Visit to the Lakes

So it’s been a year and a day since I posted anything on here and I’ve got these photos from a most enjoyable visit to Grasmere in the Lake District this week so where better to stick ’em!

Jane being as vegan as I nowadays we wanted to have a short break somewhere offering a choice of eating options and the Lake District, while still not fully recovered from the winter deluge, sounded well worth a visit.

We stayed for 3 nights at Lancrigg Vegetarian Country Hotel which proved to be a lovely place set in it’s own bit of woodland, mostly planted with interesting specimens about 150 years ago and now comfortably damp and mossy.

In Ambleside there seems to be several related meat-free dining places with connections to the cinema Zefferellis – we had a fine vegan pizza in their busy, modern but friendly Pizzeria. The puddings were good too.

We also visited Greens in Grasmere on a couple of occasions, once for lunch and again for tea and cakes. They offered several decent vegan choices including cupcakes!

Somewhere between the eating we managed to squeeze in a few walks, nothing too challenging as Jane has only just got over a long bout of flu. My favourite was the trek up from Lancrigg to Easdale Tarn.

New Bridge (for sheep)

New Bridge (for sheep)

We stayed at Lancrigg Veggie/Vegan Hotel

We stayed at Lancrigg Veggie/Vegan Hotel

Fine view from our window at Lancrigg

Fine view from our window at Lancrigg

Waterfall

Waterfall on the way up to Easedale Tarn

Halfway up

Halfway up to Easedale Tarn

Sour Milk Gill waterfall

Waterfall on Sour Milk Gill

Jane refueling at Easedale Tarn

Selfie with Jane refuelling at Easedale Tarn

Easedale Tarn

Easedale Tarn

Easedale Tarn 2

Easedale Tarn

Another waterfall

Another waterfall

Grasmere bums

Grasmere Swan Bums

That sign really shouldn't be needed!

That sign really shouldn’t be needed!

British Ultra Fest 2013

Let me just make this clear – I did not run in the British Ultra Fest, these people take running so far a marathon starts to look like a pre-breakfast jog.

The 2013 British Ultra Fest comprises 3 races – a 6 day, a 48 hour and a 24 hour. The participants run or walk round a 400 metre track completing as many laps as they can in the allotted time, they change direction every 6 hours. Time spent sleeping or stopping to eat is time lost on the track so kept to a minimum while ensuring you can complete. It was happening just down the road from me at Radley School and Greek vegan runner Mitso (Demetrios) Kehayioglou was taking part in the 6 day so I thought I’d cycle down there to see what it was all about and offer support to Mitso.

This being the start of the 6th day I was sort of expecting something resembling the zombie apocalypse with 6 day runners stumbling about while the 24 hour guys, who were only just starting, charged past them. Mostly though they seemed happily walking round, chatting in some cases, eating in others, still running quite a bit, pain and discomfort hardly registering on their faces. I positioned myself to take a few photos, there were not many spectators so I could pick my place by the track, I spotted Mitso and called his name.

Mitso

Mitso at the start of day 6 (the green number runners are doing the 24 hour)

Runners are only supposed to leave and regain the track at a particular point and they mustn’t accept pace from others so I took a few photos then went to the refreshment area where Mitso met me and we chatted for a few minutes. His knee was swollen and sore, making every track corner difficult, so he was slowing a bit to make sure he’d finish. I asked if he needed anything, I’d thrown some stuff in the pannier including eats and dry socks, but he had it all planned with assistance from his partner and a tent. I guess you have to get all the preparation spot on with this sort of thing. The official caters were Veggies, a vegan group from Nottingham, so no issues with getting good food.

VeggiesI let Mitso carry on, one more mile then time for a rest he said which turned out to be fortuitous I think as it started raining when I was on my way home 15 minutes later. I took a few more photos, spotted Paul Brackett amongst the 24 hour runners and gave him a shout. The 6 day people would walk off the course, grab sustenance from their support crews or the table by Veggies, then carry on round often spooning food into their mouths as they went. Christian Ritella from Sweden appeared to be refuelling with a bottle of beer – and why not!

