South Downs Way and Other Stuff

So let's get the usual "sorry about not updating" thing out of the way first. I always imagined this blog as a way to get across interesting new things about running plant powered and there just hasn't been all that many exciting new revelations to impart. Clearly I have not been pushing myself enough!

South Downs Way 50

Another year, another stab at the SDW50... This one is a little different as I wanted to treat it more like a very long training run rather than an A goal race. That made for an interesting day as I didn't have the usual fire lit under my bum to keep me pushing my limits. So in the end I finished with a fairly mediocre time, but feeling relatively fit and healthy. Well, as much as someone can be after 50 miles of rolling English countryside anyway.

So let's call it a win shall we? Goal was to make it through in less than 8 and a half hours without injuring myself, so mission accomplished.

Next Up

So with that done, what's in store for my poor little feet next?

Well, I'm going to have a stab at the Thames Path again. That should be worth a blog post, regardless of the outcome. Assuming I get to Oxford in less than 24 hours, that will be a big win. I'm keeping this attempt somewhat low key as I don't want to put any pressure on myself and to instead simply get out there and prove to myself I can do the longer stuff without exploding. Fingers are well and truly crossed for that one.

Once the TP is done, it is the North Downs Way 50 for me. As it is so close to lots of other races I'm planning for a solid, if not mind blowing, time that is similar to my SDW effort. Hopefully both of these races will go to plan and I'll be able to report back some positive life lessons.

There are a bunch of other races planned beyond that, but I'm focused on these two for now. It is all too much to hold in your head if you try and take everything in at once.

Reflections and Plans

Looking back, this year went pretty darn well for me all said.  Sure, my 100 mile finish has once again eluded me, but I've made a huge number of positive gains on lots of other fronts.

I've done 13 races this year, ranging from 10k through to 100 miles (well, 91 miles) with a big old mix of everything in between.  That's 485 miles (776km) of racing through the year with only a single DNF. I managed top 10 finishes in quite a few and PBs at 50 mile and 100km. None too shabby!

The Races

Fashion sense is what other people have.

• Pilgrims Challenge 
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k
• National XC Championships
• South Downs Way 50
• London 2 Brighton Challenge
• Endure24 2015
• JP Morgan 5.6k Run
• Endure12 2015
• North Downs Way 100 (DNF)
• Tolkien Challenge Run
• 9bar 9x9 (54k race)
• Black Ranscombe Challenge
• Vegan Runners Virtual Run for World Vegan Day

So what's the point of all this lovely self congratulations you might ask? Well, firstly I'd like to remind you, the lovely reader, that all this has only been possible (in my humble opinion) due to my plant powered diet.  Since leaving behind meat, milk and eggs, my energy, fitness and general outlook on life has continued to improve.  

What a difference 5 years can make...

What's in store for 2016 then?  Well in addition to the standard assortment of ooh-that-looks-interesting-let's-book-it races, I've signed up to do the 50 mile grand slam with Centurion Running. That's running each of the four different 50 mile races they are offering next year and seeing how you do against others in accumulated time.  Neat huh?

I'm not planning on tackling the 100 mile distance at this point. I respect those who can do it, but it is all too much preparation for one big party and I'd rather spread out the fun a bit more next year. Plenty of time left yet to have another go at cracking the distance.

Apart from the races, I have a few general goals, such as getting better at hills, cross training more on the bike, getting a bit of my speed back and see if I can beat my PBs from 5k upwards.

Bring it on!

Hoka Challenger ATR Review

Recently I was given an opportunity to try out a pair of Hoka One One shoes, with the only ask that I do a write-up of my experiences in them, for better or for worse.  Since I had heard generally positive feedback from a few people about their own experiences with the Challenger ATR, I was keen to lace up a pair and see how they go myself.

