Grim: Beast in the East Race Report

I'm a huge fan of the Grim Original event generally held in December (although in January this year due to the snow) so immediately after finishing last years event I signed up for 'Beast in the East' hoping for more of the same.

I was looking forward to it so much and brought with me, the usual towel, change of clothes and joyful anticipation of what was to come. There were quite a few people I knew doing this including eatingtrees and Shaun, plus friends Paul, Graeme and Chris so it was a social affair and one I felt we'd be talking about for a long time yet.

We won't. In all honesty, it was a tough 10k. Or 9.7k or 9.6k or 9.5k depending on who's Garmin we read but that's about it. No puddles, no marsh, no freezing cold knee deep mud. No shrieks and whoops of delight and frankly, no lasting memories. I didn't even have to get changed before I drove home!

The website states 'we didn't think anyone would break the hour for this 10k' but I'm an overweight 31 year old who only runs so I can eat more crap and I finished in 58:23. Quite frankly, it was a tough 10k and not even as tough as the Hard As Snails 10k i did a couple of years ago.

It was good to see a few people who I knew and catch up but this just wasn't a patch on Grim Original and there is no chance of me doing this event again. There was nothing grim about it. Give me the water, mud and screams of delight of the original event any day.

I did have a chance to try some Voltz Energy Shots that I'd been sent though and they are pretty good. I've tried gels in the past and find them too difficult to stomach but these shots are just liquid energy. Basically, pure sugar and caffeine. They do both Citrus and Berry flavours and the best thing about them if they don't taste too strong. It's a subtle taste and the citrus one tastes wonderfully like (this description has been deleted due to stolen words taken from eatingtrees).

Oh, OK. But I will say again , they taste very good and I'm looking forward to trying them when I go out for a long ride in a couple of weeks too. I reckon they'll go down just as well then.

During the race, my left knee appeared to flair up again so apart from a couple of little runs with Mrs HMC, I'm going to stay off the knee until the BUPA 10k at the end of May as I really don't want to do it any more damage. Then maybe, just maybe, I might be in line for a PB

Hard As Snails 10k Race Report - Cripples day out

I will state this now. This weekend was probably the most painful weekend I've ever had!!

Starting on Friday evening and after a home made curry, myself and eatingtrees made our way to the pub for a bottle of beer or two. It should have sent out signals that when we were walking back (not late I might add) with me limping on one side because on a pain in the hamstring and shin and eatingtrees' calf being extremely tight, that we weren't in the best state to attempt the hills but despite this, I was looking forward to it. It would be a different kind of race than I'd done before and judging by the hills, it'd be a tough challange.

I HAD A SUSPICION I MAY BE SEEING THESE GUYS LATER

We weren't wrong! That, without doubt, was the toughest race I have ever done and the only one I've ever had to walk some of! I wanted to stop, curl up in a ball and be left to rot next to a tree after 3k. Mind you, even that wouldn't have been possible as I'd have only rolled down the bloody hills again! Those first 3k were just so calf tightening it was untrue. I just didn't realise the extent to which you use different muscles (or the same muscles differently) when running up hills. I'd always run shorter, sharper hills and not these long and steep killers. I just couldn't get my mind focussed on anything other than the pain and not from injuries for once.

AFTER THE 3KM OF HILLS, THIS IS THE VIEW. EATINGTREES HEADING FOR THE FIRST BIG DESCENT

The next K was pretty much all downhill (albeit in sand) which we picked up the pace a bit and rested our weary legs on the way and then the 4km mark appeared. And we turned. Eatingtrees took the camera and this is what lay ahead!!

ME ATTEMPTING TO RUN THE FIRST FEW STEPS OF THIS INCLINE. IT DIDN'T LAST

This now made it a long walk although many of the people attempting to run were doing so at the same pace as we were walking so it seemed a good idea. We got to the water point (5k mark), then headed downhill into the forest. This was purely an attempt to stay on your feet as I have to be honest, I'd take it easy even if I was walking down this bit. We then reached the 1km incline that we'd come down previously. Remember the sand? Even worse trying to go up it. You get absolutely nowhere!

