How's about a monthly update??

It seems my ability to accurately judge the passing of time is somewhat questionable, as is my ability to update this blog. Despite that, I have been out training although not quite as regularly as I planed to due to a few days away in Dublin and then being rather busy on call again.

Following the last abandoned run, I was feeling a little apprehensive about running in the wind or cold, as I hate the feeling in my chest when my lungs just don't want to play ball. Thankfully, Miss Running had been shopping for all things lycra, and was kind enough to buy me a new compression base layer. Now, I know that it being compression doesn't add anything, but I feel more the part in them and it means I'm not trying to wear two or three tops that are the same size. So with my new shiny new top under a normal running t shirt, I sent out on a slightly chilly run.

Just as hoped, the extra top was what I needed to keep my temperature up along with my pace. The run was the "new" 6km loop that is likely to become my new short distance route. The lack of the short but sharp uphill section at the start is helping me no end, whilst the rest is gently rolling. This run was finished in 38:35, giving a pace of 6:10/km, which is roughly where I want to be for now.


The next run was a little bit different as I would be running with Mrs Running, Miss Running's mum. I was told that she likes to whine and moan about as much as I do when running, so we figured we'd get on well! This run wasn't about going all that far or that fast for me, but more to get out and do at least 8km and push Mrs Running past her usual 5km mark. As we ran from her house, the route was different and was a loop to Stanford Hall, the home of the Summer and Winter Wolf Runs. Having done the Winter Wolf, the house looked a lot nicer this time around with some ancient re-enactment under way on the front lawn! This sight did mean that we had to turn round and head back up the hills we'd not long run down. But hills are good training, and I managed to not stop on them. There's no real pace info for this run, as I left my phone holder at home, so the times and distance are approximate.

From here, Miss Running and I were off to Dublin for three days of imbibing, err... culture, and not much running was going to happen. Much imbibing however, did happen! We did at least attempt to keep up the exercise a little by walking everywhere. Dublin was a great place to visit, but every bit as expensive as we'd been warned. However, the Dead Zoo, aka the Museum of Natural History, is well worth a visit as it's both free and gives a distinctly Victorian view on collecting animal specimen.


So back in Blightly, and it was back to running the 6km loop, only with a bit extra to make it 8km as it was a Saturday. This was never going to be quick after a week off, three days of beer and what felt like a lot of unintended passive smoking, but it did feel good to be back out and blowing out a few cobwebs. I do still look like a bit of a wreck when out running. That's meant to be something like a smile, and was the best of three goes at it!

The next Tuesday saw me back out with Mrs Running, and running in the proper dark for the first time in a while. This used to be a staple way of running when I lived with Felix, so I should've known better than to leave my head torch at home. Miss Running had drawn up a roughly 8Km route for us to try, but that was done via google maps which doesn't show you how far down the side streets lamp posts go in the fog......

As such, Mrs Running decided she'd had enough after a very wriggly 5km loop of the village. To be fair, it was quite foggy and not brilliant running conditions. I decided to head back to the far end of the village and back to put another quicker 1.5km on the run to finish.

From here, I was actually busy at work (quit that sudden gasp from all that know me well), and back to being on call where I was even busier for the week. As such, I didn't get any running in for 10 days and wasn't back out until the 12th. As it was a Saturday, it was long run day again. Yay. And it was drizzling. Extra Yay!! Still, it means it's a lot harder to over heat, so every cloud and all that.

My target for this run was a little different to before. The plan this time to run for 45 mins away from home/round in circles/etc and then head home for 45 mins, so running for 90 mins with no real distance target. As I was keeping half an eye on time, rather than distance, I set out on the 6km loop, with the intention of extending it as I have done before to 8Km and seeing where I was time wise at the turn around. As it happened, I got to the turning point a bit quicker than I thought I would, but equally, I hadn't really put any real thought into it either. This will surprise no-one, I'm sure. So with a few mins to spare, I set off down a different road with the intention of getting to a particular farm track and turning back from there. I stopped for a quick breather at this point, but rapidly wished I hadn't as my glasses steamed up. This photo shows the issues of wearing glasses as a runner in the rain. I can't see much without my glasses, but I could see more without them! Also, note the potentially receding hairline.......

