2008 Stanage Struggle FR Special

Hello folks,

The Stanage Struggle is approximately a 10K Fell Race classed as BM from Hathersage up a steep climb to Stannage Edge, along it and then back. Its organised by the Fat Boys running club.

Quick results below

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Time Position

53:03 98 out of 282

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I was invited to this race by Marple Phil who promised an excellent race followed by a pub lunch!!!! How could I refuse? I even managed to drag Lauren and her friend Brian along, though they wisely chose to do a nice walk from Ladybower Reservoir instead of competing in this race :)

Parking the car at this event was one of the hardest things as the race officials directed me into a field that was more a a hill to be honest. I only have a little Corsa, and after seeing a four by four need a push because of wheel spin from the muddy ground I thought I'd be in trouble. Sure enough, I needed a push from the parking attendents which was much appreciated. I think the lesson learned by all hear was just because the person driving the car can run off road, doesn't mean the car can!

I met up with Marple Phil and his friends and became a honourary Wootton Road Runner for the day. The weather was sunny and warm, and I'd even borrowed a bit of sun cream from another Fell Runner as it was that good! The whistle went and we were off! It was a congested start going over undulating footpaths. I kept it a little calm to begin with as these Fell Running is a very different beast to road running. The first proper climb was tough, and with it being early in the race I kept on running, however when I reached what I thought was the end of the climb I realised that there was a huge amount more, you just couldn't see it all in one go! As the climb went on my legs began to burn more and more with the exertion. I was contantly hoping for it to be the end, and as I hit some of the steeper sections I decided to fast hike instead. Many of the people continued to "run", but weren't going much faster then me at all.

Reaching the top of the Stannage Edge was a huge relief, I wish I'd had time to stop and appreciate what was an outstanding view, but I didn't, and so I trudged onwards. I was about a third of the way through the course at this point, and my legs were in a terrible state. I reckon I'd clearly pushed to hard on the climb for the ability my legs were at and was now paying the price. Even though Stannage Edge is pretty flat at the top, the uneven surface means you have to watch where you put your foot. For the first few minutes my rubber legs must have made me look like I was a drunkard taking part in a bar crawl rather than a fell runner. I realised at this point I'd put to much effort into the early part of the race and I was now going to be running on fumes until the end. The heart rate graph tells the story finishing with a dangerously high average!

Coming down of Stannage Edge was real tough due to hugely uneven ground and thick undergrowth lining the trail. Once the downhill flattened out a bit I used increased the pace and overtook a few who had got passed me earlier. Sadly there was a couple of stiles to cross, and by this point I was exhausted, and the inevitable happened as I stacked it coming down from one and ended up on the floor though thankfully with no damage except to my pride. On entering a field I noticed several runners take a looping route. I decided for the direct route and realised to late they'd been avoiding the bog! I emerged cleaner than I should have somehow with one leg thick with mud up to my shins, but it could have been worse.

I really was on my last legs by now and the route back just seemed to go on forever! Finally the last downhill appeared by the Primary School. I threw what little I had left and sprinted down the hill overtaking two runners only to find in my absolute horror that there was a short but steep up hill to the finish in the school playing field... my pace collapsed and I was barely going faster then a walk when the two runners overtook me climbing up the hill. I crossed the finish line with emense relief and pleased with my time of 53:03. Marple Phil wasn't far behind 57:01. After a quick catch up I managed to clean myself up a bit, and then Lauren turned up and bought some ice cream which turned out to be the best I've had in years!!!!

Overall this was a tough but really enjoyable race, and the Sunday lunch we all had aferwards was fantastic too! Thanks very much to the Fat Boys running club for organising it!

