I have finally begun the process of putting together the book.
This will be my ‘Race To The Stones’ book.
A couple of years ago I wrote about my journey, huffing and puffing my way from one lampost to the next, all the way to staggering 26.2 miles in the London Marathon (From Parkrun To London Marathon). It was a marvellous experience and I dearly enjoyed writing about it. When I began training for Race To The Stones I immediately came to the decision that I would write my second book, revelling in the process and experience. I came to this decision for 2 and a half reasons:
I very much enjoy writing and delight in the act of creation, so producing an artefact such as a book would bring me a great deal of joy.
I have an astoundingly bad memory and very much want to hold on to this one. Even really significant events can often be lost in the fog of time (the time can sometimes be just a few minutes).
2 and a half – some people have let me know that they got a considerable amount of pleasure from reading my first book and asked if I might consider doing another.
I’ve only put the last one as a half as it is entirely possible that these people were just being nice and are secretly hoping that I won’t write another.
The reason that I have begun the project now is that I have finally, possibly, maybe decided upon a title for the book. It will be:
“If I wanted to travel 100km I would just hop in a car”.
This was the sort of response I received when I told non-runners that I was intending to spend 2 days in July, running and walking 100km. They were completely baffled and most of these comments were masking the real question, “Why would you do this?” In the book I will tell the narrative of my attempt on the Race To The Stones 100km and while doing so try to answer the question of why.
I’ve begun by trawling through all these blog posts for the ones connected with my Race To The Stones training and put them in some sort of order. I have also made some notes regarding questions I need to ask and spotted several glaring omissions that will need chapters to explain what is happening. I have also started to write the narrative. It’s going to be a big job, but I am already having tremendous fun trawling through these memories and trying to bash them into some sort of bookish shape.
They were the best of shoes, they were the worst of shoes.
It was a time of wisdom. It was a time of foolishness. It was the spring of
hope, it was the winter of despair.
You, gentle reader may have begun to wonder if I have moved
to the edge of the diving board of mindless gibbering and am about to plunge
into the frothing waters of senseless oblivion.
I beg your indulgence for just a little while longer as I try to bring
clarity to this running shoe saga.
It began with a trip to Anglia Ruskin University for the Cambridge Half Marathon version of the London Marathon Expo. Imagine the Expo and then scale it down to a rack of T shirts some boxes of shoes and a treadmill, and you’ll probably be able to picture the scene.
I had registered and collected my number and then went along to see the splendid folks at the ‘Up and Running’ stall. Darryl was there and I started chatting to him about my big race for this year and what shoes I might need for it. My preference, I explained, was for something similar to what I already wore. This is a pair of Saucony Triumph ISO 2 which are neutral shoes that have served me well. Darryl dug out the latest version of these (ISO 5) and let me try them on and run on the treadmill. They felt absolutely delightful and I promised myself that I would purchase a pair as soon as I had the money.
Time To Buy Some Shoes
Move the time clock on about 6 weeks or so and I am now in the Up and Running shop looking to buy these very shoes. So far so simple but suddenly the story begins to splinter in many directions and the age of simplicity comes face to face with the complexity of indecision and a bizarre increase in foot size.
Looking back, I wonder if this increase in the size of my foot is not so bizarre as it appeared at the time. My feet have been size 9 since I was 16 years old. I still have a pair of Doc Martens that I bought way back then. To suddenly find that my feet were now an inconvenient 9.5 seemed more than a little disconcerting at the time. I now wonder whether the fact that I had run from home to Up and Running (around 4 miles) may have caused the feet to swell a little.
We tried on various shoes and the Triumph ISO felt a little tight. There were no ISO 5’s in a 9.5 so I tried a few others. It was during this session that another of the shop assistants came to chat and asked what particular race I was training for. I told him that it was Race To The Stones and he immediately began to enthuse about the Altra Lone Peak trail shoes. I had never heard of these but asked to take a look. They were some of the ugliest shoes I have ever seen but incredibly comfortable. I hopped on to the treadmill and they were just a delight. They are zero drop shoes with a really wide toe box. The idea is that your feet can bend and flex in the way it would if you were running barefoot but it still gives you protection against the rough ground.
Once I had felt the freedom of that wide toe box it was difficult to contemplate anything else. The other shoes all felt restrictive by comparison. I knew it was a risk, but running in them felt such a wonderful experience that I had to have them.
And so I ran out of the shop wearing a brand new pair of Altra Lone Peak trail shoes.
Transitioning Into Zero Drop Shoes
Now, I said back there that this was a risk and I shall explain why.
