Thanks GoSlow

I like writing them...coz it means the hard bit is over

Blimey!! That was hard work. And to make matters worse, there were no cakes afterwards

There's not much I can say after Trin's excellent report. Like Trin, I wasn't really in the mood (having lost my enthusiasm recently whilst work and laziness get in the way) for this . . and finding out the hard way that there was a lot of climbing to do in the first couple of miles didn't do much to improve my state of mind either.

I'd deliberately started almost right at the back, and even though it was uphill found that I was passing some people on the way up. The fact that the road was only wide enough for 3 runners at most helped, because it was impossible to go any faster than was sensible.

I was surprised to pass people walking so early in the race though

After a couple of miles the hills seemed to be behind us and I was able to speed up. Trin had said beforehand to think of it as 3 different 3 mile runs, and that's what I tried to do. I'm reasonably certain that I managed to run each successive 3 miles slightly faster than the previous one, but because my Garmin lost it's signal 2 or 3 times I can't back that claim up with hard evidence!

Nothing had prepared me for the long and ultimately very steep hill in the 6th mile. This took a lot out of me and meant that I was to struggle up the remaining ascents . . although I was able to use the descents to make up for lost time . . gravity does help when you're a little over 14 stone!

There was one moment of madness toweards the end when, as I doggedly kept running up yet another hill (and knew I could walk quicker!) another runner, who had almost caught me up, started walking. But he started to pass me!! So I had to dig in and keep him behind me. I don't like being passed by somebody running and I'm certainly not letting a walker get past!

My finishing time was 1.18.48, and I was 87th out of 130 finishers. And as well as the race t-shirt, I got a spot prize a nice Saucony woolly hat . . shan't be needing it for a while (I hope) but it'll come in useful later in the year . .

We can't do the next race in the series, as Trin said, but after yesterday I'm almost looking forward to the Wellington 10 in mid-July, despite the description "challenging"! :eek:

Fine report too Rich

Looking forward to the Wellington 10m tomorrow morning . . we'll be back with reports as soon as we can . .

Well Rich may have been looking forward to it but I'm afraid the same can't be said for me.

It's not that I had anything against the race itself...I'd never run it before. It was just that I really wasn't up for racing. I think it was a combination of a whole load of stuff going on in my life, + 'post holiday blues', + this horrible weather. I would have rather stayed in bed to be honest.

But we travelled through the rain to Somerset for the Wellington 10, when we got there I just wanted to come straight back home, I even considered not starting...but then I would have just been sat in the car for an hour and a half while Rich went off and raced.

So I lined up at the start and ran when I heard the bang. Got to one mile and thought only 9 more to go....got to 2 and thought only 8 more to go....got to 3 and thought only 7 more to go....etc. The hills were quite challenging, particularly one, which went on climbing for about 2 miles...I was beginning to lose the will to live when suddenly I gasped my way to the top and saw a truly magnificent panoramic view. Another runner also commented on it and said "I didn't realise we were so high up", to which I replied "I (gasp) did". Due to the weather conditions I also had a slight asthma panic during another of the hills.

The downhills were great although my leg really doesn't like downhills and at 7 miles it decided that enough was enough. The last 3 miles were agony...and I was crying out in pain as I tried to keep to some sort of running. Up until then I was looking at about 1.13 beating my PB by 10 minutes. Then when my leg slowed me right down (and on occasion stopped me completely) I was worried that I'd worked so hard for 7 miles to get a good time, and then I might not even end up breaking my PB...that's why I pushed through the pain. Eventually the pain relieving endorphines started to kick in and I was able to run a little easier to the finish.

My time was 1.16.17, beating my PB by 7 minutes, which is pretty ok for a 10 mile.

My left leg aches because it did most of the work for the last 3 miles, my right leg still doesn't feel right either. But tomorrow I have an appointment for the next stage in trying to discover the cause of this injury... Nerve Conduction Studies, and Electromyography tests... which don't sound very nice


So...over to you Rich

While Rich has yet to make a report on our last Somerset Series race in Wellington, I will tell you about the one we did tonight...The Haselbury Trail 10k

It was two laps of the toughest off road course you could imagine! You name it, and this course had it!

There was steep uneven grassy, pot-holed cow fields covered in cow pats (and cows), about 12 styles, bridges, huge muddy puddles that you just had to wade through the middle of, a narrow path through a corn field with 6 foot high corn that I couldn't see over (Rich could), a mother of all hills which most people walked, and lots and lots of mud.

All that times two.

In fact, by mile two of the first lap, having twisted my ankle numerous times on the uneven ground, I had made the decision to drop out half way and not do the second lap. However as I was following everyone else I missed the point where I should have gone straight on to the finish point, and turned right following the course, and into a second lap. By the time I realised it was too late, and I was committed to finishing the race...in fact I felt that I should have been 'committed' for even entering it in the first place!

