Skedaddling Around Eastnor Castle - 3rd at Mountain Mayhem

Womens Open Podium - Saddle Skedaddle in 3rd

This is a bit of a long one, but then again, this was one EPIC race! I have finally found a MTB race that leaves my legs feeling properly tired!

In the middle of a looooong 14hr day of work a few weeks ago I found out the name for our mountain mayhem team 'Need a Skidaddle Holiday Now!'. Quite fitting  really!

Last weekend I raced for Saddle Skedaddle with Steph Fountain, Iwona Szmyd and Emila Zielinska in my first 24hr MTB race - Mountain Mayhem.
There have been a lot of firsts this year, but this one was the one I had least clue about. I knew I could keep going for a long time, for days in fact, but going, then stopping, then going again was a new concept. How fast could I push it and still be able to get out of the tent in the middle of the night to ride again? That was what I was about to learn!

One thing I had learnt from BUCS however was that muddy conditions really do require mud tyres, so I made sure I had some fitted! There had been ample rain in the last week or so and the weather forecast was for rain from 10pm to 4am...lovely

After a brief discussion about who could run, it turned out I could...so the decision on first lap rider was sorted. I set off without knowing exactly how far it was, but knowing it was long enough to not be a sprint. I felt comfortable with the pace, but glanced at my watch after a while and was suprised to see I'd passed through a mile in under 7minutes, in a swamp, with a hill, in bike shoes! Too fast?
No, I jumped on the bike at the 1.2mile mark and felt good, phew. Also, I assumed job done as far as getting a reasonable position to avoid queueing at the single track goes, as Nick Craig was announced as crossing the start line as I reached my bike, 100m from the line.

I was 1st woman after the run but lost a few places on the stretch over  to the 'Kenda Klimb' and was sat just behind the first womens open team at this point. I was pleased to stop the flow of overtaking and take a few places back up the steep climb, staying with the woman ahead. The first bit of single track slowed everything down a bit, but the queueing wasn't terrible, I have now officially learnt where to start in a race after Kielder 100 - not at the back :-)!

Mountain Mayhem Route for reference: http://www.wigglemountainmayhem.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/1.jpg

This was going well, it was good fun! Then we hit 'Wiggle Woodlands' and I wish I'd never thought that....Here I found the 'Mud of Doom' which clogged my wheels. No worry, I scraped off the mud with a stick and set off running again, keeping the bike to the side to avoid the mud. 10m later I cleared them again...10m later I cleared them again and snapped the stick....10m later I cleared again...'insert rude word here'.

I shot backwards down the field, unable to move more than 10m in one go. The one womens team ahead turned into ALL the womens teams ahead, anyone with 1.95 tyres or less could still get by riding, riding with 2.1s like me and you were screwed! I slogged on thinking 'what if it's all like this, I am literally going to be here all day and be writing the whole race off'.
Thankfully it wasn't, I got out of the woods eventually, cleared the wheels one last time and got back on the bike, hooray!

I came through half way in 65mins including the run and headed off up the 'Niterider Grinder'. Legs back in it now I was on the bike I overtook and overtook again all the way up :-), this was more like it! The descent from 'Hope Shit Shifter Summit' was ace! The 'Weldtite Washout' at the bottom was a different matter and here started the chain suck of destruction...

One bottle of water over the chain/mech  later and the situation had not improved for more than a minute at a time. Water gone I was on the hunt for puddles to avoid snapping my rear mech. With none in sight I did a fair bit of pushing again. After a couple of puddles in the woods at the top I attempted to ride again. A badly timed bit of chain suck on a corner then saw me do a super man into the brambles much to the amusement of everyone behind me - I like to keep people smiling! Eventually I reached the final descent and had great fun down that and into the finish in 2hrs4mins! Wow that was a long leg!

Whilst Steph, Iwona and Emila rode I hunted down some thinner tyres and the wonderful Saddle Skedaddle support team had them fitted in no time! Iwona had flown round in 1hr36 and there were rumours it was getting nicer to ride...then Emila handed over to me with the words 'OMG, its horrible!'.

