28/09/2009 by Dick.

Jane finishes her stint as Coach of the Month with the challenging ‘20 minutes out/20 minutes back’ run down the Link Road and across the Bridge. A great session for pace judgement. Try and get back to where you started within 40 minutes.

Thursday’s long run is down to Beachley and back via the Wyebank estate.

And with the first cross-country coming up fast - next Sunday 11 October at Bridgend, being a Club Championship (points mean prizes!) and the East Wales Champs (mud means medals!) - then you’ll do yourself a favour by joining in the Piercefield Park training at 10 on Sunday morning, under the guiding eye of Ivan the Terrainman.

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28/09/2009 by Ivan.

Andy Green

It’s been 2 years since I “raced” a marathon and my last one was here in Jersey back in 2007. I’d ran the inaugural event back in 2006 and was determined to get back from injury to run this years race. Apparently 2008 had been a wash out with awful weather so I didn’t miss much anyway. I’d guessed I wasn’t up to my former pace and didn’t expect to break my PB but I was hoping to come in under 3:40. Training had gone well since I started again back from injury in March. Joining the Harriers has really helped not only with my speed, from our Tuesday sessions and races but has also helped getting the miles under my belt on our Thursday night 7 milers - which invariably involve my getting lost and trying to keep up with someone who looks like they know where their going, only to realise after 9 miles in, that they probably don’t My long Sunday runs have also been helped by going out with another Harrier newbie, Laurie. So my training has gone well with little sign of my previous injury. I also even entered a 5 mile race last weekend and won the age category, my first ever running prize.

All last week was spent scouring the various long range weather forecasts and the weather looked to behaving itself, just as it had on my previous 2 marathons here.

We arrived in Jersey on Friday and booked into our accommodation in St Helier and I went about my light training as well as recceing the route. It’s a lovely route along very quite country lanes from the capital St Helier out and up to the North Coast, down past the airport in the west, along cycle paths to Corbiere at Jersey’s South Western tip, returning to St Aubin via an old railway walk then along the coastal esplanade with St Aubin’s bay and Elizabeth Castle out in the bay on your right, back to St Helier.

Sunday morning came and the weather was perfect at the start, overcast and not too warm. There didn’t seem too many club runners, less than previous years anyway. I wore my club vest and whilst waiting at the start a short guy with glasses came up to me and said “How are Syd and Bill?”, apparently he ran with Islwyn a few years ago.

30 minutes into the race the weather changed, the cloud lifted and the sun shone throughout the rest of the race. After around 7 miles comes the “hilly” section. If you can call it that. Life with the Harriers has shown me that it should really be called undulating as it’s really a very steady climb and then it just undulates up to around 350-400 feet. I went through half way at 1:35 and thought I’d probably gone too fast, for me at least. As the thoughts came into my head and I was thinking of slowing up a guy came alongside and said “Didn’t you run this 2 years ago? Andy isn’t it??!” That gave me quite a lift and I ran alongside him for the next 6 miles. We both struggled around 21 miles as the heat really started to take its effect, certainly on me anyway. He slowed down considerably and I pushed on as best I could. Around 21 miles there’s a steady descent for a while, it’s also very shaded so I picked up a little there. The last 3-4 miles were tough going. Around St Aubin’s bay you could see St Helier in the distance across the bay. It looked like 20 miles away and I made a conscious effort not to look over until I got within the last mile. To be honest I don’t remember too much about the last mile. I started to get dizzy as the heat really took it’s effect and I just plodded on. I finally regained some sense after I saw the 26 mile marker. The crowds were out and the support was fantastic. It’s pretty well supported around the island anyway but at the finish it was incredible. I turned into a shaded street and could see the barriers marking the finish, I turned slightly right and over some cobbles to the finish.

That’s my sixth marathon, a mere novice in some Harriers eyes but I would say those last 2 miles were the hardest I’ve ever done. They were harder than the year I PB’d here and harder than when I did London with an Army Backpack on in 2008 but it’s just great to be back.

