This blog follows my training, races, preparation and feelings as these major events come ever closer.
I'll also keep everyone updated on how my fund raising is going. http://www.justgiving.com/johnnyultra
I've created a new improved blog so please go to http://www.johnnyultra.blogspot.com/ to read the latest updates.
Thanks
Johnny
Hi All,
I am back from my 100 mile run in the Himalayas and I had a great time. I finished the run and thought you might enjoy my race report.
The days before the run.
We had a great introduction to India which involved going to Delhi's No.1 nightclub!! It wasn't planned. We arrived at our hotel and it was about 1am India time so about 8pm my time so Joe and I thought we'd find the hotel bar and have a beer. We walked into the Hotel bar and it was a full on club. The music was banging, they were setting fire to the bar, there were girls dancing on the bar, it was crazy. So we stayed for a few beers!
The next day we got a flight from Delhi to Bagdogra and then took a bus to Mirik which is where we stayed for the next two nights. The journey to Mirik was interesting. We were in an old bus driving along roads with cows and goats on the side and and weaving in and out of traffic. Driving in India is unique, there doesn't seem to be too many rules. The journey got more interesting as we weaved over 6500ft up into the tea hills of the Darjeeling region. The landscape got more and more impressive.
This is the view from the swiss style chalet we stayed in... Nice
Race Day one - 24 miles.
That was not quite what I was expecting! It was really tough, possibly the hardest single day of running i have done. There was so much up hills. I would say about 20 of the 24 miles was uphill. To put it into perspective we ran/walked up 8500ft of hills today which is equivalent to running up Snowdon 3 times in one day!
The first 2 miles took 45mins!. At times we were walking up the hill and I could feel my heart beat in my chest and head. The rest was downhill which sounds fine but its down very uneven stony roads so it was hard to go fast. We reach an altitude of 12000ft which is where our hut and bed was for the night. A very tough but amazing day, loads of lovely friendly locals along the way.
The whole 24 miles took an amazing 7:20. Here are a couple of photos of the place we stayed at and the view from the top of day one's hill!
 |  |
Race Day 2 - 20 miles: Day 2 was easier than day 1 although still hilly. We ran ten miles along a ridge then turned around and went back again. The view for the day was Everest and 3 of the other tallest mountains in the world, how amazing is that!
It is very rare to have such a clear day so we were very lucky. Top CD of the day was Above and Beyond Vol7 disc2. We had noodles and ginger tea at the restaurant in the tiny little place we were staying in which was very nice. Our time for the 20 mile run was 4:34. We were all in bed asleep by 8pm as it was so cold. I went to bed with 2 layers on my legs and 3 layers on top and i was in a sleeping bag and had two rugs on me!! We had to get up at 4.45am as we had a marathon to run the next day.
Heres a photo of everest - its the high peak in the middle!! This is also the ` best toilet in the world...
Race Day 3 - A marathon . Well this day turned out to be another tough day. The distances were measured all wrong and it was easily over 28miles in total but the variety in terrain made it interesting. We started off running back along the 10 miles we ran the day before. the course then took us another 6 miles along the ridge and there was a huge climb at the end of the 6 miles all the way to the halfway checkpoint.
The scenery was amazing as we started out at 12000ft with Everest and the other mountains in view. We then dropped 5500ft to were we are staying tonight. The tough uphills were matched with the tough downhills which just kept on coming. We ran through the fir trees to a more dense jungle where there were apparently red Pandas and Bengal Tigers; I didn't see either of them.
The down hill gave me an awkward pain the outside of my right knee which hurt when I took steps downhill!! Bugger. We took our time on this run and finished in 9hrs 40 mins.
Race Day 4 - Half Marathon
Today was a relatively easy one. We had a half marathon to complete which included 6 miles of down hill, 3 miles of flat and then 4 miles of uphill. Again the scenery was fantastic and different to the other days. We ran down the long downhill to a river and had a good relaxing run. This was the first day where you could actually just run and didn't have to look at every step.
We took 2:32 mins to complete the day. We headed back to the motel and had the afternoon to relax before the cultural evening!! Well, the cultural evening was entertaining. Each country had to do something that represented their country like sing a song! Like true brits we all politely refused except for one guy who got up and sang head, shoulders, knees and toes in dutch!! What?
My Po from Taiwan got my vote by doing his Michael Jackson impression, it was so funny. Shamown.....eee he!! Then it got to 8.30 and we left to have our tea. One more day to go and the last 17 miles.
Race Day 5 - 17 Miles
Well this was our final day and I was really looking forward to today's run. Todays run started at the point we finished at the day before so it was a bus ride from the place where we had been sleeping. The route today took us up hill for the first 7 miles and then gave us a lovely gentle downhill of the last 10 miles.
