So. Have you given up running then?

If you've been following my Strava for the past few months you might be forgiven for thinking that I've totally given up on running. Cycling has been the dominant exercise in my life and stomping around the hills has taken something of a back seat. 

There is of course a reason for this- and that reason is the TPRNO.4. Yes, the TransPyrenees Race- number 4. It is a long distance, non-stop cycling race that goes across the Pyrenees and back. I was somewhat taken with the idea of it a couple of years ago, and successfully got through the somewhat rigourous entry forms for the TPRNO.2. However, it rapidly became clear that the race was going to cash with the placement part of my MSc. - the bit that I was REALLY looking forward to- and I ended up canning the idea of doing the race. 

Happily, I had an excellent placement with Dr. Chris McCarthy at MMU which really propelled my learning. However, the idea of the TPR has been in the back of my mind ever since. 

This year, I wondered about trying to get into the TCR- the trans-continental race- which is the somewhat longer brother of the TPR- but with a lot less climbing. The idea of these races is that everyone starts in the same place and has the freedom to navigate between set points. Some of these points are actually "Parcours"- sections of road that are mandatory for competitors, while others are simple checkpoints. The problem with the TCR is that it takes place at the time of my parents Golden Wedding Anniversary- so that ruled that out completely- which swung me back to the TPR. 

 Now- a couple of quick stats on this. I have to say that I am NOT a natural climber on the bike. Nor am I a rouleur, or anything like that. I certainly don't have masses of power at my disposal, and am a fairly average biker at the best of times. The fact that the race itself advertises itself as "one for the grimpeurs"- ie. climbers should give you an idea of the fact it is *quite* hilly. 

Maybe that is a slight understatement. 

The race is from Girona and goes all the way across the Pyrenees to the Atlantic- whereupon you turn around and come back to Girona again- via the mediterranean coast. I've been planning the route for a while now, using various online route planners- Komoot, ridewithgps, google maps etc. and the shortest route I can get is about 1850km. With nigh on 50,000metres of ascent. 

The winner last year finished in 4 and a bit days- and there is a 7 day cut off, so to finish in the cut off I need to cover about 300km a day, with some days hitting about 6500m of elevation. For 7 days. 

Now. I should definitely mention here that until about 4 weeks ago I'd only ever cycled 200km about 3 times, and never gone above 201km in a day before. I've now hit 240 with about 3000m of ascent, and still have *quite* some way to go before I hit the heady heights of the numbers I need to be comfortable with. 

Although it is ostensibly a race, the main thing I will be trying to do is complete it in time for the finishers party in Girona, 7 days after the start. There will be many people on very snazzy bikes with lightweight stuff. People camping/sleeping by the side of the road, some crazy routes etc. I will be doing it on my Steel Fairlight Secan with as little stuff as I can get away with. I won't be going around trying to find the lightest carbon fibre everything to make it just a touch lighter- but what I WILL be doing is an absolute load of training to make myself as strong as possible to get up as many hills as possible with the least amount of cumulative fatigue. 

I've been out training on hills that are as long and steep as I can around Glossop- and there are a lot of them. But obviously nothing compares to the actual hills and mountains of the Pyrenees. 

Those numbers...300km and 6000m a day. Scary. 

This is why Im doing more cycling.

However, this is not to say that I have totally forsaken running. As you may or may not have noticed from this blog, I've managed to get to 4 English fell champs races this year, and I should be at Wasdale as well. (I'm cycling there and back, just for good measure- can you tell I don't really care what place I get?!) and will be at Cracken Edge in August. 

Still running. Thanks to Colin for the photo

I don't want to lose the "bounce" that your tendons get when running, so am getting out here and there, practicing my downhill speed, and just enjoying myself. Indeed, I have a couple of plans for this autumn and winter once the TPR is done and I'm off the bike a bit more. In the mean time I suspect there might be a few blogs about the cycle training- and then "normal" service ie. more running will resume come winter. 

