half marathon runners. Both my uni friends, and a friend from work managed to see me running along this stretch and it gave me a boost. At the half Marathon mark, my time was 1:50:00 which put me 5 minutes ahead of the pace band which meant I had 15 minutes spare for under 4 hours. I started to feel I could do it!
Apologies for the delay in putting up the Nottingham Marathon race report. I left to go on holiday the next day and have been struggling to find time since.
Anyway back to the report. Quick results for those short on time are below:
ChipPos ChipTime RaceNo Name GunPos GunTime
463 out of 1059 03:58:26 10187 Andrew Shirres 457 04:00:02
My training had been very broken leading up to this race and whilst the confidence had taken a little dint from this, the recent passing away of Jane Tomlinson reminded me people with far more troubles had overcome the Marathon distance and I drew strength from that. I had originally targeted less than 4 hours but with the training I thought at best I’d only have a 50/50 chance to get that, but I reminded myself this was more about the distance than the time.
I arrived in Nottingham on the Saturday and stayed with a mate (thanks Jim). I woke up Saturday morning a little nervous, but very excited. My mate Ben was particularly hard core and drove up from London on the morning to see my first Marathon, though I think he gets a quick out of seeing me in pain! After wolfing down 3 Wheetabix and headed off to the start.As we arrived at the start the atmosphere was well and truly building up with thousands of people milling around. I ate my banana, did a few stretches and handed my post race bag to Jim. I moved closer to the front, watched the clock tick down, and then we were off! Almost straight away I realised I’d drunk too much water and I needed the loo! Thankfully, after 500 metres there was a public loo so there was no need for a Paula.
As the race unfolded we ran through the streets of Nottingham city centre and headed out towards Wollaton Park. I was being cautious with my running and making sure I was holding something back, but despite this I started to slowly edge ahead of my Runners World pace band which was set for a 3 hours 50 minute finish as well as ever so slowly begin to overtake runners.
Wollaton Park turned out to be a beautiful place to go for a run, and as I started nearing the end I noticed the crowd cheering a little louder as I ran by them. Not having become famous for my Marathon running yet I began to wonder why this was, and a quick look round my shoulder revealed that the cheers were for Spiderman who was right behind me and going from strength to strength!!!!
As I left Wollaton Park I passed through the most memorable water stop of the course. Not only did two bottles of water slip from my hands onto the poor volunteers handing them out, but the volunteers were the local American Football team for Nottingham University fully kitted out! Not wanting to hang around to see if these chaps would take offence I shouted a “Sorry!” and notched the pace up.
As I ran along Castle Boulevard, I managed to catch up with Spiderman and as we ran round the corner we entered the home straight for the half marathon runners. Both my uni friends, and a friend from work managed to see me running along this stretch and it gave me a boost. At the half Marathon mark, my time was 1:50:00 which put me 5 minutes ahead of the pace band which meant I had 15 minutes spare for under 4 hours. I started to feel I could do it!
However the half Marathon had taken its toll, and quiet quickly by mile 14 the odd person started overtaking me and by the 15 mile marker I noticed I had lost a minute on my pace band and now only had 4 minutes in hand. A dull ache in some of my leg muscles had started and it was at this point with over 10 miles to go I realised that the race was really only just starting!
Around the 16 mile mark a middle aged chap slowly overtook me wearing an Isle of Man shirt. Its funny how little things like this stand out during a long run, but for the next 3 miles I overtook him at every water station (when he tended to stop for a drink) and he then promptly overtook me on the straights once he’d got his speed back up!
Just after the 18 mile marker, I overtook the Isle of Man runner for the final time, with only 1 minute up on my pace band and approached a part of the course that will forever send a shiver down my spine… Nottingham boating lake! For the four miles I had to run round the rowing lake of the National Water Sports Centre. This place looks beautiful, but it’s one pig of a place to run round! The site is probably perfect for rowers, but for runners it is very exposed, and unfortunately a strong headwind was present for around three of the four miles of this part. It was soul destroying, the legs where pleading for me to stop, the headwind making an already painful stage more painful, the scenery gave the illusion that you weren’t making any progress, and to make matters worse, as we emerged from this section, I found myself on the banks of the Trent with only slightly more shelter than the boating lake, for another mile and a half stretch.
I checked my watch at the 24 miles marker and it was roughly 3 hours 41 minutes. I’d haemorrhaged roughly 11 minutes of my in hand time on the 4 hour mark and I was now one minute over the mark and that was if I could regain my pre-boating lake pace. Luckily as I rounded the bend at 24.5 miles, I was finally out of the head wind, sheltered, and now very angry, and threw absolutely everything I had into what distance was left!
I’ve no idea where I found the energy from, but I really motored through the remaining distance and it felt as though my fastest mile was probably done in this section! As I crossed over the bridge, I continued to make the most of my momentum and push onwards overtaking people fairly rapidly by now.
As I passed the 26 mile marker I heard the announcer start the countdown for getting under four hours on the gun time (chip time is my personal time, gun time is from the official start, but on big races it can take several minutes to cross the start line). I decided I wanted under 4 on the gun time to and went screaming down the final straight, but it wasn’t meant to be and I missed the gun time by 3 seconds!
Post race was a bit of a daze and I managed a couple of post race interviews with my mates who fancy themselves as future Ray Stubbs I feel! My legs felt destroyed but relieved to have finished. For me personally, I was really pleased with my time, and felt a great sense of achievement. Looking back, it’s been a steep climb since I started running first in 2005, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m already starting to look for other races so keep checking back every now and then!
I’d like to thank all the race marshals, volunteers and organisers at the Nottingham Marathon as the event was excellently run. I’d also like to thank all those people who’ve sponsored me as this has made the event so much more worthwhile doing, and for those who have been meaning to sponsors me but haven’t yet, there’s still time for you at my Justgiving website.
Cheers
Andy
Around the 16 mile mark a middle aged chap slowly overtook me wearing an Isle of Man shirt. Its funny how little things like this stand out during a long run, but for the next 3 miles I overtook him at every water station (when he tended to stop for a drink) and he then promptly overtook me on the straights once he’d got his speed back up!
Just after the 18 mile marker, I overtook the Isle of Man runner for the final time, with only 1 minute up on my pace band and approached a part of the course that will forever send a shiver down my spine… Nottingham boating lake! For the four miles I had to run round the rowing lake of the National Water Sports Centre. This place looks beautiful, but it’s one pig of a place to run round! The site is probably perfect for rowers, but for runners it is very exposed, and unfortunately a strong headwind was present for around three of the four miles of this part. It was soul destroying, the legs where pleading for me to stop, the headwind making an already painful stage more painful, the scenery gave the illusion that you weren’t making any progress, and to make matters worse, as we emerged from this section, I found myself on the banks of the Trent with only slightly more shelter than the boating lake, for another mile and a half stretch.