So off I went with no expectations on my second lap at all. Reaching 'Wiggle Woodlands' again I took a deep breath and got ready to dismount. Then turned the corner and found it rideable! Go 1.95 tyres! And thanks to all those nice people with wider tyres who suffered with me on that first lap, removing the worst of the mud and taking it with them!!

This made life much faster! I was through half way within 45minutes and off up the hill, where I even had enough time for a short chat with Rickie Cotter.  Then I found out what Emila meant....this side was definitely not as nice as before. Still, for a while I was moving well and it looked like I'd come in in a similar time to Iwona's last lap, but the chain suck of destruction hit again, earlier this time. The water ran out. By the end it was 5 pedals forward to 3 back to try and keep moving...however still a BIG improvement on the first lap (1hr48)! By now we were no longer last and were in fact 3rd! All to play for!

Skedaddle Corner! Beautiful conditions....

Dusk had hit as Steph went out and the heavens opened not long after. Met office was spot on with the forecast!
In a way this was a blessing in disguise. The whole course became wet mud and my 3rd lap at 2am was probably the easiest to move through. Slower on corners but a welcome relief from the treacle during the day!

I had a sing along with a guy in the woods and heard him move on from 'if your happy and you know it' to 'wild rover' at a doubling back of the course later on.

After coming through half way in an hour (which I was a little disappointed with) I suddenly realised why I was dropping off the pace. The tell tale signs of bonking arrived, I couldn't really concentrate on anything and keeping my legs moving was an effort, let alone engaging them in a coordinated manner. All I wanted to do was sit down. I stopped and crammed half a bag of sweets in my mouth, sit down? What was I on about, that was a bad idea! I then started pushing my bike, hoping my legs would follow. I'm not sure how long this lasted but  I managed to get back on the bike at some point and ride most of 'Niterider Grinder', even if my vision was a little bit wonky..whether due to the lack of blood sugar or lack of a left contact lens I just don't know! But I do know why the grinder name exists now.

I stopped half way up to eat the other half a bag of sweets. By the top they kicked in and I was away, enjoying the downhill, getting through 'Weldtite Washout' and up the hill without incident as long as I remained in my granny gear, loving the night riding! Given all of this, this was my slowest ride yet (2hr9) but it was great fun!

I finished at dawn, just as the rain stopped :-). This was where it all got interesting. The commentators announced us as leading, none of us could work out how? We checked the leader board, it confirmed it! Had both the teams ahead had mechanicals? An hour later we were demoted back to 3rd....our chip had somehow registered twice for Stephs lap...boo...

While Emila was out we worked out it looked like Iwona would get back at 11:40 after her 4th lap, so here came the decision - who to do the last leg? Neither me nor Steph were that keen so we left it to the brake pad gods. If a new brake pad could be found for Iwona's bike then I would ride the last lap. If not, Iwona would ride my bike and Steph would ride the last lap.

The brake pad stall was shut - yes! The saddle skedaddle team produced a quick fix - doh! At 11:58am I set off on our last lap still in 3rd. If either of the two teams ahead didn't complete this 14th lap, we'd move up! Always worth a shot!

With Mandy Faint from Big Bear Bikes and the quad bike back marker hot on my heals I rode through the wet mud after a quick manual gear change (front mech useless for changing down now) and up 'Kenda Klimb'. The first bit of forest we hit, which had been fine earlier, was now aweful! Mud clung everywhere, clearing it was impossible, my wheels didn't turn, 1.95 tyres now no longer doing the trick. I dragged my bike through the forest and attempted to clear it at the other side. I asked the quad bike driver what the second half was like, the reply: 'I don't want to tell you'....great! Nice then! He also confirmed these were the worst Mountain Mayhem conditions ever! I decided grudgingly that it was time to head back...

Then Mandy appeared having corrected a slight route detour...and when I asked if she really was going all the way she didn't even blink and replied 'yes, theres no rush for me to be back!'. Ok I'd carry on! It takes a lot for me to quit!

20m, 3 attempts as breaking my rear mech and 2 attempts at clearing my wheels later, a guy emerged from 'Wiggle Woodland', the worst part of the first lap, yelling 'Don't do it! It's not worth it!'. Alright. I turned around and straight lined it back, crossing all my fingers that the other two teams had completed 14 laps....

