Category Archives: Adventure Racing
Anglesey Sandman
Before I did the Sting in Stirling I decided to enter the Anglesey Sandman. It is part of a series of three which included the Slateman. Because I did so well in that race I thought I’d take the chance on being recovered enough to do this one and get a decent time for the series.
Three weeks after the Sting, I wasn’t really sure I was ready! I’d done what I could to recover, which meant generally eating and sleeping a lot. I’d also done a few gentle rides and short runs to get the legs moving again. I’d had a slight niggle at the back of my knee which I ignored as it seemed like something just settling down.
On the morning of the race the wind was up and it was raining. Usually I relish bad race day conditions, but today I wasn’t so certain! The swim was moved to be more sheltered but still, it was very big and bouncy. I had so much fun, I’d happily have just done the swim leg three times (despite an annoying leaky goggle). Unfortunately for me, the swim move meant an extra 1km run leg back to transition! I jogged through it and got my bike. I dithered about what to wear and in the end put on my long sleeve jersey.
Out on the bike and I was really enjoying it … for a while! I caught one or two girls, including Jen who had won this event last year. But then it started to hurt. Jen (who went on to finish 3rd) came back past me looking strong and jumped across to a group in front. I was left feeling the burn as we went up another short climb. I was still well in the mix, as I had just come past the girl who eventually came first with a storming run. I was hoping that it was only feeling tough because the conditions and course were tough – maybe everyone felt the same!
The bike route, lumpy elevation and my heart rate dropping as I fix the puncture, and rising as I pump it up! We had W / SW winds.
Then disaster struck. About 7km from the end of a 60km ride, I got a puncture. This has never happened to me on my road bike in a race before and I was momentarily stunned. I thought about riding back on the rim but that would have been nuts! So I stopped and set about fixing it. I was in driving rain and a strong crosswind on a nice exposed section at the time – of course! I’d never heard of magic hole sealing foam, and don’t carry CO2 canisters, so it was manual job. Wheel off, tyre out, found source of puncture (a small metal staple), new tube in and start pumping! I now know that the shiny mini pump that Andy got me as a present works a treat, but takes some effort. By this time I was starting to get cold – thank goodness I made the choice to put on a jersey.
I looked this bad and there were still about 4km left to go!
Apart from the time lost fixing the puncture, I lost a bit more as I set off with cold muscles and a little less motivation. I rolled into transition and started the run rather unenthusiastically. Luckily for me, partway round a girl from Chester Tri came past and she was just the right speed for me to sit in behind. I tried not to think about how much this was hurting. Eventually a marshal said ‘1km to go!’ (though I think this could have been a ‘marshals 1km’ 😉 ) and I put an extra effort in. But when we hit the choice of sand or stones on the beach my legs nearly packed up and I was in a sorry state at the end.
Those little niggles turned into enough pain that by the evening I couldn’t bend my knee and ice wasn’t helping. Although it got a lot better very quickly over the following week, I still felt quite down and very tired for several days. I think the effects of the Sting hadn’t quite worked themselves through!
If I hadn’t had to stop, who knows how the race would have gone for me. A good result and a positive mind can make you feel so very different (physically as well as mentally). But bad luck can happen to anyone and it was out of my control, so I have moved on quickly. The series isn’t realistic for me any more – though my dad keeps suggesting that you never know who might get attacked by a peacock on the bike course at the next race. Any potential Snowman competitors out there – you have been warned! 😀
Adidas Terrex Sting in Stirling – reports from the race
Last week I spent 5 days ‘holiday’ competing in a team of 4 at the Adidas Terrex Sting in Stirling. This is a non-stop 5 day adventure race. You can read all about it here.
During the race we had to do mandatory blogs … Well, we were told they were mandatory but not every team did them, and we almost missed one or two because we didn’t know when we were supposed to write! But I was very keen to fulfil my allotted role as team blogger, even when we were grumpy, ready to go, and had to wait 5 minutes for a computer to be turned on for us! I don’t know how the team let me get away with that one – thanks guys :-).
Our team were ‘AVT Asset Management’. Here’s our profile, some photos and links to our reports from the race. I don’t know how long this page will be up for though, so I have copied the content here too, for safe keeping :D. There’s also a few extra pictures in the reports – many thanks to James Kirby and Open Adventure.
Team profile
Reports from the race
Trail mail
Reflections on the race to follow!
Edinburgh Swim Festival
The Edinburgh swim festival was a fun race for me! I entered the 2km event two years ago and was 13th – this year I wanted to be top 10 and beat Andy by 10 minutes (he set the gap, not me 🙂 ).
At the festival, your entry fee covers as many of the races as you like. First up was the 2km. Clad in our wetsuits with bare feet we clambered on the coach in Portobello and were whisked off to the pier at Musselburgh.
Next task – warm up, get in and get ready to swim back again! The water was quite warm, so it was OK getting out ready to run back in again when the gun went off :-). Here we are just after the start. I can’t be sure which is me, but I’m near the front-ish on the right-hand side in an orange hat!
The start
I seemed to go a bit wide at first and, as usual, found it impossible to get onto some good feet for drafting. Halfway over one of the bouys was more inland and I had to decide whether to follow the bouys and the people or cut straight over to the one after. I did the latter and it felt strange to be out alone. I couldn’t even see a safety boat when I was turning to breathe!
Funny faces getting out!
