Notts 20 Mud Fest

This morning L and go our separate race ways. She hops on the Red Arrow and then the Comet on her way up to the Kilburn Kilometres 10K. You’d think that the run would be a doddle after the transport arrangements but she says it was brutal with knee deep mud and loads of stiles to climb over. It took her 1 hour 24 minutes but naturally she loved it.

It sounds surprisingly like my race where there no stiles but still plenty of mud. Which wasn’t what I was expecting from the new Notts 20 Road Race.

I drive over to Holme Pierrepont nice and early which was a very good plan as the car park soon fills up. Parking anarchy breaks out with people abandoning their cars all over the place and it becomes apparent that they probably aren’t going to get 800 runners’ cars in but somehow everyone parks somewhere.

This is the first running of the race so there are going to be a few teething problems and that’s one for attention next year.

Practically everybody was doing this 20 miler to prepare for a marathon, so all the chat was about which one you were doing. Were you lucky enough to have got into London or were you doing Brighton or Manchester? Many were doing more than one of these.

The route consisted of two different loops out from the National Water Sports Centre. The first one of around 13 miles took us out through Radcliffe-on-Trent and Shelford. Then the second, of the remaining seven miles, took us out along the riverbank to the Victoria Embankment and back. The first part seemed to contain large chunks of the Outlaw bike course along with the legendary Adbolton Lane potholes while the second part seemed to contain large chunks of the Outlaw run course. So you could say it was all very familiar to me.

What I didn’t expect was that so much of it would be off road, around about two-thirds perhaps, and because the weather hadn’t been great of late, several sections of the course had turned in to either mini lakes or mud baths. It almost warranted trail shoes.

The last section along the riverbank was particularly grim with its puddles, mud and very narrow path. Which wasn’t the best choice for a race in March.

The other thing that made it a lot harder was the lack of miles markers. There were not at all. Apparently the organisers took the decision to take them down as they were in danger of becoming low flying missiles in the wind. Unfortunately, this looked a bit over the top with the wind having dropped considerably by race time. So once again I was wishing I had brought my GPS watch but we all ended up using the water stations, which were placed every three miles, as markers.

Anyhow it all went well in the end and it was all very well organised despite the less than perfect route. I was aiming to break three hours which I knew I was on to when I saw the three hour pacer behind me as we did an out and back section on the Embankment with around two miles to go.

I came home in 02:55:51 to claim a fairly naff medal but a very nice t-shirt.

(Sunday 17^th March)

Hardcore, Softcore

L rather morbidly lets me know her funeral music. In no particular order these are Elizabethan Serenade by Ronald Binge, Plainsong by The Cure and Sunday Night Just Keeps On Rolling by Múm. Interesting choices but nothing totally depressing like mine probably would be.

The weather isn’t looking particularly palatable and given that we were basically skating around in the mud last week it’s no surprise that there is no dog training on Monday.

Tuesday's goes ahead though and L cadges a lift. Mainly because we have some old computer bits to pick up from her parents’ place that they want us to dump rather than a desire to meet me in the pub for the first time in ages. Which we do and I manage not to be too ridiculously late this time.

The weather hasn’t improved by Wednesday and is actually far worse. Yet L and Daughter still go for a run in the rain. That’s hardcore. I take the bus to work and pop briefly in the gym. That’s softcore.

Thursday I subject my ageing bones to not only a bike ride to work but also the second Winter 5k on the Embankment. Given the fact that last time it was darker on the course than we all expected, L brings a head torch while Daughter opts to stay at home.

Given the extra leg work with my cycling today I am not surprised to be nine places further back on the results but oddly ten seconds quicker. So not quite past it yet then but I am upstaged by L who comes 3rd in her age category. Get her!

She says she looks forward to moving up to the next age category because the winner of that was behind her and also someone she knows. I try not to point out that the two who beat her today may move up at the same time...

(Thursday 6^th December)

Shadowy Figures

We get a painting quote for £850 for just two rooms, well one room and the hall actually. This seems seriously over the top to me. I do find it odd that the painting is more expensive than the plastering but then I expected the plastering to be probably double what he charged us. Included in the painting price is ‘filling holes’. How can that be, it’s brand new plaster!

L drags me to the Bonfire Night celebrations at Forest Rec, not that I needed much dragging. It was a good job I was dragged because L was supposed to be meeting Daughter but she’s been detained by her friends and they are late. Not that we see them at all.

The event itself is more of a funfair with a disco attached and as an afterthough a bonfire and fireworks. The bonfire is impressive enough but with no build up or fanfare, some shadowy figures emerge, sidle up to it with lanterns and light it. There seems to be effigies of several yellow jacketted council workers on top, perhaps that's why.

If that was with lack of ceremony, it’s got nothing on the fireworks which appear out of nowhere and without warning. Good they are though although very brief.

Tuesday I’m dogging and L is over that way too, visiting her folks, but doesn’t socialise with us.

On Wednesday, I’m in London and as usual the drive down is horrendous. It takes us four and a half hours to get there and only slightly less to drive back up. The visit itself goes very well.

After cycling on Thursday, as well as on Tuesday, I’m effectively asleep under my desk but I don’t think anyone notices.

Cycling probably wasn’t a great idea because tonight is the start of the Nottingham 5k Winter Series which is a monthly series of runs on the Victoria Embankment. It’s a 7:30pm which I think is so civilised but L complains that it’s almost her bedtime. So neither of us will be sub-20 tonight then. Daughter joins us.

The problem with a Winter Series starting at 7:30pm is that it will be dark, very dark. The organisers, Nice Work, tell us the Embankment is well lit. Which means they clearly haven’t been there at night and those that have sensibly turn up with head torches. Well, the smart ones do. We don’t.

In the end it’s not a bad run, well not as bad as any out and back along the Embankment could be.

(Friday 9^th November)