Adventuring, ultras & pushing my limits

I have developed a desire to go on a great adventure, prompted by the Night of Adventure talk I went to recently [blog post here].  I've been thinking about it an awful lot in the last few weeks...what adventure could I get involved in that could truly change how I view myself, how I view life? What could I do that would push me beyond the boundaries I seem to have set for myself, and beyond those other people seem to think I should be limited by.

I believe that by becoming a marathon and (soon to be) ultra marathon runner, I've already started to really change and extend those boundaries, but I've been thinking about just how far I could go too - whether I have the strength of character, the physical capability, and the utter obstinance required to actually, voluntarily, put myself through sheer hell to come out the other side...and for it to be a positive experience.

The fruits of Jerry's 100 mile labour

As well as going to the Night of Adventure talk, I followed the exploits of some of the awesome runners taking part in last weekend's hypothermia inducing Thames Path 100 mile race (see Jerry Smallwood's great race report here) which has totally inspired me, and I was watching a documentary last night about David Walliams who last year swam 140 miles of the Thames in 8 days to raise money for the charity Sports Relief, the same charity that Eddie Izzard was supporting when he ran his 43 marathons across Britain.  It just reminds me how possible it is for someone like me, an ordinary anyone, to do something extraordinary and astonishing if they entirely commit themselves to it, work hard enough, and want it enough.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across an amazing challenge that was looking for participants...an all-female crew, called aptly enough, The Coxless Rowers, attempting to make and break 2 World Records for rowing the Pacific ocean in 2013!! It's a row of three stages, and they're looking for two women for each stage - to row from San Francisco to Hawaii, from Hawaii to Samoa and then for the last leg, from Samoa to Cairns - about 7,500 miles in total!

I met up with one of the team that is putting the crew together, and although it's a remote prospect that they would pick me to be part of such an incredible adventure (you know, with never having sailed or rowed even on a river before!) I've been incredibly excited about the idea.  The physical challenge would be extreme to say the least, the psychological strength needed to carry on, day after day in such hard conditions would be immense, and the satisfaction and pride at completing would surely be second to none.

It shouldn't have been a surprise, but it's incredibly expensive to take part in a challenge like this - the total budget is about £300,000 - and not only is there the money needed to actually fund the trip (about £28,000 per crew member, per leg of the journey) but obviously having to give up work for the duration means saving up the money to keep paying the rent and the bills at home, even for the time when you'd be away rowing. Of course, the majority of the costs would be met through sponsorship, and then each individual personally funds a smaller proportion, which I imagine is really airfares to the US and then home, and accommodation for the time you're not rowing between the stages, and then of course the cost of the time off work.  It's an absolutely amazing opportunity though that would be, in all senses of the word, a true adventure that would undoubtedly change my life.  It's so entirely outside of my comfort zone though (i.e in a boat not on my feet) that it's also a pretty scary prospect - but maybe that's why it's so exciting!  As I say though, being a real landlubber I would be surprised if I have the skill base that would make me a viable crew-member, but I feel lucky to be involved even on the periphery of such an awesome undertaking.

We shall see if I get through what are going to be very competitive and rigorous selection stages.....

Anyway, on the back of this new desire to push myself to obscene limits, I'm also thinking about signing up for a multi-day (on foot!) ultra event.  I haven't even completed my first marathon distance of the year, or my first ultra of ever, and am already considering an even harder test, despite it probably being sensible to see if I can actually manage a single ultra distance first! Nevertheless, I've come up with three races that have gone on my bucket list.

* The Trans Britain Ultra (See the video below - run in September, 156 miles in 6 days, an average of a marathon a day, from Bruces Caves in Scotland, through England, to Ruthin Castle in Wales)


* The Brathay 10 in 10 (run in May, 10 marathons in 10 days, around Lake Windermere. It's a race that's inspired me since I first joined twitter and started to understand what the ultra community was all about)



JOGLE Ultra (run in April, from John O'Groats to Land's End which is 863 miles in 16 days, an average of 54 miles per day).