So as I got back under way, I knew I had to take something other than the short route back, as I had in excess of 35 mins left to go, but straight home was roughly 15 mins. So when I got back to the A5, I decided to return back the way I'd come. I knew this would be pushing things a bit, but that was the point of this run. So off I went, with the knowledge that making it back home should use up just about the rest of the time for today. Things were going well to start with as I seemed to find a groove that was working, but as I neared the top of the bigger or sharper rises I was having to slow down more than I liked. But I persevered and kept going; I still had to get home one way or another. As I rounded what I hoped was the last bend, a quick look at my phone showed 2 mins remaining. Bugger, I had to go back around the block! But as I rounded the last bend again, the timer went off and I could stop. At this point I was starting to feel the extra distance quite a lot and I don't think I could've gone for much further. Having said that, the pace chart shows my pace in the last 4km or so to have been fairly even, which was a pleasant surprise.

So what was the final distance? 13.8Km!! I was really pleased with this, as I had wanted to top 12Km even though I was mainly targeting a time on my feet. This is the furthest I've gone in more than a year, and to get this far after only 8 weeks felt really encouraging, as this is about 1/3 of the way to a marathon. Now I just need to work more on regularly running three times a week and seeing about getting my pace up, as it's been a bit hit and miss this month!

The first few weeks of being back at it

So the promised Saturday update has been and gone. And then been gone for two weeks more. I'm really not doing a great job of updating this am I?!

But training continues regardless. According to Runkeeper, I managed 14.4Km in September, and am up to 32.4Km so far in October. The longer run I hoped to do on the 1st ended up being a quicker 5Km where I managed to get back to an average pace of 6mins/km. This isn't all that quick, but it was the target for the day and quicker than I had gone for some time, so I was happy with that. I ran again on the Tuesday, managing to go every so slightly faster, but only by 20 secs or so. But faster is faster, regardless of the gaps and I'm not looking to become Usain Bolt overnight! Due to feeling a bit down and being busy (excuses, excuses I know) I didn't end up running for 6 days, and it was Monday the 10th when I was out next. This was another 5km run, as I intend to build up my fitness before going too much further, and I prefer to run the same route so I can gauge how I'm doing by how I feel rather than just how fast I'm going.

Having said that, on that Tuesday I decided to try a different route with an eye to taking the short sharp uphill off the start of the run and a means to giving me longer routes without going too far from home for now. This route was also a touch longer at 6km, and felt much better as my lungs got into the swing of things a lot faster without the uphill struggle. As this was my birthday week, I chose not to run Thursday or Friday. As I had my son on the Saturday, I couldn't run then but we do go splashing about in the pool so that was something at least.


Come the Sunday morning it was time for a long(er) run again. The plan was to try for 8km, using the 6km route as a base and just extending the run down the back road where I turn round and run back on myself. As Miss Not-So-Anti-Running and I had a lazy morning, I went out mid afternoon as it was a nice sunny day and she had stuff to do. The aim of this run was not to go quickly, but to do a nice easy pace and complete the distance. As I starter out nice and gently, this run was feeling pretty good. For once I wasn't sweating my ass off or feeling like my lungs were trying to exit stage left either. Where I had slowed to a quick walk/very slow jog on the 6km version, I was able to keep going this time, which was a good little morale boost as I hit the top of the rise and the A5. From here there is a nice flatter bit as I run back to the village and brave crossing the A5. At this point I knew it was a trawl up the hill top Cold Higham, along the back road to a certain farm track turning and then back home for 8Km. But when I got to the turning point, everything felt pretty good so I kept going! I managed to keep running all the way to the top of a hill to a cross roads that had almost killed me a couple of months ago when I was following Miss Running. I was really pleased with this, even if I was now going rather slowly! Turning round and heading back down the hill to head home was a welcome relief. From here to home felt fairly flat, as the rises are more gentle and the sun was still shining. As is usual and despite my vague attempts to stop it happening, I sped up a lot on the way home, even going uphill. When I got back, I felt really good with how the run had gone, and that I managed 10km non-stop for the first time in ages. So that's the first of my distance targets ticked off already!