A bit of history to begin with. I've tried Hokas before and I have had issues with the the narrowness of the forefoot with my apparently quite monstrously wide feet. I have a pair of of the Hoka Clifton's that I love nearly everything about, except for the amount of room in the forefoot.  So I did a bit of research ahead of time and was pleased to discover the Challengers have a bit more forefoot room and wouldn't cause the same sort of issues I had with previous shoes.

Ethical

I had to speak with someone from Hoka One One to get an answer to whether their shoes are vegan or not. It isn't listed on their site and there isn't anything definitive on the web already.  However I'm happy to report that the answer to the question of whether Hoka shoes are vegan is...

"The answer is yes. No animal products into the shoe." - Hoka Product Development

So that's a big tick in the ethical column for Hoka One One.

Fit and Feel

So my number one concern was about the width of the toe box and I'm happy to report they are indeed wider than the Cliftons.  They still aren't extra roomy by any means, but there was enough space and I didn't experience any toe squishage in my running.

It should be no surprise to many who have tried Hokas, but this really is really an amazingly comfortable shoe.  It is very light for such a well cushioned shoe (283g for UK men's size 9.5) and felt quite nimble as I was running along some fairly uneven surfaces. They really shone when I went over rocks and other sharp and hard surfaces as the extra cushion protected my feet from the terrain.  Of course you aren't going to get a lot of ground feel with this sort of shoe, but this is an asset on many surfaces and is certainly appreciated on the longer runs.

The upper offers a good amount of protection and didn't make my feet especially hot. I did manage to tear the fabric on the top front on some brambles, but that isn't too much of a surprise if you know how overgrown the North Downs Way tends to be.

There hasn't been a lot of wet weather to try these shoes out on, so I can't say how they will perform in slippery and muddy conditions.  I did manage to get out in them after a decent shower and deliberately stomped through a number of deeper puddles to see how well they drained.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the squelchy feel gone within a few minutes and very little water was retained in the shoe even after repeatedly dunking them on each of my laps of the park.

After about 100 miles. Small tear on front fabric the left shoe from brambles.

Durability

The only damage is the tear in the upper from brambles, the rest of the shoe is showing very little wear. The rubberised tread is fully intact and there is only a small amount of wear on the exposed EVA material. With only 100 miles on the shoe I wouldn't expect too much wear and tear in any case. Given their current state, I can see getting 4-500 miles out of each pair, which is pretty good value.

Not much wear yet on mixed, but very hard terrain.

Looks

Many of the earlier Hoka's looked very... distinctive. Looking more remedial than sporty, they have been an example of many runner's preference for function over form.  However I think this shoe is a bit different and the Challenger is actually a pretty trendy looking shoe.  Julie, my resident fashion advisor, has even agreed to be seen with me when wearing them, which is a clear sign that the folks at Hoka are on the right track here.

Ready to race!

Verdict

I put these shoes through a fairly challenging set of conditions with road, rocks, grass and trails and I can safely say I'll be using these shoes again. It doesn't even have to be the really long stuff either, as I've enjoyed using them for shorter local jaunts around the park as well for the ultra distance runs. The combination of shock absorption, compact fit and moderate traction make these ideal for most mixed trail conditions.

Overall I really enjoyed using the Challenger ATR and look forward to taking them out on my next trail run.

North Downs Way 100

Bugger.

My second attempt at the 100 mile distance has ended once again in a DNF.  A man could get quite disheartened at this point.  But let's rewind a bit and go over the events leading up to me handing in my bib at mile 91...

This year has been all about getting fit and fabulous for my second attempt at the 100 mile distance. The South Downs Way 50 went really well. I even remembered to blog about it and everything.  That was the first > 26.2 mile race where I really felt like everything clicked. Managed my nutrition, effort level, mental stamina and hydration.

Then came the London to Brighton 100k, which didn't go too shabbily either. Not my best effort and had much more road than I liked, but a good steady race.  Finally, I did a couple of tune up efforts, like duoing the Endure24 (50 miles) and a good long training run at Endure12 (55 miles). All said, combined with my increase in mileage, everything has been going really well.

