Team Feed Me! Trailwalker 2007

Trailwalker 07

2007-07-16T14:25:00.000Z

Team FeedMe started by camping overnight in the campsite provided for participants. We had requested a 6am start to avoid being slowed down trying to pass teams with walking poles and big backpacks. We got as reasonable a night’s sleep as could be expected – for some reason all the other campers in our area wanted an early night too! It rained overnight and my Tesco tent magnified the sound in a way that made me wish I’d brought winter waterproofs, but it was dry enough by 5am when we took down the tents, Rob and Iain began packing the cars and Heather made The Best Porridge In The World.

On the start line we had a clear view of the likely winning teams. The Gurkhas had four teams entered (I think), three senior and one vets team. The Gurkhas always win and later our support crew gave us some clues as to why. Anyway, more on that in a while! There were a couple of army teams too. Not in uniform, unfortunately. Team FeedMe looked great in Foska skeleton vests and orange windproofs (an accident – I ordered red but was told, “we only do your size in mango”). After a bit of banter, the airhorn sounded and we were off. Reassuringly, the Gurkha teams set off at quite a relaxed pace. I resisted the temptation to mutter, “we can go faster than that!” and we jogged off gently.

You know it’s an Ultra when you get to the first gentle incline and half the field starts walking. That was part of our well-practised pacing strategy. Walk uphill, run the flats and the downhills. We were very careful about sticking to this tactic since our legs would have to last for 62 miles. I kept telling myself in the early stages, “10k is nothing. This is ten lots of nothing. That’s nothing,” to stay in a good state of mind. I had done this same event in 2005 and the enormity of the distance then gave me problems. Denial is a wonderful tool!

We got to checkpoint 1 (Harting Down) slightly ahead of schedule and stopped only briefly. Out support crew would be at checkpoint 2 (Hilltop Farm) almost 20km into the route. We picked up hydration packs at CP2, ate banana bread and set off again with the minimum delay. The support crew saw the Gurkhas’ pit-stop technique: the runners checked in and lay down whilst two more Gurkhas attended each runner. One changed the runner’s shoes and socks, the other fed him. Each Gurkha team had two support crew to carry their packs for them whilst they ran and they changed over too so that the “pack” Gurkhas were fresh too. No wonder the Gurkha support tents were so big!

8.3km of undulations took us to checkpoint 3 (Littleton Farm) where we barely paused before scooting off to the next checkpoint (Amberley) where we met our crew again. Lorna, Leon and Stu stopped here to change shoes and socks but my feet still felt great in my Nike Perseus. I took the opportunity to stuff my face with cheese rolls, more banana bread, sugary tea and isotonic, knowing there was a climb out of the checkpoint and we could walk for a while. Stage 5 is relatively long at just over 12km but after an initial incline it undulates gently before going downhill into the checkpoint at Washington. I was beginning to wish I had also changed shoes at CP4 but I still had just over 10km to go before the crew met us at Botolphs. In stage 6, there is about 2.5km uphill and most of the rest is gently downhill. Bliss!

At checkpoint 6 I changed my footwear, put compeeds on a few hotspots and glugged some more isotonic. Oh, and I stuffed my face again whilst a nice lady with a TV camera interviewed the rest of the team. Support crew access to checkpoint 7 (Devils Dyke) is difficult so we planned to meet the crew again at CP8. Between Botolphs and Devils Dyke there is about 3km of flat followed by a steep hill and some interesting undulations, so we made use of the flat bits and ran as much as we could. We stopped at CP7 only to pick up chocolate and swill down some squash, despite the Gurkha cooking tent that offered pasta, rice and sauce. I had a flashback to the last time I was there in 2005 – it was after midnight, I ached, I needed sleep, I felt too sick to eat but had to force down the pasta anyway, I took off my trainers and socks to confirm that both heels were blistered badly, and I still had over 30km to go. Bloody-mindedness got me through it that time! This year I felt good.

Between checkpoints 7 and 8 (Jack and Jill) it is quite hilly. We left CP7 running for about a mile then walked up a rather inconvenient hill and ran down the other side. Then it was uphill again to CP8 and the wonderful, fantastic support crew. By this time my feet were getting sore from pounding on chalk paths with loose stones ready to turn unwary ankles. One effect of fatigue is that you become less aware of balance and joint position and it gets difficult to compensate for a stone that suddenly moves under your foot. As a result, I was running carefully and walking on the steepest downhills because I sure as anything wasn’t going to get this far into an ultra to have to pull out with a sprain!