The TPR itself is run by lostdot.cc so there will most CERTAINLY be a dot to watch, painfully making its way across the pyrenees come September/october. If you're interested in looking at more about the tpr- this is the link. Im sure that closer to the time, when I have a number etc. I'll post a link with my dot link. 

Til then. Saddle time.

Buttermere Sailbeck Fellrace 2024- English Champs

 A little later than planned due to a minor week long hiatus in computer access (Spine race safety team stuff)- 

As long as I completed the Buttermere Sailbeck race, it would be the first time I have ever completed enough races to be elegible for the English Champs. So off we went to Buttermere. The race itself is about 14k long with 1500m of ascent and descent. Having not recced it, I was going off a very limited knowledge of the hills, looking at a map, and attempting to be sensible. 

The weather was grey, intermittently damp, and generally wet underfoot. With a lot of grassy ascents and descents, a pair of shoes with decent grip was going to be fairly important- (in comparison, say, to a pair of shoes with a bit less grip, but that gives you more connfidence on wet rock). 

Having had a torrid time on the last race- Pendle cloughs- where I really didn't have a good day for a number of reasons, I decided to take it very much at my own pace. Go out easy, bimble along on the way out, try to enjoy the climbs, and then trot back along the northern ridge and back down into Buttermere. It helped that it wasn't too hot and that I've been doing a LOT of cycling recently- so I was hoping for a much easier day of it than at Pendle. 

(yes, I know its a race, but really... it makes more sense to me to enjoy it). 

So I started off mid-pack, and there is a long run out along what is ostensibly a single track with a lot of bracken on each side of it. There isn't much opportunity to overtake, so you tend to shuffle along at whatever speed the people around you are at. Ok, so the guys at the front stretch out the lead, but I'm not going to be troubling them for places anytime soon. On the occasional section where you could skirt around, I gained a couple of places, but wasn't going too mad about it. The going was soft underfoot, and the pace was very ameinable. 

Down a bit of a muddy section to the start of the first climb which went on for *quite* a long time. I pushed on a little here, gaining a number of places on the climb up into the mist- which was a bit of a surprise. Climbing is not a strong point for me- but I was keeping things under control, steady breathing, and not going into the red, and as a result, I was able to run across the first section of ridge, gaining more places on the way down the steep section- opting for the heather, rather than the slippy path section. 

I think places were maintained up to the next checkpoint, whereupon there is a rather delightful downhill section into the valley- plenty of mud, plenty of grip needed, and a decent level of lead was gained over those behind. Across a massive muddy/boggy patch and then onto a single track where I was held up for a time behind a slower runner from the ladies race. Not a problem for me in the slightest, and I certainly wasn't about to muscle through with limited space. Runners caught up behind me, and I could see the start of the ascent up Causey Pike just around the next corner. Through the check point and there was a little opening up where we overtook and started the monster climb to the top of the Pike. 

Considering the number of people behind me, and knowing there were some pretty decent climbers in the bunch, there was a hint of a thought of stepping aside to let them lead up the hill... but then, no-one else would have done that for me- thinking back to having to overtake through heather and bracken uphill on previous hills, so I settled in to tap out a decent rhythm. To begin with there was a lot of heavy breathing close behind- but this is a LONG hill, going out at a crazy pace would simply end up with me going into the red and having to stop... the same rhythm just kept going, and by a couple of hundred more metres, the breathing receded and I was (somewhat astonishingly) off on my own. 

Passed a few more of the slower ladies from their race, bypassing into the heather (less of an issue on the way up than on the way down, it has to be said), taking care not to impinge on their lines or their race. The hill is indeed a long one, with a decent scramble at the end. By now, the mist had turned to rain and the rock underfoot was really rather slippy with mudclaws on. Making sure that I was placing my feet well, having hands on rock where necessary, and taking a gel or two on the way up meant that I was maintaining my pace and place. 

The fun part about Buttermere Sailbeck is that everyone thinks that once you hit the top of Causey Pike, the climbing is done- but oh no- you still have to get up Sail and Eel crag- and there were runners smattered all over the hillside, working their way up either the direct line, or up the zigzag path. I opted for the direct line, thinking that there wasn't too much in the way of ascent after the top. 

