Here we go again!

Well after a few stops and starts over the last few weeks, I'm finally back out there and feeling good. Back up a few steps... I have a 14-month old who attends a nursery... picked up every darned cold, flu, illness, etc.. and she in kind gives it to yours truly and her moma. Isn't she sweet. Anyway, I'm now on week 3 of my marathon training programme and 15 to go. Yes I know that there's plenty of time to get that weight down and speed up. I guess that it's a case of staying healthy and taking it a day at a time.

Next stop Seville!

Tring to Town

Tring to Town was my first Ultramarathon. It's basically a point to point marathon on the Grand Union Canal between Brentford and Tring here in the UK. It's roughly 40 miles end to end and is run two days consecutively. I decided to do one day and I think it was enough for me for my firs foray into ultra running. Anyway, I'm not that crazed... yet!

We got to the race HQ at the hotel in Brentford the night before to pick up my number, map, and have them inspect the required kit I had in my running pack. The first thing I noticed was how low key the whole event seemed. Don't get me wrong, Ambition is a professional team that hosts events worldwide. They know what they're doing. So they checked to see that I had all the essential stuff for the race. Everyone was required to have the same things kept in their bags throughout the whole of the event (food, compass, space blanket, lamp, etc.)

The first bit of good news was that we were going to start an hour later in the morning, which meant a 9:00 start. That's great. I have been sleeping in lately and early mornings do not suit me these days. The next thing was that we would be starting from the hotel itself.This meant that S and the baby would be able to see us off and still remain warm.

We arranged to stay with friends close by which was fantastic. We were treated to the obligatory carbo-loading session with pasta, chicken with green pest, topped off with a very generous apple crumble! Whew... that was a lot of food. Thanks Rob and Fi! Relatively early to bed and early to rise. For breakfast, I decided to go very conservatively with the amount of food I took in and stuck with a carb drink, a bagel, and some coffee. That hit the spot and we were off to the hotel.

The race briefing area in the hotel was full of runners already kitted up by the time we got there. A few minutes to spare for a few nonsensical questions and we were about ready to go. S took a few photos pre-start and we were off!

Race Start

We had about a half mile before we hit the canal and ran as a group. At this time I realised that my Camelback drink bottles were leaking like hell! Not a good choice for ultra running (lesson learned). Anyway, it really felt like a festive atmosphere as we all seemed to be taking it easy. The fast boys didn't take long before they started putting the hammer down. After about 2-3 miles, they were gone! I think that was a pack of 5-6 runners. I decided to run conservatively and kept an even pace for a while. This is when I met Mimi Anderson and a couple others. We kept to together picking up a few runners who slowed a bit. By the time we hit about 14 miles, we had 7 people in our group. It was really nice. We were trading off stories about events and races. It was a really nice time we were having. Every once in a while we traded off the lead pace until I took it. I knew this section of the canal well and put the pace up a bit. This was the section near Harefield between Uxbridge and Rickmansworth. It' a nice long stretch full of green and the occasional canal boat.By the time I hit check point 2 at about 20 miles, I was all alone. Oops! Well at this point I felt good, I was well hydrated and was taking in gels frequently. I was maintaining low 8:15 miles or thereabouts. It wasn't until I hit the marathon distance did I regret this. I managed 3:48 at that point. This isn't my race pace for marathon, but it's not shabby considering the terrain (stoney, ruts, muddy). One of the group I was with caught up to me, gave me a few words of encouragement and continued on. I caught back up with him at CP3 which was at 30 miles. I stopped for some water and jelly babies. I got passed by another one from that original group. That was a great pick me up as I ended up pacing with that guy for a while. We had a chat about what to do at this point of the event. You really need to watch your footing as mistakes can be made easily! I suddenly had to drop back as my energy levels started flagging again. I had 5 miles to go and realise that my speed had dropped to 11 minute miles! My quads were really going at this point. Every lock or incline was a serious drain on me and hit my pain threshold. I got passed by a few more people including Mimi. She just flew past me and the guy in front of me (little did I know that she actually missed the exit off the canal and ran an extra 7 miles!). I finally got to the ramp off the canal to the hotel finish. I got to the top of the bridge and the signs didn't really point anywhere. Time to consult the map! By the time I got it out S was arriving in the car. Funny coincidence as I could've been at that T-junction an hour later. She told me to follow her! Right! She told me that the GPS in the car said 1/2 mile to destination. I put down the hammer and followed. I finally got to the finish at beautiful Pendley Manor in ummm I think 5:54. I made it under my targeted time, in about 13th place, got my medal, and the t-shirt!

