Dalby Dash 10k, great fun!  Sunday morning I woke not feeling to great to be honest, tired and aching.  Todays run was a late start which actually was a good thing today but normally I like the early starts so I can be back in good time.  It was to be an 11.02 start, the 2 been the 2 minute silence we observed before the dash began.  I made it to Dalby Forest in good time after thinking I'd be late as normal, but I ended up being ushered through to the second carpark which was a few mins walk away from the Visitor centre and registration. It was cold, I was planning on running in shorts with compression top and shirt with windproof jacket on.  I was sat in the car with tracksuit bottoms, hoody and woolly hat on, with fear running through my body from opening the door to get to my trainers ha ha!  Once I'd plucked up the courage that was it we were off, shoes on, hoody and bottoms off and hat thrown in to the back of the car.  I set off for the visitor centre, I actually even started to run as thought it would help me stay warm ( I have never done that before lol)!  Apon arrival I checked in and got my number and began to prepare myself for the forth coming run.  I was looking round to see if I recognised anyone as thought there were going to be a few that I knew.  After standing in the reception area just trying to keep warm before that shock of going outside again, I started bumping in to people I knew so it soon became a friendly fun environment with lots of smiley faces all doing the same thing, hiding and huddling together inside knowing how chilly it was on the outside ha ha!

Once we'd braved going out the door and gathering near the start line we had the race brief followed by the Race Directors little Poem which was great fun.  We observed a two minute silence for Rememberance Day then he shouted 3,2,1 go really quickly and we were off! It was a steady start down the road and as per usually it was all the giddy chatter and banter before the grind started.  Over the bridge then a left turn in to Dalby village, which was literally a few houses, then onwards up the hill!  Now with me not doing this run before and being aware of this hill I was slightly cautious to start with as didn't really know the severity or distance of the incline so I just kind of went with the flow with the intention of trying to run all of it.  Maybe it was better not knowing how far the incline would last as my determination to keep running was high.  My breathing became heavy to the point of panting but my legs stayed strong, so each time the voice in my head kept saying I needed to stop and walk I had to question why!  I was managing my heavy breathing, it hadn't got the point where I couldn't get enough air in and my legs seemed ok with the current output so I had to just say shut up to myself and push on.  If there's no obvious reason to walk other than the voice in my head then I have to push on.  It was tough towards the top since it had been approximately 2 miles of climbing but I could now see the brough of the hill, my legs were becoming heavy but my breathing was the same so I wasn't going to stop now, no chance!  Over the brough and from the race description and a few peoples comments it was all downhill now.  In the past I have heard things like this and trusted them and eventually been let down which breaks in to your spirit but this time I just decided it is what it is and get on with it and push push push its only 10k!!!

This was turning in to a great fun event.  I actually felt like I was a proper runner, I was striding out and running at a bit of pace for once!  Oh yeah that's because it was downhill all the way ha ha!  It did feel good though and helped to push on and want to do better because there was no excuses for slowing down even towards the end when it flattened out I still had the desire to push on as hard as I could.  I have very rarely done this in my running as always just been happy to go at 'my pace' but it is now something I'm trying to improve on so I will enter more short events just to get that again now I have gained some confidence from it.

After I'd passed through the finish I made my way back to the Visitor Centre to collect my momento which in this case was a great pair of running gloves with 'Dalby Dash 10k 2017' printed on them which was cool. My mind was then preoccupied with having to get back to the club as I was at work at 2pm so needed to get a crack on.  Guess what happened then, go on guess ha ha!! Yep I ran back to the car lol!

Dalby Dash 10k 2017 done, great event good fun!

So with three days to go till Dalby Dash 10k I have just had a light session in the gym doing a few dumb bell weights and kettlebell swings with sit-ups and some Romanian twists.  My training for the Hardmoors 160 is in its infancy but its starting to shape up nicely.  I have a new addition to my team adding a different dimension to my training.  This is Jake, and he will be doing a lot of crossfit endurance training with me including a lot of squats, dead lifts and general power work.  This is in the form of one session a week with him then doing 2 more sessions on my own.  The plan is to work harder in the gym on strength building and working on my weakness and improving my form.  I will be including running in this programme but not high mileage, my high mileage runs will be spread out over the next 6 months with a gradual increase but not any distance that is going to cause long term injury or lack of recovery time.