At the final bouy before the turn, I rejoined the field and put the effort in to strike for shore. I finished 25th overall, 8th female, 5th ‘senior’ female (i.e. when you discount any juniors and veterans who beat me!). Goal one achieved, but Andy was only 7 minutes behind – so he won that one!
Andy making sure he finished hard
Last time I felt seasick at the end. This time I was fine, though I always look a bit weird getting out 😀 !!
A smile on my face as I do the turn in the 800m!
After a long wait on the beach it was time for the 800m. This was two laps from the beach. I had got quite stiff and never really felt into this one as a race. However, it scored high in the fun stakes as the wind and swell were getting up. We were swimming straight out into the waves, then across them, then surfing back in. I was with a group of other girls and didn’t realise at the time that if I had been motivated to push past them and swim 6 seconds faster I’d have been on the podium :-).
14th overall, 6th female, 3rd senior female.
High elbow or straight arm?! (I’m the one with pink squiggles!)
Finally, after a quick turnaround (good for staying ready) it was straight back in for the 400m. It was free, so why not?! And knowing it was my last chance, I went for it, was clear of the group I was with in the 800m and finished in the top 3 females! Persistence pays off :D.
11th overall, 3rd female, 2nd senior female.
The weather stayed sunny, we all had fun and even Andy’s jellyfish sting didn’t put a dampener on things. We rounded it off with a fantastic meal at the Roseleaf.
One of the safety kayakers – Jim from the Wild Ones – thanks Jim!
Thanks to Bob Marshall for the great photos.
Next race – a big one – the 5-day Adidas Terrex Sting in Stirling. I haven’t met all the team before, let alone ever raced with them. This is also the first time I’ve done anything as long as this. I hope it will be all about the experience and having a bit of fun! You will be able to follow us live on the trackers (it’s team AVT Asset Management) and look out for my report when I’ve recovered enough to write it!
Celtman – The Aftermath!
The very fact that it’s been 3.5 weeks of silence since my Celtman race report tells you something about the aftermath of this race!
Of course, to start with I was a bit tired, but also very happy! Then came the post-race ‘down’ feeling. Both coach and Andy had warned me about this, but I still didn’t like it. After months of having just one main focus, suddenly it was gone from my life! And it almost didn’t feel real that it was me that had gone all that way and done all that racing.
I had a couple of days off all exercise, but getting back onto the bike to ride to work the Wednesday after the race actually felt fantastic.
To beat the blues I was told to “do summat different”. To start with I entered the SMBO (Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering) Leadhills event. This local-ish series has a low-key friendly feel, and as I’ve only made it to the first one so far this year (when I raced with wee Iain) it was good to go and support them again.
I’m good to Andy again!
I scrambled a last minute lift from a very kind man from Fife – thanks Craig! This was my first time on the mountain bike in TWO WHOLE MONTHS! That’s what triathlon training does to you. Luckily almost everything still worked, apart from a near disaster with a lost cleat bolt at registration – again kind people came to my rescue to help me fix it (Gary, Andy and Andy’s wife :D).
I didn’t take the race too seriously, which meant I was relatively calm as I made some map blunders (soooo out of practice) and pootled around in the drizzle. It was a 3h race and about 1h from the end I sort of woke up as I whizzed up the hill at Wanlockhead to the radar station, caught some fantastic views and raced back down again! This event had a twist – certain controls had bits of grid reference and clues on and when they were all put together we had the location of the ‘golden control’. There was just time to get that before a little race back to the finish. I won a bottle of beer (for Andy) and an Alpine Bikes gift voucher.
Wet, foggy, windy, on a hill. Have I given anything away?!
After a week of feeling very average and quite tired, I headed up onto the Pentlands for a day of “running” (I use the term very loosely) on what was possibly the wettest day in a set of very wet days. The hills are normally popular and busy at the weekend, but I only saw two other people all day. I covered 19km in 5h whilst doing a bit of course planning for the Open 5 in November. I nearly lost a shoe in a knee deep bog, missed two of my own planned control locations (it was foggy, OK?!), got so cold I had to put a thermal top on and dripped all the way home on the bus :D. It felt like quite a crazy wild adventure given I was on my doorstep in June!
Coldingham Bay. A fun day out with The Wild Ones.
Still more pottering followed, when I also managed to lose a bike, which the police recovered 3 days later (amazing), twist my dodgy ankle on a 30 min run in the woods (now armed with many physio exercises) and swim outdoors in 3 different places (Coldingham – fantastic fun waves, Threipmuir – damp and midgy, Salford Quays – really warm, flat and rectangular). By last weekend I was feeling much perkier and did two fantastic fun technical rides on the bridleways near Andy’s house in the Peak District.
Finally, a first. Sunday was the SkyRide Manchester event. On impulse I agreed that Andy could sign me up for a ‘track taster’ session at the velodrome. The thought of being on the track has always scared me a bit, and when I was finally in the arena, next to the banking, it was even worse. Honestly, it’s much steeper than it looks on TV. And because the bikes have only one gear, no brakes and you can’t free-wheel, I had serious concerns about ever stopping. I had visions of being stuck there going round and round and round until Andy could catch me :-D.
Before I’d started. This is my ‘apprehensive’ look!