Diet wise, while still 100% vegan, I've probably been a little slack in getting enough of the good stuff into me. A few too many falafels and not enough green smoothies.  While not great, it has still had me powering through weeks of up to 100 miles of running.  Isn't it great that even when you are slack in your diet, you can still do awesome because everything you eat is always plant powered goodness? A perk of the lifestyle really!

So everything leading up to the race was lined up for a good one. The North Downs Way 100 was my chosen event and I was in good shape. Also I'd checked out at least half the course and I had the bestest crew anyone could ever ask for (xoxo Jules!).

I'm going to skip a bit ahead here, otherwise this is going to be a very long race report and there are plenty of those around already... Let's let a picture say a thousand words and jump into a pictorial journey through the race itself.

It was 6am off we went!  It was going to be a warm day, but at the start it was just beautiful, quiet and brilliant.  I love the first 10 miles so much - they fly by so quickly and you feel so great.  Also you know you are at the start of an exciting adventure, but haven't started properly hurting yet.

Off to a beautiful foggy start

Quiet morning roads

Damn England, you moody as all hell

I think the pictures sum up the first part of the race really well.  I was feeling great and the countryside was gorgeous.  Seriously uplifting stuff!

Rolling hills

The first part of the course is fairly gently rolling. No properly steep climbs until Box Hill and just tons of lovely English trails.

At this rate I'm going to have to write a poem about English countrysides...

Feeling great!

Everything was ticking along nicely, the miles just falling by.  Was on top of my nutrition and my funky new Hoka Challenger ATRs made the hard ground much easier on my feet.  At around mile 25 you hit the steeper hills, such as Box Hill.  These are always a bit of challenge, but while steep they are relatively short and manageable.

But like any good story, it isn't all beautiful fields and smiling selfies. It started getting quite warm (for England anyway) and was about 90% humidity, which made for some challenging middle miles.

Loved how this field looked. But didn't like the heat and walked here for a bit...

Quite a bit of road and some exposed sections

Hot and bothered!

But as the saying goes "...this too shall pass..." and the warm weather passed into a cooler evening.  I was running on pace and feeling surprisingly strong.  I think the warmer weather during the day forced me to slow down and left me with plenty of energy in my legs.

New longest run, in good time as well!

Seriously, the North Downs Way is stupidly beautiful at times

I breezed past my longest run ever in really good time, with plenty left in the tank.  I fact, I felt like I was speeding up a bit as it got cooler and I was able to open up a bit on the trails.

Dusk in the wheat fields

And the sun comes down

It is around 70 miles that I notice my right foot is a little sore.  Nothing terrible, just something I could feel each step.  Fast forward 5 miles and my foot has betrayed me! Every step is painful and it is all I can do to keep my pace up to the aid station where Julie is waiting for me.  Up until now I'd flown in and out of aid stations with no fuss, but this was the beginning of the end unfortunately...

I spent about 45 minutes here laying down, seeing if my foot just needed a rest and then I could carry on.  I knew I had stacks and stacks of time, so if I could just manage the pain I could always walk it in...

It was 7 miles to the next checkpoint and I set off... Into 7 of the most miserable miles of my running. I couldn't even walk without stabbing pains all down the right hand side of my foot. But a text from Julie said she had someone at the next aid station who might be able to help, so I gritted my teeth and hobbled on.

Mile 82, Detling aid station, and I was desperate for any relief.  I just needed to be able to walk as I'd have plenty of time to march it in.  After a generous volunteer helped by spraying my foot with his icy spray I was hopeful I could save this race!  I marched out and back into the night with my foot in pain, but at a manageable level.  Sadly it wasn't to last.  After another 3 miles, the pain came back with a vengeance.  And this time he brought reinforcements.  My left foot started hurting from compensating as I limped along and pain was shooting all the way up my leg every step.

The terrain levelled out and was very runnable, but I wasn't in any shape to carry on.  Talk about frustrating. 70 miles of great running, 20 miles of agony and being forced to stop 10 miles before the finish.

