What next? I keep coming back to this question when it comes to running ultras. Is it really a 200 mile race for me? I guess I’d always talked about Tor des Geants. That’s what that is! It’s intimidating due to the mountain factor, the vert involved, not necessarily the distance. There are other races in this category now. Moab 240, Tahoe 200, Cocodona 250. All three in cool places that I’ve either lived or spent a significant amount of time. But, they are too far from England where I live. The races are expensive to begin with then add on travel. Oof! Too much! I look closer to the UK and you’ve got races such as the Spine here but it seems the one to do is in winter. Wet. Dark. Cold. Doesn’t really interest me. A new 200 near London launches this summer I believe but just not into the scenery. Maybe I return to chasing the Tor? Or maybe I save my money on the expensive entry and travel to a 100 miler in the US? I’d love to run Leadville or even run Superior again! 

I feel as if my head is becoming straight again and I’m excited about ultra racing and training again. I followed along the live stream of Canyons 100 in Auburn, CA yesterday and it was inspiring. Followed that up with some Billy Yang YouTube video of OCC at UTMB from August. I was there. And the experience was awesome! I want that again!

Fired up again! 

St. Leonard’s Church Cemetery 

Kind of hanging in limbo right now. The excessive life stress seems to have subsided. I’m not exhausted all the time which must be a good sign. I had a fairly solid week of running last week and I seem to be on track for the same this week. Still not 100% though. Could be that my son wakes up a couple times a night scared of some outside noise disturbing a solid night sleep. I also have yet another mild cough. Just can’t get a break this winter/spring. 

Fish ladder outside of Worcester on River Severn

I feel like I need something to focus on, an event. I’ve yet to find it though and am scared to commit seeing how my training has been and most importantly how I’ve been feeling. I’ve been considering a fastest known time (FKT) attempt on the Worcestershire Way. I think I could beat the current time however since no one has tried it unsupported I’d get that FKT for sure. FKT’s can done supported, self supported, or unsupported. It’s only 30 miles so could even do it during school hours. A thought, but you miss out on the community experience since it would be me running alone. Benefit though is it’s free! I’d just need to get a train ticket home. There’s also the out and back FKT on it, 60 miles, and the current record is really soft. 15 hours I think! That would be very easy to get. I don’t know. Ideas I guess. 

Severn Way near Bewdley

I yearn for adventure. Spring trips to the desert or to access spring backcountry skiing with friends. An escape to a warmer locale. Just missing that old life I guess. Social media poisons the mind. 

Worcestershire Way sign in Bewdley very near the start

And we are race free as of now. I pulled the plug on UTS 100 and got a little money back. The way training has been just seems to continue on. Up and down, no consistency. Hoping things will smooth out once the kids are back in school after Easter break. That’s at least what I told myself, get consistent when it becomes more convenient. 

That being said I’ve felt alright a few times. Had a nice run on the Wyre Forest where I felt ok for most of 17 miles. Followed the majority of the Wyre Forest half marathon course and then added on a bit more. Great few hours out. It was nice to not worry about vert and just run. With no big vert race on the horizon I’m just running where I want. My strength training has also escalated since it’s easy to fit in so trying to look at the positives.

I’m feeling ok about my daughter’s epilepsy medication and will hopefully return to my favorite early morning run routine but we shall see. I’ve been sleeping in the same bed as her for a long long time just to make sure I’m there if she has a seizure, and yes, I’ve seen a handful. This has been tough on myself and my wife. With no consistency to the seizures we have no timeframe or idea of anything, we just assume or hope it’s working. You have no idea how difficult this is and the strain it puts on us. We persevere. 

Photo dump:

Wyre Forest 

Wyre Forest

Wyre Forest

Still hitting up my easy 4-5 mile loop near home adding in some new footpaths to freshen it up. A quick escape that’s mud and people free, can’t complain!

