Untitled by johndoddydunne at Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by johndoddydunne at Garmin Connect - Details

Meltham 10k 2012

The runners were greeted with snowy hills and icy roads this morning, it certainly was chily at the start with my car registering -2 degrees!

It was a very casual affair, people gathered around the starting area around 9:30 and we were bunched up ready for the start.  I was close to the back and I didnt hear any sort of official "GO!", but when everyone started moving in front of me, i clicked my watch, and off we went.

The initial mile or so was quite annoying. Lots of people cramped into small roads leads to lots of dodging and bumping into people until everyone finds their place and the field spreads out a bit, it would have been nice for there to have been some indication of finishing time, and lining up accordingly, but it wasnt too bad.  I enjoy passing people anyway!

I got into a nice rhythm as we hit the first hill and i ploughed on strongly, not letting anyone past.  Felt good.

I have decided this will be my last road race.  I just find it boring.  I can handle the exertion if I'm jumping over tussocks, slipping on rocks, splashing through puddles and dodging sheep, but on a road....plod....plod....plod......i just find it really hard to get motivated.

Another reason I'm giving up roads is....it makes my feet hurt!  I haven't run on roads in ages and well....it felt like I was at the gym doing some kind of foot workout!  It burns, especially on the uphills!

This reduced me to a walk up some of the hills, constantly having to stop and shake them out.  I would stop, shake them out and get passed by people, who i would then pass when i set off, but then they would pass me again as I stopped.  I pretty much lost all motivation.

One plus from the race was the final downhill!  I found this amazing.  It was steep, and I think a lot of people are scared to run this fast....

Luckily, i have been throwing myself down much steeper hills with many more hazards recently, so I just flew down here, getting to a speed of 5.08minutes per mile, with a HUGE grin on my face as I passed lots of people.

I ended up finishing in 53.25.  Very disappointed with that, I should have been under 50 by a minute or so, but my constant walking and stopping, and lack of motivation ruined my race.

From now on, I am a fellrunner!

Best trail mapping resources. Planning offroad routes.

If you're anything like me, the best part of running is getting out in the fresh air, in the great outdoors and next to nature.

If you live in a town or any built up area, this can be hard.

For planning road routes, programs like google maps are perfectly fine, but how can you properly plan offroad routes?  How can you know which mud tracks are public footpaths and which are just made by the people who live there?  If you're not in the know, you could get into all kinds of trouble!

Today I will share a few tips on how to plan offroad routes and not get shot by farmers!

The key is using ordinance survey maps (OS maps) here in the UK as they are made in conjunction with local councils and list all the correct public rights of way.

Bikehike
www.bikehike.co.uk

This is my personal favourite.  Bikehike consists of two screens, one google satellite map, and another OS map.  The great thing is that if your mouse cursor is over the OS map, it will display its position in the google map too.  This is great for offroad paths because you can plot a route on the OS map, but it will also show up on the google map, so you can see if there is actually a physically worn path there, which makes navigation easier. 

You can also download routes you create as GPX, KML or TXC.

OS Getamap

http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/

This site is owned by Ordinance Survey and so is the most reassuredly up to date OS map available.  The reason I like this site is that you can zoom in further than any other OS map i have found whilst still keeping the public rights of way visible, and is really handy for when you need just a bit more detail to your paths.  You can create routes and download them in GPX and KML.

The Hug Maps

http://maps.the-hug.net/

The functionality of this site is very similar to both bikehike and osgetamap and for route planning purposes you would do perfectly fine with them.  The reason I like this site is for its large working area.  If I am doing an ultra, or any long race, I obviously carry a map, but instead of wrestling with a full size OS landranger type monstrosity, I can plot my route on here, take a screenshot, then print it out on a more conveniently sized sheet of A4, or smaller.  The best technique is to plan your route on bikehike or osgetamap, download the file as a GPX or KML, then upload it to this site for printing.

Google Street View on Google Earth

www.earth.google.co.uk/

I use this more as a reassurance tool when it comes to planning new offroad routes.  Sometimes, even though they are clear on OS maps, entrances to footpaths can become overgrown, in tumbled town walls, or even down farmers driveways.  What I do is simply create my route in bikehike, save it is a KML and upload into into google earth.  From google earth I can then zoom into street view, and check the essential points where my route goes from offroad track to road, then find where the next track entrance is.  This is very handy and gives you a little insight into your route before you physically go there.  It is perfect for picking out gaps in walls, public footpath signs and potentially, footpaths that have been forgotten about and might not be accessible.

My Miracle Barefoot Cure, Vibrams Fivefingers + Plimsols

The first time I decided to take running seriously, I went a bit silly.

