Relationship between runners and navigation.

Hi everyone,

I've finally found some time in my busy summer to post a new Blog!! With my hours at work going through the roof this time of year with the school holidays it's been hard to find the time. Training has been going great which has reflected in recent race results :-

St Ives Bay 10k (beach & dunes off road 10k) 4th/ 38mins 24sec.
Indian Queens Half Marathon (road & trail) 20th/1hr 22mins.
(included my quickest 10k/10miler/half marathon times)
The Plague (64 mile coastal run) 3rd/13hrs 17mins. (race report to follow)

So as you can see training and racing is going well and I'm feeling super confident in my running at the moment which is always a great place to be :). If you have been following my blogs, there is a pattern that runs through most of them, it involves going the WRONG way!! If my running is going well with some good results, my navigation isn't!! It has always been something I have struggled with, coming from a road running & Triathlon background, navigation was something I didn't really have to think about with plenty of marshals and direction arrows to follow. Once I made the transition to Trail & Ultra running, I soon realized that the marshals and arrows can be far and few between! It was my first Ultra trail race of the year when I knew I had to put in some work to try and up my navigation skills, finishing in 6th overall, which I was happy with, but it could have been so much better if I hadn't run 42.5 miles in a 40 mile race and crossing the finish line the wrong way was a little bit embarrassing!!!!

Obviously you are taking part in a running race so your running ability is very important but the more I race the more I realize that navigation is just as important! You can be the best runner in the world, but if you keep running the wrong way you're never going to win anything! Having spent a lot of time this year thinking about race preparation & navigation, I've worked out that when I run long distances I like to 'zone out' and get in a trance like state! I find that this helps me deal with the distance and the pain that you suffer running a long way. The only problem with this method is if you're zoned out, you're not paying much attention to where you're going!! To try and avoid this problem I now try to 'zone out' when I can in a race but when I come to a tricky navigation section I make sure I'm switched on and I'm paying full attention to what I'm doing. I also think it's really important to double, triple check all the difficult sections. By checking the way you are going a few times might cost you 10-20 secs, going the wrong way can cost you 10-20 mins and a lot of wasted energy (see 'The Plague' race report!!).
Also race preparation plays a big part in going the right way, if you can get out and run some of the course before race day, I would advise you to do so. Just running parts of the course before hand is always a massive help and gives you lots of confidence for race day, but with races being all over the country, it's not always that simple! If I can't get out and run on the course, I will try and study maps and course details supplied by the event organizer. By putting all of these methods in place, I feel that my navigation is improving, but I need to make sure that I use them coming in to a race and not just chance it and hope for the best like I did going into 'The Plague'!!

Race Report - The plague 2013
With training and racing going really well in the build up to 'The Plague' I was feeling super confident going into it. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to finish in the top three and get on the podium for the first time this year. Having a lot of 4th place finishes this year, I was beginning to think I had a 4th place curse!!! On the way to the race I got another big boost in the form of a text message from Kay www.at-your-pace.co.uk telling me that I had become an ambassador for her running shop and she had sorted me out with sponsorship from www.salomon.com/uk/ , I cant thank you enough Kay for your support!! Having done quite a lot of the training for 'The Plague' with fellow Hayle Runner, Steve Wyatt, we decided to run the race as a team. I thought it would be nice to have some company on the night section of the race and two pairs of eyes are better than one, well that's what I thought anyway!! Steve is a naturally strong runner and loves running off road on tough courses so I knew he would push me really hard on race day, which is what I needed to get that podium finish.

We arrived at race H.Q on Friday at 4.30pm after a busy morning at work running around like a headless chicken, not the ideal race preparation!! With camping on site and a lot of Hayle Runners taking part over the four distances: 11 miles, 20 miles, 32 miles and 64 miles, it should make for a great after race atmosphere. Tents all set up, we made our way to registration, registered and got our kit checked for the race. Having a busy morning, I wanted to get something to eat and try to get some sleep before the start of the race. After eating, sleep was proving difficult, so I got out of my tent and went to join the other Hayle runners who were setting around taking about there races that started the following morning. Once the sun went down, myself and Steve thought we would give it another go and try to get a little bit of sleep before the race, alarms were set and off we went. I spent the next hour lying there trying to sleep, but it didn't matter what I tried, I couldn't sleep. With my alarm due to go off at any minute I thought I might as well get up and start to get ready for the race start at 00.05, I know its a crazy start time!!! Half an hour before the start I was all kitted up and ready to go but I still hadn't seen Steve so I walked back to the tents to try to find out were he was, as I got closer to the tents the door opened to Steve's tent and out came this sleepy figure having set his alarm for the wrong day!! Yes, the WRONG DAY!!! He had only just woken up (typical Steve!). He quickly got his kit on and we got over to the race safety briefing just in time.

