South Downs Way LDWA Marathon

Whilst I’m in Eastbourne, I've decided to try out new races that I wouldn't normally get to do. After all, Eastbourne is so far away from the North West. So, I decided to be brave and do the LDWA South Downs Way Marathon (well, 28 miles). I used to do LDWA ‘self-navigational’ marathons all of the time, but I’m a bit rusty these days. I think far too much about all of the times I have gotten lost in the past....which is a lot, by the way!

Early morning on 27^th April, I decided to get a bus to a little place called East Dean and sign up on the day for the 28 miler. I saw a few familiar faces, but not many. Runners were meant to start at 10am, but I arrived early and found my way to the village hall by 8.20am, so I decided to start with the walkers at 9am. A lot of other runners started early also. We all knew it’d be a hilly one and it didn’t disappoint. The South Downs and the Seven Sisters are hilly, but so beautiful.


Fortunately, I managed to tag along with some extremely friendly locals. They had done the route many times before and knew exactly where to go. I didn’t even need to look at my route description. Although, I had – very professionally – highlighted and laminated my route description.

Ultimately, I’m really happy I decided to give this one a go. We took approx. 6 hours 17 mins (you never know quite how long you're going to be out there for where hills, trail and directions are concerned), with over 3, 600ft of elevation. There was some chilly wind and drizzle up on the hills but overall, the weather held out pretty well. We also got biscuits and sandwiches on the way round. However, the sandwiches were a strange array of apricot jam and Marmite. I’m more of a cheese, pickle and/or ham kind of girl... But we did get beans on toast and a cuppa' tea at the end of the race :)

I think my favourite bit of the day was when some friends came to see me after the finish. They actually made me a banner (If you can't read it, it says something along the lines of 'Liz, you're the biz, you might need a whizz, so lets grab some fizz and set up a pub quiz'), which was so sweet and I got to have a nice pint of ale in the pub, which was aptly names 'Legless Rambler'. Overall, I would definitely recommend this one. It was only £8 in advance and £3 extra on the day = bargain!

Navigation

It seems silly not to do an LDWA event whilst I'm in Eastbourne. So, I'm going to do the South Downs LDWA Marathon next Sunday (27th April). I'm actually a little nervous as I've not done anything involving a lot of navigation in a long,  long time. Try as I may, lovely George isn’t free to navigate with me as he’s doing a 10k in London, so I’m going to be brave and go it alone!

So, South Downs Way it is, then Three Forts the week after and then hopefully I'll be able to get up to Windermere for the Brathay Windermere Marathon (my favourite) and also have a little chill out (maybe) before my 3rd GUCR the week after :)  yeyyy

Also, I had the best run along the South Downs the other week, with George. We ran from Eastbourne to Beachy Head to Birling Gap. We stopped at Birling Gap for a cheeky cream tea. My scone was massive and it was great to refuel mid-run. It's been very sunny over this way lately. We ended up running a nice 15 ½ miles in the end, so the scone was much needed, and so was the beer afterwards... 

Birling Beachy Beautiful

Okey dokey, it’s been a little while since I last wrote a blog post – I have been a bit of a busy-Lizzie. So, here we go:

I can’t really describe how exciting my casual running wanders have been in the last few weeks. Yep, I have been full of every type of cold and bug, but when I have gotten out on those South Downs, it has been absolutely amazing. I love it. I think it might be one of my favourite places to run ever.

It’s so calm and beautiful up there, all your worries just flow out to sea. Last week, I ran a little further than Beachy Head, past the lighthouse and onto Birling Gap. It was quite astonishing to see the extent of the coastal erosion at Birling Gap and how destructive the sea can be. 

As we ran I noticed a lot of ‘Endurance Life’ race event markers, since it was their South Downs race series the other weekend. Unfortunately, it was sold out by the time I got the job in Eastbourne. However, I feel so thankful and so happy that I can run this route all of the time, for free. Okay, Eastbourne is a pretty small seaside town and there’s nothing amazingly special about some bits of it. To be quite frank, some of its inhabitants seem downright miserable. However, the surrounding scenery is just beautiful. 

In the last few weeks I also got to visit: Smuggler's Cave, Stone Henge, The Roman Baths, Brighton - lots of cool places :)

First Run in Eastbourne...

Another week, another seaside town and more coastal running = excellent *big smiley face*

Unfortunately, when I arrived in Eastbourne on Sunday evening, I was immediately struck down by a 24hour vomiting and stomach bug on the Monday. So, I missed my first day of ‘getting to know stuff’ and the start of my induction. It really did wipe me out and I’m only just getting my energy and appetite back properly and today’s Thursday.

However, yesterday – Wednesday – I decided that I couldn’t resist the urge to run and explore any longer and even though I’m not 100% yet and I have no idea where I’m going, I dragged myself out for a little exploration. There was lots of walking as I clumsily navigated the unfamiliar streets of Eastbourne, but once I discovered the seafront I broke into a run. I got really excited when I saw the signposts for Beachy Head and all the possibilities that this will mean in the coming months. 

I decided to follow the signs, although I didn’t intend to run out as far as Beachy Head just yet. I was on evening duty at 6pm and it was past 4.30, so I didn’t want to risk going too far and getting lost. Ultimately, I ended up run/walking up and big grassy hill and onto the South Downs Way.

It is so beautiful. I have run along the SDW at various points in various races, but I have never run this end of the path. I have run close to Winchester and somewhere in the middle, but this bit has remained unfamiliar to me over the years. I have entered Beachy Head Marathon in the past, but it was just too far away for me to get to when I was in the North West. This is one of the reasons that I am now so excited to be in this area; there are just so many beautiful and interesting places to explore. So, I ran along the path for a little while, in the late afternoon sun. It was peaceful, hilly and serene.

I may still be getting over being sickly, but this little wander definitely left me feeling perkier.

The pretty bits of London...

Richmond Park Run

I’m now in Eastbourne for a new EFL teaching job, which is great because it means that I’m in a lovely part of the country. I’m right by the sea and I’m also right next to the beautiful South Downs Way and Beachy Head – you can’t get better than that! This job also means that I will be able to afford more ultras and marathons than I have been able to afford in the last few years. This is all very exciting. 

On my way back from Devon, I stopped over in London for a week and relaxed a little. I also went on some nice runs around Battersea Park and by the Thames. However, one of my favourite places to run in London has to be Richmond Park. It seems like such an unlikely pretty hideaway in the middle of all that hustle and bustle. Me and George-ultra-running-boyfriend-extraordinaire ran a nice quick 14 miles. Yet, I think the best thing about the run was coming across some deer. 

All the times I have run in Richmond Park, I don’t think I have ever come across any of the famous deer that live there. I always look out for them, but they never appear. This time I wasn’t even looking and there they were, munching away on some grass. It really is the small things...

A soggy adventure in The Lakes

I said that I wanted to challenge myself in positive ways. Glancing back over the last week, I think I can say that I’ve succeeded on the running front. Saturday’s run was awesome.

I accepted the invitation of two runner friends to go and run in The Lake District.  The Lakes is approximately a 2 hour drive from where we live and it’s totally worth it. I have so many great memories of the Lakes and the scenery is beautiful.  So, I got up early and fuelled up for the day on some porridge and toast and a very large coffee. The drive was quick and before I knew it, we were there. It was definitely worth getting out of bed early for.

The weather was cold, so I had made sure to put on a base layer, long sleeved top, t-shirt on top and my OMM waterproof jacket on top of that. I also put my pack-away inov8 waterproof pants in my backpack just in case. I had visions of us being out on the hills or exposed moorland, shivering somewhere.

We ran from Ambleside and up past a river, before finding ourselves on rocky trails. We had decided to run some of the Lakeland 50 route. I haven’t run Lakeland 50 since 2010 and I don’t remember an amazing amount of this section, as we would have reached this bit of the course in the dark and moved pretty slowly on tired legs. However, every now and again, I’d exclaim ‘Ah, I think I remember this bit...I don’t think I enjoyed this bit’. After all, Lakeland 50 is the slowest 50 mile ultra I have ever done.

At the start of our adventure, we happened to come across another runner who was recceing the Lakeland route, in preparation for Lakeland 100, which starts the evening before Lakeland 50 and is significantly harder/ probably one of the toughest 100 mile ultras around. I love the fact that even when you’re not even running a race, that there is such camaraderie amongst fellow runners and you end up meeting new people. The lady runner (Jo) stayed with us for the remainder of our run. And then there were three...

At about 8 miles in, the wind and rain really began to hammer us. The marshy ground also kept suctioning off my running shoe and I was pretty slow and cautious as I negotiated the rockier bits.  The thing is, ‘back in the day’, I ran this type of terrain often. I’ve never been a crazy daredevil fell runner who can throw themselves down the side of a hill without a second thought and I never will be, but I used to be braver. I definitely felt myself going a lot slower than I would have liked. Another thing is that I’m a lot faster (in general) and fitter than I was back in the ‘good old days’. I don’t run as many races and my training miles are of better quality. But I was rusty on the rockier, more technical aspects of trail. I think it is a matter of confidence sometimes, and practice. I have only just got back into hillier trail running and I am training for a very long, FLAT canal race (GUCR 145 miler), so it’s no mystery that I wouldn’t be the best at this. Yet, I want to be. I want to be better and I want to be ‘hard-core’ again. I don’t want to be afraid of tricky mud, rocky bits and hills. I love this type of running.

So, after 8 miles, we had a bit of a rest from the rain and went for a drink. Everyone else decided upon a cuppa’ tea and I don’t blame them, as I guess it was warming. However, I decided to get a half pint of pale ale. I figured that the carbohydrates would come in useful.

After the pub, we carried on, on our journey. We decided to loop back towards Ambleside, a different way from the way we came. Fortunately, we had a good map reader amongst us and Mark knew exactly the route we should take. At this point, the rain had turned to hail. The hail in itself wasn’t significant, but the wind blowing it against my legs and face was ferocious. I had to shield my eyes with my hand (should have worn a cap) and I yelped a little at how much they stung me. Yet, I told myself to ‘wo-man up’, as it was only a bit of hail and not the end of the world. The weather was actually worst at the end of our run, where the rain was just relentless. I was glad that the worst waited until the end. Although, I did wonder about some poor souls we had seen out walking earlier on; none of them had proper walking gear on, merely jeans and ‘everyday coats’, and yet they looked at us like we were the mad ones!

Ultimately, we ran just under 18 miles and we looked like drowned rats, so we decided to go to a local café and hunt for pasties to warm us up. Unfortunately, all the pasties were sold out, so I ordered a brie and caramelised onion toastie and a pot of tea. It was scrumptious. However, as we sat there, inside the café, eating our food, water was dripping off us.

All in all, I had a brilliant day out and I took a lot away from it. I’ve figured out some new goals that I want to accomplish this year, which mainly revolve around wanting to get more confident with hilly trail running again. I will do this.

L x

Christmas, New Year & Being Merry...

Christmas was hectic, but completely lovely. Getting to Winchester on the train was a stormy adventure, involving fallen trees on train lines and ale to the rescue on the train, whilst being stuck at Basingstoke station for quite some time.

Once at our destination for Christmas, a wonderful time was had by all. Christmas morning was glorious, with a beautiful sunrise and crisp morning air.

Me and George ran across fields and through picturesque villages. Christmas was also spent making mince pies (they turned out pretty amazing, much to my surprise), walking in forests and around gorgeous countryside and drinking mulled wine and cider.

For New Years, it was back to London. The fireworks near the London Eye were absolutely amazing, but shortly after making our way home through the crowds of people and partygoers, me and George got separated and we got lost, with no phone battery left. Ultimately I found my way back via tube, but it is still scary. That same instinctual feeling of helplessness overwhelms you, like when you were a child and got separated from your parents in a crowd. All came good in the end. That is the main thing.

So, I’ve really been trying to seek out some good races and events for this year. I’ve got the Brathay Windermere Marathon in May and GUCR 145 miler a week later...I did this combination last year, so rest and ice bath-ness is the key to recovery with this one. I’ve also been making enquiries about the Liverpool to Leeds 130 mile-ish race. However, in the meantime I’m trying to up my mileage, whilst upping the speed. I’ve also been doing weights like crazy and have bought a weighted vest. We’re going hard-core this year :-)

Running through the forest & mince pies :)

Ahhh, it’s nearly Christmas woooo 

I have been feeling particularly festive today. A friend from my old local running club asked me along on a trail run with a club of local runners - The Delamere Spartans - who do a lot of running on the trail. So, I got up early & he picked me up and we drove to Delamere Forest, which is about 15 minutes away, but really rural and very popular with cyclists, runners and dog walkers.

Mega sleepy eyes...

I was promised tea and cake at the end, so I was determined to join them... So, we arrived at one of the forest car parks for 8.30ish am and met all the other runners and we did a really lovely undulating 5 ½ mile run through the forest and off the beaten track. We also ran up some hills and went over some stiles and ran up by some farmland also. I had such a great time. It was so much prettier and more challenging than running up by the main road all of the time. However, I did go out for a nice run yesterday evening and I got caught in the torrential downpour, and that was pretty fun. I expected there to be lots of mud on the trail today. It was indeed pretty muddy, but there is nothing better than running off road and coming back with your legs splattered in mud 

There were so many nice people out and about this morning as well and friendly walkers saying ‘Merry Christmas’.

At the end of the run, one of the members who hadn't joined us on the run had pulled up his car in the car park and in his boot he had massive containers of tea and coffee, homemade mince pies and some Christmas cake. It was an awesome idea. I will definitely be going running lots more with these guys in 2014 for sure.

So, now I’m sat at home, chilling out with a bottle of Doombar. I’ve packed most of my stuff for London tomorrow, although I did have a stress before and I’m a little bit concerned about these supposed stormy winds and torrential rain that is forecast. The Virgin Trains website says there will be major disruption and my train is booked for 2.35pm, but their Twitter feed and website says that no restrictions will apply on advance tickets and that we can get any train tomorrow, preferably as early as possible, to avoid disruptions. So, I did some manic packing and I’m going to get the 7.35am train into London 

Well I hope everyone has a lovely and amazing Christmas, with lots of scrumptious food, some nice festive running and lots of loveliness.

Becoming more logical...

“The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.Give the world the best you have anyway.” 

― Kent M. Keith, The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council

_______________________________________________________________________

I’ve really felt the need to clear my head this last week. I was just feeling in a rut, lacking in social interaction and bored by the monotony of not having work, but looking for jobs constantly & then being so far away from those that I care about. I like to be busy and I like a challenge and I’m not being challenged...well, my patience is a little. I know positive mental attitude counts for a lot, but I’ve been really lacking in that of late. You reach a point and you start to get a bit whiney and forget all the positive aspects of your life. And the thing is there are a lot of positive aspects.

For starters, I’m going on holiday to Canada with my lovely boyfriend in October...I’m so incredibly excited and I absolutely cannot wait. And despite the on-going job battle, meeting him this year has been amazing. Also this year, I completed my second Grand Union Canal 145 mile race & Thames Path 100 miler. Lots of great things have happened. I think sometimes, I just get too excitable and I constantly like to have things to look forward to and I’m like ‘what’s next, what’s next...?’

So yesterday I got a lot off my chest and I sat myself down and I decided that being this down-trodden moaning misery isn’t me and I don’t want to be that. There are lots of amazing things out there and I need to cast my mind and my eye on the good stuff. Consequently, I got proactive and I searched for lots of jobs, renewed my ‘enthusiasm’ for applying for jobs and applied for things. I also de-cluttered my junk and things I don’t use or wear and ebayed lots. And I will continue to do all these things, to take all these steps, to get to where I want to be.