Christian RitellaHaving just set out back home, almost at the point where the entrance track through the woods meets the road, I met an American 6 day competitor who I later identified as Bill Heldenbrand who had just set a new 48 hour record for his M65 category. I gave him a nod, he smiled and said he was a bit bored of going round and round the track so thought he’d take a walk and see what the countryside was like. These people are quite special, they seemed to have achieved contentment with their repetitive efforts. Nothing like the soggy, undisciplined, wrecks we must have appeared after nearly 4 days at the back end of the wet 2007 Paris Brest Paris.

More photos on Flickr here. The winner, Frenchman Didier Sessegolo, totalled 533.6 miles. Mitso did 367.9. I hope they are all recovering well and enjoying a rest!

BUF 6 Day Results

 

 

Land’s End to John o’ Groats 2004

Once upon a time I rode from Lands End to John o’ Groats (it was in 2004 but that might as well be the dark ages to my useless memory). I rode an indirect but quiet route with my then riding buddy John Harwood as a set of 8 consecutive 200k Audax UK Perms (for some reason he got credited 8 x 200k but I got 1 x 1600k for the same ride, I don’t remember why). We both took responsibility for route planning for alternate days, John’s were great – mine, mostly annotated photocopies of the route supplied by the CTC, were crap. I hardly remembered I’d ridden it, let alone any detail, so it was nice to come across an A4 envelope the other day with LEJOG written on it in which I found, along with highlighted route maps etc, a day by day account of the ride I must have written at the time. I can’t remember if I did anything with this at the time, I suspect not. It’s too long and not very exciting but I’m going to post it anyway.

Sat 19/6/2004

Before start – long drive down (Sarah) – Trendrennen Farm

Sun 20/6 (Day 1)

Got soaked in downpour during 4km to start. Negotiated Penzance ok but got turned round at Porkellis and ended up coming out on a lane with the way we wanted to go signposted behind us! Sarah met us at Stithians (where control was shop in the rain) and then drove home satisfied John’s ankle giving no trouble. Apart from hiccup at Truro managed to stay mostly on route despite my misplaced trust in CTC provided route (which was either full of detail or neglected to mention turnings etc).

Lunch at Tesco, Wadebridge was a good idea as St Kew offered nothing but a pub which had stopped serving. Only just in the time limits (@ 15kph) as hills, luggage, off-route slowing us down. Tintagel toBude got awful hilly with a couple of 30%ers on the coast road.

Rolled into Gt Torrington about 8:45pm and had to make do with a Spar Shop supper as too late for pubs. Wyburn House was fine but I think we both felt a bit slow and we’d only just begun!

Mon 21/6 (Day 2)

Ate breakfast watching the rain come down at 7:15 in Wyburn House, stopped as soon as we set off leaving us feeling overdressed. B3227 to South Molton offered a slow start with it’s succession of hills. Climb up to Exmoor very long but nice gradient, not managing to build up any time. Drop down then climb out of Withypool – same again at Winsford where PO store offered our first control of the day. Still on the lower time limits.

A good descent of the Brendon Hills followed by a 1 in 4 out of Crowcombe which had us tacking across the road just to keep moving. Expected cafe in Bridgewater closed but local pointed us over the bridge to ‘Poppys’ where omelette and chips went down well. Left on the limits again promising cafe a postcard from John o’Groats.

Flat bit after Bridgewater allowed us to build a bit of time up so we could enjoy the climb up Cheddar Gorge. Getting quite warm and sunny by the time we reached Saltford for a Coop control. Managed to leave with 30 mins in hand and built up some more along the cycleway. The flattish roads from Chipping Sodbury to the M4 bridge and Cheptow offered a slight headwind but rolled into the B&B about 8:30pm and ate in a pleasant Chinese where I sampled ‘mock chicken/pork’ or some-such.