So for the second lap my mantra was "that which does not kill me only serves to make me stronger'...kept saying it in my head over and over...nearly believed it too!

I finished in 53.47, and as an illustration of how eager I was to finish, I ran the last .3 of a mile at 5.17 min/mile pace...according to Garmin.

Still, at least my off road shoes look like 'proper' off road shoes now

Great result in the end then Trinity, bet you're glad you finished it now

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots Oh what have I done FLM09

Thanks twinks... yes I am glad I finished it, and I really slept well last night...didn't wake up until 9.55 (this is my day off )

I'm a little achey today, and my ankle is sore, but not too bad. I'm just waiting for the official results now to see my Series placing...something I wouldn't have wanted to do if I had wimped out half way

Oh dear . . I'm in trouble aren't I! Two race reports required

I enjoyed the Wellington 10m once I got going. The rain didn't trouble me as it did Trin. The start had been a shambles . . none of us knew exactly where on the school campus it was although we all had a fair idea. What made it worse was that hardly any of us knew which direction we were going to start in . . Eventually we all got this worked out, got ourselves in the right place and pointing the right way, and off we went - even though there were runners running towards us so they could get to the start who had to either get out of the way and let us pass or turn round and join in.

I'd started at the back and for the first mile or so was chatting to people I knew as I slowly overhauled them. In the second mile I started to focus and started to enjoy what I was doing. A friend had told me that her husband had said that the hills were in the first 5 miles, so I had that in mind as we started to go uphill.

The hills were long . . almost never ending . . but they weren't so steep that you couldn't keep running up them . . and if you could let go downhill you could make up a few seconds.

Trin tells me that there was a wonderful view from the top of one hill but I didn't see it . . perhaps at that point my head was in the clouds?

Unfortunately there were still plenty of hills in the second half of the race . . I'd been stitched up . . and in the 8th mile I really started to struggle. Nevertheless I was pleased with my performance . . 1:25:55 gave me 149th place out of the 253 finishers. For the record, Trin finished in 99th place.

The t-shirt was good too, and it came in different sizes

The Haselbury Trail 10k however was a different kettle of fish . . I'd sooner have run the Wellington 10 miler all over again. Trin's course description is accurate and although I'd normally be happy to run over that sort of terrain I just didn't enjoy this one.

An important meeting and almost 4 hours' driving beforehand were not the best preparation and I spent the final 9k trying to motivate myself, but without much success. I did manage to finish strongly and overtake a couple of guys in my age group, but that didn't really compensate for the preceding agony.

I was irritated that I'd made such an effort to get Trin and I there, and then neither of us had enjoyed it. We were relieved to be able to set off for home . .

For what it's worth . . I finished in 1.00.33 . . in 124th place from the 168 finishers. Trin's finishing position was 85th.

So now we look forward to the Battle of Sedgemoor 10k at Bank Holiday weekend. I remember when it was a half marathon. Wish it still was. I don't like these short sprints

Should have added that there were no cakes available at either of the last two races . . this Somerset Series is becoming less attractive all the time!!

Speaking of unattractive . . my Wellington 10 photograph provided a reasonable likeness of me so I bought it!!

The cakes are back!

Sure enough, there were post race cakes at the Battle ot Sedgemoor 10k on Sunday, so our faith has been restored in the Somerset Series


I wasn't sure how my legs were going to cope with the speed required in a 10k, after doing the instructed long run two days previously. So I decided to just do what I could do and not have any particular goal in mind.

I started off at quite a fast pace (about 6.45 min/mile), which both concerned and surprised me, especially as there was a short incline in the first mile. I knew that I should probably slow it down a bit if I didn't want to suffer too much later in the race, but my head, and legs, were well and truly in race mode.

There were some short little inclines and some nice steady decents, so it was quite a fast course.

Between 7 and 9k, sure enough, I began to suffer slightly, probably due to the early fast pace. But the last kilometre was mainly downhill and I pushed hard to finish in 44.33.

A little later we went to the race HQ and Rich checked the results. I was 4th in my catagory so we worked out that as they were going by the rule of 1 prize per person I might pick up something for 3rd LV35. As it turned out though, the lady who was 1st in my cat already picked up 2nd overall, the lady who was 2nd in my cat already picked up 3rd overall, so the lady who was 3rd in my cat picked up 1st LV35...leaving little ole me to pick up 2nd LV35!!

confused? yep, me too...but I wasn't arguing


All in all, it was a nice route, and well organised, good all round event, which made me feel better about my running than I had felt in a long time

Go Trin Go Trin

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Run Eddie Run

Top Stuff Trin.........

So how many cakes did you scoff then Trin?!!

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One small step for man.....