God dammit.

I texted Julie to come pick me up, my race was over.  It was intensely frustrating, but I know that sometimes these things happen and you have to learn from the experience.

Doesn't look like much, but hurt like the dickens

So while it wasn't the ending I wanted, it was certainly an amazing experience.  Foot issues aside, it was my best executed ultra race and I'm proud of both the great running up to my injury, and of my pushing through 20 more miles to try and gut it out (hopefully that won't do any permanent injury though).

As I use a trekking pole to hobble around the house today I'm already thinking of my next race and how I can use this as fuel to power me to my race challenge!  Onwards and upwards!

South Downs Way 2015 Race Recap

What an amazing race!

This was my second time at the South Downs Way 50, with my previous run being my first ever 50 miler.  That race was a learning experience from start to finish, a run filled with comradeship, spectacular highs and lows, and a whole lot of pain.

Wiser (supposedly) and fitter (hopefully) I lined up at the start line in Worthing again, hopeful of beating my time from last year but unsure of what I was really capable of.

Looking fresh and hopeful in my distinctive canary yellow attire

The training block leading up to this race has been the most solid I've ever done. I had a run streak of 42 days without a break, all the time not feeling like I was pushing too hard or risking injury. I hit all the sessions my coach Emily from McMillan Running had laid out as well. While I was a little concerned with my lack of hill specific training, I was banking on the improvements to my aerobic system from this training period.

I will admit to having quite a few pre-race nerves, as I wasn't sure what sort of shape I was really in and whether I could better my time from last year. Needless to say, beating last year's time was not a problem.

And we are off, thumbs up at mile 0.1

On the day itself, the conditions were pretty good. The previous day had seen a little misty rain, leaving some of the trails a little wet and muddy, but nothing really bothersome. What was a bit of a pain was the very strong (30-40mph+) cross wind for much of the race, which occasionally turned into a head or tail wind. The head wind at about mile 35 bothered a lot of people, based on the finish times this year being a bit slower for most runners. Luckily it didn't bother me too much as I simply saw it as a challenge to manage, rather than let it get to me.

Looking good at mile 17

Feeling a little sore coming into mile 33

Without going into detail on the whole day, everything just clicked into place and I had a stellar race. My original goal was to simply better last year's time (around 8h 50m) and get as close to 8h as possible. But I just kept feeling good all day and was able to keep pushing all the way to the end, smashing my previous time by over an hour. 12th overall out of 311 finishers with a time of 7:44:04! Really pleased!

Coming into the finish loop, still feeling strong

The Good 

• Health. I attribute much of my positive mental and physical changes to my plant powered diet. It got me through some tough training and left me all the stronger and healthier for the race.
• Pacing. This was key. Thanks to my fitness, I was able to push a lot more on the long down-hills and flats. This really brought my average down and made the most difference. It was also a very even split, with only a slight slow-down through the duration of the race. 
• Nutrition. I went with GU gels and Nakd bars (a type of raw fruit bar) the whole day. I didn't feel like anything else and it kept me strong throughout. 
• Hydration. Zero problems drinking. Just plain water, but it did the trick and had no worries at all. 
• Fitness. Clearly my fitness improved and I felt much stronger throughout. While I was tired and sore near the end, it wasn't to an extreme. 
• Mental. I was ready for any demons to come visiting, which they did briefly. I gave them a stern talking to and they were banished, never to return. 
• Training. Everything went well, no injuries and lots of improvements.

The Bad

• The wind on top of the ridge line was nasty...

The Ugly

• Nothing! 

Final Thoughts

I'd like to thank my #1 supporter and crew Julie, for being there the whole way through. Looking forward to Julie's cheers (and extra food) was something that helped me push harder between aid stations.

Another big thank-you goes out to Coach Emily for bringing me so far through training. The progression from last year is nothing short of phenomenal and I can't wait to see where my training takes me next.