I’ve got a week’s holiday here now and I’m looking forward to an easy run tomorrow with Mark, the guy I met 2 years ago and again at halfway. I’m looking forward to next year as well as London in April.

See you all next week.

Ooops forgot to mention. I finished in 3:21:30 and was 36th overall and 5th in my category

Here’s a link to the website…
If you scour it closely you’ll see my ugly mug beaming out at you wearing my old club’s vest… http://www.jersey-marathon.com

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27/09/2009 by Ivan.

On the journey to Llanbedr with Lou and Mark, Lou interrupts my riveting tale about what I had to eat and drink the night before.

“Right, both of you – as neither of you have recced this route, I’m going to talk you through the course, so you won’t get lost. You go along the flat in the village for a bit, and then uphill on the road, and then uphill on the hill, then when you get to the first proper hill, you go uphill, and then a bit of down, and then up the really really big hill, and along a ridge, then down to a stream, then through the woods – with a bit of uphill and some downhill, followed by the last hill”

“OK, Lou – you lost me at the village. I think my strategy will be to follow someone in front who knows where they’re going. Hopefully that’s everyone doing the race except for me, and er. Mark”

15 minutes before the race, I was surprised, alarmed but somehow reassured by the sight of Vanessa and Matthew eating bagels. I was also told by Vanessa that this had been preceded by a big piece of chocolate cake before they left home. I had imagined the Lawson pre-race breakfast regime would be one of 6 am alarms with scientifically weighted out porridge, followed by a food tapering programme until the start of the race. So mesmerised was I by this unexpected spectacle of cavalier bagel eating, that I temporarily forgot my reserve and asked if I could pinch one. They were very tasty. Also, I was to find out later, this bagel eating strategy was to pay dividends to the Lawson family.

Sue Ashton kindly took our £5 for the race entry whilst informing us that this was exceptional value for money as we got a lot of miles for our fiver.

Lots of Harriers were standing around earnestly pouring over maps. I tried to pick out the ones that most looked like they knew where they were going. My strategy would be to hang on to their shirt-tails until they got too fast, or too slow, and then I would attach myself like a limpet to some other human compass.

There was a truly impressive number of Harriers – both male and female turning up for this event. I believe the vast majority had either done the race before, or recced it more times than Vanessa had birthday cakes presented to her on Saturday. I was quite worried at one point over the last two weeks that Dick had developed a severe case of obsessive compulsive Black Mountain reccying disorder. However, as we will discover later, this OCRD was to bear fruits for Dick. It was certainly to prove more fruitful than those in denial that a peak at the map beforehand might be beneficial.

At the start I had to reach for my sunglasses – nothing to do with the sun – just to shade my eyes from Gareth Jones’ dazzling attire of United Jack shorts and fluorescent Kanadia trail shoes.

Although conditions were remarkably clement for the time of year – clear skies and temperatures in the 20’s – Gill Stott was taking no chances. Her 60 litre rucksack complete with overnight bivvi stove, 5 season sleeping bag, 20 day expedition rations and a 4 man tent did appear to be weighing her down slightly – but not dampening her irrepressible spirit and good humour. It was canny training for the OMM and as she beat her husband, she now has proved herself worthy of carrying all their kit for the OMM. Bit of an own goal there Gill.

So, the race. Well, it was long and hilly. Actually, it was very long, and very hilly. I think there were 3 big hills in it, but my maths isn’t good so there could have been more, but there definitely weren’t less. There were lots of little hills as well, and lots of downhill – but I can’t recall too much flat – other than a couple of superb ridge runs. The scenery was truly stunning – unsurprisingly comprising more hills – near hills and far hills, trees, woods (more about those later), valleys – and all bathed in an abundance of glorious sunshine. The only downside of the glorious sunshine was that it was hot. Fortunately I’d had the foresight to ask Mark if I could pinch his water bottle about 5 minutes before the start of the race. I hadn’t even considered water – being a novice to this fell running game I assumed there would be water stations. A couple of well placed streams provided the essential rehydration substance . However, I still arrived at the finish with my head and mouth feeling like I’d spent a month in the desert with nothing to drink but a crate of red wine.

