Wednesday 23 September 2015

St Albans Stampede

The morning of Saturday 5th September was a bit of a cold, grey and drizzly one as Mummysaurus and I made the short journey to the venue. We got there with bags of time to spare, got a parking space and hauled our gear to the Scout hut. Putting up the tent was a breeze as Mummysaurus had one of those "pull the cord and watch your fingers" type pop up tents. Within 2 minutes of finding our spot we had put up the tent, added the top sheet, pinned it down and chucked our gear in it. So far so good!
We headed inside the Scout hut to registration and to get out of the drizzle. The place was pretty much empty so we strolled over to pick up our numbers. They had previously told us that we would have to have two timing chips, one for each foot as we were both in the solo category. I had asked a few days before about what would happen if we needed to change footwear and was told that they would ask the timing people. Sure enough at registration we were told the solution was that now everyone would wear lanyards so this wouldn't be a problem for any changes. I was really impressed at the speed this was done. A lot of other events would have just told you that's the way it was. Top job guys and girls!

We milled around for a while as more people showed up. I always pin my number on to my shorts as it makes it easier to change tops or add a jacket without switching the number over. Mummysaurus went for the same idea. You could see the nerves kicking in as she tried not to pin her leg to her number. This was her first go at a 12 hour event and even though her plan from the beginning was to run 20 miles today she was still a bit jittery, understandably! This event happened to coincide with her last long run before her first official Marathon, Loch Ness on the 27th September. Even though she will have bags of time today and support every 4 miles its still a 20 mile run.

My plan was to hopefully hit around 50 miles. Lately I have felt pretty tired. I`m not sure if its the amount I have done this year or simply a lack of training in between events. I suspect the latter.
I have felt like I`m just trying to get round rather than putting in a good effort. With a bit of luck I can pull something out of the bag today.

8:45am - We gather in the Scout hut for the race briefing. I love this bit. The nervous excitement buzzes around the room, you can feel it building as the briefing finishes and we start making our way to the start. Even though the starting group is only small the energy is huge. The chatter from everyone wishing each other good luck is a welcoming ice breaker for all.

9am - 3.......2.......1.......GOOOO!!!

People cheer, the front runners leg it, Mummysaurus and I hug and then shuffle off with the back of the pack.
We get over the start line, turn the very first corner and face a pretty nasty looking rocky hill. Right then, this will be a place to walk each lap then! Finally the hill levels out to a nice flat bit and then starts heading downhill, good place to make up some time. The next mile or so is a kind of gentle up and down then we head down again before coming across a flat field.
It was a little sticky from the rain and I already was thinking about changing to my other Luna sandals. I had started in my trusty and now very worn Luna Mono but had bought along my new Leadville in case it was a little slippery. It was.
At the end of the field was another grass hill leading to a gentle downhill which turned into a steep muddy hill with roots and a big muddy puddle at the bottom.
Once through the puddle we had to head off to the right through a bit more sticky stuff then onto a beautifully soft moss like common. It was short and springy like running on new carpet. Up and down the hills, another right, another hill and then a long flat bit that bought us to the entrance driveway. The driveway was slightly uphill and covered in a light gravel, the type the is not enough to make you slip but just enough to get in your shoes when you walk.
After the long gradual uphill, finally the driveway drops down and we head to the bottom of another gravel pathway that is, you guessed it, uphill to the start/finish line.
One lap done! 4 miles, phew.

So now you have the lay of the land I can move on to how the rest of it went.
The first lap I naturally headed out like I was in one of the relay teams, I wasn't and already knew I was going to pay for it later. Idiot points - 1
With that lap done I quickly headed back to the tent to change into my Leadville as my bald Monos just weren't up for the slippery mud today.

