The down after the Downs

Well I have not run at all since last weeks SDW100 - barely walked in fact.  Spent the week RICE'ing the feet and they are on the mend but I think it'll be another week before I start back with a gentle jog.

The swelling around the ankles has gone down but there is still pain if the angle between foot and leg goes less than 80 degrees, otherwise it is fine.  I can go up stairs and on the flat - but I am still coming down stairs sideways.

So after the highs of last week and finishing my first 100 miler it has been a little low.  The updates from the race have dried up, the release of the official results, the photos (a few of me and lots of other people I don't remember seeing), a few notes on other peoples belongs (even an entry in The Independent - http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/06/23/the-road-to-the-north-face-ultra-trail-du-mont-blanc-petzl-sdw-100-mile-run/

But that is it, the elation has gone, you can only talk "non-runners" once before they get bored and you start sounding sounding like a crazy person.

It is strange that something that was so important to you at the time was experienced with 190 strangers. Those strangers will never met again in that situation.  Even the few that will do similar events, most will not know that were at the same event, perhaps we should all run with a list of previous events on the back of our T-shirts.

So that is that the SDW100 2013 is over - what I need is another event to look forward to, the event is dead long live the event.

Nervous? You bet

So less than a week to go to the SDW100, feeling a little nervous, mainly about running through the night. Running at night is fine - happy with that, but running through it after a full day running, not done that before. I am very much a morning person and like to be tucked up in bed and fast asleep before the clock strikes 11:00, so to run through that and out the otherside will be interesting. Still, to paraphrase Scott Jurek (who may have quoted someone else), "it isn't a challenge if there is no fear of failure." Still a little pre-race nerves must be a good thing - a healthy respect for the distance (and respect it I do). The furthest I've gone before is 53 miles (should have been 50 but I got lost a little and hand to double back), so there is a lot to respect. I let you know how it went.

Directions - Learning a Route

Last weeks training runs got me thinking again on how those ancient people managed to navigate from one end of the country to the other without a map.

I was on holiday - so in very unfamiliar surroundings, the place we were staying had a local walking guide with a nice circular route of 13 miles that I could do and be be back in time for breakfast. First time I did the route following the detailed directions I got lost a few times (well not lost, just in a place that was not the same as the book described. There was no OS map with the book, so I was relying on its directions and description to keep me right. It always amazes me home some details are so spot on and specific, "after 10 feet turn immediately left, through the metal gate, over the sleeper bridge and turn turn right along the hedge to the end of the field to the gate next to the large oak tree" and some are not "follow the path until it dips down and the continue on the path" - which would be fine but there were three paths to choose from ( I got the right one after three attempts).

The interesting bit came 2 days later when I ran the route again. The places I went wrong I remembered very well and didn't make the same mistake twice. Some places I remembered very well. The track I stuck my foot in a hidden puddle, the gate with latch was stuck and the field of sheep that refused to move. Other places I didn't remember at all. Several fields I didn't remember and there were a couple of places I had to stop and think did I go straight on here or head off to the right. But once I had entered the field that didn't remember as soon I a saw the fence line and recognised the gate or gap I knew where I was. I even started to plan in advance - this field leads to the bridge at the bottom and you up the road on the right.

By the third run (each run had a rest day in between) the route was second nature, I knew where I was on the route (wasn't always 100% where I was in relation to the start point) and what was coming up round the corner.

Now I go back in a few years would I still remember the route - come back in a few years and find out?

Also if I had only done it once, waited a few months and then done it would I have remembered it?

So how did the ancients travel? They must have had a huge long list of directions

Best landscape to run in

Jogging along the other week on my usual Sunday morning long run, I started thinking about what would be my favorite type of countryside to run through (sorry industrial cityscapes didn't even make the shortlist: Coastal, mountains, rolling hills, riverside, woodland?

I have always loved the coast but often I find myself concentrating so hard on the footpath (so as not to tumble down the cliff) that I forget to look to the right (or left depending on which way I am going) to take in the scenery. Often the path will lead away from the sea and hide it from view, meaning you could be running anywhere. So after the initial view (assuming the weather is kind) it quickly loses its appeal - so not coastal.

Now mountains I like, I don't mind the uphill slog (assuming that this leads to lots of easy down hill) and the views can be spectacular (assuming the weather is kind). But again the landscape , generally does not change a huge amount, so after the initial wow it quickly loses its appeal.

Rolling hills, say over the Downs, have the advantage that the view is always changing but the disadvantage that the running rhythm is broken up. The other disadvantage tends to be you can see all the other hills you have to climb in the distance. Once you have conquered a few seeing a few more in the distance can get a little disheartening.

Riverside, I like, generally flat, the path will generally twist and turn as you jog along level paths so you can never quite see what is round the corner, keeping the view interesting - the River Weir is a good example. The only disadvantage is during winter time (or in current climate conditions - all year round) when the river banks are broken and everywhere is turned into a swimming pool or at the very least knee deep in mud.

So what about a nice big area of woodland? I think this is were it is to run. The trees change from season to season. In a large woodland area (and I don't mean a Forestry Commission planted pine forest with lines of impenetrable pine trees) the types of trees change from area to area. Trails tend to branch off on a regular basis, giving variety to the running route.

The other reason I like woodland is that it is very easy to quickly lose bearings so that defined navigation points disappear, human activity disappears and you can quickly feel that you have escaped the world. As you go further into the woodland the level of man made noise drops to zero and is replaced with a natural cacophony. The rustle of deer on the right, the flap of birds wings. Sundays run had the added spectacle of a carpet bluebells to draw the eyes, and for the nose the heady smell of wild garlic (at least I would be safe from vampires).

I was even treated to the very bizarre sight of a newly planted Christmas tree plantation:

I also decided that no matter what the weather the woods help: shade in the sun, cover in the rain, protection from the wind. Yes the trails can get muddy but that only adds to the fun, trying to leap from side to side to avoid the deep stuff.

So if I was to chose the ideal landscape to run through it would be woodland (but I might need a river in the middle, an a few rolling hills inside, and maybe a mountain to run up first and view the wood before running through it and emerging by the coast).