Event details for 2013

As you may or may not know, I’m not a charity at the moment but a awareness website with plans to change to a charity in late 2013 o 2014.

Also as you may or may not know I compete in many sporting events around the county each year to raise the profile of Bustinyourballs.org

Below are all of the events I will be competing in during 2013.

If you are interested in making a donation to the charity I support CCRT please follow this link

Thank you all in advance for you support

16th June – Ironman 70.3 UK Location: Wimbleball, Exmoor 1.2 mile swim ( lake swim with 400m uphill run to transition) 56.4 mile bike ( Tarmac course 3904ft of accent with 53 hills to climb in total) 13.1 miles run ( Mix of terrain with 1323ft of accent )

13th July – Ultra tour of the Peak District Location: Peak District, South Yorkshire 60 mile run (All on mixed terrain with 2722m of accent, not a marked course all self navigated with map and compass) 24 hours time limit

2nd – 3rd August – GrimReaper Ultra marathon Location: Grimsthorpe Castle, lincolnshire 100 mile run (All on mixed terrain, marked course) 26hr time limit

4th August – Grimsthorpe half marathon Location: Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire 13.1 mile run (All on mixed surfaces, marked course)

17th – 18th August – Hell on the Humber ultra marathon Location: East Riding, Yorkshire A run on a Looped course over and back on the Humber Bridge, doing as many loops as you can in 12 hours

7th September – 10 Peaks Breacons Location: Brecon Beacons, South Wales 89km run ( All on mixed terrain, with 10 peaks to climb with a total of 4800m in accent) 24hr time limit

19th – 20th October – Caesars camp endurance race 100 Location: Aldershot, Hampshire 100 mile run ( All on mixed terrain, with 15200ft of accent) 28hr time limit

Date TBC – Hell On The Humber Reloaded

NUTTY NOVEMBER SUMMARY

Well as you know for the last month I was running everyday with the minimum distance being 10km.

The minimum and maximum distances I ran during that time were:

Minimum – 10.04km Maximum – 29.26km

The total distance ran was:

372.58 km

231.51 miles

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL BREAKDOWN OF ALL THE RUNS

The aim was not about time but constancy of pace and encouraging people to take regular exercise.

The world is a stunning place and it looks much better outside running, cycling and doing something active than from your sofa watching TV or playing computer games.

If the weather where you are it not the best its just a matter of getting yourself out that door, Trust me once you get going it’s really not that bad.

Even if you feel unmotivated ask a friend or your partner to join you, this will make the session my fun for and make you feel more positive about exercise if the future.

Nutty November

The idea behind this month of madness is the same as May May Idea which is to try and encourage people to take regular exercise in their life’s. As you may or may not know in 2013  I’m competing in the Ironman 70.3 UK (1900m swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1mile run) on one of the hardest courses in the world, I’m also competing in a few ultramarathons which is a running event over 26.2 miles longs. I do this to raise awareness for this website www.bustinyourballs.org So as you can see I try hard to live an active life and try to encourage people to do something active a couple of times a week. What I plan to do during this month is to run 10k everyday for the whole month, but on Sundays rather than run 10k I will run 20k all with a 20lb backpack and if I can fit in other training I will. I hope some of you will try and find the time to get outside and get active I will be using a app called runmeter, and cylcemeter (when I go cycling) so I will posted a map link for all my runs, cycles under all of the relevant days, this is just so YOU know I’m sticking to it. All the best and I hope you all have Fun getting active.