I had been pumping weights in the gym like so many other young men my age.  I felt fit, strong and healthy.  Full of life and busting with enthusiasm.

I have a sister that lives about 16 miles away and I thought, bugger it, I'm gonna run over to her!

Being the intrepid internet explorer that I am, I knew very well the recommendatory 10% rule.  To start off with  only a mile or so and build it up.

But of course, being young and dumb, I set off feeling fit as a fiddle.

Needless to say, by mile 10, I was a train wreck.  I forgot to mention, this run was in a brand new pair of snazzy cushioned running shoes.  I couldn't walk, nevermind run.  The pain was immense.  I honestly felt as though I'd broken something in my foot, and I had to limp the remaining 6 miles to my sisters house, looking like a zombie.

This would prove to be the start and the bane of my running life.

After I got home, the next morning I couldn't walk, so off I hobbled to the A&E room.  They gave me an X-ray and I had a metatarsal stress fracture in my right foot.  Went to see a podiatrist and I was diagnosed with plantar faciitis, metatarsalgia and achilles tendonitis, all in my right foot!  So much for being young and invincible. My first step into the running world was to be my last for a few months.

All I could think about after this was getting better and getting back out on the roads!  All I wanted to do was run!

Slowly but surely over the next few years I got back running again, but still plagued by these same injuries in my foot.  One week they would be fine, but the next I would be a limping wreck.

Then I read about the whole barefoot running craze, and how it can help fix things like this.

I am a real sucker for new research and ideas so I thought i'd give it a go!

I started off by buying a snazzy new pair of Vibram Fivefingers KSO  as they looked the least feminine!  I used them over summer just as regular shoes for the gym, doing the shopping, going on walks, all the regular day to day activities, just walking.

The first thing I noticed about walking around in them is that, damn, my feet are sore!  But not in the places i was injured.  This felt more like muscle pain.  Like you were doing bicep curls in the gym, except with your feet.  It seemed I was using muscles in my feet that I have pretty much never used before!

After a few weeks, I could walk in them with no muscle burning at all.  So it doesnt take a genius to work out that the reason for this was, my feet got stronger!

One big problem with the vibrams is, lets face it, they look pretty damn stupid.  I could just about get away with them in the gym, and maybe walking round town in summer doing shopping.  But try to go to a bar, or a restaurant in them, and you will get some funny looks!   This didnt particularly bother me, but my girlfriend hated it!  So I came up with a solution.  Remember those horrible flat thin pumps you used to wear at primary school for P.E?  Well they are the perfect compromise!   I found a pair online from a shop that actually sells school pumps, but you can find them on ebay for damn cheap.   They are flat bottomed, thin soled and extremely flexible, which is essentially what the vibrams are.

So for a good few months, I was walking in nothing but "barefoot" footwear.


Quite a few months has passed between now and then, and the reason for writing this article is that, I realise.....I have no more foot pain.

I am running about 50 miles per week and I am totally pain free!

I am hesitant to say that the barefoot walking cured it, but it certainly seems that way !

You can find a good selection of Vibram KSOs here.

And these are the types of pumps that are perfect!

Beetroot juice for Ultra marathons. A test.

If you're even a little bit interested in sports nutrition, no doubt you will have heard about one of the latest crazes; beetroot juice.

According to scientists at Exerter University, it can increase your time to exhaustion by 16%.

Now, 16% may not seem like much to a 10k runner, but to someone who is running a 50 mile ultra in 12 hours, that 16% would knock nearly 2 hours off it!

Now I am sceptical to make such broad sweeping mathematical statements.  I very much doubt that 16% will scale up perfectly no matter what the distance, and besides, there are plenty more factors in ultras as to why people go slow, cramp, sickness, muscle fatigue etc, but even if there were an 8% improvement, or a 5% improvement, that would still be significant in an ultra.


In the study, the scientists at Exeter gave their test subjects 500ml of beetroot juice per day and told them to sip it throughout the day.  500ml is a heck of a lot of beetroot juice, and the only brand they sell in the supermarkets costs £2.99 for 1000ml.  That is a lot of beetroot juice and money per week!

I am going to be a little more money savvy with my test.  I decided I would buy 1000ml per week, over 7 days.  So thats 1000/7 = which is roughly 140ml.  The scientists told the subjects to sip throughout the day.  Im not willing to carry it with me everywhere, and besides, it tastes horrible, so I will take a quick shot of 70ml in the morning, and 70ml in the afternoon.

I started this on Monday 23rd, and I have a 10k coming up on Sunday, so I'll report back to tell how it goes.