Cheers

Andy

2008 Bullock Smithy Special

Hello,

Quick results below

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Position Time
Retired (12 of 14 checkpoints) 13:29:00

BS – 12:58 CC – 14:15 EX – 15:12 ED – 15:57 CA – 16:44
PF – 17:49 MD – 18:59 CM – 20:00 ES – 20:52 BT – 22:14
CC – 23:55 WB – 01:29

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Well the Bullock Smithy really is a unique event! 56 miles round the Peak District, some 8000 feet of climbing, starting off at mid day so even the fastest have to do at least some of the route in the dark and throw in navigating between checkpoints and you quickly get a feel for how tough this race is and will quiet probably be the toughest race I do before the Marathon des Sables! I can’t possibly do this race report justice as over 13 hours a lot happens, so I’ll have to just mention the highlights.

The build up to this race was a mixture of good and bad. The good was that I’d reccyed what I hoped would be the night time section of the course, I’d managed to get 204km in training the month before, and my new fell shoes seemed good in training. The bad, my back injury had meant I’d only managed one decent months worth of training in the last three and this was several leagues above anything I’d done before.

At the start I met up with Ivan, Rose and Steph from themds.co.uk forum and started to suspect I had over packed as my back pack was the heaviest. This was quickly confirmed when I met a couple of the Stockport Harriers who had big bum bags on only! Not a good start!

My plan was to walk the up hills, jog/walk the flats, and jog the down hills till nightfall, after which I suspected I’d be reduced to walking due to the conditions

Stage 1 – to Bowstones (total distance 5 miles)
The anvil was struck to signal the start of the race and we were off. Being a runner, I followed the other runners (and there were loads of them!) down the road towards Poynton rather than the recommended route (a slightly indirect road route is quicker for a runner than a direct off road footpath). There was a great moment when in the thick of a herd of runners, a sheep got confused and tried to join us, only to realise when it got really close that we weren’t sheep and panicked. The climb to the top of Bowstones in Lyme Park was tough, but I was pleased to see I was making good time. I grabbed a drink and kept moving

Stage 2 – to Chinley Churn (total distance 10 miles)
The start was easy, all downhill, but this didn’t last long as we had to climb up the hill on the other side of the valley. Still going strong I approached Furness Vale and was joined by two experienced Fell Runners who’d done the course before (though the last time Bernard had done it was 20 years ago!). The climb out of Furness Vale was another long one, made difficult by the fact that the narrow path was flooded and very boggy in parts. As we got to the top, I checked in and headed straight off on the next stage

Stage 3 – to Edale Cross (total distance 14 miles)
I had to make a quick loo stop, and that meant I lost Bernard and Mike, but carried on down hill undeterred. The field had really started to thin out by now and I could only see 3 or 4 people within sight. Just before completing a short climb I'd past Bernard who looked liked he too needed the loo! I caught up with Mike and a woman joined us who was a keen mountain who usually biked this part of the course. After making a really steep decent, she stopped and got her trekking poles out. I foolishly thought she was tired already, but as we turned the corner I saw why... Edale Cross is one hell of a climb approaching from the West. It was absolutely gruelling, first I lost contact with the woman as the poles really came into there own, then I lost contact with seasoned veteran Mike as he powered his way up. Finally I reached the top with pulled up socks man (PUSM), though I must have looked a state as the checkpoint team asked me if I was OK!

Stage 4 – to Edale (total distance 18 miles)
Thankfully PUSM was a seasoned veteran too and knew the route down to Edale so I tried to stay close to him on the decent. The East side of Edale Cross is known as Jacob's Ladder, and is like a huge stair case made out of massive rocks, some weighing half a tonne which were winched up from the river below (which let me tell you is a long way down). Very impressive, but hard to run on, so this downhill was mainly wasted for me! I managed to just keep PUSM in sight till we were almost at Edale, but I had to stop to remove a stone from my shoe and sort my socks out and Bernard also appeared from nowhere and overtook me. It was a great relief to get to Edale as they were serving rice pudding with fruit salad! I wasted a little time refilling my water and so I missed Bernard departing sadly.

