Crowden Horseshoe 2014

I was in 2 minds as to whether to write this one, but it was indeed a race that I entered.
To be honest it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, it being very close indeed, a good run out, and on a lovely day. I also had a modest chance of a top 10 finish if it all went well.

Despite the fact the it was a pretty quiet race last year - only about 70 ran - this year it was included in a couple of club championships, (ours included), and about 170 runners were trying to park and register in the area around Crowden Campsite when we got there. With only about 20 mins to go until the start, it seemed like it would be an impossible task to get everyone sorted and ready, but it was only 6 mins after the allotted time that we were lined up and ready to start.
There were mandatory kit checks for a few people that Des called out to the front, and we waited for those to take place, before Alan Kirk from Pennine gave a very short and succinct countdown to "go".

The predictable surge off the line was there, with me floating around in about 15th or 20th as we hammered down the path to the YHA, with the trio in front just edging out a lead even now. Ahead of me, Mark O and Chris were the 2 Glossop vests in front of me, along with a good number of others. Past the YHA the path narrows radically, and if you follow the person in front of you, single file rapidly kills off any speed, so I went for the high knee approach and bashed through about 10 or 15 metres of rough ground, overtaking a load of people, and getting myself into about 8th.
Up, past the style, and Lynne taking photos - trailing Mark O by a footstep, looking up and again, seeing those leaders, just eking out a bit more distance on us. Breathing hard, we turn right, the path levels, and goes into the horseshoe proper.

Chasing Mark up the hill

The ground is quite broken and slippy along the way, but not to worry. You just don't, do you? I try as hard as I can to keep directly behind Mark. He overtakes someone, and the path narrows, so he begins to get away from me and the person between us. At the next wider part of the path, I do the same and work to catch up. Further, the same happens, and then we come to a stream before the next short and sharp climb.

I'm right behind Mark, and take a slightly different line across the stream. My right foot lands, slides down, bringing my left knee into sharp, sudden, excruciating contact with a rock.
Pain. Like a funny bone pain in my knee. But worse.

It's one of those instant things where your body isn't quite sure what to do. I jumped onto the grass, held my leg, tried moving my knee, tried everything to stop it hurting. A good number of people who went past asked if I needed help, if I was ok, or if I needed them to stay with me, but I waved them away. (thanks Mark, Mark, Daz, Chris, Caity, and all the others that I can't remember).
I definitely was NOT ok, but it was a glorious day, I was about a km from the start and could limp back if necessary.
I sat for a while, assessing the damage. Not much of a cut, muddy legs, and a fair amount of pain in my left knee. I was intending on helping someone out with a cycling challenge this afternoon... If I gave up the race, went home and then got on a bike for 4 hours, that would be a bit silly wouldn't it?
People streamed past me, up the hill as I contemplated what to do.

Right, try the hill.
I fell in with those around me, got about 10 paces, and stepped to the side. Looked about.
And unpinned my number.

After the 170 or so runners had gone past me, I limped down the hill, and back to the start, handed my number to Des, waited for 20 mins to cheer in the leaders, and then went home.
My knee is now pretty swollen, it hurts like heck to bend it, and considering I can barely walk at the moment, I suspect I won't be running for a couple of weeks. Or cycling for that matter. However. It is an impact injury, there was no twisting or grinding or snapping and there will (hopefully) be a spectacular bruise that I can show off.
Ice. Anti-inflammatories. Easy exercise. Not rushing things. That's the way forward.

OMM Aether Smock - first impressions

Standing on the start line in Sedburgh, the runner next to me turns  and says "so Tim- is that your new jacket? Make your mind up and spend your money? I look forward to the review".
Or words to that effect.

As an aside- and in reference to my previous blog, he also mentioned that he has a Pertex shield top, and true to form - or at least, true to what I've found, the hoods appear to be purely decorative, unless you have an inordinately large head.
We didn't have much more time to chat as someone said "go" and I quickly ran out of breath. 

So anyway, in order to make my decision I sat down with my thoughts and previews of all the jackets, the 3 that stood out were the Inov8, Haglofs and OMM. I trawled the net, found the OMM at a substantially knocked down price, and before I could think twice, I just bought it. Job done.
As much as I would have liked to play around with Ino8's bespoke fabric, or Haglofs Active shell smock, the OMM won out, perhaps mainly because I was so happy with the Cypher smock before it.

