RingOFire Race Report

RingOFire Race Report

The RingOFire is a 135 mile foot race circumnavigating the island of Angelsey along the coastal path over 3 continuous days, with an accumulative ascent of around 13,500ft. It is in its third year now and I am sure it will become one of the "must do" races. Completing the race also earns you 4 UTMB points which illustrates just how tough this race is. The previous two years that it has been held there is been at least a 50% drop out rate.

As usual my training has been sporadic at best, a month before the start whilst supporting a friend on his first iron distance triathlon I somehow managed to damage my calf muscle in both legs (again!) simply by walking around. Over the winter i think i need to do some serious work on getting this sorted. A couple of weeks before the event I was still having trouble with my left calf. I even tried to wimp of the event asking if I could defer to the following year, as I expected it was too late for that, so being a tight arse there was nothing else to do ......time to MTFU!

Day 1 - Holyhead Breakwater Park to Amlwch

Day 1 is 35.7mile starting at 13:00 which thankfully allowed me to get a good sleep at home and then travel direct to the start line, at least that would be one good nights sleep I would have. I decided to get there as registration opened in order to get one of the trackers that had been available so that my wife and a few select friends could follow me from the comfort of their home.
I had been forewarned to take day 1 as easy as possible so that day 2's 66 miles would be as easy as possible. As is normally the case all thoughts of how to run the race finished as soon as we started ans I just went with the flow. That flow was way too fast!

At the point of leaving Holy island it was confirmed to me that I was totally useless at navigation and this was my biggest feat about entering this race but I kept saying to myself how can it be "just keep the sea to your left". The first place I could go wrong, I went wrong. Time for some different tactics, follow everyone else!

At some point through day 1 I met up with Chris Campbell, we chatted and seemed to have a similar pace whilst both agreeing it was too fast. However, we were feeling good so just cracked on. We finished day 1 in good spirits and in a decent enough time of 6hrs25mins.

Despite finishing before 7pm the only thing the early finish allowed me to do is faff with my kit for a couple of hours longer than expected, the most crucial part was deciding what shoes to wear. I love my Hokas but I knew the terrain was going to be much more technical with a number of rocky beaches but I have never ran this sort of distance in anything other than Hokas.
That night was spent in a communal sports hall so you can imagine the wonderful noises echoing around the place and the fact that other athletes wouldn't be finishing until much later meant for a restless night.
There wasn't that many people in the hall when I arrived so I had the pick of the place, so I found a decent space laid out my sleeping bag and then went for a much needed warm shower followed by hot food being served in the canteen. Unfortunately upon my return I found that a live musician had setup right next to my bed, amp and all "awesome just what I wanted", although it was actually quite nice to listen to I just wished it was a little further away. I probably only managed a couple of hours sleep at best.

Finish of Day1

Day 2 - Amlwch to Aberffraw

Day 2 is 65.9 miles this time just like day 3 starting at 06:00. Not even needing my alarm I decided to get up earlier than most at around 4am, my head was spinning with the day that lay ahead so I thought I may as well get up and get some breakfast and a gallon of coffee. I also made the decision to give my Salomon Speedcross a go today due to the techincal terrain that I assumed I would be coming across.

Outside I met up with Chris again and we decided to start off the day together and see how it goes. Once again we ended spending the whole day together and when I mean all day I mean 15hrs 22mins of it.

To be honest this day was just a bit of a blur starting off with lovely hilly countryside and then turning into either horrible rocky beaches or punishing tarmac roads, it may have only been a small percentage that is like this but it felt continuous.

As we meandered through Beaumaris and the seafood festival that was taking place a considerable amount of rain decided to descend on us, I hate the rain because with that normally comes coldness which I usually struggle to shake it was now decision time, put waterproofs on and overheat or just keep on trucking, unusually for me I just kept on going which turned out to be the correct choice, after a short while it had stopped and I was dry in no time.

Throughout day 1 I had been taking on coke which is something I never normally do as it always leads to stomach problems but it turned out fine, wow its a miracle I thought, I am able to fart and be confident it wont have lumps in! Day 2 was not the same, at the halfway point just outside Beaumaris I had to go, I couldnt hold on any longer, kindly a home owner allowed participants to use his bathroom just by the checkpoint (he may have retracted that offer after I left), I felt much better but was still "indecisive" for the rest of the day. Another lesson learnt.

Coming in to a much needed checkpoint

Towards the end we (the royal we) made a navigational error, it may have only cost us about 20 minutes but it frustrated Chris (I found out he was also a part time rally co-driver), we were getting tired and just wanted to get to the end.
Darkness fell and the miles just seemed to take longer and longer, especially the beach sections. Eventually we arrived at the finish tired, hungry and stinky.

