Finishing An Ultra Marathon

Posted on September 26, 2013 by James Clay

Okay, I need to come clean at the start, I haven’t actually run an ultra marathon…at least not on my own. But I have finished one.

Last weekend I ran the final (glory) leg of the JW Ultra. A 30 mile trail run with a 3 x 10ish mile relay along the canal tow path from Stratford-upon-Avon to Bournville station in Birmingham. It is held in memory of John Ward, one of the founders of Bournville Harriers Running Club, and has been well supported by my own running club for the last 7 years.

This year there were 5 teams entered from Almost Athletes, I was very much in team five, in fact we were named “Here For The Cake”, with two of the ladies from the club. The idea for me was to experience the JW Ultra, at least in part, with a view to maybe doing the whole thing solo next year.

So firstly, the good stuff… The organisation was fantastic from what I saw. The communication beforehand was superb, given the complexities of a course that covers 30 miles and has several checkpoints the details provided to runners covered everything. The course notes, whilst pretty simple in the main (if you can see the canal you’re not lost!) where there was a need for navigation the instructions were clear and the course well marked. I only experienced checkpoint 2, which was right on the bank of the canal and quite compact, but the atmosphere was great. There was a pub on the opposite bank where many chose to wait for their relay partner to come in, but I stayed at the checkpoint and cheered through all the solo runners and other teams. The marshals at the checkpoint were great and the atmosphere excellent. I was one of the last to see my team mate (which was always going to be the case, we were there for the cake remember) so I got to see the elite ultra runners breeze through as well as those for whom it was a real challenge. As I would definitely be in the latter category when I brave an ultra it was good to see I wouldn’t be alone! My leg was just shy of 10 miles, went by fast and there was a good reception at the finish from my fellow club members. I was handed water and race mementos for my team, JW Ultra branded bum bags containing key rings and chocolate bars.

But I have to say I didn’t particularly enjoy this event. There were only 96 runners on course at any one time, made up of the solos and relay team members, so once I was off and running I barely saw anyone for 10 miles. I passed 3 or 4 solo runners but we weren’t in the same race category so there was no victory in it. I realised early on that I wasn’t going to catch any other team runner and I wouldn’t be caught either, so as a race it was finished long before the line. There was no support along the route, nothing the organisers can do about that, but essentially the race had become a lonely 10 mile run along an unattractive canal. Having recently run the beautiful 17 mile Sharpness-Gloucester canal this one was a disappointment from a aesthetic point of view. Very enclosed, very quite, litter strewn with graffiti covered bridges the only break in the monotony of the view was the mess at the end of city centre gardens that backed on to the water.

I’m glad I experienced the event, and I salute the club that put it on and organise it so well, but it’s not one I will be doing again and certainly won’t be my first ultra next year.

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Marathon Malaise

Posted on September 25, 2013 by James Clay

It all started with such good intentions…

The aim was clear, complete a marathon in better shape than I managed in 2011. It really didn’t seem that tricky given all the mistakes I made then, and this time I had an added incentive. At Bournemouth I was due to be running with two of my very best friends. One has just become an Ironman with a 4:40 marathon after the swim & bike sections. The other has always been fitter than me and has an annoying knack of staying that way no matter how much pie he eats. The idea was to train and run together, which took on added importance when Ironman announced he was leaving for a new life in Dubai shortly after the marathon.

So with expert advice sought, trainers acquired, goals set, it was time for training to start.

And it started well. I was hitting all my milestones and got to run with Ironman at least once a week. I was finding new routes and making slight adjustments to the plan to keep it fresh and interesting. I got as far as 19 miles at the beginning of September, even seeking out the biggest hills to run that day rather than trying to avoid them. Confidence was high, I was on the right track…

And then I’m not sure what happened.

I had always known there was a week during September when I would be in the Lake District. The mountain biking and big mountain hikes we had planned were demanding enough that I knew additional runs would be out of the question, but I figured they would also serve as training enough for that week and I would come home to a long run and be right back in the swing of it. But that didn’t happen.