I checked my watch at the 24 miles marker and it was roughly 3 hours 41 minutes. I’d haemorrhaged roughly 11 minutes of my in hand time on the 4 hour mark and I was now one minute over the mark and that was if I could regain my pre-boating lake pace. Luckily as I rounded the bend at 24.5 miles, I was finally out of the head wind, sheltered, and now very angry, and threw absolutely everything I had into what distance was left!
I’ve no idea where I found the energy from, but I really motored through the remaining distance and it felt as though my fastest mile was probably done in this section! As I crossed over the bridge, I continued to make the most of my momentum and push onwards overtaking people fairly rapidly by now.
As I passed the 26 mile marker I heard the announcer start the countdown for getting under four hours on the gun time (chip time is my personal time, gun time is from the official start, but on big races it can take several minutes to cross the start line). I decided I wanted under 4 on the gun time to and went screaming down the final straight, but it wasn’t meant to be and I missed the gun time by 3 seconds!
Post race was a bit of a daze and I managed a couple of post race interviews with my mates who fancy themselves as future Ray Stubbs I feel! My legs felt destroyed but relieved to have finished. For me personally, I was really pleased with my time, and felt a great sense of achievement. Looking back, it’s been a steep climb since I started running first in 2005, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m already starting to look for other races so keep checking back every now and then!
I’d like to thank all the race marshals, volunteers and organisers at the Nottingham Marathon as the event was excellently run. I’d also like to thank all those people who’ve sponsored me as this has made the event so much more worthwhile doing, and for those who have been meaning to sponsors me but haven’t yet, there’s still time for you at my Justgiving website.
Cheers
Andy
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
July - Rain but no Spain!
Hello,
Well July was eventful, but I'm short on time so I'll be brief. I managed my longest run today which was approximately 20 miles. This was a painful experience which left me in a fair amount of agony at the time, and dinted my confidence as I really couldn't have gone a step further. After a lot of readining into it and a trip to the physio, I was diagnosed with Patella Tendonitis, and I began investigating a way to get through my marathon attempt with it
01/07 - Round Etherow and back - 3:01:00
03/07 - Dowhill training with the Harriers
06/07 - 6km - 25:53 (wrist weights)
10/07 - 1 hour Fartlek training (Pyramid 1 to 3 to 1)
14/07 - 8 Mile Eminem - 59:27
15/07 - Round Etherow and back - 2:50:01
18/07 - Harrier run - Romily & back - 1:30:00
22/07 - Sale waterpark Bridge and back - 3:38:45
27/07 - Jackson Lane 10K - 50:30 (wrist weights)
29/07 - Round Etherow and back - 2:52:55
Cheers
Andy
Well July was eventful, but I'm short on time so I'll be brief. I managed my longest run today which was approximately 20 miles. This was a painful experience which left me in a fair amount of agony at the time, and dinted my confidence as I really couldn't have gone a step further. After a lot of readining into it and a trip to the physio, I was diagnosed with Patella Tendonitis, and I began investigating a way to get through my marathon attempt with it
01/07 - Round Etherow and back - 3:01:00
03/07 - Dowhill training with the Harriers
06/07 - 6km - 25:53 (wrist weights)
10/07 - 1 hour Fartlek training (Pyramid 1 to 3 to 1)
14/07 - 8 Mile Eminem - 59:27
15/07 - Round Etherow and back - 2:50:01
18/07 - Harrier run - Romily & back - 1:30:00
22/07 - Sale waterpark Bridge and back - 3:38:45
27/07 - Jackson Lane 10K - 50:30 (wrist weights)
29/07 - Round Etherow and back - 2:52:55
Cheers
Andy
Monday, July 02, 2007
June - Trial by Harrier!
Hello,
First off, been very slow updating the blog, very lazy of me. Thankfully though I've not been as lazy with my running. This month was a busy one. Two main things happened in it. The first was my niggling injury to my right knee. I went to a physio and got it checked out. Thankfully it was nothing too serious and I was diagnosed with suspect patellar tendonitis. The exact cause was not found, but I do have a tight ITB, have been increasing mileage, and was told by the physio my knee caps are pretty loose compared to the average person!
The second main thing was that after having a chat with one of the engineers at work, it turned out he was a member of Stockport Harriers and he invited me along to there training sessions. I'd been thinking of joining for a while, and this was the final kick I needed. So off I went to a few Stockport Harrier training sessions! I was worried if I'd end up embarrassing myself at these sessions, but they were really friendly and offered encouragement and I was able to hold my own on the mid week session. The weekend distance training session though showed me the difference in class though!
Round Woodbank Park
03/06 - 29:40 - My right knee hurt on this run and got worse as the run went on and was what convinced me to see the Physio
12/06 - 24:34
16/06 - 2 laps - 38:19
6 Climbs up steep path @ Woodbank - 1st Harrier training sessions
20/06 - Forgot to record the time
Round Marple and back
22/06 - 30:00 - Failed to complete this run due to falling over and grazing myself to badly to carry on. This run convinced me of the value of trail running shoes
Round Lyme Park and back (15 mile XC - very hilly)
24/06 - 2:51:00 - 1st long distance run with the Harrier. I kept up with them on the hill sections, but as soon as we hit the flat after 7 miles I was spent and they had energy to burn. A kind chap called Brian kept me company whilst the rest sped off over the horizon. It was hard to see them so strong whilst I was spent, but it gives me something to aim for.
5 x Tempo laps of Woodbank (Interval training)
26/06 - 3:20 ish (each lap of woodbank equivalent to roughly 1km
600 sprint / 200 recovery - Speed training
28/06 - 2:14 per 600 on average
All in all it was a fascinating month. It was a real jump in the technical level of training for me. I'd been use to just going out running, whilst this was a lot more focused. The Harriers were great at sharing advice which I'm sure will pay dividends.
Cheers
Andy
First off, been very slow updating the blog, very lazy of me. Thankfully though I've not been as lazy with my running. This month was a busy one. Two main things happened in it. The first was my niggling injury to my right knee. I went to a physio and got it checked out. Thankfully it was nothing too serious and I was diagnosed with suspect patellar tendonitis. The exact cause was not found, but I do have a tight ITB, have been increasing mileage, and was told by the physio my knee caps are pretty loose compared to the average person!
The second main thing was that after having a chat with one of the engineers at work, it turned out he was a member of Stockport Harriers and he invited me along to there training sessions. I'd been thinking of joining for a while, and this was the final kick I needed. So off I went to a few Stockport Harrier training sessions! I was worried if I'd end up embarrassing myself at these sessions, but they were really friendly and offered encouragement and I was able to hold my own on the mid week session. The weekend distance training session though showed me the difference in class though!