 

Unfortunately, I did one more run this Tuesday. This was only meant to be a quick 20-25 min run as I was expecting a guy from eBay to arrive. It looked lovely from the window, and felt OK for the first 1/2KM, until I hit an open field and the cold wind hit me. This pretty much screwed my breathing up and it felt like someone was pouring iced water down the front of my top. Despite trying to keep going to get warmer, I just wasn't having much luck, so I decided to abandon the run and head back for home. I think I cocked it up from a combination of going too fast when I was cold and not wearing the right tops. If I'd had a thicker top or one with long sleeves I might have been OK at a slower pace. Regardless, at least I know not to do that again as it was the first time in over a year that I have needed to use my inhaler! I was still squeaking hours later, which is a sure sign I've made my lungs grumpy.......

I am still alive, honest..... And back in training

Sooo, looks like keeping this up to date has gone horribly by the wayside! The last update was far to long ago frankly, and a lot has happened since. In brief I have managed to run (mostly) the Great North Run in 2 hours 26 mins, pretty much took four weeks off and then did the Oxford Half Marathon in 2 hours 5 mins, and then sort of stopped running. Renovating my little cottage has kind of taken over my life in the last year or so.

Oh, and I've found myself a new running partner, Miss Not-So-Anti-Running. She's annoyingly fit and healthy and what have you, and actually enjoys exercising, the weirdo. Despite trying, I have no chance of keeping up with her yet but I'm sure she will feature here more regularly as my training progresses.

So, why am I back in training? Well, the charity auction that Hannah and I held last year did amazingly well, and we raised a total of £4000!! This was much more than we expected to raise in one evening, and is testament to the team's hard work. Unfortunately, not long after Hannah picked up an injury that even she was told to stop ignoring for once and had to put running on hold for a while. As such, we haven't run together for a while, but I hope that her and my other training partners will all be back soon. As Hannah is unable to join me, the whole amount was available to support my solo application with MacMillan for the 2017 London Marathon. And last Thursday I got a phone call from them offering me a place! So like it not, I am now running the London Marathon!! Oh bugger.

And so it was time to dig out the running shoes, the skimpy shorts and technical tops and start pounding some pavement. Thankfully, there's plenty of places to run from my new house, but I live pretty much on top of a hill. Which is great on the downhill bits, but it's all hills round here, even more so than were I used to live. At least hills make for good training, as if I can run 20-odd miles round here without dying immediately the marathon will be less of a struggle than it might otherwise be. Still the hardest thing I'll ever do, and my biggest challenge!

So with the need to get running firmly in place, I have been out three times in the last couple of weeks getting 5km/3mile runs under my belt to get my basic fitness back. House building is good for the muscles, but crap for cardio fitness and the lungs! So my pace is a bit down from what it was, with the first three runs averaging 6 mins 20 secs/km. Still, it's hardly a surprise and I am already back up to running 5km non-stop. I know that might not sound much, but it's pretty much the only regular running I've done in 12 months so I'm happy with it for now. 10km is the next big target, along with 5km well under 30 mins. As I've got 30 weeks to go, I don't want to go at it too fast and break myself!

There will be more to come, but as I do still have to get work on the house done I will aim for a weekly update for now. My next run is Saturday, weather permitting, and will hopefully be a bit longer to stretch my legs out.

2 months since I last updated! And 3 months to go to the Great North Run!!

Ahem, I would like to start by apologising to anyone who was reading this blog regularly. As it's been three months since I last updated this, I guess most of you have since gotten bored and wandered off. Not that I blame you, as it has been a while.

So what have I been up to instead? Trekking across the mountains, learning the art of inner peace, just drinking lots of beer? Sadly, none of these things have been happening. I've mainly been lacking in motivation due to the relationship spilt and subsequent house move that I have been through. That's about it really. There's been no fan fares, no really world ending stuff going on. But there has been a lack of willing. I'm glad to say that that has recently changed.

In the interval between the my previous update and this one, I've only really been out for a few runs. 4 in May and none in the first two weeks of June.

Times, as is it's want, goes by. And this time, Time has flown by. So much so, that the far distant Great North Run, a half marathon that takes place in Newcastle and South Shields, is now less than three months away! I know this because they are wise enough to know that many people enter into such things with the promise that they will be training and ready in time. And many of those people then get the e-mail saying "There's three months to go, here's a training plan" and then panic as there's no way, no way at all, that there's only three months to go?!