The next section was the longest at 13.8km and the crew would be at CP9 (Spring Barn Farm) Most of this section is gently undulating or downhill but we had to use some of our “time in the bank” because of fatigue and fuelling issues. We had all reached the stage of thinking, “this has been great but I just want to finish it and go home,” so we ran when we could with the person at the back (me!) setting the pace. Strangely, by this point my walking pace was, well, pants! but my running pace was OK and running felt easier on my legs than walking. At CP9 I dumped the hydration pack, ate what I could face and drank more isotonic. We only had 11km to go. I told myself, “you’d do 11k after work and not think about it, so get moving.”

Between CP9 and CP10 (Woodingdean) is only 5km but it contains a hill that under normal circumstances (i.e. not having just run 90km) would hardly register. However, it required slow, steady effort. CP10 has no support crew access and we didn’t stop. Check-in and go. Checkpoint 10 to the finish (in front of the grandstand on Brighton Racecourse) starts with a 3km gentle incline on a grassy track, which was fantastic rest (sort of…) for my legs. However, I regretted dumping my hydration pack at this point because I was getting the cold sweat of a proper hypo. Thank goodness for Stu’s Gummi Bears! I cadged a Werther’s from Lorna too and my fingers were so sausagey I had real trouble getting it out of the wrapper. After that it really is all downhill to the finish! We ran to the racecourse, had to walk a bit because the grass was so long I couldn’t lift my knees high enough to run, then ran partway around the racecourse to finish in a line, hand in hand, arms and heads held high.

Highlights for me: seeing Rob and Iain before the checkpoints and being "run in" with encouragement. Banana bread. Cheese butties. Big smiles from Tiger and Snoop. The incredibly cheerful support of the Gurkhas at every checkpoint. The finish! The pizza that the mr had waiting for me in the car at the end.

Low points: hypoglycemic wibbles, but at least I recognised them in advance and (hopefully) didn't whinge. Blisters. The second toenail on my right foot that was floating on its own blister by the finish.

This was a team of seven – I can’t emphasise enough just how important a fantastic support crew is. So Rob, Heather and Iain – if we’re going back to win it next year we’ll need you!

Rotary Across Wales Walk. All timings approximate.

2007-07-01T16:24:00.000Z

Apologies for the inaccuracies - I wasn't paying much attention to the navigation and my brain has blanked out nearly everything linked to discomfort.

Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0159hrs
Where am I and why am I awake?

Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0200hrs
Why is my phone beeping? Oh. Blast. Where did I stash those Geobars? And the brioche? And the isotonic? Is there coffee?

On a bus in Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0300hrs
Team Feed Me! met up in the foyer of the hotel at 2.30am and we walked to the pick up point, passing groups of young revellers who hadn’t been to bed yet. I can’t believe there are so many people in running and walking kit at this hour of the weekend! Nobody’s chatting much – I think we’re all mostly asleep and trying to catch an extra few minutes’ worth of shuteye before the action begins. I eyed the proliferation of walking-poles with trepidation. There would be a lot of careful dodging to do at the start.

Glandyfi, Saturday June 23rd 0400hrs, 0 miles
We piled off the bus and were directed up a lane. Have we started? Yes? Suppose we ought to run then. Not many runners in this event. A chap in front of us and a couple in Cancer Research vests set off like the clappers but we chose a rather sedate pace since we expected to be on our feet for at least 10 hours and wanted our feet to function afterwards. Soon we were going uphill and this meant walking. Tarmac gave way to forestry track and eventually fields. After a minor navigational blip, we were at checkpoint 1 at Nantyfyda, in a farmyard. By this time my right foot was giving serious gyp, so I stopped for ibuprofen, water, fruit and a shoe adjustment, then we were on our way again along Glyndwr’s Way. Checkpoint 2 was at Glaslyn but I may have been sleepwalking most of the way there. My memory blanked until…

Staylittle Village Hall, Saturday June 23rd, 0630hrs, 15 miles
Breakfast! Cup of tea, bacon, egg, toast, beans, sausage … Just what I needed! And I had a yogurt drink just to be healthy. I needed clean socks as the previous section was wet so had a quick change. Bliss despite the lack of dry trainers! We met the fast chap here (who had given himself a bit of a detour) and stopped for a decent rest here before setting off for Trefeglwys and checkpoint 4. Most of the section between breakfast at Staylittle and lunch at Llandinam is road. We followed our strategy of walking the uphills and running the flats and the downhills, with occasional uphill runs when we could clearly see a downhill coming soon.

Llandinam Village Hall, Saturday June 23rd, 1030hrs, 26 miles
Lunch! Bit early, but welcome all the same. I wish all long distance events were as well supported! The catering was magnificent and served with a smile. Bread, ham, pasta salad, burgers if we wanted them, fruit… and more ibuprofen as the first lot was wearing off. We met some of the other runners again here and stopped for a decent rest. The next section was uphill, hence walking, so we ate plenty too.