We finally made it to the top and heard some lovely words. 'Pretty much all downhill from here' said one of the marshalls. He was mostly right but by then I considered stepping over a tree stump an incline so I still was able to hate the last 3km too. It was pretty painful but you couldn't lose concentration because you'd end up eating mud, bark and sand as you hit the floor. Some specators who'd finished around 3 days before us shouted 'only 200m to go' which made me lose my concentration, go over slightly on my ankle and then release the worlds biggest torrent of 'colourful' language ever! I managed to stumble in the direction of eatingtrees' shoulder which kept me upright and we both heading for the line using what can only be described as a hobbling limp sprint. Timings were dubious but together with eatingtrees we clocked it around 1:07:22. That's nearly 16mins above my PB which says it all really.

So then. Painful, mentally tough, horrible surface and my worst ever result. Will I do it next year??? Yeah probably, it'd be rude not to!

What I won't be doing next year is moving house straight after. 2 days of heavy lifting and lots of stairs. My legs, back and shoulders haven't ached so much in a long, long, time. Luckily, I managed to bribe, beg and borrow the services of eatingtrees on the Saturday afternoon and evening to help with the heavy lifting and I'll state this now. Sir, you are a true gentleman and we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you.

Rubbish and the Countdown

Due to the left hand side pain flaring up again, I didn't run last night. The Plan said the same as last week (2 x 2miles at 8min pace plus 4 x 100m sprints) but the fact my hamstring and 'bit between the calf and shin on inside of leg' was hurting a lot, I thought it best not to try it 2 days before the Hard As Snails 10k as I'm going to have enough trouble getting up those hills as it is. For anyone that didn't see the 3D flyover last time, check this out!!

eatingtrees is coming round tonight and kipping over due to the early start although his accommodation isn't exactly luxury. He'll be sharing the room with a LOT of boxes, bags and general rubbish as the move also starts tomorrow. However, a lovely veggie curry was made last night so that should make it a bit nicer for him. Well until the 5k mark tomorrow morning anyway!

LG has decided against coming when she found out we were leaving at 6.45am so no crossing the line photos as we finish (on our hands and knees) for us which is a good thing considering the state I'll be in. A 10k where I just want to finish and the fact it'll take well over an hour doesn't bode well. Plus it seems that eatingtrees has been practising on the hills whereas the steepest thing I've seen recently is the letting agents fees!!

That's another ruined plan then

It's written in the stars. I'm sure of it. Well I would be if I believed in any of that stuff but seriously, why when I get into a more structured training schedule, do I always come down with a cold! I'm only a week into it and had to cancel yesterday's 8 miler as I couldn't stop the nose running and make the sneezing stop. There are also the constant headache's but I'm kind of used to them now. I'm dosing myself on Redoxon and Echinacea in order to beat it and apart from a slight pain in my chest on 2 minor occasions (not constant), it's all in my head so I should be OK to carry on with intervals on Tuesday ahead of Hard As Snails on Saturday morning with eatingtrees.

Saturday's run was a 4 miler which I faltered badly towards the end but was quite happy with my 33:56 (8.29 m/m) overall. My first mile was an 8:04 though so it really does show the current inconsistencies in my pace. I then snotted, sneezed and sniffed my way through packing the flat up. There really is something monumentally wrong in the world when you have to pack a rucksack or suitcase and don't even get to go on holiday!!

As for next weekend, with the race on Saturday am and moving for the rest of it, I really have no idea when I'm going to be able to fit my long run in. The Plan seems to have gone out the window on day 6. Well that's 2 days longer than Juneathon lasted then! I'm just going to have to accept that my 9 week plan is now closer to a 7 week plan and I'm just going to have to work a hell of a lot harder!

The missing August one...

You may or may not have noticed (or cared) that I had a gap in my 'places I'll be appearing' section in that I had nothing during the month of August. This has been annoying me as I was doing pretty well to have a race a month for the rest of the year.

Well today I found one that I liked the look of and i can now state *with a fanfare playing in the background* that I will be running the Hard as Snails 10k on the 22nd August. Admittedly, it was the name that made me laugh and therefore I had to sign up but for £15, a Saturday morning and some good hills, I couldn't say no.

If you're trying to find a race to run in August then come along and join me. It's a 10k but they reckon because of the hills, it feels more like 7.2 miles. Yay to punishing hills!

Right, now I just have to mention it to Lovely Girlfriend. I can almost feel her eyes rolling from here!