My feet didn't feel good but I was surprised that it was just the one blister on the bottom of my foot and a bit of a stiff ankle. Again being the ultra guru that I am I didn't have a clue what to do so I just left it and hoped it would miraculously be gone in the morning.
There was some food at the finish but no showers which I hadn't prepared for, Helen Pickford (3rd Lady overall) kindly offered some babywipes to clean myself up as best as possible, got a couple of pot noodles down me and tried to get my head down for what was left of the night.

Day 3 - Aberffraw to Holyhead Breakwater Park

Day 3 the final day of a mere 33.4 miles this time I was going with my tried and trusted old pair of slippers (Hokas). It was a bit surreal in the morning I hadn't bothered getting anything ready the night before and it was 5am when I managed to get myself out the sleeping bag. I took a look at my feet, oh dear that blister was now the size of the ball of my foot. Still no idea what to do I stuck a blister plaster over the top of it without first popping it (another lesson learnt), another plaster on my little toe from rubbing and took an ibuprofen to try and loosen up my ankle.
I didn't feel like any food but managed about half of my porridge before realising I needed to pack my things up and get a move on, before I knew it it was 6am. I met up with Chris again and we both agreed it would be rude not to finish the event together, he had been an great companion of similar ability and I was learning a lot from him. Only 56 started day 3, the other lucky ones were still tucked up in there sleeping bags as we left.

Bugger I forgot to fill up my water bottles.

For me this was the best day, the weather was fantastic the scenery was spectacular and that finish line felt achievable!

All except for that last point stayed with me until the end. About ten miles in we hit a long uphill on road and then suddenly I got a shooting pain from that dodgy ankle, it brought me to a sudden stop too painful to walk suddenly I had doubts that I could finish. I took some Ibuprofen and Cocodomol and tied my buff (found another use!) as tight as I could around were it hurt most and walked for a little while, eventually the drugs did there job. The pain came and went for the rest of the day, coinciding with the times that I took my concoction of pills, whatever would get me to the end.

I am not sure if it was the pills, the fact that I was so close or both but when I reached the area before Holy mountain the pain subsided and I was feeling really strong again. Unfortunately Chris had slowly been on a downward spiral his feet and chins were starting to hurt really bad and he had been having the gut problems I had the day before.

I couldn't leave him at this point so I made the decision to stay with him until the end no matter what. After all if it wasn't for him I would probably still be lost on day 1.

The last honesty book section

The last checkpoint was reached which was an honesty book section whereby you take a page out of the book and hand it in at the next checkpoint to prove you had been there. Now it was just a small matter of Holy mountain.

Passing south stacks

I can see the finish line!

We made it across the finish line of day 3 in 8hrs30mins which brought the total time to 30hrs17mins.

Well earnt

What an amazing event, great support and a beautiful place.

Hoka One One Stinson ATR Review

Hoka One One Stinson ATR Review

Intro

The lovely people at www.ultramarathonrunningstore.com asked me to review the latest pair of Hoka Stinson ATR. you can grab a pair from here or have a look at the rest of the range here

First of all this is my own personal point of view, I dont deny that I am a Hoka convert so 'possibly' slightly biased. For that reason I tried to focus a chunk of the review on the differences between my previous pair of Hokas which are the Stinson Trail and these pair of Hoka Stinson ATR. I also run in Salomon Speedcross3 and Skechers Trail.

Normally I wear a size 8UK and this is the size I have been using on my old Stinson Trail shoes. On steep descents I would often find my toe bashing at the front of the shoe, so much so that I have now lost my big toe nail, I am not sure if this is a common issue with the shoe. With this in mind I decided to go a half size bigger, as I will reveal later I am not sure this was the best decision.

Initial thoughts

Introducing the Stinson ATR:

When I first opened the box and looked at the shoe the most noticeable difference for me was the reinforced rear plastic material and the overall tougher feel to the upper of the shoe. My initial reaction was "Where can I find some mud!".

Comparison pics:

Similar cushioning - or slightly more?

The same tread

The fit

I roamed around the house just getting a feel for the shoe, there was not that instant slipper like feel with these and I believe this is due to the upper material change (which is sad) but overall definitely for the better. Running in the previous version in overgrown areas there was always a fear in the back of my mind that I would rip the upper material when it caught on some thorns etc (it was that thin and light!) this never happened but possibly slowed me down subconsciously being more careful with foot placement. I found it strangely easy get thorns and bits of stick stabbing into the upper material.
Not with these bad boys, I could tell they had a solid trail running feel to them that would survive much hardier terrain.

Going up that half size gave me ample room especially in the toe area, I have wide feet and struggle to fit into shoes like Salomon.

It was difficult to tell how the ride would feel just jogging on the spot in the kitchen......time for a run!