Round Woodbank Park
03/06 - 29:40 - My right knee hurt on this run and got worse as the run went on and was what convinced me to see the Physio
12/06 - 24:34
16/06 - 2 laps - 38:19
6 Climbs up steep path @ Woodbank - 1st Harrier training sessions
20/06 - Forgot to record the time
Round Marple and back
22/06 - 30:00 - Failed to complete this run due to falling over and grazing myself to badly to carry on. This run convinced me of the value of trail running shoes
Round Lyme Park and back (15 mile XC - very hilly)
24/06 - 2:51:00 - 1st long distance run with the Harrier. I kept up with them on the hill sections, but as soon as we hit the flat after 7 miles I was spent and they had energy to burn. A kind chap called Brian kept me company whilst the rest sped off over the horizon. It was hard to see them so strong whilst I was spent, but it gives me something to aim for.
5 x Tempo laps of Woodbank (Interval training)
26/06 - 3:20 ish (each lap of woodbank equivalent to roughly 1km
600 sprint / 200 recovery - Speed training
28/06 - 2:14 per 600 on average
All in all it was a fascinating month. It was a real jump in the technical level of training for me. I'd been use to just going out running, whilst this was a lot more focused. The Harriers were great at sharing advice which I'm sure will pay dividends.
Cheers
Andy
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Are you local?
Hello,
Just a short post, but I was out running today and on entering Marple I was detained by the local militia and marched away to be tried for being an "Outsider". Thankfully I was able to convince them that because I knew the ex-fellow local Mark Taylor, I should be allowed to pass unharmed. As the ruling was ratified by the Elders of Marple, they performed a special dance and luckily I had my camera to hand to catch the bizarre goings on!
I left quickly as the chant of "Harvester" started being cried out by the lead dancer as I wasn't sure he meant harvesting vegetables or human organs and had no intention of finding out. I suppose this is yet more reason to keep your wits about you if you pass through the place! I know we live in a tolerant society, but when will Stockport Council do something about this breakaway community/cult! :)
Just a short post, but I was out running today and on entering Marple I was detained by the local militia and marched away to be tried for being an "Outsider". Thankfully I was able to convince them that because I knew the ex-fellow local Mark Taylor, I should be allowed to pass unharmed. As the ruling was ratified by the Elders of Marple, they performed a special dance and luckily I had my camera to hand to catch the bizarre goings on!
I left quickly as the chant of "Harvester" started being cried out by the lead dancer as I wasn't sure he meant harvesting vegetables or human organs and had no intention of finding out. I suppose this is yet more reason to keep your wits about you if you pass through the place! I know we live in a tolerant society, but when will Stockport Council do something about this breakaway community/cult! :)
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Investment Advice
I was surfing the web when I came across the web site for what I remember as my favourite tasting beer from my travels and there was this classic bit of advice.
If you had purchased $1,000 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00
With Enron,you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00
With WorldCom,you would have had less than $5.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of Beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00
Based on the above, current investment advice is to drink Hansa heavily and recycle. It's called the Hansa 401 Keg Plan
Makes you think :) The Hansa theme song is also worth a listen to!
http://www.hansabeer.com/
If you had purchased $1,000 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00
With Enron,you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00
With WorldCom,you would have had less than $5.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of Beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00
Based on the above, current investment advice is to drink Hansa heavily and recycle. It's called the Hansa 401 Keg Plan
Makes you think :) The Hansa theme song is also worth a listen to!
http://www.hansabeer.com/
Thursday, May 31, 2007
May - It's race time!
Hello,
Been very lazy on the publishing of training, but I didn't do a huge amount of training in May, but I did have two races over two consecutive weeks so I was resting (or tapering in running jargon). I did however do my first Round Etherow & back run. This was a brilliant run though very long and is probably the longest run I've done to date. Etherow Country park was one of Britain's first Country parks and is a beautiful area. It use to be part of the estate of George Andrew, who built Compstall mill in the 1820's and the waterways and lakes were built to carry water to the mill to power the waterwheel. Nowadays the lakes are used for various watersports (including radio controled sail boats)! However right next to Etherow is the even more spectacular (IMO) Erncroft Wood. Within 10 metres you can go from English countryside to what appears to be a Scottish Pine Forrest where William Wallace could be lurking round the next turn! It also has an ancient silver mine within it rumoured to have been first established in the middle ages! Erncroft Wood is also home to the number 1 most difficult climb on my training routes. It goes on and on, and was too tough for me to run all the way up. Hopefully one day I'll conquer it though :) When you emerge from this climb you are on one of the highest points surrounding Stockport and you actually have to descend to get to the highest pubs in Marple Bridge!
There was also a free GAIT analysis session on at Running Bear towards the end of the month so I went along to find out my natural running style. After a quick run on a tread mill and some slow motion replay it turned out I was a mild to moderate over pronator. So I got some road running shoes designed for over pronator's and marathon type distance, some Asics 2120's.
02/05 - 10km - 47:44
05/05 - Round Etherow and back - 2:59:32
07/05 - Marple & Back - 1:37:35
Great Manchester Run
Buxton Half Marathon
At the end of this month, I was pleased with my achievements in the races, but painfully aware that my training wasn't good enough to get me through a Marathon. So as June started I was left with the bar needing to be raised several notches. I needed to get more enthusiasm into going out running whatever the weather, and a way to make the longer runs more enjoyable.
Cheers
Andy
Been very lazy on the publishing of training, but I didn't do a huge amount of training in May, but I did have two races over two consecutive weeks so I was resting (or tapering in running jargon). I did however do my first Round Etherow & back run. This was a brilliant run though very long and is probably the longest run I've done to date. Etherow Country park was one of Britain's first Country parks and is a beautiful area. It use to be part of the estate of George Andrew, who built Compstall mill in the 1820's and the waterways and lakes were built to carry water to the mill to power the waterwheel. Nowadays the lakes are used for various watersports (including radio controled sail boats)! However right next to Etherow is the even more spectacular (IMO) Erncroft Wood. Within 10 metres you can go from English countryside to what appears to be a Scottish Pine Forrest where William Wallace could be lurking round the next turn! It also has an ancient silver mine within it rumoured to have been first established in the middle ages! Erncroft Wood is also home to the number 1 most difficult climb on my training routes. It goes on and on, and was too tough for me to run all the way up. Hopefully one day I'll conquer it though :) When you emerge from this climb you are on one of the highest points surrounding Stockport and you actually have to descend to get to the highest pubs in Marple Bridge!
There was also a free GAIT analysis session on at Running Bear towards the end of the month so I went along to find out my natural running style. After a quick run on a tread mill and some slow motion replay it turned out I was a mild to moderate over pronator. So I got some road running shoes designed for over pronator's and marathon type distance, some Asics 2120's.
