On July 6th 2020 Accelerate community member Simon headed out what can only be described as a monumental challenge both physically and mentally. Keep reading to hear what crazy feat he attempted.

 

The alarm goes off and I rush to silence it because I don’t want to wake my wife up: not at this hour. I creep through to the bathroom where I find my running kit piled in the corner ready for me and then I make my way downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat. I unlock the front door and in the porch I pull on my trail shoes and look out at the weather that awaits me. It’s raining, not enough to need wet weather gear on a normal day… but this isn’t a normal day. I put a rain jacket on and dig out a pair of waterproof trousers that I’ve never even considered running in before. They are far too heavy for the job but the clock is ticking and I need to be on my way. Already, momentum is everything. I quickly add a pair of gloves and a fluorescent beanie hat to complete the look and at 04:54 I push the start button on my Polar watch as I head down the road on my way towards the Redmires reservoirs. I look at the sky and am amazed at how light it is already – despite the gloom of the weather – and I hope it is still light when I finish… whenever that may be. As I begin my journey down the lonely street, I have time to think about how I ended up here.

It was probably about a year before that I signed up to do the 2020 Race to the Castle, a 100km event from Kirkharle to Bamburgh Castle. I’d run a couple of marathons previously and managed

to run/walk the Dig Deeper 50km as the sweeper back in September 2019 but this was a chance to go beyond double figures! I convinced myself, as I often do, that it wasn’t as far as it sounded. ‘It’s only a 10km run done ten times, isn’t it?’, I would say to anyone who asked. I began training in earnest under Stu’s eye at the start of 2020 and everything was on course until Coronavirus hit. It was inevitable that an event involving over 1000 participants would be cancelled and so in early April we changed the plan and settled down to a more ‘routine’ form of training.

 

However, as lockdown continued and I ran my regular route round the reservoirs I kept hearing that voice in my head saying ‘It’s only this 10km run ten times, isn’t it?’ By late June it was no longer a question of IF I was going to try this, it was WHEN… and then Threshold Sports announced their Virtual Race to the Stones. The running stars had aligned and I had to break it to Stu what was going to happen. In fairness he took it well and within the week I was starting my first of what was planned to be ten laps of Redmires.

 

The first lap was uneventful, other than losing a glove on the way round, but I realised that the mix of a head wind, my height and the wet weather gear was going to be a problem… it was like running with a parachute on. On the second lap I decided a fast walk in to the wind was more efficient and used the wind to help me on the way back… I also found my glove! For each lap from then, it was always a fast walk out and as much running as I could manage on the way back… which was very little after about 60km!

My porch served as basecamp between each lap, with a box of provisions placed there the night before. The routine was to write up my time and distance on a backboard, take a photo to send out on social media, plug my watch and phone in to recharge and then eat and drink what I could. Bananas, apple juice and chocolate featured highly and I aimed to get through all this and back on the road in under 20 minutes, which I usually achieved.

 

I was out of the waterproof trousers after lap four (a marathon in those!!) and after lap six I had a change of socks, shoes and top. I also switched to my road shoes which were kinder on my tired feet when I hit the tarmac but I felt every stone through their softer sole on the off road sections of the route… ouch!

As time passed, so did the kilometres and before I knew it I was well beyond my previous experience. I felt worst on lap eight but by then I had a few running friends joining to keep me going and for laps nine and ten I had quite the posse along… all socially distanced of course. In the end lap ten didn’t need to be the full 10km, as each previous lap was actually 4-500m longer than planned leaving me only 6km to do, so I never made it round the reservoirs the tenth time.

I passed the 100km mark just before I got home, making it back at just after 21:30, 16 hours and 44 minutes after I started… and it was still light! I had done it.

Running and walking 100km on limited training may not be easy or even sensible but it isn’t impossible. It’s amazing what we can achieve if we put our minds to it… and have friends helping too. Fancy doing 100km? Want my advice? Go for it… it’s only doing a 10km run ten times after all!

How many weeks?
Fourteen, I think since we last met up for Team Training.
So what have we been doing? With racing still looking like it is only on the horizon and possibly not set to return for a while, perhaps next year for larger events, training has not been as difficult as you may think.

Some folk will always train towards race goals, such as the need to cover a set distance. Yet the Flamingos are very much geared towards improving that which needs improving.  It could be strength, it could be endurance or perhaps lactate tolerance. So during the lockdown-period sessions have been geared towards the development of specific areas that each athlete has required.
Quite simply a SWOT analysis and then a little monitoring from ‘Coach’.

Sessions have also been geared towards a little fun, more time based than distance (often the way here though) and an increase in running safety and healthly allowing for a very nasty virus. So an encouragement towards good nutrition, more recovery time and restorative exercise. Don’t get it wrong, some of the sessions have been hard, more so when on your own.

Time trials have been included, including those with a little navigation. There’s been big hills, very few hills and even a hint of flat for the differing sessions.  Most importantly there has still been time for learning and improvement.  Then a couple of weeks ago a few of us came together for a 5km Time Trial. The venue the OLP with its tight bends and a short sharp climb each lap. Oh, yes, we chose the day the weather gods switched the wind tunnel on!

It was a chance for everyone to take a few days to think about race prep , To get kit together the night before, to think about pre-TT breakfast and to arrive early for a proper warm up. Then one by one we were set off at 30 second intervals. OK, no mass start, yet it still felt like a race. To stay ahead of the person behind or to work hard and catch the person in front.

It worked, also the training and no racing period had not done so much harm physically. Improvements yes, pretty much by everyone. Harvey, took 30-secs of his course PB from January. Still not his quickest 5km ever, yet this is definitely not a quick course. Most importantly we saw a step up in consistency through each 1km as pace was more even.  No drop offs.  Heart rate was on the money and showed how well working to a high tempo and heart rate has benefited him.

George and Will also demonstrated a speedy response to lock down. Strength for George was definitely on the up as he moved around the course with pretty even splits, no drop of in pace. Will, probably realised a negative split can be ‘too big’. He finished fast though, very fast. He gets that right and yikes!

Meanwhile, Issy-Mai, turned her legs over fast for 2km. Despite managing a wrong term and a double back, she equaled her best running pre lock down.  With a little more racing and getting used to a TT she will fair so much better. This was actually, her first ever TT and she definitely found it odd. It’s all good learning though, she did great!

Away from the Flamingo’s other Team members came along with Dot Kesterton flying around whilst Andy Shelton took the opportunity to check out his marathon pacing. The opportunities for the use of a time trial should never be underestimated.

This will be an experience as a Team we are due to repeat in a few weeks time. Unfortunately though, it has given ‘Coach’ a few ideas to further develop our individual training. Development he calls it. ‘Needing a lie down more like!’

 

 

 

Roll on our return to Team Training.  It’s gonna be so good to catch up with everyone, even from the specified two meters.