Now, you may think I'm a bit mental, spending £140 on a jacket, as another of my clubmates wisely pointed out, whats the point in spending more than £20 on a jacket when its not going to be waterproof after the first 3 outings (as their £100 jacket appeared to be) - especially if it is going to spend most of the time in your bag.

Well, hopefully this blog will spell out the reasons why I spent my cash on the Aether Smock.

The first thing I noticed about the Aether is that although it is made of eVent, the fabric feels a touch lighter than it's previous incarnation, and it appears to be an upgraded version of the fabric. On the scales (yes, on occasion I can be THAT much of a geek), it weighs in at just under 200g, it rolls up smaller than the Cypher does, and is lighter in the bumbag. Thats a good start for a new and improved jacket.

Cypher smock - size S - 239g

Aether smock - Size S - 186g

The first time out for this jacket was a race- Sedburgh hills. I know what they say about never using new gear on race day, but it had to be done. The old Cypher just isn't up to it anymore.

Cut to the same pattern

The Smock has very few seams on it, and is made with exactly the same pattern as the Cypher smock was. The main difference I noticed as I put it on, is the cord pulls on either side of the hood and on the waist cord. They are basically a lighter weight version of cord pull, but not one that I'm entirely au fait with. After a bit of playing about (and looking at it, as opposed to trying to feel what was going on), I got the hang of it. To be honest, its pretty simple. The Cord pull on the waist is also slightly offset, so it is no longer slap bang on the side of you as you wear the smock, but slightly forward - kind of in line with where you would expect a jeans pocket to be, instead of the side seam

The new hood toggles. Actually, pretty easy to use once you actually look at them and work it out. Not so easy when you're running along and haven't looked at the design...

The other major thing that I noticed (indeed, noticed when I tried one on in a shop) is the pocket inside the smock. As far as I'm concerned that is a step back, and the only thing that should stop you buying this jacket. Its a faff to get to when you're moving fast, and for stowing stuff on the move- empty gel wrappers etc, On the Cypher. the outside pocket was great - zip, stow and go.

The japanese have a word for this. Shi-nikui. or "difficult to use". It's in a fiddly place with a fiddly zip. What happened to the useful and usable outside pocket?

Now it is a bit more of a palavar - unzip, reach into you jacket with a soggy begloved hand, fish around for the pocket zip, try and undo it, stuff something into it, fiddle around for the zip, do it up, do up the jacket again, carry on.

Less efficient. It would be good to get OMM's feedback about that as to why they've put the pocket inside. It doesn't make it any more waterproof, and just aids ingress of water where you don't want it when having to access the pocket.

Gripe aside, the arms are still a decent length, and the wrist cuffs with thumb loops are still there- which is excellent. I'm not sure I'd buy a running waterproof without these now, they just seem like the right thing to have.

The hood is of an excellent design - 3 points of compression onto the head, and moves as you move your head. No turning to see what is going on and getting a lovely view of the inside of a damp piece of fabric. I'm not sure if the front compression elastics are going to flap around as I run in the wind and the damp, but that is yet to be seen. The rim is wired as well but not with as solid a wire as the Cypher was. I suppose it would be more appropriate to call it "reinforced" rather than "wired", although this isn't ultralight, is a good thing for long wet runs in the winter.
The inside of the zip at the top also has a bit of soft touch material on it, to prevent mouth/chin chafage as well, which is becoming more and more standard on jackets these days.

Mouth/chin non-abrasive patch

Bits of reflective stuff are on the arms and on the bottom - which is cut quite deep, so that it sits under the bumbag well, and doesn't ride up, and an all over sense of protectiveness completes this jacket nicely.

This is a light eVent shell. Yes, it is expensive, yes, I fully expect it to be weather resistant (not waterproof- only cars and pubs are truely waterproof) over the next couple of winters. It will be used in training, and will be used on a weekly basis, and will also be my racing jacket of choice. It will get a thorough testing and will go through a lot of abuse, and I sincerely hope that it copes as well as it's predecessor.
One thing is for certain. I trust this jacket to do the job a lot more than a £20 one from decathlon.

Yes, I would have loved to try out that Haglofs Active Shell, yes, I would have loved to have had a blast in the inov8 race shell, but my cash has been spent and the die has been cast. I'll write a bit more of a review once the Aether has been through a bit more rubbish weather.

