The Grizzly, Pound the Pound and the next Adventure ........

How is it April already!?

So far its been a good year for me running wise, I haven't been training too hard but I've been a lot more consistent than this period last year, adding a lot more variation to my running, tempo runs, speed work and HR runs this this has helped me massively when it has come to race day. The first one being The GRIZZLY which is a 20 mile mostly trail route down in the seaside town of Seaton in Devon, the seafront is closed off to traffic and the whole weekend is a bit of a party atmosphere, the route is a must for anyone thinking of doing it, beautiful trails/views, coast path, bogs and lots of mud. The support around the course was amazing, you even run through the beer garden of  a pub with bands playing and people cheering you on. The beach sections were absolutely horrid trying to run on those pebbles was energy sapping. 

Unfortunately my knee went funny after about 6 miles and I was in agony for the rest of the race but I still managed a pretty respectable time of  4hrs 8mins and finished the day with the IRC crew in the pub with a coke and pizza perfect post race recovery right?!.

A chilled couple of weeks of easy runs followed, and it was soon time for the next race i had booked up POUND the POUND a 6 hour race around a 2.5 mile looped course a mixture of path, trail and some seriously muddy sections. I had a goal in mind of 6hrs continuous running but i really wanted to hit 30 miles + in that time, the race started off well probably went out a bit too fast but I soon settled in to a rhythm and continued a steady plod around the course, again it was another well run event with a fantastic group of Marshalls who were singing and encouraging everyone on every lap until the end. This was all in aid of Chemo Hero and the Calvert Trust. I was super happy to have hit both my goals ending on 33 miles and 6hrs 24mins running and not a twinge from the knee which i was surprised about however I have been rollering and stretching almost every day so it must have helped with my niggle.

Last lap of 33 miles I was happy i swear, wasn't aware I was being papped at the time.

I'm feeling so much stronger before, during and after the events this year I put this down to stretching more and especially the S&C classes I go to with the run club, its held at Elevate Fitness, its a CrossFit style workout tailored towards runners. Lots of leg work the classes are always so varied and the staff are very knowledgeable and helpful I fully recommend getting booked on to a class if your in and around the Ilfracombe area there is something for everyone not just runners, it has really improved my endurance and hill work.

So what's next … Well for the next few weeks it will just be maintenance and S&C and then towards the end of may beginning of June I'll start ramping up the miles and the training ready for The R.A.T 100km this has to go well for me its much harder than my last 100km but more importantly its my entry into the AOA 100miler in Jan 2024

That's it for now next post will probably be after the R.A.T 

Keep running, keep smiling, fight for every step and reach out if you need too.