Race briefing over, we made our way to the start where there was a surprise waiting, starting the race was ultra running legend 'Mimi Anderson'. So after an motivating speech from Mimi the air horn sounded and off we went on our night time adventure. The first part of the course was straight down hill in some long and soaking wet grass, which was great - soaking wet feet in the first 100 yards!! After 500 yards across the long grass we made it to the coast path we would be spending the rest of the race on.
The first mile on the coast path was the most dangerous with quite a few badger sets to avoid along the way. Currently myself and Steve were running in 1st & 2nd place and feeling good but that was all to change with one wrong turn! Yep, all that preparation I spoke about earlier I hadn't done! I hadn't run any of the course before hand, I hadn't looked at maps and course directions and I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going! Hence why we went the wrong way :) After about 3-4 minutes going the wrong way, we realized and turned round and made our way back to the race pack. When we made it back, we had lost around 8-10 places, so we were really pissed off! Making sure we didn't lose too much time, we quickly got round the first few runners and made our way back to 5th & 6th place. Steve was not happy with going the wrong way and wanted to get back to the front as quickly as possible, I spent the next 15 miles trying to slow him down so that we didn't use up too much energy early on chasing them down. Unfortunately I think it was falling on deaf ears and we made it back to 2nd & 3rd within 16 miles, but I had given too much to catch up in such short time in a 64 mile race and I was pretty sure it would come back to bite me in the ASS!

It wasn't long after catching them up that I started to feel low on energy and a little bit hot too, it was a hot, humid night and I think I started with too many layers on. By the time we got to the next check point I was burning up and had to get some layers off and take on some fluids. Once you get too hot, its such a hard thing to regulate while your still running, by this time in the race we were lying in 3rd & 4th, the guy in 2nd was looking strong and ran away from us but the girl and guy in 5th and 6th looked to be struggling so we pushed on. By the time the sun started to come up, we had covered a lot of the tricky, tough sections and were on the relatively flat run-in to the turning point. At this point I had got over the low points and was feeling quite good, so we were both making good time clocking sub 8 min miles at some points. We hit the turning point in good time and making sure we didn't spend too much time there we filled up with water, Steve had a cup of tea (he gets upset if doesn't get his tea!) and off we went again heading for home :). The turning point would give us a great idea of how far we were ahead of 4th and 5th. We knew we were too far behind 2nd to catch him, so we wanted to make sure we held on to 3rd. We were surprised when we saw 4th and 5th were only 8 mins behind, so we decided there and then to go for it on the 4-5 miles from the turning point, being the only real flat section on the course, we had to make the most of it and make the most of it we did with some really strong running clocking 7.30 min miles for most of the 4-5miles!!

Once we got back on the hilly sections, my energy levels were starting to drop again and I was feeling pretty weak by this stage, never mind only another 24 tough miles to go!! From this point on going got really, really tough for me, I started to cramp up pretty bad in my calves and quads, which is not ideal for hard coast path running. It showed how tough this race was, because I have never seen Steve suffer so much either. I think we were both paying for the fast pace we set at the beginning of the race trying to catch the leaders. All we could do at this point was try to keep moving forward walking the hills and running (kind of!!) the flats. This was my first time I had ever suffered from cramp in any race, so I knew I was having a really bad day, but there was no way I was stopping, I just kept telling myself that I was finishing the race no matter what so just get on with it! Steve was brilliant at motivating me to keep the pace up and keep pushing up the hills. As we arrived at the penultimate check point we knew we only had about 10 miles to go till the finish and it couldn't get here quick enough for me. We had another quick stop at the check point and off we went, but to our surprise, about 30sec after we left the check point we heard some clapping, turning to have a look we could see a women in 5th place catching us up. We must have slowed down a lot more than we thought and she must have been running strong. Once I saw her my heart sank, I turn to Steve and said: "She can have it, I've got nothing to give!!". At that point I'm pretty sure Steve felt the same way. We kept going expecting her to catch us at any minute, but after about 5 mins she still hadn't passed us. It was at this moment that Steve changed his mind and said: "Lets keep pushing, you don't want another 4th place". So that's what we did, I still don't know how we did it, but we pushed and pushed even running some of the hills!! By the time we got to the last check point with only 4ish miles to go we had lost sight of the women in 5th place, we had pretty much stopped talking to each other and just kept our heads down and pushed on to the end. Arriving back at the field with the long wet grass was a great feeling, seeing the big 'Redbull' tents at the finish put a massive smile on our faces. We had both been on a super tough journey, battling the highs and lows of Ultra running and had both come out the other side finishing in joint 3rd!

