Next step - 5 hours...

Up and out at 5:30am this morning for a 5 hour run/walk. Beautiful weather.

The run contrasted the industrial harshness of Avonmouth:



With the beauty of the Spring flowers:



My training is progressing pretty well so far. I've been reading the following book, which is giving me something to think about during my long runs:



I have a couple of weeks without a long run now but then will hope to go for a 6-7 hours longest training run before the Brecon Beacons race.

A new venture

Onwards and upwards (literally!). I have signed up for my next adventure - The Summer 40, Brecon Beacons. Billed as "a challenging, scenic, mountainous (40 mile) one day Ultra Marathon". The event takes place on 21st May.

My training for this event will mostly compose of 1) Building up my long run again to 6 or 7 hours, and 2) Lots of hill training and box step-ups with weights.

I got up at 5:45am this morning and went out for a 4 hour run. Pretty flat. Very comfortable. 5 hours next.

Luke's Green Man Challenge Report

Here's my report about taking on the Green Man Challenge on Sunday 27th February 2011. Warning: It’s very long!!!

Much of what I’ve written is rather more factual than those of some other Woodwoses because this my attempt to document my personal experience in the hope that it may be of some help or encouragement to others thinking of putting themselves forward.

Before I go into the background and preparation for the Green Man, I would like to give some very special thanks.

Firstly to Chris Bloor, who is the Father of the Green Man Challenge, provides encouragement and enthusiasm about the challenge and who very kindly transported me to and from the start line (and provided tea at Blaise Castle).

I'd also like to thank Ian Ruck and Antony Clark for accompanying me from Ashton Court to Shortwood Hill. Their good company helped make the first half pass by relatively quickly.

Thanks to Ruth (Ian’s wife), who not only got out of bed early on a Sunday morning to transport Ian and Antony to the start, but was there at Shortwood hill with my drop bag, a deck chair (which I was too scared to use) and a wonderful smile.

Finally, I really, really want to thank Jonathan Gledson. Jonathan helped me round the whole of the second half of the course - putting up with my dwindling sense of humour, carrying sodden, mud soaked trail shoes and letting me raid his rucksack for snacks and drink.

OK, now a little about the background and preparation...

The Green Man Challenge was something that I quickly got to know about after joining TACH in about September 2009. I had originally planned to run the challenge in March 2010, but was prevented through a back injury which kept me out of running for the whole Summer.

Some of the reasons to attempt the Green Man Challenge were in part the distance - a proper Ultra distance but nevertheless not too daunting, and also because it is a personal challenge rather than a race. However, the main reason is that it has been a wonderful chance to connect with the countryside which bounds our city (we are so very lucky to have such wonderful countryside, so close by).

My preparation was based upon the following principles:
1. Don’t use any fixed training plan as the challenge could be attempted at any time
2. Specificity - The course is long, reasonably flat and quite uneven under foot. I needed to prepare accordingly
3. Always remember, it's often the lack of recovery that causes injury rather than over training, and so always prioritise recovery over more training. Similarly, I read somewhere "Those that under-train will always finish. Those that over-train never get to the start line"
4. Judge long runs by 'time on your feet' rather than distance

Using the above principles, my training generally fitted the following pattern:
● Long run every 1-2 weeks (building from 2-6 hours)
● TACH training runs on Thursdays
● Some treadmill intervals (to strengthen legs)
● Core and upper body gym work

The treadmill sessions were pretty sporadic due to the combination of work commitments and recovering from the Sunday long runs. And looking back, I think I could have made more use of some of the very short 'free' runs that often present themselves if one puts ones mind to it. Like, for example, running over to where the swimming pool is for a family swim rather than going in the car.

A week in advance of the challenge, I completely abstained from alcohol and caffeine. The caffeine abstention was intended to give my body time to become more sensitised again to caffeine, such that when I really needed a lift, a caffeine hit would keep me going.

Also, on the Wednesday before the run I subjected myself to the pain of a thorough leg, hip and back sports massage.

My nutrition plan was to take just Hammer Perpetuem (in a sweet, gloopy mixture) and water (with Nuun) for the first half, and then move onto solid food in the form of homemade choc-chip and banana bread, muesli bars and finally caffeinated gels.

Finally, in terms of preparation, my strategy for the run was simple - run at a very easy pace on the flat and downhills, speed march any up hills or when other walk breaks were required, and try to limit the time taken at any stops.

So to challenge day...

I got up about 5:45am to give me plenty of time for a good big breakfast (muesli, yogurt, honey and toast), lots of water to drink and time to digest.

Chris picked me up at 7:40am and we met Antony and Ian at the Green Man in Ashton Court in good time for an 8am start. Any thoughts of nervousness were dispelled as our conversation strangely veered onto the relative merits of Deadly 60 and Horrible Histories, against the ever so slightly surreal Chugginton.