Overall - The Aether Smock
Cut from the same pattern as the Cypher, with a more up to date version of the eVent fabric. It is lighter, has a couple of tweaks in terms of the elastic closures on the hood, but is not without its failings. The main one being the re-arranged pocket arrangement (as it were).
Have I made the right decision?

Not sure yet. I hope this new fabric will be up to the weather I'm going to wear it in, and I may (or may not) get used to the pocket. Had it been full price, it would have been a more difficult decision to buy. 

Sedburgh Fell race 2014 - English Champs AL

Some people say this is just a massive traverse. Tell you what, if thats what it is, its a traverse with a shed load of ascent and descent in it. Crikey.
The drive up to Sedburgh was somewhat reminiscent of last year. Mid august. Rain hammering on the road and the car, Carl driving. Last year it cleared up quite a bit for the race, this year really didn't look promising.

Page 1 of the annotated map

I'd done a little bit of homework in terms of looking at times and route prep, but I hadn't been anywhere near the course since last year - so certainly no recceing was done. I did write a few more notes on my map this year though, and although I couldn't find a track that Nic Barber had done for the race (my normal target is his time from last year), I did find Wardy's strava track from last year, which was substantially faster than mine, so jotted down a few notes on his times at various points around the course.
Not that I looked at my map once during the race, but it was useful to plan where I was going to eat and drink in order to keep going and not stutter to an ignominious halt on the climb up to Calf as I did last time.

Fell legend Wendy Dodds Gives us a shoelace tying lesson

 

 

 

All planned out, we got to Sedburgh and the hall where we registered and caught up with the other 2 Glossopdale Harriers doing the race, Chris and Caity. Wendy Dodds was also on hand, and gave a quick masterclass in shoelace tying for fell races ("I taught this to a 5 year old at Jura, so you should be able to follow it").

As we sat in the hall watching others come in and register, the rain lashed down outside and there was the usual clothes faff. Vest only? Lots of people wearing helly's. Vest+ helly? Too hot? Nip outside. No, definitely vest and helly. Start with waterproof on? Off? On? Hat? Gloves? Too much?
I didn't get outside until about 5 mins before the race started, by which time the rain was a little less severe, and managed a quick jog up and down the road before being called to the start. Not the greatest and most useful warm up in history, the first 30 mins was going to HURT no matter what I did.
From previous experience (Ennerdale), I tend to go off way too fast on these races and get nailed by large amounts of people from the middle to the very end. Today was a day for being a bit more conservative. Start easy, race easy, finish strong, and as the note on my map said - Don't You Dare Give Up.

We surged off the line, and I started to ease into the race, chatting a little with Stefan from Pennine, before watching him eke out a lead over me. Its the first couple of k, so I'm not too worried, its early days yet. Up onto the first climb, and there is the path through the bracken that gets really congested, skirt to the left and follow Nic around the blockage, and up the hill. It's another couple of minutes before Stefan - caught in the blockage - catches up and passes me. Keeping calm, I plod on, keeping my thoughts to myself, and thinking about the rest of the run, rather than the present. My thighs ache badly, and I can feel fatigue gnawing at the edge of my consciousness. Need to keep things real, and ensure I'm able to still run in 2 hours time.
Chris appears beside me. Am I going too slow? No. Keep to the plan. The climb steepens out and we walk, I pass him, wondering when he'll make the next pass on me. Up, into the wind and the cloud, keeping the jacket on at the beginning was a cunning plan, and we hit the top before turning left into the teeth of the wind, into the low cloud - so low I can barely see the runner in front of me. Follow the stud marks and see where they lead. Last years route is faded in my memory, but the wisps of recollection enable me to follow the paths to the right place and we drop out of the cloud, down to the water crossing at Ivy Crag and the vicious ascent to the Checkpoint at Castley Knotes.
First planned food. Chug down half a geobar even though I don't feel hungry. Take off the coat as I'm getting warm - but leaving it on one arm and wrapping it around my wrist. If I need to put it back on again in a hurry, I can.

It's a long climb to the top, and now I'm in Jura mode. Damage limitation- keep the legs moving and don't let anyone past. Climb to the top, and the descent down I make my mind up to catch up with the guy in front of me. I manage to close the gap by a fair amount, but he heaves away from me on the next modest up. Then we go into the single track traverse around Fell head, coming up to an hour into the race and I'm beginning to feel a bit better. So much better, in fact that I grab my second planned bite to eat, and catch up to 2 runners, and after what seems like an age, overtake them.
Me? Overtaking? on a Champs race? That hasn't happened before. Maybe going slow was a good thing.
Way ahead in the distance, I can see Nic, Wardy and Stefan in Pennine vests, all thrashing it out together. Too far to catch for the moment, but you can hope they might knacker each other out. I'm certainly not going any faster at the moment. A third into the race, if I try that now, I'm really going to suffer on the hard last third.