JUST REMEMBER  ……………….”WINTER MILES SUMMER SMILES

Thursday 1st Activity: Swim Distance: 2.2km (cut short because of fire evacuation) Session: CLICK HERE Activity: Run Distance: 11km Route: CLICK HERE Friday 2nd Activity: Run Distance: 11.68km Route: CLICK HERE Saturday 3rd Activity: Run Distance: 10.23km Route: CLICK HERE Sunday 4th Activity: Run Distance: 20.22km Route: CLICK HERE Monday 5th Activity: swim Distance: 1775m (continuous) Activity: Run Distance:11.80km Route: CLICK HERE Tuesday 6th Activity: Run Distance: 10.05km Route: CLICK HERE Wednesday 7th Activity: Run Distance: 10.13km Route: CLICK HERE Thursday 8th Activity: Run Distance: 10.04km Route: CLICK HERE Friday 9th Activity: Run Distance: 10.35km Route: CLICK HERE Saturday 10th Activity: Run Distance:10.06km Route: CLICK HERE Sunday 11th Activity: Run Distance: 20.04km Route: CLICK HERE Monday 12th Activity: Run Distance: 10.03km Route: CLICK HERE Tuesday 13th Activity: Run Distance: 12.07km Route: CLICK HERE Wednesday 14th Activity: Run Distance: 10.25km Route: CLICK HERE Thursday 15th Activity: Swim Distance: 1600m (continuous) Activity: Run Distance: 13.62km Route: CLICK HERE Friday 16th Activity: Run Distance: 13.34km Route: CLICK HERE Saturday 17th Activity: Run Distance: 10.68km Route: CLICK HERE Sunday 18th Activity: Run Distance: 23.49km Route: CLICK HERE Monday 19th Activity: Run Distance: 14.83km Route: CLICK HERE Tuesday 20th Activity: Run Distance: 11.64km Route: CLICK HERE Wednesday 21st Activity: Run Distance: 10.40km Route: CLICK HERE Thursday 22nd Activity: Run Distance: 10.06km Route: CLICK HERE Friday 23rd Activity: Run Distance: 11.20km Route: CLICK HERE Saturday 24th Activity: Run Distance: 10.70km Route: CLICK HERE Sunday 25th Activity: Run Distance: 29.26km Route: CLICK HERE Monday 26th Activity: Run Distance: 10.59km Route: CLICK HERE Tuesday 27th Activity: Run Distance: 13.53km Route: CLICK HERE Wednesday 28th Activity: Run Distance: 12.99km Route: CLICK HERE Thursday 29th Activity: Run Distance: 10.06km Route: CLICK HERE Friday 30th Activity: Run Distance: 10.04km Route: CLICK HERE

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ONE YOU LOVE

I think having someone with you before, during and after Cancer is SO important and makes a HUGE difference in your mood and your positivity.

I know it made a big difference with me and the people who supported me before, during and after know who they are.

I saw this story posted on Facebook so I copied it and wanted to share it with you all.

MARRIED OR NOT, YOU SHOULD READ THIS …

“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I did

n’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed -dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.— At least, in the eyes of our son—- I’m a loving husband….

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.

So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you.

If you do, you just might save a marriage. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ♥

Hell On The Humber Reloaded – Helloween Madness

Date: 27th October 2012 Location: Humber Bridge Board,East Yorkshire, England
Weather: cold, windy
Terrain: Tarmac, concrete
Distance: 32 miles
Time: 6 hours

This is the 2nd part of an event organized by Toro.

The 1st part was a event called Hell On The Humber which was a 12hr race on the humber bridge in regular running  kit.

This part was a 6hr race and it was called Helloween On The Humber because it was Halloween so we all dressed up in scary fancy dress.

The structure of the race is pretty simple, you have from 6pm – 12 midnight to cross the bridge as many times as possible in the allotted time.

My journey to the event started as always at kings Cross International where for the first time I was using a company called Megabus (thank you Natalie Killick for the tip)

The standard return train ticket to Hull was nearly £70 with each journey taking around 2 1/2 hours and the Megabus prices was £22 return…BARGIN !!.

The journey was split into 2 parts, first was a 09:15 train ride to East Midlands Park Way then the second part was a coach ride from there to Hull Station.

The whole journey time was around 4 1/2 hours, not bad for £22.

Got to Hull at around 13:30 and went to by some drinks and last min food and then got a train to Hessle which was the nearest station to my accommodation for the night.

The Lodge was on the waterfront and very close to the bridge indeed.

Checked in and sorted out all of my things and relaxed for a while.

I remembered that Lee Sheil’s and his partner Wendy whom were both previous competitors at the HOTH two months previous were staying here too, so we arranged to meet and I got the first peak at what they were both wearing…..Lee – ballerina, Wendy – Wonder woman.

We a a quick catch up and they very kindly offered me a lift to the start, so I had about 30 mins to get my Sh*t together and get all scared up and ready to race.

I was wearing: Pair of 2XU compression tights 2XU compression long sleeved top Morph suit BYB logoed (without the head and feet bits) socks Thermal Neck warmer Newton shoes Gloves (well for the first 13 mile then I lost them) Plastic chains around legs, arms and neck ( for 14 miles before they broke)

We got to the start at 17:00 so I had so time to warm up and get used to the costume.

We had a briefing around 17:30 and had time to go to the loo and do the last min prep.

From the time I woke up on Saturday till 1/2hr  before the start I was eating and drinking because my work week was hard with a lot of late nights and only 7hrs sleep each night, so It was important to carb load.

6pm approached

10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1 and we’re off !!!!!!!!!!!!!

As always the first section was slightly up hill which takes you to the start of the bridge and past a wind sock which this time was blowing around a lot.

Once on the bridge it’s pretty straight forward to the other side were there is a slight decline and then the turn for the same way back.

