Btr Tour of Merseyside my story so far....stage Four :)

Well here we are again and after a day off for me and the fellow tourists it was time for the next stage, so where did we run tonight? and more importantly what stage is it guys?...

   Four of course :)

                                                                


Stage 4 - Hale Village 5 mile road race Thursday 10th July 2014.


So tonight's run was to be over at Hale Village near Halewood and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and thankfully tonight's run was the shortest one of the Tour with it being only 5 miles compared to the rest.

Normally the thought of the shortest run would fill most people with joy but I think I was not alone in thinking that this would be one of the hardest as we knew almost everyone would go out as fast as they could with it being shorter and it would have to be run at our highest pace available for 5 miles.

It was also a hot day and night and hydration prior and during the event and race would be vital so I took on plenty of water during the day and pre race.

As ever my main concern for the evening was my fellow competitor and female running nemesis Sarah who was gunning for a win tonight, and to be honest I was a little worried as I knew she had done a fair few 4 mile training runs and I knew her pace was admirable. I also knew she was going for it tonight pace wise so would be pushing me and not allowing me to run a more comfortable pace to the last half mile and then sprint like I had done on other occasions.

Transport for the night was provided by the ever reliable Mr M and a comfortable and efficient trip got us there easily on time and straight into the car park at the pub next to the start/finish area.

The usual hello's and welcome's were given as we were all happy to see good friends again and the chance to take a few pictures as per usual and also a chance to see what the game plan was for other runners.

Catherine and Sarah.

                                                             

Sarah, Stan the Man and Catherine :)

                                               

My main concern as said before was Sarah as she had been psyching me out throughout the day and it continued with the butter wouldn't melt smiles and questions of whether I was nervous or not lol.

It was now becoming apparent that it really was warm and it was time to put a hat on to keep the sun off my head, some chose the shade of the Btr tent. Sarah and Catherine went for this option and Sarah jokingly suggested I stayed out in the sun :)

Toilets for the evening were in the pub so it was a quick visit up some steep steps to the loo's and we were all good to go and feeling comfortable, apart from a niggle in my left calf which felt like I had been jabbed with a blunt instrument so I was wearing calf sleeves to help alleviate any issue.

It was now time to line up for the start and the usual notification of the race leaders positions, which tonight were the same as the prior stage result.We also had the honor of the Mayor of Hale to make a quick speech and then to count us down for the off at the usual 7pm.....

  Official starter the Mayor of Hale :)

                                                

The legend that is Danny aka Mr Fist Pump :)

So off we went through some of the residential roads of Hale Village and avoiding speed bumps etc as we went and tried to settle into a decent pace.As expected most of the plans went out the window and most seemed to go hare arsing of down the road, and the foolish amongst us followed ( me ).

I spotted Sarah prior to the mile 1 marker and managed to at least subtly pass and ran a little ahead as the pace at the time was quicker than we really should of been running.
I then caught up with Mike and ran with him for a little and his first question was "where is your competition?" as I indicated that Sarah was infact right behind me.

It's good that me and Sarah have been able to have this little battle between us as it has driven us on and improved both our performances as it has not let either of us sit back and run comfortably through the Tour itself, and It's been great with all the friendly banter between us all about the battle and being able to write about it in the blog. Also being asked who won after races is great in itself as usually after races I tend to struggle to stay involved in after run banter and the little groups of friends that gather, especially with me not being in a running club, so I am truly thankful to people who make an effort to include me.

Anyway back to the run....I was still running with Mike, and Sarah was just behind as we passed mile 1 and Mike exclaimed that "this is suicide pace!" and he was right we had just hit a 7:10 min mile and mostly I'd planned 7:30 avg so I was trying to slow a little but with Sarah right behind it was hard.

Next I saw David Marsh ( Mr M) and again first question was "where is Sarah?" and again I answered "right behind me" with a smile and possibly a slight hint of panic and nervousness as I was truly feeling the pace at such an early stage.

The Determinator.

                            
                                                                           


I pushed on and pretty much followed the pace of the person infront of me as you do and if they slowed I went past, but mainly they maintained pace.At one point I'd been running alongside one guy (Tom Forshaw) at mile 2-3 and he asked whether I was running at his pace or was he running at mine? he was right, it is hard to work out whose racing or running with who especially if you are pretty much running at your limit or threshold at least.

I was by now having all kind of issues with stitches appearing due to the increased pace I suspect and I had to change breathing patterns several times and also try belly breathing and indeed deep breaths  in and quick outs, it seemed to help but I was also undecided to drink sips of my drink or not because sometimes that can effect my stitches.

