Golden Fleece Circuit

And finally, an event that I have turned up for and successfully trotted around in 2016.  Who would have thought?

For anyone reading this who is unaware, the Golden Fleece Circuit is a mixed terrain event in South Yorkshire.  There are 15 and 27 mile options and it is organised by the local Scouts group.  If you've ever been to one of these, or an LDWA event, you'll know the deal on the low key nature of the day.  You'll also have a feel for how important your ability to navigate a route is if you want to have a good day out there.  Generally you'll be provided with a couple of sides of A4 route directions, a basic map, and an expectation that you can look after yourself as an adult and not be a burden on the organisers (or mountain rescue, depending on the event).

As the name suggests, the Golden Fleece Circuit is a looped course which keeps the logistics pretty simple.  The small hall that doubles as registration area pre-race, and soup kitchen post-race has enough capacity to store kit bags while you explore the nearby wilds.

For my part, the day went well.  From some basic research I knew that the route would be a mixture of paths and tarmac.  I was also aware that I wouldn't be standing on top of a moor trying to take a bearing with my rusty navigation skills.  A good prospect for the first event in a long while.  Still being in recovery from injury, and not wanting to explain a worsened wound to the nurse on the following Tuesday, my execution plan for this was to take it easy throughout.  I'd say I was about 80% successful.  I'd like to explain more about the route, but like just about every event I've taken part in, most of it was a blur.  I can be sure when I say that this is a very runnable route.  I think there was one hill that would force you to a walk even if you were looking to race this hard.  Of course, that hill was in the last couple of miles because, Race Organisers.  The route was relatively easy to follow for one of these types of events.  If you're expecting ribbons on every corner, this is not the run for you.  I did manage to step off the route for a while due to thoughtlessly following the couple of groups ahead of me, but that is most definitely my fault rather than anything else.

The weather was also a little interesting with all four seasons making an appearance.  The drive up from Northampton had been shrouded in drizzle and flurries of snow.  This is not a great sign when driving north for an outdoor event but for the majority of my run, the sky stayed on my side.  The wide expanse allowed plenty of opportunity to watch the clouds as they rolled in, not that there was much to be done about it when it did arrive.  10 minutes of chilly rain 90 minutes into the race, sun so warm that I would have been happier in shorts and t-shirt during the next hour, and then a little later, driving hail as I travelled along a ridge line.  It did finally throw it down with rain in the minutes after I finished.  You couldn't help but feel for those still out on the course.

It is a couple of days later now and no particular ill effects seem to have occurred.  My calves would feel happier if I'd put in some proper training in the weeks beforehand.  I did pick up a head cold which is yet to clear but nothing that is preventing ongoing training, so it would seem that the Edale Skyline on Sunday is still on the cards.  At least that is only 21 miles.  This was certainly my thinking until I started to read the blogs of people who ran the race in 2015.  The thought of running in thigh deep mud was not something that gets my juices flowing at this moment in time.

For reference, I've noticed that some of the events I attend do not have good route files available so I'll be uploading mine.  The FIT file is direct from the Fenix 3.  The gpx file is the converted version through Garmin connect.  For this event, it is definitely worth bearing in mind that I took a bit of a detour 20km in.

Route files

And recovered! Hot Diggity

Well, mainly.

It has now been more than four weeks since the surgery and there is still the dressing on my shoulder, but things are feeling pretty normal.  A very helpful and professional nurse now replaces the dressing a couple of times per week, but in myself, I feel pretty good.  And this isn't one of those "pretty good all things considered", but simply a "pretty good".

The turn around appears to have been at the weekend.  I had planned a trail marathon in Leicestershire but going into Friday a couple of my more sensible friend convinced me that this was not the way.  And like that, the Belvoir Challenge slips by for the year (DNS 3).  This wasn't the same wrench as the previous DNSs, not being part of a race series and having only been scheduled by me as a training run.  However, going through the weekend I became aware of everything feeling pretty much normal.  I turned up to parkrun and pottered around that at a moderate pace which quickly reminded me that I have not put in any speedwork for a couple of months, and this was followed up by a very easy trail run on the Sunday.

So, as I step into March, it feels like time to get back to it.  In fact, I've decided to use February's leap day as a way of jump starting my faded resolutions.  It could be that committing to 50 miles per week is a little on the stupid side when coming back from illness, but I've enough patience to keep most of that mileage at a very low effort.  I also have another scheduled race in 17 days and I don't think that toeing the line for a 42 mile race in the Brecon Beacons is a sensible idea unless I've put myself to the test a little beforehand.  I've no wish to be a liability for the other racers and the organiser.

This means I'll be at the Golden Fleece this coming weekend, and the Edale Skyline on the following.  They're both interesting to bite off in some ways, but both big enough for me to start off very easily, build up to a very easy pace and then near the finish, drop to my very easy effort, without lagging behind the field and requiring panicked acceleration into checkpoints to beat the cut offs.  I know little about the course for the Golden Fleece so I'm looking forward to exploring it, and I know more about the Edale area and I am looking forward to those views even more.  And I know they're likely to be replaced by driving rain and clag, but what can you do?

2016 apparently starts in March.

And still injured, but maybe a little less

It is three weeks since surgery.  For the majority of that time not a step was run.  This has obviously not been beneficial to the remaining race plans for the year, nor my patience.