Now these are three BIG races.  Although I'm not sure I'd class taking part as a great adventure, I know that the challenge to complete them would be immense, and the commitment to training for them would be unlike anything I have ever experienced, and at the moment, probably can't truly imagine.  However, they are also events that I can actually, realistically, see myself being involved in one day; although I have absolutely no idea if I would be able to row a boat, I know in my heart that I can run.

I have no concept of when I could be ready to consider actually signing up for the 10 in 10 or JOGLE ("some day" is as close as I'm getting to a date at the moment) but there is a pretty big part of me that's thinking maybe, just maybe, I could be ready for the Trans Britain Ultra this year.  It's 6 months away...surely that's enough time to train coming from my current base...isn't it?!

I think I might need to buy some trail shoes...

[Reminder: I promised Francis that after the July ultras I'd take a break from racing for 6 months, and just run a few times a week to keep my fitness levels up. We might need to review that]

Becoming a gym bunny?

About eight months ago, I realised that my good intentions weren't enough to make my gym membership a worthwhile expense...I hadn't actually set foot inside the place for months!  So, I cancelled, and to be honest didn't miss it at all, even during the winter weather - I'm a runner, and I run outside, so what did I need with the gym?!

However, I've recognised that what lots of people say is probably right...you can't just run.  Well, obviously you can, and that's great, but to be the best I can be (and reduce the chance of injury) means losing the extra weight I'm carrying, working with some weights and getting in a bit of cross training - the cardio workout I get through my running isn't enough.  Now don't get me wrong, I'll never run on a treadmill (because I hate that more than anything) and I'm not planning on reducing my mileage, but I am planning on supplementing my training and to this end, this weekend I rejoined the local LA Fitness, which has recently had a massive refurbishment and is a far cry from the paint-peeling, mould growing in the showers, AC doesn't work type of place that it was before!

What I'm planning is to go swimming one morning a week, and having a gym workout another morning - so I'm not aiming too high, but hopefully that will be enough to make a difference when I combine it with running 3, 4 or 5 days a week.  My first session back in the gym is tomorrow morning so I'll be getting up early, joining @6amCLUB and going for a workout!

---

[Just to update - I made it to the gym on Tuesday, although didn't manage to get up early so went after work.  I exercised really hard, I put in loads of effort.  I had to stop while I was on the bike as I thought I was going to pass out.  Then I ran home.  I'm going back this Tuesday and am very glad I joined!]

New shoes!

Last week I was lucky enough to be asked to review some running shoes from the Sports Direct website and, of course, I was more than happy to - I got to pick a pair with a value of up to £50 and then give them a go.

I've got to say that I would never have considered buying running shoes for £50 before, or just going online and buying a new make/model without having tried them on, but I was really impressed with the whole experience.  There were a fair number of shoes to choose from, some good discount prices, and and enough information about the shoe to make a decision about the level of support it offered.

I had to choose from the "Running Shoes" section of the website so I knew all the shoes would have been designed for pounding the streets, and as there was a price limit (and I'd only recently bought some new Asics) I decided to do what I never do, and just chose some trainers that I thought looked good!    After much consideration I got a pair of these gorgeous Nikes:

Ladies Nike LunarSwift +3

I wear a size 7 (UK) in normal shoes, but always have to size up in trainers so I decided to order to size 8 (UK).

I get very excited about new trainers, and when they arrived on Friday morning I couldn't help myself but put them on straight away and wear them to work - I'm lucky enough to work in an office where jeans and trainers are ok!  I would never do that with normal running shoes...but I just thought they looked so cool! :)

Having bought my new shoes online without trying them on, I was really surprised that they actually fit me really well - sizing up was definitely necessary though.  They've got a wide toe-box, which might be a bit much for some people, but it meant my square clod-hoppers had all the room I needed to be comfortable which is often a problem for me. They also have an unusual upper, where the tongue isn't separate and you can't really open the shoe up too much, so you just have to squeeze your foot in.  Although this means that potentially (I imagine) over time the upper around the ankle might get stretched or damaged, it also means that straight out of the box, these trainers fit my ankle and the top of my foot perfectly.  They're snug, don't slip at all, but not too tight either.  The other noticeable difference in the Nikes to my normal trainers, is the very pronounced arch support - in fairness though, the website does specifically call them high arch trainers...I've found this in other Nikes though and it does feel a bit weird, but isn't uncomfortable, and just something that I imagine I'll get used to.

