Race Prep

Today we have a dog show at Osmaston near Ashbourne but disaster, there's no Ashbourne Parkrun for Ms Obsessive. The nearest is in Derby on Darley Park. So that’s where I drop L after which she buses up to the dog show, stops for lunch, then buses up to Ashbourne to meet a friend. Not the schedule of a geriatric nor really the schedule of someone (quote) saving their battered old knees for the stupid Hellathon (end quote) either.

We'll pick her up later, although she’s assuming we’ll be at the dog show until late, waiting for rosettes... That of course depends on which way MD’s mind is blowing today.

As it turns out, the wrong way. Three eliminations and a five faults in his other run. He wasn’t quite on it today. On one of the runs he got off the seesaw half way, he’s never done that before. Then again the only run the support crew of L and Doggo saw was the five faults one, the best one. Go figure.

At the parkrun L sets a new PB. She asks me to explain the science of last night’s cocktail of wine + passion + Chinese takeaway + brandy = PB. Seems obvious to me. I’m also intrigued as to what tonight’s prep for the Blot on the Landscape tomorrow will be.

(Saturday 6^th June)

Sun And Showers

There’s an interesting mix of sun and very heavy showers today at our dog show in Osmaston. Even before those showers it’s so wet underfoot that you can’t go rushing around. Which is probably a good job if you have a dodgy knee like me.

The morning brings a clear round from MD but due to a fair amount of faffing around the tunnel entry we miss out on the rosettes. Another run got us five faults for a felled pole but otherwise it was an excellent run considering the tough course, the tough (slippery) ground conditions and the handler with the dodgy knee. Everyone else obviously found it as tough because somehow that run got us a rosette for 4^th.

After a two hour downpour that spanned lunch L joins us after a tea and cakes trip to Ashbourne. She is in time to witness a decent run from MD save for another faff on a jumping section followed by another run that was a complete disaster where everything went wrong.

It was almost as bad for Doggo who got E’d in the Allsorts class for missing two jumps out. I took my eye off him and he took a short cut. So it was my fault really but back in the day mate you wouldn’t have done that.

Back home, we stay in and are AF ahead of tomorrow’s Ramathon.

(Saturday 7^th June)

Only A Girl

I missed the deadline for advance entries for the Ashbourne Half Marathon, so we turn up nice and early to enter on the day. Which was a good thing really, as it seems they will reach the 300 race limit. L isn’t running the half but is instead meeting up with a friend who’s local to Ashbourne to do her daily 5k. Did I mention that her latest ‘challenge’ is 5k a day?

Meanwhile my latest challenge is upon me and starts with a one mile hill climb. This isn’t as bad as it sounds as at least we're all nice and fresh for this first test of the day. Then there’s a long downhill followed by a similar climb at around three miles as we go out to Thorpe village and past Thorpe Cloud before a descent to Ilam village.

The real test comes at about six and a half miles which involves a steep half mile climb up to Blore. Then after that, Wa-hey, it’s pretty much flat and downhill to the finish, with just the one minor uphill blemish on the landscape.

In fact, OMG, these last five or so miles are well fast. At least the group of seven I’m in are. A group I stay with until the last mile when the elastic keeping me with them snaps spectacularly.

In this group was a young lady with unfeasibly tight shorts who chats to everybody, tells them how hard it is and then drops them. She does this to me as well. Don’t you just hate people like that.

Perhaps she read my blog from the other day, which L said was rather sexist because I referred to the runner I met on the street as ‘only’ a girl. Well I’m sure this one thought ‘only a man, and an old one at that’ as she whizzed past us all. What goes around comes around.

My club shirt gets some comments, so much so that I may not wear it again. Not that is gets out much anyway, this is only its second outing ever and the other one was on the Hebrides. I’m only wearing it today because the club I’m in (and I use the phrase loosely) has this race as part of its club championship. People in similar vests keep welcoming me to the club because they haven’t seen me before. I feel like the new boy and I think I’d like to go back to being anonymous.

It’s all very well marshalled and there are plenty of drink stations, although the water is in cups, which probably costs me a minute overall, as I stop five times for a drink. I simply cannot drink from cups on the move. They also have sponges and I love a good sponge, I take three. Not at the same time though.

There were a lot of spectators, although the majority of these were tourists, who were more bemused rather than supportive. My time 1:41:20 is twenty seconds quicker than Wolverhampton the other week, so I must be doing something right.

We stop for a beer on the way back, at a pub in Brailsford, along with my father who has turned up to support.

In the evening we go to the, sort of local but not quite, Hemlock Stone and Dragon for a Thai meal, beer and red wine combo. Very nice.

(Sunday 16th September)

Looking For Positives

A dog show in Osmaston today, which is near Ashbourne in Derbyshire. A nice location and probably the best, flattest surface we ever get to compete on.

The old man kicks things off with a nice steady clear round and goes into 5th place. With rosettes down to 8th we might even get one. We don’t, he gets pushed down to 12th but not bad for starters.

Now to unleash the pocket rocket onto an unsuspecting public. On a tricky first course (for grades 3-5) he has a pole down and misses his weave entry but it’s a promising start. I really fancy our chances on course two, a lower level grade 1-3 course with only 14 obstacles. I didn’t think only 14 obstacles was legal and nor did many other people, so the judge gets his rule book out to show us that anything for 10 to 20 is allowed. Game on. It’s very straight and should be very quick but MD does quick quite well. I tell him I expect a rosette, if not a trophy, so to keep his paws up and not to knock any poles. Yeah yeah he mutters, whatever. He’s such a teenager.

I concentrate on getting the trickier mid section right, only we don’t get there. MD tries to miss out jump number four. Why? We are so not speaking. Still he kept all the poles up. I'm looking for positives here.

Perhaps our luck will be in on run three. We are quick, fourth fastest. It’s just a shame about that pole he clipped. Back to the drawing board. Again.

Doggo saves the day with another solid run and 11th place. Unfortunately, again just not quite good enough for a rosette.

(Saturday 11th June)