Well what better preparation for my 9th series race than the CCC in france, I still couldn't walk by monday evening but luckily I had booked a sports massage, and it worked. Tuesday I wasn't walking like a ruptured duck but I was feeling like the duck needed a snorkle - I had the worst man flu going - well I had a cold. So I spent the rest of the week feeling awfull, shovelling fruit, veg, lemsips and vit c down my neck like it was going out of fashion and then topping it off on the last two days of the week with buckets of cough medicine. I was not going to let some stupid cold get the better of me this week, I needed to be on that start line at Bullock Smithy and drag my tired snivelling body round the 56miles in the pouring rain.
Luckily Thursday was the colds worst day and also the worst day for all the rain cos by Saturday the sky was brighter and I could breathe and my body had recovered from all the running the previous weekend - phew!
Me and Hannah "Run Like a Girl" in the middle at the start.
It was actually really hot out there as well, and I had lined up several mates along the route with dry kit and various ailment remedies just in-case I was suffering and needed a bit of extra help to get me round the race. Luckily all I needed (or had) was the chocolate and ribina from Dave, some route finding from Mark, a hug from Emma and a little bit of companionship from Alex, she and her dog Hamish ran with me for a while and got me through a low patch!
I started off the day running with Hannah, who joined "run like a girl" a couple of months back due to a rather interesting conversion on the Calderdale Hike about mascara! We were at different speeds for the first hill so carried on alone, passing some mates and being overtaken by others, but all wishing me well and asking how the series was going and how they had read all my blogs - so people actually read blogs - umm - had better sort my grammar out then!!!
After I had powered my way up to Edale Cross ( I felt strong here, had my walking poles to help me - I know it is a european thing but it does help on steep and rocky ups and downs to save your quads and knees!). I found my mate Dave at the top with some hot ribina and a bar of choc so I took a sip and said catch me up to get the choc to me as I can't stop! I had gone all the way down Jacobs Ladder and got all the way to the road to Edale by the time he caught me - I must have been going fast to beat a cyclist - what on earth has happened to me this year - I should be knackered!
Next was an easy climb over to Castleton and then I gave my poles to Mark as the night section I would not be able to use the poles as I would need to hold my map for navving! He showed me the best route out of Castleton and up the hill to the side of Cavedale and I seemed to have passed a few people now. I then had my low point after Peak Forest, as this is where loads of tarmac sections started, why can't I run on tarmac, it just tires me out so much I go to a crawl, I hate it! Luckily just before Chelmorton Alex turned up with Hamish and ran with me to the next checkpoint and a donut - yum yum - no-one told me there was going to be such yummy stuff all the way round!
At Earl Sternade just south of Buxton it turned dark and I got grouped. Luckily for me with a group of runners who knew the route (I still kept my map out as you never know and I do like to know where I am going!). They confessed to being road runners - oh god - this meant that as soon as we left the relative safety (for me) of boggy fields and slippery roaky downhills and got back onto tarmac (for most of the rest of the race) I would be left for dead. I was right - I was left for dead! Well not before they left one of their mates for dead. He didn't go into the checkpoint on Cumberland Clough, but carried on down the hill with two random strangers, didn't stop at the next gate, or the bridge over the river, or the next gate or the road or even the next road junction, he just carried on! So where in the word "group" does just carrying on come in??? Luckily we found the bus drivers for the drop outs and they went and chased him down! Very strange! I was a little concerned about now being disqualified for being grouped with a large groupe of friends who didn't know how to stay grouped - this would not help in my quest for the Grand Slam. Still - we all carried on again and after the next (last bit) of real off road we hit the tarmac and I can honestly say the worst two hours of racing I have ever done. I know my emotions go hay wire when I am knackered but being left behind for two hours did not help em at all - I spent the whole time chasing distant lights and sometimes not even seeing that, but mostly snivelling and crying (sad I know but you can't help your emotions when they go hey wire!). I would get into a checkpoint and then we would be leaving. I really really missed the girls - I never want to be grouped again unless I have someone I know - sorry but this was awful - I just wished I could have been un-grouped and run by myself. But hey - eventually I caught them about 600m from the end, I had my usual finish sprint head on, which of course boosted my moral, but suddenly noticed that one of them had fallen off the back. I waited! And I told one of the other guys that that is what usually happens in a group! He waited too! (and to be fair he was also the one in the group that had waited mostly for me and had done all the navigating). So out of a group of 6, two of them left us all at the last checkpoint and spead off to the finish as quick as they could (overtaking two groups in front!), another left us about 400m from the finish and me and the other two limped in as a group! Sorry about this - rant is now over - well it ended as soon as I finished and had a hug off a friend and cuppa tea and egg on toast! I have since forgiven everyone and blamed it all on my lack of emotional stability in times of severe running stress!and if any of you are reading this - sorry it is just howI felt at the time and I certainly don't blame anyone - it all seems to be a reaction - and they did have to put up with being grouped with me - who wouldn't run off!
So really I had a great race (I recommend it as an event to do) and ended up doing alot better than I thought. I was 8th girl home and 36th overall (out of just over 200) - very impressed by myself - not sure what would have happened if I'd not ran 5600m of ascent over 61 miles the weekend before - I was less that an hour behind the winning girl - the really fast Nicky Spinks - I am a runner - it is confirmed! But I still look like I run like a duck! (I will be re-naming the team to "run like a duck" soon!)
I promise not to moan on my next blog!!!!
The "Duck" going uphill out of castleton!
The "Knackered Duck"!
The "Crazed Duck"!
If you are confused - the "Duck" refers to the way my feet seem to splay out whenever I have my photo taken and whenever i run next to Alex or Catherine it makes it look worse as they run so straight and bouncy looking! So mainly I cut my feet out of photos!!!
See mine splay out and Alex's run so bouncy - even at the finish!!!
Me and Si (from Runfurther.com) looking very pleased with ourselves at the end of the event!