A bit of fog was down, but no-where near enough to need to bother with a compass to find the way off towards Whiteless Pike- perhaps one of the best sections of any area of the Lake District... a beautiful ridge with excellent views, and fabulous descents. Through the checkpoint, and off down... though not really sure of the race line. I took the path for a short while til I spied runners below and to the left, so dropped down to join them, and from there could see a decent descent line. I thought that not going all out was probably the best plan, and, although not bimbling, certainly didn't do the whole "drop like a stone" finish that I might have employed in days gone by. 

A lovely descent, with a final run in- and a final placing of... oh, I don't know. Still, I've done enough to be in the English Champs. No- I wasn't nailing it, but had a decent day out. 

As Im writing this in retrospect, I must also add the DOMS from the descents was somewhat epic... monday and tuesday were HORRENDOUS. 

Old County Tops 2024

 "Sometimes it just feels like the world spins, and all we're doing it coming back to the point where we're running down to Cockley Beck". 

Chris at his most philosphical on the OCT. 

Always a favourite in the calendar as (as Im sure Ive said countless times), even if you have a bad race, you still get a stonking day out in the Lakes. This year was no different. Clear blue skies, visibility for miles, wall to wall sun- and ground that was dry in all the right places. The 2024 edition of the race was going to be a hot one. For some reason I seem to get up earlier and earlier for a pick up every year. For some reason this year I was up at 3:45am. It makes for a long day. 

As ever, Chris and I started at the front and headed off down the track with the main plan for the day being "drink a lot. Chris slows down on the uphill. Tim slows down on the downhill. We run whenever we can- but only at a shuffle pace". After last weeks debacle at Pendle, I was wearing my old Mudclaws which have never trashed my feet and have about 800km in the soles- so not the greatest grip- but comfy. And I wasn't going to do anything that was going to gas me out. Always stay on the easy side. 

A few teams overtook us on the way over Silver Howe into Grasmere, including a very strong Rob and Dave from Achille Ratti. Not to worry, we're just going to chill out and run our own race. Donnie (yen?) and - I dunno- Jet Li? were off out ahead and on their way to a stonking win, there was never any thought to try and catch them, and soon enough we were on the long climb up Great Tongue toward the climb up Dollywagon. This year we opted to do pretty much the whole climb in a straight line before cutting left right at the top (rather than the diagonal line that we sometimes take). Olly Johnson and partner joined us on the climb though they soon left us near the top. 

The rest of the climb to Helvellyn was fairly uneventful- hitting the top at around 1:48ish. It's the only split I ever retain from the OCT. Hit Helvellyn after 2 hours and you're going too slow. (hit it before 2hours and you're going too fast!) Chris had indeed taken it easy on the way up, and so I repaid the favour by taking it easy on the descent and we dropped down into CP1 with decent sets of legs that weren't trashed from excessive speed. Filled water bottles- it was already HOT and got on with getting to Wythburn. 

We must have been kind to our legs as we were able to jog a fair way up the path on Wythburne, something that doesn't normally happen. At the river crossing, more water was taken on board, and hats dipped in, over "the bog" and upward. Sometime around here we started to yo-yo with a team from scotland that would continue for the next 5 hours. Sometimes they were miles ahead, then we'd catch up, then they'd be behind- and then would forge on through again. 

We took it easy across the traverse and down to the river crossing below Stakes pass (more water taken on), and the Chris suddenly surged ahead- (We'd been doing SO well!). The comment "if you want to blow me up before Angle tarn, this is the right way to do it"- pulled him  back a little and we were able to get to the top and jog across to Angle tarn- catching up with the scots again at the checkpoint. 