The beginning of the race was as Lou had described – up basically, with a bit more up and a lot more up after that. Just when you were convinced you must be at the top of Mount Everest or at least Pen Cerrig-calch, you would realise you had reached a false summit and the true summit lay tantalisingly in the distance. After Pen Cerrig-calch had been bagged, there was a brief period of running on something which resembled a path. I had Andy Blackmore firmly in my sights here. Esther and I followed him for a good 15 minutes or so. He looked strong, he looked confident, more to the point, he looked like he knew where he was going. I tucked in behind him looking forward to a nice 15 mile navigational free run in his slipstream. Suddenly, he sat down. “I’m just having a little rest” he said. “But you can’t! “ I thought “you are our guiding navigational beacon of hope”. He didn’t look like he was about to do anything more strenuous than open up his sandwiches. Despondent Esther and I trudged on – negotiating a bracken forest to arrive at our first stream.
It was after this point that the false summits really came into their own. The bracken infested vertical climb up to the summit of Pen y Relentless Slog Gadair Fawr proved to be quite a sociable occasion. As Esther and I seemed to have given up competing with each other because basically we were going at the same pace, we had a nice chat and caught up on events in each other’s lives for the last 6 months. Despite the convivial chat, we managed to catch up with Luke and Mark. This is the first (and I am sure the last) time I have ever encountered Luke and Mark half way through a race. I worried for one minute I was back in the Amsterdam coffee shop hell suffering the hallucinogenic effects of dodgy dope cake.

“You’re in a race. Stop talking”. Bellowed Luke, seconded by Mark. We ignored them and continued toiling and chatting until we reached the summit. On the knee wrecking descent we caught up with Andy Stott and Andy Hughes. It occurred to me at this point that we have an excess of Andy’s in the club, but just at that moment – when breath was in short supply, it was good economisation to utter “Hello Andy’s”. We arrived at the second stream like 4 rabid, slathering beasts – all desperately taking in as much water as possible before the steep slog up the other side of the valley. Hand over hand on the fence wire, we hauled ourselves up the grassy bank.

At the top we had the cheery (and it turns out incorrect) news from James (our budding economist – who needs to try harder at numbers) that Esther and I were 3rd and 4th lady – in fact, we were 4th and 5th at that point. At the prize giving I noticed that none of the leading 3 ladies looked like men – which can sometimes be the case in these competitions – so it was just a case of sloppy accounting on James’ part. Anyway, other than that, he did a great job and it was lovely to see his smiling (or was it grimacing?) face – he did mention that he was cold, but that problem could easily be solved if he just ate a bit more. I should have mentioned that the Lawsons had a surplus of cakes and bagels for general consumption.

This was the point at which the long awaited “nice ridge walk” I had been promised, arrived. It was indeed very lovely. I worried a bit that I was finding it a bit too lovely. I did quite a bit of looking around and admiring the scenery and commenting to Esther about its loveliness. I realised that perhaps I shouldn’t be focusing on scenery and enjoyment, and be getting down to the gritty business of having a knarly, hard, unpleasant time – i.e. I should have been running a bit faster. Esther said her energy levels were dipping and that she was having a gel, and would I like one. I declined on the grounds that I didn’t want to deprive her of a gel she might need later on. About 5 minutes later, the effects of this ‘rocket fuel’ propelled her down the hillside like a chamois in sight of its prey. It’s prey was a red speck in the distance – a fellow competitor – i.e. someone in front who knew where they were going. She tore through bracken and brambles with the agility of a gazelle leaving the poor fat knacker (me) trailing and flailing around in her wake. Only one thing for it I thought. “Er, Est – could I have one of those gel things please?” She very generously gave me her last gel.

