Coffeeman's Running Blog: I had a feeling 21 was going to be a good year

Nothing is for ever.

Writing this I am back in Buckinghamshire. This wasn't part of any of the plans that I blithely set out in February, and getting here has been torturous to say the least. But more on that in the next post.

Which way, now? On a 500's recce.

The Gap in the Thirlstone, by Watern Tor. A "500".

This winter into spring had all of us again back in the world imposed on us by Covid restrictions. No Parkruns, few races, but lots of opportunity to set personal challenges and take on solo projects. This is where my running went until summer. In the back of my mind was always my place in UTMB / CCC, so most of my training included hiking and hills, led by my excellent coach / mentor Natalie White. I've been with Natalie now since early 2017, when she decided to start advising a handful of runners on how to pursue their goals. Most of us focus on trails and ultra distances, and we have a group Whatsapp for mutual encouragement and a bit of banter. But I actually only ran twice with other humans 4 times before the middle of June. Virtual challenges came and went. They gave some focus and added a bit of contrived meaning to the running numbers. but it definitely wasn't racing. Looking back now, I definitely lost some performance edge over this period.

The Triple Stone Row at the base of the steepest ascent of Cosdon Hill, my local "500"

Two significant solo projects stand out for me from this time, both of which in different ways I'm pretty proud of, looking back.

My idea to have a go at the Dartmoor 500's in late April was still pretty strong as winter gave way slowly to Spring on Dartmoor. But it got pre-empted by someone else's attempt! In the event, Robert Richards from Okehampton Running Club, Stu Walker and myself had a great day pacing Robin Upton around the 500's in around 21 hours on April 9th. Conditions were pretty much perfect: good visibility, dry and quite chilly. My own contribution was around 54 km and then some key road support late in the day. Stu was a total soldier, bringing Robin all the way back to the Warren House Inn from when we met him at Belstone. Rob handled the first section, but he and partner Wendy also came to the final miles, complete with customised medal.

Robin ticking another one off, Lydford Tor (I think)

Now on road support. Stu committing to "the rest" at Postbridge refuel.

Being involved with another low key epic day with a handful of others reminded me of that weekend in August 2019 when Stu completed his double Bob Graham round. Later in mid May I supported good friends Iain and Karen in their Coast to Coast 110 mile runs across Devon, South to North. In the event, Iain fell 25 miles short, but Karen made it through.

Early days for Iain, dropping in to Bennett's Cross checkpoint on Dartmoor

Iain refuelling next to Chagford Bridge

There will be more of this!

The second solo project was 100% solo. Even Cocoa wasn't involved. But I will deal with that in the following post.

In between these two "projects" came a proper race, preceded by another week of South West Coast path hiking with my mate, Trev. When we had tackled the North Devon and Cornwall sections a few years ago, we had finished the first week at Hartland Quay, and then started again at Boscastle, leaving a big gap on the "wreckers coast" north of Bude. At the first reasonable opportunity, Trev wanted to close this gap (I had already run this section of coast path a while back). So in late May we tackled this "Tsunami Coast", in mixed weather, spread over several days. For Trev this was a welcome "I can still do this stuff" after knee surgery in February 2020. For me it turned out to be a race recce. So on June 16th I lined up in Westward Ho! with a few other masochists for the 57km PureTrail Tsunami Ultra, heading for Bude. Two weeks before I had run & hiked the distance (101 km) and elevation (6100m) of the CCC over 4 days on my local hill, Cosdon Beacon, so I was really in the right shape. Why Tsunami? This section of coast is notorious for more or less relentless ups and downs, initially mainly in coastal woodland, and then, once the corner is turned at Hartland Point, on heavily eroded cliffs facing the North Atlantic. It adds up to around 2500m of ascent and the same of descent, often on cambered singletrack, but also with many steep stepped sections. To me it looked like another. ideal domestic preparation race for CCC. I had set myself the target of a sub 9 hour finish. I knew the route pretty well; it was my favourite distance; and I've done the hill work. Twisting my already flaky left ankle on a tree root at 9 km and taking a tumble wasn't part of the plan though. I had started a bit quickly if I'm honest, but up to Clovelly there are a few faster sections to take advantage of. At some point around half way, I decided that the ankle really was pretty painful, particularly on the almost permanent left to right cambered cliff paths. Reduced to lots of hiking and now even more tentative than normal on the downhills, I slowed down appreciably, but decided I could finish. Meeting lots of PureTrail marshalls whom I hadn't seen in ages helped a great deal, and I was even running at the finish in 10 hours 39 mins. It was very hard, but I had my nutrition and hydration nailed and this undoubtedly helped to keep me moving forward.