Sunday 19 October 2008

Sherwood Pines (Duathlon, my first)

I entered my first Duathlon today it was called the 'Evil sheriff of Nottingham Duathlon' and was at Sherwood Pines Forest, it started near to the 'Go Ape' if you know where that is and was run by Pacesetter Events.



I entered at a cost of £25 as road running was getting a tad boring and I'd had me bike fixed of late.

I was up at the crack of dawn and off the Sherwood in the dark, we arrived in good time and registered, let it be done i had done no training for this event since my last poor marathon in Loch Ness less than two weeks previous....it could get messy er and it did.



It was a 6K run followed by triple the same distance (x3 laps of running route) on bike and then a short 4K run to finish, I was of the assumption that it would not be too hilly, and I was of the asumption that I was a good biker and would catch people on the biking sections.



The reality was that I pegged it at the start in the top 30 runners, but this soon faded as my lack of training kicked in, i really must stop trying to blag these events expecting a good time or position when I have not trained at all....I will learn.



The running section was longer than expected and alot hillier and this was to be ridden 3 times and that meant taking on 3 uphill sections which was so hard...



the transition was fun, you had to run the bike through and run the bike out, I undid my helmet strap and got warned to put it on, f**king H&S.... I could see from the Bikes left that I wasnt doing to well really but then what did expect, i hit the track and took about 6 people but then hit the hill, which in no uncerain terms killed me, i soon realised that any post Winterberg training was not going to save me as the run ahd nailed me, this was a slog and that was all I had to do, some of the biking was excellent through trees and crossing in between over a few jumps and had some fast downhills but also painfull up hills as well.



Stephanie was helping direct riders on the course and so saw me suffer 3 times...i must have looked a state ha ha.

The last part was a small run, but when you get off your bike, i found i could hardly run at all, and of course I was spent, i struggled but pulled away from my competitors near me on the hills.



I finished in 109 place (43rd of my age group 35-45)

To be honest its a bad result for me and its all due to being lazy and not geting the training in, but it was great fun and id definatly do another one....

I then went back to the car and in my tired state locked me keys in the boot...thats another story.

Cheers.

Saturday 18 October 2008

Shakespeare Exposure - 'Love's labours Lost'

Last night I have been so lucky to be introduced to the RSC company and got to see the Shakespear comedy above, in Stratford upon Avon.



Now im not a Shakespear fan at all, in fact I have never seen any of his stuff live, and have never really given theatre in general much thought at all, but my OH is really into it and so I gave it ago, I didnt really know what to expect, I was asked by my OH what I expected - I thought about it and I expected to be bored, and didnt think it would be funny, I thought it would be dull and long winded.

I arrived at the temp stage of the Courtyard in Stratford, it was a thrust stage as the audience are close and surround all 3 sides of the stage, and were viewing from high into the roof sitting steep. we were in good seats in the stalls.

The stage had a tree on it with leaves as glistening pieces og glass, the stage was designed in such a way that all the stars would have to pass close by the audience to get onto and leave the stage, this meant that we got to see them at close hand, in fact these stars of stage were just behind the back seats behind a wall getting ready for the next scene which I found brilliant.

The Royal Shakespear Company

The show started in a relaxed and informal way with the stars already lounging about on the stage as if waiting for us to settle, no big announcements or anything.



The show lasted 3 hours approx, and was fantastic, I would recomend you try it its not as expected at all, and I look forward to the next chance I may get. The show had David Pennant (Dr Who) who was brilliant.

In fact I now want to hit the stage.... I could do that..couldnt I?

Fare thee well my fellow players.......

Vertigo with Ian Parnell (Everest Mountaineer)

Months ago Stephanie had seen this presentation from the 6 times Everest Mountaineer, the night was brilliant and in simple terms was about climbing the great mountain as well as others, it was at the Derby assembly rooms and it was packed, it was to be fair also to promote the services of the Guides under their company name...

Dream Guides

Have a look, the galleries are exceptional, the views and exposure they suffered at times were ridiculous we were lucky being on the front row as we god to see all the clips at close range. I got to see what the views were like from the summit of not only Everest but also the Matterhorn which I really want to summit before i get to old...

just look at her...wouldn't you just love to be on the top of that...ha ha



I spoke with Ian at the bar briefly at the interval, he said that the Matterhorn was OK you just needed to be fit enough and regarded it as a Grade 2 Scramble, he admited that locally a guide would cost about £500, be he and his colleagues charge £1500 for the weeks experience based out of Chamonix. Pricey but for that moment of glory it may be worth it....

Yes I'm thinking about it....

It reminded me of when I read Mountaineering books like 'Into thin air' by John Kraukuar and reminded me agin of the beauty of it all....mmmm, getting wander lust again NZ may help big hills there eh.

loved it though and was inspired and educated, off to save for the Matterhorn....

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Scotland - Aviemore trip..

I have just returned from a holiday in Scotland, we were there me and Steph to run at the Baxters Festival of running, but that aside that we got to see some awesome sights on our trip there in between all the marathon and 10K running.....