After wearing my new shoes for the day at work, and being relatively confident I wasn't going to get any rubbing, on Friday night I took them out for a run - I planned to do at least 4 miles (so a turn around at 2 if they were hurting) but ending up doing 10 miles in them.  They're very light, and although it was immediately obvious that they don't have the underfoot impact cushioning of my Asics (an absolute world away from the Kayanos) I found myself naturally mid-foot striking in them, and so didn't have any problems, and after a mile or so didn't feel the arch support, and was quite comfortable running in them for an hour and a half.  I was really surprised that a pair of £50 trainers I hadn't tried on before buying them could turn out to be so successful!

As a heavier runner though, who gets lazy and heel strikes when I tired, I do think I need decent impact cushioning for my long runs and for the 20 miler I ran yesterday, I reverted to my Asics (which, if I'd bought them online, I know realise would have been a damn sight cheaper!)  I'm very happy with the new Nikes though, and think I'll probably continue to use them for shorter runs, if only to encourage my mid-foot strike..and also because I really enjoyed running in trainers that I think look great!

The beauty of photographs

More and more races these days seem to have official course photographers (or rather, arrange for a company to come and take photos of the event).  I really value this, as I tend to go to races on my own and there's no-one to take any pictures for me!  Although the resulting photos are usually extortionately expensive, I usually end up buying a couple. 

Sussex Sport Photography.com were the company working at this weekend's Roding Valley Half Marathon, and, I suppose because it was a lapped course, there were lots of opportunities to take pictures, but even so I was really surprised, and pleased, to see that when the race gallery went live online there were loads of photos of me...the grand old total of 18! 

There was a package deal if you bought all of the photos, which worked out much cheaper than buying the ones I particularly wanted, so although it made a ridiculous dent in my wallet, I forked out for the lot of them.  They all looked good in the low-res quality that were online, and I was really looking forward to getting the high-res ones that I'd ordered...and they arrived today.

As you'll see, I've scattered a few of them through my blog post about the race and I'm really pleased with how those ones came out - in fact all of them are great from a technical point of view - colour, clarity, sharpness etc!

However..... most of the photos that I haven't used in my blog, I really hate and it's through no fault of the photographers.  

It's because they show me how I really look...which is of course the beauty of photographs!  The ones that I've chosen to put on the blog have all fortuitously caught me in a relatively flattering position but most of the other ones haven't, and it's a real reminder (read slap in the face) that although I lost a fair bit of weight last summer, I've started putting it back on, and I never got down to where I wanted to in the first place!

So, the photos are a wake-up call.  I've had a lot of those in the past, and blogged about "how this time I'm sorting out my diet", but it never seems to last, and I usually forget about whatever the wake-up call was, about the time that I fancy a biscuit or someone brings in cake to work, or we decide to have pie and chips for dinner.  

I think I need to print out a few of the really shockingly wobbly photos and tape them to the fridge and store cupboard!!  Just imagine how fast I'd run if I was skinny! :)

Roding Valley Half Marathon

Yesterday, I ran the Roding Valley Half Marathon, my 13th half marathon since I started running. Unlucky for some, but it was a gorgeous sunny day and I managed to get a PB so I shouldn't think of it as unlucky for me, but it was a bit of a weird one and I've come away not as happy as I should be.

I really wasn't feeling all that great about the race.  I knew it was going to be very hilly, and my 6 miles on Saturday had been a bit too much like hard work, so I wasn't very confident that I was in the best shape to have a good race. However, getting up on Sunday was easy, I was in a great mood, and feeling very keen so headed off full of the joys of spring ;) I arrived, parked up, picked up my number and timing chip without any problem (although I really don't like having to pick up my number...much prefer having it sent out to me) and got myself sorted out before having a bit of a warm up and lining up.