The true test will be in an ultra.

I may have to just go out on the local trails for a few hours and see how I feel.

Not quite a scientific test but it will definitely be an honest one!

White Holme Circular

15th of January 2012. The Summit Inn

This was my first step into the world of fellrunning.  Organised by the FRA (Fell runners association) these are short, fast races of about 5-10 miles over open moorland.

The Summit Inn

The White Holme Circular was set in the beautiful west pennine area near Todmorden, notorious for its valleys that delve into the dark shadows created by the steep and unforgiving surrounding hills.

I was pleasantly suprised to find that me and my friend Jack (his first time too) were a couple of the first people there.  Seeing as we only arrived 45 minutes before the race started, it seemed it would be quite a laid back affair.

After signing on we decided to have a little warmup, up and down the road outside the race office (The Summit Inn) and the atmosphere was very friendly, with many more doing to same. Everyone was full of smiles, and greeted you with a nod and a "morning!".   Not a sniff of pretentious athletes, which was a relief from several 10ks I've done, where you just feel like the air is hostile, and people are scoping you out!  Everyone would be happy to help.  This felt more like a charity walk or a barbecue!

At around 10:30, all the competitors slowly made their way to the starting area.  Full of laughs and banter, you wouldn't think we were about to embark upon an 8 mile fell race.  Some even looked quite hungover, but I would later learn this is a fellrunners tradition!

The start

The race organiser quite casually counted us in, and off we went.  I said to myself I would just go as hard as I could and not worry about my placing, good job really!  About 30 meters from the start, the runners turned off the main track and went left up onto the first and only hill of the day.  I don't mind the odd incline, but fellrunning is quite different to road running.  This incline was steep.  From the valley floor up to the moortop, a mile and a half of uphill.  Luckily, people of all different abilities take part in these races, and walking uphill is quite common in the midpack area.  I'm sure the best run up most, but for many of us, a brisk powerwalk up the hill was enough to keep our heart rates sky high!

After the brutal first incline, things got a lot more tame.  Surrounded by the beautiful moorland, the bulk of the race consisted of flat, well beaten paths around reservoirs, the occasional muddy moorland patch, and a few hundred meters of stone slabs.

The beauty of fellrunning is, everyone suffers the same.  It doesn't matter if you're in 1st or 101st, everyone goes as hard as they can, and everyone is in the same pain.  This really becomes clear after the first few miles.

I had settled into a group of about 15 runners, all gasping for dear life like me, and it was a real challenge to keep up, and I found myself trying to beat them.  These were my competitors.  They were in my league and I would accomplish something in this race by beating them!

One of the reservoirs 

I forget how many I passed, or how many passed me.  I was quite concentrating on not dying, to be quite honest!

After a good 7 miles on the flat, the route returned to the top of the first uphill, and for the last mile and a half it would be a case of just throwing yourself downhill!  This is where serious time and places can be gained.  I threw myself down the steep hill with no regard for my own safety, trying to pass my competitors.  It felt as if my bones were going to break apart!  It seemed to go on for longer than the uphill, I was enjoying myself but I couldnt wait to get to the bottom.

Eventually, I made it to the finish line in 1 hour 27 minutes, and my Garmin actually said 9.1 miles, not the stated 8 miles.  I didnt mind, as I had set myself a target of 1 hour 20 minutes for 8 miles, so to come in just 7 minutes later having done another 1.1 miles, I was happy.

Everyone was jubilant at the finish line, and I shared tales of my grief and joy with the people hovering around the drinks table, laughing about this and that.  It was a nice atmosphere, and I hope to see these faces at the next race!

My only complaint is that the course was too flat!  I would rather have a bit of uphill, and a bit of downhill.  Not just Up, flat, and down.  I was told this was very unusual for a fell race, so I look forward to seeing the next course.

Overall I came in 72nd out of about 100.  Which I am reasonably pleased with.

Race reccomended!

Race review: Hell on the Humber 2011

My first ultramarathon review from my first ultramarathon, Hell on the Humber.

The Hell on the Humber is a 12 hour ultramarathon in which competitors complete as many 4 mile laps as they can within the 12 hour time limit.  The set for this race was the grand wonder of the north, the Humber bridge.  The bridge is a long slog at 2 miles, so one lap equals across the bridge, and back.

12 hours is a heck of a long time to be running, so the organisers thankfully allowed competitors to set up tents near the start which was particularly handy for me as I was unsupported.  I could stash all my food and drinks in my tent and return to it as i pleased to send updates to family, and fuel up!