Over the course of the week, and with running not at the forefront of my mind, I accepted invitations that got in the way of my plan without a second thought. My long run, which was only due to be 15 miles, became 10 miles. Then I was thrown in to some new work that suddenly took up large chunks of every day. I’m not complaining about being busy, but when you’ve been used to having most of your time free to run, having to find time to run was a complete change of circumstance. I can’t deny there was plenty of time available, but it was much harder to get out now and also much harder to fit in around my running buddies (Ironman works 4 days on/4 days off and runs during the day, my other training buddy gets random days off in the week, understandably neither particularly want to wait until it’s cold and dark to go out for a run!)

Then came the weekend of success. I haven’t written up my race report for Cheltenham Half Marathon yet, but suffice to say it was a PB, and came on the back of a Parkrun PB the previous morning. Another fast run with the club on Wednesday evening felt great too, but none of this fits the training plan I had worked out. Running fast isn’t the key to a good marathon, pacing is. The biggest and most obvious omission to my training being any more long runs since that 19 miler, I hadn’t experienced going long and slow.

Then last weekend I ran a leg of a relay race for the club (another race report yet to be written) and it was slow. It was a canal path run, so there was mud in places, gravel etc, but even so I was over a minute a mile slower than the previous week and, more importantly, I didn’t feel comfortable. My concerns about not doing enough running had been tempered slightly by the results of the weekend before, but all of a sudden I felt like the lumbering rugby player trying to play at running again and it felt horrible. Try as I might I haven’t been able to force myself out since and it’s only because I have new friends joining the running club this evening I can force myself to go out tonight.

So, with 10 days to go until Bournemouth, I feel thoroughly under cooked. I know 19 miles isn’t enough to have in the tank, that last 7 is where the pain comes and the damage is done, but I’m not ready for them. It’s too late to do anything about that now, there is no running I can do that will improve my performance next Sunday so it’s a struggle not to do no running! I read a brilliant quote from Matt Fitzgerald in one of my favourite blogs yesterday (Lazy Girl Running) “Above all else, training should make you feel prepared. If you feel prepared you are, if you don’t you’re not.”  Well I don’t, and I don’t see how that is going to change.

Normally the arrival of race numbers excites me. My number for Bournemouth arrived this morning and filled me with dread. Maybe I can do better at Brighton next year, I’m already thinking about training in January…

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The Mean Streets of Cheltenham

Posted on September 1, 2013 by James Clay

I’ve spent approximately 92.7% of my 35 and a half years on Earth in Cheltenham.

When I was a kid I walked to school, by the time I was in my teens that was an hour commute each way. I used to walk everywhere. To friends, to family, to rugby practice. If I wasn’t walking the streets of Cheltenham I’d be riding my bike on them. I’m not suggesting I was a street child, but I was definitely a child of the streets. I didn’t bother getting a car until I was 32. I didn’t need one. I could walk everywhere. So I did.

3 years ago I started running. I ran on the streets of Cheltenham where I used to walk. For 3 years now I’ve been running around this town, from my first faltering steps through joining a running club and training for 10ks, halves and then the full marathon. Anywhere between 10 and 30 miles a week on these hometown pavements.

It’s safe to say I’ve run Cheltenham and by jove am I bored of it!

The hardest part of this latest marathon training plan has been hitting the same streets yet again. Trying to string together twelve, fifteen or more miles around a town that it turns out is surprisingly small. You can change direction or put bits together in a different order but the fact remains you will still cover the same tarmac at some point in your run.

So, I’ve had to get creative.

Recently I managed to negotiate a lift to Sharpness Docks, some 27 miles outside of town. From there I ran 17 miles along the Sharpness to Gloucester Canal. 17 new, exciting miles with views and no traffic and wildlife and fun. It wasn’t all perfect, but it was certainly an improvement.