They had, we finished 3rd with 13 laps! Woooo!
 
Thanks to the great team of Steph, Iwona and Emila and team 'I'd rather be on a Skedaddle Holiday' for making my first 24hr MTB race a memorable and enjoyable one! What an epic introduction to 24hr MTB racing! And thanks to Saddle Skedaddle for all the support! It would have been a whole other story without their bike washing/mending and rider feeding facilities! 'I'd rather be on a Skedaddle holiday', including adventure frog, finished just behind us in 4th, so a great weekend all round!

Mandy rode in during the prize giving after an incredibly long lap! Hats off to her, I thought it was actually going to be impossible! (I think somebody needs to tell her that its ok to not finish a lap if you already know your position on the podium is not going to be altered by it :-P). Edit: Worth the effort to make sure they secured 3rd!

Adventure Frog

I can't finish without mentioning Julia Hobson winning the solo women's race. Amazing riding, 11 laps in 24hrs, with time to spare! The mental determination to do that in those conditions is astounding! Well done Julia, I would have sat down in the mud and not got up again well in advance of 24hrs!

Riding Without a Board - 4th at BUCS XC MTB

Erlestoke 12

A couple of weeks ago I took a deep breath and removed the map board from my mountain bike. It's been well over a year, maybe 2, since I raced a pure MTB race and the Erlestoke 12 would be my 4th attempt at it!
Me and my friend Becky were racing in the 6hr race as a female pair under the name 'Shé-velo'. I rode around the course early in the morning to get a feel for it and it was excellent. Dry and fast singletrack for the first half, then a big climb followed by a huge bomb hole and swoopy singletrack wiggly technical riding down (and up and down again) to the change over.
By midday and the start it was roasting hot! I set off a bit too low down the field and spent my lap sprinting the open sections then settling in behind a queue of people on the singletrack. Still - this proved to be my fastest lap in the end.
As the afternoon wore on it got hotter and hotter! By the end of my 3rd lap we knew we were in the lead (not the most populated race catagory tbh) but it was looking more and more likely I'd fit a 4th lap in within the six hours as Becky was coming through consistently strong! The 4th lap was tough, by the up/down singletrack fun my back was wrecked but I only dropped a couple of minutes all told and we held onto the lead :-). A good start to racing without a board! 

Such a fun weekend and great to see Pete and Andy (Becky's boyfriend) fight it out in the 12 hour race to come 2nd and Tom and Andy pull off 11th with only one working bike and the most layed back transitions I have ever seen (including time for a cuppa...well almost)! Great efforts all round!


After a week of excessive work I was ready for a holiday. So it was a good job we had one planned, after a quick trip to Horton-in-Ribblesdale it was off to the Isle of Man. 

80-100miles of cycling and a lot of tea, pub and watching fast motorbikes ensued. The only bit of proper MTB we fitted in was on our hunt for a pub on Monday - race day! We rode 14miles, found some fun descents, an indistinct river/ footpath, 1 inaccessable pub (whilst the roads were closed for the TT races), an ex pub (doh...so close) and finally an open pub! One mile from where we started...

View from The Railway - Union Mills. A pub 1mile from where we started looking for a pub.

 Thoroughly relaxed I arrived back in Sheffield in time for my second MTB race without a map board in 2 weeks! The British University MTB Champs at Birchall Golf Course. I had no clue what to expect (except a wet mess after this weeks weather) or how to race it. The recce at 9am revealed a wet course but not impassible given a bit less tyre pressure. 2 races later...well..

This was the first time me and Helen would race each other without a map, it was going to be interesting. 4 laps but if you were lapped by the leader you finished on their 4th lap.

Helen shot off and I immediately realised I was in the wrong gear - massively. Rode the start probably in about 12th position. But then we turned the corner onto the golf course and I overtook very quickly - back past Helen and another couple of girls.
We set off about 2 mins behind the guys so caught them up just at the start of the killer hill. So boggy at the bottom it was miles quicker to run - which allowed me to overtake again.
The singletrack at the top was congested so I hung back accepting we weren't going to be able to overtake all the riders ahead until the short bit of open. The Manchester girl behind me thought otherwise and started yelling 'riders coming through'. I let her past to deal with the guys ahead.
She made it about 3 guys ahead. Then there was deep mud and running and I was right back on her tail. Somewhere in this mud fest singletrack she got a minute on me (according to lap times). I had real trouble with non mud tyres - own fault though!