I bolted off for another couple of laps then decided I should get some food. It was at this point I found that my legs were like jelly. Oh dear. I wobbled myself to the aid station that was set about 20 feet off of the route and preceded to stuff my face like it was the first time I had ever seen food. Idiot points - 2
The next lap, well...sucked. I felt heavy and tired as my body diverted all of its power to digesting the horrendous amount I just ate. It really bugged me as I knew exactly what I had done wrong. I have trained over the last year or so to run on less and less so I`m really not used to digesting so much. I like to run light and just nibble on small amounts and it seems to work for me. What was I thinking?!
I think I was on my forth lap when I caught up with Mummysaurus. She was looking so strong. We chatted and trotted along at her pace. I was more than happy with this given the way I was feeling. I ended up doing nearly a full lap with her. She headed off to get something to drink and I wobbled off up the hill, trying to shake off whatever the hell was going on with me.
Slowly, slowly I started to feel better but I just felt like my mind had deserted me.

Mojo has left the building......

Whatever number lap this one was will be named The Dark Lap.
I no longer cared. I felt tired, it all felt so pointless. What was I doing here? I`m not a "real" runner, I`m walking, a lot. Should I just fake and injury and stop? Should I just slink away at the end of this lap and nap in the tent? "Oh yeah that sounds great! Get back to the tent, take a nap! Hey, just sleep the time away and say you didn't set an alarm, no one would know." said the little demon on my shoulder, gently whispering all this crap in my ear. "Think of the coffee! Think of the food! Think of that sleeping bag!! Oh the sleeping bag!! No one cares if you give up, its 12 hours, you did your best on the day" I desperately looked at the other shoulder for the little Angel that was going to convince me otherwise. The little Angle smiled at me warmly. PHEW! Talk to me my little friend... "Its OK, give in, he`s right" Wait!! WHAT?! The little Angel burst into laughter, pulled off the wings and threw the halo in my face. Great, now I have a demon on BOTH shoulders!! Its going to be a looooong day.

Somewhere around this time I managed to get a small bit of running in, probably out of frustration and caught up with Ben Scott. We got chatting and it really helped to shake the negativity away. I think we stuck together for around 3 laps just shooting the breeze, it was great. I was feeling a lot more human now and we bopped along, switching from fast walking to slow running. Thanks Ben you really helped me through!
He was also starting to feel a lot better and so headed off in front while he could. I continued to hike and trot as best as I could while talking to people on the way to try and keep my spirits up.
I caught up with Mummysaurus again and she was STILL looking really strong and focused. She told me that she was just about to hit 32 miles!!! Incredible! My Mum was now an ultra runner!! I couldn't have been happier at that moment and we hugged and talked about it as we marched the hill. I stuck with her for the rest of that lap reveling in the moment. We finished the lap and parted ways as she went for a quick break.

Off we go again........

I had some really nice chats with Michal Mosurek Zawals and Richard Hazeldene, both of which were doing really well. The laps past, the time ticked down, a deer ran across my path, all was well.
I was feeling pretty thrashed but at least now I was allowing it as I had done around 40 miles.

This event had a strict 12 hour time limit. This meant for your lap to count, it had to be finished by 9pm. If you were even 1 second from the finish line, that lap wouldn't count. Sounds a little harsh but I like it. It means that you have to really make a decision on if you can make another lap or not. Risky as you might end up running a lap that wont count if you got the timing wrong.
With this in mind I came into lap 10 and headed into the scout hut to grab a coffee and work out how much more I could do.
My pace was right down and a lap was taking just over an hour. I was hoping to get in another 3 laps to end the day on 52 miles but today was simply not that day. I just didn't have enough time so instead I had a little break, drank some coffee, had a little sit down, safe in the knowledge that I could plod and still get another 2 laps.
Now feeling nicely rested I headed out of the warmth of the scout hut for my final 2 laps.
Somewhere along this lap I was joined by Richard Hazeldene again and we put on a bit of a march. His walking pace was impressive and I had to work my little legs hard to keep up. It was good though as the sun was nearly down and it was starting to get colder. It felt really good to be back at a reasonable pace. Even though a lot of it was still walking, it felt like it had more purpose.

1 lap to go!

