Well there we are, another year over and done with. 2019 was a bit of a funny year for me, there was nothing wrong with it, but it just never seemed to really get going, or provide any really memorable moments. The weather never really settled down, it was cold and wet at the start of the year, followed by more cold and wet and finished with a crescendo of just good old fashioned wet.
The miserable weather at the start of the year held the allotment growing season back to the point that I didn't even plant the garden bedding plants out until well into June, in any normal year I'd be desperate to have them out of the greenhouse in mid April to clear the space and give them a chance to grow on, this year though they just sat there looking miserable all through April and May, looking like I felt at the time.
I suppose that once it did actually cheer up, the gardens and allotment did OK, I can't really say much more than that though. I had good crops of Tomatoes, Lettuce, Beetroot, Potatoes, and the soft fruit seemed to do quite well, as did the Plums and Apples. As I mentioned above though, the flower garden was very poor, you would just start to think things were looking up and we would have another couple of days of torrential rain, flattening everything back down and smashing off all the blooms and we would be back to square one again.
I'm pretty sure that the weather will continue to play a part in proceedings, but putting the allotment and gardens aside for a minute, lets have a look at what else I got up to in 2019.
JANUARY January was it usual cold, wet and miserable self, with not a great deal worthy of mention. I started the year with the now traditional knacker cracker, always one of the best runs of the year, fancy dress, lots of mud, great supporters, and stupidly hilly, whats not to like about that.
Work lured me into a two week trip to Cyprus with the promise of some winter sun which ate into the play time a bit and winter sun my arse! Don't bother going to Cyprus in January, it was as cold and wet as it is here, except, being a normally hot country their not set up for the cold weather, so it was blinking freezing too! I did manage to get a bit of running in too keep the legs going, so not a total waste of time.
Back from Cyprus I rounded off the month with the Farnborough Half Marathon, managing to just scrape under the 1:30 marker for the first time in a couple of years in 1:29:33 for 118 place from the 1797 starters. It's not the best half out there but it's local, a fastish course and gets a pretty good turnout considering the weathers normally dire.
Not a bad start to the year then and if January is that good then things can only get better as they say.
FEBRUARY February started with some heavy snow on the 1st, which lead to two of the best runs of the year, 6 miles in falling snow on the Friday night, followed by 21 early morning miles through the snow on the Saturday, absolutely magical!
By the 17th the weather had done a complete U turn and I ran the Bramley 20 in shorts and T shirt, sneaking in, in 2:30:44 having started too fast and suffered in the unusually warm conditions.
February also saw some good progress on the Van, completing the insulation, lining and basic electrics and a first night out, on a chilly night, proving that the insulation was up to the task and that the idea was sound.
MARCH In atrocious weather on the 3rd, I lined up for the start of the Steyning Stinger, a hilly trail marathon that takes in parts of the South Downs Way. Despite the howling wind and lashing rain it was a great day out, with a good performance by my standards, completing the distance in 3:48 for 9th position overall. A result I was more than happy with considering I'd have been happy to go under 5 hours when I initially signed up. The second weekend in March saw a return to Audax after the winter break, with a long 60 mile slog into a headwind strong enough to almost bring proceedings to a halt on numerous occasions, followed by a fast, tail wind assisted run back to the start on the Kennet Valley Run.
The 17th saw my annual outing to the Reading Half marathon and another sub 1:30 finish (1:28:36), with a run that felt easier than the Farnborough half. An impressive turn out of runners and supporters always makes Reading a worthwhile day out and it's a well organised event that I'm more than happy to keep on doing.
Another 200 Km Audax on the 31st (Petworth Start of Summer Time) wrapped the month up and heralded the clocks going forward and allegedly the start of spring, although you could have fooled me, as it was a cold day, with a bitter wind blowing for most of it.
About the only other thing of note in March was a trip to South Wales to pick up the completed bed for the Van and a visit to "The Boy". Finally having the bed in place allowed the final finishing touches to be put in place and by mid April the van plan was completed.