Tues 22/6 (Day 3)

No cooked breakfast – 2nd most expensive B&B and ‘The First Hurdle’ doesn’t have any staff in till 8am. Orange juice and cereal see us on our way.

Tintern Abbey looks good without it’s scaffolding. John spots a flaw in my ‘cut and paste’ route sheet and ensures we enjoy the correct hill from Brockweir to St Briavels which I thoroughly enjoy in the sunshine with the promise of a flatter day. Successfully negotiate what appears to be some road renumbering after Coleford. The whole-food shop & cafe I was looking forward to in Ross-on-Wye had vanished and the bakery had no veg pasties either so a disappointing 1st stop.

Even John couldn’t make enough sense of my increasingly suspicious route sheet to get us out of Ross on the correct lane so I took us on a short bash down the duel carriageway and got us back into the lanes with a couple of km over. Excellent lane rolled along quiet valley though at one point the surface disappeared under water and red mud causing me to get off before I fell off!

LEJOG Day 3

Things might have gone smoother with a GPS instead.

Managed to reach Leominster in time for a slow and expensive lunch despite my dubious route sheet and left with little time to spare as usual. John rescued us again in Ludlow and our way led to another great lane along Corvedale. A shop stop in Much Wenlock was followed by an A road downhill towards Ironbridge from where we climbed back up along a lane that sported less than 50% tarmac in places and led through an uncharted housing estate over the A road and eventually through a gap at the end or the Wrekin.

Despite my best efforts we hadn’t gone sufficiently off route to make up some unexpected under-distance so shortly before Market Drayton we had a look at the map and added a 4km ’round the rural block’ to ease our consciences.

Market Drayton was wet and we got wetter trying to find a control. Crofton B&B was excellent and after failing to get food in the Talbot pub, which we had been warned was going down hill, dined well and cheaply in the Indian in the company of a couple of narrow-boaters who had also been disappointed at the Talbot. I did my best not to argue with our somewhat car addicted companions. Meanwhile it rained, the B&B landlady Jill Russell had attempted to phone me to offer a lift back to the B&B – what a contrast to the First Hurdle!

Weds 23/6 (Day 4)

A good breakfast was followed by a flattish start on what turned out to be a wet but enjoyably fast stage. Garage control stop at Middlewich followed by John successfully navigating us through the outskirts of Manchester using a well researched route sheet. Lunch at Westhoughton was home-made cheese pie, chips and peas. Again we got through Blackburn successfully though Great Mitton failed to provide a control (though it had a fine church) and we continued on till we found a shop just about to close in Slaidburn with a YHA opposite to provide a stamp.

I enjoyed the climb over Great Harlow to High Bentham. John had spotted under-distance when he ran the route through Autoroute but we had made some of it up already so opted for an out and back along the A683, had we been 5 minutes quicker we might have missed the downpour that got us on the way into Kirkby Lansdale. Our change of clothes packages had arrived but no rail tickets (not that I was surprised).

Dined in the Snooty Fox after leaving our obliging landlady at Wyke House to try and dry our soaking shoes.

Thurs 26/6 (Day 5)

A previously negotiated breakfast of scrambled eggs and beans (she wasn’t going to do us the full English at 7:15) set us up well for what I realised would be a return to the hills and slow speeds.

It rained and rained. The wind blew every way but behind us and I suspect the hills on our route would have made the reputed ‘Shap’ on the main road route look like a pimple. Another wet cyclist joined us on the A685 and stayed with us till he headed west to join the A6. A tiny PO with a cheerful proprietor in Kings Meaburn offered a control where Maids Meburn had failed. I bought a bar of choc and a bottle of water which amounted to about 10% of his stock. Leg warmers on to try and compensate for soaking and freezing feet! Castle Carrock had no control but Brampton’s rather posh looking tearoom offered a decent baked spud, tea, fruit crumble and custard.

