Martyn's Looooong Tour of Bradwell

Two down, two to go… in my head I’ve now entered the seasoned fell runner bracket! Seriously though, I learnt a lot from the Long Tour of Bradwell, easily summarised by ‘ultras are tough’. Surprising eh?!

The weekend started off at Edale where I met up with the other members of Team Runfurther and quickly forgot the ominous struggles my car had just getting up the hill there. We spent a few hours checking out the Kinder part of the course and posing with sponsored kit. The scenery was breathtaking prompting Martin B’s rueful comment that it’s a shame he doesn’t have time to take it in when he’s racing. I suggested he ran at my pace which would allow him to enjoy each blade of grass, “there’ll be plenty of time for that when I’m 70” was the response!

After Osmotherley I felt really good and thought I’d take it out a little harder this time. In retrospect this was a mistake. My troubles began once I’d left the Druid Stone behind and started the steep descent where my toes began to hit the front of the shoes in a rather painful manner. Then going up Lose Hill, cramp began to set in (note to self, spend more time on step machines) which then came back frequently, set off by anything from tough stiles to dense heather. After some helpful guidance by fellow runners pointing out checkpoint 13 which was located down a slope above a river (the organisers had more faith in my balance after 23 miles than I did) I slowly and painfully made my way back to Bradwell, eventually clocking a disappointing time of 8:30.

Needless to say within minutes of finishing I was already thinking “that wasn’t so bad” and was pretty proud of myself for actually finishing the toughest race I had ever done. Just to make sure that it was the race that was tough and not just my lack of conditioning I had a confidence boosting 10 mile race last Sunday at Great Warford where I got a new pb of 1:12:22 - it felt pretty good after going so slowly the previous week however I’m paying for it now with extremely tight calves and general aches caused by road running again.

Next up is the High Peak 40 so I’ll be getting to know this beautiful area of the world even better. I’ve got a few weeks to prepare so am planning on getting in plenty of miles and spending time on the aforementioned step machine… hope my work isn’t expecting too much of me!

Long Tour of Bradwell race, A man in a bikini & other stuff.

In the middle of July I spent 4 days in Alps on the UTMB training camp with Lizzy Hawker. It was a fantastic experience and I learnt loads from Lizzy who is such an inspiration. I am hoping to do the UTMB next year so it was a good chance to run on the terrain. We ran the whole route in 4 days, but got to sleep in between days. I am sure it really toughened me up and made my legs stronger. A week after I came back I did an off road marathon on Dartmoor and felt like the hills were easy after the mountains of the Alps! I was first lady home so I was so pleased, but more importantly for me I felt that I had more left at the end which I was hoping was encouraging for the Long Tour of Bradwell.

The weekend of Bradwell, I was staying with friends in Edale so Saturday morning I went out with them and walked over the Win hill section of the route. And then in the afternoon I met up with the RunFurther team and did a recce of the Kinder section. Karen and Mark took photo’s of us in our gear. I also got to try some clif shot blocks which I think I am now addicted to, and which are great as an alternative to Gels. It was a lovely afternoon and good fun, but also proved really useful for the race the next day.

The morning of the race, and the weather looked perfect. I was looking forward to the race ahead but I was also worried about the navigation on the bits I did not know. The first section felt quite straight forward and the recce the day before meant the Kinder section went well. I joined up with a bunch of guys to go up over Lose hill, and saw Andy taking photo’s and offering words of support. On the way down we missed the turn and ended up being shouted at by an irate farmer who nearly ran us over in his tractor. We quickly turned around and made backtracks up the field.

The next section up around Win Hill and down to Ladybower was so enjoyable, and felt easy as I was confident I knew where I was going. However, after Bamford and ‘the escalator’ , it was all unknown territory. I was hesitant going over Stanage edge, and made a couple of silly errors. However, fortunately a couple of local guys behind me put me right so ‘thanks’ to them. The last section, and through Abney and almost home. At this point there were three of us running together, and none of us knew the route. We could see Bradwell in the distance, and in our excitement, we did not consult the map and therefore missed the turn off, sailing on along the stoney track. After a bit of running back & forth, and some choice words on my part, we managed to find a way back to connect to the route and it was a sprint into Bradwell . I was delighted to find myself 2^nd lady which was a perfect end to a lovely race, and a wonderful weekend.

Waiting for friends to pick me up later, I saw a man in a bikini being chased by ‘police’ and a camera crew filming it. It was all quite amusing but I never did find out what it was all about.

Jayne

Martyn rambling

One week to go before The Long Tour Of Bradwell so I thought I'd give an update on life in between races.

Having spent most of the year prior to the Osmotherley Phoenix being 'ultra' disciplined with my diet - no wine; cheese; anything nice, the last last month has seen a bit of relapse. Still, at least I've managed to keep the runs going. Apart from a couple of games of squash (amazingly won) I had the week off after OP. Then I did a couple of 55-65 mile weeks including a really enjoyable long run from Hampton Court along the Thames. It did make me wonder why all the races in the series insist on being hilly. 279 ft is quite enough!

In other news, a beautiful pair of shoes arrived courtesy of Team Runfurther/Vasque. After the obligatory half and hour drooling on they went and it was off to the Delamere Forest! After a rather over-exuberant run, including some uncharacteristic searching out of steep banks to go up I was delighted with them. My only previous experience of trail shoes was 3 years ago and was quickly nipped in the bud after losing 2 toe-nails to the Clwydian Hills on my first run. These were a revelation though, going from cushioned road shoes I thought I would really miss the comfort but despite the odd design (no inner sole) they're really smooth. Coupled with lots of room in the toe box, good grip in mud and a hideous colour they're a hit with me!

Hopefully the shoes will make life a little easier next weekend but my quads have their doubts - 6500 ft of climbing! Scary... see you on the other side!