So off I went, following a prompt from Hannah, to the PC to have a look at my training plan. There are four levels of plan: from the run/walk for total beginners to get you round, beginner/novice, improver and then up to the challenger level. I decided to have a look at the improver and challenger options. The improver one looked a bit easier than I had expected, and the challenger one seemed like it would be a push up from where I was last. Note, not where I was at the time!

Having had a chat with Hannah, we decided that we really needed to be doing the same plan, as one of us (her) training harder than the other (me) was a bit daft. So the challenger plan it was! With this in mind, I printed the plan off so that I had something akin to a running calendar which I could have a look at and see what I had done and what was coming up next. The challenger plan would involve a bit of a change in focus, ie from hardly running to running 4 times a week.

Only thing is, as I sit here now looking at the plan, and putting dates on it so I know where I am, I realised that I have been duped. I started my 12 week plan with 13 weeks to go! However, this is no bad thing as it means I have an extra week to train. It also means that I had one week less than I thought away from running so my fitness didn't drop quite as far as it might have done. Oh, and I now need to print off a new training plan.

The plan is a bit of challenge, but less so than I had feared. Some of the marathon plans have you doing something just about every day, and varied things as well. Which is all well and good if you live at the gym, but I don't. I like beer and ice cream and not being in the gym. I will happily road or cross country run, but I refuse to do anything on a tread mill. The plan has Monday as a rest day, which is a good way to start the week, Tuesdays are usually a 35 min easy run, Saturdays a 25 min run, which is ideal for Park Runners. Sundays are big run day and Thursday are the changeable day. Most are interval training, hard short runs with recovery times, or longer steady pace runs. For me, long runs on a Sunday are a problem so that has had to alter. As Hannah's running club, the Cherwell Runners and Joggers run on a Tuesday at 6 and 7 pm, this gives an ideal day to do a long run. The 6pm run is usually 4.7km for beginners and the 7pm run varies according to who is there and how far or fast you want to go. This gives good opportunity to push either pace or distance with a group, as I still can't pace myself well. I'm getting better, but it's not something I'm good at.

So with my plan in mind, I set about finding a local route that should take me about 35 mins, and a way to shorten it to 25 mins. As I don't like running round the village very much when there's plenty of light, I found a route round the local lanes that would suffice. It also has a roughly kilometre long climb in it, so that will help with the training in general. As much as no-one really likes hill running, it does wonders for fitness. The first time I did this run it took me 32:55 to get round the 5.5km, an average pace of 5:53/km. Maintaining this pace would give a half marathon time of approximately 1:58, which is below the target time of 2 hours dead. This is good, as it's my usual easy run pace and I feel quite comfortable at that pace too. I doubt I will agree at the end of a half marathon though!

Then came Tuesday, and the chance to do a big run. I was a bit nervous about this, as I hadn't run any sort of distance since the Wolf Run and not in one go since March! But off we set at a nice, steady pace. It was only at about the 2.5km mark that it was announced that we were going to be doing "probably 11km, maybe 12"! It had been more than 3 months since I'd managed that, but the group is a good one so everyone gets encouraged along and no-one is left behind struggling. The run went much better than I had thought it would in the end! It was a bit hillier than I had expected, and really warm, so managing the distance and the hills was a good confidence boost as I knew I could still do it. It's also good to know that Hannah still hates hills more than I do too! It was much more than the training plan called for, but I guess that's no bad thing.Week one's long run was only meant to be 50 mins, but we were out for 1hr 10 in the end! The pace was a steady one, at 6:30 over 10.8km, not bad for the conditions and those in the group.

Thursday was another 35 min run, so I decided to use the same route as before. This time it only took 32:15, not a massive improvement but not bad at all for 7 days either!

As Saturday's are a 25 min run, I decided to use much the same route as the 35 min runs, but with a bit snipped off either end to give a 4.7km run, roughly the same as the 6pm run with Cherwell. The hill is still there, but I now stop at the village shop so I can get some bacon for breakfast on the way home. This also gives a gentle stroll back to the house so I can cool down slowly too. The run took 28 min dead, giving a pace of 5:58/km

As Sunday was Father's Day, I gave myself the day off as a present and went to see my son instead.

