Lakeland 50

Ages waiting for a spell check so I'll just stick it up




So to the race, it was never so much a race in my mind it was always about getting through and trying to do it in a timely manor. I also wanted to beat Rene's time, I hoped to get round in about 12-13 hours and survive.

We took the ferry over on the Wednesday, James Eve and I the modern family as Jame's mum put it! The crossing went well and Eve slept all the way down so it was a good journey all in.

On the Friday Dad, James and I headed off to John Ruskin school in Coniston to register for the big day. As we walked in the place was buzzing with nervous excitement. I was quiet nervous and we walked up to the desk. it turns out we had missed the massive blackboard sized sign which pointed us towards getting weighed. It broke the tension and the rest of registration and kit check went as normal. I met up with Mark Barnes who was showing his wears with his new venture, he seemed happy to be living the dream and it was great to see a friendly face. We attached the dibber's set up the tent in case James kicked my arse and went off to Wilfs to get some lunch.

Saturday was weird Dad dropped us off and even though we didn't start until 12 we were up early to be ready to get the bus to Dalmaine. It meant that breakfast was still early and we would have to snack rather than have a bigger feed. Knowing that the journey was over an hour I tried to get some sleep this time.

We had met up with Sacha,Vince and a friend of theirs Emlyn, Sacha didn't seem so well but we put it down to nervousness. Especially when he said he was going for 10 hours!!

Off the bus and we milled around waiting to start, It wouldn't come quick enough I just wanted to get going, it was savage watching the 100 runners arrive in at the 55 mile mark still standing and smiling. The count down started and we were off for the 4 mile lap of the estate before winding are way to Howtown. Th start was a brisk as expected and we made are way out on to the fells. we quickly fell into line with the lads who where ripping along. I was worried already as my training had been light due to my foot. We seemed to be just a bit above my comfort zone but hey it's all new.

We tore into Howtown with the lads demanding a quick turnaround. I just manged to fill my water and the guys were off. i forced down some flapjack as I ran. we turned off the road and Sacha dropped back it turns out he had a bad stomach ache and was going to walk it as he was hoping for the UTMB points. Vince and Emlyn carried on at pace and I was relived when James pace eased. We started up the first good climb of the route up Fusedale. 13 miles in and I had my first Dark  moment. James was easing away from me on the climbs I felt I was struggling to keep up and we were only 13 miles in. I spent far to long pondering these thoughts, it was only as we pulled over the top and I caught him up they disappeared. I did a systems check. foot fine, breathing fine, legs fine I was a bit thirsty so took some sips of water. We also caught up with Vince this heartened me it turns out Emlyn had gone off all guns blazing( eventual 9:30 finish!!) We Jogged and chatted along Haweswater reservoir and over to Mardale and mile 20. Vince again checked in then quickly out saying James and I would catch him on the hill. I had some soup and filled my water bottle. I ate some more flapjack as i walked which was a mistake as it was too gooey and I found it hard to get it down. James powered off up the hill and I again couldn't figure out where i was going to get the strength. I started chatting to another runner who caught me up here. I sped up to stay with him and although the chat was irrelevant it helped take my mind off the task at hand. Just get to Kentmere and we can take it from there! As we came over the top I started pushing to catch up with James and Vince, I also took some time to identify the negative thoughts and what I could do to combat them. I thought about the amazing countryside Ann and eve and all the sacrifices we had made so I could be lucky enough to be in this position. As we dropped down towards Kentmere I met another familiar face. Nick Cox who I worked with at the climbers shop was powering along. I met him as we went over the style. Vince was convinced we went left and Nick said over. I went with Vince and James and it added a nice view of the valley but was wrong. I pointed it out when I could see we were running away from the valley. Ah well live and learn, it was only a 5-6 minute  detour!

We pulled into the fabled Kentmere, we had heard story's of runners getting overly comfortable here with smoothies and massage tables! I  had a bowl of the rice pudding and a smoothie, again Vince was up and out and I was starting to feel a lot stronger. I had hit the half way point next stop was Ambleside, my foot wasn't to sore so I pressed on. We pretty much stayed together as we marched up Garburn Pass I was working hard to stay with the lads so I could enjoy the down hill. This was the last major climb before the end, it was the one everyone talks about. We got over the top and I pressed on James and Vince slowed a bit so I paused every now and then to keep together. They both kept saying to go on and I was enjoying the down hill so I just carried on. I paused again when I hadn't seen anyone for a while I expected the lads to be shortly behind but 2 other guys came past looking strong. I thought to hell with it and tucked in behind them. Adam and Kristof the guys were moving along at a good clip I had to up my effort but after a few minuets it felt natural. It was great chatting to the guys, Adam had done most of his training on a bridge in Holland and was off like a shot every time we hit Tarmac, Kristof was very strong on the hills and managed the pace well on the flats. I remembered the path through the woods in to Ambleside and again it was a fun bit of trail running. I struggled on the tarmac and worked hard to get in to the lakes runner. A bit of soup and a salt sachet in some coke and we were off.