We had an hour and a half left on the clock so enough time to knock out 1 more lap and then we could stop! The temperature by now had really dropped so we stuck to our quick march. It was still just about light enough to not need a head torch until about halfway round when Richard finally turned his on. We hiked at a strong pace trying to stay warm and trying to just get it done. You could feel the excitement that this was the last lap.
It was finally time to turn my lighthouse of a head torch on. I have the LED Lensor SEO 7R, catchy name huh? What it lacks in a pretty name and battery life, it more than makes up for in power. At 220 lumen on full, its like turning on the sun. The hillside lit up, rendering Richards head torch redundant. Its almost embarrassingly bright. I found myself giving a warning before I turned it on so people don't get confused with it being a car! The battery life however for my use is, well, just as embarrassing. On full power it will last around 5 hours then will completely cut out. Fortunately today we only needed it for about half an hour.

Finally we could see the gravel driveway. The temperature here really dropped suddenly, I guess it was a little more open. We hiked as quick as we could, catching up with Geoff Russell on the last part of the driveway and decided to finish over the line together.
Finally after being on the move for 11:32:10 we crossed the line together at a gentle trot. Well relatively speaking we could say it was a sprint finish. It wasn't but we could say that.
The crowd at the finish were brilliant, clapping and cheering everyone across the line. I even saw someone I knew from Parkrun! Wai Meng Au-Yeong has to be maybe one of the cheeriest people you will ever meet and her encouragement to other runners is quiet amazing! It was great to see you and thank you so much for your support!

I met Mummysaurus at the finish and we headed inside to warm up and wait for the prize giving.
I was so happy to be sitting down with a hot drink and eating cake. All around me people were chatting with each other about how the day went.
I got a phone call from my lady and my Dad who had driven over to meet us at the finish. I headed outside to meet them and got back inside just in time for the start of the prize giving.
It was great to see Ben take 3rd male in the solo category with 64 miles as it was his first 12hr event!! Hell of a start man, well done!!
They started the prizes for the Female solo category...."....with 32 miles....Jo Summers...." we missed the bit in the middle and Mummysaurus looked at me a little puzzled as she thought that was first place and was now panicking that her chip wasn't working. "And in second place with 36 miles...."
"Mum that's YOU!!!" I said to her with a massive smile. A very dazed looking Mummysaurus got up and was handed a trophy for second place lady!!
What an incredible end to the day! My own finish was just another completed slog, the pride I had for my Mums achievement was the thing that made my day. I said to her as she sat there with her pretty bit of glass that I was as jealous as I was proud ha ha ha. She earned that trophy more than I earned my 48 miles.

So what now?

We are both heading for Loch Ness Marathon on Saturday 26th September for my Mums first official marathon and I for one cant wait! I've been looking forward to this one for quiet some time. The biggest thing I took away from St Albans Stampede is that I simply need to try more and keep my head in the game. So with that in mind.......Loch Ness...The monkeys are coming to get you!!

Thanks for reading folks, I hope you enjoyed it!
Much love
Cardiosaurus

Tuesday 18 August 2015

The call of the mountains

Canada, I miss you already.
I was fortunate enough to have spent 2 weeks in Calgary catching up with family and exploring some of the surrounding areas. We were staying about an hour and a half away from heaven, locally known as Banff. The photos I took below do not even begin to do justice to just how stunning the area is.....





It is the kind of place that just grabs your heart and gives it a good squeeze.
I ran around here one morning soaking up the scenery and snapped away with my camera phone. It was at this point that I began to realise that I was enjoying the photography as much as I was enjoying the run. To be fair in a location like this it was hard to take a bad picture but I definitely felt like it had awoken something, so much so that I did it again the next morning.
I spent the rest of my holiday snapping away at the things I found interesting.....

 


I have tons more but I shall leave it there for now.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Cardiosaurus

Sunday 12 July 2015

The update without the fanfare

As some of you may have noticed its been a while since I have posted anything. I think my last post was about about the Mill Hill marathon back in March? Well since then I shifted my attention to a double London Marathon attempt. After that I'm not really sure what happened, I just couldn't seem to bring myself to write a report about it.

I have tried many times to write this post and for some reason kept deleting it.

I guess maybe after London when everyone and their dog was posting reports about their experience I just felt like it was nice to take a step back and slink away into the shadows for a bit.
My London marathon experience just wasn't the same as everyone else and I didn't want it to be taken the wrong way or for it to sound like I was boasting in anyway.