The off:



The first leg up to Dundry followed by legs 2 & 3 to Pensford and Keynsham were all pretty straight-forward. Although, by Keynsham I was beginning to feel a slowly worsening twinge in my right knee. I swapped socks here as my original ones were in a pretty sorry state, and I could feel a few large pieces of grit irritating the soles of my feet.

At Kensham with the old Cadbury’s factory in the background:



Throughout the whole course the going underfoot was varied - some good, some wet and boggy, and some sticky.

Leg 4 to Shortwood Hill progressed quite well, although I was beginning to feel a bit tired and my knee was still sore. Thankfully, Ian and Antony were good company which helped a lot, and also, Antony's superior knowledge of the course proved invaluable on several occasions.

At Shortwood Hill, Ian's wife Ruth was waiting with my drop bag. I refueled with more Perpetuem and extra water, and departed with Jonathan as my support for the remainder of the race. Jonathan kindly carried a spare set of road trainers for me in his rucksack.

The next leg from Shortwood Hill to the White Horse at Hambrook was one of the hardest for me. I was beginning to feel really tired by now, and my knee was still pretty sore. So, as soon as we got to the end of the leg, I used the opportunity to take a couple of ibuprofen and caffeine tablets. Within 20 mins of the next leg (no. 6 to Patchway) I was in much finer fettle.

Jonathan was proving to be the ideal support, helping with gates and providing encouragement.

At Patchway, I had run out of fluid, and Jonathan kindly gave me a spare bottle he had of Lucozade Sport which turned out to be a welcome change for my palette which was getting sick of the over sweet Perpetuem.

I really enjoyed the route from Patchway to Blaise, the terrain is very mixed, with the contrast between the boggy flat land around Easter Compton and the views from on top of Spanorium Hill.

Just before Blaise Castle, I changed socks again and also moved to road trainers. I was surprised how heavy my trail shoes had got - they were caked in mud.

At Blaise we were met by Chris, this time with a very welcome cup of tea. I took a little more time at this stop, and had another couple of caffeine tablets, in preparation for the final 10k back to the Green Man.

As one can imagine, this final stretch was the hardest. By now my legs were pretty much spent. I suggested that perhaps Jonathan and I could swap legs, but he didn't like the look of what he was going to get in return.

There were a lot more short walk breaks now as I could feel my hamstrings cramping. But I knew I would finish, so my spirits were high even if my body was a bit broken.

It was wonderful to see Chris and Ian at the Green Man. As you might expect, I felt rather emotional.

At the finish:



I believe that the Green Man Challenge is the embodiment of TACH, Bristol, and most importantly, the passion Chris Bloor has for connecting people with the countryside. I wholeheartedly encourage anyone who reads this to consider taking on the challenge in some form (run, walk, relay, one leg at a time, etc.).

Luke Taylor - Woodwose XXXVIII
(Green Man Challenge, 8hrs 31mins, Sunday 27 February 2011)

The Green Man Challenge

The Green Man Challenge celebrates Bristol, a green city in the midst of the countryside, as part of the Forest of Avon. The Challenge follows the 48 mile course of the Community Forest Path.

Chris Bloor created the Green Man Challenge. He keeps a record of those who complete the challenge on his Closer to the Countryside website.

Chris has also created route instructions which split the course into 8 legs, each between 4.5-6.2 miles long.

The challenge can be undertaken solo, in pairs or as part of a relay.

My only plan so far for 2011 is to complete the Green Man Challenge, preferably in February/March.

Training so far has been sporadic rather than planned. However, I did have a day off work on the 4th January and used this to run/walk the first 4 legs of the course (about 22 miles). The course can start from anywhere along the route, but often starts from the Green Man sculpture in Ashton Court (the current blog header picture). The photo at the top of this post was taken just before I set off, looking out towards Dundry - the first leg of the course and about 5 miles by foot.

My 2010 Annus horribilis

Following my completion of the VoTwo ONER in August 2009, I took some time out before beginning to ramp-up my training again in December. Unfortunately, my training was curtailed by a back injury that nearly got better, but not quite.

My plan was to build up to a March attempt to run a 48 mile route around Bristol - The Green Man Challenge, and then run the Shakespeare Marathon in April.

My training continued to be hampered by the back injury. This put paid to the Green Man Challenge attempt, and probably effected my marathon training. However, I ran the marathon and finished in a PB of 3hrs27mins (I've only run one other marathon which was a shocker).

After the marathon, I consulted an osteopath and started a treatment programme. Unfortunately, this meant I had to take a break from all running over the Summer.

In August I started running again, building up slowly and just enjoying being out running.

Most of my really enjoyable runs have been out on training runs with the Town and Country Harriers (TACH) - Night time, offroad and about 10km.

