Deutschland Uber Alles

I alluded in my initial effort at blogging that I would make a vast improvement in standards by the time this one came around. Not so!! I am still struggling with the basics so you will all have to bear with me a tad longer whilst I get a small child to help me out. Obviously one I know and not some random urchin!

In the meantime i hope you'll be entertained with words alone, or at least vaguely interested in what's been happening MdS-wise. The honest truth is not a great deal. I still have the daily effort of going to work and then helping Emma deal with 2 little monkeys when I get home. I had a week away with the TA at the end of June when I managed to get a bit of training in but for the most part it's a case of fitting it in when I can. I can foresee some very early mornings come September when training really ramps up.

Next on the horizon is a trip to Germany to take part in the very grand sounding Koenigschlosse Romantik Marathon, which is run round Die Weissensee in Southern Bavaria. It all looks very picturesque so we are making a family holiday out of it and very much looking forward to the whole thing.

http://www.koenigludwigmarathon.de/facts.0.html

I will definitely be up to speed with photo posting by the time I get back so the next blog will be singing and dancing!!

Please take the time to follow the Just Giving link at the top of the page and help me reach the £5k target for The Army Benevolent Fund.

In the meantime here are a couple of write ups that I did for the first 2 work up events I took part in. The originals look really good but as before all you'll get here are words.

With My Knapsack on my Back...
Welsh Coastal Marathon, 14th May 2011

Today I shared a coastal path with ramblers, dog walkers and, by their own admission, a couple of bimblers. That we were on the same stretch of Anglesey coastline is where the association ends. The AdventureHub Welsh Coastal Marathon was a brutal 26.2 miles only made tolerable by the fantastic scenery “the Mother of Wales” has to offer.

A few hardy souls had opted to do the full 100km ultra race and it truly is hats (plus scarves, gloves, boots and pretty much everything else) off to them for their endeavours.

For reasons which the organisers will come to understand in time, this was not the biggest field ever assembled but this should not detract from the fact that this was a very well organised and worthwhile event, which should grow in stature in the future.

It had rained pretty much constantly in the week leading up to the event and I was expecting a lot of mud, however these fears proved unfounded and the running surface was pretty solid throughout, with the exception of short shuffles across a sand path by Lligwy and about 300 metres of ploughed field.

It was not quite the Sahara but the effect of the sand on my legs on the return leg certainly opened my eyes to how essential dune training will be in the coming months. The sun came out before the start and the rain stayed away for the duration of the race, only starting again as I got back in the car to drive home (the organisers really can’t claim the credit for that one!)

Starting in the popular holiday village of Benllech, the route meandered, gained and lost height along the Anglesey Coastal Path into a pretty stiff headwind as far as the church at Llaneilian. I was a bit perturbed to find the half way point at 22km instead of the expected 21.1km but after a short whinge to self and a spot of mental readjustment set off on the return to Benllech.

Our hero at half way, not yet broken!

Having not trained much in the preceding weeks due to recovery from the “Gentlemen’s Operation” I have to say I suffered during the second half of the race but managed to get over the finish line with a smile on my face.

My target for the marathon stage at MdS is 6 hours and I achieved 5:39 for marathon distance here (5:55 for the overall race). With 10 months of good training still ahead of me, I reckon today forms a good baseline and all things taken in to consideration, think 6 hours is still a reasonable target.

The low numbers in the race had the benefit of being able to have a cup of tea and a chat with Race Director, Ian and partner (sorry, I never did get your name!) which gave a nice family feel to the day. With that sort of feeling, I will definitely be back here next year and am now looking at entering the Yorkshire Ultra leg of the series instead of Pilgrim’s Challenge just so I can stay part of this “family”.

To find out more about this and other races in the series visit http://www.adventurehub.com/

Wakey, wakey
Welsh 1000 Summits Marathon, 4th June 2011

Until around 12:30 on 4^th June I had been quietly confident that come April 2012 I would quite happily jog around the Sahara leaving 95% of the field in my wake. I have read countless horror stories from previous MdS competitors and have still yet to read one blog which says how much of a fun time they had. Yet still I held this belief that I would be that one jolly blogger! After 7hrs and 54mins (look at Page 11) competing on the hills of Snowdonia followed by a 80 min stagger down to Llanberis, I am now fully awake to the task that lies ahead if I am just to complete MdS, never mind achieve a high position.

Having taken part and completed the infamous W1K event in 2009, when the decision was made to close the Pen y Pass checkpoint to a vast number of the field, I was confident that I would perform very well this year as the forecast was for fine weather throughout. With this at the back of my mind, a good deal of complacency slowly and surely crept in, which sowed the seeds for a poor performance. I won’t go into detail but suffice to say beer and Maccie D’s aren’t the best pre-race nutrients!

I lined up at the start line with my team mates from D Company under a fair amount of low lying fog. Confident that this would clear, the map stayed in my daysack. I’m not recommending that people should venture out on the hills without map and compass but this is familiar territory to me having completed the race on three previous occasions and trained in the area many times before.

The hooter sounded and off I went, comfortably placed in the first 5 runners. As the field stretched out there seemed to be no sign of anyone behind us so I settled into a rhythm which would achieve the split times I was aiming for with a high field placing being a bonus.

Carneddau came and went and I made it to the A5 bang on schedule. Fluid management had been good and all was looking good. I hooked up with our replen guy and, having topped up all my bottles, set off still full of confidence.

Around 90 minutes later, halfway down the Miners track towards Pen y Pass, that confidence had been blown away. The track is never an easy descent at the best of times but I had not experienced the feeling I now had before. Progress was slow but deliberate, determined that I would not be taken out of the race by a stupid injury. Eventually I decided an admin stop was needed and sat down for 5 minutes to stretch and take on some carbs by way of fruit flakes and yoghurt bars. This break and top up seemed to do the trick as I managed to make it to Pen y Pass without too much further distress. Again, I met up with the support guy for another fluid top up and to find that 2 of the team had pulled out of the race shortly after the A5 checkpoint.

The next 2 hours were as full a test of my physical and mental capabilities as I have endured. Snowdon’s Pyg Track by itself does not represent the greatest of challenges to the experienced hill walker but with 5.5 hours of arduous tabbing behind you, it certainly has the ability to bring you to your knees! I took small comfort that I was not alone seeing many racers in the same state (and worse) than me. I stopped for many short rests on the way up, many of those forced by the legions of charity walkers who, for some reason, seemed to be everywhere on the mountain.

I arrived at the summit just inside 8hrs, which was my slowest time in the event, but very happy to have completed the race. I found that the other 2 in my team had missed the close off time at Pen y Pass by 10 minutes so were withdrawn from the race. On my way down to Llanberis I reflected on the efforts of the day and slow realisation dawned that, in Morocco, this was an effort I would have to repeat 6 times! As I said at the start, based on this performance, I will be lucky to finish MdS, never mind achieve the top 50 place that is my ultimate goal. Oscar Wilde said that experience is the name people give to their mistakes. After today I am vastly more experienced!!!