Blackstone Rock

Had a decent set of hill repeats on my regular Sunday evening run. Returned in the dark but felt good. These workouts for some reason are always good. Maybe because I get to escape the day into the quiet for an hour or so. 

Evening run back into Stourport from the river

Stourport bridge over River Severn

We were in Wales north of Cardiff for Easter. Nice visit with family and had a really solid run despite being hungover! 6 or so miles exploring around a wind farm. The climbs were consistent but I cruised up them. I felt very good which was reassuring! I was tempted to go back and take a couple Strava King of the Mountain segments but ran out of time. I also managed to fit in a solid chunk of strength work each day.  Dips, handstands, handstand push ups, push-ups gave a solid workout each day. Bonus to having to wake early with kids is having spare time for this! 

Narrow steep lane in Wales

Wind farm in Wales

Wales

Wind farm 

We get stronger in running endeavors by stressing the body and allowing it to recover. In training though you need to consider all the stress around you as it will have an impact on your training. Well, all that life stress has caught up I think and currently there’s seemingly no escape. Running has become extremely difficult. I normally pop off a 20 plus mile trail run like it’s nothing. Monday I made it 16 and felt like complete crap for the entire thing and it’s not because I’ve lost fitness having an erratic week or two of training, it’s life stress. There is no escape or recovery besides time. 

95% sure I’ll drop out of UTS 100, I just can’t effectively train for it. I’m considering a late summer 100. Possibly North Downs Way 100 which I’ve never done or maybe Autumn 100 as it’s a convenient out and back set up. Both races have low vert and probably easier to train for. I really enjoy these but I’d like to enjoy the experience and without the ability to train it’s not going to happen. I’m not upset at all, just being realistic I guess. Life happens. 

For now I’m just trying to run when I can and keeping it easy. It’s hard knowing how I “should” be feeling and having no control over it. I can’t just rest a few days, eat more, self massage, etc. it is what it is I guess. 

Two photos that’s aren’t that great but may be interesting. First is the tail end of a deer that lives here, it’s funny seeing them compared to a mule deer or a white tailed deer as these things are the size of a dog! Tiny! Second is my sprints hill I normally use one a week. It’s on a farm that’s used for motocross. It’s steep and fairly short but I can get a minute plus of straight up sprinting on it so good enough for my needs. It goes lower and higher too. Crap photo really! Hill sprints recruit fast twitch muscle fibres, short sprints (10-60 seconds) with a full 3 minutes of recovery keep the aerobic system off line and train the anaerobic system. Lungs don’t even feel like they are working until the end of the sprint but the legs need to burn.

Read an interesting instagram post from a guy I follow. He’s ex military, big into strength training and jiu jitsu. He’s in his forties and was talking about training loads, recovery, skill attributes and practice. As we age we obviously lose the ability to get much stronger than we are and recover quicker. Yes, gains can be made but it’s far more difficult with time working against you. Skills training isn’t inhibited by age. So he’s cut back his strength training and has increased his skills training (jiu jitsu). Makes sense. 

Typical grey day, ready for sun

I’ve been struggling with what to do as far as juggling running and martial arts around life. I’m finally working more which is awesome, but other family factors have come into play causing stress and limiting available time to be away. My daughter has epilepsy and things are beginning to change with her and this is number one obviously, but I selfishly do want to get out and run, be alone outdoors. It’s not that I can’t get away, it’s that I shouldn’t. Mornings I need to be there just in case. I also need to be involved as a leader possibly in her extra curricular activities in order for her to confidently take part. This is important to me. As much as I want to give 100% to these ultras, am I able to still enjoy the experience and focus a bit less on training? I don’t know, and unfortunately won’t know until I race. Martial arts I can easily practice skills at home around family, running I need to be away. 