Really enjoyed the last bit of the course with the bomb holes and proper downhill fun! Even got the comment 'your riding it better than a lot of the guys' hehe. I might have to admit I am a mountain biker one day soon...

If possible lap 2 was muddier. I was still in touch with the Manchester girl going up the climb and planned to dig in and try and stay with her at the top - then I got distracted by somebody saying they thought I had a flat (turned out not - just running low psi) and the few seconds stopped to check was enough to lose contact. Another girl overtook in the gloop at the top which I had had to dismount for. That put me back in a bit of a race mode and I overtook her and put distance between us quickly. Still, no sign of Manchester anymore.

By lap 3 the course had deteriorated badly - churned up unridable sections now clear though so I knew where to dismount and where to push through. No sign of girl ahead or behind. Towards the end I started to expect the first girl to lap me and when my chain came off in a bog I thought it was over. But no, got through finish without being lapped so off on lap 4...

The mud was now no longer wet mud but sticky mud. Got the dismount sections firmly in my mind but had to stop a few times to clear mud to keep wheels turning. Tyre tread completely saturated - just like riding slick tyres! But no sign of girl ahead or behind so dug in and enjoyed the descents at the end for the last time.

I was amazed to learn at the finish that I was in 4th overall! This is way more than I expected. Rode all the technical downhill well and only messed up the row of 6 bomb holes once when my tyre slid out on the mud on lap 3. Needed less than a min a lap to reach the podium (cough:mud tyres/being less clueless) - next year :-).

Inter Counties Fell Running

Slieve Bearnagh

I was so happy with Slieve Bearnagh last weekend that when Des contacted me to confirm my availability to race for Derbyshire at Inter Counties I agreed to run. This race is the entire opposite terrain to the Mournes, fast with no let up, and it proved well and truely that I am 100% not fixed (or maybe just not strong enough to race twice in a week yet). I set set off feeling a bit tired in the legs. The rest of the Derbyshire women beasted off and I was 4th counter for about 300m, at which point I had worked my way to first counter and was running well up the first climb, again around Helen Fines - a bit of a repeat to the start last weekend.
Around the place where the gate you come through on the way back is I felt something in my back tighten a bit and must have slowed down  because Liz, Claire and Rachel all came back past in the next 100m. I stayed on their tail across Cats Tor but on the descent suddenly lost a lot of ground. My back was tight, knee was all over the place, I don't think I could engage R glutes at all (over worked a bit in the last week or so) and my achillies was hurting. All illusion from last weekend that I am fixed out of the window and I decided it was time to jog.
To cut the story short, I couldn't find a marshall to confirm only 3 people needed to finish for a team to count.  I jogged for a bit then jog/walked the rest, finishing in 73:36...incredibly disappointing and quite painful to compare to my 2010 time in this race of 55:22 (800m shorter route?).
Thankfully I can still bike so had a great days training from Sheffield with Team Accelerate today - replacing run legs with tea drinking (it's a hard sport, but somebody has to do it...).

Also had exciting news reports via txt all weekend from the Scottish Islands Peaks Race where Rhys Findlay-Robinson and Wil Spain were fighting for the lead in the monohull catagory and pulled it off! Finishing 3rd overall. Good work...I can see the next week being filled with waiting on Wil until he can walk again...

British Champs Fell Race - Ireland

Dockray Hartside

Over the last few weeks I've run a couple of races with the main aim of testing out running to decide whether to make the trip over to Ireland for Slieve Bearnargh British Champs Fell Race. First came Dockray Hartside - my first attempt at some rougher terrain. Interestingly I found the road comfortable and pretty easy going, leading the womens race onto the fell (shows where most of my recent running has been!)...I was alright with the ups, feeling pretty strong, but wobbled my way down the hills, losing places and eventually finishing 4th I think... Still - with 2 weeks to Ireland I thought it was a possibility.