Zero drop shoes don’t have a heel at all. Your foot is the same distance from the ground all the way along. This is much more natural in that it mimics the position your foot would be in if you weren’t wearing shoes. The problem arises because we have become accustomed to heels especially in running shoes. Zero drop shoes will force you to run much more on forefoot and they will stretch your ankles a little more. Eventually this should result in a running posture that will help to protect you from injury.
The Altras had a booklet in the box giving advice on building up your training quite slowly as you transition into the new shoes. It suggested it would only take a few weeks before the transition was complete.
Of course I started getting injuries almost immediately on my calves as I pivoted further forward on to my forefoot.
I cut way back on frequency and distance but still those nasty little bruises were appearing, showing that I was still getting some tears on my calf muscles.
I switched back to my road shoes and the calf problems disappeared.
Hmmm
It wasn’t an easy decision to make but I decided we were getting too close to the Race To The Stones and I couldn’t risk not transitioning in time and potentially fighting injury all the way to the start line.
Time To Buy Some More Shoes
I would have to buy some more regular running shoes.
Initially I intended to buy Saucony but couldn’t face going back to that feeling of having my feet bound up. I decided instead on a pair of Brooks Ghost 11. They have a bit more space around the toes than most.
I have received them, run in them and really like ’em. I think they will be my Race To The Stones Shoes.
It’s a real shame as I love the Altras and after wearing them on a really slippery Parkrun I am delighted by the traction they give me on mud.
However, the most important thing is to try and arrive on the start line injury free.
Maybe I shall be ready for the Altras next year when I am hoping to do the Race To The Stones in one go.
I had begun to think that the the possibility of setting new personal best times was a thing of ancient history.
When you start running there is a golden era when you are constantly clocking up exciting new achievements and smashing those old personal best times quite resoundingly at every opportunity. This gives an extremely satisfying feeling as regards your progress, at exactly the moment that you need it. You are just settling into this running thing and still undecided about whether to continue putting yourself through more of that agonising torture.
The beginning runner will log all these times, maybe put them into spreadsheets Then the more adventurous can progress onto the ultimate PB preening process and convert them into a lovely graph that just continues to keep rising. Week by week that line will push ever onwards and upwards and the excitement grows palpably. You may even project the line forwards and it will show, quite clearly, that you will be running 13 minute 5k times in just under 6 months from now. Perhaps you should notify the British team coaches to make sure that they reserve you a place on the Olympic squad.
The more cautious of you may hold back on that Team Britain notification and sure enough we all find that the graph begins to flatten out and sometimes can even dip a little. After that, improvements are slow and often come with a change in training or weight or terrain (downhill courses can be great confidence boosters).
To go with this, we all have this rather annoying habit of growing older. Received wisdom seems to be that speed diminishes with the years although endurance can hang on a little longer. This may be why so many track athletes move on to longer distances as they grow older.
I had thought my moment of improving times was long past. My last Parkrun PB was way back in 2015 when I ran 25.54. I drifted a long way from that and by 2018 I had dropped to around 29 minutes.
Then I signed up for ‘Race To The Stones’ and increased my running and who would a thought it, my times began to improve.
Of course I was still a long way from that PB back in 2015 but I knew with unshakeable certainty that such times were no longer achievable.
Down With Calories
I continued to train and as I gallumphed around the streets I began to wonder whether this might be a easier if I had a little less weight to drag around. Maybe I should try to cut down the calorie intake.
Hmmm, how could I possibly eat any less. I’m sure that I eat barely enough to keep a mouse alive. If I consume less I will surely be fainting from exhaustion and be just too damn weak to switch on my computer.
Unfortunately I spotted one easy target straight away. At around 09:25 every day a snack van stops at my workplace. I would immediately stop whatever I was doing and dash out to bag myself a tasty Ginsters large sausage roll. It was warm, comforting and delicious. Whatever may have been happening that morning at work was immediately cast into the shade while I basked in that joyful delicious yumminess.
The downside to all this joy was that it shoved a hefty 500 plus calories into my body all in one go. If we assume 2500 calories to be about the right daily intake for an adult male then I was demolishing a fifth of this as a mid morning snack.
It was a difficult decision but I decided to go for it. I have since managed to resist them but every time the snack van call goes out I still feel the urge to dash downstairs and shove a sausage roll in my gob.
Over 500 calories of deliciousness
Thankfully this change, plus keeping a more careful eye on my main meals, has meant that the weight has started to shift. I had crept up to a mighty XL and have now edged back into the realm of semi-mighty ‘large’ size.
Along with this weight loss my times have been improving and today at Parkrun I smashed my 2015 PB by 50 seconds.