APRIL The first weekend in April saw me make the long trip up to Manchester for my 3rd visit to the Manchester Marathon, whilst it's a fair old slog up to Manchester it's well worth it for a well organised and fast road marathon. Compared to the only other big road marathon that I've run (Brighton 2016) Manchester is a fine example of how to put on a big event and whilst I could list a million things that were wrong with Brighton I'd be hard pushed to find a single complaint about Manchester.
Anyway, the race went well with a good finish at 3:20:45, although yet again I set off too fast and paid for it towards the end. If I could just get the pacing right I suspect 3:15 is within my grasp, but I just never seem to get it right at the right time. Oh well, I continue to learn and had a great weekend, so I'm happy with that.
Easter fell late in 2019, and after 2018's torrential rain, this year was 3 days of wall to wall sunshine. Always one to take advantage I lined up 2 cheap hotels 120 miles apart and set off on a 3 day, fast mini tour of the south east corner of England. Home - Portsmouth - Eastbourne on day 1. Up to Tonbridge - Gravesend (for the ferry across the Thames and a pleasant chat to the boat driver) - Basildon - Chelmsford and Stanstead on day 2. All wrapped up with a return home via Hatfield - High Wycombe - Goring on Thames and Theale on day 3. 365 miles of glorious weather, good roads and great fun.
A couple of weekends running and riding from home book ended the rest of the month and allowed plenty of time for getting things going on the Allotment. lots of seeds to sow, Onions and Garlic to plant out, Rhubarb to harvest and scoff and plenty of other little jobs to fill up any available spare time.
MAY
May and the alleged start of summer? Without a doubt "cast nee a clout till May is out" was more appropriate for London - Wales - London, 400 Km of great Audax fun, on what was possibly the coldest early May bank holiday weekend ever.
Departing Chalfont St Peter at 06:00 was cold, it warmed up slightly during the day, but by the time I got back to the start some 20 hours later, I was wearing every item of clothing I had with me and was still struggling to stay warm enough. I believe the night time temperature fell to around -5 and caused some real problems for some of the slower riders.
Character building stuff as they say, but despite the cold weather it was another brilliant day out, with a great route, some great catering at the control points and some lovely scenery en route.
In the middle of May "The Emma" and I had a week away in a beautiful holiday cottage in Kent. It was a lovely little spot with plenty to do, some reasonable weather and a lovely pub right next door to the cottage. Whilst we had a good week away I somehow managed to injure my L/H Peroneal Tendon running on the first day there.
Whilst that didn't hamper our holiday plans, it did totally mess up my running plans for the summer. It took a couple of weeks of denial and continuing to try and run on it before I finally admitted defeat and went to see the physio. The physio worked his magic and did a great job of getting me back on my feet again, however it still took nearly 20 weeks from first injuring it, to getting back to full fitness. So that was pretty much an end to my summer running plans and the beginning of a long, slow, frustrating, fight to get back running again!
Not to be downhearted though, on the late May bank holiday weekend I took the van for a trip up to Potters Bar for The Jetsetter 200 Km Audax. A pleasant 200 Km tour around the local airports, Stanstead, Luton, The Shuttleworth Collection etc, on a warm sunny day. Being somewhere new I took advantage of the opportunity and managed a bit of gentle walking and light running in the local area to make a weekend of it (see comments relating to denial) and had a great time, the van proving more than adequate for 3 nights away stealth camping.
JUNE June started off with a real bang and an Audax first for me, with completion of Windsor - Chester - Windsor, a 600Km (Thats 381 miles in the old money) ride, to be completed in under 40 hours. I'm not going to pretend it was an easy task, as it certainly wasn't, but it was fun! The weather stayed fine for most of the time, I got to see some lovely bits of the countryside, and most importantly finished in 35 hours. A massive thanks must go to both the organisers and all the lovely volunteers who turned out to man checkpoints, provide hot food and drinks at all hours of the day and night and generally ensure our every need was catered for. The world would be a poorer place without people like them and I can not sing their praises highly enough.
On the 9th I had one last go at running, before finally admitting that the game was up and my ankle was officially buggered, making the trip down to the beautiful Sussex Weald for the Weald Challenge Half Marathon. It was a beautiful, warm, June day and the sun shone brightly for the duration. But, by the time I got to the end I was struggling with my ankle and was glad to get to the finish. Still, it was a nice day out, on a lovely course, and it's a run I would like to return to one day to do it justice.