The people already riding were making it look easy, but my first couple of tentative laps were so frightening! I pulled many faces and was a bit wibbly wobbly from nerves. We were clearly instructed that the faster we went, the safer it was and that we must also accelerate into the bends. I took this seriously and got progressively quicker and quicker – to the extent that I was too scared to go any slower! The first time I had to overtake I nearly had kittens. Then everyone else stopped for a rest and I took off on my own. I got braver and braver and was soon pedalling round as fast as I possibly could right at the top of the banking!! How awesome is that? I even started trying a bit of swooping down from high to low for extra speed.
Proof that I was up at the top!
When our time was up, my legs were burning but I was on a real high from the exhilaration of it. It was so simple and the track so predictable – all you had to think about was pedalling smoothly and going fast. Andy said I didn’t look too bad, but even so, I couldn’t imagine being out there in a jostling bunch. Not yet, anyway :-).
Now I’m feeling back to normal and ready to take on new challenges ….
Celtman – The Race
After months of training and anticipation the Celtman finally landed on Saturday. Although it actually felt like it started on Wednesday, when two of my supporters (mum and Andy) arrived and I had the stress of kit checking and packing. Kate turned up on Thursday looking remarkably bright, given she had left home at about 5am!
It was a long drive north, but we took the scenic route and got to Torridon just in time to register. There were lots of people I knew milling around, which was comforting.
We headed back to the B&B which had awesome views of Loch Shieldaig and was very comfortably appointed. Andy decided to test the water temperature in his underpants and stayed in all of about 10 seconds. Not very encouraging!
At breakfast on Friday we bumped into Izzy, who was staying the night before moving to a cottage with some other people form the club. Upstairs from us there was a French family – the dad Eric was also racing. We had booked a dinner from our obliging hosts and when we wandered in we found yet more people we knew doing the race already happily munching! I wonder whether there was anyone staying in the villages who wasn’t a Celtman racer or supporter that weekend?!
A ‘quick trip’ round to Applecross for lunch on Friday was probably a mistake as it tired the drivers out, though I was happily admiring the views :-). We ended up racing to the briefing, arriving 1 minute before it started! The only thing my mum noted down was the name of the nearest hospital …
More kit checking and logistics back at the B&B and by then it was all getting a bit much. I was glad to get into bed, but I felt bloated and like I had eaten too much. During the night I imagined my feet were hurting, my head was thumping and I was coming down with a dreadful lurgy. At 3am the alarm went off and I leapt up. Somehow I got my contact lenses in and ate some muesli before venturing out to sign on, rack the bike and get on the coaches to the start.
I sat next to a friendly Norwegian who mused about how bad the ‘midgets’ were and how cold the water might be. There was a long wait at the beach but it passed quickly, chatting to people I knew and being interviewed by the Adventure Show crew. By the time I got to the water it was minutes from the start time and I hardly made the line before the klaxon went off! The swim was shortened to about 3.2km due to the cold, so we struck straight out for the other side.
First shock of the day – the sea was full of jellyfish! I have a bit of a thing about jellyfish, and squealed a few times when I hit one with my feet or they floated up near my face. As usual I started at the back, and spent the whole time moving up the field. Every time I tried to draft someone I would overtake, be drafted for a bit, then move on to the next person. That is, when I wasn’t veering wide to get a nice clear view of where I was going!
My day-long tummy problems started halfway over when that muesli nearly came back up – and every time I swallowed a mouthful of salty water I nearly gagged. Still, it was a race so I kept going. I was 22nd out of the swim, which was pretty good.
After the transition my supporters went to relax over some brekkie for a bit, whilst I set about cycling 202km. I felt really nauseous for at least 20 minutes and was convinced this had never happened to me before. Then I remembered it has happened at least twice before on a swim to bike transition! After a while I settled down, probably too much, as I covered the first 60km at 30km/h.
By this point I was running low on fluids and desperate for my support crew to arrive. When they did I was so relieved! This gave me a temporary boost, until I started getting terrible stomach cramps. I also really needed to pee, and had to stop. This pattern continued for the next 5 hours! The cramps were like nothing I’ve experienced before – I was doubled over whilst still trying to pedal and I still have sore tummy muscles 3 days later! Still, I got into a more sustainable pace and really enjoyed the longer climbs and descents in the second half of the course. I was also lucky to be playing leapfrog with Izzy as it kept me motivated and meant I had her supporters cheering as well as mine :-).
At T2 it was chaos. People were shouting, a car reversed into our boot lid which was up in the air, I chucked a sock onto a burning midge candle in the back of the car and midges landed in their hordes! I was glad to get away, and even more glad of the portaloo. That job done and standing upright again at last and my stomach felt a hundred times better. I set off running up the hill, swigging a Frijj and with Andy on his mountain bike. It was great to have company and someone to natter to again 😀 .
The scenery was lovely, and I cheered Izzy on as she passed on the downhill, thinking that was the last I would see her. The last 5km along a tarmac section was tough going, and when I arrived at T2A I was very glad to switch to walking. The first section had been 18km, which is about the furthest I’ve run in one go in recent times – and that’s only been in adventure races!
Now Kate joined me and we set up off the hill, me with my walking poles and a new companion to chat to. It was fun hearing tales of the supporters’ day in the car and some of their crazy overtaking and reversing antics! Kate asked me if I was eating and my answer must have sounded highly unconvincing as from then on she kept taking food off me and giving it back to me in bite size morsels at regular intervals – often directly into my mouth, so I had no excuse!