02/05 - 10km - 47:44
05/05 - Round Etherow and back - 2:59:32
07/05 - Marple & Back - 1:37:35
Great Manchester Run
Buxton Half Marathon
At the end of this month, I was pleased with my achievements in the races, but painfully aware that my training wasn't good enough to get me through a Marathon. So as June started I was left with the bar needing to be raised several notches. I needed to get more enthusiasm into going out running whatever the weather, and a way to make the longer runs more enjoyable.
Cheers
Andy
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Buxton Half Marathon 2007 Special
Hello,
Quick results for those short on time are below
Position Name Time Category Position
96 out of 201 Andrew Shirres 01:45:43 42 out of 68
This was to be the third time in my life I’d run this sort of distance. The first being the Great North Run in 2005 where I’d posted a time of 1:49:49 in what was a hot summer’s day, and the second time was in a training run. Neither of these runs had the course profile of Buxton though and so I was uncertain what to expect.
Thankfully I was joined on this run by Dave and Ben from my Uni days as well as a support crew made up of Jack, Jim & Alison. This really helped to keep the spirits high as weather wise it was a miserable day and turning it into a mini re-union event really helped.
I knew before the race that this would be very different to the more popular runs I had undertook as this was organised by Buxton’s local athletic association. As such I expected most participants to be of a very high standard. We started the race at Buxton Pavilion in some fine rain and a little wind and headed out of the town towards Ladmanlow. This was a steady climb but not too steep. I was surprised to find that whilst I was taking it easy, I was overtaking a lot of people. Given the quality of the participants I was worried that I was starting out too fast, but I’ve always thought that when you have energy you should cautiously use it so I happily overtook people before the climb got too steep.
After the long 3 mile climb I found myself at the top of Axe Edge junction (photo left) and started a welcome, though all too short downhill section! The rain had got heavier by this point, and the exposed nature of being at the highest point on the course meant the wind was strong. At this point I overtook someone on the downhill, and whilst I can’t be certain he didn’t overtake me again, I believe he was the last person I managed to overtake permanently. The significance behind this is that in the Great Run series I’d become use to slowly but surely overtaking the people in front of me all race long, but this was not to be in this race.
After a short but steep climb to the Raceway junction, the weather was still awful and I began to notice the craziness of how the race marshals and hikers had multiple layers and waterproofs on, and the runners were in T-Shirts and shorts. Thankfully I wasn’t feeling the cold, but I’m certain this was because of the heat being generated by running, and if I’d been walking I’d have very quickly been in a bad way. The view was also very good at Raceway Junction despite the best efforts of the weather to ruin it.
As I descended towards Glutton Bridge, the rain became lighter and then had periods where it stopped. Just after passing Glutton Bridge at 7 miles in I was surprised to bump into Jim, Jack & Alison who had managed to drive to a point on the course to cheer us on! They couldn’t have chosen a better position to offer encouragement as this was on a slight flat on the second major climb of the day. This was a vicious climb that really sapped all strength from my legs, and even though it was shorter than the first climb, it felt like it lasted longer. More and more runners overtook me as I slowly climbed this hill, and it was an immense relief to see the top of it and pick up some pace on the downhill as I ran towards Bierlow and the 9 mile marker.
Just as I rounded the corner at Bierlow and started the third and final major climb, Jack, Jim & Alison came passed in the car. Jim was leaning out the window and getting huge enjoyment filming me on his mobile whilst shouting words of encouragement. As they started pulling away I couldn’t help but try and replicate Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky montage sprint which I managed to keep up for several long seconds and was a personal highlight for me!
The third climb despite being the least challenging caused me the most pain and yet another steady stream of fellow runners overtook me. It felt like all my reserves were spent by the 10 mile marker and popping Jelly Babies wasn’t helping and my stomach was sending loud “I’m hungry” signals to me.
Somehow I reached the top of Harpur Hill and then the long descent started towards the finish. As we entered Buxton the course got a little confusing as we weaved through the streets and finally we entered the Pavilion Gardens where I knew the finish line would be!
As I came to within about 100 metres of the finish (photo left) I could here the footsteps of a runner approaching behind me. Having had to put up with being overtaken for the last 10 miles by a stream of people I was blown if this cheeky chappy was going to get past me just before the line and so I threw every last bit of energy I had into a sprint finish and crossed the line to the cheers of Jack, Jim & Alison ahead of the chap to finish in 01:45:43 and set a new PB at the half marathon distance.
I was in a complete daze and had only just pumped a Lucozade down me when Dave came screaming down the final few metres like he was in a 100 metre sprint! It was a sight to be seen as Dave crossed the line in 01:46:35. Dave, the support crew and I waited nervously for a sight of Ben. By any right he shouldn’t have been competing as he had done only one 10km run in training and I started to become a little worried that the hills of Buxton would teach him a lesson, but then Ben turned the final corner and ran home to loud cheers in 01:59:52 which he was rightly pleased and a testament to what you can accomplish with will power!
Overall I was very impressed with the Buxton Half marathon. The weather was terrible, and a huge thank you has to go to the marshals who manned checkpoints waving us on and offering us encouragement whilst controlling the traffic (this wasn’t a traffic free event) on what was a fairly depressing day to be standing around outside. The average standard of the participants was very high in this event and highlighted how much I have to improve to get to average club runner standard, and this high standard was probably highlighted best by this chap who looks around 70 and finished in less than 2 hours! If I’m half as fit as him at his age I’ll be a happy man… an inspiration to all I’m sure you’ll agree.
Cheers
Andy
Quick results for those short on time are below
Position Name Time Category Position
96 out of 201 Andrew Shirres 01:45:43 42 out of 68
This was to be the third time in my life I’d run this sort of distance. The first being the Great North Run in 2005 where I’d posted a time of 1:49:49 in what was a hot summer’s day, and the second time was in a training run. Neither of these runs had the course profile of Buxton though and so I was uncertain what to expect.
Thankfully I was joined on this run by Dave and Ben from my Uni days as well as a support crew made up of Jack, Jim & Alison. This really helped to keep the spirits high as weather wise it was a miserable day and turning it into a mini re-union event really helped.
I knew before the race that this would be very different to the more popular runs I had undertook as this was organised by Buxton’s local athletic association. As such I expected most participants to be of a very high standard. We started the race at Buxton Pavilion in some fine rain and a little wind and headed out of the town towards Ladmanlow. This was a steady climb but not too steep. I was surprised to find that whilst I was taking it easy, I was overtaking a lot of people. Given the quality of the participants I was worried that I was starting out too fast, but I’ve always thought that when you have energy you should cautiously use it so I happily overtook people before the climb got too steep.
