There and back again....A tale by Bilbo Baggins...Err I mean a seaside cycle by a knackered cyclist :)

Seaside Pier 2 Pier 2 Pier cycle challenge....Southport to Blackpool and back to Southport again! 70+ miles.

The night before....

Well out of madness and a little boredom comes great ideas right?.. Well maybe not. More like out of boredom comes stupid ideas.

The next day was going to be a long awaited day off, but also a chance to get some of my weekly cycling challenge miles in, as I have to do 50 miles a week avg to achieve my 2017 miles in 2017 'Risk it for a biscuit' challenge.

I'm currently on track despite only starting  in March, but have built up a little buffer with several 100 mile weeks when I first got my new road bike and was extremely enthusiastic.

The stage was set the night before when I decided that Blackpool was doable as I'd run from Blackpool to Southport before as part of the Seaside24 Pier 2 Pier charity run which was 35 miles. That made me feel fairly confident that I could do double that on a bike, as it equates to about the same effort. 

Early the next morning.....

I woke up early but had no intention of getting up as it was only 6.30am but I was hungry so decided that I could get my breakfast now and go back to bed. I opted for a cup of coffee and some peanut butter on toast and a couple of good old cheery bakewells....breakfast of champions right??

Breakfast of champions...or is it a subliminal cookie monster advert?

Time to get kit ready....

So I hadn't prepared at all, but had a good idea what I would need with me. I soon discovered it wouldn't all fit in 3 pockets on the back of my cycling jersey so I went with my running back pack/race vest. This had lots of room and space for a 1.5 lire drinks reservoir and drinks tube etc. Problem was I had taken it out of the race vest previously and couldn't remember how to thread the stupid tube back through the various holes and loops in the vest so that it sat upfront and was easily reachable while riding.

I wasted 30 mins trying to remember how it fitted but gave up on decided on my standard 500 ml drinks bottle that would just sit in the bottle holder on the bike.

I stuffed my pack with flapjacks and a banana and 3 or 4 gels and a Mars Bar, money, phone for photos and keys....and some tissue just incase I had issues :)

11.30am and time to go.....

So off I went and I was an hour late as I was supposed to be dropping into a friends Deli on the way out of Southport for a brew but decided I couldn't afford to lose more time as I needed to definitely be back by teatime preferably after breaks etc.

The route.....

The route was simple enough, bypass to Preston and another bypass to Freckleton, Warton, Lytham, St Annes and finally Blackpool itself....

Southport to Preston was pretty normal as I'd done it on foot before as mentioned earlier so was familiar with it. Most of the cycle path was OK, but many parts of it were quite frankly poor, pitiful, damn right dangerous and non existent.

It's no wonder cyclists choose to cycle on the road instead of the cycle path when you are constantly avoiding pot holes, patchy tarmac, glass, gravel, stones and junctions that you have to stop for and try and cross unlike all the cars on the road which are free to proceed unhindered.

Preston took me an hour to get to and was roughly 18.9 miles into the route. I stopped just beyond the dockside and had a banana and then carried on toward the next bypass/dual carriageway which headed toward Freckleton etc..

The Freckleton dual carriageway has a 2-3 ft strip of tarmac lined off on the left hand side of the road surface itself. It is as rough as hell on road tyres and was no fun at all. It also slowed me down a hell of a lot, that and the wind that was getting worse as I went.

Past Freckleton and next was Warton where the British Aerospace site is and this section was an abomination of is it or isn't it cycle paths and cycle lanes that just disappeared into thin air  leaving you wondering where you were actually supposed to be cycling. The strips of designated tarmac it did have was half worn out had loads of holes where your wheel dropped down to the previous layer of tarmac and then back up again which endless jolts through the handlebars and frame.

Next up eventually was the lovely Lytham and the prom and a proper cycle path shared with pedestrians and nice and smooth as well. I reached here at 1hr 35 minutes into the ride and promptly parked myself up at the windmill to take a pic to prove I was actually there....

Little windmill or big head?...and look at that nose!