I then ran the Trunce, finishing with my second fastest time ever despite high rivers making for a bit of a swim! My hip/back was still getting very tight post runs which wasn't ideal but I was still running fairly well.

The final test came at the Burbage Skyline and it wasn't good. My hip was very uncomfortable the whole way round, I didn't move very fast and I came in around 2mins slower than last year. I struggled to push myself having completely lost my 'race head' but had a lovely pootle around the peaks! I almost gave my entry to Ireland away there and then! I expected to be right back to square 1 with the hip the next morning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burbage Skyline - enough time for a quick Irish Jig!

However, when I woke up I couldn't feel even a niggle (weird) so decided to go for it :-)!

Slieve Bearnagh is a short counter in the British Champs, however anybody thinking they'll be fine as its 'only short' would be in for a shock. The 5mile race has over 800m climb in it...and its not smooth running.

Saturday maintained my impression of the Mourne Mountains as having beautiful weather. The race started with the steep climb onto the ridge of Slieve Meelbeg which summits at 708m. The climb becomes steadily more runnable, over wet boggy ground becoming more and more rocky as you reach the summit.
I set off and was surprised to find myself running alongside Helen Fines. This lasted a until we hit the ridge, but the more runnable it got, the more she pulled away until by the top I was following Helen Elmore, with Helen Fines about 150m ahead (the last I saw of her as she moved her way up to finish 2nd!).
The race then has its first descent down to the Happy Valley Col, technical by many races standards but not a patch on that to come. I reached the col having caught up to the three women who had pulled away right at the summit and passed them heading for the main peak of the race, Slieve Bearnagh which is 727m at the summit. This climb is steep!! Hands on knees to begin with followed by climbing with hands pulling on the heather by the top! The descent follows the same side of the hill as the ascent however over rockier ground, a minefield of potential injury!
At the base I was less than a minute behind Helen Elmore, by the top the gap was less than 30s, however I just couldn't catch her on the descent (I had no intention of crippling myself here), remaining 30s behind.
The final climb of the race was Slieve Meelmore, at 687m its a walk in the park ;-).
This was where I first really felt my back tighten up. I couldn't stride properly uphill anymore so the group ahead pulled away slightly and Helen Elmore was storming up the hill. By the top she probably had well over a minute on me!
Thankfully I took a great line off the hill, catching back up to the group ahead, passing through the old finish line about 40s behind Helen, 4 women between us. I was happy to glance down at my watch and note the time - 59:01. over 5mins faster than 3 years ago.

The finsh has now changed. Instead of the lovely descent to the finish that suits me down to the ground there was now another 1.5miles of traversing along relatively easy running before a sprint down (and up argh!) a track to the finish. I lost about 2mins to those ahead of me here, traversing to the right was just not what my hip wanted. Thankfully we had a big enough gap for this not to really matter. Our group was 8-12th at the old finish and I finished still in 12th, in 70:25, with another 2mins before the next woman appeared. It would have been nice to race the last mile or so but never mind!I had raced properly (my mind can still do it :-)) and had come away without aggrivating things too much (my hip can still do it :-)).

I'm not sure if the Great Lakes race will happen just yet, but fingers crossed! Saturday was the second longest I've run for since Feb (and the other run was very low intensity. I upped the longest to 2hrs on Sunday (a quick saunter up a very blustery Slieve Donard with Helen and a superb descent!) and although I can still feel my hip and back, its no worse than it was. Just have to work on not feeling it at all before running Great Lakes I think!