Actually running

For the first run out I decided to give it a good blast in the hills, nothing too technical but plenty of varying terrain. I had my next challenge in 2 weeks time www.ringofire.co.uk which is a 135mile multi-day ultra marathon (report can be read here soon) so I needed to get some good miles in I know you shouldn't with a new pair of running shoes but these are Hokas! No rules

Shiny!

Typical terrain

Typical terrain 2

Not so shiny anymore

The shoe turned out to be a much more solid shoe giving me the feeling that they would withstand harsher technical terrain than its predecessor and will be a joy to use in the coming winter months.

Racing down steep hills gave me no toe bashing at all which felt amazing. Even if I had gone with my normal shoe size I don't think I would suffer this problem, they have fixed my only gripe with the Stinson Trail yay!

The overall ride felt a little higher but again this might be due to the fact that my older pair have seen around 700miles of use. I also suffer with weak ankles and often go over on them in all types of shoes and on most runs (really annoying!) I only had one roll in these over the full 20miles.

Going over rocky/lumpy surfaces in the previous shoe would lead to the shoe almost twisting around my foot, again because of the change to the upper they gave much more stability.

Conclusion

So far I have run the 20mile training run and I also completed day 1 (35miles) of the RingOFire using the Hoka Stinson ATR. I can honestly say that they are just as comfy on the very long runs, my feet felt just fine with no sign of blistering or heating with the added bonus of feeling more confident over the trickier terrain.

Pros:

• Better protection
• More stability
• Looks are improving
• No toe bashing!
• Seamless upper

Cons:

• Loss of that slipper like feeling
• Not ideal for extremely technical terrain

These will be getting a lot of use over the winter!

Double Ironman Enduroman Race Report 2014

Double Ironman Race Report

Prep/Training

Training was going great until 6 weeks prior to the event. The bike was mostly spent on the turbo with the long weekend rides combining a few 100milers, two 120miles and one 150 mile ride and when the weather allowed a once a week 40mile round commute to work and back. Halfway through my training I decided to switch plans because it was becoming just too time consuming and I was struggling to handle the commitment with a fulltime job, family and training (the usual double ironman training issues!). The switching of the plan helped my mindset tremendously as now I at least had a day off a week with much less swimming YES!

Then I manage to tear my left calf, it was probably my own fault for pushing too hard on my Tuesday brick sessions. At the beginning I wasn’t too disheartened I had two other disciplines I could keep working on and I usually heal quickly. This was all true except for the healing, 3 weeks later and still no running; it was not getting better (you know how it is, in your mind you think it will be OK but deep down you know it isnt but you decide to try out a run anyway only to find 1mile down the road it isnt). The bad luck started rolling in; the famliy car I was going to use to get us down, a nice big people carrier decided to die on me, “sh1t” I have three weeks to find a car, not only that I now have to cycle to work with a dodgy calf every day, training was hard enough I didn’t want to have to ride a bike aswell! :-) Then the last week and on taper I started to get the horrible feeling I always get prior to a big race, cold/flu like symptoms but this time it wasn’t taper induced my lovely daughter decided to give me a cold, I doused myself with as much cold medicine as I could and slept as much as possible, luckily it didn’t get to my chest until after the event.

My original goal was to get 36hrs with an ideal of around 30, now it was to just complete.

Swim 2:35:51

My ironman times have been between 1:09 and 1:20 so I thought 2:40 would be a reasonably time to aim for. Normally I go off too fast and for the remainder of the swim I am constantly trying to recover, fortunately from the off I seemed to find a nice relaxed rhythm which stayed for the entire swim. I hit a low point when a surge of cold water entered down the back of my wetsuit. I suffer terribly with the cold and often find that once I get cold I really struggle to get warm again. I remembered eddies advice from the briefing, if you get cold just push through which I did by having a pee to warm me up.

My crew were fantastic always there keeping an eye on me sat on the first pontoon from the swim start, I kept an eye on them to make sure they were still cheering me on and hadn't got bored already and I even managed a smile or a wave at them with each lap.

Cold set in again and my mind was desperate to ask how many laps I had left to go, I made it a couple more laps until I could wait no longer, I was convinced it was over halfway….it wasnt and I remember thinking to myself that that wasn’t a smart move.

The rest was just a dull blur until I what I thought was still three laps remaining they called out the last lap. What a wonderful feeling.

I took my time getting out having a chat with my crew as I walked up to the change tent, I was in no hurry because I knew I would not be able to eat anything despite being hungry because I was uncontrollably shaking by this point, once I was sat down and dried off I was able to eat the freshly cooked and still warm scrambled and bacon wrap yum. I was ready for the bike leg.

Bike 14:05:38

I took both my TT bike and my Road bike. My plan was to use the TT for as long as I could bare it and then switch over to the much comfier road bike for the remainder. I also use tubs on the TT bike and I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to mechanics, any issues and it would have been a swap rather than fiddling and making the situation worse.