The promenade was actually very windy and I had forgotten to check the forecast for the area. I had checked Southport which had forecast 16mph+ winds which is bad enough on a bike, but here it was more like 20-25mph it was hard work even with my head down, and it was a long prom.

The Promenade continues on past Fairhaven Lake etc and onto St Annes and as I was on the coast it was still exceptionally windy and it was slow progress. I was now thinking where I would stop for some decent grub, but was limited as I hadn't brought a padlock and chain as I wanted to save weight, and I didn't want to leave my bike anywhere anyway.

I decided to at least wait til I got to Blackpool itself and decide there. I took a gel to keep me going and to ensure I was topping up my energy supplies.

Blackpool finally arrived at just over 33 miles and 2hrs 5mins into the ride, but I cycled on as I wanted to get to the South Pier which was where the Seaside24 charity run had started, and I wanted a pic with Blackpool Tower behind to prove I had got there.....

As near as I was going to go, it was 35 miles in at this point.

By the time I got to South Pier and took the above picture it was mile 35 mile and time to turn around after only a few minutes of trying to take the picture.

The return leg....

Thankfully the wind was more behind me now and the cycle down the seawall was a treat, especially weaving down the wavy strips of different coloured SMOOTH tarmac, it was a true pleasure, much like the fairground used to be in it's day.

The Promenade at St Annes was not so much a pleasure sadly. It was like a competition to see how many odd squares of crap tarmac repairs they could fit on a once prime strip of Promenade. It was a shame as it really lets the town down.

St Annes Pier was my next target as I had spotted a Fish and Chip spot with seating outside so I headed for that. Thankfully it was still open mid afternoon as obviously it gets a lot of hungry visitors to the beach and prom etc.

I parked my bike up where I could see it and promptly ordered my self a portion of fish and chips at £5.80, not to bad a price considering it was at a prime seaside site.

Went down a treat.

I had packed a windproof packaway jacket so put this on as I ate, as I knew my body temperature would drop while I was stationary. As soon as I finished eating I set off again and decided to leave the jacket on as it was getting a tad chilly anyway.

Back down the Promenade at Lytham and nice and speedily this time with the wind at my back, and even time to stop to take a picture across the Ribble Estuary back toward Southport as I reminder of how far I had travelled......and how flipping far I still had to go.

Somewhere way..way in the distance you can see Southports Marine Way bridge.

The return journey now was obviously a reverse of the way there but on the opposite side of the road and on just as crap tarmac lol.

I hit mile 40 in about 2hr 29min of ride time, mile 50 in 3hrs 4mins and mile 60 in 3hrs 44min ride time.

At this point at mile 60 I was well on the way home and flagging as muscles started to ache with the ride position etc. Weirdly my bum was fine, I was expected lots of discomfort by this point, but maybe it was just numb or asleep.

Tarleton approached and another few sections of on and off cycle paths that throw you on the road and then off again without any warning. Sadly at mile 61 after another forceful reroute onto the start of the cycle path from the road and all the crap that accumulates I developed a rather deflated rear end....the back tyre to be more precise.

Thankfully I was kitted out with spare tubes and some tyre levers but no experience on how to remove the wheel and tyre and replace the inner tube on this my new bike.

I used a local bus shelter...as a shelter obviously and lay all the necessary kit out, including 2 plastic tyre levers! How crap were they.....I didn't realise how tight on the rim these road tyres are. Usually with most bikes a deflated tyre comes of easily and often without the use of leverage. I was doubting my abilty to get the tyre of but finally I managed it and it all went quite smoothly, including putting the new tube in and pumping it up to high pressure with just a small compact pump.

Half an hour lost, but I guess a bit of much needed rest and I was ready to go again and praying I had put the wheel back on securely and tightened the quick release kit properly.

What caused the puncture you ask?...This not so little beauty.....

How the nail had managed to achieve the necessary angle to go all the way into the tyre I'll never know, but to be honest I was expecting my first puncture on the new bike at any point soon anyway, I was just kinda hoping it wouldn't be the rear wheel, but to be honest it came off and went on again easily and without the use of any spanners.

The home straight....and straight for pizza.