Cambridge Parkrun
I wasn’t particularly looking for a PB but had noticed that my times had kind of edged into that territory with a few 26:10, 26:15 etc. Maybe the PB of 25:54 was looking as if it might be achievable.
I set off fairly slowly, hemmed in by the crowds. I began to get faster just to try find myself a little bit of space in which to run. I would move past some people to then become engulfed in an entirely different group. Maybe just keep overtaking. There must be some space somewhere.
Then the 26 minute pacer came flashing by and was soon vanishing off into the distance. Defeatist Jim dismissed the possibility of following the pacer almost immediately. He was moving far too fast and there was absolutely no chance of keeping up with him.
Every now and again Jim suffers a slight attack of optimism and this, it seems was one of those times. I thought that I probably did have no chance of keeping up with him but I was feeling fairly good at that moment so why not burn up some of that energy now and then I could fall back later if I needed to (I did say that it was only very slight optimism).
I set off after the pacer and was soon following closely. It was then that I discovered one of the irritations of following a pacer. It seems that other people are doing this also and we are beginning to collect quite a sizeable group. I am now back in the realm of too many people all clustered around me on this very narrow track. I stay with it for a little while but then take the rather bizarre decision to push on in front of the pacer. I’ll just find myself a bit of space, push on for a while then the 26 minute chap will probably pass me some time after the 3k marker.
I’ve passed the 3k sign and he still hasn’t caught me. I start to wonder if maybe he’s had to drop out for some reason.
At just after 4k I hear him behind me getting all shouty and motivational. “C’mon you guys’ he shouts. ‘We are about 3 seconds up on the pace but don’t slack off now. There’s only about 4 minutes to go. It’s possible to put up with anything for just 4 minutes.’ Unfortunately I don’t think I respond well to motivational stuff. When I hear statements such as this, my first inclination is to get all pissy and start arguing with them (at least inside my head). Then I think, no I’m not going to do what you say. I shall run my own race, thank you very much. Yes, yes, I know that my reaction is ridiculous. This lovely chap is trying to help everyone around him to achieve their potential. I never claimed to be a rational creature.
It’s a struggle now but I manage to hold my pace and even increase it slightly. The voice of the 26 minute pacer is still plainly audible but he’s not getting any closer.
Turning the corner on to the final straight I see, there in the distance is another pacer. This is a chap wearing a vest with the number 25. Surely this can’t be the 25 minute pacer. Maybe something has gone wrong and he’s strayed off his time. I try to chase him down anyway with that tiny little optimistic voice inside me suggesting that maybe, just maybe I’m not that far away from 25 minutes.
Crossing the line I totter through the funnel and then collapse on to my knees inhaling huge gasps of oxygen. That last effort really pushed up my heart rate and had me fighting for breath.
Running friend Richard is there to greet me and he is also recovering from completing his fastest run this year. It seems that there is something in the air today. It was a good day to run.
I check my watch and it says 25:06. My PB before this was 25:54. That’s just remarkable. It’s also incredibly poor training for the 100k Race To The Stones where a speedy 5k time is not going to help me one jot.
We’ve all seen the walk of chafe. It’s a sort of bow legged slow motion waddle where the runner is attempting to move without the suffering parts of the body (often the groin) coming into contact with anything else. It’s delightfully comical to anyone witnessing this phenomenon but perhaps a little less so to the poor person experiencing it.
As you might have guessed I have recently been having problems with this and the primal howl of pain as I lower myself into the bath has been a cause of considerable consternation to my poor long suffering partner.
As I run, the sweat trickles down my body and tends to collect between my legs and at the tops of my thighs. When in shorts it can be slightly less of a problem as I don’t wear underpants, so less sweat is soaked up by cotton pants and can’t hang around quite so long to cause too much damage. When wearing running tights I feel less inclined to run without underpants as the tights cling perhaps a bit too tightly and I am all too likely to be arrested on some kind of obscenity charge. This is when it can get really painful and I need to find a solution.
Determined to do something about it I embarked upon a little Internet research. First: what is chafing?
The website ‘healthline.com’ has this to say about chafing:
“Chafing is a common skin problem caused by any combination of friction, moisture, and irritating fabric. Prolonged rubbing on the skin makes your skin sting or burn, and you develop a mild, red rash. In severe cases, chafing will include swelling, bleeding, or crusting. “
Ouch! Yes, that about sums it up. So, what to do about it?
Webmd.com says that you mustn’t stay in wet clothes. This is good advice but if you are on a long run then you will be in your wet clothes for some considerable time. My running tights are made of wicking material which would help to take that moisture away from the skin. However, the obscenity problem remains so are there any other solutions?