12th overall and a giant PB. Plant Power!

National XC Championships

A few weeks ago I ran a personal best and a personal worst, all in one, very muddy, race.  It was the 2015 National Cross Country (XC) Championships, at Parliament Hill in north London.  I took part in the Senior Men's category, which was two laps around the hill for a total of roughly 12 kms of running. This was my first ever XC race in the UK (thus the personal best) and it would be fair to say I was totally unprepared for the scale and difficulty of the event (thus my personal worst over 10k!).

Let's break it down...

The social aspect - the XC champs are more than just a chance to run around a muddy field, it is an amazingly social event with runners, club tents and families everywhere. Clubs have their colours and banners up everywhere, giving it more of a festival feel than a race.  Sadly I was the only Vegan Runner running this year, so I wasn't able to jump into things socially.  I did meet up with the super-speedy vegan Matt Woodman (thanks for all the photos Matt!) which picked me up a lot.  Next year I shall endeavour to rally more of the club!

Club colours everywhere (Photo: Matt Woodman)

The scale - I've been to big city marathons where 20,000 people run and it takes 10 minutes to get across the start line.  I'm used to the city scale of things.  However this was different from these pristine and manicured events.  XC races don't have wave starts, instead runners within their category simply line up across a 100 metre wide starting area and everyone just belts off in a giant muddy scrummage when the gun goes off.  The Senior Men's race had in excess of 2,000 starters.  2,000 people in club colours, bantering and jostling into position and ready to go as a single great charge.  It is awe inspiring see the wave of runners burst out at high speed, straight up the hill in an effort avoid being bottlenecked when the course narrows.  I wasn't prepared for this start and was subsequently left battling to get around and overtake people throughout the race. Schoolboy error!

Charge! (Photo: Matt Woodman)

The conditions - I'd heard that XC races can get muddy, so I really should have expected this one.  I've done plenty of ultras and training runs that involve muddy trails, so I thought I'd bring my trail shoes.  Big mistake.  It isn't that it was muddy (it was) rather it was the fact the mud was churned from many thousand runners and had the consistency of treacle.  My big, wide and comfy Altras were not suited to the conditions at all. Don't get me wrong, I love those shoes, but I would have honestly been better off wearing road shoes as any grip in the tread was buried under clingy mud.  Lesson learned!  On the bright side, those with XC spikes seemed to be enjoying themselves running (playing) in the mud.

Not so speedy, but suitably muddy, finish (Photo: Matt Woodman)

The competition - I'm not a super fast runner, but I'm no slouch either. In most mass participation races I like to come in the top 5% and I figured this would put me in pretty good stead for the race.  It did not.  With all my other mistakes piled up and lack of any race specific training, meant I finished much closer to the back of the pack.  I can take some comfort in that everyone is a club runner and thus fairly keen, but it doesn't absolve me of totally underestimating the event and the quality of the runners.  It does however give me a lot of room to improve and come back next year stronger. Hill and speed training beckons.

Some very speedy guys coming through (Photo: Matt Woodman)

All said, I'm amazed that XC has remained such a niche event. The quality of the runners is stunning, it is open to all ages, it is very exciting to watch and running it is great (if somewhat humbling) experience.  By all rights it should be so much more popular, but it has somehow stayed under the radar all this time.  Probably for the best though as I can't imagine many more people fitting onto the course.

Although the next nationals are back up in northern England, I now have the XC bug and I'll definitely be taking part in a lot more events in the future!

On Dropping

Yesterday I dropped out at mile 58 of the Thames Path 100 mile run. I've had had a day to reflect on why I dropped out and here are my thoughts thus far...

I started the day feeling pretty good. I'd slept poorly the night before due to nerves, but that is nothing new to most people. My training since the South Downs Way 50 miler 4 weeks earlier had been okay. I've found it hard to get the motivation up to get out the door and everything was feeling really mechanical.  But no injuries or anything coming into the race.  The weather was just about damned perfect with blue skies and 16 degrees predicted. So everything was looking up from the start.