After getting a bit of physio on my rubbish ankle in the week (at least 2 weeks total rest and no running for up to 12. That's not the advice I wanted to hear) the 15th saw me on the start line of another 200Km Audax. Departing from just outside Reading, Up the Downs, takes a lovely route up to Shrivenham, near Swindon for lunch, before an afternoon spent traversing back through the North Wessex Downs AONB for some hilly fun.
By the 21st I'd decided that if I couldn't get all my fun from running, then I might as well start having a few adventures. So I packed up the lightweight Bivvy kit on my bike and plotted a route down to Bridport and back via the New Forest. Setting off Friday evening after work, I managed 90 miles, before getting my head down for a couple of hours, and was back on the road again as the sun came up. Breakfast sat in the Sun at Bridport before the return journey, saw me back home late Saturday evening, with another 150 miles under my belt. 240 Miles in under 30 hours, the most of which was on lovely quiet country roads in glorious sunshine, whats not to like about that!
A repeat performance the next weekend, of the leave Friday night trick, netted another 120 mile loop, heading down to Arundel on the South Coast, with the out and back legs via the South Downs National Park. Another early start after a great night in the Hammock saw me back home for 10:00 on the Saturday, leaving plenty of time for lunch out with the lovely Emma. Followed by a night out in the van on one of the warmest evenings of the year. Sitting outside the van with a cold beer watching the sun go down was a great feeling and certainly made all those days out in the cold and wet converting it worthwhile.
JULY
Having taken my enforced sabbatical from running in June, July saw my first tentative steps on the long road to recovery, with a few short forays from home. By the end of the month I'd managed to get up to the odd 7 mile slow plod, but things were still far from right, and cycling was still the main stay of my efforts.
The first two weekends in July saw a pair of 300KM Audax's knocked off. Firstly Wonderfully Wessex, a lovely run from Portsmouth on the South coast to Bath, taking in the two tunnels cycle path, a pair of disused railway tunnels, which, at over a mile in length add an interesting diversion to the ride, before heading back south through the Wessex hills. The next weekend and another 300Km for the London OrbitalAudax, a fine ride around the outside of London, starting and finishing from Alfold Crossways, just outside Guildford, for a loop around the outside of the M25. Both were great days out, with plenty of interesting views, new places to see and most importantly no rain for a change.
For some strange reason I thought that the London OrbitalAudax wasn't enough suffering for one weekend, and elected to ride the Devils Punchbowl Audax the next day. Because I'm not a total lunatic this is only a fairly sedate 100Km and a pretty flat route to boot. I must confess that my legs felt a bit tired as I lined up for the start, but I soon got into the swing of things, and, despite the rain at the start, it turned into a nice ride. Routing up through the Sussex countryside and into the Surrey hills, before returning by a slightly different route, it's a lovely part of the world, with some nice cycling and beautiful countryside to keep your mind occupied and a few cheeky climbs once you get into the Surrey hills to keep things interesting.
In the middle of July I had a few days off work, so, between seeing "The Boy" and a few other odd jobs thought a bit of walking might be in order. Looking around for somewhere to go, the Test Waycaught my eye, 44 miles from one of the highest points in Hampshire down to the sea, following the path of the River Test for some of the way. I had 3 great days out, wild camping, sleeping in my hammock along the way.
The weather was great for the first couple of days, plenty of sunshine, but not too hot, with some stunning scenery and plenty of wildlife to keep things interesting. However, as always, the good things must come to an end, and I awake to torrential rain on what should have been the final day. A quick look at the map showed that I was only a mile or so from an easy train ride home, so being the lightweight I am, I bottled out and made a run for it while I had the chance!
Not being a total quitter, I drove back down to the point I'd left from the next afternoon and ran the final 9 or so miles (in the rain). Finishing off what I'd started, although not in quite the fashion I'd originally planned. I did notice the other day that there's an Ultra marathon in 2020 that covers the same route, 50 miles in a day! H'mmmm now there's something to think about.