Stage 5 – to Castleton (total distance 20 miles)
Edale to Castleton is only 2 miles... easy... or not as proved to be the case. This short distance between the two towns has a tall ridge (including the hill Mam Tor) in the way with the lowest practical point known as Hollins Cross at 411 metres. This is a tough climb on its own, but couples with the previous ones it was tough. The view from the summit was fantastic though, and well worth the 30 second break I took to appreciated it. The decent was tricky though due to wet rocks which constantly made me feel like I was going to slip, so half of this downhill was wasted also. The history behind this route though is fascinating as the people living in Edale use to have to bring their dead over Hollins Cross to bury them in the church in Castleton until Edale got its own church! Entering the Castleton I registered at the checkpoint and caught up with Bernard. Two good Fell runners had retired through injury here… a warning that on any given day it doesn’t matter how good you are, you’re at the mercy of the course

Stage 6 – to Peak Forrest (total distance 24 miles)
Leaving Castleton there was a comedy moment when I popped into a hiking shop to ask for directions to the footpath for the Pennine way only to be told by the assistant “sorry mate, don’t know it”! Bernard directed us via the Cavedale route, and this turned out to be like hiking up a waterfall! Small and medium sized rocks make up the steep climb, but plenty of water was rushing downhill from the previous few days of heavy rain. It made climbing very difficult and soaked our feet. Bernard and I had some great chats as we progressed along this stage. My body was beginning to feel the effects of the run by this point and my pace had slowed a little and coming to Peak Forrest provided a welcome rest with the lovely oranges they had prepared for us all

Stage 7 – to Millers Dale (total distance 28 miles)
Bernard and myself left Peak Forrest together on what looked on the map a simply and fast stage with a small climb to begin with and then a downhill farm track and bridle way all the way to the end. Sadly the previous day’s rain had turned the track into a mud bath, and a farmer was moving his cows along it as we passed. We tried not to think what we were stepping in! :) As the stage progressed I knew my stamina was fading but it was great to pass the 26 miles marathon mark (6.5 hours!) and know that every step from now on was a new record for me. I began to feel like I was holding Bernard back a little and offered him the chance to scoot on ahead, but he was happy to accompany me to the end of the stage and take it from there. Eventually, feet covered in mud and soaking, we hauled ourselves into the checkpoint and had some soup. Bernard was happy to stay a little and he looked strong, whereas I wasn’t by this stage, so I set off before him to force the break as I didn’t want to hold him back, and knew I needed to get moving before I stiffened up.

Stage 8 – to Chelmorton (total distance 32 miles)
Millers Dale is a beautiful area, and I’d been on a walk previously round the footpaths here with Lauren, this time however I chose to stick to the road climbing out of Millers Dale as the conditions underfoot had been so bad I really couldn’t afford to waste energy slugging through mud unnecessarily. It was another tough climb and it was the last time I saw the Dad and his 13 year old daughter (on a “father daughter bonding day” as he told me… what a family!). Bernard and his new travelling companion also caught me up and overtook me on the climb. His new companion was fascinating as the chap was a hiker and hadn’t run at all! Just goes to show you what a consistent fast and strong walking pace can do. By the end of the climb I was in a group of 4 with Mike again from the Chinley Churn stage again! As we approached the checkpoint it started getting dark and I unveiled my sexy leopard skin pattern head torch! I also put on my running jumper as my pace wasn’t fast enough to stay warm in the cooling night time air!

Stage 9 – to Earl Sterndale (total distance 35 miles)
It was now pitch black, and whilst this stage was relatively simple, I didn’t know the way, and this worried me. I dug deep and threw the last of my running reserves into keeping up with Mike and the crew on the running sections, but it was clear I was the weakest in this group. I trudged on through the dark with the guys and we eventually approached Earl Sterndale much to my relief. I spent probably close to 10 minutes at this checkpoint trying to recover, and the man with his dog (MWHD) came in, the dog looking like it wasn’t even tired!

