Sunday, November 18, 2007
Event Report; The Seagrave Wolds Challenge
I have had another goodweek this week; Monday I felt like a short run as I was out Tuesday night, so took Tuesday as my rest day rather than Monday. I did 5 miles, but tried to keep to a faster pace- I even threw in a little 'fartlek' in- speed play- by sprinting for short bursts (lamp post to lamp post).
Wednesday was the aerobics class; I guess some people might say that the definition of nuts is to run to your aerobics class! It's 1 1/2 miles, I clocked it beforehand in the car. After the class I ran a further 6 1/2 miles, with a small pack, making a total of 8. Felt quite tired for some reason.
Thursday I hit the gym, but didn't work quite as hard, as I thought I'd best give myself chance to taper for Saturday, I still managed 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill and resistance work on the ellipticals as well as the other usual stuff.
Saturday was, of course, the Seagrave Wolds Challenge! I think we were quite jammy with the weather- it was quite dry all week so the route was a lot less muddy than last year. Yesterday was quite nice- dry and sunny- whereas it's chucked it down all day today. When I parked up (in a nearby field as directed) and made my way to the village hall, there were loads of folks there; a lot of club runners, but also hardy walkers with rucksacks and boots. I decided to just take my bum bag as running the 15 1/2 miles was going to be quite a challenge for me anyway.
We had a mass start- runners at the front- and I actually found myself overtaking a couple of people although obviously loads more were overtaking me! The route was well marked with tape and yellow arrow markers; another change was mile markers although I couldn't decide if this was a curse or a blessing as I can fall into the trap of constantly scouring the horizon for the next marker. The first part of the route was undulating, with some gentleish ascents. The only snag, as the shot below illustrates, was the queues which developed at each stile! I heard one lady runner remark that she was going to stick to road races in future!!
Queue For The Stile!
The first checkpoint, at Wymeswold, was at 5 miles; I was already starting to feel a little tired, and thought I'd probably gone out too fast. I had also felt a little under the weather for the last couple of days and managed to convince myself I was coming down with a cold. It can be very demoralising when runners keep passing you but I had to resolve to stick to my own pace! I ate a small piece of flap jack and a chunk of mars bar at the check point before carrying on...
The next part of the route was through some very large and fairly flat fields; there must have been a shoot going on, as I kept seeing lines of blokes walking slowly through the fields with guns and dogs, and the crack of guns kept sounding throughout the morning (unless they were farmers bagging unwary runners...)
View To Stanford Hall 
Plank Bridge
Wednesday was the aerobics class; I guess some people might say that the definition of nuts is to run to your aerobics class! It's 1 1/2 miles, I clocked it beforehand in the car. After the class I ran a further 6 1/2 miles, with a small pack, making a total of 8. Felt quite tired for some reason.
Thursday I hit the gym, but didn't work quite as hard, as I thought I'd best give myself chance to taper for Saturday, I still managed 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill and resistance work on the ellipticals as well as the other usual stuff.
Saturday was, of course, the Seagrave Wolds Challenge! I think we were quite jammy with the weather- it was quite dry all week so the route was a lot less muddy than last year. Yesterday was quite nice- dry and sunny- whereas it's chucked it down all day today. When I parked up (in a nearby field as directed) and made my way to the village hall, there were loads of folks there; a lot of club runners, but also hardy walkers with rucksacks and boots. I decided to just take my bum bag as running the 15 1/2 miles was going to be quite a challenge for me anyway.
We had a mass start- runners at the front- and I actually found myself overtaking a couple of people although obviously loads more were overtaking me! The route was well marked with tape and yellow arrow markers; another change was mile markers although I couldn't decide if this was a curse or a blessing as I can fall into the trap of constantly scouring the horizon for the next marker. The first part of the route was undulating, with some gentleish ascents. The only snag, as the shot below illustrates, was the queues which developed at each stile! I heard one lady runner remark that she was going to stick to road races in future!!
Queue For The Stile!The first checkpoint, at Wymeswold, was at 5 miles; I was already starting to feel a little tired, and thought I'd probably gone out too fast. I had also felt a little under the weather for the last couple of days and managed to convince myself I was coming down with a cold. It can be very demoralising when runners keep passing you but I had to resolve to stick to my own pace! I ate a small piece of flap jack and a chunk of mars bar at the check point before carrying on...
The next part of the route was through some very large and fairly flat fields; there must have been a shoot going on, as I kept seeing lines of blokes walking slowly through the fields with guns and dogs, and the crack of guns kept sounding throughout the morning (unless they were farmers bagging unwary runners...)
View To Stanford HallJust after I took this shot, we turned left by the hedge in the middle distance and were faced with the worst climb so far. I managed to keep running, although I was overtaken soon after by another couple of runners. We turned left through a farm and after a short welcome descent, were faced with the second worst climb of the day, although I was anticipating it after last year. I actually managed to overtake another couple of runners!
Just before checkpoint 2 I spotted a chap with a camera. assuming he was snapping the view, I looked over my shoulder to check it out. It suddenly dawned on me that he was actually trying to photograph me- oops!!
Checkpoint two was in Prestwold Church again, at just over 10 miles; I stopped for a welcome cuppa. A couple of ladies were enthusing over the home made cakes, which did look good; I wasn't hungry though, and forced myself to eat half a cheese and pickle cob.
The next part of the route had changed slightly from last year; we turned away from the Hall and ran uphill through woods, before undulating towards the village of Burton-On-The-Wolds, which seems to consist of just uphill. I even managed to overtake more people! I know I keep mentioning this, but beleive me- it is such a major achievement for me to actually overtake anybody!
Just before the 13 mile marker, I walked up another steep hill as I was really starting to feel tired. My breathing wasn't too bad, but I felt like there wasn't much left in my legs. I managed to keep going on the level sections and downhills, and actually only walked three times, up three ascents in the last 2 miles. I definately walked less than I did last year. I was overtaken shortly before the end by three ladies who told me I 'Looked strong' although I didn't feel it! I remembered the 'bridge' below from last year- basically a plank with a rope and not for the faint hearted! I heard one of the ladies remark that she felt like she was in 'I'm a celebrity', only obviously there weren't any bugs. I didn't see Ant and Dec either for that matter.
Plank Bridge
After the bridge came the last descent and short road section to the finish. I must say I was impressed as there were marshalls at all the road crossings, who were very encouraging. My time was 3 hours 3 minutes- 33 minutes quicker than last year so I was well happy with this! I couldn't face the soup on offer, but had a very welcome dish of apple and blackberry crumble and custard.
My legs are aching a bit today, but no Achilles niggles at all I'm very pleased to report! I had kind of intended to go to the gym today, but felt really tired (and I'm sure I am fighting off a cold...) so just walked the 3 1/2 miles to Syston and back in the rain.
I have managed to achieve 31 miles this week, though, which is very good for me!
Labels: Seagrave Wolds Challenge, Trail Running
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Good effort Steph, well done. Sounds like you are improving all the time.
That queue for the stile in the picture; that hedge doesn't look too high, you should have taken a run up and leapt over it! ;-)
That queue for the stile in the picture; that hedge doesn't look too high, you should have taken a run up and leapt over it! ;-)
Cheers Rich, glad things are improving re your injuries, does sound as though you haven't lost any fitness with all the gym work you've been doing.
I might have been tempted to leap the hedge but would probably have ended up breaking both legs!! (there was a large ditch just beyond it too!) :-D
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I might have been tempted to leap the hedge but would probably have ended up breaking both legs!! (there was a large ditch just beyond it too!) :-D
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