We passed the people from the Adventure Show again and I did another interview, this time on the move. I tried to think of something intelligent to say, other than ‘it’s amazing, fantastic’! Kate said I was too articulate to be working hard enough and kept the pace up afterwards! It was just after this we passed Izzy again. I was surprised, but I think ups are my forte, and maybe my adventure racing experience was good for me here.
The tops and the ridge were covered in dense fog. As I kept telling anyone who would listen, Kate is a top mountain marathoner, and knows what she’s doing when it comes to mountains and route finding! We negotiated the elusive sheeptrack to cut a little uphill corner, got straight to the peak, down the scree and across the boulder fields. At this point we had a little trail of people following us; I think we all knew we were onto a good thing! It was also fun to have new company and it spurred me on to keep the pace up a little bit. When I checked the gps it was 17km to go. My heart fell that it was so far – but then I thought about the fact that was still less than the first leg, and I felt better.
As the road neared we could hear cheering and it was very exciting. Andy was there with a group of others, who had apparently been hanging around for hours! I threw my bag to him as I didn’t need to carry it any more, but ignored him yelling at me to give up my poles as well. I can be Nordic and ‘European’ as Kate put it … we set off plodding and the endless view down the road depressed me. Then Andy reappeared and said Izzy was just 4 minutes behind. This had a magic effect on me as I’ll always put up a fight at the end of a race :-).
Kate ran in front of me so I could draft in the headwind, whilst I shouted things like “Faster! No, not that fast! You’re dropping me! Now, faster again!” I also whacked her with my poles as I drifted off my line (I was tired) and kicked her heels with my toes when the pace wasn’t quite right. She endured all this without a word of complaint as we blasted back into Torridon. Eric at breakfast the next day was very proud of his 40 minute final run, until I told him I had done it in 36! Mind you, he did finish 1h40m ahead of me :D.
Amazingly, I think I finished 52nd on the run, compared to 60th on the bike, which just goes to show maybe I’m not so bad at running any more, at least, when it involves mountains and comes at the end of a very long day ;-).
Overall, I was 2nd female (54th overall out of 128 starters) and finished in 16 hours and 23 seconds. I was over the moon, as this was way beyond my expectations going into the race. Izzy was 3rd female, and it was great to have another clubmate in the top 3. I think we probably spurred each other on. Elizabeth was the last person to make the high mountain cut off (with a minute to spare), but stormed over the hill overtaking more than 20 people! All nine girls finished and it was great to all get a mention and applause at the ceremony on Sunday. Full results.
The overall winners were Alex Glasgow (12:09:48) and Susanne Buckenlei (13:55:33 – what a machine!).
I can’t thank my supporters enough. For what they put up with on a very long day, with all their driving, pandering to my every need (I don’t get this sort of pampering on an adventure race), accompanying me on various legs and cheering loudly! My mum presented me with a gold chocolate medal and a signed certificate, which was a lovely touch. Also to my coach for getting me through the training and everyone who was there from ERC, racing and supporting, plus various other people I have only met in the last few weeks who were so friendly and welcoming.
Lastly to the organisers, including Stuart McInnes and Paul McGreal, for putting on a great race!
Epilogue: After driving hundreds of kilometres over the weekend, the car broke down 3km from home. My mum was driving, we called out the AA on Kate’s policy, it was my mate’s car … but he was in Croatia. Andy said it was nothing to do with him. The AA man took all this in his stride and told us we needed to find the towing eye somewhere under the mountain of luggage in the boot. Amazingly, we succeeded. But as I sat up front in the big yellow van, and Kate steered the Doblo behind, she realised that yet again she was finishing a race being towed around like a medium dog …..
Celtman – the final countdown
I’ve been very quiet since the Slateman triathlon as I’ve had my head down doing final training for the Celtman. It’s now only one week to go!
This race won’t be the longest I’ve ever done. I expect it to take about 18 hours, though I’m still finding it hard to judge my bike pace. This compares to four 24 hour races I’ve done in the past. The difference with this one is the fixed distances and strict time cutoffs! I won’t be able to rest between laps or miss a few checkpoints and still be able to finish.
The race is also unusual for me because I’ve invested more time and effort into it than anything else I’ve done before. I’m not sure why – except that my Ironman-finisher friends got me scared way back in November and made me feel like I had better put in some really hard work!
It’s been fun though. I‘ve got used to swimming (rather than just squawking and playing!) in waves and finding out what it’s like to swim to a distant point that never appears to get any closer.
Redstone Rigg: on the way to Duns
On my final big training weekend I celebrated the Queen’s jubilee by making the most of the amazing place I live.
I did a delightful 165km loop over the Lammermuirs. This is the view up Redstone Rigg, which I have only discovered this summer.
And later I persuaded Chris (a car-owner!) to take me further north to some inviting Munros. I did 5 of the summits on the Ben Lawers ridge. I set off a bit scared about tackling such big looking mountains by myself in insubstantial running gear and carrying my small pack containing the mandatory race kit list.
Here’s the ridge:
The Ben Lawers ridge – 5 Munros!
It was much colder up at the top than down at the bottom and I was glad of my woolly hat and gloves, even in June ;-). The route I took was from MunroMagic and was a good one – not too many crowds except for the stretch between Ben Lawers itself and Beinn Ghlas. One of the best feelings about this day was being fit enough to enjoy such an adventure so easily.