Running with chains was a interesting experience in that you don’t have the same freedom of movement as you usually do.

In the first 4 1/2 hours of the race I must have gone to the loo about 5 times which is rare (normally I have this under control).

I must say trying to put a morph suit back on in freezing, windy conditions in not easy !!!

My running was going really well and the chains were ok for the first 14 miles but were stopping me from taking my regular stride length and I was getting a slight pain on the back of the calf muscle.

So I decided to take the chains off and from that point on I felt so much better and was running free.

Throughout the run the happiness of all of the fellow runners was great, there was lot of encouragement and “well done’s” etc.

Many people ask me why I compete in these kind of event and not raise awareness in other way and I say to them

“ The people you meet in these events inspire each other to do better”

As the night continued the weather was getting colder and the temp I think went into Minus 1 or 2 and the wind was not nice either, but I was well wrapped up and didn’t feel any cold apart from in my hands when I lost my gloves but that only lasted for about 30 mins.

The setting for the event is rather unique and we were very lucky to get a full moon so that made it special.

The midnight deadline was approaching and I was just finishing a lap when the organizer said “ you have 45 mins to try and to do other lap or you can stop now”

Guess what I did…. Of course I tried for another lap.

It was going ok until I got half way across the bridge and my quads started to burn and I was getting really hungry, so I was running on empty for the last 2 crossings of the bridge.

I was trying so hard to get there before midnight but it was wasn’t to be

I missed completing 9 laps and finishing 3rd by 3mins 21 sec.

A nice touch fro the organizes was that I got a spot price for having the guts to have a go a completing another lap in the short space of time.

I must say this event is lot of fun, all the people that organize it and the people the compete are really lovely people and I can’t wait to come back here !!!!!!!!

Pace: 4:46 – 7:48 per mile Laps (4 miles) competed in 6hrs: 8 ( 32 miles) Laps (4 miles) completed in 6hr 3min 21 sec: 9 (34 Miles)

FOR PHOTOS OF THE EVENT CLICK HERE With more to come.

London To Brighton Ultramarathon

Date: 30th September 2012 LOCATION: Blackheath,Bromley, Kent, North & South Downs, Brighton Weather: dry, very windy Terrain: Tarmac, bogs, gravel, grass Elevation: 4670ft Time: 13 – 13 1/3 hrs

This event is a totally new experience for me as you have to navigate your way from London Blackheath to Brighton with a OS 1:200 map.

Which is a big challenge as they are hard to read.

The race was also completed by a friend of mine Sam Wilson who was also raising awareness for BYB.

So Race day.

I got up at 3:15am and had already sorted my things the night before as to not be in a rush on race morning.

For breakfast I had a massive bowl on Muesli, Soya milk, bananas, macca powder, cocoa nibs and honey and a big carton of pure apple juice.

Went to meet Sam at the bus stop near my flat to get the bus to blackheath.

Got to the start location on Blackheath which was at the T.A centre, nice and warm with plenty of toilets, which is always handy on race morning.

Got registration done and did my last min race prep I also met Annie Foulds who is a friend of mine on Facebook who was doing the run to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Such a great charity !!!!!

So as 6am drew closer we all made are way to the starting area, I must say it was rather cold but I knew it would not take long before I warmed up so I didn’t wear more than I thought I should do.

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and we’re off !!!!!!

I started of at a good pace between 8:30-9-30 min/miles with the first section being a rather steep down hill, which as you may know is just as hard on the quads.

The field looked like it was a mixture of serious runners that had done races like this before and runners that were trying this out for the first time.

It was dark when we started and running through the streets while there quite is funs cause there is much less traffic.

The field started to spread out pretty much straight away with a few people running what must have been 6 min/miles.

As you know we had maps to guide us on out way.

Me and Sam went to run of part of the course about 15 days before the race, the aim was to follow the route that had been marked out for us on our OS maps..

We started off ok but got a bit confused rather a lot of the time.

It was good however that we recognized a lot of the course that we had completed before.

I realized about 30 mins into the race that I forgot to start my Garmin, in which it would tell me my pace, time,distance etc.  SILLY ME…

Got thought checkpoint 1 (10.5) miles in a good time and went straight through, no stopping for water or other fuels as I had a full water bladder in my rucksack.

I got into a good steady pace and continued this until the next checkpoint,

Checkpoint 1- (10.5 miles) cut off time – none Checkpoint 2 – (21 miles)  cut off time – 4hrs Checkpoint 3 – (29.5 miles) cut off time – 6hrs Checkpoint 4 – (38.8 miles) cut off time – 8 1/2hrs Checkpoint 5 – (48.7 miles) cut off time – 10 3/4hrs Finish (56 miles) cut off time – 13hrs

below you will find a link to my run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/228861721#

All was going really well and I was with a group of around 15-20 runners who were all working as a team to make sure we were going in the right direction.

