I was completely psyched up to smash the Freckleton Half Marathon on the 21 June, I wanted to run sub 6 minute miles.  This is near Blackpool, we spent the night with the kids about 5 miles away from the start, nice and relaxing evening, good nights sleep and nice breakfast, things were going great.  The race started at 2pm so we had planned to go to Blackpool for the morning.

I stepped out of the breakfast room and slipped on some concrete steps landing on my spine half way down the steps.  Not happy is a massive understatement!  My back was instantly sore which was to be expected and my left hip had a trapped nerve.  I tried some stretching and that was not helping.  I hobbled around the car park not knowing what to do.

We went to Blackpool as planned and every step hurt, I almost convinced myself I could not run as I could not hardly walk and I suggested to Rose that she could run in my number (transfers were allowed).

At the start free sports massages were available, I jumped on the table and had 10 minutes of treatment.  I then tried a few short runs with strides and although the hip was occasionally hurting I thought sod it, lets just run and see how it goes.

I ended up with a PB running 6:17 an average minute miles.  I stopped at every drink station to walk whilst drinking, about 5 or 6 times I would almost fall as the trapped nerve in my left hip would send pain through the leg.

That’s when my problems started, I tried a couple of runs but my back was totally seized up, climbing stairs hurt, standing up hurt.

I had a session with Eddie Fletcher which determined nothing was broken and deep massage was given as well as stretching advice.

I had a sports massage with Dan Gilbride and I went to see my doctor.

My next proper run was on 19 July at Bridlington (7 miles on the cliffs @8:04 min miles) so I lost 4 weeks training.  I ran the following day, I did 10k @6:54 pace which I knew was far to fast but runners can be impatient!  I was totally seized up again on Tuesday which made me feel stupid for having come back to soon and hard.  But I felt ok on Wednesday and I decided to take this as a rest day.

Thursday 23 July I ran with our super vet runners, Mick Page, Kev Newman and Phil Bussey – 8 miles @7:59 min miles, that was ok.

Saturday 25 July I decided to try a long run on Saturday after parkrun and I ran half marathon distance carrying water @6:55 min miles.  This proved to myself I had not lost much endurance.  Confidence and mental attitude are as important as any other factor so I l like to hit little targets in my training.

Sunday 26 July I decided to run a 10k, not lightning fast but I averaged 6:51 minute miles.  I ran a mix of pace from 6:25 to 7:25 minute miles.

Monday 27 July I ran on the TPT from Bentey and along both sides of the river don heading towards Conisbrough, I did not plan the run and ended up getting lost a few times and hitting shear cliffs etc, I ran 11 miles @7:42 pace.

I have basically gone from nothing to putting in 38 miles over the last 5 days, the back is doing great.  I have yet to test it with a fast interval session or a good hill session but I am pleased with my comeback and I now have confidence to quickly build up to my Marathon in less than 7 weeks.

All the family competed at the South Yorkshire Track and Field League on 10 May 2015.  This is grass roots athletics and all runners should occasionally take a break from the road and trail races (and no one does more than me away from the track) and compete in the local leagues.  I know of no better way to test your Aerobic + Anaerobic energy systems than by running a tough 1500m race.  I am about to start a training plan to get my shorter races PB’s down (anything up to 10k).

I did the 1500m in a slightly disappointing 5:06, I was hoping for sub 5.

We had a fantastic day with our friends from across South Yorkshire representing Doncaster AC.  I only did the one event.  Rose on the other hand did 200m, 1500m, discus, javelin, shot and long jump scoring a lot of points for the club.  Sophie and Caroline did the long jump, turbo javelin and 80m sprint.

Proud mum and dad.

About 6 months ago I entered the Conti Lightning Run, as a solo runner.  Did not think it through, just hit enter.  I also suggested Rose put together a 5 person team from Doncaster AC.

For me, it was about seeing how much about running is psychological as I had no intention of doing massive mileage to train for it.  I had been doing some long runs with some of DAC’s marathon training team (probably 20 miles was the longest a bit slower than 7 minute miles) and I raced the East Hull 20 hitting average pace of 6:24 minute miles.  That was quite a few weeks ago, I usually run between 30 and 40 miles a week and I try to race every week.