We based ourselves at the Aviemore Bunkhouse by the River Spey. It was a good central location to explore the Cairngorm Mountain range and skiing resort.



Would we recomend the bunk house? if honest no, why well it was freezing and there was no lounge to socialise in, it had a kitchen (small) and was probably the worst hostel ever stayed in.



They were freindly and very helpful but it was not the best place to stay for 6 days, that being said the pub next door was awesome and the Caledonian Ale was exceptional.... Hic....



We ventured up to the ski station and hiked up the Cairngorm above the top ski station, normally this would be a standard jaunt but the weather was with us as in sun and against us as in a snow storm, which gave us a true Scottish experience, and some nice photos.



We also got to sit and chill at Loch Morlich which has in essence a beach where you can sit and admire your days sunset, and the mountains you have just descended as the backdrop. It was also out of season and so we were alone on the mountain and alone on the beach which always adds to natures theatre show.



The pictures say it all so enjoy, as a ski station it is limited and on our day looked like a closed russian ski resort of sorts, it doesnt have the Va Va Voom of Europe or Tignes in the Alps but it does have its own natural rustic charm. We enjoyed it and even got to see some reindeer in their natural environment.



It was also nice to see it with snow and the contrast with the lower greener slopes was a sight to enjoy, until the oncoming snow storm arrived and slammed us in the face with winds that had travelled all the way form Alaska. ha ha ... it got nasty and we got off the hill ASAP.



We also travelled the full length of Loch Ness stopping at the Urquart castle the weather was not good but this just added to the mystery of the Loch and the surrounding areas, we drove through the towns of Fort Augustus and Inverlochy and Invergarry, some of the areas were stunning.





We made our way to Fort William where if we had got up slightly earlier than midday we may have attempted Ben Nevis - but to be fair we were still aching from the marathon and the weather was exceptionally shitte....good quality scottish drizzle.



So we ended that day with a classic munch at the (to me) infamous Ben Nevis Inn at the foot of the Ben....including hefty sweet in the form of Sticky toffe pudding.



We also found an awesome rally track in the woods, shown here I will be doing a small video of the trip which will include the rallying route, we were given the racey Fiat 500 1.4i as our hire car....and this little car is awesome in this terrain and I spanked it big style around this single lane woodland track that we had checked out earlier in the day, in the high season im sure there would have been lots of cars coming through but not for us, I nailed it and nearly lost a few times. the other arf - just screamed as they all do. women !!....







We had a great trip and saw the rustic side of Scotland without the heavy tourist numbers ruining the day and the views, id recommend to go at this time of year to anyone.....





Scotland the brave....!!!

Loch Ness Marathon Completed.

Sunday 05/10/08

I made it just, I had not trained for this one and knew I would suffer big style..



I collected my race number on the Saturday which meant I got to see the finishing line in the stadium, it reminded me of my school running days when I was er fitter... The set up was good and the organisation seemed well up to par...



I met Karen an friend from the runners world forum and we arranged to meet at the mini Expo to run with a 10 min mile group (finishing in 4:20), to be fair this is a slow pace for me but due to the lack of training I was concerned that when I got to about 18 miles the lack of training would cause me real issues if I went out with at my normal pace, the plan was set.



We were based in Aviemore and so on the way home from Inverness we went on a mini adventure heading towards Fort Augustus and we accidentally came across the start line in the middle of no where on some small country lane, a couple of portaloos and the start sign. We then followed the route to the end back to near Inverness so I knew what was coming it was stunning and a bloody long way if I'm honest....I was nervous and wasn't convinced that id make it through the full distance.



We were up at 5am as we were based in Aviemore and the drive was about 50 minutes to Inverness stadium, we arrived and we were all put on a bus which would take us to the start which id seen last night about an hour away.



The atmosphere was good on the bus and I felt good, I felt for the first time in weeks that I could do this if I went slow, I was going to take my camera on route to take some pictures as when I did my first one in Edinburgh it all seemed a bit time based and I nearly forgot to enjoy the day and the event for what it was...this time I would stop and take a few pics and record the event. So I would remember it for the stunning and picturess event it is supposed to be and was not let down.



I finished the race in a respectable 4:17:07 secs. this is a good time for someone who had only trained up to 8 miles and had not committed in anyway to the training.

A Video of the race....good if you want an insite and plan to run it one year..



During the race I suffered severe cramps after 18 miles, it felt as though I had no cartilage at all, but some how I struggled home with the base fitness I had from earlier in the year, I do not recommend blagging a marathon ever !!! it hurt real bad near the end.



Even so I had a sprint finish in which I over took 3 people, ohh how the youthful competitive spirit seems to still remain even though I am now 40 years old....yes -

I AM NOW A VET RUNNER AT 40....

The goodybag was awesome full of, well Baxters stuff really, and the medal was cool.

So my second Marathon has been completed in Loch Ness. I have already booked a third in Connemara in Ireland near Galway, but that's in 6 months time, plenty of time to train..



......... 4:17:07 at Loch Ness.

Cheers all........