I was pleased to see that the weather was fine,  No wind or rain to speak of, it looked like a pleasant day to do it!

So the race started off at 7pm on Saturday afternoon at a rather unexpectedly pleasant pace.  Usually in races, people go off far too fast for me and I feel as if i'm slacking!  But thankfully it was nice and relaxed and for the first couple of miles I stayed with the pack.  

The bridge, rather than being flat is more of a long sweeping arch which means that you are continually going either up or down ever so slightly.  At either end of the bridge this is much more pronounced, and after the first couple of laps, these two sections became my walking breaks.  The middle section, although not totally flat, is perfectly runnable.  

As the evening went on, darkness drew in  and we were all treated to a magnificent sunset which for a time distracted everyone and as twilight set in there seemed to be a calm, happy mood among the competitors.

For me, much like many other competitors, the longest section of the race was the period between 11pm and 3am.  This was the part of the race when I slowly noticed the familiar faces I had been passing for the last few hours disappear.  Although I would only see these faces for seconds upon crossing paths, I developed a kind of friendship with them, asking how they felt, and getting the same answer every time gave us all a chuckle!  

The bridge became a lonely place during these hours, and the loneliness was only broken by the occasional person plodding/limping along, hardly looking conscious with blank lifeless expressions.  This is when you knew it was getting tough.  Even the start checkpoint was getting quiet, with only the bare bones staff there to record laps, and the odd marshal clapping rather less enthusiastically than they had been 6 hours previously.

If anyone told you that at some point in the race they didn't think "why am I here?", they would be lying.  It often crossed my mind that I could be sat in front of the TV with my girlfriend on one side of me, and a pizza on my lap!  Luckily its these kinds of thoughts that helped me push on.  Everyone else is on their arses at home, but I was proving to the world what I was capable of.  How my mental strength was greater than theirs! 

My mood was finally lifted with the rising of the sun.  I don't think I have ever seen such a beautiful sunrise, mostly because I was so happy to see it.  

Then a strange realisation occurred.....

I spent most of the race wanting it to be over, but now time was going too fast!  The cutoff was 7am, and I had to think about how many laps that allowed me to do.

I was aiming for 50 miles, and I arrived back at the start having finished 48 with only 20 minutes to spare, not enough time for another half lap.  

I was fairly gutted but at the same time relived that I didnt have to go out again.

For my first ultra race, and my longest ever run by more than double, I was pleased.

I came 32nd out of more than a hundred people, I may have a talent for this ultrarunning thing afterall!

My Ultrarunning philosophy. Who is suited to ultrarunning? More people than you think!

I think a lot of normal people like me, who want to do ultra marathons, dont have time for clubs or a strict training schedule.  I even would say if I am part of the majority, we dont even have any natural talent toward ultra running.

The sad truth is, I am never going to be a fast 100 meter sprinter or a 2:30 marathon runner.  I dont have the right genetics to be a world class runner.  The physical boundaries that block me, the sheer fact that my heart, lungs and muscles are not capable of achieving such amazing speed and endurance should tell me that I will never be any good at running.

But luckily, me and many many average and below average people like me have a huge asset that is not bound by genetics, vo2 max, lactate thresholds or any other scientific sporting jargon.

Your mind!

I dont want to sound like a religious crazy but its true.  I might not be physically able to run a marathon in olympic time, but I can damn well run very slowly for a long long time.

No doubt this does use your body a bit, and fatigue does definitely set in.  But as long as I stay within my physical parameters, the only thing that will limit my performance is my mind.


I have a theory about why I tend to place well in ultra events.  It seems the longer and the more boring the race, the less appealing it is, and the higher the pure boredom factor, the better I perform.  The truth is that anyone fast enough to run a quick marathon will compete in a marathon.  Anyone who can run a quick 10k will do 10ks.

With very little training, last year I ran to 32nd in a 12 hour ultramarathon.  Had I managed an extra mile I would have jumped to mid 20s!   I did this simply with a strong head and a strong attitude.  I told myself that I was going to go forwards for the whole 12 hours, even if it was a walk.  Relentless forward progress.

Sure, there were the genetically gifted runners who managed 70+ miles in the 12 hours, but I was well prepared for that.

Placing around me in the 20s and 30s were all people similar to me.  Middle aged men and women who werent athletes.  They were just ordinary people, most not even part of clubs.

This just goes to prove my point that ordinary people CAN be above average athletes, where the most important part of your training is not physical but mental, and those genetically inferior people who have a strong will can be successful in sport!

So for all you average and below average runners out there, with no natural talent, but heaps of mental strength, ultrarunning is for you!