So I had only 9 miles to go and the rest helped as I'd changed the tyre etc, but it was still difficult as the wind was pretty much back in my face, but nothing like the Promenade at Lytham etc.

Back in Southport and the final stretch and I was dying for a sit down on a bench for 5 mins but I plodded on knowing it would be over soon. 

I was despite all the cussing about the road conditions, very pleased with this ride and my ability to get it done in difficult circumstances and conditions, and I was aware that my recovery from this ride would be far quicker a more painfree than if I'd run any great distance. Truth be told the cycling is a lot more of a pleasure than the running at the moment, and I sadly pulled out of my next hill marathon last night the Excalibur Marathon at Moel Famau in North Wales. 

This was mainly due to hardly running and not training as I rest my right knee from running and impact to give it a chance to heal. This gives me painfree time to cycle instead though, and no stress of having to train for an upcoming event while not physically able.

Another plus point of the cycling, I can still stuff my face after big rides to regain the burnt calories, in this case 3500+ on this ride. Needless to say I stopped at my local pizzeria and ordered myself the largest pizza for my tea. I ate half before writing this blog and now I'm off to eat the other half :)

See you laterz folks!!....

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1690266209

10 mile run for Coffee and cake? seems worth it :)

The Calder Vale 10 mile Country Run.

Before...

Well it seemed like a good idea as I'd done the event before and loved it every time so far. I got a rare day off as it was Good Friday and my first thought whilst looking at my rota was "Why have I been given an unplanned day off?" My second thought was "Oooh, I know a good run event on that day!".

So I quickly asked good running friend Mr David Marsh whether or not he was available to run the event and also to give me a lift there and back as he has kindly done on each of the previous three times I've been to this lovely run.

I've not been running much as you will know due to my knee issue, which does seem to be improving and I'd not run since the Btr Liverpool/Vitality half marathon on April 2nd, so fitness was possibly going to be an issue as it is a hilly run with 890+ feet of climb overall.

I have been cycling a lot which you will also know, so have been relying on the cardiovascular benefits of the cycling replacing my lack of run training, especially with hills involved.

During.....

Well I was promptly picked up on time and we got there in good time, traffic has sometimes been bad in the past with it being Bank Holiday and Easter weekend but no problems this time.

All parked up and number was collect on the day from the Village Hall and all the numbers were laid out in alphabetical order for you to pick up.....simples!.

Visit to the loo, a little standing around and then it was line up at the war memorial for the 1pm start (What a luxury, no early start).

Of we went up the first bit of incline as we approached the main country lane that would take us out on a big 10 mile loop of the area with some great views along the way.

Basically you get a mile or two of flat and decline and then miles 2 to 4 are a slow gradual climb. This is all along country lanes with nice views either side of the country if you are wise enough to use it to distract you, especially on the 2 mile climb that sucks the energy out of you if you have gone off too fast on the downhill bits etc in the first 2 miles (guilty).

It was slow progress with a little bit of huffing and puffing, but my legs managed well and I think the hill training on the bike helped with leg strength and endurance. I was borderline all the way between pushing as hard as I could and having to stop for pushing too much and not pacing properly for 10 miles in total.

5 miles in was the water stop and I was struggling a little with my cardio as I was definitely running on an oxygen deficit and was not going to survive if I stayed at that pace. As soon as I got to the water stop I had a 2 min recovery walk to try and improve my breathing and too help me with the impending hill which I knew was coming up at roughly mile 6.

Roughly 6 people passed me as I walked as I was at the back of a large group and there was a gap behind me, and people where stopping for water as well.

I ran on again as more started to pass and quickly overtook again and back to my original pace.

Next was the biggest hill of the run which is somewhere between mile 6 and 7 and it's a long tough one as it gets steeper and steeper as you go. I could see the runners who had passed me but despite a few little walks that one runner had they were still too far ahead.

I was determined to run all the way up it as I'd had the recovery walk and needed to make up for it, by the time I got to the top I actually felt sick and thought I was going to have to have a little recovery walk again, but the guy infront didn't slow and I wasn't prepared to let him run away.

