Running

Hope it works for you. Failing that at least you'll enjoy the Smarties after ;)

The HM parkrun route is on the path round the edge, with a short out and back bit on gravel over the bridge and on east marsh.

If you go round the perimeter it's all tarmac

It's been awful this year. Even having taken an antihistamine pre-run this morning my throat was so swollen it felt like I was trying to swallow broken glass, and I couldn't speak properly.

Was fine a few hours later, and managed to run this evening feeling ok.

Apparently pollen levels are hitting a 10yr high. (Daily Express headline so huge dollop of salty skepticism tho)

Are there any other parks in inner London (zone 1/2) that host a Parkrun, which aren't completely fenced off, and would be runnable at night?

Wormwood scrubs kinda meets that criteria. Need a head torch and something with which to fend off the the hobos.

Had a lie-in so no run this morning. News on the radio a few mins ago confirmed pollen levels at 10 year high. Very early run tomorrow then.

I feel a week is a reasonable time to let the dust settle and try to get my thoughts down about Ennerdale.
The good: I trained properly, or I did the training I had planned to do - 30 miles and 7500 ft ascent a week for a good few weeks before the race. I recce'd the whole thing as I'd planned. I got round the course. The weather was ok. A week before, I was probably in the best shape I could have hoped to be in.

The less good (excuses?): I had a stag do the weekend before and promptly picked up a cold. I felt pretty shit the week running up to the race. I should have taken the extra 500ml water I was considering taking.

So, the actual race. Arrive at the start with plenty time for registration. Feel good and relaxed (if a little concerned about the cold).
Race starts with a mile or so on flat track - reasonable pace of 8 min miles and I can feel this doesn't feel as easy as it should. The steep climb to CP1 at Great Borne is similar - ok but not straightforward. But it's the first big climb, "you'll settle in", I tell myself. "Stay comfortable" is the mantra repeating itself in my mind.
Next on the list is Red Pike. The path rides up into the clagg, and I'm very much hoping I'm not going to get lost or spend the day staring at a map and compass. Alas, there's always people to follow and I do know the route (to an extent). Regardless, the terrain is very runnable until the loose rock nearer the summit, but again, despite my very comfortable pace, I feel a little bit strained. "Stay comfortable" becomes "stay comfortable and slow down a bit just in case".
Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag all go by reasonably well - I get to enjoy the rockier sections where I'm a bit faster generally.
Now to error number one. I'd planned to keep to the simplest navigational line to make life easier but I hadn't realised that the route follows the fence ROUND Haystacks, rather than the path OVER Haystacks. Fuck it, keep it simple, the damage is done.
At this point I'm about 7/8 miles in, and I feel bollocksed. The same way I felt at mile 17 on my recce. And from here on in, the day become long. I don't really have any will for pace other than maintaining a trundle. There's just no horsepower, I'm not running on fumes but I'm definitely in a speed restricted vehicle.
Anyway, onto Blackbeck Tarn where you can refill your water bottles. I take one look at the rather stagnant tarn and decide against it. I'm not sure exactly, but I'm about 20 mins ahead of cutoff at this point and vaguely concerned about it. The waddle up to Green Gable begins. What should be runnable is trundled up. They have some cups of water at the CP which I am very grateful for. I've gained about 10-15 minutes on the cut off time here which is a good morale booster. I'm feeling pretty broken. I've mostly been running on my own and the internal mental dialogue has been one of doom and gloom, my body echoing the sentiment. But a simple "you're doing great" from the CP marshal genuinely gets me back on track.
Great Gable in front of us looms grey and sinister, its vertical walls of rock disappearing into the clouds. I feel glad to be sneaking below it rather than over it. The loose rocky descent is hard on my body, I feel it in my core and my legs aren't over the moon either. The lad in front running with poles seems less daft now he can descend with support. He spots a small stream and I follow, not enough flow to fill a bottle but worth a good few gulps.
The refreshment feels good but Kirk Fell looms. Another slog, but at least I'm going as fast as everyone around me (ie, slowly). At the Kirk Fell CP I've gained plenty time on the cutoff and I'm no longer worried about timing out. A small relief. The funny thing is that even if you'd want to quit (which a large part of me does), you're still just as far from the start anyway.
The descent from Kirk Fell takes a very loose gully that has taken an absolute pounding due to its feature on the Bob Graham route. An alternative route is suggested but no one wants to route find at this stage, so we precariously wind down the steep, loose gully. Again, I can feel myself going slower than hoped, the impact of descent more punishing than usual.
If I was bollocksed before, I'm beyond it now. My legs hurt. They properly hurt - throbbing and aching and there's too long left to bother thinking about. On we go. There's only one direction home anyway.
But, a stroke of luck - a familiar face catches me up on the way up to Pillar - the last big climb of the route. Being able to chat rather than being stuck with your own thoughts makes a massive difference. Something I confess and we laugh about - suffering together seems a lot more fun than suffering alone.
The climb up to Pillar is long, and slow. I was quite happy that despite my slowness, I did manage to keep a consistent pace. Slow AND inefficient was something I didn't have the capability for. Importantly though, once you're over Pillar, you're on a downward trend until the finish. 6 or 7 miles of grinding it out.
However, I miss a contour at Scoat Fell, falling behind my companions and the solo trudge home is set.
From here, there isn't much to mention. The terrain is straightforward, the navigation simple (you follow a wall for miles), a bit of a climb to Haycock, over to Caw Fell, dip down, then up to Iron Crag, and along to the final climb that is Crag Fell. What is straightforward by description is actually a tortuously long slog but there's little satisfaction in writing or reading about it.
Alas, the final climb - Crag Fell, which wouldn't get a mention if it was anywhere else on the route, but at this point it definitely feels significant. A guy in his 60s catches me up and offers me the last of his water. He says he's been watching me wilt over the last few miles - he's not mistaken. It's a token gesture as we're over the worst of it, and about half a mile from a flowing stream. I'm not turning it down either way. He passes me and I manage to maintain a run on the windy path through the trees, and onto the track leading to the finish.
I'm amused to see a group of friends have turned up to cheer me in, with a sign and everything.
Finish line. Done. Definitely, definitely done.

