Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

I was meant to have raced the Adrenaline 27km Night Race on Saturday evening, but instead I was at the cinema watching the new "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie. It wasn't intentional, but last Tuesday I had a terrible sore throat and by Friday I was snorting out lots of the green stuff and had lost my voice. I was actually feeling ok and went to bed Friday night with every intention of racing but on waking up on Saturday morning, I started to question whether racing would be wise. Since the Whiskey Basin 88k at the beginning of April, my focus has been on the San Diego Marathon. The Aravaipa races have just been part of my preparation for the marathon and whilst I love to race and be competitive whenever I can, I haven't really been out to win these races but rather used them to gauge my current fitness levels.  T he plan had been to run the Adrenaline race at my marathon pace, or at least as close as possible given that I would be running in the dark on trail...

We are now in May and marathon training is in full swing and I have to say that I am very surprised and very happy with how things are going right now and so long as I can avoid injury and I don't overdo things, I am feeling optimistic about a good run in San Diego next month. Looking back to April, it was a pretty awesome month - not only did I have some good races but I also had some good training sessions which have given me a huge confidence boost. It hasn't been easy with Andy working away so much, but I have managed to fit in some decent quality runs in between walking the dogs and keeping them entertained, and looking after myself. I recovered surprisingly well from Whiskey Basin and within a couple of days, my legs were back to normal and I was ready to run again - so much so that I sneaked in a little 3-mile run a day earlier than I should have done! But I felt great and having taken it easy, I knew it wasn't going to do any harm. I also got a cou...

Hey folks! Just a very quick update here about forthcoming racing places.  Yep, I've done the dirty deed and have gone and registered for another road marathon - what the hell was I thinking?! Don't I remember my aim of breaking the 3 hour barrier for one last time before I get much older? We know how that turned out!  I tried in Las Vegas in November 2015 - it was raining and the city was under a severe wind warning - needless to say, I got fed up of battling a ridiculously strong headwind whilst trying to run fast and I pretty much gave up - I finished that marathon in around 3.28.  Las Vegas Marathon - Windy, windy and windy!!! Then like a fool, I went back for more, this time at the Phoenix Marathon in February 2016. That was the day I realised I was no longer a road runner and I found no joy whatsoever in trying to maintain a consistent pace on pavement for 26 miles. I got bored half way through and pretty much walked the last 10 miles, eventually ...

The Whiskey Basin 88km trail race was one of my goal races for this year and I really wanted to run well. OK, I’d had a niggling ITB issue since the Black Canyon back in February and had eased back on the miles as well as the intensity, but even if I wasn’t 100% physically ready for the race, mentally I was raring to go. I had registered for the race back in December and since then, I had kept an eye on the entry list to see who my competition would be. There were some familiar names in there and I knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but I honestly felt that if everything gelled on the day, I could quite possibly win. Two weeks prior to the race, another name appeared on the entry – Kristina Pham – a good friend and a fellow Aravaipa Racing Team member. I was delighted to see that Kristina was entered, but it also meant that even before I toed the line, I had talked myself into no better than 2 nd place on the day. You see, Kristina is no sloth, and even though openly adm...

With just under 2 weeks until my next race, I am feeling ready to race and ready to race hard. It took me a little longer to recover from the Black Canyon Ultra back in February - a minor niggle going into the race was further aggravated by the 30 mile climb back to the finish line which meant a reduction in both mileage and intensity post race whilst I tried to get my right leg feeling something like normal. Lots of stretching and rolling and shorter, slower runs on flatter terrain seems to have helped tremendously, and although my leg isn't 100%, it is far better than it was a few weeks ago. Despite me taking things a little easier these past few weeks, I have thankfully still been able to make it out on the trails. With all the rain during the winter months followed by glorious sunshine and higher temperatures, the desert looks lush and green and the spring flowers have certainly put on a spectacular blooming show for us all this year. I have never seen so much colour, and ...