I'm now at a stage where I can begin to ramp-up my training and look forwards to running the Green Man Challenge later in the Winter/Spring.

My back is now about 85-90%, and continues to improve when I take the time to do the exercises to help with strength and flexibility.

Onwards and upwards!

Finally

I spent much of my time and energy training for the Oner. And whilst finishing was a very satisfying moment, the journey was what mattered:

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."
- Greg Anderson (American best-selling Author and founder of the American Wellness Project., b.1964)

Roll-on my next journey!

78.6 miles, 22 hours 27 minutes, 2 feet...

I hope you're feeling strong as this race report is a bit of an epic. However, with 78.6 miles to cover, I'm sure you'll realise it was a bit of an adventure.

After about 6.5 months of training, plus a rather leisurely 4 week taper, I arrived at Corfe Castle in Dorset on Friday evening and had a quiet night staying at my Mother-in-Law Pauline's house.

I opened the curtains on Saturday morning to see that the 'light' rain was rather more persistent than had been forecast. Thankfully, from the afternoon onwards the forecast came good, and the weather for the race could not have been better.

After breakfast, lunch and final kit check, I changed into my race gear, and Pauline very kindly dropped me off at the registration point (which would also be the finish) at the National Trust car park just near the Studland chain ferry.

After registration, Ben (the race director) gave a briefing which included such delights as:

• This is a self navigation race. Keep the sea on your right and the land on your left, and if you see a hill then it's most likely you need to climb it!
• There are 40 competitors in the race. To be honest, I only expect 10 to finish

Plenty of incentive then!

Finally, we all got on-board mini-buses for the 1hr+ drive to Lyme Regis - The start.

A final photo before the off (I'm in the centre with the red top):


Between the start and the end of the race would be 12 checkpoints. These were a chance to grab food and drink, and to get my number marked and time taken.

I had decided to take a Camel Back 'bladder' in my rucksack with a drinking tube. This contained water and Nuun tablets for hydration. Most of my nutritional needs would come from a special powdered nutrition called Perpetuem which I carried as a very sweet, concentrated, gloopy mixture in a hand-held bottle. My Brother and Sister, who were staying along the course, had kindly agreed to meet me at checkpoints 3, 6 and 9 (20, 40 and 60 miles) to let me refill with more Perpetuem.

The start of the race was unusual to say the least, with most 'runners' ambling off, not wishing to start too quickly. This gave a nice chance to meet some of the others in the race. I don't think there were too many for whom this was their first ultra-marathon, and it was good to hear about some of the other 'famous' races that some had completed.

The first obstacle was Golden Cap - the highest point on the South coast of England. Climbing up I didn't feel like my legs fancied another 75 miles, but in the end I think this was probably just nerves.

Checkpoints CP1 (Seatown) and CP2 (Burton Beach) passed smoothly. I refilled with water and Nuun tablets and grabbed savory bread rolls (tuna mayo, Marmite, etc.) which helped counteract the over-sweet Perpetuem.

Between CP2 and CP3 (Abbotsbury) a friend of Suzi's - Louise, her husband Simon, and her parents, were on the route lending support. It was great to see such friendly faces - a great boost.

At CP2 it was beginning to get dark, and by the time my brother Colin met me at CP3 (with the next batch of Perpetuem) it was time to don the head-torch for the night run.

The night was beautiful - a half moon only occasionally shrouded by cloud. With my head-torch providing a really good light, I started making good progress. But this was hindered somewhat when the ground under foot started to get quite uneven across fields.

Along this flat section towards the next checkpoint at East Fleet (CP4) I met two other runners that I ended-up spending the rest of the run with.

Sophie and Phil knew each other from a famous ultra-marathon - the Marathon des Sables (a 6 day / 151 mile endurance race across the Sahara Desert). We soon found that we were a good match. Firstly, we all seemed comfortable at the same pace. Then I could offer a good knowledge of the course, which helped Sophie and Phil, especially during the night. In return, they provided support, especially helping me to keep my walking pace up - Walking fast is a key part to successful ultra-running.

After CP4 we set off for Portland, 1 hour 45 mins ahead of the cut-off.

I was so glad to have recc'ied Portland when it was light. This helped us reach CP5 on top of Portland. Unfortunately I completely lost my bearings due to the darkness and only partially managed to navigate the way out. We took a detour into a quarry, but eventually found a road
that took us back to the causeway towards Weymouth.

Sophie, Phil and I had by now settled into a good pace. Our reaction to the terrain was generally either 5 minutes running / 5 minutes walking on the flat, walking the uphills, or gently running the downhills.

Weymouth at about 3:45am on a Saturday night was not a pretty sight. There were plenty of plump, semi-clad drunks happy to hurl abuse at weird looking sober people with head-torches. Not surprising really!