Cold water therapy, Loch Tay
After helping some girls with a photo, I took off down a tussocky grassy spur with no path. Even with my poles I managed to nearly twist my ankles several times before making it to the bottom in time for a quick dip in Loch Tay to cool off!
Several stiff days followed, so I am under no illusions as to how long my legs might hurt post-race!
And now I am into ‘tapering’. I was warned I might feel rubbish in these two weeks and it’s true. I get paranoid when I meet an ill person, I freak out every time a car drives too close to me, I imagine I am coming down with ‘something’ every other day and my body is throwing in aches and pains pretty much everywhere!
I am trying to stay calm and get plenty of sleep. This weekend I had fun swimming up at Thriepmuir Reservoir in the rain with some fellow racers and then getting totally lost running on Arthur’s Seat. People who know Arthur’s Seat will realise this was a bit ridiculous – but the fog was right down, I couldn’t see any of the usual landmarks and I lost all sense of direction! Luckily in the race, Kate will look after me on the mountain should a similar situation arise :D.
And so with 5 days to go I am into final preparations: buying my favourite foods, making lists and waiting expectantly for my supporters to arrive. Hurrah!
Slateman
I surpassed my own expectations in this race!
In preparation for the Celtman in June I thought it would be a good idea to practice at least one triathlon. I have done a couple of off-road events recently – by which I mean one last year and one the year before :D. But I haven’t done one with a road ride since about 1999! The setting for the Slateman (Llanberis, Snowdonia) is the place of my childhood holidays and where my dad now lives. It also coincided perfectly with his 70th birthday, which turned into a bit of bash!
The disciplines were:
Open water swim – 750m
Road bike – 51km ca. 590m ascent
Trail run – 11km ca. 330m ascent
The night before I was a bag of nerves. Andy says this is always a good sign, but it didn’t feel like it. My first on-road triathlon in years, no maps, and it was going to be a bit of a sprint!
Swim
We found out at the race briefing that the swim had been shortened from 1000m to 750m because the water was too cold (11.3oC). I thought this was a bit unnecessary, but then I read the British Triathlon rulebook and realised they had to if they were going to comply with the rules!
I practiced windmills and looking foolish on land before hopping into the water about 7 minutes before the start. I wasn’t keen on getting my face wet but it had to be done! The water was lovely and clear but my goggles were totally fogged up, or maybe greasy. I was also trying out open water swimming without contact lenses. I could see the big orange thing we were aiming for – just about.
I got into a good position then swam hard at the start to get clear of slower people. It worked and I soon settled down into a better pace and spent time practicing drafting on someone’s toes and side-side. They both had their difficulties when the person in front would randomly swerve off course!
On the final leg back to shore I couldn’t see a thing because the sun was directly in my eyes, so I didn’t bother sighting and just followed someone else. It seemed to work out OK, as we soon arrived at the beach for a long run across a field to transition.
15m32s (including the field run), 5th female, 52nd overall
T1
This says it all!
2m24s, 16th female, 161st overall
But lots of people were in trisuits, whilst I was messing around putting on a jersey, socks, buff and gloves. I didn’t want to get cold on the descents, but was maybe a little over-cautious.
Bike
The bike started with a lovely long, steady climb up Pen-Y-Pass. I had no idea how many women were in front, but I kept working and caught up with a few, as well as plenty of men! The descent was fast and fun, then we turned at Capel Curig for another long, gentle drag. I rode the route on Friday so knew this wouldn’t be too bad, and we had a slight tailwind.
As I rounded the corner I saw a fast-looking girl up ahead. It took me the next 15km to catch up with her and it was a great incentive to keep working hard! At this point there were at least 3 of us near each other. We then caught another girl on a slight hill. I wasn’t letting up the pressure as I knew the bike would be my strong leg and I think it was about here I finally pulled away as I didn’t see the others again. ‘Hello’ to the friendly guy from Hereford Tri who also kept trying to beat me on this stretch!
The local support was amazing, with people in the little villages coming out to cheer and ring their cowbells. I smiled and waved to them as I went past and realised I was actually having a pretty good time! 🙂
The final descent back into Llanberis was marred slightly by a long queue of cars stuck behind slower riders. I had to ease off a bit but kept calm, realising it would make no more than a few seconds difference. Coming back to transition I saw my dad sitting on a wall. I yelled at him and waved – which made the other spectators laugh! I didn’t realise until I was hooking my bike up that the row of empty racks might mean I was in the lead …
1h35m56s, 1st female, 86th overall
T2
1m5s, 9th female, 115th overall
OK, a little bit better!
Run
As I started the run course a few of the marshals were telling me they thought I was in the lead. I couldn’t believe it! But I wasn’t convinced it could last. Almost none of my run training has been focussed on short or fast. After an easy kilometre, the track rose steeply in a series of zigzags, gaining 200m in height over 2km. At least I am used to hills!
This was really hurting!
Lots of people were stopped at the side with cramps in their legs and I could feel my calves screaming. I kept plodding away. Looking back round the corners I could see the next girl, but she wasn’t right on my heels yet. After a little drop, the track went up again. I was in a world of pain. But then the film crew came up and starting driving just in front of me. I now knew for sure I must be the leading lady! I don’t often do head-head races and it was quite a buzz!