We were now entering the woods – without a fellow competitor in sight. Oh dear – I thought – not a good place to be when I haven’t a clue where we’re going, and Esther has only done this race once before. However, it all began well – we followed the red and white tapes diligently, until, well, we couldn’t see any more. We had been running about 10 minutes up some random forest track before I realised Esther had stopped to consult her map and compass. Oh dear – I thought – not a good sign.

“I think we are going the wrong way” Est announced “we’re heading North West when we should be heading South West”.

“Oh, that’s a shame. It looks like there’s a clearing a bit further on – and then we can, you know, see stuff, and maybe we can get back on track”

“No, Niki – we are going completely in the wrong direction. We need to turn back and get on the right path”

I reluctantly had to concede that Esther had a point. It did not make any sense to continue in the wrong direction just because it was nice and sunny ahead and we would be out of the woods. We headed back into the thick of the woods, despondent that our brains hadn’t saved our legs. Esther continued to navigate us out of the forest and back on the right track – I have no idea how she managed it – other than genius, cunning and brilliance.

“I recognise this track” she said euphorically. It was then only 15-20 minutes or so to the top of the last hill and checkpost, where we began to forget our navigational crisis and focus on our imminent death by thirst crisis. Orange juice and lemonade was voted our No. 1 fantasy drink. Est politely begged the marshal for water, and he offered us the remaining dribble of his carbonated water. The end was now firmly in sight. Sue Ashton was taking photographs on the final descent and told us that Dick and Vanessa were in front. It was at this point we realised that our navigational error had cost us dear, but then, that’s what fell racing is all about – you can be the fastest person in the world – but you need to be running in the right direction. Vanessa was a worthy No. 1 Female Chepstow Harrier to cross the finish line – in 4th position. It was her birthday too so what better birthday present could she have had. Well done Vanessa – and thanks for the bagel!

On the very final descent, past all the Essex Scouts on a hill walk, I thought I saw Dick ahead. This spurred me on – the competitive spirit kicking in (eventually after 16 miles) and I hammered down the trail, only to reach the bottom and discover two things 1) it wasn’t Dick, 2) I finally understood what people meant when they talked about their legs turning to rubber. I thought it was highly probable that my legs would collapse underneath me – which would have given me a nice rest, but sadly they didn’t – so Est and I slogged up the final small uphill bit to the finish line and as we’d agreed half way round – crossed it together. Upon crossing the line she said “So, it’s b*ll*cks that you don’t need to recce it then”.

Lou was next female Harrier in, looking as fresh as a daisy, but having had some foot trouble along the way. Gill was another to arrive beaming from ear to ear – complete with her OMM training pack and glow that we all get when we beat our male partners!

Colin mysteriously appeared quite some time after the prize presentation. I believe he had got lost, found himself outside a pub (funny that) in some random village which wasn’t Llanbedr, persuaded some locals to take pity on him and give him a lift to the finish. And he’d recced it!

Our leading 3 men won the Team Prize – Paul Murrin, Matthew and Steve Caldwell – all having had really excellent runs. Dick won 1st MV60 prize, and Gareth won 2nd MV60 prize. A fantastic effort by our men. However, I think it was also a fantastic effort by Chepstow Harriers women – but no team prize or Vets prizes were awarded for any women – presumably due to the small number of women taking part. But we’re not bitter – much.

The event was rounded off perfectly by Lou and Gill driving 10 drunk blokes from Kent to Crickhowell. They were on a walking and beer-drinking weekend, and were halfway through the day’s walk when they found the pub in Llanbedr and remained there until they’d given up any ideas of walking over the next hill to Crickhowell – and had resigned themselves to getting a taxi when they could no longer stand. They were certainly very lively and entertaining, and Lou and Gill generously spared them the taxi fare by shuttling them back to their hotel.

A massive thank you for Lou for a fantastic post Black Mountains party in the evening to celebrate Vanessa’s birthday. The pasties and puddings were awesome. A perfect finish to a perfect day.