Lightning run was my 20th race of 2015 and 9 of those races have been PB’s, from 5 miles to half marathons on tough courses.  I always give 100% at races, I see them as an essential part of my training complimenting the interval training I do on Thursdays.  I always race to pace with a realistic target time in mind.

I longest I have ever run in one go is the Marathon (which is also also a psychological test for the last 8 miles) and I have done 3, all getting quicker and all under 3 hours:

2011 Chester – 2:59:23 (target was to go under 3 hours)

2013 London – 2:58:53 (target was 2:55 but was quite ill through the 3 weeks before)

2014 Chesterfield – 2:54:53 (target was 6:30 minute miles, could not do it on the day, I did loose a minute due to a bad fall)

I have also done Thunder Run twice, in a team of 8 and a team of 5, I did 5 laps as part of the team of 5 which was about 30 miles in 24 hours but with a few hours rest between each leg..

I listened to people who had done this type of thing before, Claire Spencer, Kevin Doyle and Jim Fletcher.  Walk up the hills, plan the nutrition and its a very psychological thing to run an ultra.

Saturday

We started at parkrun as usual watching, supporting and photographing the runners.  We then had a breakfast in the parks cafe, good food highly recommended.  I went for a sausage sandwich with onion and mushroom, this was to keep us going until the evening.  We then traveled down to Catton Park, Derbyshire and got our tents up and started soaking up the atmosphere and having a laugh.  I camped with the masses, not in the solo camping area so I could be with the team  The rain started at about 3pm and was on and off in to the evening and then continuations over night.

For tea I had a jacket potato with meat balls, yum yum and a chocolate covered flap jack.

I picked up my goodie bag, it had a nice t-shirt, a 500ml reusable branded bottle and a packet of plasters lol.

Doncaster AC’s team of 5 agreed the running order and this was to be Marie, Rose, Alan, Sharon and Janet (I think). I had a quick chat with Marie about the plans for the morning and set my alarm for 4:30am on a bank holiday weekend Sunday!

Sunday

Did not sleep very well and come 4:30am I woke up to the sound of heavy rain.  I quickly got dressed, I had already decided to run in leggings, a t-shirt with my DAC vest on top.  I had anticipated rain and had my £5 waterproof Go Out Doors top and my £5 waterproof Aldi trousers.

I spent 4:45 till 5:20 in the catering tent with some lovely people, I had porridge, a large chocolate muffin and an Americano drink.

I was a self sufficient solo runner with no team support, I just filled up a plastic bag with 4 x sports drinks, 4 x bottled water, 3 x energy gels and 6 x “healthy” bars of fruit and nuts (different brands).  The bag was put against the fence in the solo area.  I had already decided to have a rest after each lap to have a drink, a snack and use the toilets.  I ran with a small bag on my waste which had gel and sweets in.

Just before 6am we all assembled on the start, I was towards the back, the race director counted us down and off we went.

I was running in trail shoes, my 3 year old trusty Mizuno Wave Harrier’s, I really wanted to run in road shoes and if it had been dry I would have.  I have had a painful right foot for a few months and this caused me to worry about wearing trail shoes as I thought the pain would get very intense, as it happened it only hurt for the first 2 miles.

I ran very steady and after lap 1 was completed I decided to remove my waterproof kit as I was getting warm.  I liked the course, if it had not descended to a mud bath it would have been great.

Lap 2 was easy, the ground was not too muddy yet, and I spotted my wife Rose at 9km, she was completing the teams second lap.  We ran over the finish together and I had a short comfort break.  I now walked the 2 worse on each laps, on later laps I walked the majority of the climbs.

Lap 3 was fairly easy but a long length of the course, perhaps 1.5 miles was quickly becoming thick clayey mud on steep hills, bad cambers and basically you had to walk lots of these sections, you will see from the mile splits the pace typically varied from 12 minutes to 18 minutes on the very difficult areas.  This mud stuck to the trail shoes making the grips ineffective and making the shoes heavy.  Everyone fell down in the mud.

My hips were starting to ache a bit.

I became aware of my position as a solo man, I was currently in 5th place and feeling pretty good.

