April 2014 – Girl Running Crazy

The Warrior Adrenaline Race (WAR):

” A tough 10k run across Dunstable Downs including lots of obstacles, hills and muddy terrain…The obstacles and course are designed by our Ex-Army Physical Training Instructors who used similar courses to get our troops fit!”

When Laura suggested we take part I tried to think of an acceptable reason to politely decline her offer but I really couldn’t think of one. So I had to say yes.

Obstacle courses require upper body strength, balance, control, co-ordination and a strong core. I have none of these things. I am exceptionally bad at obstacle courses…

We got a team of 4 together and named ourselves Team Holy Moly after Laura exclaimed, ‘Holy moly what have we done?! It seemed apt. In a pitiful attempt to prepare for the event we got together for a couple of self run ‘boot camp’ sessions in Green Park (this allowed the Queen to watch us).

We attempted a series of sprints, burpees, planks, push-ups, star jumps, tricep dips, hanging from a tree like a monkey (vital for monkey bar success), making human tunnels and crawling through them (vital skill for avoiding barbed wire in the bum) and running like Phoebe from Friends (vital for laughter and attracting strange looks from tourists). Try it – I dare you!

However, I wasn’t convinced our 2 sessions would quite be enough to grant us true Warrior status…

We went up to Leighton Buzzard on the Friday night train with a can of M&S Pina Colada/G&T (very Warrior like) and stayed with Laura’s family who were very hospitable and fed us big plates of pasta and red wine to prepare us.

It was a fairly easy trip to Dunstable Downs in the morning but it was a large open space so very windy and cold!! At registration they gave us a WAR body sticker/tattoo thing with your wave number on instead of a number, so I stuck it to my cheek. Quite a good idea really – my race number in the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest was ripped off in the early stages of the race!

There was also an army dude with camouflage face paints making everyone look like Warriors so we got into the spirit of things.

Team Holy Moly got involved with the warm up and at 10.30 our wave set off. We started running in a zig zag on the grass (the whole course was off road) before reaching the first obstacle – giant steps. There were a couple more, including a barbed wire crawl, run up a hill with a weighted bergen and a ladder thing before a stretch of running.

There was actually more running than I had anticipated, I think it was because the obstacles were grouped together rather than spaced evenly but it definitely seemed like more than Survival of the Fittest. I didn’t mind though, even the hills, the running was the bit I could actually do!

Ladder Thing…

For the next obstacle you had to pull yourself up a steep slope with a rope, get over the top and climb down the other side. Simple? Maybe for most people but my foot slipped, I went splat and had to be yanked up by the army dude. Everyone gave me a cheer when I reached the top though!

There was a stretch of running with a log (for some reason I picked a big one?!), a spider web thing which hurt if you got pinged by it, some balance challenges and tunnels as well as some fairly steep hills to run up. When we reached the Monkey Bars I was relieved to see another army dude helping people across. I definitely would have fallen off by myself – turns out hanging from trees isn’t the best preparation after all…who knew?

Barbed Wire Crawl…

When we got towards the end of the running we got to the bigger obstacles and, as this was near the finish area, lots of spectators! One of these involved climbing some scaffolding (no problem) and jumping off onto a big crash mat 5 meters below (problem).

Not sure what happened but I was up there for several minutes before jumping off – jumping off and kneeing myself in the face upon landing after ignoring instructions (well, I didn’t actually ignore them, my body just didn’t do what I told it so it wasn’t my fault)

Zip Wire…(I don’t know who this is but it’s the only picture I could find!)

Team Holy Moly waited for me so, with bruised face, we went off to the firemans pole (which I skipped like a loser and now wish I hadn’t), zip wire (so much fun), freezing cold dip tank (which involved ducking under logs 3 times, brrrr), a slide on a big mat (weeeeeeee), some more crawling and paintball!!

Paintball wasn’t on the list of obstacles so I’m guessing this was the unspecified ‘new obstacle’ – they gave me a helmet and I sprinted across the danger zone narrowly avoiding getting hit. Unfortunately Laura and Helen both took a paintball to the leg and ended up with lumpy bruises – ouch.

Finally there was the big wall and then the finish line. Team Holy Moly completed the challenge – wet, cold & dirty!

The Warrior Adrenaline Race was fun! There’s a 5k or 10k option with people setting off in several waves to help keep congestion on the course to a minimum. There was about a 5 minute wait at one of the obstacles but the rest were fairly quick moving. I thought it was quite well organised with all the obstacles manned with at least 1 army dude who were willing to help if needed.

The only complaint I would have is the lack of water – there was 1 water station on the route but there were no drinks at all at the end which I thought was quite poor. We did get a medal and a t-shirt though.

The only thing that’s worrying me now is what’s next for Team Holy Moly, I have a feeling it’s not over yet…

People say I’m impulsive. They say that I rush into things.

Two days after I returned home from the Rome Marathon I entered the Manchester Marathon…and I would be running it a week later, so they may very well be right!

I didn’t peak in Rome, I knew that much for sure, and I felt like I had wasted months of training – I was looking for redemption and I still wanted a sub 3.45 to qualify for London GFA. Physically I felt OK, sure I felt like I had been on a long run but I definitely didn’t feel like I had after previous marathons and, given my pace was a fair bit slower than my training runs, I guess this wasn’t surprising. Most importantly I didn’t have any injury niggles, if I did I wouldn’t have even considered it as I knew it was a risk to run a marathon so soon anyway.

