If anyone fancies a recce of the Simonside Cairn Run, we will be leaving Wooler at 7.30 on Saturday morning, to tackle the section from Lordenshaw carpark and back.
On a more serious note - dark nights mean drivers can't see you. Just about everyone was beautifully turned out at our club training night last Tuesday in Hi Viz kit but if you haven't got yours yet we have a large stock at the Gear for Girls store. Bibs are available in Hi Viz Pink and Flou Yellow.
Nathalie and Toria can be seen here modeling their Hi Viz kit on a beautiful sunny morning. Don't they look great....
And so it finally arrived....our first club training night back on the roads. We had tried to avoid it for as long as possible, stumbling around on the hills with head torches these last few weeks but with the clocks changing to was time to submit to the harsh discipline of the road.
We were promised an easy start to our winter training sessions........ha! How we were fooled. Gentle warm up exercises were soon cast aside and we were plunged straight into the harsh reality of four 1km laps of the Weetwood Avenue circuit run as a fartlek session.....eyeball out sprint followed by jogging followed by eyeball out sprint....you get the drift. Oh boy it was competitive and I had to sneak a quick drink break every lap just to keep body and soul together.
And then the Pièce de résistance - a slow jog back all the way down Weetwood Avenue, a slow turn - the tension mounting, a slow jog back to the half way point - jostling for position - no-one wanting to be in front, no-one wanting to hang too far back, no-one taking it seriously (of course)......and then, at the post box half way back down the avenue the action took off. A full out, no holds barred sprint for the last 200m....lungs gasping for air, muscles screaming, limbs flailing....just hanging in to make it to the end of the avenue and collapse in a heap.
Don't you love the competitveness of a club training night ....what better way to spend a wet, dark Tuesday evening.
By some miracle Team Deluded were loaded (the car) and setting off on the road to Inverness by 10am last Friday. The bikes were gleaming on the roof, the boot packed with kit bags and the back seat littered with bags of sweets and energy drinks. It felt like a holiday. We made excellent time, mainly due to the fact that Sarah, already in fine competative form, insisted on overtaking any vehicle on the A9 with a bike attached . Plenty of time to find the sports centre, register, unload and check the bikes and recce the last leg of the course. At the briefing and pasta party we were a little disconcerted to notice we were one of the few groups to sport total team branding. Not sure why; haring around the Highlands labelled as Deluded proved jolly good fun. We retired to our hotel to settle our nerves with a small glass of wine in the bar before trying to grab a few hours sleep.
An early start, we got to the sports centre at 6.15am, Jane, Sarah and Pauline to catch buses and boats to their transition points, me to limber up for an anxious 45 minutes. My leg, basically an off-road 10k race, involved a fast dash out along the Caledonian canal, before climbing along the Great Glen Way into beautiful pine forest. Early morning cool with the joy of the rising sun to take the pain out of the ascent. Finishing I handed on my dibber to Jane with words of encouragement before discovering a second breakfast in a tent.
A bus carried finishers to the next transition point where screens showed timings and positions for each leg. Delighted come in 35th on my run. Time to check over my bike, 2 wheels, no punctures, great. More food in a tent, then the excitement of watching the elite competitors fly into transition. Pauline soon appeared elegantly galloping through the trees to pass on the timing dibber. I ran to retrieve my bike then off on a glorious 22.5k of undulating forest path and track. Had been feeling worried about the cycling, new territory for all of us; but it was fun, grand views of Loch Ness and scary hairpin bends before a speedy finish into Fort Augustus, where Jane was waiting to start her gruelling ride up a mountain pass. Ah joy to finish, sit in a field with more food from a tent, following the progress of team on the big screen. Time to exchange the story of your race and your life with other competitors as we return by bus to the finish.
Reunited with my Deluded team mates, we talked through every inch of the race and toasted ourselves with real ale.
Thanks to my team mates for a superb event
Only a week to go until the Deluded team, Jane, Sarah, Pauline and I, take part in the Monster Duathlon. Our training as ever has not been plain sailing as we all have been hampered by illness and injury, (most of the injuries caused by falling off bikes). The latest calamity to strike has been a nasty virus, contracted not by me but by my computer, hence my recent cyber silence. This disaster however has not been without benefits; the inability to go online has prevented me from indulging in the usual pre-event panicky shopping spree and has saved me a small fortune in buying technical and medical items to make us go faster. Apologies to my team mates I have not after all purchased the following items:
Gortex lingerie, rose-tinted sports glasses, on bike portable defibrillator, Beef-it-Up Energy Drink, electric trainers, etc etc...
Instead I can contribute the following items;
1 out-of-date energy gel, two Bugs Bunny plasters, half a bottle of Muck-Off, Brownie Guide First Aid Badge circa 1970's, 1 pair of legs ( high mileage, one careless owner), competitive streak (honed into cut-throat determination through training with WRC )
And also I would make the following pledge, " I promise to do my best, to serve my queen and country and to help other people"..................... hang on a minute thats the Brownie Guide promise I was thinking more along the lines of the 3 Musketeers. Anyway I will give the event my all and try not to let my amazing team mates down. Thanks to all our friends at WRC for supporting our deluded efforts.
Its now only two weeks till we head North for our epic journey of bravery and courage, fearlessly stepping into the unknown, going where no other WRC ladies have gone before, taking on ..... THE MONSTER.