After the long 3 mile climb I found myself at the top of Axe Edge junction (photo left) and started a welcome, though all too short downhill section! The rain had got heavier by this point, and the exposed nature of being at the highest point on the course meant the wind was strong. At this point I overtook someone on the downhill, and whilst I can’t be certain he didn’t overtake me again, I believe he was the last person I managed to overtake permanently. The significance behind this is that in the Great Run series I’d become use to slowly but surely overtaking the people in front of me all race long, but this was not to be in this race.After a short but steep climb to the Raceway junction, the weather was still awful and I began to notice the craziness of how the race marshals and hikers had multiple layers and waterproofs on, and the runners were in T-Shirts and shorts. Thankfully I wasn’t feeling the cold, but I’m certain this was because of the heat being generated by running, and if I’d been walking I’d have very quickly been in a bad way. The view was also very good at Raceway Junction despite the best efforts of the weather to ruin it.
As I descended towards Glutton Bridge, the rain became lighter and then had periods where it stopped. Just after passing Glutton Bridge at 7 miles in I was surprised to bump into Jim, Jack & Alison who had managed to drive to a point on the course to cheer us on! They couldn’t have chosen a better position to offer encouragement as this was on a slight flat on the second major climb of the day. This was a vicious climb that really sapped all strength from my legs, and even though it was shorter than the first climb, it felt like it lasted longer. More and more runners overtook me as I slowly climbed this hill, and it was an immense relief to see the top of it and pick up some pace on the downhill as I ran towards Bierlow and the 9 mile marker.
Just as I rounded the corner at Bierlow and started the third and final major climb, Jack, Jim & Alison came passed in the car. Jim was leaning out the window and getting huge enjoyment filming me on his mobile whilst shouting words of encouragement. As they started pulling away I couldn’t help but try and replicate Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky montage sprint which I managed to keep up for several long seconds and was a personal highlight for me!
The third climb despite being the least challenging caused me the most pain and yet another steady stream of fellow runners overtook me. It felt like all my reserves were spent by the 10 mile marker and popping Jelly Babies wasn’t helping and my stomach was sending loud “I’m hungry” signals to me.
Somehow I reached the top of Harpur Hill and then the long descent started towards the finish. As we entered Buxton the course got a little confusing as we weaved through the streets and finally we entered the Pavilion Gardens where I knew the finish line would be!
As I came to within about 100 metres of the finish (photo left) I could here the footsteps of a runner approaching behind me. Having had to put up with being overtaken for the last 10 miles by a stream of people I was blown if this cheeky chappy was going to get past me just before the line and so I threw every last bit of energy I had into a sprint finish and crossed the line to the cheers of Jack, Jim & Alison ahead of the chap to finish in 01:45:43 and set a new PB at the half marathon distance.I was in a complete daze and had only just pumped a Lucozade down me when Dave came screaming down the final few metres like he was in a 100 metre sprint! It was a sight to be seen as Dave crossed the line in 01:46:35. Dave, the support crew and I waited nervously for a sight of Ben. By any right he shouldn’t have been competing as he had done only one 10km run in training and I started to become a little worried that the hills of Buxton would teach him a lesson, but then Ben turned the final corner and ran home to loud cheers in 01:59:52 which he was rightly pleased and a testament to what you can accomplish with will power!
Overall I was very impressed with the Buxton Half marathon. The weather was terrible, and a huge thank you has to go to the marshals who manned checkpoints waving us on and offering us encouragement whilst controlling the traffic (this wasn’t a traffic free event) on what was a fairly depressing day to be standing around outside. The average standard of the participants was very high in this event and highlighted how much I have to improve to get to average club runner standard, and this high standard was probably highlighted best by this chap who looks around 70 and finished in less than 2 hours! If I’m half as fit as him at his age I’ll be a happy man… an inspiration to all I’m sure you’ll agree.Cheers
Andy
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Great Manchester Run 2007 Special
Hello,
Quick results for those that don’t want to read the full report was:
Forename(s) Surname Race No Time Race Position
Andrew Shirres 9206 01:08:49 16266
Well 364 days ago I ran the Great Manchester Run, and today I did it again. However these two runs couldn’t have been more different. This time, thanks to the ever persuasive Kate Thomas of the Manchester British Red Cross, I got to run it as Sharky, the mascot of the Sale Sharks!
I knew it would be hard, but I did think that I’d still be able to do it in a reasonable time and had high hopes of trying to set a Red Cross Mascot record at the distance. After picking the mascot suit up though, my high hopes took a bit of a dent as the head weighed a bit, and the visibility was terrible! It was going to be harder then I expected!
As I got to the Charity village in the G-Mex and put the mascot outfit my hopes took another dent as with the head on it got quiet hot very quickly inside the thing… and that was when I was stood still, but it was too late to back out now! To the left is a photo of me in the Charity village before the start.
A special mention should go to two of my friends who were also running the Great Manchester run for the first time this year. Belch had come back from a long term annoying knee injury that had required surgery, and Justin who was running for Diabetes UK after being diagnosed with the condition a while ago.
After being guided to the start (the head meant I couldn’t see the curbs and bollards) all the mascots were gathered together. Our group consisted of Ronnie the Rhino, Wolfie, Red Ed the Roughyed (who’d told me he’d recovered from a heart attack after wearing the outfit during a match!), Rocky the Robin, Roary the Lion and the Cheshire Cat. The beginning of the race was quiet difficult due to the restricted vision and thankfully I had Kate guiding me during the congested beginning sections.
Running as Sharky was quiet an experience as he’s very popular and there were lots of shouts coming out from the side and so lots of arm waving from me. Very quickly it got hot in the suit so I had to tone the pace down. I’d picked up a pace band for a target time of 55 mins, but it was so hard to see anything I didn’t bother trying to track my progress and just plodded forward in a herd mentality with the rest of the crowd. The head got particularly humid due to the heat and not enough fresh air getting inside. Thankfully I’d worn my hydration pack under my mascot suit so had a ready supply of water to take on via my straw as I needed it.
Quick results for those that don’t want to read the full report was:
Forename(s) Surname Race No Time Race Position
Andrew Shirres 9206 01:08:49 16266
Well 364 days ago I ran the Great Manchester Run, and today I did it again. However these two runs couldn’t have been more different. This time, thanks to the ever persuasive Kate Thomas of the Manchester British Red Cross, I got to run it as Sharky, the mascot of the Sale Sharks!
I knew it would be hard, but I did think that I’d still be able to do it in a reasonable time and had high hopes of trying to set a Red Cross Mascot record at the distance. After picking the mascot suit up though, my high hopes took a bit of a dent as the head weighed a bit, and the visibility was terrible! It was going to be harder then I expected!