I delayed a little as I preferred the company of running with the guys, they caught me as I headed through the park. We missed the sharp left and it was nearly a Km before Adam noticed his GPS was telling us we were off pace, We backed tracked and had lost a couple of places but no great problem. We had 16 miles and 2 checkpoint to go. The next section is quite flat and it was hard to keep pushing. I was pleased to be running with the guys and we seemed to have a natural rhythm of taking it in turns to keep momentum. Running through the campsite there were some great smells of people's dinners cooking on the stove and lots of people cheering us. We got to Chaplestile and had some food the guys changed into long sleeved tops, I thought about it but carried on as I was. From here on in we just chipped away at it, we ran the flats and the down hill's and waled the up hill. I would have been slightly more lax with what i described as up hill but keeping with the guys kept me chugging along. We got into Tiberthwaite and we just needed to pull on are head torches. we only paused here and set off. Adam had run the last section on the Friday so was happy enough with what we had left. we came to a fork in the path and we weren't sure where to go. I pulled back and chatted to a guy behind and the lads powered on. I came over the top and my quads screamed for mercy. I started to walk the downhill but it hurt as much to walk as it did to run so I figured fuck it, ill just run! I hit the road and was overjoyed the little uphill past the garage hurt like hell but I didn't walk. I pulled into the school and was congratulated by the people who had stayed out at 11 at night. Adam and Kristof had waited to congratulate me before we went it. we are lead into the building and announced as finishers and everyone cheered.


I collected my medal and sat down, it was here I had my first real moment. I couldn't believe it I had done what I had set out to do in 10hours 53 in 64th place. 2 hours quicker than I had hoped for. I rang Ann and then James came in it was great that he was so close behind. It was a fantastic day and so many highs and lows.


So next year I thought id double it!

Lakeland 50 (prequal)

So it's been a while and yes, I'm lazy. I have also been busy and it takes me so long to write and get the blog spell checked that I just lose interest. Anyhow, 2 weeks ago James and I headed off to the lake district to have a crack at the short course of the Lakeland 100. I'm gonna head back slightly further and give a brief recap of events.

Around this time last year I read Renes post on running the Lakeland 50. It caught my interest for 2 reasons: 1. I used to live in the area and 2. I was in the throws of a persistent elbow injury and plateauing at climbing. Luckily I had used running to fill my time and had started throwing myself at different kinds of events. I tried the WAR which was a suffer fest as I had done no running and was just cycling to and from work. James then injected me with the poison of IMRA. I loved the hill runs on a summer evening, it was like a stolen activity.  There we have it I was in the throws of a new love affair with running and Rene was dangling a carrot!

I set a reminder in my phone and laid the seeds of thought in James' head. I entered the Dublin marathon and continued with the leinster league. I had run the London marathon twice before 15 years ago and hadn't really trained so didn't feel I had performed my best. I was unsure as to whether I would be able to run the 26 odd miles but I wanted to go quicker than 4:30 (my secret target was 3:30). That was just my own target in my head. Anyhow I chipped away at the training and came in 3:24. Happy out! I felt good at the end but very aware that it would be nearly impossible for me to turn around and run back!!!

In between the WAR and the Marathon I dabbled with Tri-athlon. I entered the Howth event and took swimming lessons. I was in the sea at Seapoint or the fortyfoot twice a week. Being excited I went straight for the Olympic distance. A 1.8km swim from Ireland's Eye, 4 * 10km laps of Howth on the bike and a 10km run. The sea was horrendous on the day and it confirmed my hatred for swimming as an event but I did enjoy the run and the bike!

After the marathon, time became short (Eve arrived) and I just played at running until Christmas.  As we entered January Rene (that man again) and Jason started guiding longer weekend runs around wicklow. It was great to be out in the hills and running with a group.  My favourite route was the 6 summits.  I was secretly pleased as well that I wasn't being dropped and was keeping up with the main pack.  I was having to work but I was still surviving. We then went out to run St Kevin's way - unfortunately no one was aware that 2 bridges were out!!! That meant we had to take 2 detours in foul conditions and ended up running 23 miles. I was very happy as Martin Francis was out with us and he really upped the pace. On a few occasions I really had to dig in to keep up but keep up I did.