I was aware the Manchester Marathon was 2 weeks after Rome and I was pleasantly surprised/scared they were still taking entries so late. Claiming to be the flattest marathon in the UK (I’m not entirely sure about that but we’ll come to that later!) I couldn’t help but sign up, surely it was an opportunity that I just couldn’t miss?!

Was I mad?

I didn’t keep it a secret but I didn’t tell lot of people, mostly because I didn’t want to hear that it was a bad idea and I shouldn’t do it! I took advice from some more experienced runners in the Chasers and was happy that they didn’t tell me it was a stupid idea – instead they told me to focus on rest and recovery. So I did.

A couple of Chasers were also running Manchester and they invited me to post race lunch. I was pleased to have some friends to celebrate with at the finish, a lonely marathon runner is a sad marathon runner after all.

I was aware that achieving the ultimate goal would be somewhat unlikely after Rome but I figured I had nothing to lose and running 2 marathons in 2 weeks would be a new achievement anyway. Win win?!

So Saturday came around and, questioning my sanity again, I headed to Manchester with just a backpack and bag full of food (travelling light is a challenge it itself for me, what do you mean I can’t take 4 pairs of shoes?!). I made my way to Old Trafford to pick up my number from the race village which was in the car park. It was most definitely the smallest race village/expo I’ve ever seen…

However, there was no queuing, the staff were friendly and it did the job! I headed to my hotel to put my feet up and eat more food.

The hotel was in a fairly quiet area so I was glad I had planned ahead and made a big tub of tuna pasta for dinner, it also meant I could relax and not leave the room for the rest of the day. Having learnt from Rome I took a big pot of tea bags & milk and proceeded to drink 2 cups of tea at a time to ensure my caffeine intake was up (well, the cups were small!)

Arriving at the race village the next morning (with Martin Yelling no less) there was a lot more going on and I picked up a pace band from the Asics tent. Whilst I was queuing I gave my parents a call to let them know what I was up to as I hadn’t told them my plans. They were a tad surprised! The bag drop was quick and fuss free and, whilst there was a queue, there were a lot more toilets than in Rome, phew! Heading for the start line I made my way through the crowd to get to the 3.45 pacer, Ben.

I believe the race was started by Ron Hill but I didn’t see him. A group us us ran with Ben and the pace felt OK, I most definitely would have gone off too fast without him. If I’m honest I didn’t really notice much of the course, I simply concentrated on running, so I couldn’t tell you what I saw. I did notice the course wasn’t as flat as I thought it would be though! It wasn’t hilly but I’m sure there were more inclines than in London…

There were a couple of switchbacks early on and I shouted out to Keith and Matt in their Chasers vests. At mile 9 I saw my friend Kim who had come to support Keith, she cheered and shouted and I was pleased to see a friendly face.

I was impressed with the water stations, rather than bottles (that are a hazard when discarded), or cups (which are difficult to drink from whilst moving), they supplied pouches which were very easy to carry and water only came out when you squeezed it. They’re also much less of a problem when on the race course as if you tread on them they simply squirt out any left over water. Why don’t all races have these?

At half way I was still feeling good but I wasn’t convinced my legs could go the whole way at the pace I wanted them to. At mile 16 I started to drop back and I saw Kim again. She jogged alongside me whilst I started chatting. She told me to stop talking and get on with running – fair enough!

Mile 16…still smiling!

From about mile 18 I knew I wouldn’t finish under 3.45 but I kept pushing. I think the last 6 miles were more challenging than any other marathon I’ve run (and I’m sure it was all on a gentle incline!) but mentally I was feeling tough and I kept going.

The crowd support was great, unfortunately as a late entrant my name wasn’t printed on my number but everyone still cheered me on, it really does help!

As I ran back towards Old Trafford the crowds lined the street and I crossed the line in 3.56. The finish was smooth and quick and I got my medal, water and goody bag in minutes. In fact I got 2 goody bags because whilst I was debating if I wanted the small or extra small t-shirt (always difficult to know with unisex sizes) the man gave me both!

I saw Kim and Keith waving and was very grateful they waited for me (for an hour!!), as I didn’t think I would find my way to the pub for lunch by myself. We shuffled along to Salford Quays where I refueled on a chicken burger and cider (Kopperberg, which apparently is wanky London stuff…)

I eventually got home at 8pm and was absolutely exhausted (although Liam Gallagher was on my train so that made it more interesting, shame I both looked and smelt like a tramp). I ate 2 bagels and went to bed, yes, 2!

I thought the Manchester Marathon was very well organised, especially after Rome. The only small thing I would change would be to add some kind of sports drink at some of the stations. I never drink a lot of this but I often get a craving for it in the later stages. They did give out Shot Bloks though which I’m a big fan of (a bit strange to hear people shouting out ‘shots’ in the middle of a marathon!)

The race village, marshaling, water stations, crowd support and even the finish area were fantastic.

I would definitely recommend the Manchester Marathon but would I recommend running it 2 weeks after Rome? Only if you’re as tough as me!

What I learnt from this marathon is that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Last year I thought running 2 marathons in a year would be too much for me but now I’ve run 4 in the last 12 months including 2 in the last 2 weeks! I’ve also been overwhelmed by the support I received from everyone offering advice, encouragement and, most importantly, their faith. Thank you.

The only problem now of course is that I have a double dose of the post marathon blues…