Stage 10 – to Brand Top (total distance 39 miles)
This was a tough stage and I knew it! From here on in I knew the way at least, and it was a good job as Mike were too strong for me on the vicious up hill (that’s a great downhill on the Buxton half). I slipped back into the group behind which was 6 or so strong including MWHD and had a bit of a laugh with him about his super fit dog (which apparently doesn’t like him donning his running kit without taking him out too!). As we approached the climb to Brand Top we encountered the ridiculous climb to the farm. It was one of the smallest climbs all day, but it was liquid mud all the way up, absolutely disgusting, and the only way you could escape it dry would have been with waders! MWHD joked that he must write a letter of thanks to the farmer for keeping that path in such excellent condition! At the top it was a short run to the checkpoint where they were serving hot dogs!

Stage 11 – to Cumberland Cottage (total distance 43 miles)
I left Brand Top by after changing my socks but knowing there was a group only a minute in front. I caught up with them on the downhill and was surprised to see it included PUSM. It was raining a medium amount by this point and I had my waterproof jacket on. The legs were struggling and I felt my body continuing its downward spiral. I was fairly amazed I was still in the game as I’d been on the ropes since the Chelmorton checkpoint. We stayed mainly walking on the roads (even flats and downhill) as it seemed the most sensible option. The public footpaths may have been shorter, but would have cost more energy dealing with boggy off road conditions, with the risk of getting lost. We passed Three Shires Head which is beautiful during the day, but there’s nothing to see at night, and my legs felt drained... though not as drained as my Garmin gizmo which ran out of battery at this point! I wasn’t talking much by this point as all my focus was needed to continue. Eventually I saw Walker Barn and was relieved as it gave me the chance to put my water proof trousers on.

Stage 12 – to Walker Barn (total distance 47 miles)
I was the weakest in the group and knew I’d be holding them back and being pulled along faster then I could cope with so I told them not to wait for me whilst I was putting my waterproof trousers on. There didn’t seem to be any other groups around for the first time in the entire race, and so I left the checkpoint on my own, feeling bad, but knowing I could make it to the next checkpoint. The first third of the stage is fairly flat, but the rest is all up hill (albeit road uphill so not as tough as Edale Cross). On my own, in the dark, rain drenched, legs drained, the spirit was taking a battering, but I firmly believed if I could get to Walker Barn then I was likely to finish. As I came to Macclesfield Forrest I stayed on Chancery Lane as I thought it would be easier then the off road sections the Forrest route covered… maybe I was right, but it wasn’t an easy option. Chancery Lane is a cycle path, but is made from fist sized stones, and so is very uneven. For the best part of a mile I trudged on with mist rolling in and growing pain in my left knee from the constant jarring it was taking on the uneven road now that half my muscles had packed in. My walking speed had been reduced to about 2 miles an hour by the time I got back to smooth roads, my left knee was in pain, and my spirits were at an all time low. Hobbling up to the Walker Barn checkpoint the lady manning it said “Are you by yourself? You’re not supposed to be on your own during the night stages”, I just trudged off inside and sat down… I knew deep down that to continue would have meant serious damage to my knee, but I was so close! I think the lady realised I wasn’t in a good state and came in after me and asked if I was OK… the realisation dawned on me, and the only sensible option for me was to say “No, I think I need to retire”… probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever said. I was completely gutted. Eventually I managed to get a lift back to the start and I trudged off home to bed. The graph below charts my downward spiral before my gizmo packed in.

Summing up, this was one tough race. The organisers were swamped with retirees this year with a grand total of 77 pulling out and just 64% of starters finishing due to the horrible conditions underfoot. However don't let the bad conditions put you off, this is an excellent event, with incredible organisation and fantastic camaraderie amongst the competitors. I can't thank the Scouting movement enough for holding it, their many volunteers were excellent, and it wouldn't have been possible without them. I very much feel like there is unfinished business between me and the Bullock Smithy, but with a friends wedding taking place on the date next year, I will have to wait until 2010 before I next get a chance to enter!

Cheers

Andy

2008 Goyt Valley 5 Special

Hello folks,

The Goyt Valley 5 is a 5 mile Fell race, with about a third of the course on road, and two thirds on tough off road terrain around the scenic Errwood Reservoir in the Peak District. The reservoir has the honour of providing my home town with water! It is held each year as a fund raiser for Buxton Mountain rescue. Quick results below...

