Here we go again then, best get them in before we all get locked down again, so it's number 10 in the "Marathon a Month" challenge and I'm slowly ticking them off (Although this is actually the 13th month in a row, but I'm only counting 2020). Last months Ultra was a bit cheeky and being only 2 weeks ago I'm not sure if my legs are up to anything too strenuous, so I needed something a little bit easier. Hunting around the RunBelievable Bounceathon caught my eye. 5.75 mile loops around Ashdown Forest, home to Tigger and co (hence the name) with the chance to do as many or as few laps as you feel like within the 6 hour time period. 5 laps gives you just over a Marathon and being all trail, with 400 Feet of height gain per lap it looked like an interesting day out, although maybe not quite fitting into the "something less strenuous" category. It's a bit of a slog from home but with a bit of pre planning there's the chance to see the old folks while I'm down that way, so why not. As with all great plans the god of weather had other ideas and the weekend forecast was not looking to clever. Storm Bob, or whatever stupid name this ones got was forecast to dump a fair few inches of rain on our heads. A bit of rains never put me off before though and there's only so wet you can get. Setting of Friday night for the drive down the weather certainly lived up to its promise, but when I woke up Saturday morning it didn't sound to bad and by the time I'd had a brew and got myself ready it had stopped. How long for was anyone's guess, but even starting in the dry is a psychological boost, so I'm not going to complain. The guys from RunBelievable did an excellent job issuing numbers and setting us off at short intervals as soon as people were ready. Avoiding congregating and maintaining social distancing was the aim of the day and I set off pretty much on the stroke of 08:30. A short climb from the off before a long steady drop into the valley below made for an easy start. What's too follow was a bit of a different matter though. Having to regain all that lost height soon got the old heart rate up and it wasn't long before I'd whipped my lightweight jacket off to try and keep a bit cooler. There's nothing more annoying that a jacket flapping around and I'd have happily shoved it into my running vest, but for the fact that that would mean stopping and I'd probably need it again at some point. There was no way it would stay dry all morning, and even if it did the wind had a bit of a chill to it on the exposed sections. So round my waist it went, annoying or not, I'd just have to live with it and I'm glad I did. It can only have been 15 minutes later when the rain started again. Nothing too serious but enough to chill you pretty quickly and defiantly worth getting the jacket back on for! The middle part of the course levelled out a bit (more of a gentle uphill slog than a climb), but the change in gradient bought with it some monster puddles. On the first lap I gently picked my way around, or took a running leap to try and avoid getting too wet. That didn't last long though and by Lap 3 it was straight through, there's no messing around on tired legs! After a short detour and bit of back tracking on the first lap due to getting a bit lost, things soon settled down into a steady rhythm, Jacket on for the downhill, off for the uphill, back on for the stretch through the puddles and into the wind, off for the return leg out of the wind, back on for the downhill etc etc. (I know, it's only 5 miles how can you get lost? Well I wasn't the only one as the next 4 runners followed me and even then it took us a while to work out where we had gone wrong). It didn't take long for the small field of runners to be well and truly split up and from the middle of Lap 2 I'd started catching up with the slower runners and later starters. It's a nice way to run this as there's always someone to chase or chat briefly with as you catch them up. The joy of these smaller events, and Audax is very similar, is that everyone's there to have a good time. People are more relaxed, there's none of the pushing and shoving that you get at a big road marathon, it's all a lot more friendly and relaxed. The problem with the big events is they are totally focused on making money, with the majority of people running for some good cause or another and a lot of first time runners. With people running at their limit and with no experience of what they are capable of, it just becomes a balls out suffer-fest, with tempers fraying as people get tired, slowed down or cut up. There may be no glory in doing well at a small trail event, and it will certainly be a far harder day out, but it's a far nicer experience. No monster queues for the loos, no being herded into start pens with thousands of other people an hour before the off and no tripping over the thousands of people who think they can run a time that they've never got even close to in training and have started in totally the wrong place. Yep, I know where I'd rather be! Anyway I digress as usual. Where was I? I managed to hold a pretty steady pace for the first 4 laps, the changing terrain and elevation helping to keep the old leg muscles stretched out and the downhill's offering the chance to catch your breath after the effort of getting to the top. A few seconds stop at the end of lap 4 was enough to get some extra fluids on board and ditch my jacket before the last effort. With only 5 miles to go, I could afford to get cold and wet, there's a big difference between being cold for 40 minutes and 4 hours. Typically for the final lap the rain stayed off and the miles ticked off at a satisfying rate until the final climb to the finish line hove into view. One last push then and it's all over, an extra thank you to the lovely marshals who have been stood in the cold and rain all morning supervising the road crossing and finally back to the finish. Pretty much bang on 4 hours since setting off and the mornings works done. 4:00:01 by my watch for 26.74 miles on a hilly, rough, wet and windy course isn't bad going in my books and is a time I'm more than happy with. And as far as I'm concerned that's all that matters. Oh, and a cool little badge to go with the obligatory medal for being first loser (2nd place marathon distance runner). And that's about it for this weekend. I carried on down Saturday afternoon to do the rounds visiting the old folks and pretty much spent the rest of the weekend pottering around. I've had some big old decisions to make recently regarding where my futures heading, particularly regarding work and the old work life balance and to be brutally honest I think it's taken a lot more out of me than I've admitted.
I've been run ragged with work recently and trying to balance that, along with the things I want to do and that are important to me in life (running, cycling, allotment, projects and adventures) has just been too much. I've been struggling through the week to get to Saturday absolutely knackered before I even start and that's not the way I want to live my life. Decisions are made now though and change is coming, unfortunately it's coming at the wrong time of year, but that can't be helped. A few days spent getting my brain back into a good place and recharging my batteries is probably just what I need and even I'm probably allowed the odd lazy Sunday!
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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