As I got to the Charity village in the G-Mex and put the mascot outfit my hopes took another dent as with the head on it got quiet hot very quickly inside the thing… and that was when I was stood still, but it was too late to back out now! To the left is a photo of me in the Charity village before the start.A special mention should go to two of my friends who were also running the Great Manchester run for the first time this year. Belch had come back from a long term annoying knee injury that had required surgery, and Justin who was running for Diabetes UK after being diagnosed with the condition a while ago.
After being guided to the start (the head meant I couldn’t see the curbs and bollards) all the mascots were gathered together. Our group consisted of Ronnie the Rhino, Wolfie, Red Ed the Roughyed (who’d told me he’d recovered from a heart attack after wearing the outfit during a match!), Rocky the Robin, Roary the Lion and the Cheshire Cat. The beginning of the race was quiet difficult due to the restricted vision and thankfully I had Kate guiding me during the congested beginning sections.
Running as Sharky was quiet an experience as he’s very popular and there were lots of shouts coming out from the side and so lots of arm waving from me. Very quickly it got hot in the suit so I had to tone the pace down. I’d picked up a pace band for a target time of 55 mins, but it was so hard to see anything I didn’t bother trying to track my progress and just plodded forward in a herd mentality with the rest of the crowd. The head got particularly humid due to the heat and not enough fresh air getting inside. Thankfully I’d worn my hydration pack under my mascot suit so had a ready supply of water to take on via my straw as I needed it.
Quite a keen race was developing between Wolfie and myself as we kept overtaking each other on the dual carriageway. I bumped into a great many people on my way round and as I was approaching Old Trafford I felt brave enough to leave my minder for a while and try my luck at a faster pace. This year’s run went in the tunnels underneath the stands of Old Trafford and so was a welcome diversion to the usual route, and as I emerged from the last tunnel, a BBC reporter grabbed me and interviewed Sharky! My moment of fame wasn’t to be sadly as it did not appear on TV, why this was I don’t know, maybe because by this point I was so dazed I couldn’t come up with a witty reply to any of his questions, or maybe it was the head stopping his microphone getting close enough to pick up my replies. After finishing the interview I saw Wolfie a good 50 metres in front and knew that it was time to start running again. Thankfully there was an empty lane at this point so I sprinted and caught up with him just as we got to the water stations. Drinking bottled water in Sharky is quiet a skill I tell you! As we went into Salford, I’m afraid I couldn’t see any of the sights, and as we crossed the bridge Wolfie announced to me he had to walk for a while. I felt good enough to carry on, but Wolfie’s outfit was even woollier than mine and I had my hydration pack and given the temperature I’m sure it was for the best that he toned it down a bit, it’s only a run after all.
The last 4 km seemed to take an age to get round. I’d realised by this point from a quick glance at my watch I had no hope of getting under an hour, and was really beginning to suffer with the heat. The humidity inside the suit must have been the highest rating in the UK, and I was surprised that it didn’t start raining inside the Shark head! I really have no idea how anyone could attempt a half marathon in a full mascot suit, let alone a full marathon. I have a new found level of respect for people who’ve managed that feat… incredible!
Around 8 km I was really suffering and my stride length had reduced dramatically. I had to walk for 30 seconds whilst I drank some water as I no longer had the energy to drink from my straw and run at the same time. As I walked I got lots of encouragement from other runners who were patting me on my shoulder and telling there wasn’t far to go, and which gave me enough energy to start running again. I quickly ran out of energy though and if it hadn't been for Kate and another Red Cross runner catching me up and offering further words of encouragement for the remainder of the race, I'm certain I'd have dropped back to a walk.
As the finish line approached, I used what little energy I had to stumble across the finish line in what was an attempted sprint finish, but probably looked more like the drunken end to a Saturday night pub crawl. I managed to finish in 1:08:49, and if I find out the other mascot times I’ll post them up.
It was a great experience, but very tiring and easily the hardest race of my life to date. I’ve not yet decided if I’ll run it again as a mascot though. After talking to the lad who ran as Wolfie at the end of the race, he said he’d run in a few of the other mascot suits and believed Rocky Robin was the best mascot suit to run in for getting a fast time as there are no legs or arms on it so you’re a little cooler.
My friends who also ran it had great races. Belch with his ex-dodgy knee got round in 1:04:08 and was rightly pleased with his time. Justin completed it 1:06:41 and seemed to relish the experience and I’m sure he’ll be back next year when hopefully we can get a few more involved.
I’d like to thank the British Red Cross and Sale Sharks for making it possible for me to run as Sharky. Sale Sharks were particularly hospitable and made me a guest of honour at the England Saxons V USA Eagles Rugby game which was a great surprise and hopefully I did them proud as Sharky
Cheers
Andy
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
April - A new perspective?
Hello,
April was a funny month for me training wise. On the downside I didn't get as many training runs in as I would like, but on the plus side I developed a more relaxed attitude towards the stats element of my training. As I became more relaxed, it allowed me to be much more adventurous in the runs I tried, as it didn't bother me if I couldn't get an accurate estimate of the distance covered on every run. This change of attitude and the excellent weather we experienced in April allowed me plenty of opportunity to run across the public footpaths of Stockport and I found it much more enjoyable than my standard runs and I discovered places I'd never been to in my local area! I also went on a holiday to the Czech Republic and thought it
was a wonderful place. Cesky Krumlov (pictured left) was a particularly striking town which somehow has survived the conflicts over the centruies remarkebly well. When I'm travelling round Europe, I always compare the UK to whatever country I'm visiting, and it goes without saying that my thoughts are based on personal preference, but I do feel that the UK is overpopulated. A train ride in all of the European countries I've been to tends to have endless fields and contryside, with the odd town. The UK is not really the same, and it's only certain area's of the UK (less so in Scotland) that there is not normally a town in sight at some point over a 5 minute window on a train journey.
Hydration pack
The link above takes you to the hydration pack I bought this month. After my first off road run I quickly realised that I'd need to find someway of drinking water on my longer runs. Being somewhat independent minded, I preferred the option of carrying my own rather than buying it at shops on route. The more fashionable (in running circles) camel pak ones come recommended, but these are vastly more then what I paid for my unknown brand which so far has served me very well.
12km Home 2 Home detour
01/04 - 58:57 - Not the best of runs really, the bit cutting through from Poynton to Jacksons lane is actually quiet dangerous as the visibility is obstructed by numerous turns and there are sections without footpaths putting you at risk of being run over
Exploring Woodbank and Vernon Parks
14/04 - 44:36 - Couldn't even begin to map this, just got a feel for the two parks and running on trails. I suppose this was the day that really inspired me into trail running. I reckon if I was to have a guesstimate it was probably around 8km I ran, but it is hard to tell off road as your pace varies much more
Offerton and back
15/04 - 1:00:10 - This was basically following the Fred Perry way from Woodbank to Offerton Marple crossroads in the big dip. This run ended up with me getting slightly lost off road and running through some couples garden! After much apologising, I was put on the correct route. In my defence, the sign for the public footpath was only pointing in the minutest of angle different to where I was running, and the garden was overgrown. Thankfully the chap wasn't to angry and more bemused then anything else!
