Chilly Hilly rebooted

The weather couldn't possibly be as biblical as last year could it?  The rain last January came down pretty much for the whole time we were running and, as we drove towards QECP this morning it looked as though we were on for a repeat performance.   It was a relief to get out of the car to find that the rain had eased off and there was barely a spit of rain while we were running.

But, oh my word, the conditions under foot were... interesting!  I knew it was going to be hilly (there's a clue in the name) and I knew, from our Wednesday evening runs in QECP, that it would be muddy, but this was mud on another level.  Slippery, slidey mud that had only 2 objectives; to try to steal your trainers and to make you look silly when you fell over!

As to my run... my snazzy Garmin has a 'performance condition indicator.'  This pops up in the first few minutes of an activity with a number that rates my current performance relative to my general fitness levels (or something like that).  Normally it varies between 0, when I feel rough, and +5.  Today the number that popped up was -9.   Minus 9!  Maybe the cold I had been suffering form all week had taken its toll.... Given that I was halfway up the first hill by then it made very little difference - I had to go on.

There were loads of marshals on the course - so lots of encouragement and warnings about taking care on the sharp bends.  Lots of banter amongst the runners, we all agreed that it felt a lot more challenging than last year.  Part of this was due to the paths being churned up by logging vehicles, in fact part of the course had to be rerouted due to logging activity.  This was nice because it meant we had an out and back - so more opportunities for banter!

Just after half way I confidently planted my foot on what looked like solid ground, only to have the ground vanish from under me!  I ended up sitting cross-legged in the mud - I think it  must have been quite a graceful tumble, but there was no one there to see!  I took it even easier after that, I just kept going with the thought of a steaming bowl of chilli keeping me going.

The chilli was great, as was the cup of tea I had with it.  This is a lovely race, with the added benefit of a raffle.  I'll be back for more next year, but will be hoping that we have dry weather!

(My Garmin also gives me a recovery time at the end of each run.  The longest I have seen so far is 48hrs after a marathon.  Today is told me I should wait 3.5 days before exercising again!  I think my cold may actually have been man 'flu!)

Best sign of the day!

Rubix Chilly Hilly - first race of the year.

 When I ran this route at the end of last year, in the dark and the rain, I distinctly remember ordering some dry weather.  What we got instead was almost constant rain for the whole of January.  And this morning was rainy too - so I looked out my rainy weather running gear, i.e. normal running gear plus a water proof jacket that I know will annoy me within about half a mile of starting running as I will a) overheat and b) the rustling noise will drive me nuts!

I dragged a friend along to share the joy with me.  We arrived in plenty of time, parked, looked at the weather and pondered our sanity.  But we were there and seemingly nothing better to do than run 10 hilly and muddy kilometres before lunch time!  This was the first Chilly Hilly race, and it was organised by a good running friend of mine who had assured me that the Rubix in the race title did not mean we had to complete a Krypton Factor style challenge before we were allowed to cross the finish line, it referred to one of the sponsors of the race.

About 250 runners assembled at the start and were soon under starters orders.  In my memory, the start was a gentle downhill, but in actuality it was a slight upwards slope that very quickly became a fairly vertiginous climb.  Running the route in the dark had the benefit of one not being able to see just how much uphill there still was ahead, today the hills seemed to go on and on.  The 'paths' were challenging too.  So much thick, squelch, sucking mud that tried to pull shoes off with every step!  The downhill sections were no easy option either - one misplaced foot could spell disaster, or at the very least a bruised bum and a loss of dignity.  I kept repeating to myself that the first half was tougher than the second!


The marshals were friendly and encouraging - it can't have been much fun for them standing in the rain and wind, and there was only one point where I thought I might have gone wrong as I couldn't see anyone ahead of me!  At this point I somehow managed to lose a contact lenses which made depth perception something of a challenge, but I only had two more miles to go!  The camaraderie amongst the runners was great - chatting briefly as we slipped and sploshed around the course and soon we were nearly at the end.  A sharp left turn, down a steep hill and the finish was in sight.... but required a detour onto some rather lovely tarmac and virtually a full circuit of the finish area before we could cross the finish line. I threw my self across the line, just managing to bag a sub one hour time (59:59 -11th female) and hugged the race director before being handed my medal and a raffle ticket.    

The chilli, provided by RKdia Catering, was excellent.  Just what was required on a cold wet day!  As was the plentiful tea from All About Tea.  We stood around and chatted with friends while we waited for the raffle to be drawn.  We didn't win, but that really didn't matter.  We'd had a lovely morning, running in a wonderful country park, in awful weather, and getting a fabulous medal too!  I will definitely be signing up again next year!  Well done to everyone involved and thank you!

Now there is just the matter of getting rid of all that mud!

Saving the best 'til last.

Last night I did something I'd never done before.

No, it wasn't meeting up with a load of strangers that I only knew via the internet.  I first did that in 1999, obviously lived to tell the tale and made some some very good friends.

Last night I met up with a group of strangers I knew via the internet, in a forest, in the dark to go for a trail run.  Armed with a head torch, and accompanied by a friend, we arrived in the car park at Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP) in the pouring rain. I'd run at QECP before as it is the setting for one of the more challenging parkruns in the area, but I'd never run cross country in the dark before.  It seemed that the rain was here to stay, so after a few brief hellos and a head count (there were 12 of us) we set off.  We were led by Kiernan - who took us along the route of a race he is organising at the end of January - the Rubix Chilly Hilly.