My London marathon felt like it had a lot of pressure around it long before I got there. The pressure to actually finish both of them because of the fund raising behind it kind of took some of the fun out of it for me. Don`t get me wrong, it was amazing to be in a position to do something positive, it just also meant that my work life and running life had maybe got a little close together.

Running for me is a way to get away from the everyday. Its my time, my little bubble. It helps me deal with the stresses and helps me feel more human again. That feeling was not there so much in the build up as I was constantly asked if I would be OK or if I would even finish. This obviously bled into my training, so much so in fact that I even started to doubt myself.

I guess this is why after so much time in the spotlight at work that I slunk away to get back to what I loved, underground running. Doing the kind of events that don't have a lot of fanfare. I realised after London more than ever that the thing that I really loved was the camaraderie and the community that comes with ultra running. The London Marathon was just the complete opposite of everything I had been doing for the last couple of years.

On with the story...

I met up with a bunch of folks at the train station near where the marathon was due to finish. We set off to the sound of Big Ben singing in 2am, heading off around the same route only backwards.
We laughed, we talked, we had a great time. The encouragement was just brilliant. Just a bunch of people on a run around London at stupid o clock in the morning. As we neared the end of our night adventure they all wished me the best of luck for taking it on again. It was so much fun and I was a little sad it had ended already. I milled around and tried to stay warm before joining the masses in our pens.
Already this was a very different experience as I stood there surrounded by thousands and thousands of people, nervously stretching and jumping about.

3......2......1.....GO!!!!!

No one moved.
With the volume of people it took 10 minutes to cross the start line!
The crowd were incredible, just a solid wall of sound! It was such a crazy contrast to my last 6 hours that at first it was a little overwhelming and I kind of felt like I just wanted to get away from it all.
After a little while I got used to it and it helped me along. After about 10k I felt like I was settling in a little and was starting to throw in walk breaks to keep me going as I had already done a marathon this morning. Obviously no one else around me knew this so it just looked like I was really under trained! The encouragement from the crowd was brilliant but then I started to look around at my fellow runners. Very, very few of them were speaking to other runners. They waved to the crowd or followed the hoards of earphone zombies. Mile after mile passed and no one said a word.
Brief smiles were flashed to the crowd and then back to stern faces. The further we went the more impatient people seemed to get. I tried very hard to move to the side when I needed a walk break, a common courtesy that apparently wasn't common at all. You could be right behind someone bopping along at quite a nice pace then they would just stop dead in front of you without even glancing over their shoulder!
The water stations bought on a new challenge of trying not to twist an ankle on the thousands of discarded bottles. Next was trying to get out of there without taking a flying bottle to the face. People threw them from every direction to the side of the road just narrowly missing others. So much water was wasted.
Next was the gel stations. These were odd as you could hear them long before you got there. So much of the gel was wasted and discarded on the floor that a good 100 meters of road tried to claim your footwear! It was so sticky that all you could hear was feet sticking and ripping off the floor all around you, it even drowned out the sound of the crowd!
What was really unexpected is how emotional it was at times. Crossing Tower Bridge for example.
I've lived just outside of London for my whole life and must have been over that bridge 100 times before. This time however nearly had me in tears. Crossing over that iconic bridge was amazing. The crowd were absolutely incredible, the noise was deafening!
Meeting my Mum at around mile 22 (48 for me) was maybe the happiest point in the journey so far as I knew I was nearly done.
Turning the final corner past Big Ben, I couldn't help but put in a sprint finish, I got to the line at the same time as another guy so in the spirit of hand in hand we raised ours across the line...done. I did it!
We were quickly shuffled into rows to pick up a goody bag and then ushered out the other end.
I wondered around to find the baggage drop, picked up my bag and then sat on the floor for a bit.
I text my Mum and then made my way to the pub, still not 100% sure how I felt about the whole experience.
I think I've had a while to let it sink in and analyse it and I think I can sum up my double London marathon quite simply......."a social followed by and anti-social"
With avoiding people and stepping to the side I actually clocked up a whole extra mile over the last marathon! That's a lot of sidestepping!
The medal was really nice and had a lot of really cool detail that I wasn't expecting. The tshirt I received was unfortunately an XL as they had run out of the other sizes by the time I had finished. I contacted them directly to see if they had any and was told that they simply had none left as they hadn't printed enough. Oh well.