We had taken the A road from Brampton to Langholm as we were under distance again and didn’t fancy trying to negotiate the fiddly lanes in the rain. We remembered to get a control in Langholm despite me neglecting to mention it on my route sheet. The A roads had taken us out of the rain into a dryish looking Longtown then back into it again to a well soaked Longholm.

MirrorWe followed the London Edinburgh London route through Eskdalemuir to the Gordons Arms. Somewhere it must have stopped raining and Scotland was quite pleasant. An extra few km to make up the distance and a good meal then bed at the Gordons Arms (who really need to get themselves a rubber stamp). Bikes went in the coal shed due to lack of other options, we seemed to be the only customers that night and rather pitied the staff.

Fri 25/6 (Day 6)

Missing Bridge

‘Road Closed’ – but not for us!

A good breakfast, a signature in lieu of a stamp, and we were back on the LEL route over the Moorfoot Hills to Edinburgh. The hilly section of LEL was easy going compared with what we’d been through and the weather was pleasant although the repeated ‘Road Closed’ signs had us worried. I had already reassured myself that John, not me, had done the route through Edinburgh so we had a good chance of negotiating it successfully. We opted to sit down and and eat in Edinburgh as neither of our other controls that day looked big enough to offer a cafe. Edinburgh was architecturally impressive and worth going through the middle of. The Forth Road Bridge offered another interesting experience.

A garage did us well at Crook of Devon (which seemed to be more or less part of Drum, our control). An excellent easy grade B road climb over the Ochil Hills out of Yetts o’ Muckhart was followed by a flat, low lying, plain that ended in a steep climb to our control ‘village’ of Fowlis Wester where the church yielded some promotional material as our only control option and the road continued to climb then dropped down to an easy road through Glen Almond.

I was enjoying Scotland – we were making reasonable time for a change, the weather was good and the big hills were tomorrow!

B&B in Blairgowrie (now the same place as Rattray according to it’s sign) was great. We were the only eating customers at the Queens Hotel. ‘Stephen’ at Virgin had reassured me we would be able to get our bikes on the van from Wick to Inverness and I hadn’t been charged for the tickets that never arrived.

A phone call from home told me the bad news I had almost been expecting – Jane’s daughter Sharon had died of the cancer that had been rapidly destroying her over the last few months. Should I return? No – no point now I’d almost finished. Jane wanted me to continue.

Sat 26/6 (Day 7)

660 Metres Up

Landlady at Garfield House makes an exception and cooks us a 7:15 breakfast. All seems one long, gradual climb up to the Glenshee ski area at 670m, I zoom up it loosing sight of John – thinking about Sharon and her short life and nasty death. The wind is blowing at the top and the tops of the Cairngorms behind me are disappearing in a dark cloud. John arrives and we descend fast to Braemar where we take an unscheduled coffee and cake stop then along the valley to Balmoral and a B road climb and descent followed by a hilly A939 and then a vicious 1 in 5 from the Allargue Hotel.

JH in Scotland

A year or so later and John had become a much stronger cyclist than me. He went on to cycle round the world starting in 2007. Click on the picture for a link to his account.

What looks like the top of the 1 in 5 round the corner opens up on a view of our road climbing up to the 637m Lecht ski area. The wind strong behind us and feeling good I sail up this one and we whiz down to Tomitoul for a sit down baked potato and tea. We let the wind push us on out of the mountains and over Dava Moor – for some reason highlighted on the CTC notes as ‘exposed moorland’. Dava doesn’t seem to exist so I wait for John after our turn and he hails me shortly after so I slow down. John has bust a spoke in his rear wheel but I follow behind and reassure that the wheel still seems surprisingly true. (We remove the spoke later and compare my only spare but it is much too short so the wheel remains a 35 spoke job for the rest of the trip.)