On my way to run some hill sprints

I’ve had a mild sniffle and cough for nearly a month. I’ve had this before and it supposedly lasts four weeks. With all this going on I haven’t felt the best running due to whatever this illness is. My training had fallen behind, nothing too bad, but it definitely has been frustrating and has ruined any drive I had for UTS 100. I know I can train around family but it’s difficult without drive, I did it for UTMB. Maybe these are all signs to move on from these long races?  Once again lessen the running and increase my skills? My running has become very routine as well. I’ve got a reliable training plan but I’m on my fourth or maybe fifth iteration of it and it’s becoming stagnant.

Lonely tired noodle around town after work 

Life stress adds up, toss in a stubborn cold, a long British winter, I’m ready for early sunrises and warm weather. Life is always in flux. 

Signs of spring

Sore throat started February 10. It hasn’t built into anything other than a little sniffle here and there but it’s hanging on exhausting me. I was glad it started near the beginning of a rest week and also a week of kids off school but I’m still feeling wiped out. When these waves hit I wonder why I put the time in to do these races. No one other than me is really interested. 

Another downer my friend in Cornwall messed his ankle up so we’ve cancelled our training weekend in North Wales. More worried about my buddy getting back running than going to Wales. He said it wasn’t broken at least but will be off running for two weeks! I’m sure he’s going crazy not training! 

I’m ready for warmer weather. Even on sunny days the wind bites here. The high moisture content in the air makes temps in the 30’s and 40’s miserably uncomfortable. Give me negative numbers in the dry any day! It’s fascinating how much the moisture has an impact. 

Spring is coming! 

Trying to follow along with the Nordic Ski World Championships in Slovenia. So miss that sport. I always thought myself to be a much better skier than a runner, but always felt running was way more bad ass! Ha ha ha! I have roller skis but never use them. I’ve considered doing a cool classic race like the Vasalloppet in Sweden. I think it’s 90km of classic skiing, largest in the world! That would be an experience! I could easily train without snow, swap my long run to a long ski, focus a bit more on strength specific to skiing, it can be done. It lingers in the back of mind for the future.

Other than the constant mental battle to get out there training is chugging along for UTS 100 in May. I’m planning to add some speed work in that I’ve never done before. Will make me faster on the flats and downhills, something I really lack. Looking back at my UTMB training the treadmill hikes were a key session so I’ll likely start those soon too. 

School is back in session tomorrow and fingers crossed this illness subsides. 

Flooding and photos

To start a few before and after photos of the River Severn flooding. This is a normal occurrence here in the winter but has in the past flooded above and beyond normal causing all sorts of issues. I did enjoy a bit of exploring to avoid the flooding, it’s easy to get frustrated though, when time is limited I like to have an idea of where I’m going and when I’ll be back.

 Ran out the Worcestershire Way a couple weeks ago for something different. It’s an out and back run which is very scenic but running from the house can be a bit blah vert-wise so I drive a few miles to start where the hills are best. I prefer to run from home as it’s more time efficient but doing this I am able to get in an extra 900-1000 feet of vert over 20 miles as compared to my normal 20 mile run from home route. I also dip into territory of some of the Worcester area clubs and their Strava segments. Am considering running out here more to tick off some of the King of the Mountain segments for fun. 

Cold morning but kept the mud a bit more solid.

Not exactly sure what this is but a herd was fenced in at a farm in Abberley

Training is ticking along. I’m meeting my friend Greg from Cornwall in Manchester the first weekend in March and we are driving to North Wales for a few days of running. Hopefully the weather is good. It can be really nasty there. Hoping to cover a bit of the UTS 100 race course. Tough running up there, lots of vert and the terrain can be very technical. I’ve ran a pretty good chunk of the race course however the northern section, which I believe is the most technical, I have not. Should be a fun weekend away. It’s always strange leaving the family behind but once I’m in the moment it’s all good! 

Frozen water

Cold but sunny out,  can’t complain

River Teme during flood stage

Top of Abberley Hills

I guess mainly a photo post. Not much to talk about. Life is ticking by. Had a birthday last month, I turned 46, even though I swear I’m 47! Doesn’t matter much really, just another day. So on we go.