I’ve been thinking of some other long runs I can enjoy, and here’s what I’ve got so far…

  • A day out in Bristol following the Gromit Unleashed trail. Not sure how useful it is as marathon training if you stop every mile to take a photo, but if I cover 20+ miles in the day I’d call that a success.
  • London, from Victoria Coach Station to the Olympic Park to visit a friend. Can easily stretch that in to 17 miles or more and I do love running around London. Plus I can follow it up with drinks and dinner with cockney friends.
  • A training run along the Malvern Hills (if I can rope in a willing partner to make it fun). It’s a great blast across the hilltops, the ups and downs like a natural interval session and the return journey around the edge of hills is like running through Lord Of The Rings territory. Should be able to rack up a tapering run of 11-12 miles out there.

So, that should just about make up for the midweek runs around the all too familiar streets of the ‘Nam. Of course, with another marathon planned for April I’m going to have to find even more creative ways of covering the miles.

How do you keep your long runs interesting?

What is your most creative run route? Is it a point to point or maybe following a mountain trail?

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Things I Learned On Friday…

Posted on August 25, 2013 by James Clay

I switched things up a bit on Friday and went for a 17 mile run along the Sharpness to Gloucester Canal.

Worse places to run

Worse places to run

I learnt a few things along the way…

  • 17 miles is a long way.
  • A trail is very different on two feet than it is on two wheels. What suspension hides legs find.
  • Those dusty, gravelly stone trails you get alongside canals, they are the devil’s running track. Every footfall slips an inch before it gets traction. I never realised how important traction is, I’m actually looking forward to running on dry tarmac next week.
  • 24 degrees is warm.
  • According to some basic maths based on pre and post run weigh ins I lost around 3 litres of sweat in the 3 hours I was running, which I replaced with 500ml of fluid. This is very bad practice, I won’t be doing that again.
  • Water voles are a protected species.
  • Narrow boat owners are friendly, power boat owners are not.
  • Running long distances in new places is fun, but it’s much better if you have a plan for the end rather than walking an extra mile through a busy city centre looking like a sweaty deranged mentalist who is losing the power to stand upright. Getting on a train to get home is even worse.
  • 17 miles is a long way (Did I mention that already? Well it’s important)

What have you learned on your runs recently?

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Running Hero: Jamie McDonald

Posted on August 16, 2013 by James Clay

Running heroes come in a couple of different styles. For some people it’s all about speed, and Mo Farah is the nation’s darling at the moment when it comes to going fast. For others heroism lies in going further than most and Chrissie Wellington or Mimi Anderson are perfect exponents of this. (indeed when we met Mimi at the Write This Run event earlier in the year it spawned the hashtag #WhatWouldMimiDo, a new running mantra for many).

Me? I find heroism in the ridiculous, adventurous, insane and brilliant. Anyone can cross a start line and run where they are told, aiming for a finish line knowing there is water and food along the way and a cheering team of supporters at the end to welcome you in hours later. But to set off from the very Eastern edge of Canada with a plan no more complete than “run West” aiming to cover 5000 miles before the expiration of a visa with no support crew, that kind of absurdity I find heroic.

So let me introduce Jamie McDonald.

He likes to wear a Flash outfit and that's just fine with me.

He likes to wear a Flash outfit and that’s just fine with me.

I first encountered Jamie last year when he took on the world static cycling record on an exercise bike. Prior to that he had ridden from Bangkok back to his home town of Gloucester for charity which I guess was good preparation because he pedalled for 265 hours, that’s  over 11 days and more than 40 hours longer than the previous record.  I followed Jamie’s progress on Twitter, there was much fanfare when he was done, and then all went quiet…

Until March, when a tweet hit my timeline with a link to a video. He was at it again. This time running 5000 miles across Canada, unsupported, racing against his visa expiry date.

I’ve been following Jamie ever since through his fabulous video blogs and Facebook updates, and recently I was lucky enough to be able to ask him some questions about his adventures. The most obvious place to start…why?!