This was a great event one of which I would recommend to people considering doing as their first ultra. I'll definitely have a go in the future and see how fast I could run it or maybe do both days. Consequently, I'm currently recuperating from this effort and am having a nice active rest this week. Then it's back on with Ironman training!

Week in Review 25/01/09

Scores are on the doors. This week is the first week taper before my Ultramarathon. So here are my results for the week:

M - 10.21 miles 1:24 Steady Run
T - Off
W - 14.2 miles (am) 2:00 Ultra Pace Run, 5.86 mile (pm) 0:53 Easy Run
Th - Core/Stretching 1:00
F - 5.51 mile 0:48 steady Run
S - 10.03 Tempo Run 1:13, 2500m Technique Swim 1:00
S - 15 mile 2:09 Ultra Pace Run

Back in it next week! Woohoo!!

Off Road Running Shoes - Saucony ProGrid Xodus

I know that I've been saying that I would start doing product reviews on my blog, so here we go!

Hello. My name is Rav and I am a running shoe junkie. I've run in everything from track spikes to paper thin racing flats. This season, I've been doing various events on a pair of Nike Vomero+3 shoes. I love them so much as they are really comfortable to run in. I'm currently training for an ultradistance marathon that is purely off-road, so I needed something more specific to multi-surface running. I already have some off-road shoes, but they are flat and uncushioned. After about 10 km you'd be hard pushed to go any further. About 10 days ago I ran some of the Grand Union Canal with road shoes and found that they really didn't really suit the surface conditions as they were just too soft. So I decided to go out and get some new shoes...

I did some shopping around and decided to go for a pair of Saucony ProGrid Xodus shoes. My first impression of them was whoa look at those shiny things! Saucony has really started to design some nice looking shoes. I got the grey and yellow ones from my local running shop Up and Running in Watford. They are surprisingly light when you pick them up, but they are made of some seriously durable materials. With the ripstop material on the top and the Vibram soles, these things really looked the business. Ryan at the shop (who happens to be a very accomplished trail and ultra-distance runner himself), offered these up as I told him that the GUC (Grand Union Canal)really tore up my legs whilst wearing road shoes. The Xodus seemed to suit my requirements as they are neutral and cushioned while at the same time stable enough for uneven multi-surface running. I decided to take them out on my run the very same day as I wanted to break them in a bit before my long run on Sunday.

On my first run (the maiden voyage) I took them out on a short circuit of 6 km though local trails and they seem to respond well to the twists and turns that this particular loop consisted of. On my second run I kept mostly to the trails and did my hill session in them. The hill repeats were actually on a paved section close to the Arsenal training grounds. The cushioning in these shoes were certainly adequate for paved downhill running as I didn't feel too sore afterwards. This is important as I've had offroad shoes that really don't have enough cushioning to do very much on the road. Finally, I took them out on my long run on the GUC, which consisted of a 52 km out and back run along the footpath that runs along the canal. Unfortunately, as the surface was still frozen in the early hours of the morning, it was a hard and uneven slog to get the first 32 km in. This absolutely tore up my legs. I don't think that it would have mattered what shoes I was wearing at that time. As the sun came up and the temperature rose, the frozen mud on the footpath actually started getting mushy. It was like the difference between night and day. After about another 10 km or so, my legs started feeling better, but not great. I finished about 10 minutes faster at 50 km than 10 days before, so that's a good thing. In order to tell if these are the right shoes for long distance trail running is still up in the air, but it's certainly looking positive. I'll be back in a few posts to give you a more definitive review of these shoes...

Photos from Reading

Ironrav and Friends Before the Race. It was obviously a cold one out there and was it ever windy!!!

Oh! And here's me finishing. Nothing like the satisfaction in getting the job done! I'm well on track for Florida. I just need to Swim and Bike better.