Photo by Alastair Tye, more here http://picasaweb.google.com/alastair.tye/BlackMountains#

Photo by Sue, more at http://picasaweb.google.com/gerry.ashton/BlackMountainsFellRace2009?feat=email#

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25/09/2009 by Ivan.

A week is a long time when climbing a volcano, especially one that can bite back. I found this out when caught in its sulphur cloud at the crater’s edge, lucky for me, my mountain guide ‘Franko’ had his wits about him.

I had excellent company for the week and would recommend this holiday to anyone who would like a change from running up Sugar Loaf.

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22/09/2009 by Ivan.

These will be taking place at the Bridgend Gwent League (11th Oct)

Entries will be taken on the day by Mr Chris Price at the Cwmbran Harriers Tent. Entry forms are on line to download at the East Wales Web Site or you can fill one out at the Cwmbran Tent on the day fee of £1 payable at the time of entry.

http://www.eastwales-rab.com/

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21/09/2009 by Dick.

Tuesday’s session is 6×800 metres on the Link Road at your 5k pace with 400 metres recovery.

Then straight after, we’re putting on a special cakes, kit and raffle evening to encourage members to use the Leis Ctre bar more often. There’ll be some tasty cakes, a display of Club kit to try on and a fun raffle with interesting prizes. A great way to wind down after a hard run.

On Thursday it’s that old favourite the Mathern 7. You can view the route on the Training & Coaching page.

If you like a challenge, the next event in our fell race series is the Black Mountains 17 miler starting at noon on Saturday at Llanbedr, just north of Crickhowell. Excellent marathon training but not to be lightly undertaken. There are some steep ups and downs and plenty of rocky terrain, and you need some navigational sense. But a reasonably quick runner can tag along with runners who know where they’re going. Enter on the day for about a fiver - see me or one of the fell fraternity if you’re contemplating it.

Finally a reminder of the Sunday morning Piercefield Park cross-country training  sessions. Meet LC top car park at 10. Excellent training even if you’re not planning to do the xc races. 

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20/09/2009 by Ivan.

Date for your diary :

Sue & Gerry are organising the presentation of the awards for the fell series as a social / training gathering at their house in monmouth on 22^nd November. There will be a choice of runs on offer and some food to follow. It is open to all club members. One of the runs will be a recce of the Kymin winter fell race route. The other a flat riverside run.

More details will follow.

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18/09/2009 by Ivan.

Well I didn’t run, but Marianne did.

The pair of us set out for the East Midlands badlands this weekend as Marianne had decided that she’d like another crack at the Nottingham marathon. We both ran this last year, but I’m older and wiser so took on supporting and cheering this time. This is a very well organised big city race, with both a marathon and half marathon running simultaneously.

The day began with almost perfect conditions, a cool temperature and patchy cloud to keep the sun at bay. After much trials and tribulations about which shoes, socks, gels, water bottles, pills, ipods and things to take, she was ready to join the 1,300 marathon runners and 7,000 half-marathon runners. I must check to see whether deciding which shoes to wear 15 mins before the start is in the text book?

I had an entertaining day, doing interval sprints around Nottingham to cheer in as many places as possible. I did get one or two strange looks as I went flying past people in jeans. At mile one Marianne was looking comfortable and gave a quick wave. The leading Keynans were obviously being a feeling a bit grumpy as they didn’t wave. But then I guess you wouldn’t if you’d just run the first mile in 4:50!

One of the worst parts of the course is when the half-marathoners turn for the finish, and the marathoners have to start a second, different, loop so I stationed myself here to keep them going. Marianne ran past looking good and shouted out something about her half way time. I thought it sounded good, but didn’t really catch it, as I was trying to decide which the best looking burger stall was. Well, a supporter’s got to keep well fuelled!

Marianne said that the support around the course was excellent, especially for the marathon runners in the second half. Her supporting highlight, apart from my cheering obviously, was the two or three groups who shouted: “Come on Chepstow”, shortly followed by “Where is Chepstow?”

