Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

As our permanent move across the Pond gets closer, things are starting to get sorted much more quickly than anticipated, and although my training had been going well, it has inevitably suffered somewhat the past couple of weeks. A trip to Canada for a “meet and greet, look and see” visit a week or so ago, and then the strike of the dreaded lurgy resulting in a chest infection and snotty nose, has meant that it’s been a bit of struggle to get any decent running in at all. Our trip to Canada was amazing and we felt so at home for the few days we were over there that it certainly felt like we are doing the right thing. I even managed to get out for a few runs whilst over there and unlike some places in good old Blighty, I didn’t feel out of place or experience any heckling or abuse whatsoever. Just before heading back to the UK , I came down with a really bad chest which made the 8 ½ hour flight back home even more uncomfortable. I missed a few days running, and when I did get out for ...

What a difference a couple of weeks can make. At the end of September, I had what can only be described as a very poor run at the Commonwealth Trail Champs and in hindsight, it is easy for me personally to see why it happened. I certainly won’t bore anybody with the details, but putting it simply, it was the wrong race at the wrong time. A day or so after the race, we had the news that we had been waiting for for the past 10 years or so – Andy had been offered a job over in Calgary, and our lifetime dream of escaping from the UK was about to come true. Thoughts of a fresh start in a new country, with the fresh air and mountain trails just an hour or so drive from our new home, released a new positivity in me with regards to my running. Two weeks after the trail race, and it was the first race in the North Staffs Cross County League. Despite not having trained specifically for short races and having a distinct lack of speed in the legs, I was now looking forward to the race, and I kne...

It’s been a week since I did the Commonwealth Ultra Trail Championships, and now that it’s been and gone, it feels like it was a bit of an anti-climax. I was expecting far more from the event yet I can’t really put my finger on why I feel a bit indifferent about things. I’d been focused on the Commonwealths since May time, having decided to concentrate on the trails rather than the 100km on the road, and whilst training had been going well, I’ve had a lot on my mind for the past month or so, and I genuinely feel that this had a huge impact on my performance. Add to that a Mediterranean Cruise (where I did put on a little bit of weight – the deserts were divine!), and the fact that I was so busy trying to reassure others about how well they would run, when I stood on the start line last Sunday, I really hadn’t had the opportunity to think about how I would tackle the race! If you delete my race result, the weekend really was a great success, and I was proud to be a part of it. Watchin...

I'm ashamed to say that the title of this particular entry really is quite poor, but couldn't really think of anything else for this brief update. I've just got back from a 2 week Mediterranean Cruise, and with the Commonwealth Trail Championships just a mere 5 days away, I'm a little concerned that maybe I shouldn't have enjoyed the food on board quite as much as I did! The good news is that I kept the training up whilst on board ship, although running on a treadmill in rough (ish) seas was certainly a challenge, and the thought of doing a long run of more than 10 miles really would have driven me loopy. So in the past 3 weeks, the furthest I have ran is just over 13 miles - and I've got to do 30+ on Sunday. I have struggled a little these past few days, and I'm a little concerned that yet again, everything will go pear shaped at the weekend, and I'm going to come away bitterly disappointed. However, it may be my last chance to represent my countr...

It’s been a pretty good week this week, with 2 team victories for the Moorlands ladies and lots of excellent performances by friends both locally and abroad. It was the Vets Cross Country Race on Wednesday evening, and  being the first time I had done this race, I really didn’t know what to expect. It was also going to be my first race for Staffordshire Moorlands and so I didn’t want to embarrass myself by having a really crap run. The event, organised by Cheadle Running Club, is pretty low key and starts from the cricket club at Oakamoor. The ladies’ 4 ¼ mile route is pretty flat and follows the old railway track to The Ramblers Retreat before heading up into the woods and then back down again and along the track back to the cricket club. I was a little nervous for a couple of reasons – namely it would be the first time I would meet a lot of the Moorlands team, and secondly, I hadn’t done a race of less that 27 miles since doing the London Marathon back in April! How I would co...

I thought that running was meant to be an easy sport, but it’s been a funny old weekend full of highs and lows and I’m beginning to think that it would be much easier to be a couch potato! It all started last Thursday, when after weeks of iffing and areing, I finally made the decision to resign from Trentham and to join Staffordshire Moorlands AC. This wasn’t a snap decision, but is something that I have been thinking about for a while now, but I’ve been so loyal to the Green Army and been honoured to be a part of that team, that writing out my resignation was extremely difficult. Even when I was handing it over, I broke down and cried, feeling absolutely terrible and convinced I was letting so many people down. However, my head eventually overruled my heart, and with me wanting to focus more on fell and trail running, and more of the long distance races, it became clear that I would have more opportunities by moving clubs. It didn’t make things any easier and it was difficult knowin...

Things over the past few weeks have been pretty hectic to say the least, and in the words of Cindy from Scary Movie, “It’s been a while!” since I’ve had the opportunity to actually sit down and reflect on things. It seems like a lifetime ago now that I flew out to Galway for the World Trail Championships, where I donned my GB vest for the first time in nearly 3 years. Thinking back, that was a fantastic weekend, and once again I met some great people and made new friends from the ultra running world in the form of   Stuart, Craig and Andrew, as well as seeing the more familiar faces of Allen, Julian, Karen, Lucy and last but not least Heather. GB Team minus Andy Smith and Julian Rendall The race itself was certainly not what many of us were expecting, and with living in Stoke, no amount of running could have prepared me for what we encountered over in Galway . Heavy rain in the preceding days meant a last minute change to the course on safety grounds, and what a course it was...

This time next week it will all be over and I will have competed in my 4 th ultra distance World Championship race for Great Britain . Even now it still feels a little unreal. Four years ago I’d only ever dreamt of competing for my country, and although the past couple of years have been full of ups and downs, I don’t regret any of it. Last Thursday the new GB kit arrived and that same sense of excitement and anticipation took hold, not only about the actual running, but also about meeting up with old friends from the ultra running world and making new ones. I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many inspirational ultra distance athletes since I started running “Beyond the Marathon” myself, some of whom have gone on to achieve some exceptional accolades and undertaken some extreme challenges. For me, next weekend at the World Trail Running Championships will be another personal challenge. Although I’ve dabbled in trail running overseas in the past – the 78km Swiss Alpine Mountain Mar...