Month: January 2018

Race re-cap Waterway 30

adamslifejourney5 Comments

This weekend i did the Waterway 30, it is a 31.5 mile ultra run (51.7km). Its run along the Chesterfield Canal, and some surrounding trails, it has around 1,000feet of elevation (325m). Over 31 miles its pretty flat, the main elevation is the first 5km and last 5km, as you would imagine the canal paths are flat. However the mud was pretty terrible, it made it harsh conditions to run on, for a lot of the run there was no real footpaths, it was just grass verges and embankments, which gave you a great views, but sometimes restricted the speed.

My aim for this race was to gauge my time over the 31.5miles with an eye on the Hardmoors 55. The Hardmoors is 55 miles, with 2,800 feet of elevation, i am aiming to do this in 12 hours or less. I used this race to gauge my running times. I wanted to at least do the Waterway 30 in 6 hours, aiming for nearer 5hours 30 minutes. Meaning for the Hardmoors 55 i would have a base speed and be able to calculate in the extra hills and milage (in theory)!

So how did the race go? I think i went out a little fast, i did the first 30km in 3 hours, after that i started to feel my legs lagging behind a bit, and the pace started to slow. The last 5km was mainly uphill and the most muddiest parts, so this kind of helped, in a weird way, i was able to slowly trudge through the mud missing the deepest areas, while also walking up hill, bonus! I guess the mud at the end added around 10 mins onto my time. I know what you are thinking, just run through it you soft twat! If it was just a few puddles i would have, but this was shin deep slop, with shoe losing potential!

Anyway, i ended the race in 5hours 39 minutes, with a average running time of 6:39 min/km or 10:43 min/mile. This shows that the last 20km was a lot slower than the first 30km as that average time was 6:00 min/km or 9:41min/mile. So for the first 30km i could have taken it a bit easier, which in turn would have helped me keep the pace until the end!! in theory!!

Anyway, my target time for the Hardmoors 55 has not changed, and i’m more than determined to complete in 12 hours or less, this race has just given me more confidence in doing this. My target time per mile for the Hardmoors 55 is 7:10 min/km or 11.32 min/mile. This will put me in at around 10 hours 30 minutes, giving me some leeway of 1 hour 30 minutes!

Well back to the training for the Hardmoors 55 then! Just a quick note, if i miss the target i would still be happy with just finishing any race, it is all an achievement, and you still get a medal 😉

P.S the shoe in the mud is not mine!

 

 

 

New Year New Goals (bit late, who cares)

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So long time no blog (ish), not sure why, sometimes i just forget to blog, until WordPress email my bill anyway!

Anyway screw recapping what i missed from this blog to the last! I’m not sure about everyone else, but i kind of do make New Year goals, or resolutions. I learnt a fe things from last which i intend to take into the new year. All in all last year i did about 20 different running/triathlon events. This was way to many, fun, and add to the medal collection, but way to many to be of any use. My last race in December (i know i said no recapping, but this is me making a point, stop judging) was a 10mile trail run that i had done the year before. Now i beat my time this year, but i was still 10mins shy of my actual goal time. My legs have never felt as bad when running, i have never felt as bad! The fatigue in my legs was shit, this was an accumulation of too many races over too many weekends. The week before i had done a trail marathon with around 4000ft of elevation, two weeks before that i did a race, 98km from one end of the Peak District to the other!

Now my lesson is too many races too soon after each other, not enough time training!

This year i have booked every event i’m doing up until end of September.

  • 27th Jan – Waterway 30 (31 mile race along the canal toe paths)
  • 17th March – Hardmoors 55 (55 mile race around North York Moors)
  • 5th – 7th May – Great Lakeland 3 day (3 marathons 3 days, Lake District)
  • 13th May – Maltby Sprint Triathlon
  • 30th June – Ripon Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
  • 21st July – Castle Howard Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
  • 23rd September – Weymouth Ironman 70.3 (half Ironman!!)

So that its so far, i know the 3 day event is near the Maltby triathlon, but the Maltby one is more of a club event and there is around 20 of us doing it, so fuck it!

Thats my entire race calendar, i’m not sure what to do after September, i would like to do the 98km Peak District race again, but i’m not sure how fast i can transition from doing Triathlons to Ultras! Currently i’m prepping for the 2 Ultras and 3 day event. I know from doing this my speed is pretty much gone. Which i’m assuming will be role reversal once i start the triathlon training. My speed will get better over 5km – 20km, but my long distance running will probably suffer. Which means is 1 and a half months enough to train for a 98km Ultra! I mean the fitness will be there, but the miles in the legs will not be there! Fucking decisions eh (i’m very lucky that these are the worrying decisions i have to make in life)!!!

I have a training plan until May, when the 3-day event starts, mostly running. I will also being doing 1 to 2 turbo sessions in the house every week, and currently 1 swimming session, but this will increase when i can get back into the lake to around 3 times a week, plus the odd strength/conditioning/stretching session per week. Currently i’m doing around 60/70km per week running, all activities included, around 8-9 hours per week. I think this will have to increase to around 12 for the 70.3.

The Hardmoors 55 and the Ironman 70.3 are pretty much my main focus this year!

Other goals – Do 50 push ups a day, i know doesn’t sound a lot, but it was 0, and i want to see if it actual makes a difference, more of an experiment than a goal!

Eat more healthy – so far i’m doing well, no fast food ( i rarely ate this anyway, but cutting it out altogether is still better), no sweets, no chocolate – all currently a tick. By the way there are rules and disclaimers to this, pizza is allowed at all times!! Pizza is life, especially after a race!!

And boring work goals, but i’m not going into that shit.

1 bike trip this year to Scotland (motorbike), for a few days.

Also fucking Australia for Christmas & New Year (my best mate moved there last year with his family), i haven’t been to Oz for 15 years, so i’m pretty excited already! By the way i live in England, just incase Oz doesn’t seem like a big deal, England will be cold, Oz will be warm, England has no cricket on, Oz has cricket, England has Christmas dinners, Oz has BBQ’s 😉

Here are some photos of the last few months.