Herod Farm - a proper test of running

No pretty pictures this time, my camera battery died before I took any...
Over the last couple of weeks I've slowly started to reintroduce running into my training. Mainly on a track, with limited success, although things didn't seem to get worse with it, they weren't feeling normal. Then I ran up a hill (bit of a loose term 'run' in this instance) to watch the Coledale Horseshoe (after rinding round to Keswick from Langdale) and with relatively tired legs felt pretty good on the up! Downhill was another matter but I figured I'd address that one another time...
It was a lovely day to be out spectating...well it had been when we set off, a brief snow and hail storm followed!
Watching the women descend, me and Zanthe tried to make out who it was in 2nd. We couldn't work it out from the vest, so waited until she got a bit closer and suddenly we realised it was out friend Sarah, running for HBT and flying down the hill after Lauren Jeska! An excellent bit of running! Can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds for her, doubt I'll get a glimpse of her vest in any races... although I think the BG is top of her list!
 So, after successfully getting up and down the mountain I decided I might try running Herod Farm race the following Wed. I had to return the trophy so it would be rude not to race ;-).
I kept the pace comfortable, concentrating on running properly and watching out for any niggles in my hip. At the top of the first climb I was with 2nd woman and could see Judith not far ahead. The descent was a shambles and I had to jog to prevent jarring my back, I waved goodby to the women ahead, but then came the beast of a second climb. I took out some BIG ground on them at this point, the only part of the race I put some effort in (it's one of my all time favourite climbs as most people forget it's coming...or foget how steep it is). At the top I was around 1.5mins down on Judith and 5-10m behind 2nd lady. I got to the top and relaxed back into my jog down the hill, happy to know I've still got some strength and speed in the legs! To give you an idea of my speed going down, Judith took about 2minutes out of me on that last 0.6miles of descent...probably about the amount of time I'd gained on the final climb.
At the finish, the guy I had raced up the hill with commented 'you need to sort out your descending' and was probably a bit disappointed to hear I'd turned the gas off intentionally.
I finished in 3rd, which was great, but better still I had run all the way and there was no signs of a locked SI joint! Half way round somebody had shouted '3rd woman, dig in, you can get her, she's not far ahead' and I realised I was having too much fun to bother trying to catch anyone! You know it's been too long without a run when that happens :-).
Since then, it's not been smooth sailing, but the SI joint is still moving! I just need to stop my back tightening up if I don't stetch it every few minutes....Watch this space - 3 weekends to Ireland British Champs race and I have every intention of being there and being able to run downhill!!

Open 5 - 2nd in the peaks and the series!

Open 5 Female Solo Winners: L to R: Rosemary, Me , Karen

Yesterday was the final of the Open 5 series and it was down to a showdown between me and Rosemary Byde (http://planetbyde.com/) for the  series win. If either of us won the event then we got the series win too!

But thats only half the excitement of the last month, I'll start by setting the scene properly (you can skip to the open 5 report by scrolling down 2 pictures):

Last year our research unit lost funding, with the final day of the research unit having any money being 31st March 2012, the day before the last open 5 (no pressures there then). Just before Christmas I learned I had not been successful in securing funding for the rest of my PhD.

What this meant for me was, along with finding alternative funding, writing grants and getting a rush on knowing what my data meant, that I needed to fit as many patients in before the end of the unit as possible for maximum thesis writing potential!

A small list of disasters followed:
1) Our surgeon (quite key when implanting strain gauges onto peoples tibia) moved his clinic
2) This meant a substantial amendment to my protocol (read 2 month delay on patients)
3) There was only one more available date before we ran out of money (One more shot to get it right!)


So, I've been walking round looking like I'm in the middle of an XPD for the last month or 2, with the finish line being Wed the 14th of March when, now we are well practiced, I would get a full set of excellent data from my patient (strain gauges have proven tempromental when in peoples legs)!

Somebody somewhere had other ideas, and was aparently in control of the 14th March so:
1) My patient was 1hr15mins late
2) We had failed to get insurance in time to use one of our machines.
3) My notebook laptop battery broke as my patient entered the gait lab and no longer held power (we need to unplug the laptop to remove noise from the signal)
4) My new laptop has windows 7, my software doen't work on anything later than vista.
5) We set up windows xp to run on my laptop as well......it still didn't like the strain gauge
6) I missed lunch (big disaster as I had been at work since 6:45am after having a yoghurt and got home at 6pm, )
6) Reverting back to the original notebook we took 12 recordings (of 100) and the strain gauge broke.

To finish the week off I gave a seminar and then collapsed into recovery...which seemed to take as long as after an XPD :-P.