Just to prove that things don't always go according to plan, the final entry for July in my running diary just says, F**k, F**kity F**k, F**k! With an attempt to push the running distance back up a bit ending in some serious pain from my still dodgy ankle on the Saturday, and an aborted cycle ride on the Sunday, due to lack of enthusiasm. Things don't always work out as planned, but all you can do is get back up and try again, come on August, let's see what you've got to offer.
AUGUST
August started with another weekend mini adventure, and a cheeky 230 mile round trip to Burnham-on-Sea for fish and chips. Sitting on the promenade, on a lovely sunny day, eating fish and chips straight from the paper, I can't think of many better ways to get the calories in. It's a bit of a long way to go on your bike just to get fish and chips, but split over a couple of days, wild camping along the way, and making the most of the great British countryside, it was well worth it. Away straight after work, with a night stop just outside Salisbury, before pushing on down to Burnham and another night stop on the way home. All finished off with a lovely early morning ride up the Caen Hill Locks at Devises as the sun was coming up, it doesn't get much more picturesque than that. A great weekend away and a route I'll defiantly do again.
On the 18th I lined up for the Tour of the HillsAudax, 70 odd miles through the Surrey Hills, with the emphasis being on the hills. We set if in a light drizzle, which, by the time we got to the Box Hill climb had turned into a typical summer torrential rain storm. However, once the rain finally stopped and the water finally found its way out of my shoes, it turned into a nice day, with the sun even managing to make an appearance once or twice. It's a reasonably challenging route, taking in most of the iconic climbs in this relatively flat part of the country and well worth getting wet for!
And that took us up to the August bank holiday and what turned out to be the best weekend of the year as far as I'm concerned. To make the most of the long weekend I took the van down to Wales, on what turned out to be a weekend of wall to wall sunshine, outstanding views and some outstanding walking and cycling.
I spent Saturday walking around Pen Y Fan, before moving up to the Elan valley, for a day of cycling and another day of walking. As I mentioned earlier, the sun shone endlessly, the sky was flawlessly reflected in the reservoirs, the ice cold streams were the perfect place to cool off and soak tired feet after a days walking, and I was absolutely in my element. It's the few days like these in the year, where you can get out and enjoy the outdoors, cycling, walking and running, that make all those days in the winter, slogging through the rain in the dark, trying to maintain your fitness levels, that make it all worth while. As they say "winter miles for summer smiles" and the August bank holiday weekend was just one big smile!
And that was just about that, August pretty much over and done with, just time for a sneaky day out walking the 22 or so miles of the Oxdrove Way to wrap the month up and herald the end of summer.
Oh, and I almost forgot, Emma and I managed to actually get a few days off together. Spending it in a lovely little holiday cottage up near Newark. The weather was pretty grim, with a fair bit of rain, but it was lovely to be away together and we got out and about most days, with a couple of evenings in the pub and some quality time together.
SEPTEMBER
What a month of two half's, September started of dry, with what appeared to be endless late summer sunshine, but by mid month had descended into constant rain that went on until the end of the year!
The running was slowly coming back, I was up to 7 mile mid week runs, and provided I had plenty of non running days, just about managing. My ankle was still sore and tender post run, but things were defiantly looking up and I was starting to feel a bit more confidant that a return to proper running was possible.
To kick September off properly, a bit more walking was on the cards. I'd found a 20 odd mile route from Swalowfield near Reading down to Aldershot, which seemed ideal for a late start, overnight bivvy, and train back home the next day. So, pub lunch with Emma, in exchange for a lift to the start, and on my way by about 14:00. I made better than expected progress and soon realised that my cunning plan wasn't going to work out. If I carried on at my current pace I'd either end up on the outskirts of Aldershot with no where to sleep or miss the last train home. Bugger!
A quick look at the map, a bit of a rethink, and I'd identified that instead of going to Aldershot I could cut across to the Basingstoke canal and walk home from there. It was a significant increase in the planned mileage, but I was well ahead of schedule, there were plenty of places to pitch the old hammock along the way, and the canals easy walking. Plus I could grab some chips in Fleet on the way through, result! So that's what I did, and it worked out nicely, the canal was at it's best in the first light, with the mist rising from the water and the sun coming up, showing off the late summer colours at their finest, absolutely stunning and well worth the extra miles.