The injury still requires regular medical attention for which I continue to feel grateful and somewhat guilty.  I feel sure that the nurses could spend their time better on more pressing concerns.  I am also aware that just this three weeks of layoff has seen some interesting changes in my heart rate.  My Resting Heart Rate (RHR) has been low for as long as I have paid any attention to it, but rather than the upper thirties, it now hovers at the bottom of the thirties.  After defending the low RHR for a couple of years as a by-product of my awesome fitness, even I was a little worried about seeing the number 30 appear on the screen of a morning.

In the last couple of days, some very short and easy runs have come back.  A five miles here and three more there.  Interestingly, the RHR on the following morning looks to be a little more normal based on my personal experience.  38 is great, right?  In addition, those two runs saw my heart rate spike on a couple of occasions to levels not warranted by the effort that I was putting in.  I know that people think that running by heart rate can be limiting, and I agree at a certain level, but I also know where I expect my BPM to sit for a certain level of effort.  I can also feel my heart rate move before the watch registers it due to the lag in monitoring.  So when the heart rate jumps by 70-80 BPH in a couple of yards and sits there until I stop running altogether, I am pretty sure that this is not normal.

It will be interesting to see this figures settle down over the next couple of weeks, hopefully.  It is also interesting to have seen how a few weeks layoff, a few weeks of infection and a couple of weeks of medical remediation has make a mess of the body.

Onwards and upwards.

Still injured. Bored.

A week since surgery.  Things are apparently progressing well but it has been made very clear to me during the daily checks that running will be severely frowned upon.  At least for now.  I should have probably had that conversation prior to having been for an easy 5k.  I'd probably be going in for a better level of self-pity if I hadn't watched The Revnant prior to the operation.  Every complaint feels a bit weak in that light.

Still, I did stumble across this short film is my new found spare time.  And again, there really is no excuse to not keep moving forward.

https://vimeo.com/152971030

2016 Races 1. 2016 DNSs 2

And what was an infection then became the cause of an unplanned surgery...

The procedure to the shoulder was minor and things could have been a lot worse.  Unfortunately, the recovery is going to rule out a 50 mile run in a week's time.  It has also put paid to the daily run for the present time.

So, without even leaving Jaunary that is two races I'm manging to DNS and pretty much all of the running "resolutions" I had down the pan.  Bother.  On the upside, my training in January had been pretty good on the whole and I'm expecting to get a few little runs in during the couple of weeks I need to let the wound heal.  With a bit of luck, many of the other racing plans for the year are still doable.

Now, with idle time on my hands, how do I stop myself from sitting here signing up for countless races later in the year?

2016 Races 1. 2016 DNSs 1.

As hundreds of fellow ultrarunners head for a frozen Wendover, I am instead sitting on my comfy and warm sofa with my packed bags still piled up in the hallway.

Walked through the pros and cons of skipping the race:

• Con – I’m a runner.  Not turning up to an event that I have committed to, which is also part of a series I’m planning to race through the year, directly conflicts with this.
• Pro – I am actually sick.  I had a doctor’s note and drugs and everything.  The combination is causing some dehydration, poor quality sleep and stomach distress.
• Con – Dehydration, poor quality sleep and stomach distress are pretty a pretty usual combination for the period of a taper and race.
• Pro – This is supposed to be a race for me, not the usual long run in the beautiful wilds.  If I cannot confidently push myself, I’m better off playing safe.
• Can – It means I can tell the people who know about the race how well I did.  Most of them will have no idea what would be a good result.
• Pro – There is a small chance that I might not complete the race.  It is a point to point a couple of hours away and getting back from one of the checkpoints is likely to be a pain in the arse.
• Con – Even if I jog the thing, it would be a result for the race series and might be useful if I have to pull out of one of the later races unexpectedly.
• Pro – I would get the whole day back to do something more useful with my time.
• Con – I will actually spend most of that time mulling over sacking off this race and generally feeling sorry for myself.
• Con – I still have to run today anyway.  Not having this long run does somewhat interfere with the training plan for the next.
• Pro – I won’t have to clean all of my kit?
• Con – I do have quite a lot of unwatched stuff on my TiVo.

 Anyway.  I’m 90% sure that it was the right decision to not race today.  I shall be spending the next few days thinking mainly about that 10%.

Time to let the race organiser know that he has a spare slot that he will not have time to utilise.

2016 - Two weeks in

14th of January and most things are running smoothly.  Sitting here on Thursday night, other than a slight snag, all systems would be go for Saturday's first race of the year.  Sadly, that fly in the ointment is an infection which has today required a course of antibiotics.  Bother.  So I'll be seeing how I take to those over the next 24 hours before deciding whether to toe the line.  With the plan being to race reasonably hard, a drug which unsettles my stomach or causes me to be constantly dehydrated is going to be a real problem.  But do I cross my fingers for a good Friday or a free weekend?

Other plans for the year have gone well.  No injuries.  A cool but gentle winter has recently snapped cold but a pile of good technical equipment has proved its worth and there have been no excuses to park on the sofa, thus running plans have been maintained and the target of the daily mile run is being met.  As for the 2016 distance challenge with Mr P, he is currently sitting at 189.8 km while I am at
167.3 km.  A half marathon between us.  It could seem daunting so early in the year but it is just a two hour jog in the hills.

Or the first 40% of the first race of the year...