It seems that there is a newcomer to this field that is becoming very popular among runners and this is the specially designed underwear, ‘Runderwear’ (I love that name). These underpants are made of wicking material and don’t have any seams to rub against the skin and add to the irritation. They are astoundingly expensive at 20 pounds a pair but look as if they will do the job.
I bought some Runderwear pants and took them on a run. They cut down the chafing considerably but didn’t completely remove the problem. I looked online to see what other runners were using and encountered something called bodyglide. This too was quite expensive at nearly 23 pounds for 42 grammes but I ordered it and went out again wearing Runderwear pants and a coating of Bodyglide. This time there were no problems at all and I sank into my bath without even a whimper.
Could I have found my anti-chafe solution?
It is quite possible, but I am all too aware that my 100km Race To The Stones will be in July and the conditions will be far warmer than those I am experiencing now. Will the Runderwear and Bodyglide pairing be able to cope with the ridiculous amounts of sweat that I produce during that particular trial or will I yet again have to do the Walk Of Chafe?
I was out of the door and half way across the car park before it hit me. Hmmm, thinks I, this is a bit chilly. I turned around and ran back into the house. Another layer is needed. Buttoning a shirt over my running top. and donning a pair of gloves I emerged back into this frosty Sunday morning now suitably attired.
This is my second long run since signing up for the 50k Race To The Stones next year. I’ve been thinking about the terrain and the type of running involved in this endeavour. For today’s training run I am using a rucksack and have put a water bottle in it. Race To The Stones looks very well supported but I will definitely need water (it will take place in July after all) and having a tendency to lose a lot of salt the legs soon start cramping. This also means I shall require a handy supply of these mysterious and magical whatchamacallits of which I know so little.
I say I know little about magical thingummies but some Internet research was done prior to this training run, and enlightenment has settled upon me like falling snow (must write it down before it melts and drifts away). It seems that electrolytes are a bunch of stuff that helps your body work smoothly.
A brief diversion as we try to figure out these electrolyte thingies
They are:
Calcium – strong bones and help with clotting Potassium – this is the one that interests me most of all as it should help counteract those diabolical cramps. Bananas are a favourite source for this and before and after the run today I tried salted potatoes. Seemed to help a bit and tasted delicious. I got the cramps but not for as long. Sodium – something about regulating body fluid volumes. I’m not entirely sure what that means. Chloride – similar to Sodium – not sure what’s going on with these guys. Magnesium – is like the bus that other electrolytes use to get them to where they need to be. Hurrah for Magnesium. This is another one that you’ll find in bananas.
Back to the run
Another consideration for this run was to find some uneven ground and possibly changes of gradient. I found both of these on the other side of the Cam running through the fields towards Fen Ditton. The ground was most definitely uneven and running on the bits where there was no track soon became a significant trial. My brain flipped out a little as I glanced over toward the track. Every fibre of my being cried out that I should be running on the easier bit. Look, it seemed to yell, other people have already walked or run there and made it flat and easy for you. What kind of fool would ignore those advantages? I veered a little but managed to stay off the track until at least the other side of the field. Isn’t it just astounding how hard wired we are for efficiency?
It’s a steady incline (albeit gentle) all the way up into Fen Ditton but then levels out as you pass by the church. There’s a beautiful tree-lined path along here and then a right turn across the common heading in the direction of Cambridge. Passing by a chap smoking here the deliciously sweet scent of cannabis wafts through the air. I considered following him for a while just to enjoy the smell for a little longer but decided that might possibly be a little too weird.
A quick wiggle through the streets and then I pop out onto Coldhams Common. A new parkrun began here just a few weeks ago and I’ve considered popping along to give it a try. Unfortunately Coldhams Common, being so desperately flat and empty holds little attraction for me as a running destination. I may give it a try though, as part of trying to increase my mileage, by running there, doing the parkrun and running back.
After exploring Coldhams Common I then shuffled past the Leper Chapel and into town.
My body had warmed up now so I was able to pop my gloves and hat into the rucksack while grabbing a drink and a Shotblock. It’s good to carry your supplies with you, although I suspect the rucksack will be a lot more irritating to wear in the heat of July.
I circle around Jesus Green, back through Midsummer Common and along the river to cross over by the Green Dragon. From there it’s only a stagger, totter and topple until I’m back in Milton.
Looking at my phone I see the distance covered so far is 19km. I turn off into Milton Country Park to add on those vital two kilometres to make it a half marathon. Finally I arrive home feeling that this was a good morning’s work.
It feels good to complete 21K as a training run. My weekly run distance had dropped down to between 10 and 15km. After kicking off my smelly shoes I stretch out for as long as I possibly can before becoming too bored to continue (stretching is an astoundingly dull activity). Then it’s time to do some lounging about in the bath.