But then Tuesday came round again. I had a dentist appointment at 5.20, which is rather close to the 6pm run time, but way before the 7pm long run I'm meant to do. Being a bit of a masochist, I decided to go and do the 6pm run, see how I feel about things and then maybe do the 7pm too! The 6pm run went well, if a little gently. As I was looking at doing the later run too, this was fine with me! The run still only took 28:33, so a not bad pace of 6:09/km. And then came 7pm. There were enough people for three groups this time. One being the fast blokes. These guys run a lot, and some can boast sub 3 hr marathon times. So not the group for me! The second is the regular women runners, again these girls can go some with a couple being recent Iron Man finishers. That leaves everyone else really! The last groups is mixed and was more joggers than runners this week. We opted for a slightly shorter version of the 11km route that we went on the week before, only we took about the same amount of time to do 9.4km, giving a pace of 7:25/km. If I'm honest, I could have done with going a bit quicker, but it gave me a chance to chat with the others at the top of the hills whilst those who were happy with the slower pace followed on. Equally, if I'd gone along with the more regular women, I would've struggled as they came back 10 mins or so after us but had done just shy of 9 miles, or roughly 14km! That would have meant going at 5:45/km, which isn't loads faster than where I am now, but doing both runs would then have been a bit much for me. As it was I'd managed 14 km, very nearly the farthest I've ever run. This week I will just do the 7pm run I think and see if I can push things in a more focused way.

Thursday was then my first go at interval training. The basic idea is that you run at a higher pace for a short time, 6 mins in this case at 10k to half marathon pace, then walk or jog to recover for 2.5 mins. Sounds simple right? It's only 18 mins of running, after all! Or at least, it might be if I had warmed up a bit more and had a clue what pace I was running at! Having done a bit of a jog as a warm up, and not really the 10 mins the plan suggests, I sent off for my first 6 min interval. I later discovered I set off at 4:00/km, and that's a bit much, especially when trying to go up hill. By the time I got to 5 mins I was stating to really flag. I cut the time down to 5 mins as I clearly wasn't doing this right! I did stick to the 2.5min recovery period and then set back off down the hill, again going too fast to start with, with my pace dropping to 4:30/km at one point. After 5 mins, I had to cut it back to the recovery again. The final run was more even, partly I suspect as I'd made it back into the village at this point, where it's flatter. I was still pushing 5:00/km though, so both good and bad. Having done my first go, and buggered it up, I was feeling rather hot! I can certainly see how interval training works, as it felt like I was sweating more in the 18 mins than I had all of Tuesday. I expect I'll do better next time, but having a way of live tracking my pace is needed to do it properly. So I guess I'll be buying a running watch after all, as my iPhone just won't cut it.

The weekend just gone had no running in it at all. Saturday I ended up busy and doing other things, but Sunday wasn't a total loss as a group of us went to GoApe to celebrate Hannah turning 30 again. It was good to do a different and fun form of exercise, as well as the exhilaration of zip wires.

As I will be running more regularly from now on, I probably won't be updating this after every run, but more like a weekly update. Unless something happens that warrants an update of course! If my legs drop off, I might just mention it.

Time to get back on the road!

Following my post-Wolf Run glow, I realised I hadn't been out running! Ant still has a banged up knee, Hannah hasn't been feeling great either, Felix works shifts now, and we've not been out. But basically, we've been a bit slack and time has just slipped by.

Tuesday evening, Hannah and I had a meeting about our fund raising efforts and some more of the planning that we need to sort out. That meeting may have happened in the pub of course. I could tell then that it had been a while since I'd run, as even I had taken a few wistful looks over the hills on the way to the pub and thought that it would be a great evening for a run!

Thursday arrived, as it is want to do each week, and I was just about to head out for a run when Hannah decided she was also in the same frame of mind so we went out for a little jaunt together. As her knee is on the mend, it was only going to be a trial run to see how things went, rather than setting any records. We also realised it had been almost four weeks since either of us had been out for anything like a training run! Though we'd done the Wolf Run, that was nearly two weeks ago now.

The evening was a good one, with a nice warm day and a clear evening. Ideal for running really! It was so good, that I was back down to shorts and my Wolf Run t-shirt for running. I am still surprised that the medium shirt I ended up with fits me!! So off we went at a nice relaxed pace. Going off too fast is something I'm quite good at, so a slow start is of benefit. Hannah also lives on a hill now, so heading up it fast isn't wise to kick things off. By the time we'd made it to the end of the village, both of us were starting to puff a bit and asking the other if they were finding it hard going. Given the pace, it wasn't really hard going as we could still whinge about hard we were finding it. But it was certainly more effort than it should have been!