 

 I learnt more from this race than any other: firstly, Steve is a great guy to run with (even if a little un-hinged!) - so strong physically and mentally, I don't know if I would have come away with 3rd without him! Secondly, I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was, suffering from serious dehydration, terrible cramp's from 35miles I still had it in me to push hard when I needed to. I have never had to dig so, so deep in any race before and I'm super happy with the result of 3rd overall. Looking back at the times at the finish, we realized how hard we had pushed over the last 10 miles, the woman in 4th place was over 16 mins behind us and we had even managed to take 10 mins out of 1st & 2nd!! I would like to thank the race organizers www.mudcrewevents.co.uk for putting on an amazing, tough event, the support was amazing all the way though the race and lastly I would like to thank Steve for pushing me on when I though I had nothing else to give and dispelling that 4th place curse!! Cheers Steve :)

 

P.S - I would also like to thank my lovely girlfriend for her support over the weekend because without her being there for me after the race I would have struggled, being in such a bad way after the race with cramp, she was a massive help. Sorry for being so useless, Liga!!!! :)

Runners relationship with PHANTOM aches and pains!

Hi again,

It's been a long time since my last blog, as all you runners know with work commitments, running a home, family and of course training!! It doesn't leave you with a lot of time! Well, that's not true... I have the time, just not much energy :). Once you have read this blog I would love some feedback just so I can put my mind at rest and know I'm not going mental!!

I have spoken to other runners and sportsmen about this subject and I'm pretty sure it's not just me. I call it Phantom injury! The way it works is like this: I plan out my races at the beginning of the year and structure my training around them as I'm pretty sure you all do. Sorry to completely change the subject, I just watched Mo Farah win the 5000m in Birmingham. How does he run that QUICK!!!! Crazy, crazy, crazy!!!!!!!! Anyway, sorry about that, back to the blog :) So like I was saying I plan my year and then start training. This year training has gone really well. I have managed lots of quality miles in the mountains and on the coast paths around Cornwall, and on the back of this the results have been quite good with a 7th, 6th (would have been 4th if I hadn't got lost!!) and a 4th in my last race which I will let you know all about later in the blog. When I say training has gone well, it has until about two weeks before each race!! And then it strikes "PHANTOM INJURY". I go from super strong hill rep sessions, powerful strength workouts on the beach and long flowing weekend runs across the beautiful Cornish countryside to being struck down by a sudden injury :(.

The perfect example of this has just happened before my last race. Everything was going really well, I had completed some tough weeks of training, running anything from 60 miles to 85 miles with no problems at all. I had just run my longest training run of 36 miles across Cornwall getting me ready for UTSW 100 2013. The run went great (apart from getting lost again, do you see a pattern forming!). I will cover the relationship between runners and navigation in another blog later on :). So the run went well, I had no pain on the run or after and felt super confident about the race ahead. One week on from that run I started to get a bit of discomfort in my right ankle. I didn't think too much about it because it didn't actually hurt when I was running and you know what us runners are like, we are all pretty good at dealing with a bit of discomfort!! As the days and miles went on the discomfort started to become a pain and the pain started to creep to different parts of my ankle and foot. With about 3 weeks to go to my A race of the season the pain had got so bad that I had to take a week off from running and get some sports massage on my lower right leg to try and get rid of the pain before my big race. The week off from running seemed to help with the pain and it was back to be just a discomfort. The one thing I had going for me was I was just starting my taper for the race so my millage had gone down so I could get a bit of rest for my ankle. To say my confidence had been knocked was an understatement!!