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Time Position

34.16 20 out of 60

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After having to drastically cut my running back due to my back injury it was good to get going again and compete in a race. 5 miles wouldn't be the most challenging race distance wise, but as I've already learnt, its the terrain and conditions that are the biggest factor. There was a few other Stockport Harriers there as well as many Wilmslow Running Club members. I decided my aim was to let as few of the Wilmslow runners as possible finish ahead of me for a bit of local rivalry.

The race started at Errwood Reservoir Sailing club and went across the dam and down a road running next to it. I was feeling very strong at this stage and had a good placing. I was a reasonable distance ahead of Brian (a Stockport Harrier) who I'd recently finished ahead of in the Bramhall Park 5K which was an milestone result for me as I wouldn't have had a chance a year ago.

As I hit the off road section the old flash backs of Shepherds Skyline came back as the difficulty increased. The first part was in a forrest and the ground was very uneven with some short steep climbs and some boggy patches. As I descended into a small valley I slipped and somehow managed to surf down the final section before using the momentum to throw me upright at the bottom. It looked like an excellent recovery, but was completely on instinct and I have no idea if I could pull it off again. The climb out of the valley though was a killer, and at the top there was no relief as we hit the open moor with boggy uneven exposed ground.

The moor section was really tough with my stride length constantly having to change and my rhythm being constantly disrupted. I began to tire quickly and slow and a couple of people overtook me, and then my marker of Brian overtook me! He looked fairly fresh and it was obvious that even with 2 miles to go I'd never catch him. It just goes to show how different these Fell races are and how you need to specifically train for them.

I clung on to my position as hard as I could but a couple more people overtook me, but when a Wilmslow RC chap overtook me I though "It ends now". I knew I had no chance of overtaking him on the rough off road section, but I knew the approach to the finish line was on a downhill road, home turf for me. I kept the Wilmslow running chap just in sight and as I hit the downhill road I hit the turbo and managed to catch him up and overtook him on the last bend before the line. To be honest I felt a little bit of a cheat overtaking someone that close to the line, as he had deserved to finish ahead, and if it wasn't for a downhill road I would never have caught him up, but I consoled myself with the fact that you can only race the course put in front of you.

Overall this was a tough race but very enjoyable. I'd like to thank Wilmslow Running club for organising it and Buxton Mountain Rescue for manning the course and watching over us whilst we ran around the area.

Cheers

Andy

Iceland

Hello,

I recently went on a holiday to Iceland and what a great holiday it turned out to be! If you’re able to get over the price of things over there it really is a great place to visit. We were lucky though as it was summer and so the Sun never really set and the darkest it got was dusk for half an hour or so. I saw some fantastic sites like the waterfalls of Gulfoss and Godafoss and some geysers including the original Geysir!

However this is a jogblog, so what about my jogging? Well it was a record setting holiday for me on the running front.

The first run I managed was along the harbour front with the mighty Esja mountain dominating the view. It was a lovely run, with the sun shinning and a slight breeze. The map is below with a photo of Esja too. My two travelling companions know me well enough not to bat an eye lid now when it comes to me and running, but it caused some surprise to our Canadian room mate in our hostel who was far to sensible to bring running gear on holiday with him!

The second run I managed was up a hill I do not know the name of. This hill was behind the hostel we were staying in near Akureyri. Anton, a seasoned hiker, reliably informed me it would take about 20 minutes to walk up, I was a little suspicious but bowed to his superior experience in this field. I set off up the hill and for the first 6 minutes or so I managed something akin to running given the conditions, after which I looked up and was no where near the top! After this I was reduced to a fast hike and made good progress, but after 20 minutes there was still a fair bit left. I turned round and saw Anton half way down the slope after having set off 5 minutes before me and it was at this point I realised the size of this challenge had been underestimated. Make no mistake, this was one steep slope, and in parts got about as steep as slope could go whilst still being able to walk it. It was about 2.2 kilometres to the top, and it took me 34 minutes, a real thigh burner! At the top was a cairn and having conquered this peak I felt it was only right to contribute and added a stone, did a Rocky pose (from Rocky IV at the top of the mountain in Russia) and then came down which was thankfully quicker, though still hard. This constituted the most Northerly run I’ve ever done with the highest latitude of 65°49'2.33"N