Tony has done a fantastic job moulding us into finely tuned athletes. He's had us working at threshold, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% and I think I also reached the dizzy heights of 110%. He's had us bricking and bonking, hammering and pumping, always offering praise and encouragement. He didn't even complain when I had my first fall and took him down with me (only a few weeks after his op)!
We had our final 'long' ride today - to the Barn at Beal and back (and a nice piece of cake and coffee while we were there). That is a great ride, about 30 miles, hillier than we expected and a good workout.
We've suffered illness and injury, work and family, highs and lows.
All that is left now is a nice taper and we'll be ready to load the cars up and we'll be off.
So there we were - after all the anticipation - Amy and I were lying in a tent last Friday night at Coniston listening to the rain hammering down and thinking thank God we hadn't been stupid enough to enter the 100 mile race. We were there to take part in the Lakeland 50 race in the morning and the poor buggers who had entered the 100 mile version of the event were already out in the hills, in the dark, getting thoroughly soaked.
The next leg was the longest and highest with a big climb over High Kop. It was the one leg where I really wanted to be in sight of someone as we went over the top as the route description sounded tricky. Well what do you think? For the only time in the whole race when we got to the top of the climb there was no-one insight. So I just had to get the trusty compass out. But it was lying! This was supposed to be a route with paths to follow and the compass was pointing over boggy ground with not a track in sight. As we dithered a big group of runners suddenly appeared and headed where my compass was pointing.
So it was over the top and down another vague track to the shores of Haweswater following an endless path along the edge of the reservoir to the second checkpoint at Mardale Head. We had now been going for about 5 hours and had worked up quite an appetite - there was talk of steak and kidney pie and chips! Instead, huddled in a windswept carpark we had to make do with the last bottle of Tesco cola and some very dry unbuttered fruit bread. This check point was a bit of a low for me.
Very happy to get away and the next leg was much nicer. Up and over Gatescarth Pass to Sadgill then over the top to Kentmere. And what a difference at the next checkpoint! The Montane boys had gone to town in the Kentmere village hall. We walked into a party atmosphere and were handed steaming bowls of pasta washed down with lashings of tea and fresh fruit smoothies. What stars - thank you guys.
Much refreshed we had to drag ourselves away for the rocky climb over Garburn Pass. (Amy was now into completely unknown territory going further than she had ever been before.) At Troutbeck the light was beginning to fade and we stumbled around Skelghyll Wood heading into Ambleside. We kept over taking GPS users who I guess were stopping to get a signal. It seemed to be a course where the Luddites and the old faithful 1:25000 series maps won out.
Another great welcome at the Lakes Runner shop in Ambleside - this time they had a DJ at the decks belting out some apt lyrics. It was pretty chaotic so Amy and I made a quick exit.
It was well dark by the time we left Ambleside and I was a bit concerned about finding our way over Loughrigg Fell. In the end it wasn't so bad as there were some other runners around us which helped. These runners shot off at Skelwith Bridge and ran up the road to Chapel Stile following their GPS but we were good guys and found the Cumbrian Way footpath.
Ah the Cumbrian Way footpath - how innocuous it seemed to Chapel Stile - how harsh and cruel it seemed stumbling in the dark to Langdale. We had changed into our night gear at the check point at Chapel Stile. Running tights, warm layers and waterproofs for a persistent drizzle had started which would stay with us until the finish. Just wet enough to make things miserable - just wet enough to make the rocks slippery. This next long section to Tiberthwaite I had recced a few weeks earlier. It seemed a pleasant run on a sunny afternoon. It the dark it was plain awful. We had picked up two guys from Newcastle (hey weren't we lucky). Really nice guys who kept our spirits up in those terrible wee small hours when you should really be in bed. So at least we had someone to talk to as we stumbled along inbetween cries of pain as our feet slipped into yet another hole. And they were glad of my prior reccying.
At last we made it to Tiberthwaite car park and a souless checkpoint in the dark and cold. But with less than 4 miles remaining we pressed on for the steep climb up to Coniston Moor where we pushed to the front as others faltered in the emptiness of the night and followed a bearing to find the path to Hole Rake. With fingers crossed we found the stream crossing by the lone tree and headed for the gap in the skyline. With big drops and disused quarries all around there's some very brave organisers of this race! No wonder you have to sign a disclaimer. A long line of runners followed us to safety and we stumbled down the zig zags to the Miners Bridge and the final road into the finish at Coniston.
Well we didn't make it into our beds by 2am - it was 4am by the time we finished - a whole 16 hours on our feet. But hey what's a couple of hours. Amy was amazing - it was her second EVER race. (Her first was the local Chevy race 4 weeks earlier). And as for me - I was just pleased there were no serious aches and pains. So the gauntlet has been laid down to other members of the Wooler Running Club......and if you fancy a hard day out in the fells they will soon be taking entries for next year.......
Langlee was our start point for this Saturdays jaunt, heading in the direction of Threestoneburn. All three happily skipped off, we didn't actually, up the first climb to Langlee crag and over the top past the grouse butts and into the wood.
It was wet underfoot but at this point were still by-passing the puddles. The wood was dark, particularly after the bright morning sunshine and it get steadily thicker & darker. The ground conditions alternated between a carpet of very soft pine needles and very wet peaty sections.
The two old stagers were quite happy for the young pretender in his sexy skins to take the lead, especially at long boggy strip. 'Be careful' Don warned. 'It looks a bit soft.'
To late. Simon ploughed into the bog up to his pants.
'Oh dear!' we screamed, wetting ourselves. "It's all gone Peat Thong"!!!!
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