The scenery was absolutely stunning, the course was very open running through lots of field and lots a stiles (my god there were a lot of them !!!!).

The stiles were a tricky part of the course in the fact that they stopped your running rhythm, but all the runners were in the same boat and all had to deal with it.

There were also parts of the course that were very boggy and you got ( from the knees down) covered in mud which was nice (NOT) and the water was pretty cold too.

There were also lots of parts of the course that were through low trees, sharp muddy descends, stinging nettles, bushes with lots of thorns on them.

So my legs  came out rather scathed, but when the adrenalin is pumping you don’t really feel it.

As I said all was going well and I was still with a group by the 4th checkpoint and making good time, I remember I  got to all the first 5 checkpoints within over 1hr left to the cut off.

It was about at the 41.5 mile mark that I decided enough was enough with a pain in my right foot that had been bugging me for about 8 miles now, so I stopped and the group I was with carried on.

I took my shoes off to find the very early signs of trench foot, I tried to put on another blister patch on my foot but it wouldn’t stick because of the dampness of my foot, so I just taped it on with blister tape and put a fresh pair of socks on and my shoes back on and carried on route.

During the time I had stopped no one had passed me.

I got to a pub called the Sloop Inn and was very kindly told by group of walkers that the runners had gone a certain way.

I followed their direction and went on route.

For the next 6-9 miles or so I went completely off course. It took a while for me to work out what road to take when I got to one.

I eventually got to Mill lane which was about 47 mile in (If you followed the course) so for me I was at mile 57 ish.

From here on in was a very painful part of the run I got to the last checkpoint which for me must have been 58.9 miles rather than 48.7 miles.

So I was in lots of pain and there was apparently less than 10 miles to go.

I went through a big field and got crossed the B2116 and this was the start of the most painful part of the course BLACK CAP, a part of the the course from what I heard later is a part that no one has ever run up before .

The terrain with a white clay path with very a big rocks making it very hard to run and even walk.

The journey to the top of Blackcap was a very painful one !!!!!!.

And when at the top I was greeted with a very strong side wind which was hard to run on to.

From now until the finish at Marina Way Brighton I just kept my head down and just kept saying to myself and out loud “No Pain” No Pain” “No Pain” !!!!!!!!!!!.

It was a very painful last part of the run a pain that I a never experienced before.

But it was less painful to run at a fast pace than to walk.

Some of my min/miles up to the point that I knew I wasn’t going to get to the finish before the cut off were around 8 mins.

The feeling that you aren’t going to make the cut off time is a hard pill to swallow but to carry on and finish I a good time considering I got very lost was a great achievement.

I believe that had I stuck with the group I was running with and stayed on the right course I would have finished In under 12 hrs.

My mileage was for the run was around 67miles and my time was 13 – 13 1/2 hrs.

I’m very happy with the fact that I kept going through so much pain in the last 10 miles.

Hell On The Humber

Location: Humber Bridge Board,East Yorkshire, England Weather: Humid with little or no wind Terrain: Tarmac, concrete Distance: 54 miles Time: 12 hours

This race is called Hell On The Humber for a number of reasons.

The aim is to complete as many crossings of the bridge as possible it the allotted time (6 or 12 hours) taking as little or as many breaks as you want.

I competed in the 12hr event. (of course)

I got up rather early on Friday morning and cycled to Kings Cross to collect the train tickets from a friend who had booked them on his credit card and was also meant to be competing.

But due to a personal emergency he had to fly to Jakarta on the Friday morning so was unable to race.

So after finishing work at 2:30am on Friday morning and having to meet him at 7:15am I was rather tired.zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ( not good pre race prep)

After collecting the ticket I wishing my friend the best of luck and cycled home for some sleep.

Got up again about midday for a big bowl on Muesli, banana, macca powder, honey and cocoa nibs, after that I packed and sorted the rest of my things for the event.

Armed with a 25kg backpack , 1 tent and a smaller rucksack I got a bus to Kings Cross Station for the 14:35 to Leeds. (2hr 25m train journey)

I was sitting at a table seat with 3 laddies on the way to Leeds for a hen weekend, so there was chocolates, champagne, ok mags, hello mags and lots of girly chat..going on..but i was to tired to join in, I tired to get some sleep but its always hard on trains.

So got to Leeds and bought a connecting ticket to Hull (1hr).

The b&b was just over mile away from the station which was nice considering the amount I was carrying.

The room in the b&b was really nice and had a microwave which was handy.