“To raise money for charity, that’s why I do all my challenges”. Jamie is fundraising for G.O.S.H, Pied Piper Appeal and a Canadian charity, Sick Kids. “When I was younger I spent my first 9 years in and out of hospital with a spinal condition, syringomyelia, and was immobile for a long time. I know what it’s like to be a child in a hospital bed and I want to help as many children in that position as I can. When I was nine years old I forced myself to start moving, and slowly my symptoms started to clear up. I asked myself “Why didn’t you start moving your body earlier, you idiot!” I didn’t stop moving then and ended up working as a tennis instructor but now I’ve tasted adventure and fundraising I can’t imagine doing anything else”

An adventure it certainly is. Jamie has steadily increased his mileage and is now running more than a marathon a day, and will need to keep this pace up if he’s going to make his goal. With no plans for his route or accommodation he has been sleeping in a tent on the side of the highway for the majority of his trip. “I really miss pillows, that smell and material that sends you off to sleep. A rolled up pair of trousers or a smelly t-shirt just isn’t the same!” Dinner is often a tin of fish and some butter, light in weight, heavy in calories and protein which Jamie needs to fuel his superhuman daily activity. “Tinned fish is cold and most nights I crave something warm, but I just don’t have time to cook. I can’t wait to have a roast dinner when I’m home!”

But Jamie hasn’t gone completely without creature comforts during his trip. Not afraid to knock on a door and ask to sleep on front lawns he has been welcomed in to homes throughout Canada. Indeed now that word has spread through the internet and the interest of Canadian media, people are actively seeking Jamie to offer him support. From dropping off a food parcel to offering a bed in the next town people are inspired to be involved, and not forgetting those all important charity donations to. He’s been joined on the road by schoolchildren, bereaved parents, families and even some of  the patients from the SickKids children’s ward in Toronto that he is raising funds for.

Jamie being supported by the kids he's supporting. Sick Kids, Toronto.

Jamie being supported by the kids he’s supporting. Sick Kids, Toronto.

Jamie’s video diaries are full of tales of generosity from the people of Canada, and it’s this as much as Jamie’s incredible achievements that makes this a story worth following. It’s unsurprising that Jamie creates such a desire in people to help, his enthusiasm is infectious (as is his laugh at the start of his videos!) and his gratitude so genuine. I get the impression he is honestly surprised every time someone does something nice for him.

"Heather just rocked up on the side of the highway with some motivational badges"

“Heather just rocked up on the side of the highway with some motivational badges”

These rests from roadside living can sometimes be days apart though, and I asked what kept Jamie going. “Terry Fox. His story inspires me to keep going. He lost his leg to cancer but still wanted to run across Canada to raise awareness and money to fight the disease”. Fox unfortunately succumbed to his cancer in June 1981, after completing 3,339 miles of his trans-Canada trek before his illness stopped his attempt. “If I need motivation, he’s it”. (you can learn more about Terry Fox in the very first of McDonald’s video blogs here)

Jamie is now around the halfway point in his journey, it’s hard to tell when he has no set route. “It may sound a bit ridiculous, but I really do like the Forrest Gump theory of just waking up and running in the direction that I need to be running in” but there is no doubt that he still has a lot of road to cover and many adventures left to have along the way.

You can follow Jamie on Twitter and Facebook as well as through his videos which never fail to inspire. (His maniacal laughter in the first few seconds of his videos will make you smile every time you hear it!) You can also donate, which is the reason he’s out there eating tinned fish on the roadside after all! Every little helps and as you follow Jamie’s story you’ll see just what a difference your generosity makes to him and the children he is supporting.

U.K. Donations for Great Ormond Street and Pied Piper Appeal click here

Canadian donations for Sick Kids, Toronto, click here

Finally I asked Jamie what advice he’d give a wannabe adventurer? “Stop thinking, have faith in the world and don’t plan anything, that’s adventure”.

Great advice Jamie, but how about we plan that roast dinner for when you’re back?!

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