I guess I'm just not built for the mass marathon. The whole experience for me was a little off putting with the exception of the crowd. Soooo many people around me actually made it quite hard to run and really enjoy it.
I like running not feeling like I'm on display.

So whats next?

After a nice couple of weeks off I turned my focus to the London Enduro 12 hour on the 13th/14th June. This one was a little different for me as it was 12 hours but over the night. Starting at 7pm in Wimbledon Common we all headed off to try and complete as many 10k laps as we could. There was the option for a 50k or 12 hour and you could take part as a team or solo. I was one of only 24 solo runners.

3.......2........1.......GO!!

We headed off and naturally I ignored all of my own advice, headed out really hard and way beyond my pace plan, completing the first lap in 59:14 while chatting along to a really nice guy.
Lap 2 hurt a bit so I slowed it down and started taking a slightly better approach but the humidity and unexpected amount of hills were trashing me already.
Coming into the end of lap 2 I was in real trouble. I was dizzy and felt thrashed to bits. I sat down for about 10 minutes desperately trying to get myself together. My Mum did a fantastic job playing the part of my crew and I pretty much owe this race to her.
My original goal was to attempt to go for 100k. After only the second lap my plan changed to 50 miles. The humidity and hills just sapped away at my energy but as much as I could I tried to just break it into laps. One at a time.
According to the rules as long as you had set out for your last lap before 11:30 hours had elapsed then the final lap would count.
Round and round and round I went just hoping that the sun would come up soon as my head torch was running really low. Just at the point where I was wondering how much battery i had left my torch went out, plunging me into complete, solid darkness!
I had no choice but to stop dead in my tracks and take my phone out. I ran the next 3 miles on the torch from my phone! To be fair it worked bloody well!
Back at camp Mummysaurus changed the batteries for me, got me fed and water and sent me on my way.
By this point the sun was almost up and my pace had dropped right down. I was pretty much only running the downhill sections and walking everything else. Fortunately there was some really nice long bits of downhill so that helped to bring up my overall time.
I went through I really nasty point of feeling sick at around 42 miles and it was really slowing me down. I figured I would try a bit of an experiment and just head for the bushes and listen to my body.
My body didn't like the last chocolate bar I ate apparently.
Less than half a mile later I felt fantastic and I found myself running at 9 minute miles again! I hadn't been able to do that for the last few hours! Magic!
I guess I had just overloaded on the food and water. Every days a school day.

Onto the last lap.....

Most of my last lap I spent walking and chatting with a very nice lady who was on to complete 100k! Fantastic effort! She said she had spent so many laps trying to really focus that now the sun was up and she couldn't get anymore in, she was just going to enjoy her last lap and take it all in. Brilliant!
I was more than happy to trot along and have a natter.
When it came to the downhills I let the brakes off and headed off. Behind me I could hear her shouting "how are you running so fast?!" once we met up at the bottom I said to her I didn't realise i was?! Apparently I`m pretty good at downhill running. Who knew?! Well I guess its a good job that I am or I wouldn't have got away with as many laps as I did!

Getting close to the finish now and her parents had caught her up. She wished me well and headed off to the finish. I would have loved to have tagged along but honestly I was done and simply couldn't keep up. She is an amazing runner and I wouldn't doubt it for a minute to see her doing some real damage for the top places in other races. (Top running Alice :) )

Finally turning into the last corner and onto the field I can see the finishing area. It felt like it took me for ever to get there. As is now tradition (just for the camera) I set off for a sprint(ish) finish. As I got closer I could see everyone at the finish line with there back to me looking at something else. I cross the line to one person clapping and my Mum taking a video, everyone else? They were watching a guy cooking bacon. Love it!

I had a quick hug from my Mum and then took a seat on the grass, happy that I didn't have to do another loop.
What come next was kinda odd. As I sat there my Mum looked around to see if anyone had actually noticed if I had finished.............
Nope.
The guy who was normally at the finish line was the same guy cooking the bacon! Mum strutted over and came back not only with a bacon roll and a coffee for me but also with a very apologetic looking race director! Ha ha ha
He rummaged around in the tent, called over another guy and continued to search. Turns out they had run out of the 12 hour finishers medals! Ooops!
He was very apologetic and offered me the 50k finishers medal and a Salomon hat by way of apologie.........fine by me!
I sat and munched on my roll during the awards and had a look through my goodie bag. Great t shirt and loads of bits to munch on....perfik.

So whats been going on since?

After London Enduro I took a nice week off and then tried to get back into training and writing. Both didn't go so well. I think to be honest I was a little tired of both. Instead I have been trying to just get my groove back. Parkrun and reading have both helped a lot.
I guess once you have done something that puts a lot of stress on your body maybe your mind needs as much of a break as your body does?
The proof is in the posting eh?

I wanted to write this post as less of a race report and more of a recap without the bells and whistles, without the fanfare. The idea being more about what goes on around the running. I guess in a way just to try and kick start the writing again.

Not my most coherent post I grant you but maybe a more honest one.
Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

Love and ramblings
Cardiosaurus

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Mill Hill MUDrathon!

It was the 1st of March and a beautiful sunny but slightly chilly morning. The weather had not been at all kind in the run up to the first ever Mill Hill marathon but that wasn't going to stop 54 nutcases from sploshing around in the mud for 27 miles.

Mummysaurus picked me up and we headed over to Mill Hill just after 8am. Now for us this was a real treat as we only live in Borehamwood, about 15 minutes away!! Talk about on your doorstep! None of the usual faff of making sure you can get there, the traffic the blah blah blah.... brilliant!

On the drive over we joked about the hills we were driving on saying the usual things like "wow, hope you don't have to run this one!" and laughing about the obvious name of the town - Mill HILL.
Now you would be forgiven for thinking there was only 1 hill. There isn't. There are many, many, many hills, oh and mud, lots of it. Funnily enough though I don't recall seeing a mill?
Any who, back to the story....

We arrived at a little hall and walked in to find loads of folks all huddled inside. Everyone was chatting away and looking very relaxed while drinking tea and coffee. Not the normal feeling at the start of a marathon. Upon looking around the room a little more it began to dawn on me why almost everyone was looking so relaxed. I spotted Dennis Cartwright and we had a nice chat. Its always great to catch up with people you have run with before. Then I spot Traviss Willcox and a blue and yellow shirt, then another blue and yellow shirt and another and another........oh dear.
I felt like I had walked into a 100 marathon club convention! Talk about humbling! For those of you who don't know about the 100 marathon club, the name may give it away. It is a pretty exclusive club for those who have completed over 100 marathons/ultras!! Ill just let you digest that for a moment.........

Need a bit longer?

Yes that did say OVER 100. 100 is the point you are accepted into the club and can start wearing the much coveted blue and yellow club shirt. This means that pretty much anybody you speak to with that shirt on has done as LEAST 100 marathons.

Ill give you a little longer.....

We have the normal race briefing and head out to the starting line just outside.
Group photo before the start
Looking at the pathway ahead, it was already pretty clear that today was going to be a tough day. The pathway was pretty boggy and we hadn't even started yet.
My footwear of choice was of course the sensible choice.........sandals. With slippery, boggy, sticky mud and a lot of puddles and stones why wouldn't you?
To be honest I had considered wearing my Altra and even had them in the car in case I got into trouble. The only problem I found with the Altra is that they seem to collect the mud rather than assist me over it!! All things considered, sandals it was.

3...2...1....GO!

