Archive for the ‘Running’ Category
Racing at work
Monday, November 21st, 2011Farley XC
Sunday, October 9th, 2011The cross-country season started this weekend. Christine cried off with a cold so I made the short trip to Farley Mount on my own. The course had changed this year with a shorter loop meaning 4 laps (and hence 4 chances to head up the hill) to make up a course just under 10k. My legs felt sluggish warming up so I started slowly. After the first lap I was somewhere around 60th and hoped to work my up through the field. Unfortunately, the field had different ideas and despite swapping places numerous times I eventually finished… 61st. Nothing like a Hants XC race to put you in your place. Still, there have been races in the past where I’ve barely been in the top 100 so it could have been worse!
Fun running
Sunday, September 25th, 2011The most nervous competitor in our house this morning was not, however, me. Emma was entered in the 750 fun run (year 2 and under) and seemed a little bit anxious. It was all very well done though with the same musical warm-up routine that the adults were treated to. Christine ran round with Emma (well, I don’t think they ran all the way). Emma looked very serious as she sprinted towards the finish line (Duncan was slightly distracted by the air ambulance taking off at this point) but was full of smiles when she received her medal. She even asked when the next one was!
Veteran Relay
Saturday, September 10th, 2011Having failed to put together an SOC team for today’s Test Way Relay, it was nice to get a call asking me to run for Southampton AC. It did, however, turn out to be in the vets team! After a trip to the supermarket I left in rather a hurry to make it to Wherwell for the allotted time. As it turned out, I arrived in plenty of time but that did mean I was in place in time to shelter when the rain came through. When a Southampton vest appeared on the horizon in first place I was all set to go however, another Southampton runner appeared from nowhere to take the handover for this, the A team. I didn’t have to wait long for my man though and he had an Eastleigh runner just in front so there would be a race to be had.
The next Eastleigh runner sped off but, to be honest, didn’t look like he was going to keep it up. I overtook him as we entered West Down which was a mistake as I didn’t know which was the right path and ended up climbing further than necessary (it’s a few years since I last ran this leg). When we dropped back to the old railway line I didn’t look back. The distance to Stockbridge appeared to be longer than I had measured in the car on the way there but that probably meant I kept up the pace better than I might have done otherwise. There were plenty of womens and mixed teams to pick off on the way and I also managed to overtake our A team runner (who looked distinctly more veteran than me!).
I enjoyed the run which probably means I should have been faster although the jog back to Chilbolton Common to retrieve the car seemed like particularly work! The A team apparently finished in second place, just 15 seconds down on Overton, with the vets team in 4th place behind Stubbington Green. A respectable position for a bunch of old men!
Dorset Coast
Saturday, September 3rd, 2011We had a great day at the beach in Charmouth on the Friday and met up with Christine’s brother and family that evening for dinner. (It was our anniversary and, after 11 years, I couldn’t wear my wedding ring as it has developed a split!)
In keeping with the tent’s previous outings this year – it was wet on the morning of our last night. However, by the time I’d been to Lyme Regis to do my short leg at the start of the relay and returned, the wind had done a reasonably job of drying it out. Having got everything back in the car we headed over to Abbotsbury where we were running the legs either side of the hill fort. We then weren’t on again until after Lulworth but sadly spent most of that time in traffic around Dorchester for the Dorset County Show. We had lunch on a windswept Povington Hill, watching the dark clouds form over the hills adjacent to the sea.
Christine ran the section from Flower’s Barrow to Kimmeridge. A hill team then brought the baton up to meet at Clavell Tower and I set off for Chapman’s Pool. With the restart at Lulworth there was, for a change, other runners around. I was fairly confident that I should be able to stay ahead of Jack Benham but as we approached Chapman’s Pool and I passed the fourth changeover for the Junior Squad team, I wasn’t sure I’d manage to hold them at bay for much longer. Thankfully the hill team weren’t quite as late as arriving as they had apparently been at some earlier handovers and I wasn’t forced to climb all the way back out of Chapman’s Pool.
We then set of for Studland where the children had a chance to play on the beach. The other members of the SOC team slowly assembled (three are required to run the beach leg to Sandbanks together) and we were greeted to the sight of Paul Whipple splashing through the water round the headland just as the Kerno team came down the hill. The blue and yellow tops therefore inter-mingled as we set off along the shoreline (where thankfully the sea was leaving some relatively firm wet sand) in the race to be third team across the line. I reached the ferry terminus ahead of the first Kerno runner but who were those next two runners? It turned out that Iain McNally (who hadn’t been there when I started) had arrived late but had caught us up which thankfully meant we had three runners home before the next Kerno runner appeared.
In the final reckoning we were fourth over the complete course and second in the handicap with a new fastest time for SOC of 8 hours 34 minutes. In addition Iain was crowned King of the Coast. And most importantly (given that I had told Christine to leave the waterproofs at home) the forecast rain didn’t return until the evening.
Longdown RR10
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011Tonight was the first RR10 of the year in which I’m eligible to run. The course at Longdown isn’t a favourite – I don’t mind the undulations, the rutted paths or the tree roots but I do dislike the tight zig-zags and the clouds of midges waiting at the finish. I had no idea how fast to run having only raced once so far this year and only recognising a couple of faces lined up at the start. I probably started faster than I would have done had I not failed to notice my watch was displaying metric rather than imperial! Generally I was pleased with my run though. My legs didn’t suffer any of the tiredness I’ve experienced in past years and I was able to push it right to the end where I cross the line in 11th place.
First forest foray
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011First Tuesday night after the clocks change – must be a Six Ponds run from Fritham. It was a good turnout with 14 takers – 12 of which made it round the full route. Despite Neil’s absence (it would seem it’s too far to commute to the forest from NZ!), it was still a fast pace (just under 57 minutes). My legs were pretty tight after Sunday’s half but I still managed a bit of an effort up the hill at the end. It was great to be out in the forest once again.
Forest of Half
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011We were at Christine’s parents for a running themed weekend. On Saturday we watched her Mum complete a fell race at Llanthony Priory. Emma and Duncan thoroughly enjoyed playing around the ruins with some of the other children and then splashing in a small stream crossed by the course. On Sunday, her Dad and I ran in the Forest of Dean Trails Half Marathon. I had originally embarked on a training schedule for this race (a first for me) but was probably too ambitious and soon succumbed to a knee injury.
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