MORE water and then the hike up to Esk Hause, a common place where I tend to have a pretty low spot- it's where you've done about 1500m of ascent, and where my legs tend to say "no". So the fact we were jogging up from Esk Hause and skipping across the rocks toward Scafell Pike was a pretty good thing. I have to say that I wasn't *totally* happy, and was a bit on the tired side, but food was going in well, and we were keeping well on top of hydration. 

Up to Scafell Pike, and then the descent. The visibility was SO good I kept getting confused! I had to purposefully only look at the next 20m in front of me to make sure I was on the right line as I'm so used to only seeing not a lot in the fog coming off the hill. We made short shrift of the gnarly bit and then took it easy off the rest of the hill, this was still no time to trash quads- and sank gratefully into the waters of the river at the bottom- full immersion, and full water refils- as the scottish team caught us up again- and then a delightful bimble across the bogs and over to Great Moss, where pretty much the exact same thing happened. 

On the way over and down Mosedale, they got their second wind and sped off into the distance. All well and good with us. I certainly wasn't going to chase anyone down at this stage, not with Grey Friars coming up. Down through towards Cockley Beck, a swift stop at the checkpoint for more water, and then onward and upwards. 

No-one feels good on Grey Friars. It's a beast of a climb that goes on forever. As long as you keep moving, that's all that you can do, no matter your speed. The sun bakes down, there is little breeze and you suffer. Some people cramp, others don't. We overtook one team up here, but were overtaken by a couple of others. This was the first time that I felt like I was really struggling to climb- or even move. Chris- bless him- tried to offer encouraging words (ok. Not encouraging, but not openly insulting, either). We topped out eventually, I got my wind back and we began jogging along and out to the Old man of Coniston. 

As we hit the trod we saw Donnie and Jet heading back- having already got to the peak and were now on their way off- far out in the lead. Shortly afterward Ben Abdelnoor and partner overtook us. Chris had already mentioned they were close behind- and my reply was curt. As they overtook the conversation started and ended with "I'm NOT bloody chasing them". Already at my limit- the speed we were going at could *definitely* be maintained to the end, but any increase in speed would certainly have me blowing up very soon indeed. 

So out to the Old Man we went- the scottish guys overtook again, nevermind- the sun beat down, and it wasn't until we were nearly at the peak that we saw other teams coming back the other way- not all that far ahead of us. I'd reckoned we were about 7th- so outside the prizes (top 6 get OCT mugs) and in the past we have NEVER passed anyone after the Old Man. Resigned to 7th place I bobbed on with Chris. 

Hit the top, said hi to the marshals, a gulp of water and then turned to jog back along the ridge. We jogged, and jogged, took a decent line around the top of the crag (best part of the day was jogging along and Rhys, who was out supporting called out "good line, guys!")- as we closed in on the scots who had gone over the top. 

We finally overtook them as the trod gave way to broken ground, and we continued to move well as they slowed to a walk- ahead of us were 2 other teams who we slowly closed down on the descent, passing one team at 3 shires stone, and chasing the other down at Blea tarn. Wow- job nearly done. Descent to the footpath through the fields and making good time through there, and then, right at the end- the team we passed at Blea Tarn appeared out of no-where below us on the track. I genuinely don't know what they ran along as there isn't a track on the map- and yet there they were 50 yards ahead of us with 400m metres to go. 

Not having that today, thanks very much. 

Through the gate, full on chase mode. Doesn't matter about gassing out now, because when we're done here, we're done. I think I made Chris work a bit harder than he expected that late in the day, but we got to and through the final gate first, and worked hard to bring it home in the final run in. 

5th overall, 2nd V80. just under 8 hours this year and we paced it really well. Not sure that we're going to get much faster times than that nowadays, so yeah- we finished hot, but happy. 

I reckon I drank about 6 litres of liquid in the race, 6 afterward, and I still didn't need to go to the toilet until about 9pm. So yes- some dehydration going on there.  

Thanks so much to Chris Lloyd for his sterling work over the past few years organising the OCT. I believe this may well be his last one at the helm. Of course thanks to all the marshals from Achille Ratti- your support and enthusiasm makes this one of the best days out in the fell calendar.