The rain starts again during my (this time successful) negotiation of the lanes to Cawdor. No castle to be seen but a posh pub does us tea, crisps and shortcake. John puts every item of clothing he can find on and we both feel a bit under equipped despite 2 panniers each. The route becomes over distance this time but the last 8km to Dingwall shrink to 2km due to my unusual distance calculation and we arrive at 7:45pm with 208km on the clock – our fastest, easiest and highest day so far. The wind on our side almost all day for a change. Moydene B&B is great through the pub she points us towards has 3 large Scots bouncers to inform us there in no food Saturday. The Indian they point us to does well if a little pricey.

Sun 27/6 (Day 8)

Good breakfast and OK weather followed by a gentle climb on the B9176 thru Scottish moorland filled with purple heather and yellow gorse. A good descent to Dornoch Firth and Bonar Bridge then onto Lairg where we ate well at the Crofters Cafe.

As John had said the A836 was a single track road with passing places – how this came to be classified as an A road I cannot fathom! It was quiet and pleasant though and the wind still seemed to be following. The B road after Altnaharra was fast at first and gave good views of the tranquil Loch Naver. Rain and a headwind joined us after we turned north and this 70km stage was making me grovel for it’s last 20km.

Bettyhill’s advertised ‘open 7 days a week’ shop was closed but we found food and shelter at Elizabeth’s Cafe where a signature again had to do for a control. By the time we left it was chucking it down and my legs had decided we must have finished as we were on the northernmost UK coast. The A road to Thurso seemed slow and difficult as it rolled up then down at each estuary. Huge sand dunes, curlews and oyster catchers and the contrast between Dounreay nuclear power station and it’s two neighbouring wind generators kept my mind partly off my aching legs. A garage stop in Thurso revived us for the last few km to John o’Groats and we’d done it!

A stamp from the pub and photo courtesy of a passing walker were followed by a meal at the Seaview and a half a nights sleep at the Caberfiedh Guest House.

Arrivee Postcard

 Mon 28/6 (Journey Home)

Up at 3:30 to cereal and coffee and we were back on the bikes for the last 27km down to Wick. The bike van that accompanied the 6:29 train (but leaves at 6:00 for some reason) left with just our bikes on. They could just as well have gone on the train as no others were waiting. The train rolled into Inverness late after taking us through much wet, flat land down the east coast but we recovered our bikes and got on the (held back) Inverness to Edinburgh train with no real problems. I got us off at the wrong station in Edinburgh but plenty of time so enjoyed another ride down Princes Street and a Marks and Spencer’s feast before joining the fast Virgin train to Oxford. The train manager had both cycled and run (as part of a relay) LEJoG so chatted a while and brought us free coffee when he went off shift. The train was an hour late at Oxford and we were all given complaint forms to fill out in the hope of getting back some of our £91.

CTC End to End Certificate

Ridgeway Run 2012

This was my 3rd time at the Ridgeway Run and once the mist cleared it was obvious we were in for a treat of a run on a beautiful sunny day without even the wind that made itself felt during last years edition. I met Peter and Simon at the start, about a kilometre walk from the HQ where we were to finish. I’d promised myself I’d take it nice and easy, targeting 1:35, so as to spare my sore foot and there’s not many starts as easy as this – I didn’t hear any countdown or bang – we just started shuffling, then walking, then eventually jogging along narrow Marshcroft Lane.

Peter left us behind soon enough and somewhere during the second mile I realised I was running much too fast and let Simon go ahead. Much of the first 3 miles are uphill and what with kissing gates and some huge puddles to get round we suffered minor congestion leading to a brief walk several times on the ascent. I passed Simon then he must have passed me as I snuck behind a tree for a leak. I caught him again at the water station near the Bridgewater Monument at the top of the main climb.

A couple of miles along a wide track through the woods then a sharp descent down a bit on gnarly single-track. Soon enough we were on the Ridgeway which takes the form of a partly sunken track through chalk grassland at this point. Then up and over the two lumps on Pitstone Hill and into the long final descent through woodland avoiding walkers and trying not to trip over roots and steps.