The stitch eased a little and at mile 3-4 Sarah appeared on my shoulder and not so subtly passed me ( panic face) I now had to stay behind her to ensure she didn't get away but I was already struggling. A water stop approached and either before or during the water stop I must of edged ahead as I don't usually have to slow or stop at water stations as I carry my own handheld bottle.

It was now a case of trying to hang on and stay ahead and luckily for me a female runner was just running ahead of me and a little faster so I tried to maintain her pace so as to stay ahead. Funnily enough it was Sarah chasing this same lady that got her right back up and level with me in the first place.

We came into the turn from the main road and it was mainly a long slow and gradual downhill approaching mile 4 and as this was the road route into the village itself I and pretty much everyone else was familiar with the route and elevation etc from that point to the finish, so this was a bonus but still I was hanging on for dear life and dreading Sarah running past again, I couldn't even bring myself to look over my shoulder at this point.

The village approached and the pace quickened a little as the lady in front was still giving it some pace wise and was slowly overtaking a few others, and then all of a sudden the stitch made an unwelcome return and I felt like I'd just been stabbed in my gut and now panic stations were setting in as I thought I'd slow and might have to actually stop if it got worse and what if Sarah caught up? could I still sprint to the finish to out run her? I miraculously seemed to still be running at the same speed and the people in front didn't seem to be getting any further away and people were not passing me, so I was determined to suck it up and suffer the pain and hope to hang on for the remaining third of a mile or so.

  A welcome downhill approach to the village.

                                       

On the chase...

                                                                   

Thankfully after a quick glance over my shoulder on first look I couldn't see the florescent yellow top that Sarah was wearing so I managed to push on to the finish, and after another quick look over my shoulder as I could hear people cheering those behind me I could see (panic over) it wasn't Sarah, so I managed to cross the line first but in a hell of a lot of pain.

  look better than I felt lol.

                                                       

Closely followed by Sarah, is she texting? lol

     
                                       


Sarah was infact only two places behind me and came in a mere 17 seconds behind me which was amazing as I had pushed as much as I possibly could within my limits and had run my a**e off to beat her, so massive respect to her.And It was good to see Sarah stayed ahead of her nearest rival on the Tour and has remained a top 10 lady :)

It was customary handshake time and well done time between Sarah and myself as we both tried to recover on the floor for a bit, and then it was stand up and watch the others come in one by one. As ever Catherine came in all smiles and it was time for quick pics with friendly rivals and friends and the usual group shots etc many of them courtesy of our now unofficial tour photographer Sophia who was making the most of being out injured and taking much valued pictures and offering support.( Thank you Sophia x).

  Catherine finishing :)

                           
                                                          

Sarah still smiling :)

                                                             

The usual finish regroup shot :)

                                                  

  A few tired looking finishers.

                                                                                        
                                                 

and more..

                                                                       .

Well done all from the mayor.       

                                                    

  True tour hero's.

                                                               


Refreshment time as always at the Btr tent with the usual fruit, water, Lucozade and chocolate snacks, a much more sensible choice than the alcohol being served at the bar in the pub, and as recovery needed to be priority it was the sensible choice for me.

                                       

More pics and various antics for the camera's   including picture with the Mayor for many...

                                 And of course the usual group shots of good friends.......

Obviously the vital stretches are required at the end of our runs and Dolly pip as ever volunteered to show the girls some.

Catherine, Dolly Pip and Sarah :)

                                                

Obviously while they did that us blokes just watched :)

                             

Oh and another major turnaround, Adele managed to run pretty much pain free and loved the run :) xx

So it was sadly time to go home and it was hugs all round and the usual see you tomorrow's and it was back in the car courtesy of Mr M again and a comfortable journey home to sunny Southport and the welcome thought of getting a refreshing shower and putting the good old compression tights on for recovery ready for the next days run.

I was also looking forward to logging into Facebook etc and seeing all the pictures and comments about the nights events seeing how good a time we had all had, and making mental notes for the blog writing the next day:)


                                                     
Oh and of course in the Les v Sarah battle: It's officially  2-0 as we are calling Southport and Walton a draw :)

                                                                

See you at Stadt Moers Park everyone for stage 5 :)

My results for stage 4 : 37 min 58 secs chip time, 38 mins 05 secs gun time

Stage position : 64 (male), 73 (mixed).

Overall tour position : 45 (male), 54 (mixed).

                                                                               

Btr Tour of Merseyside my story so far.....stage three :)

Well here we are again and three days into the Btr Tour of Merseyside.So where did we all go today? and what stage is it today guys?.......

   Stage three of course :)

                                                         


Stage three - Walton Hall Park Sustrans cycle trail 10 mile run Tues 8th July.