I walked out of transition to the turning point to find all my crew with tshirts of me printed on them and a banner….an amazing boost!

At the start I decided to just go with the flow and go at what felt like a comfy pace but to take it easy up the hills. I had only been on the TT bike outside once just a week prior to the event to make sure the bike needed nothing fixing, it felt so good on the road it was a joy to just be riding!

The second or third lap I seen a guy that had had an accident, he didn’t look happy at all (unsurprisingly) and then he told me he couldn’t see! I stopped but he insisted I carried on after I made sure he had called Eddie to be picked up.

I purposely tried not to look at my watch, it was going to be a long enough day. The only time I looked was when I came in to see the crew to see how long each lap was taking this would allow me to consider how much food and water I should be taking on (my crew was new to this so I was giving the orders). After approximately 80 miles in I was still averaging 18mph, at this point I decided it was about time to start sticking to my original plan of 15/16mph before I blew my legs. I just couldnt go that slow I was finding the combination of the rolling roads and TT so enjoyable I only slowed down a little.

Not long afterwards I bumped into Grom so I introduced myself and we chatted for a while. Grom gave an invaluable tip which was to get as much of the bike done within daylight going slightly above what you should really be doing for this sort of distance to be able to cover as much as the bike leg in daylight. As soon as he mentioned it was like a light bulb switching on, it was so obvious! he may have even seen it in my face because soon afterwards he told me to get going which I did.

I didn’t really have a low point within this section apart from the obvious aches and pains of being in the aero position for as much of the 14 hours as I could handle, the rest again is a bit of a blur chatting to a few people asking how they are doing especially the triplers! I distinctly remember bumping into Claire a few times, each and every time she was smiling but I could tell she was having a hard time.

With only 4 or 5 laps remaining I was starting to get quite uncomfy but there was no point swapping bikes at this point, the light was fading I just wanted to get it done so I decided to start hammering the hills instead of spinning up them, after all I was not sure my calf injury would even let me complete a single lap which had always been on my mind. These last laps just felt better and better (maybe my memory is fading already!) especially coming into the turning circle, the applause and cheers were amazing.

Run 09:55:10

I took my time getting changed perhaps too long I was seizing up and I didn't want to get off that comfy chair, right it was time to get going, mind over body (it wouldn't be the last time I needed to say this).

As soon as I started running I knew my calf was going to be fine, whether or not it was the calf guards (which I don't normally wear nowadays) giving me a false impression I didn't care; the fact that both my legs were doing as they were told for the first time in 6 weeks was a great feeling. The laps were ticking off well and I still didn't really know what position I was in, I knew I was doing well and then I was told I was in 2nd place…”what!” I was thinking around 10th how can this be? I also knew T_C was somehow still behind me so I knew 2nd would soon be gone and there was still the matter of getting through a double marathon. I got back to my crew and asked them to find out how far back 4th place was, I remember thinking it would be fantastic to get a 3rd place and knowing how far back 4th was would allow me to pace correctly without hurting myself, I never did get the answer (or I dont remember getting told). Not long after I went over on my ankle twice on the same spot on two consecutive laps, I wasn't concentrating enough on the technical root section so I told myself off after the pain had subsided, took some ibuprofen and cocodomal to help with the pain and soon forgot all about it.

I think it was T_C’s second lap when he came thundering past me on the downhill section down towards the lake, I blinked and he was out of site. I just stuck to my plan to be as consistent as possible I started to get a real good rhythm running most of the lap including the hills the only walk section was the small section up towards the tennis courts and the section going up to the lodge.

It was just after a marathon distance that I hit the lowest point of the whole event I started getting really dizzy and couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, I decided to eat some ‘real’ food again and asked for a pot noodle. I walked as I ate it for a small section passed it back and collected it again when I returned. After two or three laps of this I felt so much better in fact the best I had felt for a while so I got cracking, that was all I needed.

With about 4 laps left I got chatting with T_C while we walked the hills it was great to finally speak to the legend, he kindly said that he was now just going for the finish and for me to take no risks in getting to the finish...a gent. The last lap of Enduroman you do it in reverse so that you get to high five everyone else still on the course, T_C asked to go over the penultimate start/finish line with me, as we did he put my hand in the air and told me I was a great athlete. What a compliment! That last lap in reverse was fantastic not only was I becoming a double ironman ……I won!

None if it would have been possible without my crew, they are 80% of the team effort that it takes to get someone across that finish line.

Thank you to everyone cheering me on throughout the day there are so many new faces it was difficult to take it all in, even without the win it would have gone down as one of the best events I have done, everyone is so welcoming its like an extended family

The goal for me on this event was to see just how far I could push my body and I was convinced that this would be my limit….unfortunately for my wife and family it isnt……..