The weekend of the 13th was a full moon, and still being warm for the time of year, I packed the bike up and set off straight from work on Friday night, heading off towards Arundel and an overnight bivvy. Cycling along in moonlight as bright as daylight, was a magical experience, as was laying in my Bivvy looking out across the fields, the long grass silhouetted by the moon, the owls calling on their night time hunt, and the little creatures scurrying around by my side, gently going about their night time business as I drifted off to sleep.
An early start, saw me back home by mid morning and an afternoon of odd jobs, before packing up the van and heading up to one of my favorite spots for the night and a bit of early morning running. The plan for Sunday was to push the running mileage up a bit too see how my ankle responded and I'm happy to report that things were looking up. 15 steady miles along the Wayfarers walk in the early morning gave it a good work out, and despite a bit of soreness at the end things were looking up.
With things looking positive on the ankle front, I decided to really push it the next weekend with one of my biggest weekends of the year. 22 Miles of off road running along the Oxdrove Way on the Saturday, followed by a hilly 200Km Audax on the Sunday, that should sort the men out from the boys.
The run went well, pain free until almost the end, and a time of 3:15 for the distance, showed, that despite not really running all summer, I hadn't lost too much fitness, a great start to the weekend and a big morale booster. Feeling better than expected after the previous days exploits, I lined up at the start of Sundays, Wylye and Ribble valley 200 Km Audax. Whilst the day started dry, it soon turned into a couple of hours of torrential rain. and by the first cafe stop I was as wet as can be. Luckily by mid morning the rain had passed through, and, whilst the sun never really came out, it stayed dry and I had a thoroughly enjoyable, if bloody hard day out.
The last weekend in September saw another double, in the form of the Henley Hilly 100Audax on the Saturday, and the Farleigh Wallop 10K trail race on the Sunday. Both of these events are great days out, the Henley Hilly 100 does pretty much what it says on the tin, except it doesn't go to Henley. The rest of it's true though, it is 100Km and it is hilly. It takes a lovely meandering route through the Chilterns, tackling most of the major climbs on its way, with some stunning autumn scenery to admire if it's not raining.
The Farleigh Wallop 10K is also a great morning out, organised by one of the local running clubs, it follows a lovely, all off road route around the local area. Well organised, nearly always raining, and with a great medal at the end, it's one of my favorite races of the year. And for extra bonus points this year, I put in a pretty good performance by my standards, managing 8th place (1st in my age group) from a field of 241.
Nice one September, things are defiantly looking up.
OCTOBER
Now, I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it rained every day in October! So, despite a lot of rain, the clocks going back, the nights getting longer and the days shorter, what did October have to offer?
Well, first things first, it was time to really test my dodgy ankle and see what I'm really made of, with the Downslink ultra, 38 miles of running though the lovely Sussex countryside and a new longest distance attempt for me. Another night of torrential rain had helpfully cleared by the time we set off from St Marthas church on the long run down the the Downs Link path, heading for the other end at Shoreham.
As per usual I set off too fast and paid for my early exuberance, cramping heavily over the last few miles, but battled on, for a faster than I could have ever hoped for finish, in 6:26. Happy, I was over the moon with that, and despite the cramps had a great day out. The weather stayed fine for the duration, the day was well organised and supported, with regular, well stocked aid stations, and a great little medal at the end.
With a break in the monsoon promised for the weekend of the 18th, I managed to grab a cheeky overnight on the bike. Heading up to Wallingford for a chip shop tea, before looping round, an overnight bivvy and heading back home. It was a chilly night, but tucked up tight in my sleeping bag, I was as snug as a bug in a rug and stopping of for breakfast, sitting basking in the autumn sun, was one of those special moments that gets lodged away in the memory banks for later.
And that was about it for October, a couple of days out walking in the rain, a bit of running to keep the legs turning over, and a few local cycle rides, in between the downpours, saw the month out. Not the most interesting of months but better than nothing.
November
November started with a now traditional entry to the Upper Thames200Km Audax, and, as now also seems traditional, it threw it down for a good couple of hours at the start, dried out a bit in the middle and then proceeded to rain even harder for the last couple of hours. Oh well, your skins waterproof, so it's just a case of get your head down and get on with it! To be honest, despite the rain it was a good day out, it's a nice route, up through the Chilterns and Cotswolds before a fast run back to the start in the dark, great fun.