The last mile and a bit was mostly tarmac which I know peeves some runners but for me was a chance to expend a bit of the energy I’d been hanging onto and get myself to a comfortable 1:30:45 finish 378th of 559 and only 30 seconds slower than last year.

I decided to give the long queue for the technical shirt a miss as I have too many running shirts as it is. I grabbed a bottle of water though and went to see Simon finish. Peter appeared from somewhere having finished 5 minutes before me and we posed for a photo. Peter and I then went into Tring proper to visit the vegetarian, mostly organic, Anusia Cafe where we refuelled on vegan soup and cake.

Two days later, the ibuprofen having long worn off, my plantar faciitis appears to have got a bit worse. Maybe running up that hill wasn’t so good an idea after all but it was fun. I’d run the Oxford parkrun the day before, not fast at 26:22 but not exactly a rest day either. I’m hoping that a few days of nothing but the easiest of taper running will allow it to recover enough to survive the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday – after that I think it’ll be time for a bit of a rest, nothing more than 10ks for the rest of the year, and I’ve already dusted the bike off to get a few miles in the saddle instead.

Slow Running

I’ve been wondering, with a touch of dismay, where my running speed has got to these last couple of months. It’s not as if I had much in the first place but recently paces I achieved earlier in the year and hoped to build on seem way out of reach.

Back in February I scraped a half marathon PB of 1:44:03 at Wokingham. Not long after PBs at the Banbury Run and the Compton 20. I ran just a few seconds short of my best parkrun time during April without even trying for a PB. But since then nothing has been fast.

So, as a vegan, the first thing I wonder is whether there’s a problem with my diet. I eat a fair amount of vegan junk food along with my fruit and veg. Then there’s the beer which probably doesn’t help. But no – I eat the same now as I was eating earlier in the year and for several years now, I did give up beer for a month last April but Wokingham was in February so hardly relevant. I’ve been weighing myself regularly for the last couple of months and remain a stable 61 kilo. I’ve also been looking at what I eat and trying to spot possible deficiencies – not a thing I usually do – most of the time I just eat what I fancy – and I can’t see any cause for concern. Nope, I don’t think it’s anything to do with my diet!

Oxford parkrun #41

So why are my parkrun times 90 seconds slower? Why am I struggling, and often failing, to keep my shorter runs under 9 minute miles? Why am I thinking it’s going to be tough to get in under 1:50 at Burnham Beeches Half this coming Sunday, I’m not even considering a PB attempt. Why have my recent attempts at speedwork felt more like a short dash before I give into my moaning body rather than the satisfying, tough but even effort they should be? Maybe most important why does the idea of getting under 4 hours at the Abingdon Marathon begin to feel more like a dream than a target!

Looking back I think doing the Northants Ultra shortly after that horrid MK Marathon in the endless rain was the start of my troubles. I trained myself to slow right down to 12 minute miles and maybe got too comfortable with them. Perhaps I should have had a weeks break after for a proper recovery, I felt I was coming back ok though. Then that stomach bug left me weak for a bit and despite missing the Jericho Run because of it I maybe ran the NSPCC Half, shortly followed by my 10 mile Real Relay leg in the rain, before I’d got my strength back.

I’m not convinced by any of these physical reasons though. I reckon my body is up to going a bit faster but my mind is holding me back. Instead of slowing me with phantom aches and pains my central governor is taking more direct action and having a go at my motivation, smothering my ability to suffer with a comfortable ‘why bother’ blanket just when I need to push a bit harder. A haze of mild depression partly fuelled by the very inability to progress it helps create.

Anyway I’ve written this drivel down as it helps to clarify and I might want to look back at it. I started it this morning and have since run a rather pleasing interval session where I hit my target pace and time. I shall do my darnedest to get under 1:50 at Burnham Beeches. This is the turning point!