As the intention had been to see how things went, we'd aimed at doing roughly 5km. As there aren't many road loops out in the sticks, we went for an out and back route that would be at least that far. The way out was good going, but as we got near the turn around point, Hannah's knee went south on her. So south that it made her hip ache too! This was a bit of a problem, as it was the same distance back. So we took it slow for a bit to ease things along, as my ankle was also starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. It was a beautiful evening and the view was good!

Thankfully, the return leg was slightly downhill. This seemed to help Hannah keep going and it made my ankle feel good again. We'd managed to get the pace back on target again too, so it felt like we were making progress again. Turns out that Hannah is even more stubborn than me, as her knee was hurting still. As such, she headed straight back to home whilst I went for a little extension over the fields to get a change of surface. As I was feeling alright at this point, I decided to see about speeding up a bit too. Not too much, but I wanted to up the effort level a little bit for the last kilometre or so.

Soon after, I arrived back at the start and was feeling quite good about things! After a warm down and some stretches with a glass of water, I was just about ready for a pint. So it's a real shame that there's a pub all of 300 yds up the road. The only real fly in the ointment was that I had broken one of my usual rules: the pre-run poo. It might sound a tad distasteful, mainly because it is, but not going before a run makes life varying degrees of uncomfortable during and after the run. There are so many bits of running that are unavoidable, yet only known to those that run. Like picking the blisters off your feet. That one's obvious. Picking them off the ends of all of your toes though?! That one I didn't expect. But it gives you something to do of an evening!! Thankfully, this run was gentle enough to not cause my feet any issues.

2015 Spring Wolf Run!

So a week has passed since the Spring Wolf run, the bruises have mostly faded and it's past time I updated my blog about how it all went!

The day dawned in a less than bright and clear way, but we all knew in advance that the night before was due for rain. I'm not usually one for giving two hoots about the weather as my work takes me just about everywhere inside and out. If it's raining, I know as I get wet. If it's cold, I feel the need for a coat, etc etc. But when it comes to doing a wild run you have the need to know in advance so you can feel appropriately worried about how hard it will be. A wild run is one that covers various terrain, both man-made and natural obstacles, lots of mud and wet bits and in this case, a lake swim. The cold wind wasn't overly welcome though, and would prove to be one of the hardest things to overcome.

The Wolf Run is known for being muddy. And lots of fun. The run isn't timed, so there's no need to be concerned with finishing in a certain position, beating a P.B. etc unless you really wish to. This means that we could keep going as a team, help each other out and push each other into the muddier bits whilst having a heap of fun and giggles.

We arrived at the farm where the run is held with plenty of time to go, as the registration instructions say that there will be cues and delays. Given that the run is open to 5000 runners, and you all enter through the same field gateway, the cues come as no surprise. Thankfully, our run time was 10.40, and with the first wave setting out at 10.00 we wouldn't be facing the hoards that would arrive later in the day. So once we'd parked up and signed in we had the obligatory group photo, along with our two young mascots. Given how battered my legs ended up, everyone was glad to have chosen trousers over shorts!

Soon after, our wave was called over to the pre-run briefing and warm up session. This is one of the things that helped make the day good fun: knowing that the organisers had enough foresight to think about making us all warm up properly. Although being shouted at by a guy in a warm looking fleece stood on a landy whilst you're traipsing about in lycra isn't huge fun! It does make you feel a little silly doing jumping jacks and running sideways, but you do it knowing that everyone else is going to be doing the same thing soon.

The first obstacle is a tyre run, starting with smaller cars tyres and ending with clambering over big tractor ones! The small tyres are harder than they look, as my size 12's don't fit inside the them, but my weight just holds the edges over and makes going quickly tricky. With our group through the tyres, we were running across open fields and to our first hill. As someone who can be just a smidge competitive, I made sure to get to the top in one go. But there were others running with us who made me look like I was going backwards! Once at the top, the view was good as the sun had come out at last. But that view also included the shrieks coming from our next big obstacle: the first of the water wades.