Remembrance day saw a run with a difference, combing a bit of running with the chance to pay my respects. The Remembrance day marathonorganised by Phoenix running is a marathon with an unusual twist. Run along a fairly built up section of the Thames path, at exactly 11:00 the race stops, everyone pays their 2 minutes respects and reflects on the sacrifice our predecessors made for us, and then at 11:02 precisely the race resumes. Those 2 minutes were spine chilling, every runner, spectator, dog walker, man, woman and child, stood in silent contemplation, remembering! And at 3:30 for 16th place, not a bad time for a marathon to boot!
A final dry weekend on the 18th saw an opportunity for a cheeky night out. A mornings cycling, home for lunch, a change of clothes and off to the station for a late afternoon train to Winchester with the walking and bivvy gear. I picked up the South downs way and headed for Alresford, a tin of soup for tea in the moonlight and a few more miles as the temperature headed rapidly for zero, before finding a nice out of the way spot for a good nights sleep.
Up again before the sun, which isn't hard at this time of year, there was a fair frost on the ground, but I'd been snug in my bivvy all night, you need to right kit for this all year camping lark, but as long as you've got it, the worlds your oyster. A slow plod home through the Hampshire countryside saw another 30 miles added to the years total and another great day out.
There's not much else to report for November, there's a note in the margin of my running diary for the final week of the month that just says "Stop Fu***ng Raining" and I think that sums it up pretty succinctly!
DECEMBER
Well, were nearly there, almost another year over and done with, but there's still 31 more days of fun to be had yet, so what's December got to offer?
The Mapledurham 10 sees the traditional start to December, with 10 miles of muddy fun, and believe you me it was muddy in parts this year. There'd been some logging going on, at what's normally the muddiest bit of the course, meaning that this year there was a good 12" of pure filth to wade through. That's the whole point of cross country, the muddier the better! It's another great little run with plenty of hills to give the legs and lungs a good workout, a great turnout, and a mince pie at the end. Finishing strongly in a time of 1:11 and 16th place from the 339 starters for the 10 miles, I think I earned that mince pie.
The next weekend saw a final Audax for the year and the South of Bucks Winter Warmer 200Km, a local route, with a not so local start. Traveling up to Beaconsfield for a night in the van, too then head straight back towards home on the bike, seemed a bit counter intuitive, but it was a nice, fast route, and the weather stayed fine for the day, ideal winter cycling weather.
A final fast race for the year at the Muddy Welly 10Km, the second in a series of 3 races put on by my sporting times saw a fast run, on a day with a chilly wind blowing, and a good turn out, for what is normally a good run. Another good finish for me in 00:41:20 and another 16th place from the 387 starters, left me in a good place going into the Christmas break and the new year.
There's one more run to go before we can wrap up 2019 and start 2020 though, and that's the Winter Cross Ultra 50 Km. I'd been looking forward to this one for a while so I was hoping it was going to be a good one.
50 Km, the majority of which is on the South Downs way, one of the shortest days of the year, 2 months of rain before hand, plenty of hills, and all off road, sounds like my idea of heaven. And brilliant it was too, unusually for me I managed to avoid the old going out too fast trick, pacing well from the start, keeping well hydrated and running well, I was more than happy with 4:46 and 12th place from the 164 starters for the 50 KM distance.
What a great way to end what had been another brilliant year!
Numbers
I'm no statistician or mathematician for that matter, but sometimes it's nice to have a look at a few numbers:
Miles Cycled - 4617 (adding up the cycle computers gives 4765, but we'll go with the lower number) Miles Run - 1412 Nights away in Van - 45 Nights away Bivvying / wild camping - 10 Marathons run - 5, Including 2 ultra marathons (1 road marathon and 4 off road/trail) Half Marathon distances run (I've included training runs in this number as I often go over 13 miles in training) - 29; including a run of 19 weeks in a row at the start of the year when I did at least a 13 mile run each week. Audax miles - 2109 (it's a bit deceiving this one as the Audax year runs from Oct to Oct)
Not a bad year then all in and I'm going to have to go some to exceed those numbers next year!