The long downhill was next and I tried to take advantage of it but had to hold back as I've bombed down it in the past and hurt my knees afterward despite wearing cushioned Hoka shoes.

Another big hill approached but a shorter one this time and the guy in front walked a little so by the time I hit the top I had caught up with him. I continued to run with him for roughly a mile chatting about the run and the fact that was a hard hill and that there was only one left.

After a mile alongside the guy another runner was right behind us and as it was now the final mile I ran on and up the last incline on a vain attempt to gain some time on the ones infront. Sadly they were just too far ahead for me to catch up.

The last half a mile back into the village is an up and down but mainly down stretch and a nice long decent down into the village and over the little bridge at the bottom for a finish outside the church and old mill, all to some great support and claps and cheers from fellow runners and locals.

I was pleasantly surprised with a time of 1:19:35 on my watch which is pretty much the same as the first time I did the event 3 or 4 years ago while fully fit, and I was only 1 min slower than last year where I didn't walk once during the run.

Next was a brief wait for Mr Marsh and it was time for coffee and cake...

After....

Well this was why we really came.....the selection of cakes as always was tremendous from the local WI ladies, and quite frankly I could of sat there and sampled at least 12 different cakes if I thought I could of got away with it.

They had hot food as well which seemed extremely popular with runners, I saw pie and peas, hot dogs and pretty sure I could smell other types of food.

I sat and enjoyed my cake along with a nice cup of coffee whilst having a good chat with David and a catch up on whats going on with him.

I finished 61st overall out of 190 odd runners I think it was and they were pretty much 95% club runners which makes them tough competition as not many club runners come here just for a light run as it isn't one it's a toughie.

Hats off to the organizer as always Steve Ashcroft who runs UK Road Races and puts on some great events especially in the Lancashire area.I can thoroughly recommend this event which is held every Good Friday at Calder Vale Village near Garstang just off the A6 about 5 miles or so North of Preston.

I would recommend any off his event actually, follow this link for their web page

http://www.ukroadraces.info/

Thanks all for reading, please share where possible and comment if you wish.

Gru :)

So what is the new direction for 2017?....

2017 and the year of the new road bike and an improved diet....


So we are now in April 2017 and most of my running is on hold with the odd event still thrown in for fun if I can run it damage free.

As I've touched on in earlier posts I have knee tissue damage that needs to heal and the good news is it does appear to be healing, but as with knee cartilage etc it will always be slow.

Having to drop all my big plans to step up to 50 mile ultras went out the window when I admitted to myself that I couldn't train properly for them without further damaging my knee and making it even harder to get to the actual start line never mind finish a 50 miler.

I felt a great sense of relief when I finally started to pull out of the events one by one as the year progressed and mentally it was a big help as I have been suffering with stress and mainly anxiety for pretty much the last 8-9 months after years of a job were you seem to be the go too person for any job that needs doing while you are on shift and the increased pressure that brings as you can't concentrate on one job or two at a time, which I need to do as I am slightly OCD and like to do everything properly and one thing at a time.

I felt like everything was down to me to do and I was being pulled from pillow to post and being spread extremely thin over the ground, so much so that I actually felt like everyone was walking all over me, which quite frankly they were. All this came to a head when I ended up on a disciplinary hearing at work for avoiding 'going that extra mile' when really I just couldn't deal with everything anymore.

I finally decided to change jobs to get away from the problem and the situations or stressors that were coming from the day to day pressures of my job.

I have been in the new job since Oct 2016 doing cleaning shifts for 5 days a week in a local gym and also keeping two shifts a week at my old job. This has made a huge difference as I no longer feel sick prior to going to work which was the indicator for anxiety which I originally thought was something to do with an intolerance to something in my lunch for near on 2 months.

Working in the gym is pretty much stress free, but still hard work and I'm non stop and busy, but the people in the gym are great and as we all know most people in gyms are usually in a fairly good friendly mood due to all the feel good endorphins flying around.