I feel that my training is on track and vaguely wonder whether to jump up to the 100km distance for Race To The Stones. I consider this for a moment and then tell myself not to be so silly.
A running watch
My phone would probably not last for the many hours it would take me to complete the 50km of Race To The Stones so I am considering getting a running watch. My wife, mum and brother are all clubbing together to help me purchase one. Favourite at the moment looks to be the Garmin Forerunner 35. It reckons to be able to operate while using GPS for 13 hours. Surely even I can finish 50K in under 13 hours…
“Follow the footsteps of Vikings, Romans, dragons and kings. Journey from the Chilterns to the mystical North Wessex Downs past mighty iron age forts, ancient monuments and through some of Britain’s most stunning landscapes. A 5000 year trek back in time.”
It sounds amazing doesn’t it?
The full race is 100km long along the Ridgeway, the oldest trackway in Britain. That’s the one that I’d really like to do but possibly I should scale it back a bit. There is an option to just do the part 2 section of the course so should I? Could I? Many times I began the sign up process only to quit at the final pay now moment. Once I sign up I am also committing to a long hard winter of training in the wind, the rain and the snow.
Do I really want to do that to myself?
I finally decided that I didn’t want to do that to myself but I would just bloody well have to if I wanted to make this fantasy a reality. I want this experience and the pain of getting there will be part of what makes it so extraordinary. My plan is to start with the 50k and if I manage to stagger over the finish line then maybe, just maybe, 100k might seem like something I could do.
However, before the race must come the long hard months of training so I’d better put on my running gear and get out there and put in the miles.
But it’s raining.
Get out there you wuss.
And so I did.
I’ve slackened off a little recently and put on a good deal of weight. I am over a stone heavier than when I ran the London Marathon and I was no waif back then. Thinking about this (because I do make a habit of torturing myself) I imagined putting 7 bags of sugar into a bag and wearing it around my waist. It seems a ridiculous thing to have done to oneself but I really do enjoy a nice curry and it seems I have had several.
I have still been doing regular weekend runs and decided that today it would be a good idea to increase my Sunday run from the usual 10k up to around 13 or so. That would seem to be a sensible increase for the long run.
Running into the village of Histon the persistent rain became a little less persistent and I started to feel substantially more relaxed and happy. It was one of those special moments when you realise that this is going to be a good run.
A goose on the green at Histon was unimpressed with my efforts and fronted up to me like a street thug with a flicknife. I bravely turned away and ran across the road, and the goose, satisfied with its thuggery, waddled off to have a good bragging session with the rest of the goose gang.
I continued through the village to the roadway that leads on toward the busway. There was someone up ahead walking and so I moved out to the edge of the path ready to overtake. I looked up some time later and she was still quite a long way in front of me. How snail-like must be my pace if I am taking such an age to pass by. Are there snails watching from the edge of the path putting bets on whether they could take me in a 100 yard dash? I do eventually pass her and try to convince myself that actually she was walking really quickly.
At the far edge of Histon before I reached the busway I spotted openings out into a field. Aha thinks I. Race to the Stones is going to have lots of uneven surfaces. Let’s try some. It takes rather more concentration running on this kind of terrain as you leap over tree roots and splash through puddles but it is more interesting than the constant plod along the pavement. I realise that I am also going to have to find some hills during my training. As I live on the edge of the Fens this might be somewhat challenging.
Paths lead on to paths but eventually I am drawn inexorably toward the busway which cuts right through this landscape and provides an extremely useful connection between the villages. I hop on to it and and am soon roaming around in far flung exotic locations such as Westwick and Oakington. Wild times indeed.
I realise that I am now quite some distance from home and am going to exceed my mileage or kilometreage target for the morning. As I haven’t brought any nutrition with me then maybe this might become a problem. Everything feels fine for now but I have experienced a nutrition crash previously and it wasn’t pretty. Turning back for home I encounter a shop in Histon. I don’t really know what the best thing to buy is to maintain these mysterious electrolytes that the running fraternity bang on about but I seem to remember a doctor insisting that drinking Lucozade and gels was just the thing when I was suffering at the end of the London Marathon. Grabbing a lucozade I topped up with whatever it might contain (from the taste I would guess that it’s mostly sugar). I don’t know whether this helped but I got home after 18 kilometres and felt absolutely fine.
The journey has begun…
Save The Rhino – I am of course doing this Race To The Stones entirely for my own selfish reasons but I would also love it to be of benefit to others, so I’d be delighted if you could donate money for Save The Rhino International at my JustGiving page here:
