Stamfordham 10 K Race no. 76

Back into the race routine

Summer Evening in Northumberland

Stamfordham Jail with Race Headquarters in the background

 

 I love running on summer evenings and when there is an opportunity to race 10K, only seven miles from your front door, you just do it.

So it was that I and running pal, Brian Stonehouse, turned up at Stamfordham on Wednesday night for Run Britain's Stamfordham 10K.

It was actually a few weeks since I had last raced in anger having overdone it in the Wiggle Hell of Hexham, cycle Sportive, at the end of July. Whilst I had put some miles into training, increasing my average distance towards the upcoming Great North Run, I needed to see if I still had the competitive edge.

Brian and I are pretty well matched in finishing times over a 10K  ( also 10 miles, half marathon and marathon distances), but go about a race in different ways. He is sensible, setting off at a reasonable pace and looking for a negative split. I, on the otherhand, set off fast and hope to keep it going through the race. This is what I have done for nearly thirty years, but I may, just may, try to run an even pace in my next race, then I will find out what is best for me.

I know, I should have learned many years ago that a fast start is not putting time in the bank, it actually tires you. Still, on Wednesday away I went towards the front of the field . A glance at the watch gave me a 6.30 / 6.45 pace as the field settled into pace and the really fast boys and girls started to move away from me. 6.55 for the first mile and I felt fresh. 7.19 for mile 2 and 7.28 for the third mile meant that the 5K point was reached in just over 22 minutes. Considering that this was an undulating course I was fairly happy with the half way result.

The course had taken us onto quiet country roads through Dalton and past Dissington Hall, before turning onto an even quiter road for the return to Stamfordham. At this point I had counted only four runners who had passed me after that first mile. That was good enough for me and I was happy that I was keeping the pace below 8 minute miling even on the ascents. A final left turn , the fourth since the start on this circular course, took us onto the Belsay/ Stamfordham Road and the final mile. I knew that the finish was downhill, but looking ahead we were still going up hill. A glance at the watch told me that I had ran 5.80 miles and with a runner breathing down my neck it was suddenly the downhill section to the finish.

Have I mentioned that I am competitive? Having being caught by another runner was more than enough incentive for a sprint finish and so it was that I turned the mile 6 pace of 7.53, the slowest of my race , into a 6.01 sprint for the line. Did he catch me, what do you think?

Finishing in an ok 46.28 I turned to see another runner, Noel Urwin, finishing just five seconds behind.I have got to know Noel through these Run Northumberland events and we chatted about Strava and the performance statistics which you can analyse by downloading your watch onto the internet. Having done just that I note that Noel ran an even paced race, starting at the same pace in which he finished. The obvious conclusion for me is that if, if only, I could start at a slower pace, could I achieve a decent negative split in races;ie. do the second half of the race quicker than the first? Remind me to try it in my next race.

I finished in 35th position and 1st V65, Brian didn't have a good one on a warm night, finishing in 50.05 for 57th place. 139 ran.

Now to get through the 10 mile barrier in my half marathon training.

Wiggle Hell of Hexham

A Journey Too Far, Too High and Too Soon

Chris at the top of a long ascent

18 Miles in and enjoying it

Allenheads Feed Station

It all looked so good at Allenheads (above), 23 miles in to the 52 mile, 4,600 feet ascent of the Wiggle Hell of Hexham. Despite having to cycle into a strong headwind for the first 18 miles I was feeling up for it as Chris and I took on lots of  fluid and carbs at the first Feed Station.

The landscape of  Allendale, Nine Banks and the fast downhill to Allenheads was so familiar to me from several C2C cycle rides and also the Allendale Challenge, a really challenging marathon fell race. In the latter I had cramped up badly after Allenheads and knew that I had to be well hydrated to get round this course. So lots of isotonic drink was taken on board, as well as power gels and jelly babies. I felt fine and thought that I had actually held back on the climbs up to this point.

It is a very tough climb out of Allenheads, as the guy by the roadside had found in the first few hundred yards. Little did I know, as I passed, was that within just a few miles I would be in a worse state than him, much worse.