Of course, one of my main grievances was that I can’t do any racing at the moment, because I simply can’t afford to do it. That hurts, because it is so much a part of me.  Now, I’ve spent a few days not running which has been partly down to feeling down and unmotivated, but also down to a hurty knee – which is funny because when I’m doing lots of races and things I never seem to have these aches, but now I’m not I do. However, today I decided to get out of that door and go and run.

I put my sunglasses on, because the evening sun was so beautiful, but glaring and I ran to The Wirral Way.  I took my phone with me and took some piccies to remind myself of how lovely this run is and how much I like this trail.

I saw cyclists, walkers, and horse riders and on the way back home I saw a friendly runner. It always strikes me as calming and just lovely (I can’t think of the words, but lovely describes a lot of nice things...) to see friendly people out and about, enjoying the same surroundings as you are. I like this mutual appreciation of the outdoors and of nature.

So, today has been a nice day. It hasn’t been super eventful, but it’s not been bad and I’m getting out of my rut. And to top it off I had a lovely run.

Happy trail training :-)

I went for a really lovely run today. I ran a new route that I always think about doing, but today I finally thought, ‘why not, why haven’t I done this before, what’s stopping me?’ (Sounds quite dramatic haha) So, I’ve been a bit lazy on the run/ training front of late. I do a lot of weights and cross training stuff, but I’ve been a lazy runner. So, whilst I have been occupying my days with a mega job search (someone give me a job, please...), I have told myself that I have to run at least 5 miles a day, most days. This is good chance for me to get mega fit.

Alas, my Garmin is still broken (although I know some people don't like Garmins *cough*, George...) & so I have to ‘mapmyrun’ everything. This is okay and I had weaned myself off wearing my Garmin in most events and training runs, but it’s always good to have it on me because it’s so easy to see how far you ran afterwards. Anyway, I got myself out of the door and I went for a run. I’m glad I took my sunglasses with me, because I kept getting dive-bombed and kissed by June-bug type insects and flying things. So I ran to Hooton railway station & then I met up with the Wirral Way footpath.

The Wirral Way is a path on the track of an old railway that goes from West Kirby to Hooton in mid-Wirral offering superb views over the Dee Estuary to Wales. Originally the railway formed a circuit of Wirral and this is the missing link.

It is situated within Wirral Country Park. Wirral Country Park is a place of contrasts. Birds nest in the dense hedges or feed on the berries in winter, and you may see up to ten kinds of butterfly in summer. From the boulder-clay cliffs look out over the Dee Estuary across its 31,500 acres to the Welsh shore, 5 miles away, and on a clear day you can see the familiar outline of Moel Famau in the Clwydian Hills. The estuary's ever-changing light, broad vistas and westerly sunsets reflected in the mudflats and the sea are a constant delight.  (I totally stole this from the LDWA website: http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Wirral+Way ).

I think the reason I never run a lot along the Wirral Way on my own is because I get really paranoid about dogs...I am a bit of a scaredy cat. I know that I run all sorts of public footpaths on my own during organised events, but somehow I convince myself that this is somehow safer, because there are lots of us out there all at once. Anyway, I pushed this paranoia and scaredy-cat-ness to the back of my mind, put on my brave-girl face and went running.  It was a couple of miles up to where I joined the footpath and then I clocked up about 3 miles out-and-back along the path itself. I ran as far as Willaston and then I ran back. However, I got to thinking that I can run so much further along here. I could run to West Kirby or Parkgate; so many possibilities. And there were no scary doggies. It was actually very quiet along the path. It was lovely to get out there in the countryside, away from traffic and cars and really take in my surroundings. I very much enjoyed this run. Overall I did almost 8.5 miles, so I exceeded my ‘at least 5 miles a day’ target. Hurrah!