10km
17/04 - 46:33 - NP (No Prisoners!) - I was determined that this run would be the fastest for this year, and I took just over 3 minutes off my time. It did hurt though, and it wasn't as good as last years time at this stage, but then last year all I had was a 10k run to train for, whilst this year I've had to get myself up to half marathon standard.
16km Round Marple and Back (1)
21/04 - 1:48:26 - A cracking run down the FPW (Fred Perry Way), up through Kirk Wood (worst climb I've experienced to date, very steep and brought me to a crawl, makes Jacksons Lane look like a flat!), onto the towpaths through to Marple and then roughly following the road till Oferton Community farm where I pick up the FPW again. Getting back onto the FPW at Offerton Community farm proved a bit difficult this first time as the public foot path is a bit hidden, but once you've cracked it, it's a clear trail through to Woodbank.
6.2km
25/04 - 28:50
16km Round Marple and Back (1)
28/04 - 1:43:25 - The quicker time doesn't mean a lot here as the first time you run a new trail route, a fair bit of time can be wasted working out which direction to run.
April was a funny month for me training wise. On the downside I didn't get as many training runs in as I would like, but on the plus side I developed a more relaxed attitude towards the stats element of my training. As I became more relaxed, it allowed me to be much more adventurous in the runs I tried, as it didn't bother me if I couldn't get an accurate estimate of the distance covered on every run. This change of attitude and the excellent weather we experienced in April allowed me plenty of opportunity to run across the public footpaths of Stockport and I found it much more enjoyable than my standard runs and I discovered places I'd never been to in my local area! I also went on a holiday to the Czech Republic and thought it
was a wonderful place. Cesky Krumlov (pictured left) was a particularly striking town which somehow has survived the conflicts over the centruies remarkebly well. When I'm travelling round Europe, I always compare the UK to whatever country I'm visiting, and it goes without saying that my thoughts are based on personal preference, but I do feel that the UK is overpopulated. A train ride in all of the European countries I've been to tends to have endless fields and contryside, with the odd town. The UK is not really the same, and it's only certain area's of the UK (less so in Scotland) that there is not normally a town in sight at some point over a 5 minute window on a train journey.Hydration pack
The link above takes you to the hydration pack I bought this month. After my first off road run I quickly realised that I'd need to find someway of drinking water on my longer runs. Being somewhat independent minded, I preferred the option of carrying my own rather than buying it at shops on route. The more fashionable (in running circles) camel pak ones come recommended, but these are vastly more then what I paid for my unknown brand which so far has served me very well.
12km Home 2 Home detour
01/04 - 58:57 - Not the best of runs really, the bit cutting through from Poynton to Jacksons lane is actually quiet dangerous as the visibility is obstructed by numerous turns and there are sections without footpaths putting you at risk of being run over
Exploring Woodbank and Vernon Parks
14/04 - 44:36 - Couldn't even begin to map this, just got a feel for the two parks and running on trails. I suppose this was the day that really inspired me into trail running. I reckon if I was to have a guesstimate it was probably around 8km I ran, but it is hard to tell off road as your pace varies much more
Offerton and back
15/04 - 1:00:10 - This was basically following the Fred Perry way from Woodbank to Offerton Marple crossroads in the big dip. This run ended up with me getting slightly lost off road and running through some couples garden! After much apologising, I was put on the correct route. In my defence, the sign for the public footpath was only pointing in the minutest of angle different to where I was running, and the garden was overgrown. Thankfully the chap wasn't to angry and more bemused then anything else!
10km
17/04 - 46:33 - NP (No Prisoners!) - I was determined that this run would be the fastest for this year, and I took just over 3 minutes off my time. It did hurt though, and it wasn't as good as last years time at this stage, but then last year all I had was a 10k run to train for, whilst this year I've had to get myself up to half marathon standard.
16km Round Marple and Back (1)
21/04 - 1:48:26 - A cracking run down the FPW (Fred Perry Way), up through Kirk Wood (worst climb I've experienced to date, very steep and brought me to a crawl, makes Jacksons Lane look like a flat!), onto the towpaths through to Marple and then roughly following the road till Oferton Community farm where I pick up the FPW again. Getting back onto the FPW at Offerton Community farm proved a bit difficult this first time as the public foot path is a bit hidden, but once you've cracked it, it's a clear trail through to Woodbank.
6.2km
25/04 - 28:50
16km Round Marple and Back (1)
28/04 - 1:43:25 - The quicker time doesn't mean a lot here as the first time you run a new trail route, a fair bit of time can be wasted working out which direction to run.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
March - Action packed!
HelloSorry for the slow post on this one. This month was always going to be a hard one as so many of the weekends I had things on, and weekends are prime training days for the longer runs. Much to my surprise though I managed to get a grand total of 12 runs in. However first the more exciting things. My friend Alice from Uni who now lives in Mexico popped over to the UK to have a blessing ceremony for her recent marriage to Hiro. This took place on St Patrick's day hence the great picture of Alice at the party afterwards. It was great to catch up with people and thoroughly enjoyable!
The following weekend I went up to Bonny Scotland to see both my Scottish cousins (Stephen & Judith) as it was Stephen's 21st birthday and another friend from Uni (Jemma). Aberdeen was great and Glasgow was full of surprises as I found out it had an underground especially designed for small people (or wee people in Scottish)
For the final weekend Stephen came down to visit me as he wanted to see a Bolton match and it was his Uni Holidays. We managed to see the mighty mighty Bolton wanderers make a bit of a meal of the game, but eventually win 1-0 against Sheffield United! Lot's of excitement as we were sat near the away fans so lots of "friendly" words flowed between the empty 8 seats separating us!
Back to the training though, a good month and I managed to get three Eminem (8 mile) runs in
6.2km
03/03 - 31:20
10/03 - 27:57
15/03 - 28:59
10km
02/03 - 53:26
05/03 - 51:21
06/03 - 52:20
09/09 - 53:34
25/03 - 49:39
28/03 - 50:32
13km (8 miles)
11/03 - 1:03:05
13/03 - 1:03:10
19/03 - 1:00:19
Anyway, next month I'm hoping to get a few cross country runs in to try and reduce the pressure on my knees. There's no trouble with them currently but I don't want to wait till there is so it would be great to run on some soft turf :) I've bought an OS map centred on South Stockport so in theory I should know where all the public footpaths are!