Well for today's run it was over to Walton Park in Liverpool for a 7pm run on what appeared to be a warm night and it looked like it was going to stay like that for the evening so sun protection lotion definitely required and lots of water.

My lift for tonight was supplied very kindly by Catherine who picked me up at Freshfield train station and then it was onto Aintree to pick up Sarah. Also in the car was Sophia who was unfortunately injured on the first day's run at Southport,  so had to be sensible and withdraw from the rest of the Tour, but she was good enough to come down and support us all for the evening.

As you can imagine the banter had already started in the car once Sarah had got in as we where both in the back of the car, so instructions of no hair pulling or kicking each other were given by Catherine :)

Interesting enough the postcode supplied for our destination was incorrect or didn't actually exist according to the sat nav, but once in the general area we seemed to find it rather quickly after a couple of twists and turns.

So there it was the gloriously green looking Walton Park in the sun and into the car park we went and expertly guided into a space by the car park marshals, although Catherine's car looked like an abandoned shopping trolley when we looked back and laughed at her parking :)

Toilet worries were quickly relieved literally when we spotted a row of porta loo's kindly supplied by Btr and then it was time to mingle and say our hello's to our fellow friends and tourists, one of the best parts of the day.

Photo's as ever were taken to remember and mark the occasion and I've included several throughout the blog for you of course to get a feel for the race and the people there.

Sarah, Catherine & myself.

                                                     
                                                       

  The three fingers signifies stage three by the way :)

      
                                  
                                                         

The Tour has a video man (Colin) who films snippets each day and interviews various tourists as the week goes on, and today was the turn of Sarah and myself as Catherine had given him a subtle prompt about the rivalry between us both and the little battle we were having.

After a couple of questions to find out exactly what was involved he did a quick interview and asked what it was all about, and asked one of us to explain. I promptly volunteered Sarah to explain as I got stage fright and panicked as I realized that anything I said would be taken down and used against me on presentation day lol.

I honestly don't know what I said, especially as I tried to play down my ungentlemanly sprint finish at stage one in Southport and I wait with baited breath for the boo's on presentation day :)


So after the usual race leaders announcement and vest presentation it was off to the start/finish area on the Iron bridge.

The race route this year was slightly different than last as it was 2.5 miles out and 2.5 back one way and then 2.5 miles out and 2.5 back the other last year. But this year it was 4 miles out then 4 back and through the start/finish area and supporters and then 1 mile out and 1 back to the finish line again.

Luckily for us all the longest stretch the 4 out and then 4 back was pretty much shaded for most of it so keeping cool was not too hard, and I'd decided to wear a hat to keep off the heat and sun anyway so this helped.I'd taken my running shades as well just in case.


 So 7pm arrived and we were off.......

..... and for a little while it was quite tight as the path is not too wide and people were trying to get past as people were settling into their ideal pace, and quite a lot of people shot off ahead. I got quite alarmed at how many were going past me but I decided to look at the big picture as I knew 10 miles here would be hard on the legs, and my main target or aim was to keep Sarah insight and make sure she didn't get a lead on me as i tried to settle to a decent but comfortable pace to start.

It became apparent that my legs were actually fairly stiff and didn't feel loose enough to be happy and my right quad was a little painful which I don't usually suffer from, so damage limitation was also key. This meant no trying to get past Sarah or indeed other runners and settle down running just behind her.

The run progressed through miles 2,3 and onwards and by now Mike had appeared alongside us both and we said our hello's and happily ran with each other at a mutually happy 8 min or so pace.

Onwards we went passed the local and bemused chav's who had congregated in several areas and I was waiting for smart a*se comments but seemed to be lucky enough to not receive any, I did worry a little about some of the ladies running alone though but there seemed to be a fair few marshals around and what seemed to be a fellow runner or volunteer in all his running gear who  stood opposite a big group of them.Fair does to him for keeping them in check and making people feel more comfortable on their run.

Mile 4 now and it was water station and turn around time as we got a little treat of a steep incline for 20-30 feet as we turned and then a 20-30 feet decline which was welcomed after the brief climb.

It was now a 4 mile slog back towards the start/finish area and a chance to see our fellow runners and friends and receive and indeed offer encouragement to each other as we passed each other.The miles were getting a little tougher now as we continued on our 8 min pace ( or so we thought ), It appeared that the mile markers were way out, but they weren't, the trees and the switchback were playing havoc with our Garmins and they were bleeping at completely different points to the mile markers, and at the time I didn't realize that infact our alleged pace would not be accurate either, but we didn't twig.

I was now starting to feel it but still keeping up with Mike and indeed Sarah as they took turns hitting the front, well the front of our little group anyway. I happily sat at the back as I didn't want to push the pace any further and we carried on through miles 5,6 and 7 pretty much the same all the way.