So with the pain gone I spent the next two weeks of my taper doing short, steady runs still running with some discomfort and still worried if I had an injury or not?? But my main concern was could I get through the race at all!!! The week before the race involved lots of rest, lots of sports massage and even more ICE. Race day was here! The race started at 5.30pm so I spent most of the morning and early afternoon getting organized for the race and of course getting worked up with worry and doubt if my ankle was going to hold up for 100 miles!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I think you have all worked out the ending? Once again I started the race and all the discomfort and the pain I had been suffering from just faded away, I managed to run 100 miles on coast path, tarmac and moor land with no pain in my ankle or heel what so ever!! I really can not explain this phenomenon that I suffer from but I have learnt a lot from my last race. If I can go into a 100 mile race with a injury (or what I think is an injury)  and not suffer, it must all be in my head! With two months to go till my next race and my next PHANTOM INJURY I have to make sure that when it comes, I stay positive and try to blank it from my mind :)  Thanks for reading and if you suffer from the same condition please leave me some feedback!

Race report - UTSW 100, 2013.

Race day was here, Yippppeeeeee!!! The last few weeks had been tough (see above!) and I just wanted to get on with the race. I got to Watergate Bay Hotel at 2pm for kit check and registration and then had to catch the bus to the start at Fowey. Unfortunately the bus had "broke down", that's what the organizers said anyway. This meant more waiting around which gave me more time to worry about my ankle! Eventually the bus arrived and we were on our way. Once at the start we all dibbed our timing chips and were ready for the off, "3, 2, 1" was the cry and we were off and running on our amazing 100 mile journey across Cornwall :)

I had learnt a lot last year from my fist 100 mile race so I was feeling confident as long as my ankle held up!! The first few miles went by quite quick and the scenery was stunning. My race plan was to pair up with a runner or runners of the same kind of ability to run with through the night till we got back on the other coast path. My thinking was two pairs of eyes were better than one and the most important thing to me was not getting lost at night in the middle of Bodmin Moor!! Within 5 miles I had found the perfect match, a guy called Matt from Australia currently living in London. He had never ran 100 miles before but he was a strong runner and he was having a good year having won a few ultra races this year.

 The sun was setting so the head torches went on when we arrived at the first check point (11 miles in). At this point the race left the coast path and went in land on to beautiful wooded trails. The sun had set and darkness was upon us, at about 15-16 miles myself and Matt were joined by Charlie, a runner that I had met at the TORQ assessment day. We ran strong together through the night, navigating the woods and the Moors and on to the other coast path. We reached Boscastle in good time and the sun was just starting to show its face :). When I say the sun was showing its face, what I really mean was it was getting brighter!! It had been pissing down all night and didn't look like stopping. Once back on the coast path the running or walking! got really, really tough, some of the toughest coastal running I have ever done. The weather didn't let up, it got worse and worse as the day went on.

 

 We were still running strong on the parts of the coast path where we could but at some point Charlie slipped going down one of the many steep descents and pulled something in her groin!! She wasn't going to let that stop her so off we went again battling the tough terrain and strong winds. Myself and Matt were still going strong but Charlie had started to suffer due to the groin injury, she was digging deep (she is super tough!!) but at 70ish miles it got to much for her and see had to pull out, that was a really sad moment because we had been through a lot over the 70ish miles and had really supported each other along the way. Myself and Matt pushed on for the finish. I still wanted to try and break the 24hr mark even though the weather was so shocking and getting worse! We were looking forward to running the flatter sections from Wadebridge to Padstow but once we got there we soon realized that running back on the flat, hard roads and paths was pretty painful :) Well it was pretty painful by now running on anything!! We hit the last check point at 90 miles still in high spirits. Matt had gone through some pretty low periods in the race and was still pushing hard. I knew there was no way he was pulling out. I was still feeling good and running, walking strong, but once we got to the last 8 miles it started to get really tough, the headwind was at gale force by now and on tired legs it wasn't helping :) The last few miles seemed to take forever and I really mean forever but we got there in the end. There it was the finish line! After 100 miles and 25hrs 06mins myself and Matt had made it, we had ran together for 95miles and hadn't fallen out once and he's an Aussie, Ha Ha :) We crossed the line, dibbed our timing chips and then walked into the Beach Hut restaurant to rapturous applause from all the dinners eating in there, it really was quite emotional :). I had run 100 miles across Cornwall and I felt good the whole way, no low points, no stomach problems, a few aches and pains along the way but that's all!!! It had been an amazing journey across Cornwall, one that I will never forget! Thanks to Matt and Charlie for the company and thanks to Martyn for the support on the day and for hooking us up with the most amazing bacon sandwich at 77miles :) Thanks also to my girlfriend Liga for putting up with me through all the training and worry! I also forgot the most important bit, I didn't break 24hrs but I did finish 4th overall and 1st in my age group. Not bad for someone with an ankle injury :) Ha Ha!!!