We sploshed off the start line, down a little steep hill and into more mud. Some more mud was waiting for us just after we got through the last bit and then some hills.....with mud.
We were less than a mile in and I was already covered up to my shins.
On the drive over Mummysaurus mentioned she was considering maybe walking a lap depending on how tough I thought it was after my first one. After half a lap I knew I had to get back quickly to stop her being impatient and leaving before I had a chance to tell her it wasn't such a good idea! The going was tough and muddy, did I mention the mud? 1 lap ticked off, just another 4 to go! *gulp*
Only one lap in and already up to my thighs in mud!
With each lap the mud got more and more churned up. My trusty Luna sandals held up well but it was tough going. My foot would splosh into the mud, the mud and stones swamping under my arch and then slop back out again, leaving me with most of the stones between my foot and the sandal. Now as much as this is a disadvantage to wearing sandals it also means that removing the stones is also just as easy. I never have to take them off. I simply flex my foot and scrape any stubborn bits out with my hand, job done!
This does however get a little tedious every other step but no more so than constantly emptying shoes out. The next few laps followed much in the same vein as the first one, the only difference being that the got progressively slower. The mud sapped the energy away and hills took it in turns to give the legs a good battering. It was a strange race that left everyone thankful to see the concrete path. I have rarely been so grateful to find a normal solid road! The downhills were also a very welcome sight indeed!
With every lap I came into the aid station with somehow even more mud on me! Constantly using my gloves to clear out my feet meant that I had to clean my gloves on my body! I was becoming a mud monster!
I only really had one slightly down moment as I came into what I thought was my 3rd lap to be told it was actually my 4th and I only had 1 and a half to go! This picked me up instantly and I bopped off down the hill again happy with the fact that this was the last one in this direction. I was tired, covered in mud, cold, battered but having a ball! My smile was back and it was time to get the job done.
I had no target time at all, I just wanted to get round.
Finally I bopped down the hill towards the turn around point for the last half a lap. I tucked into the goodies that were on offer on the table and sipped on some water. Giving Mummysaurus a quick goodbye hug I headed back up the hill and onto the final half a lap.
It felt like it was taking forever but I tried to keep smiling with the knowledge that it was nearly done.
After what felt like a month I was back on the home straight. Time to give it some legs for the final downhill you know, for the photo *wink wink
The home straight carrying considerably more mud 
PHEW! That was a tough one! Honestly I have to say that one felt like a miniature North Downs Way. Tough, tough, tough! I would love to give that a go again in the DRY! The downhills were really enjoyable and I really enjoyed quite a lot of the trail. Anna did a great job of putting it all together and the gathering at the pub after was a stroke of genius!

Will I be back? Yes!
Phew! Can we go to the pub now?!
Yes, I am a Hobbit (Me, Dennis, Clive)
Huge thanks to Anna and all the marshals, top stuff folks! The medal was brilliant as well and spun around!! I shall be back for another one!
Spin spiny spin spin!
Thanks for reading folks
Love and hugs
Cardiosaurus

Monday 9 March 2015

The time travelling runner

I have loads of posts to catch up on. I really need to write my Mill Hill Marathon report but instead my mind went for a walk about and found this.....

Movies about time travel always get me thinking. If you could, what would you change? 
In the movies the hero would travel back in time and change a seemingly ordinary event that then ripples out and changes the course of history.
Then returning to their own time they find everything is just dandy, have a sit down and a nice cuppa....Perfik!
But what if when they traveled back in time, rather than keeping the memory of the past, they literally rewound time, 10 years earlier without a clue that they had done all of this before? Except of course for every now and then when they get a feeling of deja vu.

You see Humans are very good at looking back and seeing what they *should* have done years a go. "if I had only..." and "I wish I had..." are common among the thoughts of yesteryear. As a species though we are not always that great at looking forwards.

So just for fun what if we stopped for a moment and considered my theory?
You have already done this, at least once if you didn't get it right last time! So why did you come back? What is so important about right now?
You have the power to change something right now that will affect your entire future, what do you do?
Get your diet in order? Pay more attention to people around you? Train more? Start being a little braver? 

What do you want your near future to look like? Been putting off that "once in a lifetime" thing?


Book the race. Train harder. Eat better. Laugh more.

Make NOW the point you look back on 10 years from now and smile at.

Hell, if im wrong you can always come back and do it again! ;)


Love and hugs

Future Cardiosaurus ;)