On top of that, I had been injured for well over a month and even with following physio advice to a T, running seemed a long way off. Once I had my brain back together enough, I realised lifting my leg was no longer just an issue when running, walking around was getting increasingly difficult! Also, sitting, standing or lying wasn't very comfortable either. So I made a last minute appointment with Kim who gave me the news I kind of knew deep down. My SI joint had not remained free moving after my last physio appointment at the end of Feb and my pelvis was sort of 'wonky' (for want of a better word) which meant all the stretching I'd been doing wasn't working. When your SI joint locks, your glutes forget how to work so you lift your leg purely with hip flexors making it almost a hinge joint action. Kim put me back into place and sent me away with lots of strengthening (and digging fingers into hip flexors) to do!

The 'Clam'

So, I spent a week doing the 'clam' and multiple other exercises like my life depended on it. Still, on the Sunday before the race (3 days post physio) it was an effort to walk up to Mam Nick to watch the Edale skyline so I decided not to enter the Open 5. I was massively disappointed, if I'd had a bit more time I would have had a return visit to a physio sooner and have had everything sorted. Now I would have to sit it out and instruct Rosemary to win by a country mile to keep me in the top 3. Realistically, Mandy was going to improve her lowest percentage making it hard for me to stay in that position!

Then, after two cross trainer sessions, it stopped being so clear cut. My glutes were working again, I went for a run.....YES! Not perfect, or fast, but the first run in 6 weeks! On Sat 31st I rode a MTB.....and that sealed the deal...I was going to go afterall as all I needed was to improve on the diabolical score of the last event. If I could get 82% of the winner I should stay in 3rd!

Proof - I can run (but please ignore the heel strike)!!

So, back to the event! I took my usual tactics and set off on the Mountain Bike. I decided to go with the normal 3hrs bike, 2hrs run and if the hip hurt too much, call it a day. I also took the precaution of putting pretty pink tape over my hip flexors.

I even managed to start well before 10:29am, now that is organisation!
Even though I was planning on being conservative with speed, I set off like the clappers, but slowed down en route to the first control as that was definitely too fast for my hip. This also allowed me to look at the pretty views and take in the glorious sun that was now out!
I picked up a 35 and a 20 pointer on the road before heading for the old railway line. At this point I started riding into a headwind and was really struggling. I couldn't believe how hard it was riding into this headwind, I got overtaken by a male pairs who seemed to be making easy work of it. 5km and 2 controls later I turned out of the wind.....and it got no easier! Doh! My rear brake had become misaligned and was effectively jammed on. I did a quick fix....which was just that and lasted all of about 3 minutes so stopped at my next control properly (after riding up another hill with my brake on = numpty). 3 realignments later it was acceptable and I looked like I'd been in a fight with a bike chain! What a difference! Now I was back on track.I picked up another couple of control at this far side of the map before heading back towards the start. My hip started niggling a little bit, so I slowed right down en route to 18 and for the rest of the ride. I had accidentally folded 2 controls off the map (not 1 as I thought), so after picking up the high pointers around Hulme End and Wetton I had got all but 20 points on the bike.

I was off on the run with about 1hr 35 left after all my bike brake faffing.

I found this a lot more difficult to judge than normal. I planned a route of 9 controls that I normally would have got round no problem. The first control dropped me into the valley and I knew there were going to be some serious climbs about! I experienced the only hands on knees one going to my 3rd control though! Running through Milldale I got de ja vu, who can tell me which relays have been run through there??

On my way off the steep hands on knees hill I went over on my left ankle, which normally isn't ideal but actually stopped me concentrating on my hip, watching for any little niggle. Still, I wasn't really moving anywhere fast, so I decided on my second climb out of the valley to miss a 10 pointer. At the top I had a decision to make, get 2 more controls to make my total 485...or go for a 15 pointer as well to make the 500! I probably just had time....didn't I?

No, no I didn't. I got the 15 pointer and had 20 minutes to get 2 more controls and back to the finish covering over 2 miles and some climb. If I could just stride out properly...
I upped the pace a bit but couldn't lift my leg quite as well as normal yet. Still, only 8minutes late! I finished with a score of 482 points which I thought was enough to keep me on the series podium but I knew today should have been a 500+ points day. And I was right, Rosemary got 506 points winning the day and series! What a great race to the end :-)!