Once down the hill and through a small wooded area, we were stood at the edge of the pond. Wading in seemed the best bet, so in we jumped. There came a point that every bloke took a sharp intake of breathe on this one. Thankfully, I'm 6'3" so I didn't have it too bad and only ended up belly button deep. Others weren't quite so lucky! From here it up a slippery bank and back to running through another wooded area. Only this time, being tall was a pain with all the low hanging branches. But I managed to escape with both eyes intact!

Next up was more running and then more assault course favourites, the net crawl and muddy ditch. These are a stock option and give everyone a short break as you wait for the track in front of you to clear. This is true of most of the obstacles, with the number of runners involved there can only be so many passing through at any one time. Through the nets, it was back to my more usual haunt of trail running up hills and muddy tracks. As the tracks are on a farm, they're often ridged and full of water. So being me, I go splashing into each and every one with little regard for anyone around me. I figure if they're not already wet then they should be!! Right up to the point where I took a left hook to go past a small group. That puddle went from ankle deep to neck deep in less than the space of one stride. And I went from running to swimming in the same time in perfect Vicar of Dibley style, much to the amusement of everyone else. This was quite a shock as it was bloody freezing!

After I had recovered from my impromptu dip, it was back on up to the top of the hill and a 12ft wall. Having been an Army Cadet, these walls aren't hard to cross. The big person, in this case me, crouches against the wall and gives everyone else a leg up. The last person over then helps me to the top and off we go for more muddy trails. This was the point where my trail shoes were really starting to pay off as Katie, one of the girls in our group, was running alongside me and really struggling for grip. With the tracks being mostly single file, the going wasn't all that quick so I didn't see anyone take a tumble.

The next obstacle was last seen showing off Catherine Zeta-Jones lovely figure in Entrapment. In case you haven't instantly guessed, it was an area with dozens of ropes tied between the trees to jump over, duck under and weave around. It was quickly passed, but I'd guess I heard half the people mention the place being lacking a certain Miss Zeta-Jones, even the girls!

Another water wade was up next, known as the Ash Hole, although I've no idea why. This is a split way water feature, although I think both sides were largely the same. It starts with either a scramble down the bank or in my case a jump in, then another waist deep wade for maybe 50-60 yards before needing knotted ropes to climb back out at the other end for the half way water point. Turns out they'd run out of gin just before we arrived, so we had to settle for plain old water.

At some point we knew there was the renowned lake swim, and as we were past the half way mark it had to be coming up soon. But before then, there was another hill to climb. And at the top of this hill was a set of monkey bars. Nothing tricky there you might think. But several hundred muddy hands had tried the same thing already, and the first set went uphill slightly. Of our group only Felix managed more than 4 rungs, and he went on to make it all the way across! Round the next corner was the sign we had been waiting for: keep left for swim, right to run around.

Our group all went left. One of the other guys had just jumped in and others were stood watching and waiting as there is a 4-5 ft drop into the lake. Feeling more than a little gun-ho, I decided to go for it and bombed in. Despite the big jump and drop in, I only just hit the bottom before surfacing. And if I thought my first swim was cold, this lake was worse! The cold wind was blowing and whilst I enjoy swimming, I've not actually swum in almost 2 years and certainly not in a cold lake. On the bank the 75 yards or so had looked not too much bother. But from two thirds of the way across, the going got hard. The water was sapping everyone's strength, except our triathlete Hannah, and the far bank looked a way off. But we all slowly made our way to the edge and clambered out to try getting some warmth back into our bodies. The best way of doing that is to get moving, and moving means running.

Running was now hard work. The cold had taken it's toll, but the sun coming out from the colds was a welcome sight indeed. A short distance away we could see the top of a tower of some sort. As we got closer, it became obvious that we had arrived at the start of the slide. This is a quite quick way of getting down the hill using a plastic slide and a load of water. This was a massive giggle, and like every childhood slide dream come true! You step up to the edge, leap over and enjoy the ride down!

The next thing to conquer was another obstacle course standard, the cargo net. Ordinarily, these pose no bother as long as you climb them in the right way. Using one vertical rope as a ladder is the best and quickest way up and over. But with wet, cold hands and flagging legs, things get harder. Climbing off the other side, I couldn't feel one half of my right hand for maybe 10 minutes!