Cheers
Andy
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Fun in the Sun on the menu for 2009
Hello,
Just a short blog entry, but last week I got my confirmation through that I currently have a place on the 2009 Marathon des Sables. It's fairly daunting at the moment as there's an awful lot of training I've got to do, and its a long way off so I'm trying to keep calm about and focus on the events I've got before it. Briefly though, the MdS covers 243km/151 miles (in sections similar to 25, 34, 38, 82, 42, 22 km) run over 6 days (7 for some) - equivalent to 5 1/2 regular marathons. This takes place in the Sahara dessert where sadly you have to carry all the stuff you need on your back but water and a tent.
A fair bit of preparation will be needed by me for this even forgetting the running bit, but it should be an experience and a half.
Cheers
Andy
Just a short blog entry, but last week I got my confirmation through that I currently have a place on the 2009 Marathon des Sables. It's fairly daunting at the moment as there's an awful lot of training I've got to do, and its a long way off so I'm trying to keep calm about and focus on the events I've got before it. Briefly though, the MdS covers 243km/151 miles (in sections similar to 25, 34, 38, 82, 42, 22 km) run over 6 days (7 for some) - equivalent to 5 1/2 regular marathons. This takes place in the Sahara dessert where sadly you have to carry all the stuff you need on your back but water and a tent.
A fair bit of preparation will be needed by me for this even forgetting the running bit, but it should be an experience and a half.
Cheers
Andy
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
February - A good month to be born in!
Hello,
Well this month has been eventful. At the start of the month I had a dull ache on my left hip, after a series of runs it hadn't gone away and as it had been hanging around for a while I started talking to some of the veteran runners at work. The advice was to get it checked out straight away by a professional. So I did. Off to a local sports physio in Stockport I went!. A first for me so I didn't know what to expect. After a thorough examination I was diagnosed with Trochanteric Bursitis and I also had a really tight Iliotibial band on my left leg... none of which I understood at the time! To cut to the chase though, the prime suspects for this are that it turns out I have one leg longer than the other, and low arches. After some sports massages, anti inflammatory gel, heel raise and low arch support in my running shoes, things seemed to get better. I think only the long run will tell though.
My training for this month was good, especially considering the injury. I upped the distance to 10km although I did reduce it after my injury was diagnosed temporarily.
6.2km
03/02 - 26:50
07/02 - 27:12
14/02 - 27:20
10km
04/02 - 50:29
06/02 - 50:13
17/02 - 50:04
18/02 - 50:46
20/02 - 50:16
27/02 - 48:18
The last run I did push a little on, but I still had a little left. For March, I think I'll just consolidate this months work and if I'm still feeling well, maybe try an 8 miler in the last week of March.
Andy
Well this month has been eventful. At the start of the month I had a dull ache on my left hip, after a series of runs it hadn't gone away and as it had been hanging around for a while I started talking to some of the veteran runners at work. The advice was to get it checked out straight away by a professional. So I did. Off to a local sports physio in Stockport I went!. A first for me so I didn't know what to expect. After a thorough examination I was diagnosed with Trochanteric Bursitis and I also had a really tight Iliotibial band on my left leg... none of which I understood at the time! To cut to the chase though, the prime suspects for this are that it turns out I have one leg longer than the other, and low arches. After some sports massages, anti inflammatory gel, heel raise and low arch support in my running shoes, things seemed to get better. I think only the long run will tell though.
My training for this month was good, especially considering the injury. I upped the distance to 10km although I did reduce it after my injury was diagnosed temporarily.
6.2km
03/02 - 26:50
07/02 - 27:12
14/02 - 27:20
10km
04/02 - 50:29
06/02 - 50:13
17/02 - 50:04
18/02 - 50:46
20/02 - 50:16
27/02 - 48:18
The last run I did push a little on, but I still had a little left. For March, I think I'll just consolidate this months work and if I'm still feeling well, maybe try an 8 miler in the last week of March.
Andy
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
An Inconvenient Graph
Just following on from a post on Pie's blog about global warming. Here is the clip from "An Inconvenient Truth" with the graph in that I mentioned in a reply. Says it far better than any words of mine could...
I have the DVD of "An Inconvenient Truth" if anyone who hasn't seen it wishes to borrow it.
I have the DVD of "An Inconvenient Truth" if anyone who hasn't seen it wishes to borrow it.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
January - The start of the hill climb!
Hi,
At the end of December I set myself the target of doing 8 training runs this month. I didn't manage that sadly. I was on course to achieve this and then a combination of not taking the opportunity early enough in the day to go for a run, and then getting rained off, and a bizarre short term injury (I think I slept on my back funny) stopped me.
Its not all doom and gloom though as it was still a good overall month
6.2km
03/01 - 27:41
07/01 - 27:11
10/01 - 27:06
13/01 - 26:21
14/01 - 26:26
16/01 - 27:13
28/01 - 25:50 - New all time PB
I probably pushed a little too hard on the last run, as its not a good thing to come back from time out and push so hard you get a PB as the odds of injury are high. I think I was lucky this time as it does not appear to have had any ill effect.
My left hip is still aching sadly. I think I'll invest in a new pair of running shoes as I've read that this should be one of the first things you consider when niggly injuries start happening and I've had my current pair for a year now. It's a shame as they still look in good condition, but that doesn't mean the shock absorbent properties are still good.
For February my aim is to complete a few 10km runs as well as some 6.2km ones. I'll set the target of 8 runs again as I've got quiet a few busy weekend and I don't know if I'll get as much time as I'd like.
Cheers
Andy
At the end of December I set myself the target of doing 8 training runs this month. I didn't manage that sadly. I was on course to achieve this and then a combination of not taking the opportunity early enough in the day to go for a run, and then getting rained off, and a bizarre short term injury (I think I slept on my back funny) stopped me.
Its not all doom and gloom though as it was still a good overall month
6.2km
03/01 - 27:41
07/01 - 27:11
10/01 - 27:06
13/01 - 26:21
14/01 - 26:26
16/01 - 27:13
28/01 - 25:50 - New all time PB
I probably pushed a little too hard on the last run, as its not a good thing to come back from time out and push so hard you get a PB as the odds of injury are high. I think I was lucky this time as it does not appear to have had any ill effect.
My left hip is still aching sadly. I think I'll invest in a new pair of running shoes as I've read that this should be one of the first things you consider when niggly injuries start happening and I've had my current pair for a year now. It's a shame as they still look in good condition, but that doesn't mean the shock absorbent properties are still good.
For February my aim is to complete a few 10km runs as well as some 6.2km ones. I'll set the target of 8 runs again as I've got quiet a few busy weekend and I don't know if I'll get as much time as I'd like.
Cheers
Andy
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