So I met up with Jake yesterday to do some assessments so he could decide on what the best course of action was going to be.  He had me doing some squats looking at my form and posture, some single leg squats and then some shoulder flexibility and mobility exercises.  We then moved on to doing some squats with weight doing 3 reps at a time increasing the weight to try and find what I was comfortably capable of.  We got up to 95 kg which was good (I think) and this will give us a great starting base platform.  Once Jake had given me the instructions and technique practices, I got stuck in.  The heavier the weight the greater, or weirder the facial expression and more obscure the noises coming from me ha ha!

Next up I have a squash match tonight then hoping for a short run tomorrow at some point then rest before Sunday.  Then I have a four weeks of training before Roseberry Topping when the real work begins!

A cheeky 10 miler in the Peak District!

So at the crack of dawn on Sunday 22nd October Rob and myself met up at 6.30am to head off to Calver in the Peak district to run a 10 mile trail race.  Now when I say race, that's because Rob's doing it and he will be up there with the other racing snakes, whilst the likes of me are there to make the rest look good!!!  Anyway the plan was to get there about 8ish leaving us with enough time to register and get to the actual start line. We made good time to Calver arriving just after 8 and immediately got ushered into the village hall carpark and given a spot, this was amazing, as I thought we'd be 10 minutes driving round playing eye spy to get a parking spot but it turns out no one wanted to park at  the VH so easy peasy! With the normal pre-race efforts going on with kit and trying to get some fuel into the system while hydrating the whole time we managed to say hello to fellow runners and get ourselves organised.  It was pretty blowy, with rain looming but holding off at this point but I wasn't optimistic about the rest of the morning it looked like it could really come in.  Off we went and registered, sorting names and numbers and receiving our dibbers, safety pins and maps.  We had to get a move on as our time slot was 8.30 and we were rapidly running out of time.  Not sure where we were going we followed others that looked like they were also on the way to the start which I knew was up a steep hill at some point.  After a while and a funny feeling I was getting that we weren't going to the start, I asked the chap in front if he was heading the same way, he wasn't!!! He did send us the right way thought and his brought us to the steep hill and start line.  After a few brief words and dibbing in, we were off!! The beginning basically was uphill for a long a time, in fact it felt like forever aaarrrggghhhh!!!!  I was blowing like Ivor the Engine after only a few minutes, but I was determined to push on and make a decent attempt at it since it was literally the beginning.  Whilst I was huffing and puffing up the first ascent Rob was off like Usain Bolt and took another guy with him on the journey, I just said 'see you at the end mate!' ha ha!

Well the marshall at the start didn't let us down, he'd actually been brutally honest.  From the off it was uphill, which I had a go at for a bit but then needed to power walk a bit before another short run.  This continued for about 3.5 miles, at the middle point of the race there was a noticeable difference almost immediately.  Suddenly the wind was behind us and there was considerably more downhill sections that made it fun and a much quicker run.  We ended up down by the river which was quite nice once we'd descended a huge grass bank that seemed to just go on forever.  Now it was as good as flat and a nice trot through the woods and along the river bank.   Then suddenly I could see flags that had finish printed on them, this was a bit odd at the time as we were no where near the village hall we registered at.  Surprisingly though it was, and I wasn't really sure what was going ha ha!  I was wondering around like a lost sheep, until I followed some other lost sheep and we headed along the roadside following some signs that took us back to registration.  I was expecting Rob to either be huddled in the corner freezing since he'd probably been there for at least 30-40 minutes or to have packed up and gone because he couldn't be bothered to wait for me lol!  He was there eating and drinking and looking like he'd barely done anything where as I looked like I'd done a marathon in a typhoon!

Off we went, home bound!  Job done, it was great to just get out and do a run especially nice to do a different route and experience something new.

Whats next?

Roseberry Topping half marathon :)

How important is self belief when trying to accomplish or succeed in a challenge you at actually is beyond your capabilities?  Self belief is huge, and don't get this confused with arrogance, self belief is about you trusting your training so making sure your body is prepared for the task in hand, race planning and scheduling so again the preparation and attention to detail, and trusting in some fundamental grit, heart and luck!  Self belief is a powerful tool that not only lets us sign up to these crazy challenges but its also what helps drive us to complete them and achieve our dreams. How can you improve or work on your self belief without being misguided and lying to yourself?  I believe that as individuals we can work at our self-belief by positive reinforcement, achievement, good preparation and planning and good PMA!  This is crucial in my opinion to succeeding in Ultra marathons, if you don't believe in yourself and believe you can do it then unfortunately others won't and when your on your own on route in the middle of the night this could be the difference between success and dnf.  So make sure before you start that there is going to be only one outcome, and that is that you are going to finish!  In another book that I once read I can't remember which sorry, but it basically said to help with this you have to dream of the finish constantly, thinking about what it will be like and how it will feel, then when times are hard you can use that to help push you through.