Also I had the lovely Julie to keep me company at various points throughout the day.  She was the best crew I could ask for, always cheery and ready to help with food, water, salt or hugs.  I especially liked the hugs :) 

The first 11 miles was fairly breezy, with no issues and reasonably high spirits.  On reflection I didn't really feel "in the zone" at all, which should have been a sign that I wasn't mentally in the game. Also, I didn't really feel like talking to people, which is odd as ultras are all about the social connection and the chatting to people as you go.  But things were still looking pretty good.

By aid station 2 at 22 miles I was starting to feel a bit rough.  This isn't entirely unexpected as I always feel a bit of a hump at the 20 mile mark, which coincides with the hard part of a marathon.  It was here that I had an inkling that it was going to be a challenging day.

Beautiful scenery all along the Thames Path

Moving on through the aid stations I was feeling worse and worse. Nothing catastrophic like a ruptured tendon, but a general all-body ache that by about mile 40, made any type of running to be a challenge.  No hills, no excuse to walk, but I just couldn't motivate my legs to keep any type of pace. It was something I couldn't quite understand and the walking bugged me more than it should have.  It made me think of the run not taking 18 hours, but 20, 24 or worse.

By mile 51 I was pretty darn tired and not in a happy place.  But here I had my secret weapon in the form of Raf, my pacer for the next 20 miles.  I was hoping this would keep me focused and motivated to just make it through to mile 70.  From there it would just be little more than a marathon to get to the finish.  Nothing really!

It is all in the mind...

Sadly I just lost it around here and couldn't carry on.  Sure there were physical aspects (which I'll mention later) but ultimately I couldn't bare to consider being out for another 10, 12, 14+ hours for the final 42 miles. Something in my head just went "this isn't worth it" and from that point it was a losing battle. What I realise now is that I didn't have the mental framework to carry on through suffering for the rest of the race.

So I dropped at the aid station at mile 58. Very disappointing, not the least for poor Raf who only got to run 7 of his 19 miles.  He was awesome about everything, but I could tell he was frustrated.

On a side note, the aid station at mile 58 had a special vegan treats table.  There were all sorts of vegan goodies such as vegan jelly beans, pumpkin hummus, vegan wraps, soup.  I thought this was brilliant and I made sure to have my fair share while waiting for Julie to come pick me up.  A silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud :)

Coming into Henley at mile 51

Dropping...

What this has helped me realise is whereas some people have an innate ability to push on, I always hold a little back, afraid of feeling too much pain and suffering. My experience with really long runs is limited, with my 3 longest being - my 5 hour 52k training run, the SDW50 and now the TP100. In these I've not properly learnt the trick of letting the physical pain go and to just keep pressing on, one step at a time. This, more than anything, is the aspect I need to address if I decide to take on another 100 miler. Thinking about it, it is probably limiting my potential at all distances from 5k upwards.  If I'm holding something back to protect myself, I'll never break through that self imposed barrier and see what I'm truly capable of.

On the physical side, it was a rough day, but nothing game wrecking. My shoes weren't cut out for the terrain and gave me blisters (which didn't show on my 30k long run). My hip gave me some issues, but is fine today.  My left knee is very painful today, as is my left foot. Likely an imbalance related to the underdeveloped medial glute the physio gave me exercises to strengthen a couple of weeks ago. But again, nothing that would have stopped me carrying on.

On somewhat weird physical issue was I was getting really bad shivers at the aid station at mile 51. They were seriously wracking my body and I needed an emergency blanked to keep me warm enough to sit and eat some food. It was like hypothermia, but it wasn't actually that cold. I had the same issue after my first marathon, but hasn't bothered me since until now. I will have to do some further research on this one.

Today I think to myself "only 42 miles to go, you had time to walk it all!" while last night I couldn't even think of walking all that way. So disappointment is mixed in with everything, but I know at the time it was all I could give (mentally in any case) on the day.