What I didn't expect and made me extra happy was to finish 2nd on the day, giving me a total of 295.2 in the series and moving me up to 2nd overall!  Worth the gamble of racing I think! :-)

Open 5 Dorking

A Smile as I complete all of the bike controls

 Over the last month an old injury from a couple of years ago has reappeared, I won't bore you with the details but will say, if you ever fall over sideways in a fell race, get your hands down first, not your hip. The end result is that riding a bike is ok, running is not.

So at the Open 5 on Sunday I had a plan. A bit of maths had revealed if I cleared the bike I only needed to get 4 or 5 run controls to get a similar score to normal. This should take me 40-50mins and as I normally get all but 4 bike controls (ish) I figured I should be able to clear within 4 hours.

The weather forecast was for 8 degrees and heavy rain so I set off to the start with full body cover and pretty well wrapped up. On the way to the start I was boiling so I decided to take my leg warmers off but leave the other layers on.

The bike started well and I really enjoyed the single track between my first few controls. I then committed to clearing the bike by heading for 3 x 10 pointers that, in normal circumstances I might have avoided.  After a couple of hours I felt my back niggle a bit but it seemed to be alright. I might have subconciously slowed down a little bit as not long after I remember thinking 'I wish I hadn't taken my leg warmers off' and 'My baselayer is soaking and cold'. I also glanced up and did a double take, was that snow??!? Yes it was. The weather had changed from its original plan and was now more like 1 degrees and snowing. I was not dressed for this!

Looking back the signs of getting overly cold were there, I started having to think harder for every step of the nav and in order to make sure my legs were still peddling. My breathing went all over the place, breathing very fast and shallow and I lost the feeling in my fingers and wondered if when I took my gloves off I would find a mangled black mess. However I am stubborn and ignored all of this, but was disappointed it took me 4hrs 16minutes to clear the bike! Still 350 points bagged and I had 40minutes to run right!

In transition I was so cold I didn't notice it. I concentrated on getting my shoes off which took 5minutes and I even recruited James Kirby to help as my overshoe was refusing to budge from my right foot. I nearly set off with one bike shoe on but eventually wrestled it off and set off aiming for a loop of 4 controls worth 85points.

This picture captures my run perfectly - 'How do I use a compass again?'

What actually happened was this. I set off and was wondering why I seemed not to trust my map was the right way up. Nothing seemed to be fitting too well, but i stumbled across my first control and assumed I was being silly. On the way I had found a fluorescent hat that somebody had dropped so I put it on. I then set off to the second control and for the next 20minutes I can't tell you where I was. My brain just wasn't working. I had no rational thinking and certainly no navigational skill. I do remember thinking stop being daft and go back to the finish, but I only had about 25mins left anyway! Eventually I stumbled upon the original control I had been to which took me entirely by suprise.

As I seemed to be struggling with following paths I decided to follow the road to the next path and my final control. I knew I was going to be late at this point but still got it. I made it back with 4minutes of penalties so still worth the 20 point last control.

Now I had stopped I was thinking a bit more rationally and knew I wasn't in a very good state. So left Wil with my bike repair kit to fix his puncture and headed back with Nicola. It sounds like we both had as much luck as each other with finding run controls!
After download I quickly got to the showers, but after 5 minutes of standing in the hot water I still wasn't warm so I gave up and got wrapped up. Apparently my lips were blue at this point. I then spent an hour or so shivering violently and spilling cups of hot drink everywhere.

I was amazed to find that, even having only got 2 run controls and having taken an age on the bike I was still 4th! Rosemary had a stormer and removed any hope of an ok % score, so it all comes down to the Peaks race for the series now! Exciting! :-)

Lesson of the day, my normal plan of getting lots of bike and lots of run controls works better than clearing the bike and picking up some run controls!

Finally, this is close to winning the 'Coldest I have ever got myself' award. It's a toy up between this and the OMM in 2007 where we had to abandon on day 1. I'm leaning towards Sunday getting the award though as at the OMM I managed to navigate us back to base without mistake....