We passed the bemused chav's again and I heard a couple of "where's Wally?" comments aimed at a Knowsley runner no doubt but apart from that seemed innocent enough.

It was now the approach to the 8 mile mark and the start/finish area and it was full sun time so the shades went on at last, especially as I'd been holding them for 7 miles lol.
It was a welcome sight to see the Iron bridge and the start/finish area and indeed our supporters and a welcome water stop although we ran through it obviously, I carry a handheld bottle so don't need to stop or slow but I slowed here as Mike and Sarah grabbed water so we could still stay together.

  Clearly too happy to be in front :)

                                                 

Staying on the chase :)

                                                          

By now it was only 2 miles to go, 1 mile out and 1 back but the mile from 8-9 seemed to go on forever and felt like 1.5 but a lot of it is your perception of distance when you are tired and we certainly were.Mike however had energy left and said he was going ahead so we let him, and Sarah and myself continued shoulder to shoulder now continuing to push each other to keep the pace up.

Mile 9 and the final turnaround was a welcome sight although I realized I had to relive the feeling of a 1.5 mile slog back the way we just came. But it was near the end now and Sarah although running with me or against me was obviously as tired as I was as I didn't sense the pace being pushed to get ahead, we were clearly trying to fathom out what each others plan was for the finish approach.

We did spot Rosemary ahead which was a good thing as I know she is a good female runner as well and has great results at this event and I knew she was one of Sarah's closest rivals in the overall standings.I think Rosemary was aware as well as she said she was sticking on Sarahs shoulder as she clearly knew about the standings as well.

We actually now managed to overtake a few people as I was confident I could push a little at the end and indeed bring Sarah with me, I wanted her to keep her position in the standings as she is doing really well and was in the top 10 females.

Again I faced the horrible decision of what to do in our battle to win against each other, and I had sensed and felt that Sarah pushes hard up slopes and hills and I knew we had a nasty one at the approach to the finish which would make a long sprint awkward.

We were now at the final approach and the slope so I went ahead to get up the incline and then looked behind me and saw Rosemary and Sarah at least 10 feet or so behind, so I slowed a little to regroup and push her over the line as I felt we had worked together as a team and didn't want to be a **** and sprint off again.I crossed the line at least a foot ahead just incase she sprinted past me, as we hadn't agreed anything and she could of sprinted past me if I wasn't careful :)

  Ok maybe a bit more than a foot....doesn't explain identical gun time though??)

                                               


Customary handshake and well done , and then it was wait for fellow runners time, and urge them on which is one of the best bits in my opinion as it's good to see the elation in everyone's faces as they finish and the genuine true cheer of the fellow runners as they clap in fellow finishers.

We still had runners going past from the left as well as the finish from the right as it was obviously the 8 mile point as well as the finish so we were kept busy looking both ways and cheering on.One by one they passed and indeed one by one they finished and as ever we looked out for smiley face Catherine and took pictures of course.

Always a smile.

                                                          


Now it was time for the return to the Btr hospitality tent and the welcome sights of bananas, apples, Mars bars, Snickers and sweets and water and Lucozade of course, as ever it is vital to restock as quick as possible in order to get a head start on the recovery for the next race.

As ever pictures and photo's were taken in abundance and it was mingle and chat time as we each congratulated each other on a successful finish and indeed on finishing 3 days in a row. The friendship is one of the highlights of the Tour to me and I feel part of a real running community and family as I said in last night blog as well.

  Good friends as ever :)

                                                        

   Good friends all :)

                                                           

  Photo bombing Stan the Man :)

                             
                                                 

  Sarah, `Dolly pip` & Catherine post race stretching.

                        
                              


This again is one of the best bits about the Tour as new friendships are made amongst people who are more friends than rivals and getting a group picture is fantastic for keeping the memories alive after the event, and indeed one of the main reasons I write these blogs to share with you all.


So it's rest day on day 4 so no blog that day, so hopefully everyone will be nicely refreshed on day 5 and not done anything daft like going out for another run on rest day as I know several were planning and indeed from latest reports ( Thurs) several people did.

I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday at Hale village for the 5 mile road race and indeed my fellow competitor and running nemesis Sarah who is thankfully still talking to me as I take it to a 2-0 lead although we had identical gun times as the clock did not record split seconds so I may need a bigger gap as I may have to call Walton a mutual draw again and stay at 1-0 :)

My overall results :

Stage 3 Walton : 1 hr 17 min 08 secs chip time, 1hr 17 min 15 secs gun time.

Stage position : 62 (male) 72 (mixed)

Overall position : 47 (male) 56 (mixed)

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