I continued taking rest breaks each lap, looking forward to my nutty bars.

At 9am, on my 4th lap I thought I am a quarter of the way through this, things are going ok and although I am feeling a bit tired I had run for 19 miles at that point so that was to be expected.  It then hit me that if I was running thunder run solo I would only be an eighth of the way through, no chance I am doing TR24 solo.

The rain stopped on my 4th lap and it did not start again, this was good as I was able to see through dry glasses, but the muddy ground got a lot worse though.  It started to dry out at about 4pm but that was no good to me by then.

By 10am I started to think about what to do about food, and as I finished by 5th lap I went to the catering tent, got some soup, snickers bars and some coffee.  Had a break whilst I enjoyed the soup and coffee, put the snickers bars in my bag and set off again.

On every lap I would come close to injury, as you get tired it gets harder to prevent minor slips becoming major slips or you might hit a root or a hole and almost sprain an ankle.  I was told I was actually in 4th place on my 5th lap.

I completed my 6th lap at 12:02.  This was my first milestone, I was now an ultra runner.

I had 6 hours to go and I was confident I could get another 4 laps in before 6pm, so I was thinking I might do 11 laps.  Don’t get me wrong, I was really struggling but just keep going, nice and steady and the time will pass.  Time had become a blur a long time ago.

I was slowing down big time, perhaps 80 minute laps and the mud was killing me.  Whilst running my 8th lap I decided that I was not going to do the 11th lap unless I was going to finish in the top 3.

On one of the later laps my right foot found a hole and although at the time I did not feel like I strained anything I had big problems on lap 9.  I ran dead steady walking a lot, got to the drink station had a rest, chatted to a lady who got me going again, at about 4 miles in to this lap I felt pain in my left ankle and stopped / walked / stretched.  Whenever I started to jog pain came back.  I was out.  I walked the rest of the course but I had to jog the last 100m because people were shouting.  The support for solo runners was amazing.

I think the time was 4:30pm so I could have walked another lap but I had no desire left to do so and I was thinking about not wanting to become injured.  I finished as 7th solo man out of 54.

Our team of 5 had a great time, finishing in 7th place overall with 13 laps completed!

We had the most amazing BBQ in the evening, thanks to the Carsons for this.

Sharon said “just want to say mine n Allan’s first experience at this kind of race and the way the team came together and we were made to feel so welcome and comfortable for newbies was great. Fun camping and bbq would highly recommend. Hard conditions with rain n mud but made for a great experience all round”

My lap times are below:

My mile splits are below (they are not correct, the distance should be 53 miles), the new garmin has gone back.

Add some specific strength work into your training to hit a 10% PB in 6 weeks:

South Yorkshire Road League, Lodge Moor – 8 April 2015

As a club runner I have always taken part in the South Yorkshire Road League, This is probably my 8th season of competing in the NAD 5 mile races.  These are not open races, you have to run for a UKA club and most clubs across South Yorkshire take part, its only £5 to do the series of 4 races and they are all great tough courses which build on your endurance like no other races in the area due to the hilly nature and level of competition.  I use these races to maintain my race fitness.

This year we got the tough one out of the way first at Lodge Moor.  None of this race is flat.

My times have improved year on year on all the miles apart from mile 3, this is the steep descent and this mile has slowed by 6 seconds.  Perhaps I am getting more cautious on the descents, I am known for falling.  Will I break 30 minutes on this course next year?  More urgently will I break 30 minutes in the league this year?

I was delighted to be part of the Doncaster Athletic Club senior mans team, this will be my last year as a senior man and I would like to be part of a successful team.  Doncaster Athletic Club took 27 athletes and I think this year will be the clubs most well attended road league for 10 years, we have now sold 36 numbers!

Sheffield Half Marathon – Race Number 17 of 2015 – 12 April 2015

I was not feeling so good after Lodge Moor, I had caught a cold.  By Saturday I had a sore throat and I decided that I would take photos instead of run.  I was convinced of this by Saturday evening.  Sunday morning I was sure I had made the correct decision and I had my breakfast, normal silly mode then returned and I got dressed in my racing kit.