This was the last major obstacle until the finishing complex 1.5Km or so away. This is approached from across a large field, and the closer you get the louder the crowd cheers! Round the last bend and having all the kids cheer you on is quite uplifting and made me dig a bit deeper for the last straight. The end of the straight has something known as the Nut Cracker. This is basically a climbing frame with a series of large horizontal logs that can just about be stepped across if you're brave enough. Make a mistake, or slip, and the name becomes painfully apparent! Being tall certainly helps here, as my stride was just about right for hopping the logs. Once over, a series of ditches and ridges is next, with more waist deep cold water. These end at The Wall, which won't take a MENSA level genius to figure out. Climb up the small footholds and rope one side, jump or use the wide steps on the back. Simple enough really. We then gathered our group back up again for the final bit of mud.

The finish line is now in sight, and just the other side of one last cargo net covered ditch. Make it through and the scramble to the top is a slippery climb. Jump into the final water hole and you're done! This was our group facing that last jump:

And one of me and two mates in the last water hole. This is about right for the amount of mud you can expect to come away covered in! Not that I could see a damn thing at this point though.

All in all, our whole group had a damn good time! We all came away caked in mud, wet and cold but grinning and happy. The post run pint certainly went down nicely too, along with a hot pork roll. I would suggest that anyone who likes running of any kind, or has a group of slightly fit mates can do this run. Although it is a 10Km run, you maybe only run 8 km of that, maybe less, and the obstacles break the run up and give plenty of chances to catch your breath.

I loved it so much in fact, that I have now persuaded some of the guys we ran with to do the Winter Wolf Run! Even the run organisers describe it as like the normal run, but wetter, muddier and colder!

A semi-succesful run

After a weekend off running, and most other things due to the poor weather, I wanted to get out for a jog. My ankle was feeling better and I was keen to get out, so Felix and I met up after work.

Our plan was to just head out and see how things went. As I was struggling with my ankle hurting last week, I didn't want to over do anything. There's only 11 days to the Wolf Run, and I'll be on call at work for 7 of those, so any chance of turning a minor pain into a major one is to be avoided!

We managed to hit the weather just right, as it has been rather windy of late and was down to a mere blustery when we left. The route was our usual lap of Woodford, with an option to go for a second lap if we fancied it. Once our various gadgets had found a GPS signal, we could start running! Everything was going ok to start with, although I hate running into the wind as it seems to make breathing hard until I really warm up. Thankfully, my ankles seemed to be doing ok, although my right hip was a little sore for the first 1km or so. This often happens, but it soon stops.

After 2km or so, I had to stop and give my ankles a quick stretch. I should really have given them a little more than 5-10 seconds a side though, as it made sod all difference! After a few hundred metres they had calmed down, and this is reflected in the pace graph as it shows a step in speed. Not long after this there is a steeper rise at the 3km mark which felt hard on my feet but we kept the pace up.

This rise is followed by a good long downhill section, which was a relief. It turns out that my ankles weren't quite so keen to go running as I had thought, but I was determined to keep going. The downhill bit finishes at a steep hill, but I only made it 3/4 of the way up before I had to stop. Despite slowing down quite a bit to make sure I made it back in one go, this was quite annoying. This time I did stop and stretch for a proper amount of time to let me carry on and finish the last part of the run. The last section was done at a jog, rather than a run though. Hence the massive spike in the pace chart at the end. I wanted to go faster but my ankles just wouldn't let me. Equally, I did still make it to the end and I didn't feel too bad.

After a bit of stretching, it was time for a sit down and a drink. It was also my turn to take a silly photo of Felix too. This shows part of how the bugger is so good at running, as he's a skinny so and so! He still insists in telling me he weighs a surprising 12st, but I'm not sure I believe him as I'm 15st.

As we were sat cooling down, we were treated to a reminder of how lucky we had been with our timing. We knew a big, black cloud was inbound but we hadn't appreciated quite what that meant until the hail started chucking down 5 mins after we got back. The clouds were part of why we didn't try for a second lap. It may look like rain in the photo, but it's all ice!

So once I had cooled down for a bit, I was starting to feel better. My ankles still ached, but no longer hurt and my hip was feeling good. Overall, I'd class this run as about half way successful. I only wanted a slow paced run to work the kinks out, and that's what I did. On the other hand, I didn't make the run without having to stop. But that also gives me something to work towards for the next run. And after that it'll be nearly time for the Wolf Run!