Bryndadlau, Saturday June 23rd, 1230hrs, 30 miles
I’ve never been so close to a wind farm before! A bit of boggy ground – at least we got over it before it was churned up by many feet – led to soggy socks again. Soon we were on the track through the wind farm, with the turbines whup-whupping away overhead. This section was easily runnable even on tiring legs. We turned onto a narrow, undulating tarmac road and followed a run-walk strategy to Devil’s Elbow and checkpoint 8. Beyond this, farm tracks took us to Black Gate, checkpoint 9, 36 miles in. The next section, through many farm gates, was again runnable in sections but by this time changing from walking to running needed mental preparation! On the downhill sections, tired quads made braking difficult and my main strategy was to let gravity do the work and just hope I could make my legs turn over quickly enough to keep up. A recipe for facial gravel? I got away with it this time! After checkpoint 10, at a picnic area just off the B4368, the route is through Ceri forest then turns on to a road, mainly downhill with about 100m uphill at the very end. We pelted down the downhill and my quads burned. Never has a final uphill been so welcome or so comfortable!

The Anchor Inn, Anchor, Saturday 24th June, 1440hrs, 42 miles
Yes indeed – the finish is in the bar! Only three people finished before us.

Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Sunday June 24th, 0800hrs
Hey, my legs feel OK! Hang on, I’ll just get out of bed….

…OWWWWW!

The District Double

2007-05-26T11:06:00.001Z

The latest “Team Feed Me!” training event involved running two challenging marathons on consecutive days to practise running when tired, running as a team, pacing discipline and refuelling on the move. We ran the White Peak marathon on Saturday 19th May and then the Brathay Windermere marathon on Sunday 20th May. We had a prearranged target time of “about 5 hours ish” for each event and a strategy for each race. This was three weeks after the Shakespeare marathon and four weeks after FLM so two of us (the lasses) still had the ghosts of previous marathons in our legs.

White Peak
Our strategy for the day was to get to 10 miles before the cut off (2 hours) then finish in 5 hours on a run-walk.
We started at Cromford Meadows Rugby Club near Matlock, where we were able to fuel up on bacon butties before the race began. One of the joys of running at an aerobic pace is that you CAN eat before running! From the rugby club, we were bussed to the start at Thorpe. This is a small event with about 200 runners. The run is over the Tissington and High Peak Trails. Both have compacted limestone and cinder surfaces on former railway tracks so normal running shoes were fine despite this being an off-road event. There was one road crossing just after the half way point, which was expertly marshalled. Water stations were plentiful despite the difficulty of access to the course from major roads. Starting on the Tissington Trail, the track climbs very gently up the dales to just beyond Parsley Hay, where we did an about turn at mile 12 then picked up the High Peak Trail. This trail runs level(ish) up to mile 21 then descends steeply (1 in 8 gradient!) in three stages down to the High Peak Junction at the Cromford Canal. After this we turned left along the tow-path towards the finish at Cromford Meadows.
We got to the 10 mile mark with ages to spare. There were some team discussions about what our eventual finish time should be and the team decision was that a finish time of under 5 hours would be a potential disaster for the next day’s running. On the steep descents we let gravity take over (wheeeee!) and walked up any inclines in the second half. Result: finished in 5:02, tired but not knackered. Fantastic event – take a picnic.

Team Feed Me! Near the finish of White Peak. From the left: Stu, Leon, me, Lorna

Brathay Windermere Marathon

Our team strategy today was to run-walk from the start. There were no cut-off times on the route and a very generous 8 hour cut off for the full 26.2 miles so we had no fears of a DNF unless some disaster stopped all forward motion. We agreed to run the flats and the downhills and walk all the uphills with the team member at the back (usually me!) setting the pace and choosing when to run.
This event was being held for the first time since 1986. It started and finished at Brathay Hall, Clappersgate, near Ambleside. The marathon coincided with Brathay Hall’s open day so there was a party atmosphere at the start and finish. Windermere is England’s largest lake and the marathon route goes anticlockwise around it. The marathon route is hailed as the most scenic in the UK. The route passes through Hawkshead, Newby Bridge, Bowness-on-Windermere and Ambleside. It is NOT flat. Water stations were frequent and well-stocked with water, energy drinks from SIS and Kendal mint cake.
Our pacing strategy worked well and although tiring, another 5 hour-ish marathon was well within our team ability. We finished in 5:05. I was surprised by how many runners (walkers!) we passed during the second half – I really thought we’d be crawling home last. At the finish, there was a catering van selling bowls of the best veggie chili I’ve ever tasted. With cheese. And bread. And cakes.

Next up: Rotary Across Wales Walk (at a trot?) then the real thing: Trailwaker 2007.

And finally.....