So I went out to buy some food for the pre race meal, I went back into Hull to what I must say is the best Tesco i have ever been in, it seriously has everything.

I got what I needed and headed back to the b&b for a feast and a early night to catch up on sleep.

I woke up at 8:30am and headed for breakfast Weetabix, soya milk banana then mushrooms and backed beans on toasted flatbread. YUM

Went back to the room and stayed there as long as I was allowed too (midday).

So around 1pm I headed to Hull Station for a train to Hessle (7 min journey) which is the nearest station to the Humber Bridge.

Got to the Hessle and made my way to the Humber Bridge Country Park.

Arriving at around 2:30pm I thought I would be a little to early to pitch my tent what with      4 & 1/2hrs to go until the event started but there were already a few people putting tents up.

So off I go to pitch me tent, I’m getting quicker at putting it up with this being only the third time I’ve do it.

So with my tent up it was time to prepare all of my nutrition for the event, I’m a vegan so I started to make my avocado, peanut butter and banana wraps, I made about 5 knowing that some of them would not be eaten until after the race due to the impact the gels and hi carb bars have on your appetite.

I also set out my cans of coconut water and caffeine & energy gels and sort all the various bit of clothing I had bought for all type of weather, attached my race number to my number belt and sat down to have some food before the start.

It’s great meeting all different types of people at these events from first timers to the very experienced and each with a story to tell.

So as 7pm was nearly upon us we all made are way to the start line and there was a count down 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and we’re off for a journey we’re never going to forget.

The first part of the route is a slight incline around to the start of the bridge crossing passing the toll and the wind sock (that never seemed to move) once on the bridge the surface is pretty much the same the whole way across, apart for the sections of yellow bumps across the path telling you to slow down.

Nearing the other side of the bridge you are greeted by a slight downhill section which is a nice recovery and then the turnaround point with a very friendly Marshall giving you all the encouragement you need and table of gels to help yourself to if you need, there was also a toilet there if you needed it, but I didn’t use that one as I didn’t fancy the uphill slog coming back for it.

I didn’t really have a race plan, with this being my second ultra marathon.

In my first one I completed in 55 miles 12 hrs but on a very different course ( wet, windy, cold, muddy, undulating) and this being pretty much the opposite so hard to compare.

The first few crossings of the bridge went well with a steady pace being set, buy the 10th mile I started to get a shooting pain down my left outer thigh which I found strange as this has never happened to me before, I just dropped to a slightly slower pace and when I got to my ten I took for paracetamol to ease the pain, this work for a couple of loops.

As I said earlier the course it pretty much flat with slight incline and decline at each end of the bridge which can catch you out as they are very deceptive in a long event like this one.

In the race you could complete as a team or as an individual doing a 6hr time or 12hr time, so as you can imagine you have people running at lot of different speeds,so I think it’s important to stick with your pace and what you have in mind as a min/ mile, I went for between 9-15 min miles.

I think this race has a lot to do with strength of the mind in the sense that you are running over the same strip over and over and over again for 6/12 solid hours so it’s hard for everyone for not get bored.

What really helped with that was the camaraderie that was going on between all of the competitor was great, this makes all the difference I think and also added a bit a fun the the event.

I managed to stick to my min/mile pace schedule until my left knee started to twitch at which point to thought oh *&%$% not again, so back to the tent it was for some more paracetamol.

The pain was coming and going and I ran for some point at a really going pace, I think I wanted to break the 55 mile point as to better my past race performance.

By 4am the pain was getting bad so a had to walk for the rest of my race (gutted), I tried to run  but it was to painful. (got to let the head rule the heart at some point).

So I had 3 hours of fast walking to do…there was NO WAY i was getting a DNF (did not finish). it this event if your doing the 6 hr race you have to still being running until 1am to get a finisher t-shirt and in the 12hr race running until 6am.

It’s always hard in races when you get overtaken by other competitors but you just have to keep a strong mind a push on.

It got 6:25am and I was on the part of my 52nd mile and approaching the finishing line, as I crossed it thought I should have time to do 1 more crossing of the bridge what with 35mins to go I should be ok, even with a bad knee.

So off I went for the final crossing of the bridge, it was a very painful one but it felt great aswell cause I had not given in to the pain which its always a GREAT feeling.

As I approached to end of the crossing there was a Marshall there marking that we had completed the crossing and offering a lift back across the bridge in a minibus which a gratefully accepted.

I got into the mini bus and there were a few runners already inside, it was great hearing everybody’s race experiences. Got back to race village and back to my tent to start sorting out everything your the journey home.

I didn’t want to lie down cause all my legs and body would stiffen up, so I started to pack my thing up and take down my tent.