I still pushed on as hard as I could, glad of the downhill respites. Through a tricky, rocky, rooty trail in the woods and onto a steep, short uphill. I was fazed by all the others walking and did the same. I found out later the girl behind me had seen this and it had spurred her on! Oops – I’d have felt the same if our positions had been reversed – I think I’m a better chaser than I am leader.
A kilometre later and she overtook me at speed on a downhill. I tried to stay with her but there was nothing in my legs. Another killer uphill and some uneven steps – it was her turn to walk and I wanted to capitalise but just couldn’t! It was only 8 minutes more running until the finish. All the way I had her pegged at nothing more than 25m but couldn’t do anything about it.
56m45s, 5th female, 133rd overall
Finish
I crossed the line 14seconds behind, but ecstatic to have done so well! I had hoped to finish in the top 10, in under 3.5 hours. In the end, I was 2nd in a time of 2:51:40!! Overall 86th out of 454 finishers.
In 5 weeks time I will have to do four times the distances, but this was a great practice run and made me feel like a real triathlete who can even compete with girls on TT bikes with pointy helmets and skinsuits ;-).
The event was televised and will be shown on Channel 4, S4C and Eurosport. The top 3 were all interviewed at the finish line, so hopefully I’ll make the cut for a few seconds of sweaty TV fame!
I really recommend this event as it was well run, with fantastic scenery, very clearly marked courses and all the marshals and supporters were so enthusiastic! I even got my split times texted to me before I had left the event field. Thanks to the organisers, Always Aim High Events. Full results here.
Top 3 women:
Bethan Hughes – City of Chester Triathlon Club – 2:51:26
Rosemary Byde – Edinburgh RC – 2:51:40
Sarah Rose – Manchester Triathlon Club – 2:54:15
Top 3 men:
Peter Brook – Sixty Nine Cycles – 2:20:23
Paul Mountford – Tri 1st – 2:24:11
Chris Standidge – City of Chester Triathlon Club – 2:24:57
Open Adventure 2-Day Event
A tale of a medium dog and a shire horse on a 2 day adventure together.
Two and a half years ago, two girls raced together in an Open 5 run/mountain bike event in the Peak District. One of them (Kate) was a top endurance runner contemplating the West Highland Way race and riding a singlespeed. The other (me), was still quite an adventure racing novice. We were fairly well matched back then.
Fast forward and I have signed up for the Celtman (a tough triathlon like an Ironman, but with a longer bike and a run over a couple of mountains). Kate has ‘signed up’ to be my buddy runner on the mountain stage of the run for that event. Her job will be to keep me safe and motivated!
We haven’t seen each other since that Open 5 and missed doing the Peak District event in April together because I was chasing the series title. So we decided to do the Open 2-dayer in the Lake District instead. I don’t know if Kate knew what she was letting herself in for!
Pre-race
Me:
Follow structured training plan. Taper the week before. Buy a dog-lead to set up a bike tow.
Man in dog-lead shop:
“I think the tape lead will be better for what you want. Do you need small, medium or large dog size?”
Medium.
Kate:
Have a 6 week running taper. Have a 6 year kayaking taper*. Work and study very hard, don’t worry too much about ‘training’, because this race is just for fun.
* OK, so I hadn’t kayaked since last July either!
Day 1
Stage 1: Run (Loughrigg Fell)
Horse and dog team seemed fairly well matched on the ride to the start of the first stage, though it took a long time to get there. At this point we didn’t even know we were a horse and dog team.
The run was lovely. We took a good route, didn’t make mistakes and enjoyed the scenery and off-road running. Kate even towed me for a while along a nice flat section. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes it was all too much and positions were reversed later as we made a mad dash along the road and got back just a few seconds late! But we actually had the best female pair score.
Stage 2: Bike (Grizedale)
The first hour was traumatic. Kate went into meltdown (“I can’t ride, I’m holding you back, have you created a new loser’s route yet?”). I concentrated on how to rescue the situation. Then it all got better. We changed the planned route, rode some fun trails and agreed that on every road and fireroad Kate was going on the tow. She was now officially a medium dog.
Medium dog, looking perky
Towing is a skill and needless to say, we both got better at it as we had 3.5 hours to practice! Kate rides a singlespeed which makes switching between off-road and road difficult. Partway round I also realised she had no suspension – no wonder it was tricky!
We got into a good rhythm. I felt I was working hard, Kate was not left trailing and we were getting some good chat time. We took in the section of North Face trail early to make sure we didn’t miss it. Then I deliberately made sure we rode one of my favourite routes in the lakes – from Heald Brow Pasture, through Low Parkamoor and down to the end of Coniston Water at High Nibthwaite.
Despite having an hour left we were now short of time. We set off to get one last control up a hill, but on a road. It was slow and the dog was getting quad cramps. We faced one of my hardest ever adventure race decisions, and turned back round to head for home without getting the control. 45 minutes of tow into a headwind along the entire length of Coniston Water. I felt sick when we finished but we had no penalties!
Probably should have gone for the control, but we were Saving Ourselves for the Kayak. Our day 1 motto. We didn’t think it was serious.
Stage 3: Night run (Tarn Hows)
Set off well on a good route. We were having fun. I recognised one path as the place where Andy tried out magic walking poles for the first time, but that’s another story.
Damage limitation. One of us looks crazed, the other looks dead!
We got to the point where we were supposed to check the time and choose a ‘slightly shorter’ or ‘slightly longer’ route. We forgot to check and went the long way. It was getting late, we were getting tired and we started making lots of little mistakes.