2006-12-11T15:59:00.000Z

I'm Stuart, the final member of the running team.

I attempted TW in 2003 with Lorna, and, like her, had to pull out after 40 miles. The combination of appalling weather, concerns about the safety of the support crew (otherwise known as 'my wife') and the pressure of being a nominal team captain proved too much. I consoled myself with the fact that by pulling out of the event onto support duties it enabled two of our team to finish - but that's a small consolation.

So, I'm the only one of the team not to have a successful Trailwalk completion under my belt!

This time, I'm relying very much on the support of the others in the team, who have completed the distance, to keep convincing me that I can get to the finish at the pace we're aiming for.

And for the support Crew

2006-11-28T09:10:00.000Z

I'm Rob aka Jeeves.

Veteran of TW 2006 with Four Fit Females (or was it Friends), where I was team driver and maker of Rob Tea. Its amazing what the thought of a cup of tea can do for a walkers morale. I suppose it helps when I live less than 15 miles from the start of the event.

My objectives for 2007 are not to put the Robmobile into a bush or play dodgems in a checkpoint car park. I didn't leave any noticable marks - Honest!!!

Me too!

2006-11-25T10:59:00.000Z

I'm Allison. I completed TW05 as part of The Feral Bananas team and rapidly warmed to the idea of doing it again faster - much faster!

This time, I will have:
a clearer focus on what we are trying to achieve
the benefit of experience
better footwear (!)
three-and-a-half fewer stones in weight hanging from my bones

Between now and July, I will be working hard on my speed endurance and learning what calorie-laden treats I can eat on the move without compromising pace.

We have an experienced team including the most excellent support crew and we have some planned training events to make sure we work smoothly together. I can't wait!

And introducing...

2006-11-11T15:35:00.000Z

Just a few steps behind and enjoying the view ...

I'm Lorna - already Of A Certain Age And Then Some, and a veteran of four TrailWalker starts and three TrailWalker finishes. And, having taken part in the event with each of the other three team members in different years, and with the reassurance of knowing that we have a skilled and experienced volunteer support crew (Heather, Iain and Rob), I have no doubt that we are capable of meeting the challenge we have set ourselves on July 14th 2007.

TrailWalker is an event that sounds deceptively straightforward. 62 miles, with a deadline of 30 hours ... what's so difficult about that? Any able-bodied person can churn out two-and-a-bit miles per hour. But there's more to it than that ...

- It's a TEAM event. There are no prizes for individuals. To "count" in the final results, the entire team has to pass through every checkpoint together and finish together. This can present difficulties if a team member is injured or if there are big differences in fitness levels. These difficulties are magnified as fatigue sets in.

Team selection is paramount and I'm confident that we have brought together a foursome who will be able to work effectively together. We will be doing some demanding training events together to identify and resolve potential problems beforehand. The biggest issue I can see at present is that Leon and Stu are going to have to accept a pace that they will find slow, and I may have to adjust to the unfamiliar position of being the rate-limiting person on the team.

- The South Downs are not easy terrain. The route undulates and the total of the ascents and descents is equal to going up and down Ben Nevis. The flint and chalk paths are unforgiving. We will all have to work on our speed-endurance, and, as a recent training event demonstrated, I have to learn not to lose speed on updulates.

- The weather can play a significant role. In 2003, Stu and I both pulled out at 40 miles as a result of unseasonal storms and worry about the safety of the support crew. In 2005, we were slowed by hot, humid conditions.

- It's a long, long way, and eating and drinking are vitally important. In the past three years, the support crew have provided us with all sorts of treats - banana cake, scrambled eggs on toast, freshly-cooked pasta in sauce - and the promise of some tasty food has often dragged our aching legs from one checkpoint to the next. This year, we won't be able to afford the luxury of sitting down and eating proper meals and will have to work out more imaginative ways of taking in sufficient calories.

Having given ourselves a 15-hour target, we'll have very little time for clothing adjustments, Compeed-stops and psychological wibbles, so everything will have to be Just Right beforehand.

I'm looking forward to this very different approach :o)

This is me!

2006-11-09T21:02:00.000Z

Hi - This is Me (obviously!) showing just how much you can 'enjoy' mile 25 of a marathon. And modelling the Team Feed Me Running Vest
:o)

I'm Leon - almost 'Of A Certain Age"
Enjoy silly challenges
and REALLY looking forward to this particular one. As painful and tough as it will be - I'm supremely confident that the team we have is capable of it.... and come 14th July, I'll be proved right
:o)
In the meantime, I'm training for a Spring Marathon which looks like it'll be London. And the 'interesting' prospect of shooting for a sub 3 hour effort. And with that foundation of training and fitness, to then get a bit more specific for the fun and games of TrailWalker.

That's the plan!