1-7-2014 

Today I took part in the 11km version of the Karrimor Great Trail Challenge in the beautiful Lake District. Set in Keswick the 11km race comprised of a one lap route that took you along gravelly trails, wooden walkways, concrete inclines and of course Latrigg Fell.
Being organised by the same people that organise the Great North Run, I expected a very user friendly event and yet was still surprised by the almost carnival feel experienced by runners and spectators alike.
The elite runners set off first and all came in with pretty impressive times (especially the juniors) however at 10:45 it was time for the average joes taking part in the 11km.
I set out at a comfortable pace, around 9min/mile and found myself running next to a nice fella called Robert for almost the full run. It was pretty comfortable underfoot and never really got too technical, and 11km is not too far (even for me) however it was the 1017' elevation gain that cause the most trouble (gain according to garmin).
As usual, once you reach the top it kind of makes the climb seem worth it and there are some lovely views from the top of Latrigg Fell. Due to a lot of walking breaks my ascent took an unimpressive 14 mins 28 secs and the descent taking 16 mins 53 secs. Now I am assuming the descent takes in more km because I personally felt like I was flying down the hill (but apparently not).

Overall, the Karrimor Great Trail Challenge was a great event ran over a great route, and I will definitely be back next year to crack the hour mark. This year I completed it in 1:13:27, I'm not unhappy with that although If I can get through till next summer injury free I will be expecting to finish sub 1h.


Coming to the finish line, ahead of Robert ;)



At the start, just slightly behind Robert

Injury and beyond

31-3-2014

Despite the issues I had been having with my ITB I was really looking forward to today. Today would be my first ever running event, and what an event it would turn out to be.
The week before I had been to Buttermere to recce the route of the ten mile trail race put on by high terrain events and salomon. Now I love the lake district, always have but this was my first visit to Buttermere and it is beautiful, if you have not been, make time to visit, you won't regret it.
On the day of the event the sun was cracking the flags, it was the hottest day of the year so far (that I had experienced anyway) and I was greeted at the registration tent by the helpful people from high terrain events. I told them my name and received my race number and a free pair of salomon socks -bonus.
When the race actually started I had the feeling that I was massively under prepared because everyone seemed to be horsing it over the first km. A lot of people passed me by but by the time we came out of the wooded section on the shores of Buttermere lake I was steadily passing people who had obviously got caught up in the excitment and we're now feeling it.
Things were going pretty well for me until the 6 mile mark when that itb pain kicked in. Originally i wanted to complete the run in 1h40 and at 6 miles I was on 59 mins so it was within my grasp. However when the pain began my desire was focused upon just finishing. All of the people I had previously passed were now passing me again and I eventually finished in 1h56:35.
Disappointed but elated.
I will definitely be back for a sub 1h40 next year.

4-5-2014

After Buttermere I had three weeks off and worked on my strength exercise and invested in a foam roller and restarted running on flat road only. Eventually I was running pain free again, just as well as on the fourth of may I was running the Sunderland city 10k.
It went off without any hiccups and no pain.
I was as happy as I could be. It was pretty much the first time I ha r
An 10th without any pain since December! I ran the course in 55:46. Not quick at all but completing it pain free was the most important aspect.

Light at the end of the tunnel.....

As the lack of posts and today's title may suggest, I have been keeping my head down and working hard on recovery. I had read loads of places that ITB associated injuries were a real nightmare, and to be fair, that's right.
They are a total nightmare!
As I've said before, I've been working lots on building the muscles around the hip and the glutes that would reduce the chances of having ITB problems as well as short flat runs, separated with extremely long rest periods.
As it happens, I am now beginning to reap the benefits of the levels of patience I had no idea I possessed. Four runs deep now with not even a twinge of bother, awesome! Actually ran 3 miles today (without pain) for the first time since December.
Waves of relief are rushing over me as I type!
Anyway, back to the point. So I had been running short distances and a slow pace and today actually managed 3 miles pain fee today (which you already know) - But I also managed to throw in some trail and completed it in 27:50. Not as fast or as comfortably as pre- injury me would have managed, but definitely  something to build upon.
Now I'm running injury free again I can't wait until the Buttermere 10 on March 30th, but I wont be pushing too hard too soon and I'm going to allow for plenty recovery during rest days.

On a completely separate note I have managed to get the wife out more often and actually running with me so watch this space. Exciting times in the TRN household.