The next record I set was my most Northerly lap of a 400 metre athletic track (I’m sad I know!) at a town called Sauðárkrókur at roughly 65°44'43.24"N. I managed an OK 1 minute and 11 seconds, but I wasn’t in running gear, and hadn’t done any warming up so that would add a few seconds on.

My last run was along the harbour front again back in Reykjavik and helped round off a brilliant holiday.

In short, Iceland is a great to place to visit during the summer if you like outdoor type holidays and I recommend it if you get the chance, but don't expect to drink to many beers!

Cheers

Andy

2008 Buxton Half Marathon Special

Hello folks

Quick results below…
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Time Position Age Grade %
1:36:47 60 out of 220 61.2%
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Well the Buxton Half is something very special. Last year I was fairly scared by the course profile, as road races go, it has to be one of the toughest course profiles for the distance. This year the same team that took on the challenge last time entered it again. A year into my training for the Marathon des Sables and feeling fit, I needed to see a big improvement over last years time, so the strategy for the day was to take it calm on the up hill and “Smash it… 150%” apprentice style on the downhill.

Ben, Dave and I lined up at the start line. Dave was carrying an injury and so was purely going for completion, Ben wanted a new personal best, and more importantly, under 1:55:00. The whistle went and off we went! I tried not to set off to fast to start with as the climb to Axe edge is a long one and I needed energy for the downhills. It was very windy and exposed on the climb to Axe Edge and for the next couple of miles and really took a lot of me. I passed a hiker at one point who was cheering us runners on as we ran down the hill, but I was slightly concerned about his navigation ability as he was deadly serious when he said “It’s all downhill from now”, clearly he hadn’t encountered the killer climb after Glutton Bridge!



I was feeling strong and I passed the 10K point at 46:05 which was a good time regardless of the terrain. Round the corner from the 10K mark was Glutton Bridge and the start of the killer climb. This climb really destroyed me last year, this year it was tough, but manageable. A few people overtook me on the climb, but on the downhill I stormed past more.


There was one tough hill left… Harpur hill, a short (by Buxton standards) sharp hill around the 11 mile mark. Again, on the downhill I managed to overtake more, and this was a real surprise this late in the race, at this point last year I was in a world of pain being constantly overtaken.

By the time I was on the final downhill I was starting to run on empty, I was trying to keep up with a girl in front of me, who was still strong and overtaking people. She was to strong for me to catch, but keeping her in sight kept me going strong. As I turned the final corner, upped the speed one final and crossed the finish line in 1:36:47, an improvement of nearly 9 minutes over last time.


The race was not over though and I kept my eyes peeled for Dave and Ben. Dave was the next to come in and even though he looked in a bad way he managed his customary screaming finish with a time of 1:53:12. Ben and his yellow colour scheme running clothes finished like a ray of sunshine with a time of 1:54:59 on his watch and achieved his target of under 1:55:00.

A final big thank you to all the marshals who helped make the race possible.

Cheers

Andy

2008 Great Manchester Run 2008 Special

Hi folks,

Quick results below... full race report to follow
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Time Category Position Age grade %
47:33 2853 56.5%

3K - 14:55
5k - 24:21
5mile - 39:07
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Full race report to follow

Cheers

Andy

White Peak Marathon 2008 Special

Hello folks,

A rather special marathon for me, the quick results below.
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Time Position Age Grade %
3:36:33 61 out of 197 57.7%
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The meeting point for this race was near Matlock and this was 25 minutes drive from my good friends Justin and El, and so the night before I went and stayed with them and had a wonderful pasta bake for tea, so a big thanks to both of them for a wonderful pre-race build up!