Having reached the summit it was downhill, fast downhill,  all the way to Rookhope and away I went, crouching over the handlebars and streamlining my body as I passed Chris and other riders without needing to turn the pedals. I was told afterwards that this was part of the problem, for, I should have kept my muscles moving. I only know that I thought I was having a rest as my speed got up to 40mph on this 4 mile descent.

Just before Rookhope the route turned onto Hunstantworth Moor, heading towards Blanchland. Within 200 hundred yards of the long steep ascent I was in trouble as my right quads cramped. As the muscle went into spasm I tumbled from the bike onto the road in agony. Is there any pain like muscle cramp? Maybe I am soft , actually I think that I am quite tough, but muscle spasm reduces me to a quivering wreck.

With 25 miles to go the question I faced was not could I finish, but could I get up and what next? Having established that the next feed station, at Blanchland, was 7 miles away I sent Chris on his way, saying I would get there. After pummelling the muscle to relieve the spasm I got to my feet and started limping up that never ending climb. Within a few hundred yards the left quads also went into spasm and I was down again. A support vehicle gave me more water and my my climb continued, on foot.

At the top of the climb I was able to get ack onto the bike and found that as long as the road was level, or downhill I could manage. What I could not do, was pedal up the slightest incline without cramping up again.

So it was that I made Blanchland to be met by Chris and fellow Tynedale Harrier, Steph Scott, who was manning the feed station. My thanks are due to Steph for her encouragement, and lots of energy gels. After sending Chris on his way, I was ready to try and finish the ride, starting with the climb out of Blanchland.

Unfortunately, my legs had well and truly gone, so it was another push up that hill and this was the pattern for the next few miles, on the bike for the flats and downhills, off for the slightest climb.

Into Slaley and with only seven miles to go I was finished. This was to be a first ever for me, I was giving up and asking for rescue. Dial Chris on my mobile, ring, ring, ring - leave a message, please. Knickers, I will walk.

Walk, pedal, walk,. Finally the long push up from the Dipton Mill pub. Onto the Racecourse Road and finally a flat, straight stretch which got me through the line. Amazingly, I felt fine when I got off that b. bike!

Any lessions to be learned from this painful experience? Yes, do proper training before taking on a new challenge. As to the cramps which I experience during a long period of exercise? Not sure, I used to think that it was simply dehydration, but I was hydrated. Is it lack of salt, or other minerals? I do not know, any suggestions?

6 K Run at the 5K Gibside Great Run Local

Race No. 75 Sunday 24 July 2016.

Gibside

Yes, somehow I managed to run a 6K race at the 5K Great Run Local Gibside for Race no. 75 in my Century of Races Challenge.

I could say that there was something spooky about the whole event that day.

Example 1, for the last couple of weeks I have tried to get the results, but each time I checked them it showed only a handful of runners, none of which were me.
Example 2, having ran my 6K rather than the usual 5K, I received a text saying that I had finished in 23.57, my watch said it was nearer 30 minutes.
Example 3, there were photographers present that day taking the usual batch of photographs, for Facebook, etc. Try to find one, for 24 July,  I cannot.

The reality was that I set off too quickly, as usual, running alongside young runners thirty to forty years younger than me. After perhaps 2K I had been dropped and came to a marshalled T Junction, " which way?" I asked. "Left here and follow the path", he replied.

Well, I followed that path all the way down to the River Derwent. Now, I have done both the Saturday Park Run, as well as a number of the Sunday GRL's here, but I have never been down at river level before. I knew then that I was in trouble and as I climbed away from that river I lost a little of my usual competitive edge.

Eventually, I looped back on to the course having spotted the tail end of the race.  I would love to say that I ran through the field to claim my usual position ( in the first 10), but cannot. Instead, I did manage to pass some twenty two runners and finished twenty first of forty three in 30.27. I have given some thought as to whether to record this as one of my scheduled races, in the light of what was to happen to me the following Sunday, in the Wiggle Hell of Hexham ( a cycling sportiff), I decided why not, any pride in my sporting ability has suddenly taken a tumble. Humble pie I can swallow.