Love-hate relationship with hills and mountains!

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since my first blog but I've been a very busy boy training for the UTSW 100 coming up on 21st June (that's only 1 month away!!!). As you can see the topic of this blog is the Love-Hate relationship between a trail runner and hills and mountains. I have used the phrase "trail runner" because I spent many years pounding the streets and racing on the road and I never had a Love-Hate relationship with hills, it was definitely just a HATE-HATE relationship!! This changed very quickly when I started to run off road. Whether I'm running on the beautiful Cornish coast path or the rugged sand dunes of the Towans, I find myself seeking out the toughest, meanest, steepest hills I can find and then run them twice!!

I know I'm not the only trail runner that feels this way, I'm pretty sure that every trail or fell runner I have met feels and trains the same way. So the question is why do we do it? Is it because we're all masochists and love to inflict pain and suffering on ourselfs or is it that we have to push as hard as we can, challenging our bodies and minds every step of the way, is there a better feeling in the world(well there's probably one!) than when you're pushing really hard up a hill or mountain, your lungs bursting, your quads burning like someone has set them on fire and your calf muscles feeling like they're going to explode at any minute, but when you get to the top and your legs finally start to work again the overwhelming sense of satisfaction is amazing!

My desire to run big hills and mountains is getting bigger and bigger by the day, in fact I think it's getting out of control. It's time I came out the closet (not that closet!!) "Hi, my name's Loyd and I'm addicted to running big hills and mountains!" My addiction has got so bad that the other week I packed the car up at 4am and in barked on a painstaking 8.5hr drive to sunny North Wales, arriving at the campsite at 1pm and quickly throwing up the tents, on went the trainers and off I went straight up the Rangers path to the summit of Mount Snowdon. The temperature drop from base to summit was about 15 degrees and I had lost all feeling in my hands by the time I got up there (even with gloves!) but I loved every second, the tough running and the stunning views make running in the mountains so so so inspirational. I spent 30 sec at the top and then straight back down and back to the campsite for some well deserved soup. After an early night to try and catch up on some very much needed sleep I was off again, trainers on and straight to the top of Snowdon again but this time I went up the Rangers path and down the P.Y.G. track and then back up the P.Y.G. track and down the Rangers path. The conditions were a lot worse on Sunday and visibility was down to 10 metres, this just made it even more of a challenge and we all know how much we love a challenge! So after 2 summits I was staight back to the campsite, tents down, car packed and back on the open road for another 8.5hrs of suffering behind the wheel! I arrived back home at 3am and had to be back into work at 6am!! Even with all the driving, the lack of sleep and the fact it took me all week to get over it, it was sooooooooooooo worth it!

I've come to the conclusion that I need mountain running in my life and plan on doing lots more in the near future. I gave this blog the title Love-Hate relationship but that's wrong because in my case it's definitely a LOVE-LOVE relationship between me and the mountains!!

Runner & Sports massage therapist

Hi

It may seem strange but I'm going to start this blog (my first ever blog) with an apology!! It's been a long time since my school days and I never was that great at English so if there's spelling or grammer mistakes I'm so sorry.

Before I get to the main topic of this blog I would just like to share with you how I came to be a blogger. I spent last weekend at a TORQ trail team assessment in Church Stretton, the weekend was great fun, with some stunning running and I got to meet lots of amazing people. Before I left for the assessment I thought I might come away from the weekend being inspired by the people that I met there and I was but not in the way I thought I would be, although I was inspired to keep pushing in the running department, I was also inspired to write about it!! So a quick thanks to all of you for the inspiration.

Relationship in running - Runner & Sports massage therapist.

In the words of the great and inspirational Dean Karnazes "there's magic in misery", this quote relates to the strange but wonderful relationship between a runner and their sports therapist. Having just come back from the most painful sports massage of my life!, the "misery" is the 40 mins of torture I have just had to suffer and the "magic" is walking out feeling like a new man knowing that I can spend the weekend doing what I love, TRAIL RUNNING!!! because without the ability to run, my life would be a lot less fulfilled.

 I find that a lot of the suffering I go through while running long is truly mental, it's just your week mind trying to get your strong body to stop being so stupid. Yet the suffering I go through on the sports therapist bed is very very real indeed, but I keep going back for more and more!!! So to all those people in the world that chose a profession in sports massage I salute you, I'm sure there are plenty more runners out there that feel the same way, so from all of us thanks very much (especially you Kate!!)
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. There will be more blogs to follow about the special relationships I have in running.