Page 2 of the annotated map

Next up is the double climb and traverse, through two saddles and down to Check 4 at the bottom of Hazel Gill. Stomping up the hill, the only thing going through my head was Pachabels Canon - Lynne has been practicing it a lot at home - and it suited my foot cadence. Up, towards the top, a long and torturous slog, only to thunder down again to the bottom, ready to do it all again, and then traverse. I think I may have gone too high on the second ascent, but at least I didn't end up getting slowed down by all the Gills on the side of Hazelgill Knott.
The jacket had come on, been taken off, the sun had come out, the rain had come in again, the wind was behind us, and with half the race gone it felt like we had had the gamut of seasons from spring to autumn - with a fleeting glance of summer int he middle. The jacket went on for the descent to Check 4, and with my first planned gel in my hand, it was probably going to stay on for the duration now.

The long climb up to the Calf. It's long. It's soul destroying, and it is not pleasant. On my map at this point was Don't you Dare Give Up, taken from a twitter feed.
That was what was going on in my head (alongside Pachabels canon). Every step of the way I ran. No walking. No Giving Up. One person passed me, I passed another. The temptation to stop and walk was there at all times, but no. Keep going. Keep running. Pass another? I honestly don't remember, but there was no walking. To the Calf, a dib, and beyond - time for gel 2. Last year I was really suffering even before this. That climb did for me, but now, no. More power.

A group of 4-5 of us formed, dissolved and re-formed, over Bram-rigg top, and then up to Calders. Into the cloud again, and a Horwich runner came alongside me - "are we meant to skirt left at somepoint around here?" "No idea mate", I reply.
We were, of course, and 4 of us climbed an extra 30m to the top, while a we were caught up by a Bingley runner, who shrewdly took the intelligent option - around the side.
Now following the Bridleway, pretty much to the end, the 5 of us switched places, overtook and re-overtook. I kept my place for a while, lost a place, and then regained on the climb - the never give up attitude taking me past 3 guys who ended up walking.

Chris's failed shoe - stopped him performing well

Do I need another gel? Not now, close to the end. I can see the final checkpoint, and the 2 runners ahead of me dib in and take a radically direct line straight south. Not the racing line at all - and probably deep in bracken at this time of year.
The Bingley runner and I dib and take the more trodden path off Winder. The hill gets steeper and steeper, my quads are burning, and my knees ache, the Bingley runner keeps a steady few yards ahead of me, and the hill gets slidy towards the bottom. We both slip and fall, and I just go with it - sliding down the slick slope, not quite catching the Bingley lad, but coming close, and then we hit the road and he stretches out.

I have nothing left. There is someone behind me, and it is all I can do to keep him away from me. What can I do? Concentrate on the guy in front. I glue myself to the Bingley runner, and stay with him to the end. 3 seconds in front of me - I just couldn't close the gap.
2:30:57. A good 10 mins up on last year, fantastic, and, in the end, about a minute behind Stefan.

So, what of the placings?
My computer printout says 47th. 47th? Thats top 50 - but there are always a few glitches, people missing dibbers etc. Have I done enough to hold onto that top 50, or are there more than 3 people ahead of me that have lost theirs?

Final results, out on the web a few hours later- 49th.
Woot. Championship points. Finally. Ok, only 2, but finally I have them.
Very Happy indeed.

At this point, I have to extend my thanks to Tom Brunt, Simon Bailey, Dan Chan and Stevie K for not running, as all 4 of them would undoubtably have beaten me, and I would have been out of the top 50.
Still, its all about turning up on the day.
Chris had a bit of a nightmare race, with his Inov8 x talon 212 ripping itself to shreds on the second descent. The rest of the race can't have been much fun with a shoe looking like that. Well done to Wardy and Stefan for also scoring Champs points this race- and congrats to Caity for coming in 2nd GDH, and (I think), 4th lady.

There will be a blog in the near future reflecting on the Champs races this year, and just how bloody hard it has been to get that elusive top 50 - but this time- the taking it easy plan- seems to have worked.

Awesome.