- Couldn’t work out where we were on the map, spent ages figuring out we were 20m too far east. These things matter in the dark.
- Ran past a shiny reflective thing, didn’t think to say ‘hey what’s that?’, overshot and had to backtrack.
- Dithered at a footpath by a fence – one of which wasn’t marked on map but we weren’t sure which and couldn’t be decisive about running another 50m to the correct fence.
- Ran blindly down a fireroad for ages, I felt panicked and teary, even though we were in the right place.
- Checked a hundred streams until we got the right one.
Hit the road at the bottom already 10 minutes late and 2km from home. We pegged it and got back in 8 minutes. The medium dog didn’t trip over her feet and the shire horse was born.
Shire horse. Haircut wasn't until Monday.
We lost 125 points. Killer.
Day 2
Stage 4: Kayak (Coniston Water)
A very early start after not very much sleep. Following some last minute advice from Jon, I went in the back to steer. 10 minutes down the lake and we were knackered! But we stuck to our plan, which seemed sensible. We knew we could miss two controls out at the top of the lake later if we needed to.
Crossing the lake was fine, coming back upwind was a little harder. There were white horses and we were lurching over the waves. Kate got regular cold showers, whilst I whooped and shrieked with delight :-D. Then it was back to work. I found for the first time ever that my attempts at ‘edging’ were actually steering us, and my butt was getting an awesome workout.
We made good time and I decided we could go for the last two controls. Kate must have heard about my risk-taking from somewhere and in a last ditch attempt asked ‘should we head back now?’. I said ‘No’. For once, I was right, we got back under 2 minutes late and had our best scoring stage of the whole event.
Which just goes to show that dogs and horses can make good kayakers, especially when they ‘save themselves’ for it all the previous day ;-).
Stage 5: Trail run (Old Man of Coniston)
There was a complicated scoring system for this stage which also involved decisions about going for a short or long course. We decided we had nothing to lose after the night stage and besides, we wanted our money’s worth. We were doing the long course.
The first climb took an hour, and this is where I got the sort of full leg and glute workout that the physio would approve of. Uphill, pulling Kate as hard as she could take and hoping it wouldn’t break either of us! Despite threats from behind to ‘piss on my leg’, I refused to give up. I knew this is what it could be like in June on Beinn Eighe (without the extra resistance!).
Making our way up the Old Man of Coniston
Then came a blustery run along a ridge before a long descent. Looking at the splits I know where I still need to improve – rough steep descending. Kate was waiting patiently for me as I teetered down. Shire horses just don’t have the dexterity and lightness of foot for this kind of work. We may also have been slightly distracted by other interesting chat topics ;-). As we hit the well-made track in the quarry it was back to sprinting and we charged down the hill to the finish.
Results
Another female pair (Jill and Sharon) had a storming run and won the category – we rescued second place with our efforts on the kayak.
I was very pleased with this race. Our score was not the best and we were only mid-table overall. A teensy part of me was thinking ‘I wonder how I would be doing solo?’. BUT, the much bigger part of me was enjoying the company, the teamwork and the banter! I also got a fantastic training weekend for the Celtman, which has given me a real confidence boost.
A big thank you to Kate for putting up with the torture and coming with me. Also to Jon for the lift down and a space in a totally luxurious tent!
As usual, a well organised and challenging event from the team at Open Adventure.
Next up – the Slateman triathlon. 3 weeks to go!
Haglöfs Open5 Series – Peak District
The series finale!
To sum this race up: sun, hills, friendly locals, roads, prizes and my best ever supporter!
The race was in the area known as the ‘white peak’, starting at a little village called Alstonefield. This is in between Ashbourne and Bakewell and less than an hour’s drive from my mum’s house.
Having taken a long weekend off work, we went out for a recce on Friday. Whilst my mum pottered up and down the Manifold Way on her Brompton, read a book, ate ice cream and found where the river had disappeared to, I hauled myself up and down a 53km figure-of-eight loop with 1135m of climbing. It was handy to stop back at the car in the middle to have lunch with her in the sunshine! I did my best to seek out every little bit of bridleway and byway and pack it all into one ride :-).
By the end of the day, I thought I might have guessed the map area the wrong way round – portrait instead of landscape. As it turned out that was the case, but I’d had a rather fun ride anyway! Some further map study at home on Saturday made up for it. For me, this kind of ride is all about getting a feel for the topography and the terrain of the area, plus putting my head into ‘mountain biking mode’.
This race was going to be the decider for the series, and I didn’t even know if Lucy was doing it! I was a bag of nerves. This showed when we nearly left the house without my bike wheels! Thank goodness I went back in for just one last trip to the toilet and saw them sitting in the hallway!
Marking the scores on the map in the sunshine
I kept an open mind on whether to run or bike first. After looking at the map I decided to get a good strong bike in first again. It was a different course to usual. Lots and lots of road riding. To the east there were a few low scoring controls – but after going out to collect a little clutch worth 40 there didn’t seem much point missing the others out, so I blasted along and collected the lot – a first for me! Looking at my heart rate graph afterwards I noticed a general dip in the middle. Maybe I unconsciously dropped my effort a little, something to watch out for. I haven’t got any more scientific than that though!