For some foolish reason I then went to cheer at 24 miles, where I soon remembered why I wasn’t running. The pain and suffering on some people’s faces brought it all flooding back. Fortunately, not everyone was struggling as Marianne came storming past me, looking strong.

After a quick sprint across to the finish, I saw flying down the home straight overtaking a couple of women who’d almost collapsed to claim a top-10 female placing and a PB by about 10 minutes. She ran an excellently paced race, going through halfway in 1:38 and maintaining that pace to finish in a gun time of 3:17:41, although her chip time was over a minute quicker. Destroying my PB and a few other male harrier PB’s as well I should imagine! Marianne also came very close to breaking the longest standing female club record, her gun time was just 3 seconds slower than Sue Ashton’s 21-year old female club marathon record!

In summary, a well organised and supported big city race, and an excellent day out for us which we both enjoyed with Marianne running another cracking marathon.

PS I see from the official results that fellow harrier Royston Toon also ran again this year. Sorry I would have cheered if I’d seen you, hopefully you had a good race.

Comment from Marianne:

I recommend the course for anyone interested in doing a city marathon/half. The only problem with doing the marathon is the split at 13 miles, which can be a bit hard work when everyone is shouting ‘only a few metres to go’! The 2nd half is generally flat and out in the country a bit but there was still some good support (plenty of water and sugary things available).
Matt did a great job on supporting - he kept me going when I was going through some rough patches.

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17/09/2009 by Ivan.

Report by Laurie - thanks. 

From the published results 9 runners from Harriers took part with 4 men & 5 ladies competing. Conditions were very good with a 9.30am start avoiding the hottest part of the day with the slightly chill air being warmed by a mainly blue sunny sky.

The organisation of the event, from my limited knowledge, could not be faulted, from being clearly signposted shortly after leaving the motorway to the results being printed & on view minutes after competitors finished through to the awards presentation & conclusion. The largely flat fast course was lined with enthusiastic spectators & helpful marshals at many points along the scenic rural route having started & finished close to the Town centre.

Having run my first ever race in March this year my biggest issue has been pacing myself so as not to finish races close to exhaustion of hospital proportion. Running with Harriers, joining Andy Green on his marathon training & the purchase of a Garmin sports GPS have all helped to temper this a little. This was my most ‘controlled’ effort to date but still meant a drop off in pace in 2nd half of race whereby I could only watch as people of all ages & gender cruised by. Ultimately I was chuffed to do 1:27:52 beating my only other mark in this distance by over 4 minutes this having been during the Llanelli waterside event in the typhoon season earlier this year. Beating my 90minute target was hugely pleasing.

Andy G. was pleased with his time & like myself enjoyed the whole event, this being part of his build up to his next marathon in Jersey. Bill Bewg got in well under 2 hours beating nearly half the field many of whom may have been not far off half his age, for which he earns my respect!

As a ‘newby’ I know nothing of the other Harriers performances relative to their own expectations but hope they enjoyed the event as much as I did.

My special thanks to Brett for offering & providing the wheels & company on the day along with Bill neither of whom I had met until 7am that morning. I would recommend this event to everyone it was exceptional.

For full results ….  http://www.chippenhamhalfmarathon.co.uk/results.aspx

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16/09/2009 by Dick.

Now the season’s almost upon us we’ll be starting our regular Pearcefield Park XC training sessions this Sunday at 10.

We’re planning to run these sessions on most Sundays (sometimes on Saturdays) except when there’s a clash with an actual XC fixture.

This is a great opportunity to get out on the country and attain the special fitness you need to do well in these events. And of course the leg strength and stamina you gain will always give you better performance on any surface or event.

This season some juniors will be joining in so it’ll be a great Club atmosphere.

We’ll meet in the top car park of the Leisure Ctre, by the field, at 10 to jog over to the Park. If you’re a little late just come over and find us.

Hope to see you there.

Dick 

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