After saying my goodbyes until next year or maybe before as I hear they have a Halloween humber event event in October which is a 6hr event which I will defiantly be up for.

So off the hull catch the train from Hessle to bough then to Leeds, wait 6hrs for my train to London Kings Cross and then a bus home…

Until my next event report….Happy racing

TO SEE PHOTOS OF THE EVENT CLICK HERE

Grim Reaper Ultra Marathon

Date: 13th- 14th July August 2012 Location: Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire Weather: light- heavy rain, windy Terrain: 50% tarmac, gravel,grass, boggy Distance: 100 miles (90 completed) Photos: CLICK HERE

The race is Called the Grimreaper Ultra in which you run a 10 mile loop around the grounds of Grimsthorple Castle, the distances you could choose were 40,70 or 100 miles each distance having a 26hr time limit.

I chose the 100 miles.

Well, the journey started Thursday morning with a bus ride to Kings Cross Station with a 25kg rucksack, 1 tent, small ruck sack and a heavy food bag, talk about not travelling light!

Luckily I live very close to the bus stop and the end stop is very close to the train station.

So, arrived at the station with 10 mins to get the train only to find that they have changed the whole layout and redesigned it…great, found out my train was cancelled but another one was going to Peterborough soon after so all was good.

The Journey only took just under 1hr.

I arrived in Peterborough and there was about a 10 min walk to the bus station for the 101 to Bourne, 1/2hr on the bus and I’m in Bourne.

Next step was to find somewhere to stay for the night…talk about last min.com!

For the next 30 mins I was ringing around to find somewhere…No luck..

I tried the only place in Grimsthorpe The Black Horse Inn and spoke to Sheila whom I asked if it would be possible to have a room for the night or if not was there somewhere she would allow me to put up my tent for one night, She said she thought it would be ok to put a tent up in the beer garden but would have to ring up her husband Richard to double check it was ok.

After 20 mins of waiting for the call she rang back and said it was ok…Happy Days !!!!

I popped into Sainsburys to buy them a nice bottle of wine to say thank you. Got a taxi from there to The Black Horse, knocked on the door and was met by Sheila who showed me the Beer Garden in which I could pitch my tent..

The next step was to pitch a tent that I have never pitched before as I only got it 3 days ago.

2hrs later after trying to figure out why some things were pointlessly attached to the tent and also having some food I managed to put it up and it looked great.

I went into the Pub and asked if I would be possible if they could cook anything that would be suitable for me ( I’m a vegan ).

The chef was great and said he got knock me up a ratatouille with some rice potatoes and some vegetables on the side.

The food was lovely and the staff were very chatty.

So off to bed.

Set my alarm for 6am and lay down to sleep and just then it started to rain…zzzzzzzzzzzz

Up at 6am… breakfast and de pitching of the tent said goodbye to Richard and Sheila saying that I would be back on Saturday for pint of Guinness.

It was just a 5 min walk to the castle entrance from the Black horse where there were already people waiting in their cars to get in.

7am arrived, still couldn’t get in..

A lady came over a said that we had to go via another entrance to get in.

I was given a lift by one of the other competitors who’s name escapes me.

Once in the grounds we walked from the car pack to the area where we could pitch our tents.

This was a good chance to get to know some of the other competitors..but time was ticking to the start of the event so I pitched my tent (quicker this time) and organized my food and drink supplies.

There was a 10 min race briefing which was when it started to rain, then there was about 40 mins to the start.

About 8:40am everyone started to make their way to the start which was  about 1/2 mile away.

The race started bang on 9am, everyone started at a nice steady pace..there were a couple of people that went off rather quickly though.

The location for this event is absolutely stunning the scenery beautiful and a lovely escape from busy London.

The race for me started well, I was going for a pace of 10-12 min/mile and walking on the uphill sections of the course were at some points 45º

The weather was a major factor in the race in that is made some of the course unrunable (my  new word), the worst bit being a uphill section 45º where the event organizers had to put hay down to make it slightly easier to get up..I heard a few people had some nasty falls there.

The course was very interesting with lot of mixed surfaces and lovely countryside, but the weather was horrible, it must have rain from 8:30am on Friday till until about sometime on Saturday morning around 10am

I was really happy with my first 3 laps with each one I think being around 1:45 – 2hrs each.

Clothing wise I started wearing Newton terra-momentus-trail-guidance-trainer, running socks, 2XU calf guards, running shorts, basic t-shirt, Gore Tex waterproof cycling top and Seal Skin gloves..with some Blister tape on sections of my feet that get blisters or major rubbing and also Vaseline on the top part of my thighs to stop chafing.