I forgot to pack any Nuun (a sports electrolyte-only drink i.e. no sugars) and couldn’t find any in the buzzing metropolis of Lichfield. So at 9pm the night before the race, I had decided to resort to the internet to find a ‘home-brew’ recipe. I would make this the race when I tried out a return to a carbohydrate-containing sports drink! Andy says this will be essential for the Celtman. I’m a scientist, so after reading several suggestions, I went with the modal average. Sort of. It tasted OK!
1 litre water
250ml orange and mango juice*
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
* Because there was no plain orange in the house
Help, I can't decide which way to go!
It was a hot day though, and by the time I got to transition after 63km I was already a bit dehydrated. I gulped down some water and set off on the run. I‘d already planned a likely loop when I was cycling up the last hill. It felt hard going and slow. After three controls, I got into a total dither about which of two options to take. I kept thinking “Don’t take any silly risks!” In the end, I decided it was an acceptable risk and set off in a determined fashion, collected a 15-pointer and nipped across the river Dove, just by a spot where I swam once :-).
At this point total confusion set in. I crossed a wall, but thought it was the one 500m further up. Which meant the control I thought was 100m away was actually 600m away – I was having a panic! It was all totally clear looking at the map in retrospect, but I think the dehydration was messing with my normal thought processes. Why didn’t I drink more of the water I was lugging round with me?!
Should have done a bit more of this!
On the plus side, the locals here were the friendliest I’ve ever encountered in a race. Some were cheering and clapping, people were telling me the control was on a tree ‘just up there’ and others were commenting on my ‘series leader’ label. Earlier on, one group of cyclists told me to ‘just follow them’! Shame they weren’t going my way ;-).
I finally got to the control, but was seriously short of time and had to miss out two nearby 10-pointers. My legs were really hurting and I didn’t feel like running anywhere. I also remembered that we had started the race on top of a hill, which could only mean one thing …
However, it was 4.5km to go. I told myself that in the Celtman, I would feel much, much worse at the end – so I had better get on with this as it would be good practice! After that, I felt better; I ran at a consistent pace and was smoother with the navigating. Still, it didn’t stop me getting back over 6 minutes late – 14 penalty points! Gargh!
I got 506 points – my third score over 500 this series. I didn’t know if it was enough though, especially when I saw Lucy at the finish! I was left on tenterhooks as the female solo category was last in the prize giving. When it was finally announced I was so happy – I won the race and won the series :D.
Lucy did well, got a good score despite a dodgy hip and moved up to second in the series, with this event’s course planner, Karen McDonald getting series third.
I also proved I can do a half-decent race even when the weather is nice!
Series result - myself, Lucy, Karen
Finally, I got my bottle of champagne for getting 5000 points ever in Open 5 races, and a special Haglöfs gift for doing all 7 races this series. It’s not easy staying fit enough to race every month through the middle of winter. I started with a twisted ankle and no run training, progressed to a muscle strain in my leg, flu, and some mysterious virus that left me wheezing for a month.
But I don’t care, because in amongst all that I also got in some great riding and running, learnt from a few mistakes, experienced loads of new places, made some great friends, and achieved something that eluded me last year!
Now, what’s next?!
SMBO – Pentlands
I’m a little late with this one … other training and life keep getting in the way!
The first event in the summer SMBO (Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering) 3h series was last weekend. Just like last year, the weather was lovely and sunny! I had helped out a bit with the map, but not much, so I was allowed out to compete in the ‘generation category’ with my favourite cycling 10 year old.
It's so relaxing when someone else is doing the planning!
The day started with a logistical hiccough – which meant that Iain had to cycle all the way to the event centre in Balerno. For those that don’t know Edinburgh, this is 12.5km uphill from where he lives. We helped him along a bit with some gentle pushing, so that he wouldn’t be exhausted before we even started!
Last year he rode with his dad, who insisted he should do it all himself – and that I should do the same this year. Sometimes it was hard to resist, but I tried to keep my ‘help’ to open questioning, gentle suggestions and handing out of sandwiches 🙂
This applied before the start:
“Think about making a loop”
“Look at the contours”
“What will you do if we start running out of time?”
“What difference will the control values make?”
And during:
“Is there anything to look out for that will tell you we are nearly there?”
“How far do you think it is?”
“Which way at the next junction?”
And at the very end:
“Are you really sure you don’t want to go up that big hill for just one more control?!”
Luckily, Iain had been warned about this one before the start and insisted NO – just as well, as we only got back with 4 minutes to spare! 😀
This is how it's done
Picking a line alongside Threipmuir Reservoir
I was very proud of him as he was doing a good job of the map reading and navigating, his technical biking skills are improving nicely and his fitness and stamina are really beginning to develop.
The generation class can be a funny one. There are 7 year olds competing against 15 year olds and kids who just ride competing against kids who plan their own strategy and read the map. But it is all about encouraging new people into the sport, and the good news is, numbers are going up – there were 7 in the class at this event. Hopefully they will all come back again another time!
Iain came 4th – and only just missed out on a podium spot by a few points. Not to worry, a fun time was had and he also managed to beat one or two adult teams. The proof of success was that he asked if he could go out biking again the next weekend.
Luckily, I was able to wangle this into my training plan. On the hottest day of the year so far, we did a fantastic proper hilly loop from his house, going up higher than last week and taking in some much more technical trails. He’s a star! This is my long term plan in the making – watch out for us taking the mixed pairs by storm in a few years’ time!
The things you can stop and play with when you're not in a racing hurry!
Planet Byde 