Got to Sheffield and did a 2 minute warm up which consisted of some strides, decided to see how it would go.  Started with top block David Crossley about 10 rows off the font and hit the hills with a strong head wind.

The first mile felt flattish and easy, then we claimed to mile 6, this was tough and my estimated finish time was about 91 minutes at half way which was ok considering the hill I had just run up and I was not 100%.  People were gradually passing my all the way up the climb, perhaps 3 or 4 a mile.

When I hit mile 7 I started the 6 mile sprint finish with the wind behind me and some lovely descents.  I passed a few people and got 2 on the last 400m of the race.

From about mile 4 I was in competition with the first lady, this was great as the crowds were either cheering me or her (I pretended me).  I thought I had her beat at the top of the hill as I pulled away but she took me on a descent and I could not catch her.

I was obviously delighted to pull my estimated finish time back from 91 minutes to 82:59, a reasonable PB of just under a minute finishing in 49th place out of 6000+.  I was the only person in the first 50 to run a PB and only 10 in the first 250 ran PB’s.

I paid for this race all the following week with a chesty cold which obviously serves me right.  I took the opportunity to take some photos of the Doncaster Pacers / Doncaster AC hill session on 16 April 2015.  We truly are an all inclusive club, what ever your ability come and join us.

I took part in the fist Trunce race of 2015.  This race has a mix of trail, road and fell.  You also run through the River Don 3 times, this is usually about a foot deep and not fast flowing, I would guess its about 15m wide.

How to run the race:

How to get to the venue:

Head for the Wagon and Horses Free House which is at Oxspring, lovely bar and food.  Don’t use their car park, use the field at the back of the pub.

It takes about 50 minutes from the Keepmoat but allow perhaps an hour as you will be hitting the M18 / M1 / Other Roads in rush hour.  If you have done the South Yorkshire Road League then its the same venue as the Oxspring 5 mile race.

Register to get a number, you keep this number for life.  Then pay £1.50 which is the race fee.  The race starts at 18:45 so get warmed up and make your way to the start.

The race is quite popular which causes an issue at the start, the track is about 3m wide and the runners line up 10m wide, after 200m you go under a bridge which is quite narrow so if your quick and unless you got a quick start you will be delayed.  You are then running on a stone track and its possible to pass people or be passed.  This usually has puddles on it, so to pass people you will get wet feet (which is nor a problem).

At about 0.8 miles you have to go over a stile, the front runners (perhaps first 50) will get straight through but after that queues form.  Immediately after this you are on the first technical descent, which is not that bad but you have to take care with each step, if its muddy then people will slip and fall including me and you.

At the bottom of this at about 0.9m in is the first River Don crossing, its not bad but the river bed is uneven so you might find some steps are deeper than others.  Stepping stones exist but be aware they are slippery and many people fall in to the river so I think its best just to get in and follow the person in front.

Suggest you don’t look like a prat like me

Out of the river turn right and you are on a short road stretch for only about 200m, opportunity to accelerate a bit.  Then turn left and down some steps on to the fell section.  Run down to the River Don and over a footbridge then the worse hill starts.  From 1.2 to 1.4 miles you climb about 200 feet, this section also has a couple of stiles in it.  Most people have to walk up some or all of this climb.

Then you go down a short sharp hill and follow a rutted track.  From 1.8 miles to 2 miles you drop about 200 feet, this is what I consider to be a very technical difficult descent, easy to loose control and fall, very uneven and narrow in places.  Having to grab hold of trees to steady you descent.

At the bottom you run through the River Don again, then up to the road and turn left.  This is where you have to dig in and try to run as fast as you can, you have 0.6 miles of flattish road.  You will run past the steps mentioned 2 paragraphs up and you now run back the way you started, so after 200m turn left, follow the path down to the first river crossing and run back through the river.  Then climbing up quite a challenging hill muddy path that you run down earlier.  Most people have to walk some of it.  Most people will slip and fall.

At the top follow the farm track back to the start (which is now the finish), pick up the pace as best you can and 400m from the finish you have a down hill finish so try your best.

2015 Dates

1. 30th March
2. 20th April
3. 11th May
4. 1st June
5. 22nd June
6. 13th July
7. 3rd August
8. 24th August
9. 14th September