These all worked really well for the first 3 loop with my Newtons playing a major role in my feet’s condition.

A the end of the 3rd lap I decided to change my socks as they were a bit worse for wear and I wanted to check that the blister tape was ok and not coming off, I decided to put some new tape on anyway just to be safe, I also changed my t shirt.

The next few laps I realised that the course was getting very muddy and you had to be rather careful at some points, as you feet would go down 2-3 inches in the boggy parts.

By the 50 mile point at around 7:30pm I was told that I was the forth male in the 100 miles…GREAT !!!

I went to see the physio at this point as my leg were getting very cold, I got a quick massage and was told that Deep heat would help.

As the weather went from bad to worse I changed into some waterproof trousers and a much better waterproof jacket with a hood.

Before I went out for the next loop I prepared some avocado, peanut butter and honey wraps (which I realised now I should have done earlier as it was adding to my time). on this break I went into the admin tent where there was a physio again , I ask him to look at my right knee cause I was getting a few niggles there, he put some KT tape around it for support and I was on my way

The next loop (6th) was ok..it was even ok to wear a t- shirt, but a carried a waterproof just incase.

By the end of that loop It was starting to getting very dark, So the organisers had lined the route with glow sticks which looked really cool.

The head torch went on and I went out into the unknown.

The head torch I had which I realised then was the same color as the gravel path and the puddles (dirty yellow) which didn’t help, So I tried to stick with people who had a head torch with white beam.

After each loop I had a can of coconut water, which was good for rehydration.

Certain sections of the course were very tricky at night the boggy parts where your feet would go down about 2-3 inches on impact, I didn’t see many people running on the grass sections of the course during the night, only the tarmac sections..which was probably wise.

I think it was on either lap 7,8 or 9 that I was trying to avoid a certain part of the course that was 45º and very muddy a slippery, I went up a section of grass by a fence following to same route, got to the top a take a drink and WWWWOOOOOOWWWWZZZEEEERRRR I got a big electric shook form the fence….That woke me up.

I realised that my time per lap was getting longer cause of my left knee, I didn’t want to push it to much as to do permanent damage.so I just took it nice a easy. There were a number of people that started to DNF (did not finish) on their 7th-8th lap, by this time I was on the same lap, and time was ticking,I knew that I wasn’t going to get to the 10th lap finish but I want to do as many as possible.

I ended up doing 9 lap (90 miles) in a time of 23hr 31 mins.

I had 2hrs 29 mins to do the last lap, but with my left knee causing concern, you have to be sensible and think long term.

Things I will do differently next time

Stay at accommodation from the Wednesday if the race starts on the Friday Take less food Take a better head torch Take fewer breaks (max 5 mins) each loop manage my clothing better

Good points

I managed my fluids very well, drinking good amounts throughout my time on the course manages a good steady pace throughout didn’t push too hard with injury

MY SPLITS

RACE STARTED AT 9am

Lap 1 10:45 Lap 2 12:28 Lap 3 14:22 Lap 4 16:33 Lap 5 19:00 Lap 6 22:18 Lap 7 01:44 Lap 8 04:47 Lap 9 08:29 Lap 10 DNF

The event overall was a great experience and one I would definitely do again.

A big thanks to Keith from Fat Feet for putting on this event, to all the volunteers for cheering you on into the wee hours and a big thanks to Gary Benson and his team for keeping me legs going.

I’II BE BACK NEXT YEAR MR GRIM REAPER…….SO WATCH OUT !!!!!!!!