The start, once we had run up hill from the car park to get there, was a gentle downhill, but that was soon to change, we went up hills, down hills that had become rivers in the rain, we slipped and ducked to avoid low branches.  At times we walked up the really steep bits and, at every corner, we stopped and waited to make sure that there were still 12 of us and that we were all still happy.  It was great fun. I am pretty sure that there were some stunning vistas from our run route, but it was dark and I was looking to see where the next firm(ish) bit of ground was.  It will be nice to come back in daylight and I've put in an order for dry weather!  The run wasn't fast - it would be silly to try to run too fast on such uneven ground in the dark, but it is the most fun I have had while running in a long time.

Back in the car park the runners dispersed fairly quickly.  My friend and I took rather longer.  She has a brand new car, so trailing mud into it would just be rude, and she was dropping me in Petersfield to meet Husbando and some friends for supper, so I figured I needed clean up a little bit.  Balancing on one leg in the light shining from the courtesy light of the car and trying to maintain as much modesty (dignity went out of the window a long time ago) I managed to change into clean running kit.  My feet were caked in the mud that had gone in over the top of my trainers, but clean socks and shoes felt fabulous.

Meeting friends for supper was one of those spur of the moment decisions we made while having coffee in the morning.  We made a couple of 'phone calls and soon there were 5 of us going for supper at Annie Jones' in Petersfield.  I'd been there twice before - once for tapas and once in the more formal restaurant.  I did have a few qualms when I discovered we'd booked the restaurant as, although I much preferred it to the tapas, I was worried that having one member of the group turning up half an hour later and looking like a drowned rat (there is only so much one can do in a carpark with a hand towel, a wet wipe, a hair brush and a can of deodorant) might be frowned upon.

But it was fine.  In fact it was more than fine.  It was excellent.  I had one of the best meals I have had in a very long time, in fact every single dish that came to the table was excellent, the waiter was attentive and helpful and didn't seem too put out by the bag of wet running gear I dumped on the floor under our table.  The company was excellent too.  We enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine, a fantastic meal and decided that we should do this more often.

All in all an excellent evening - a run that reminded me why I love running, and the company of good friends enjoying lovely food!  A pretty good way to round off 2015 really!

Exceptionally good coffee!

Another Saturday, another parkrun!  Today marked the inaugural running of Queen Elizabeth parkrun just south of Petersfield.  This is about 4 miles further away from home than my regular Basingstoke parkrun, but the A3 is a slightly faster road than the A339 so it took no longer to get there.  I set of with my youngest boy, picked up a friend on the way and we all arrived in good time for the start.

I love an inaugural parkrun as you can guarantee that you'll meet up with people you like and don't get to see often enough as they now run at different parkruns, or you've only met them once or twice 'in real life' but have spent so much time chatting on line that you feel like you have known each other for donkeys' years.  You also get to speak to lots of people who have never been to parkrun before, but more of that later!

It was quite a walk from the car park to the start.  My friend commented that we were lucky it wasn't raining, as we'd have been soaked by the time we got to the start.  We walked up hill to the start.  The first of lots of up hill bits!  Milling around at the start we chatted with people we knew, discussed how hilly this run would be and plotted future parkrun outings.  Kiernan Easton, the event director,  gave an excellent briefing.  He said he was nervous, but it really didn't show.  He thanked all those involved in the set up and all today's volunteers before describing the course.  Apparently it is a net downhill course!

I started near the back, with my boy, and we stayed near the back!  The sharp uphill start spread the field out pretty quickly, but was followed by a lovely long downhill stretch.  As I was running at 9 year old boy pace (and he isn't fast, his PB is 33minutes) I had lots of breath to talk, so talk I did!  Alongside encouraging my 9 year old (shorten you stride, dig in with your toes on the hill, shoulders back, head up, etc. etc.) I chatted with, or maybe at, other runners.  Lots of them were first time parkrunners who were impressed and bemused by the concept in almost equal measure!  The course is beautiful, lots of lovely views and very well marshalled and signposted.  Much of it is on forestry commission hard packed gravel paths with some sections over grass.  Not my favourite running surface, but as I was taking it easy I didn't mind too much.  There is one short lap followed by one longer lap, which meant that it didn't really feel as though one was running laps!  Going up the steep hill for the second time the boy was flagging, as was a Havant parkrunner who was being supported by her friend.  Her friend grabbed one of her hands, my boy grabbed the other and they pulled her up the hill!  Suddenly he could run again, having had a bit of a whinge prior to that point!

Is it hilly?  Well, yes it is!  Look at the elevation profile!  But it is also very pretty.  My son finished it 6 minutes slower than his PB, but that includes a pretty spectacular tumble as he ran down hill.  The sort of tumble that would have put me in hospital, but he just got up, cried a bit, walked a bit and then carried on running!  He may not be fast, he may not always enjoy running, but he is very determined.  If he is struggling and looking miserable I ask him if he wants to stop, he invariably says no, he wants to finish, so on we plod!  I think he likes the big cheer he gets at the finish.

Coffee and a chat is an important part of parkrun for me!  Today we got to sit outside and drink some really lovely coffee.  'Exceptionally good,' as my friend commented.  So good we had to have another cup.  The bacon sandwiches looked pretty good too.  In best parkrun tradition, the event director had organised cakes.  They looked stunning and, I am told, tasted as good as they looked.  I want to know where to get the special cup cake carrying boxes from!

I look forward to coming back to this parkrun in the future and running it without a child.  A bit more hill training might be in order first.  None of the hills are as challenging as my local steep hill, but I run up that one by myself - no one can see if I am running so slowly that it would be faster to walk.  Still, the only way to get good at running hills is to get out there and run up them!