My calves were so tight at the start of the race and felt really heavy but as the run went on they started to loosen and by the time we had reached the top of the hill in around 1hr 25 mins they were all relaxed and I was ready to go.
Joe and I stuck our tunes on, had a power bar and half a viper and went for it. We were hammering it down the hill for quite a while and then thought that we should probably relax a bit. We weren't going to beat any records and this would be the last time we spend the day running around the himalayas.
The finish came around quickly and it was a great welcome. Children had come out to cheer us on and high-5 us as we ran past and there was a big welcome as we crossed the finish line.
Here are some photos from the end of the run.
After a short while relaxing after my 85 mile run i'm back and I've been stepping up the training again to make sure I am ready for my next challenge
And oh, ive gone again as I fly out to the Indian himalayas next friday to run 100 miles over the worlds biggest mountains! Well not over them but on them..
I really can't wait to get out there, it is going to be amazing. I've got 1 day to acclimatise at the altitude which is only 6500 ft at that point.
Then the next day we set off. This is the schedule.
Day 1 - 24 miles - climbing 5500 ft!!
Day 2 - 20 miles
Day 3 - 26.4 miles - a marathon over Everest!!!!Wow
Day 4 - 17 miles
Day 5 - 12.6 miles - nice easy day to finish
Im going to try to keep twitter or/and facebook updated
Wish me look and I'll do my best to keep you posted.
As always here's one more request to all you kind lovely people to drop me a few quid to support the amazing work that the guys at Mencap do. http://www.justgiving.com/johnnyultra
Cheers
Johnny
What a weekend. If anyone had said a couple of years ago that I would be spending a day of my bank holiday running 85 miles I would have laughed at them. But thats exactly what I have just done.
Starting at midday on Saturday 29th August I set off from Ivinghoe Beacon with an 85 mile run in front of me. The run was to take me into new territory having previously only run 50 miles in one day. Thats the challenge though, thats what makes we do these things. Can I put myself through this and finish?
The first half was pretty straightforward. I very steadily progressed over the first 20 odd miles, running all the flat and downhill sections and walking the uphills. I was averaging 5 miles an hour, so on target.
Somewhere between mile 20 - 25 the reality of what I was doing hit me. I hadn't even done a marathon by that point and I was attempting to run over 3 of them!! I did start to think how am I going to do this. So as I always do, i put some cracking tunes on and plodded on.
It wasn't long after this point that my legs started to feel great, really fresh and relaxed. I stepped up the pace and it all felt fantastic. I kept this up until I got to Goring which was the half way point. That was the first half done in just over 9 hours.
At Goring the organiser have proper food which is massively welcomed. I had a jacket potato with beans and cheese and a cup of tea. That would help me to get through the night section.
It is really weird getting use to eating while your running. When i do marathons I might have a few energy gels and a viper bar nearer the end but not proper food. but during this run I ate:
8 x squares of ham and pease pudding sandwiches
2 x bags of crisps
1 x snickers
3 x Trek energy bars
1 x hot dog and onions
1 x jacket potato, beans and cheese
3 x cups of tea
1 x mini mars bar
2 x peperami hots
10 x litres of energy drink
1/2 x jam sandwich
After a 30 minute break at half way I set off for the second half. It was dark now so this was where it was going to get interesting. I didn't get lost at all during the first half of the race but there were a few points where I would have missed the path of it had been dark.
Fortunately as I was walking up a road three guys doing the run caught up with me and we got talking. They were about to become my running mates for the next 9 hours.
Alex, Tony and Quentin welcomed me into their group and made the night section sail by. Physically I felt fine, I had lots of energy, I wasnt feeling tired and all my joints were feeling good.
The one thing about ultra running is that you always get plenty of time to get to know people. Given it was night time and we really weren't in a race but a personal challenge we all walked the next 25 miles. Alex had run the second half a month before so pretty much knew the way, this helped alot.
We played a variety of games, told stories and shared our running experiences to while away all the time we had. A couple of the guys were suffering from minor injuries so I think it helped them to take their mind off it a bit. A game of 'football' also kept us entertained for many hours. I wont go into detail but lets just say the beans at half way helped.
There are some people you meet in your life who give you inspiration or add a new perspective to your life which you have to grateful for. Alex is one of them. Alex is 37 and 2 years ago was diagnosed with Parkinsons. His attitude to life is spot on, get out there and do what you can. He is raising £1million for the Parkinson Trust so if this strikes a cord with you his page is http://www.justgiving.com/alex-flynn/. I hope we stay in touch.
The sun came up which was a great feeling but it also made we very aware that we were into a new day and that I had been out there for about 18 hours and I still had about a 17 miles to go. I decided to start running again, at this point I wanted the run to finish as quickly as I could. So I said a big thanks and goodbye to Alex and Tony and wished them the best for the rest of the race. I have no doubt that they would finish.