Ironman 70.3 UK

The day before the race I had to register, rack my bike and put all of my race things in separate bags (swim,bike and run) then I had a look around the swim exit and transition area to get myself familiar with the layout. I went to the race briefing where there were all 2000 competitors In one tent (quite a sight). after the briefing i bumped into a guy that I have swum with a few times at the Serpentine lido in Hyde Park and his wife and him very kindly gave me a lift back to my B&B. Got back to the B&B for a bath and dinner of a big bowl of couscous a few bananas and some nuts, then hit the sack around 7:30 Got up at 4:30 to sort the remainder of my things, made up some energy drinks for the water bottles, put my BYB and race body transfers on. Had breakfast ( big bowl of Muesli with macca power & coca nibs and a few bananas and headed to Wimbleball lake with Paul O’ Neill  and his wife Sarah, they very kindly gave me a lift from the B&B. There was a queue when we got near the site so me and Paul got out and headed to the transition on foot to get there on time. I got to the transition to do some last checks on my bike and a few people asked about BYB which is nice so I gave them a card and asked them to help spread the word. I then changed into my tri suit and my wetsuit, got my goggles and swimming cap,then we were told that there would be a 15min delay to the start of the race which was nice as I don’t like rushing on race morning. So the time came when we made are way down to the start of the race, Wimbleball Lake.There were two wave (pros, 18-39yrs) (& 40 Plus) as there were 2000 people so they 1000 people in each wave starting 15mins apart. So the time can get in the water, OH MY GOD !!!! SO BLOODY COLD ( I heard after the race about 10 people got hypothermia) well I took about 5-10mins to warm up, so treading water until the gun sounded sorted that..OH yes and of course I forgot to mention that we all sang “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN” before starting gun fired, which was nice. So the swim was really good, the water was pretty clear and you could see ahead of you and to the side,because it was pretty early in the morning the sun was shining straight into your eyes so I had to change my breathing patten slightly. All in all though a good time. So after the swim I started the 400+metre uphill run to transition, it was mainly on grass  and coconut matting, so in transition you had to grab your bike bag from your numbered peg,which contained all of your gear for the bike stage of the race then go to  an area to take your wetsuit etc off from the swim and put them in the bike bag (blue) then putting on your number bell ( with race number) helmet, bike shoes, gloves etc (obviously keeping you tri suit on during the whole race) then giving the bike bag back to a volunteer who kindly re-racks it for you, then i made my way to my bike and ran it out to the bike mount line and started the bike course. The bike course it a little challenging I must say, there are nearly 6000 ft of climbs in the 56 mile course but of course with that there are some descents that you can get some wicked speed up to 70km +. I’m not going to lie, it was a really tough bike course, the first lap was not too bad, but the second was where the hills really started to hurt. On the bike nutrition was I had 2 Zipvit caffeine gels ( 1 per lap) about 4 quarters of bananas, 2 x 500ml of zipvit extreme energy drink and about 10000ml of water. So by the end of the bike stage I was hurting but with all the running I have done during May I should be fine on the last discipline. I got to the bike dismount line and started running to rack my bike in it’s place, I then ran to my run bag (red) where my trainers and cap were and put all of my bike stuff in the bag and gave it back to a volunteer. I saw my parents who had come to watch with my Auntie Jill near the run exit which was a good lift. I started the run feeling pretty good, not knowing what lay ahead as I had not previously trained on the run course. I thought the bike course was bad… the run course was much worse, all mixed surfaces with a killer climb ( which you do 3 times) and up hills at different angles. I did realise that I was still wearing my cycling gloves and arms warmer from the bike stage doh, so soon as i saw my parents I gave them over. I was really hurting about 8 miles into the run but I kept going as fast as I could, at some point not really, but it was great to have the support of my Mum & Dad and Auntie Jill on the run course which really helped. The nutrition I had was 1 x zipvit caffeine gel, flat pepsi, 3 quarters of banana and 2 cups water with about 5 poured over myself. As the run stage neared its last 300 meters I started running faster and by the time I was on the famous Ironman red carpet I was sprinting towards the finish,…yippeee I DID IT !!!!!

All in all it was a really good day, there where lot of support on the course with people shouting “go on BYB” so I hope people will log on the site.

I definitely doing this event again next year and will train much harder for it…..BRING IT ON !!!!!

TIMES:

SWIM: 38:34

T1: 11:04

BIKE: 3:43:40

T2: 4:03

RUN: 2:15:53

TOTAL:6:53:15

Royal Windsor Swim

Stayed at my parents house the night before the swim so it was good to catch up and have a nice dinner together..my dad loves cooking for my vegan diet….NOT…(joking)

Got up very up (4:30am) as I was going to cycle from Twickenham to the swim and back, round trip of 70k (got a bit lost on the way back).

The swim was a good opportunity to see where I’m at with my swim times…there were three distances that you could enter 950m, 1.9k or 3.8k.

I opted for the 1.9k as that is the distance of the swim next weekend in the Ironman 70.3 UK.

I arrived with about 10 mins to spare to the start of the race (cutting it a bit too fine) just enough time to get changed and warm up my arms.

The water was really cold but got better in about 2-3 mins.

I remembered that in many swims that I have done the trick that works for me is to not go of to fast as it’s open water you have no side to push off, so it’s non stop.

I just went at a good steady pace and lots of the other swimmers went of quick, but at around 750m in I started to overtake a few swimmers and that continued for the remainder of the swim.

The swim is in the river Thames at Windsor by Alexandra Gardens which is a lovely stretch of water.

The first half or more of the swim was against the currant and the rest with it.

I Was really happy with my performance and  feel good for the Ironman 70.3 UK next Sunday.

unofficial time: 46:44

I managed to cover my bike with the BYB bike cover very kindly printed for me by Blade Printing, I hope it got a few looks.