I was caught in a position of dare I say 'misplaced confidence' but the last race I did which was the Hardmoors 60 gave me the appropriate kick in the ass!  I am now fully grounded again and understand that the Hardmoors 160 next May is going to be the toughest thing I have ever done and I need to treat it with respect.  I need to plan appropriately leaving nothing to chance and to start my training in good time so I can build up the mileage appropriately.  I'm loving the new challenge and excited about training properly for it.  Current training is base level fitness, so plenty of gym work and short runs and weight loss as this now going to have a massive impact on the outcome of some of these races I want to do.

To succeed in my challenge there is going to have to lots of hardwork, practical training appropriate to task, discipline, and sacrifice.  These are the ingredients if mixed correctly and balanced right that will determine whether I am successful in the Hardmoors 160.  I'm not going home without my medal, I will succeed and will be using this as my stepping stone to bigger and greater things!

Believe to achieve!

Great session in the gym backing up the work I did yesterday.  That included squats, lunges and weights for upper body incorporating press-ups and sit-up twists with a 10kg bag.  I used the same bag over my shoulders whilst doing jumping lunges which was tricky for balance but felt really good.  Where as today I did steady warm up on the bike then hit the treadmill.  I wanted to do a hill workout so I did 1k steady run warm up then increased the incline by 2.5 each minute up to and including 10 before dropping it back to zero and resting for a minute before starting again.  I repeated this for 3 times then ran steady to complete 5k.   My intention is to keep repeating this exercise but increasing the incline gradually, increasing the pace gradually and shortening the recovery between hills.  This combined with actually getting out there and running some real hills will be just what I need.  Then the idea is to get quicker at 5k, 10k, half-marathon and 20 mile distance.

I know I have a long job ahead of me but that's half the battle hey, keeping focused and showing signs of progress, even if slow progress!  My next main battle that I always seem to put off or ignore is the fact I need to lose weight.  This unfortunately is my toughest battle.  I'm not interested in being thin but to drop a stone would help me enjoy what I do more and I now see that as something important to me.  So let the battle of the belly commence, hope I don't get too grumpy!!!

Inspired! Inspired! Inspired!

Wow what a race that was 'The Lon Las Cwymru' Ultra was epic, loved following it and now inspired to push on with my on journey.  Since the MdS in April I've kind of lost motivation to train, I'm not sure why but to excited at watching some others race down Wales for 253 miles is mental.  All I want to do is sign up and have a go, even though I know its way out of my league.  I am getting stuck into my training now, mainly gym work mixed with short runs.  My focus will be on writing a programme over the next few days to cover the next 6 months which will take me to the Hardmoors 160 eeek!  I'm confident I have what it takes mentally, now its about getting the body prepared.  This will require a steady build with increased mileage and a fitness regime to match.  I also intend to lose some weight as I feel this is one of the areas that is holding me back.  Its not vanity as I'm not to bothered but when its something that I can change to help me improve on what I have already achieved and will help me going forwards I want to do something about it.  its mind set more than anything and desire to achieve more.

This was an epic journey and one I'd love to have a crack at one day.  Train hard, believe, and succeed!!!

I am currently obsessed with watching the posts and trackers for 'The Lon Las Ultra' which is 253 miles from Holyhead to Cardiff in Wales.  This could end up on my bucket list but I have a serious amount of work to do if so.  I just get excited about the adventure and the sheer lunacy of it, its brilliant!  I have been trying to decide what are the things a like about long distance Ultra running, and apart from the things I've mentioned before like 'head clearing time', 'solitude', 'challenge', 'being outdoors' I think I also like because not many other people do it.  If you see some peoples responses when you tell them your looking at entering a hundred odd mile race they look at you like they've just been electrocuted and hen when you say its across the Sahara Desert or The Yukon they just look baffled lol!

I am now excited to get back out there and try some more long runs, I love having to consider the kit I need, organise maps and plan training runs appropriate to the challenge.  I am now in the early stages of planning the Hardmoors 160 in May.  This gives me plenty of time to prepare and to train the best I have ever done, I really want to put considerable effort in to this event and test myself as I intend to finish this race.  I get excited at the prospect of attempting something that is crazy but very doable if done right.

Where do I begin?  Well I have been doing quite a lot of gym work at the mo like I said previously trying to build base level fitness.  Next step is to get back to more specific functional training, trying to become fitter and leaner than I have ever been before.  It is time to stop saying I need to be fitter, lighter, a better run, more prepared and to actually take this a little further and put some work and effort into it.

Time to stop doubting, and start believing!