During the runs I was chatting with Rene, Jason and Aoife and to cut a long story short I ended up asking the guys at Champions Everywhere to sort me out with a training plan. I found the plan a little daunting at first as it was 7 days a week running with 3 long runs a week to start with. I was confident Rene knew his stuff and I settled in. I found the plan good as without a plan I had paid for I doubt I would have been anywhere near as strict with myself.

A good life rule I picked up from James during this time was an event a month. (Ann thanks you for that by the way James!!) so we set off to do the Ballycotton 10 mile in March. This is a classic on the Irish racing calender. I can see why its an amazing area and it's cheap! James as usual went out hard as he always does and it was all I could do to stick with him. I managed a time of 1:05 and an average speed of 6:27 a mile. it was quick but it showed my base training was working. I couldn't have gone much quicker but I could have continued running. By this stage my training was 3 long runs between 13-20 miles a week and 2 fartlecks of around 7-8 miles an out and back of around 6 miles and a rest day or 5 mile jog. My only issue was I had linked all my previous training runs into one run and was starting to get bored.


The next big test was the wicklow way ultra. This is an out and back from Johnny fox's, it's along the wicklow way. It's a beautiful run and I recommend the trail version if people don't want to go for the big one. I came in just under 5 hours and I was really pleased.  It was hard and Ann made a valid point at the end when she asked "could you run another 18miles???" I laughed but the truth was, no I couldn't!
The other lesson I learned was from a passing remark Jeff  Fitzsimons made. As we approached the final climb to Prince William's seat we were trotting along together but I voiced my concern that I was worried about the climb as I had found it hard on my recce 2 weeks before (I had run 25 miles from Ballinastoe home).  Jeff continued at his solid pace whereas I developed a walk-run approach. I was right, it was hard but I kept up with some guys running the trail race.  I told myself it was o.k to walk as that's what Ultra runners do. They walk the uphills. At the end I was chatting with  Jeff and he said "you were beaten in your head before you even started the hill".   He was right I was so worried that it was gonna hurt that I psyched myself out! I wasn't going to let that happen again.


My Training plan said to have 2 rest days and then 5 days of 3-4 miles light jogging. I was feeling great and high on my achievement I was also short of time so pushed maybe a little hard on the third day and felt a pain in my hip. Over the next few weeks I managed the pain until the Glendalough WAR.


I had unfinished business here - last year James finished nearly an hour before me. The weather was horrible driving down. Thunder, rain and as we set off up the Spink it was snowing.  It settled down and I ran well and knocked 55 mins off last year's time and finished 22nd. The pain in my hip was really bad and even after a week's rest it still wasn't gone. I made my first visit to the physio who said 3 weeks rest and to just use the bike and swim.


The new IMRA season started and I set out on the league, not the best rehab for my hip but we got through. I did manage to fall over a lot.  The worst one coming down Djouce where I badly bruised or cracked some rib's. Another week off running! Ann said if I wasn't capable of lifting Eve up then NO running.


I did a lovely run from Glendalough out to Djouce along the Wicklow way with John.  The weather was lovely and it was nice to know I still had mileage in the legs.  It was 27 miles all in.  My heel was really sore at the end, a problem I had first noticed with some new road running shoes I had purchased.  Again I managed it and in June James and I took a trip over to the Lakes to join the final Recce weekend - most of the 50 mile route over 2 days.


Day one:
James and I with our usual diligence managed to be last off the bus and followed the end of the group.  The weather was awful but it was some lovely running.  We met up with 2 guys, Sacha and Vince, and they guided us around the first 28 miles of the course.  Sacha can really shift and we worked hard at times to keep up but were bound by our hatred of using maps!  Last year the boys had run the course in 12 hours, it led me to reevaluate my proposed best time of 13 hours.


Day two:
This was the last 15 miles from Ambleside to Coniston of which parts could be run in the dark on race day. We were hoping to run with the lads again so we wouldn't have to map read but they were late getting up. James and I split after 7 miles I ran with Steve who was wanting to better his 13 hours from the previous year and James ran with Mick, a 100 runner. This was my first insight into the fabled community. It was nice running along shooting the breeze with a stranger. It felt almost comfortable.  We both also avoided using the maps!!


My foot was still sore and on returning it was like walking on a bruise. I went to the physio and it turns out I have a wear injury on my ankle and also my muscle in my calf and foot get tight creating a perfect storm of pain in my foot. I did a few light runs but nothing to speak of.  Helen, my Physio, advised me 3 days before the race that running 50miles was not a good thing and she advised against it. I noted her advice and got her to tape my foot and then I ignored her! I had worked too long and been fully focused on this for nearly a year to not at least start it.....