It's a track start (and finish) which was great but from early on it was apparent just how congested the course was going to be - I don't know if in recent years they have allowed more people to run but I don't think the route is suitable for the numbers of us that there were, as pavements were generally very narrow along some pretty busy roads, with lots of parked cars along them and without any road closures - it just wasn't that fun.  A couple of times I got beeped at by cars as they passed, and I saw other vehicles come very close to runners...and many of the motorists seemed to get really annoyed at having to wait for us to cross the road.  The route was also very suburban - I don't think I'd plan a training run around such uninspiring roads, never mind have a race route around them!

But any way - the route isn't what was significant for me about the race.  On Saturday, I'd been thinking about what I was going to aim for, and decided that on a regular day on a flat course, I should be able to run 8.30 min/mile which would get me a 2 minute PB.  However, as I said, I really wasn't feeling it, and this course was hilly, and so I started the race with 8.30 very much in the back of my mind, but with a sub-2hr race my real target which would leave me running at marathon pace of 9 min/miles.

When we started, I went off at a comfortable pace (although as always at the beginning of a race at bit slower than ideal because of the crowds) and although my first three miles were pretty much warm ups, by the time I got to mile 4 I ran it in 8:09. Mile 5 was 8.25 and then I managed to get really consistent and ran 6,7,8 all at 8.23!  I was amazed at the pace showing on my watch, especially with the hills, and then put in 8.16 for mile 9! Mile 10 was harder for me, with 8.37 showing on the watch, but someone running close by to me was pacing their friend, and she kept shouting all of these motivational phrases: "you've put all the hard work in, you can't let this go", "come on, this is where you've got to dig deep" "keep going" "just run a few seconds faster" and so on.... It really helped motivate me as my legs were starting to feel heavy & I waited for my surrogate coach at the finish line to thank her for her help!

Anyway, by this time I realised that my average time was still looking much faster than I'd expected - I was under 8.30 average pace and I realised that I was definitely on for a PB and so started to try and dig even deeper.  It's a shame I hadn't done it earlier, but got mile 12 done in 8.28, and mile 13 was my fastest mile of the race as it dawned on me that I might just get a sub 1:50...I ran it in 7.56!  I managed a sprint finish for the line (my Garmin recorded that .1 of a mile at 6.44) and I was checking my watch to see how I was doing, knowing I was so close to a PB time that I NEVER thought it would be possible for me to achieve. I was really excited that I might just do it, as well as being aware that it was great that I was still feeling strong enough to run well.

I crossed the finish as fast as I could, stopping my watch as soon as I got under the gantry.  I glanced down at it, and it read 1:50 and my stomach just dropped away, I was really disappointed. My official chip time was 1:50:02...just a few seconds over a sub 1:50 time, but still a PB of 3 mins 20 seconds on a hilly course, having run 6 miles the day before.  I should have been absolutely over the moon at running 1:50 and I think every other race I've ever run, I would have been.  But this time was different...I couldn't believe I had let a sub 1:50 time slip through my fingers.

When I got home, I wandered out into the back garden to find Francis.  He couldn't believe though that I was disappointed by running a few seconds short of a sub 1:50.  It is still a great time, and now a bit of time has past, I am very pleased...incredulous even that I ran 1:50.  I came 35th out of 178 in my age group, and 55th out of 276 ladies...but my overwhelming memory from this race will be the disappointment I felt as I crossed the line which is a real shame.

---
As the weather was still so lovely, after a bit of a rest, I went out again to get a few more miles in, and ended up running an extra (very slow and steady) 7, giving me 20 miles for the day.  I felt pretty good about having done it, and as my next race is a 20 miler in a couple of weeks, am feeling much more confident than if I'd left it at 13 for the day.  Surprisingly my legs don't feel too bad this morning either which is a result...although my back is complaining so going to have a massage tomorrow :)