The Iliotibial Band: The One Direction of the Running World.

If anyone can remember (or if anyone has actually read anything I've written), I had previously mentioned having a niggly knee.
Fortunately for me I married into a family that included a physiotherapist as part of the deal - in no way did that effect my decision to get married - and I seen her recently. Unfortunately it was in the pub and not in her practice so I missed out on a rub down, but having mentioned to her that during runs I was having a problem with the outside of my knee.
Pretty painful actually.
She had mentioned to me that usually if the pain is on the outside of the knee that it has probably originated in your hip and mentioned some muscles and stuff...
Fast forward to a session on google and runners websites and it seems her prognosis was correct, here i found an interesting read
http://www.jaaos.org/content/19/12/728.full (Strauss et al, 2011)

Anyhoo, so since my last post I have attempted to alter my running to incorporate a reduction in pain while strengthening my glutes and abductors in that side. Today I done a fairly flat shorter run which I ended prior to any pain but I could feel It was coming, additionally I completed a few sets of exercises designed to strengthen the muscles mentioned.

This mornings run can be seen here

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/424937275#

Also on healthier, less one direction orientated matter I have entered the Buttermere 10 on the 30th March. Looks great! Hopefully All will be well with 1D by then, or maybe I will have to carry a stash of ibuprofen's with me (ha!) Can anyone give me any advice on the ibuprofen whilst running idea??

Here is a link to the Buttermere 10....

http://www.highterrainevents.co.uk/10.html

Keep Running and Happy New Year from everyone at TTRN

Where theres a will...

Having overcome the the difficulty of begining to run it is easy as a beginner to think it is all plain sailing after that. However, those in the know, know.
It isn't.
So far this aspiring world champion has had to deal with niggly calfs- a really annoying problem that can keep you from running when all you want to do is keep improving, and a niggly knee. The latter only began last week and is a problem that only seems to raise its ugly head after the four mile mark. Again, anyone who has experienced something similar will share, having to stop or thinking it may be more sensible to stop when you have tons of energy left is really annoying. But the legends are true, the hardest thing about running is avoiding injury!
Anyway that gets me to todays point, taking it easy doesn't have to be as dishheartening as it first seems. I realised this after recently running two really light 2km jogs with the 8 year old member of team trail runners nipple.
In the end I suppose thats the point, running doesn't have to be a serious solo persuit, it can also be a fun friendly one.

Trail running: A beginners guide to beginning.

Picture the scene, a 29 year old man is finally contemplating giving up the 'smokes' but wonders how best to accomplish such a daunting task. Most people of course would have considered patches, gum, or any other of the available tools on the market. Well not this people.
'How best can I quit?' 'I know I'll take up running!'
Absolute genius on my part.
After a few minutes daydreaming of myself atop a podium receiving my first Olympic Gold the realities of such a plan begin to materialize.
i) I ran the 1500m once when i was in school (ages ago now)
ii) I don't own a pair of runners
iii) I don't know anybody that runs (and my wife is completely against the idea)
iv) How will 15+ years of skateboarding have effected my joints

To be honest the list went on and on and I quickly began to talk myself out of the idea.
But I eventually managed to muster the motivation (having found a pair of nike runners at the bottom of my insanely huge sneaker collection- that however, is a story for a different time) and went for a run around the streets. It is here that i encountered the biggest barrier to that Olympic gold; road running is immensely boring!!!!!
Because of this, well, it is the reason I am sticking too, I was unable to complete a mile without stopping and ended up back in the house dejected and in severe need of a nicotine boost. The internet then granted me a most welcome gift, trail running! Surely this is the answer to the boredom of road running.

To be honest, looking back on that time now, I find it hard to understand how I didn't stumble into trail running accidentally as I live 5 minutes walk from the coast!
Genius!!!

On the 28th October 2013 I managed 7.2km in time of 47:56.
I was rather pleased, and my enthusiasm for running grew.
So fast forward 2 months and 168km later and what you get is something that does not smoke anymore and can loosely be described as a trail runner. No Olympic golds yet though, unfortunately.
I took some photos from my regular 5km route last week.

The cannon at the top of Trow Rock

The way forward

Looking forward at frenchmans bay

Looking back at Frenchmans

Trail down into Marsden Bay

Marsden Bay

And the route back up onto the Leas