When we got to CP6 (Weymouth and 40 miles) it was great to see my brother again. This provided me with a real lift. And, with Portland and Weymouth behind us, and the very first light beginning to show, Sophie, Phil and I headed off for Osmington with raised hopes.

I stopped briefly to tape the bottom of my right foot which felt like it was beginning to blister, and then we got stuck into the Jurassic cliff paths.

After Osmington (where Sophie and Phil enjoyed a quick pasta meal) we headed up to a headland called Whitenothe, where there is a small terrace of 19th Century coastguard cottages. These are now mostly used as holiday homes. And whilst being well built, they still don't have electricity or running water. My family have spent many years holidaying at Whitenothe, and my brother and sister and their family were all staying here while I was racing. So, when Sophie, Phil and I passed, my sister (Hilary), sister-in-law (Teresa) and niece (Ruby) were all there to give their support.

I was now well into my longest run ever, and whilst my leg muscles weren't too bad, my heels and ankles were quite painful.

The terrain from Osmington to CP8 (Lulworth Cove) starts to get very hilly, and Sophie, Phil and I started to show our strengths and weaknesses. I was able to march quite steadily up the hills, but found the steep downhills very difficult. Whilst Sophie and Phil weren't so quick on the uphills, but easily caught up on the steep descents.

After Lulworth Cove we had a short stop while Phil popped and taped his poor blistered feet.

The section between Lulworth Cove and Kimmeridge is just brutal. I hadn't done this section before as it passes through an MoD firing range which was closed when I practiced the 2nd half of the course.

The uphills here were tortuous. I think this was the crux of the race. Getting through here in one piece with a reasonable time buffer should get us to the finish within the cut-off.

Despite all beginning to slow, we made it to Kimmeridge. Again, I think that being a small group working well together really helped us through.

At Kimmeridge (60 miles) I was beginning to comprehend the enormity of the last 20 miles. However, Hilary, Teresa and Ruby were there again which was great. I refilled my hand-bottle with Perpetuem for the last time and off we set.

I was pleased that the navigation was now straight-forward because my mind was starting to get confused and I was beginning to mix-up bits of the course or even add in bits of other runs I have done during training. This wasn't so good for the others, especially Sophie, who was finding the uphills a real strain, and my uncertainty about the upcoming terrain wasn't helping.

It was during the CP9 (Kimmeridge) to CP10 (St Albans Head) that we all first began to fall apart. Sophie was suffering due to the hills around Chapman's Pool. But she also had stomach issues, and very bad chaffing between her legs. She really showed her strength to tough it out through this section. Phil's feet were troubling him, and my heels and ankles were slowly getting more and more painful.

After St Albans Head, the last two checkpoints were both long at 11km and 12km. The first of these leading to Peveril Point at Swanage was fairly flat but just seemed to go on and on.

On this section I began to really suffer, and I found that I could not run. This was definitely the low point of the race. We were mostly silent as we trudged towards the next checkpoint. Phil was the only one who was able to give encouragement. This was really helpful, even if I was getting fed-up with him saying "come on now, let's get a wiggle on".

Arriving at Peveril Point (CP11) we all looked a mess - John Cleese would have been most proud of our reenactment of the Ministry of Silly Walks.

For the first time in the race, and with 12km to go to the finish, I decided that some refined sugars were the order of the day. So I had two cups of coke and took a good handful of sweets.

We set off for the finish on the last, but at 12km, also the longest leg of the race.

Once along the promenade at Swanage, we climbed the headland (Ballard Down) and made our way to the point where there's a big chalk rock in the sea called Old Harry.

I was still really suffering, especially with my left ankle. Phil gave me a couple of ibuprofen and that really did the trick. Within 30 minutes I was back to speed marching.

The last section along Studland Beach just went on and on, and comments like "come on now, the others who came through here were running!" didn't help!!!

Finally, we rounded South Haven Point and finished - 78.6 miles, 22 hours 27 minutes, 2 feet.

Louise and Simon were at the finish, and a bit later Suzi arrived with our children, Laura, Helena and Felix.

As you might expect I was very emotional. But we had done it.

I'm so grateful to Sophie and Phil for their support. Would I have made it without their help? Being my first ultra, I don't think so.

Of those I spoke to, the consensus was that the Oner is one of the toughest (but also most beautiful) ultras around. Most of the difficulty being the combination of the tough terrain, combined with going through the night and all of the next day (as well as the 78.6 miles of course!).

Would I recommend the Oner to others wishing to undertake an ultra-marathon? Absolutely!

Will I do the race again? Almost certainly not!

Physically, I haven't been too bad afterwards. I have several broad bean-sized blisters around my heels, and my feet keep swelling, but are recovering.

I will add more photos as I get them. However, I'll leave you with my feet after 78.6 miles non-stop (Hmm, nice!!!):


Arriving at the finish:


Great to see my family there: