The come back!

After the dark depression in my last post due to my injury issues, I thought I needed to give an update as things are looking up…

Last time out I was in the middle of an enforced rest period due to an over-use knee problem post ultra and I was going to test the water with an easy Parkrun.

Well  I was still feeling the pain but it wasn’t too bad and with daily RICEing I was managing to walk with little problem. I decided to walk the couple of miles into town in Chelmsford to the local Parkrun and it was the first in the event for me. For those that don’t know, the Parkrun concept is a 5k course that runs every week in most towns across the globe free to everyone of all ages. I’d heard of the concept but it wasn’t until today that I tried it out.

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/

 Once again the pre-race routine consisted of people asking about the flip flops as I’d decided on the Luna’s and I’m surprised people are not aware of these? I guess they haven’t gone mainstream just yet.

Well the run went ok with no major issues so I took this as the first stage of the recovery complete and the green light to start running slowly again. Later the next week I decided that the next step was to replicate the same 4 mile run at work where I’d felt the knee first go. Again, this passed with no serious issue, I could feel the knee but the pain wasn’t bad and if I worked on it after then all was well.

So by now I was feeling better as I could run again so I took the decision to go ahead with a planned race on Sunday, the Great Bentley Half Marathon. I ran one more 5 mile test run during the week which went well so I picked up a group of friends from my local running club on the day and drove to the start near Clacton in Essex. The weather was grim with snow expected later so I’d already warned my passengers that there would be a wait for me at the end as I would be taking it easy!

Again I had the usual “flip flop” related banter as we hid in an old industrial est. sheltering from the elements waiting for the start gun but soon we were off. I had no planned strategy as I didn’t do a lot of road racing now but this entry had been deferred from last year but I decided to push a little but steady for as long as I could then settle into a slower pace (my usual plan in most races).

This was a significant race for me though as it marked the longest race I’d run to-date in the Luna Leadville’s. I’d run off-road longer in training but this was going to be “race pace” and on the tarmac so fingers crossed. I started ok and settled into an easy 8:30/mile pace. I was managing to maintain this speed comfortably so just carried on and ticked the miles off. I made a point of  specifically not looking at the distance covered on the watch (apart from the mile markers on the road) and soon I passed the 5 mile point which was as far as I’d covered in my recovery to date.

Eventually I got to 10 miles and I was still feeling ok. I’d also changed my fuelling plan and taken a gel at the start and another at around 8 miles combined with a few mouthfuls of water at the stations. I normally keep to the 1 every 5 miles plan but this worked. Yet another lesson learnt I guess? Maybe over fuelling in shorter events could be an issue?

By mile 11, I got passed for the first time and as hard as I tried couldn’t keep with them. This happened a couple times more even though I’d increased the pace slightly to approx. 8:25’s. I was also still passing people in front so I can’t complain really and any negative split must be good?

I got to the finish and was more than happy with my performance. The time was only a few seconds over my course PB (set in “normal shoes” and not on the injury come-back) but more important to me was the fact I’d finished my longest race in my favourite footwear.

I’d combined the sandals with ToeSox from Barefoot UK and had excepted to finish with a few blisters and “scars” for my efforts but nothing.

In fact the most difficult part of the race was finding a way of fixing the timing chip to my foot.

No Pain No Gain!

As I write it’s been nearly 3 weeks since my last ultra. Since then I’d been out a couple of times for a run but too much, too soon in hindsight. I now know it takes 2 weeks before any hard running and nothing for the first week!

The sore hamstring from the Ultra was ok but post run has since flared up to the point where I can’t run on it now.

I found this out as I  ran at work but at the 2 mile point the knee started to weaken and I started getting some seriously strange sensations in the joint as it felt like it was swollen, got weak then went numb?

I started to get concerned so had some sports massage that evening and the physio said I had a minor tear in the hamstring. I knew at this point I had to stop all running or risk it getting worst.

I went back to my training plan and looked at other ways to keep working out so actually went swimming and did some cross training but still managed to put on half a stone in a week J

Anyway, had some treatment on the knee this week and they now say it’s more of a strain to the ligaments in the knee including the ITB. All probably from over use on the ultra. What happened was as I passed the miles that I’d trained up to my form changed. Next time more back to back runs to get the body used to the change.

Anyway after lots of RICE I still feel it but going to try a slow 5k Park run this weekend!

Custom Kit

As I previously said, post ultra I had a few minor changes to my pack set up that I thought could make life a little more comfortable.

I drove out to the workshop of custom kit manufacturer 1157 Tactical http://www.1157tactical.com/ in Chelmsford Essex and took them through the changes I wanted.

Race Pack mods:

Remove unnecessary weight and sew front pouches to Inov-8 12 Race Pack and at the same time add a small pack to the front waist strap to contain anything from gels, hydration tablets, small food or even trash.

Before:

Above you can see the bottle pouch on the left and zipped pocket on right attached by a large number of buckles and Velcro straps and the small Nike bum bag which I'm going to use for front storage.

Here you can see the amount of material that you can remove also below you can see the finished article.

The last items I had modified were some leg warmers that were a little loose and my waterproof jacket that had no hood storage. The hood was modified with a simple elastic loop which will not completely store the hood when not in use but will mean I can actually run with it still attached.

I've always been impressed with this small company's work for military kit but here we see what can be achieved with endurance kit for a small amount compared to new kit. The picture below shows what 1157 normally produce. Thanks to the 1157 team.

Tailor made for the job!

I’ve always been the type of person that doesn’t like to compromise unless I have to and my recent Ultra exploits got me thinking about potential opportunities to improve my running kit (you get a lot of time to think during 9 hrs).

In my “other job” in the Army Reserves I’ve had the same thoughts as load carrying is critical and if you can make life slightly more comfortable then that’s always a good thing in my books.

The British Army used to have a reputation for issuing kit that was out of date especially compared to our American friends. Well I’m glad to say the days of the British squaddie having supply his own decent equipment has passed and the kit issued now is of a good standard but as I’ve said, there’s always opportunities to personalise.

Well you might be wondering where I’m going with this and what its got to do with running? Well hang in there! Post C2C I’d heard of people modifying their packs when on long distance events and I thought if I can’t find exactly what I needed maybe I could create it? 

I then read some reviews on the Ultimate Direction Signature vests http://www.ultimatedirection.com/c-signature-series.aspx and liked the way that the worlds best ultra runners combined their experience directly into products so I called my good friend who runs a small custom Army load carrying business 1157 Tactical making kit made to order for people on the front line in places like Afghanistan so it must be good!

What I had in mind eventually was to produce a bespoke running pack / vest that had all the features I liked but for now I decided to test the water by getting some existing kit modified. I decided on getting the front drinks holder and external pockets permanently sewn on the shoulder straps and add some more front storage but getting a small waist pack attached to the waist strap. At the same time I decided to try out a revised lacing system to my Xero sandals.

Review to follow......

Snow "Shoes"

We got to Saturday and I'm due to run in the Box Hill Fell race, a 7.5 mile run up one of the steepest hills in the south. The knee was still troubling me and it wasn't the climb that worried me but the downhill as this is always harder on the legs. Because of this I decided to give it a miss and instead the next day went for a short run in the Luna's.

Well Sunday morning and outside was a white out! The snow that was forecast had now started and it was going to a little chilly. This was going to be a perfect opportunity to test the combination of Luna sandals with the Toe Grip Sox recently purchased from Tracey at Barefoot Britain (sorry I might have got your company name wrong in the video review).

Straight off the Toe Sox felt good. I'd worn them a few times around the house and I can see why these are so popular in the U.S. for indoor activities such as Yoga etc. as they offer warmth and comfort but with the added benefit of barefoot feel.

The Sox with the sandals sounds like an odd combination but they actually work well together. The Luna's don't really rub at any point if broke in correctly and over time but with these offered improved protection against possible blisters over distance.
But are these any different to other toe socks such as Injini's? Well the main difference is the sole. On the Toe Sox they have a rubber grip pattern similar to what you'd see on some types of gloves. These really do work on surfaces such as wood and vinyl flooring as they hold grip well even when at speed or changing direction fast.

In the the snow they offered a level of warmth and protection in extreme conditions. We started to warm up by jogging around the park on the grass that was now hard as concrete due the the previous week of hard frost. Even though it was still very cold on the feet these stopped them getting numb which is the key to minimal running in the low temperatures.

After a couple of laps I tested the grip of the Toe Sox with the Luna's on a steep incline to see how they would perform as previously movement was a slight issue. This time the movement is limited and I could easily climb and decend the steep slope even in the snow and ice.

Finally, I removed the sandals and ran the same section of path as normal barefoot which is some of the hardest I've experienced on the soles. This time the sox made the uneven ride feel ok and this time I actually increased the pace with the improved confidence.

All in all a great run out and can't wait to see what the sox are like on a longer run.

All sore a good cause

This week I took a break from regular training as part of my post race routine following C2C 45 miler.

The first few days the legs were a little sore but not from lactic acid build up but from the sheer punishment from time on feet. One of the common mistakes people make post race is getting back into route too soon and risking possible injury damaging something that hasn't had the time to calm down.

I got to Wednesday and finally decided to got out for a run, clocking up 4 miles late in the evening. Started off pretty swift by my standards these days but after I'd got warmed up and passed the first couple of miles I started to get into it.

I finished the run fine but my sore knee did flare up a little towards the end and I took that as my body telling me it was "too soon". Certain things can be ignored but the key is to know when to stop.

One of great parts of running the C2C was the fact I was running it for charity. The organisers Go Beyond have a great set-up where they support a couple of really good causes and offer places in their races to those that agree to raise funds. One of these was The Children's Charity.

I'd got a half decent record of raising funds and with the help of my friends we doubled the minimum donation and raised over £500 and still counting! To help the fund raising I held one of my endurance events at work this week. I've held these for sometime as we have a hardcore of running fans here that are always up for a challenge, Marathon, Ultra or Iron Man but this time it was simple hilly 5 miles Cross Country carrying 16kg in a backpack with everyone donating their entry fee.

Race Day

After weeks of build up the day was finally here and as I left the comfort of my good friend Andy Hind's car the darkness was broke by the heavens opening... great!

I felt my prep had been ok but I knew it was going to be hard as I'd not done loads of long runs beyond 20 miles but I has happy that if I could get to the halfway point of the Grand Union Canal in a half decent time I could at worst walk the second half and still get in with an hour to spare inside the cut off time of 11 hours.

I sat down in the corner of the large pub which was acting as the race HQ and registered with ease as I'd got there early. Soon another runner joined me and as we both got ready he said he'd run this many times and that it was a decent event, he even got me a coffee as it was my first time. He said that the hardest part was probably navigation and he was using a handheld Garmin with the route on a OS map. I'm not 100% sure this is the "done thing " on all these events but there was a large number of people doing the same thing so I didn't feel to bad that I had the route on my Suunto Ambit GPS watch as a back up.

Soon the pub was packed and it was standing room only. There were 250 people running and for some reason a large part of them had decided to arrive last minute to register. The race organisers had warned they would delay the start if the train was delayed so we didn't actually start until almost 08:45, 15 mins late but I wasn't in too much of a hurry.. 

Kit wise I'd opted to wear my Children's Trust wicking tshirt as that was the charity I was running for. Over this I chose a long sleeve thicker Keela shirt which is a great bit of kit especially as it has a zipped neck so you can adjust for temperature control, finally as the weather wasn't looking too clever I wore my basic Arktis Pertex wind proof.

On the bottom I wore a cheap pair of Decathlon running tights, Hilly socks, New Balance MT110 minimal shoes and decided to test to Inov-8 ankle gaiters I'd had for some time but never used. I decided to give these a try as I didn't want to get debris in the trainers on such a long run and they proved to be superb.

I'd brought a new bumbag to use on the event but at the last minute decided to go with my Inov-8 Race pack 12 as I'd used this many times without fail plus for my first real ultra unsupported I'd rather have too much spare kit than too little. I carried a full waterproof jacket, trousers, warm layer and some spare sock just in case.