The organisation for this race was something quite special for a club organised run. They bussed us from the finish where people left there cars to the start which was near Thorpe in the middle of nowhere! The weather was close to perfect for running, overcast, only a light wind, and occasionally a very fine light rain. After my experience at London I had gone dressed more in my winter running gear with three layers and joggers on. We started off following the Tissington Trail and there are some spectacular views from this, the English countryside at its best with beautiful greens and stone walls dividing farmers fields over an undulating landscape. After a few miles I was warm enough to take my running jacket off and wrap it round my waist which also had my bum bag full of goodies, making me look like I had a massive layer of flab! In my hand I had an old bottle of Orangina with some fresh orange juice and water mix in it.

As the race progressed I got chatting to some great people. One chap was running this as his first marathon to raise money for the specialist cancer hospital treating his brother, he had a strong support crew out to hand him bottles of lucozade and seemed to have a level head and looked great for a 4 hours finish. With his reason for running I knew there would be nothing that could prevent him from finishing. Another chap had a running vest of the “100 marathon club”… an achievement I’m in awe of. It turns out he’d had one rest before running this after running 6 marathons in 6 days around the 6 counties of Northern Ireland! As I moved up the field I had a bit of banter with a lady from Buxton Harriers and it turns out she to had talked to the 100 marathon man… and that this was actually his 475th!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time flew by and I was quickly at the 11 mile mark which is where we did a quick 180 round the marker and ran back, but on the High Peak trail and past some more beautiful scenery.


I still felt strong at this point and was slowly overtaking some of the people who had overtaken me earlier on. From my time I knew I was going fast, but this counts for nothing in a marathon unless you’re strong enough to maintain that pace and I had a habit of crashing after the 20 mile mark, and as this marker approached I grew increasingly nervous. I was still overtaking people, and some club runners too, and this made me think again I was going too fast, but I kept checking my running gizmo and my heart rate was still around the 167 mark consistently and so I persevered. It was during this stretch between the 11 and 20 mile marker that I grew unhealthily attached to my Orangina bottle and I suppose you could say I started to view it as a friend!

Sadly the 20 mile marker meant that the Orangina bottle was empty, and so there was an emotional parting at the next drink station. The next 6 miles were a blur. There were 3 huge downhill sections (1:8 slopes) where my legs still having energy in them were really able to capitalise on them. All the time though I was waiting for the energy levels and legs to collapse but it didn’t happen! As I passed the 25 mile marker I knew I was on for a great time. The legs didn’t have the energy for a sprint finish, but I didn’t need one, and crossed the line and smashed my PB by over 22 minutes!

(the last bar is off because in my post marathon state I didn't knock my gizmo off properly)

Overall the White Peak Marathon is a great course and it was kind enough to allow me a fantastic time, but make no mistake, on a different day with bad weather or slightly less fitness at the downhill stages, this course could really have chewed me up. A huge thanks must be given Matlock Athletic Club for excellent organisation. With the wilderness factor, the opening of the Rugby club to allow us to shower after the race, and the start and finish being in different places meaning they had to lay on buses for us I couldn’t give them enough praise. Truly excellent organisation. I'm still not entirely sure why my time was so much better than London which was only one month previous. I suspect lots of little things all combining together which over 26.2 miles makes a big difference. I did pop two ibuprofem over the course when I felt the old left knee starting to swell, and this seemed to do the job.

At the end there was one last surprise as I also randomly bumped into Marple Phil who I hadn’t seen in a few years and had a quick chat with him. I can’t remember his exact time, but he’d done brilliantly and got round in the middle to high 3:20s mark,

Cheers

Andy

Bramhall Park 5K Time Trial Special

Hello

A rather special race report here, the first ever Bramhall Park 5K time trial! Quick results below
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Time Position Age Grade %
20:27 8 / 89 63.08%
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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

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!

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

Andy

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.

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

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

Shepherds Skyline Fell Race Special!

Hello,

Results

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!

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!

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

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

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

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! :)

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/

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

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