I still have anxiety issues but have learned to recognise them and try and deal with them. I have now come to the realisation that your health comes first and foremost including your mental health and no job is worth putting it at risk for, especially your mental health as it can spiral out of control and have deadly consequences. As a lot of you will know 1 in 4 people can and will suffer mental health issues, and mainly men, and the highest death rate is down to men under 35 committing suicide, this is way above all the various forms of cancer. It's a shocking statistic and one we need to address.

I have for many years findraised for various charities and I regularly go back to raising funds for Mind and I always include them in my various fundraising projects if I am fund raising for more than one charity at a time with my fundraising groups or projects.

All this leads to my new direction for 2017......

So what's new? well after all the rambling above, I have moved to a plant based diet were possible and am avoiding meat and dairy for healthier reasons and some moral reasons. I've watched a shed load of good and informative documentaries on Netflix and around the web. I've done a shed load of research and after already following some great ultra runners on social media for years and seen their results whilst living on a plant based diet I can see only positives in the change, although I wasn't happy falling another 3-4 lbs below my normal already light base weight. It's hard to eat a lot of fruit and veg :)

Apart from the new eating regime the biggest change is my training and fitness emphasis for 2017. I have now purchased a good quality road bike for going out cycling long and short distances out in the surrounding countryside and enabling me to continue and improve my overall fitness along the way.

It has also enabled me to seek another direction in my fundraising as I can now take on charity cycling events etc and not damage my knee in the process as there is no impact on my knee tissue.

I wasted no time in getting out there on my first week and doing a 20 miler, a 30 miler and a 40 miler within my first week, all this down to my running fitness giving me a good cardio and endurance base.

I also needed to ensure I had something to aim for for the year and I set up a new Facebook challenge page which enables you to choose or design your own challenge and raise money for a selection of charities preselected by myself and linked to our Facebook page care of a fundraising link for VirginMoneyGiving which sends the money direct to the charities.

The new page is titled 'Risk it for a biscuit' feel free to join it and commit to your own challenge. My challenge is to cycle 2017 miles by the end of 2017 and I only started in March so have to do on average 50 miles per week! This will ensure I get out on my bike and don't get lazy.

So please follow and support my blog as it heads in a new direction with it's new title, and please follow and support me along the way, and also please join me on the 'Risk it for a biscuit' page on Facebook or even join my team of charity fundraisers on the group Facebook page 'Run or Cake'

Thanks all,

Gru

Spring 2017 and a new direction......

What's new for 2017?......

Well we are now in April 2017 and so far I have dropped out off, transferred places for and deferred more races than I have ran. This is mainly down to my continued knee problems which I have already written about at the end of last year and earlier this year.

I'm pretty certain my knee has meniscous tissue damage as I recognise the familiar 'something stuck in my knee joint ' feeling that a loose piece of tissue causes, and the inflammation from within the knee and behind the knee cap that follows long efforts or impact.

I had pretty much already decided to back of on the running this year to try and let it heal naturally without surgery but hadn't decided which runs I would still attempt and which I would still do. I was safe with 5k and 10k training runs for my first run of the year the Southport Mad Dog 10k which I blogged about back in Feb and I had a good run and a new PB of 43:26 which I was well chuffed with.

Next event I was committed to was the Btr Liverpool/Vitality Liverpool Half Marathon on the 2nd April 2017. I was committed to this run as I had volunteered to accompany a good running friend who was doing this event as his first half marathon since 2011/2012 due to health issues and being told he would never run another one. It was an honour to volunteer.

I avoided actual run training training and knee impact as much as possible and only did 1 or 2 5k runs on a treadmill most weeks. I followed it up with a practice half marathon through my local sand dunes a couple of weeks before to test my endurance out. It went well, it was a bit difficult but I got through it, albeit with slightly sore knees after ward, but no consequences.

I am glad to say the event and the day went well and my friend successfully finished and in a sub 2 hr time too was which was good as he is in the 60-65 age category and as I said wasn't running this distance normally.

I also got to have a few drinks afterwards with members of my charity running group Run or Cake, which was a rare bonus as I have not been at many events. I even went home had a little rest and then went out on my new bike and did 25 miles for a recovery as it was such a glorious sunny day, but more about the cycling in the next blog entry to follow.....