One of the key decisions was fuelling. As the checkpoints provided gels, I didn't carry any but maybe in hindsight I should have just in case? I did though carry some spare food but didnt use it. Hydration strategy was carry a single bottle in a carrier on my shoulder strap, this way I could refil at every CP and use the Nuun tabs as required. Again this Inov-8 product was new and untested over distance but I liked the idea like so much, I just went with it and was proved right as it was perfect.

As we started, I hung back not wanting to push too fast at the start and we soon came to a halt at the first on many barriers along the way. As we left town and started cross country along the Chiltern Hills, the ground was pure wet sticky mud. I'd started exactly as I wanted well within myself but not too slow. At one point I ran with a Belgium chap who was experienced in ultras and I told him that this was my first long distance race, he asked what my marathon times were so I told him, he said I was mad to be running this pace :)

All was going to plan as we approached CP 1. Then the worst happened.... I was getting ready to walk a steep section which was really slippery when I lost my footing and next thing I was airborne. Lucky for me I fell back and landed on the fattest part of my body. I went down hard but no harm done so wiped myself down and carried on.

After the CP we then ran through a large town and then once again through the Chiltern Hills with more mud galore. It seemed like ages before I approached CP 2 at 17.5 miles. The legs were starting to feel a little heavy but I saw a familiar figure in the distance, it was Jerome, the chap who I'd met at the pub before the start, it was nice to see him again and after a few minutes I jogged off with the M25 just around the corner.

Like many people in long races, I'd set a few mental goals that I could tick off as I ran. The first major landmark was the London Orbital Motorway, this meant that 20 miles was too far. Soon I'd passed the 20 mark and I bumped into into a couple of young guys I'd been talking to earlier on route. They were in the Territorial Army in the HAC preparing for their Patrols course soon in Brecon. They seemed to be running ok but just to illustrate how hard it was to navigate the course at times, I overtook them slowly at one point then turned back and they were nowhere to be seen?

As I said I'd put the route on my GPS watch but was nervous to try it as I'd only tested once on a short route which I actually knew so not the best test. Well I started the nav option on the watch and have admit the bread crumb option was awesome. I'd used my online mapping software prior to the race to create a route then imported it onto the watch. The option I was using shows a simple route line for the next couple of km so you can see major route changes that need to be taken in advance or even if your starting to head off track and this was proving to be really useful.

Well soon we approached the biggest landmark on the whole course.... The Grand Union Canal. This marked 22 miles gone and according to my plan I aimed to get to this point in 4 hours and worst case walk the rest at 15/min miles if the legs had gone. The time was 4:08 so a little slower but the going so far was difficult so just happy to be close to that time.

With this morale booster I decided to keep running and pushed on to CP 3 of 5. This dragged on for what seemed like ages with the route proving quite boring and I actually missed the rolling hills and mud and all I could of think of was how my heavy legs felt. The next CP was at marathon distance and promised savoury food and as I approached it I was eager to see what they had on offer? Well after a pork pie and sausage roll I walked from the CP and began to decided now to run/walk like many of the people seemed to be doing now.

Eventually I got to CP 4 and was told that we should pair up as it was going to get dark soon. By now I'd got to 32 miles and I my legs were feeling like lead and I just couldn't move them fast enough, I got to about 35 miles when I met another competitor who was fast walking so I stopped for a chat. He had actually walked all the way along the canal as his knee had gone but was still moving pretty fast.

As we approached CP 5 at 38 miles I decided that I'd walk the rest as everytime I tried to run the knees were hurting now and especially as I was well ahead of schedule! I was having a really good chat with the other runner who was strangely was called Ian too and soon the head torch was on and eventually we approached a lady in the dark who shouted 200m to go! Well you can't finish walking can you and we started running again. This got me thinking I should have pushed it a little more?

Well we crossed the line and that was the end of my first full ultra adventure. I'd planned for a worst case time of under 10 hours and I finished in a time of 8:51:22.

A day later I'm thinking if I'd stopped a little longer at the later CPs and eaten some real food I'd been able to push further with more fuel as I hit the wall around 35 miles? also I think mentally I took it slightly easy later on the canal section probably because I knew I was well inside my target time I set at the start. Generally I'm really happy especially as I finished 180th out of 250, 57th in my category.