I was so hot and sweaty afterwards that I had a lovely orange ice lolly :-) Happy Friday everyone...

SDW Marathon in June June June

Saturday 8th June: SDW Marathon

South Downs Marathon is beautiful – I definitely recommend. Although, maybe not two weeks after GUCR. It was only ever a recovery run for me, but still, those hills were pretty tricky in places.

I’d never done this marathon before, although I have done the Downland Challenge, which is approx. 30 miles over parts of the SDW, so I knew the area was very scenic. This was also a great opportunity to see a lot of the ‘usual suspects’ who I hadn’t seen for a while. Everyone seemed to be there. And I was able to introduce all my crazy runner friends to George, which was nice :o) It’s always great to have a catch-up at events and of course, lots of piccies for the photo album were snapped.

So, before I knew it, we were off. Even from the very beginning, my legs felt a bit stiff, but they did eventually loosen up for the most part. It was a scorching hot day, very warm and the sun was beating down already. I just took it easy and continued to take it pretty easy.

I had decided to wear my trail shoes and I was pretty pleased with this decision. Even though there were road sections and the ground was dry and hard, and therefore perfectly runnable in road shoes, there were niggly stones that I know would have shredded my feet had I been in road shoes. Even as I recount this marathon almost a month after I actually did it (I’ve gone very slow on the blog front, as I’ve been a busy Lizzy), my feet are still showing signs of recovering from ultra-ness. My feet are peeling and I find this sometimes happens to me even months after a big ultra. Therefore, two weeks after GUCR, my feet were still pretty tenderised. Thus, trail shoes were an excellent idea for SDW marathon. The sole is obviously much thicker and I didn’t feel the ruts or niggly stones under my feet. Me and niggly sharp stones do not get on.

The first few miles of this marathon were a little bit crowded down narrow paths. This was a little tricky, as one guy attempted to undertake me on a corner, in the middle of a woods. He nearly went flying (silly man) and I was a little annoyed and got clipped and stumbled, but managed not to fall. I’m not sure why some people feel the need to overtake others in stupid places. How much time are they really going to save themselves if they end up causing themselves, or someone else unnecessary injury? Once the field had spread out, this sort of thing ceased to be a problem.

A couple of hours in and the sun was now really hot. My stomach wasn’t feeling too great, but I was okay. However, I wish I had followed George’s idea of filling a Camelbak up with coke (even though I don’t own a Camelbak...oh well, somehow I wish I had carried some coke). I was really craving something fizzy and ‘energy-giving’.  I was making sure I was drinking plenty of water and getting some electrolytes back in, but there comes a certain point where you need a little more than water and salt capsules/ electrolyte stuff. I started to feel a little sickly. But again, I was ultimately okay. I just had to ride the feeling out with some much needed walking. I also ate some salted mixed nuts & some choc-chip Hammer Nutrition energy bar.

Before I knew it, we were into the last few miles and I just could not wait to get to that finish line and get a nice cold fizzy drink. It’s really strange however; I struggled to ‘sprint’ into the finish, and yet I always normally manage to give it something at the end, I even ‘sprinted’ the end of GUCR...but on this, I was pretty stiff near the end. I think I finished in 6 hours exactly. Pretty slow, but it was indeed a recovery marathon. And I got my Dr Pepper at the end :o) I was aiming for below 6hours, but I was dawdling quite a bit. There were also some hills where I felt completely zapped of all energy...I literally felt like I was on a treadmill going nowhere, not moving forwards, but trying to.

Goody bags were pretty full of various random things on this event, which I really miss on all the smaller trail events I run and liked. Highlights included a teeny can of alcohol-free recovery beer. I wish it had been alcoholic, but it was pretty tasty. We also got some rather strange hard-boiled coffee sweeties. Exciting. And we got a nice medal and a t-shirt. 

Overall, I would definitely recommend the SDW marathon to anyone, in future. Really good, friendly organisation. And lots of scenic surroundings and pretty hills :o)