I was still enjoying being out there and playing the mental games that go through your head but I was feeling tired and thought that starting to run again would help. Weirdly it did.
The checkpoints seemed to take a long time to come around but that happens when you so desperately want them to be just round the corner. They do appear eventually and thats another thing to check off the list. You are one step closer to finishing.
When I got to the final checkpoint there was only 5 miles to go. Only 5 miles, sounds easy doesn't it. I reckon that last 5 miles took about 1hr 20 to complete. It seemed to go on for ever. There was quite a big hill to climb and the ground was rough with big track marks which you had to pick your route through. Trying to concentrate at this point was not easy!
Finally the sign arrived which pointed us down the hill to the finish. I have never been so pleased to see the end of a race. I was tired, very tired and although I felt stiff I was not as bad as I thought I would be.
I had finished in a medal winning position in that I was the 3rd fastest man over 35!! I must say I was very pleased with that. I'm not too sure of my exact time but I think it was around 22hrs 30 minutes.
Races like these aren't possible without support. I'd like to say thanks to Meredith for being my crew and being at checkpoints with food and drink ready for me, brilliant. Thanks to my family who have always supported me through all my runs. Thanks to my mum who called me at 4.30am to check I was alright, things like that give you a lift.
Also thanks to everyone who texted or facebooked, entertaining and encouraging.
Its Monday afternoon now and I have a swollen ankle and achey top of my calves. Given what I've done I am suprisingly ok.
What an experience, absolutely brilliant. Definately to be repeated some time in the future.
Until next time thanks...
Just a quick one to say I've had a great week of running. Following my 30 miler last Saturday I did a nice steady 6.5 mile run on the Sunday and felt ok.
I then wenet out for a tempo run on the Tuesday doing 6 miles in total with the middle 4 averaging 6:25 minute miles. That felt great and the fastest I have run in some time
I did an easy half marathon last night and my legs feel good today, its all coming together.
This weekend Im doing a 20 miler on Saturday and a 10 miler on Sunday then I can start to take it easy ready for the massive 85 mile run on Saturday 29th August.
Have a good weekend.
Johnny
Hi all,
I really needed a good training run today to give me some more confidence with my 85 miler only 3 weeks away now!!So I headed out, backpack loaded with drink and snack bars and headed into the countryside round Beaconsfield.
Everything felt really good as I headed up to Flackwell Heath on my way to Marlow. I got to Marlow, which was just over a half marathon in 2 hrs 10 minutes so pleased with that.
I grabbed myself some lunch and more drink and headed down to the Thames in Marlow to find somewhere good to eat it. It was such a nice day, the sun was shining, there was still a bit of cloud which helped keep the temperature down a bit.
I took the second half easier and ended up finishing the 30 miles in 5.15 hours.
The good news is that I feel good, my achillies is absolutely fine, so its all looking good for the ultra...bring it on.
Top tune of the day was Marco V - Unprepared from the new Trance Nation CD mixed by Above and Beyond
Off for a 10 miler tomorrow to see how the legs hold up.
Laters...
I had a good weekend up on the north york moors with the RTS team. Matt who I met through www.therunningbug.co.uk and ran most of the Grantham Canal 30 miler with is doing the Hardmoors 110 miler in October so we went up to the North York Moors and went for a run.
Matts mate Vin ran with us and Mal was the 'crew' keeping us fed and watered. I ran the first 21 miles along part of the Cleveland Way but was a bit done in after the marathon last weekend so dropped out and let Matt and Vin crack on to do around 27 miles in total.
It is really impressive up there and fortunately the weather held off as it would have been quite miserable if it had rained all the way.
I went for a run tonight, an easy 5 miler which felt really good. Off for a 6 miler tomorrow after work and then probably going to do a 15 miler on Thursday after work!!
Then its friday off work as I'm going to Tiesto....ave it!
Have a good week,
Johnny
I'm on a train at the mo coming back from a meeting at Glasgow. Its 10.11pm, unlikely to get home til 12.45 or so but the good news is I was given a complementary upgrad to 1st class and have had free food and wine all night..woohoo.
So last weekend was a good run. It ended up taking me 5hrs 17mins which was better than 2007 but a bit disappointing as I finished the first half in 2hrs 5mins and was on for a good time but I got lost about 3 times, one for about 30 minutes.
How can you get lost you ask... Well you are given 4 A4 pages of notes which you use to navigate yourself around the course. There are no mile markers or any directional markers at all and as my orientiering skills are not that hot it was inevitable that I got lost.
This weekend is much of the same in that I have a 28 mile run planned. Fortunately this time all i need to do is turn up and run as Matt and his mates are sorting out the details, cheers Matt. Matt is doing the Hardmoors 110 run in October so this weekend is a reccy of part of the course, should be interesting.
Right im off to enjoy more free wine.
Cheers
Johnny