I don't much go for gushing tales of hardship or suffering, but I do feel that it's hard to convey how unpleasant the race was. I got it done, that's all that matters I guess.

Numbers wise: Ennerdale, 23 miles, 7500ft ascent, Time: 6:45, 105/135.
I was 15 minutes quicker than my recce (even though I spent an hour not moving on said recce), so I'm not overjoyed at my time, but I'm also very happy to have completed the race, despite not feeling 100%. It's fucking frustrating to train properly and then to fall off, just as race day arrives, but thems the breaks.

Two days before the race at Ennerdale, I marshaled at one of my club's races, the Kettlewell Anniversary Fell Race - a race which was my first ever fell race the year before. So while the result was a touch disappointing, going from a 5 mile, 1500ft race, to a 23 mile, 7500ft race, in a year, definitely seems like good progress.

/csb etc

Gripping read. You aren’t serious tho. 105/135, while you are ill, and after only 12 months of fell racing, sounds fucking great to me.

^ +1.

I raced 7k flat when ill once and it was hell. Chapeau @nefarious

Also @dubkev congrats on one year.good work!

I’ve vowed to be quicker next time!

The week before, I ran a half in the park after work, keeping it steady, in 1.47. With 1000ft ascent too. I only mention this as I felt fucking great. Proper peak performance, and then it went to pot! Good craic all the same.

Be proud of what you've achieved.

From personal experience, a big session a week before a major event will have an impact on your performance even if you've trained well.

I took the time to sit and read this and I really felt for you. It sounded utterly grim and not at all positive. but!
Like you say look at the progress in the year, look at your mental toughness for sticking it out, and your mates came out. With a sign.
And you didn't die on a moor because you took a wrong turn and didn't have enough water.
You also didn't drink the horrible water and get something that would really set you back.

Yeah, there wasn’t really a taper to my training at all, going up Snowdon twice the weekend before probably wasn’t smart either (hungover both days) and likely what gave me the cold.

Gripes aside, I’m chuffed to bits - I’ve never done anything that felt so hard, or so close to my absolute limit. Gives you an idea of what’s possible when you’re prepared to get down to it.

@Chalfie cheers! Grim as it was, definitely still worth it.

Anyone here do the Adidas one hour run in London today? I crashed and burned at it. Didn't really enjoy the format either, thinking beforehand I would. I think that's the last paying running event for me until 2019.

What was the format?

"To run as far as you can in one hour around our epic closed road route"

Was the closed road route 'epic'?

An epic amount of hairpin bends to slow you down...

Having said that, the one mile (fucking imperial system don't get me started!) loop was nice for my sons to cheer me on repeatedly.

Ridgeway Relay for me on Sunday. Ten-and-a-bit miles from South Stoke (near Goring) to Bury Down car park. Nice route, good views, well signposted but had map on me anyway, nearly all off road.
Caught the runner in front of me within the first mile, had a bit of a chat and ran together for a couple of miles. Could see another runner not too far ahead from fairly early on. Reeled him in a bit but just couldn't catch him. Was pleased to run all the way up the big hill.
We were one of the last teams to get to the checkpoint where I took over so it was quiet out on the course, hopefully I made up a little time for the team. There was a mass start from the stage after mine that left before I started my stage so I had no one to hand over to, just a marshall and my lift waiting for me!
1:24 for a little over 10 miles with a decent amount of elevation. Happy with that considering I'm still recovering from Endure24. Probably could have gone a little faster. Need to actually race more to improve at these shorter distances rather than just focussing on endurance stuff. Pretty tired today.

@nefarious great read, sounds like you had a proper day out!

@Arducius well done, the run up to Bury Down is a bit of a slog!

Orion Fast Friday start lists are out

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1039752312840269&set=pcb.1892084060850703&type=3&theater

@juanito

I saw a tweet about them. I'm pretty nervous. I haven't really run properly since the last assembly league.

Anyone come across swelling on top of foot, behind the big toe? It’s hard, not soft and fluidy, little bit tender but not painful. Came on over a few weeks I think but doesn’t really hurt so I didn’t pay attention.

Taken a(nother) week off running, but doesn’t seem to be going away.

Might go and visit a doc or Physio, but can’t imagine I’ll get anything other than rest and ibruprufen...

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