running club – Packing Our Trunks

“Us mend your car? Not really?”

Published on May 3, 2018 by Kevin BonfieldLeave a comment

But you are a motor mechanics garage, I mean, you have ramps and spanners and overalls and things. AND you did the MOT test. AND you did the last MOT test. Interestingly, even though the car has barely moved between the two tests, it has failed on DIFFERENT ITEMS. None of which, apparently, are within your remit to repair. For money. I mean, if, for example, you asked me to fit a patio, you’d be surprised if I said “Yes, I can see you need some hard-core compacting, a blinding of sand, some paving slabs and a mix or two of mortar. That’ll be £50 please, give me a ring when you’ve laid it and if it still isn’t laid probably, I’ll have another look at it and that’ll be another £50 please. And you still won’t have a patio. Because, and let’s see if we can define our roles here, I’M A BUILDER AND YOU’RE A CAR MECHANIC!!!”

I thought giving the business to a local independent outfit, in the village where I am, amongst other things, laying a patio (that’s what I do, you see), I could avoid missing time off work and if the car had any apparently minor faults, I would give them the trade and employ them to carry out the repairs.

I’ve been told I’ve got to let it go now…….. AND burrreeeeeeve….

So that’s something I’m not loving this week.

Something I am into this week? How about the fantastic blog by speedy Welsh runner Russell Bentley. Check it out HERE. Russell is a super quick runner with a great story and a fantastic writer to boot. We’re very similar – we’re both builders, we both own SH!TE cars, we both write and keep blogs and we both love a bit of running……. Ok his best marathon time is an hour quicker than mine and he is a mere child by comparison. Finishing 2nd in The Chester Half a week after running 2.29 in The London Marathon, he is a proper old school gutsy performer.

wheelbarrow — Apparently they make them with pneumatic tyres now!

And my own running, well, really happy and enjoying lacing up the pumps. I cajoled my aching, aging limbs (the sand barrowing has taken its toll this week, along with the usual erratic sleep patterns!) from the warm snuggly duvet den and headed off to try and squeeze in our ‘go to’ 10 mile route in before work.

I decided to try and average about 8 minutes per mile and set my watch to just show me average pace and time. I do find that when I set off intending to run at a ‘tempo’ I need to put a bit more effort in to start with to get my heart and lungs working and then they are less likely to object to the effort level as the run goes on.

A bit like in last week’s Parkrun (Blog HERE), I was surprised as I admired the reflection my gangly, random running gait in the shiny windows of the newly converted Tesco Express and then glanced at my watch, to discover I was averaging 7m15s per mile, and I know this is about a mile into the run.

“I wonder how long I can keep this up?” my sleepy brain asked, sending a challenge to my creaking joints. About 9 miles was the rather surprising reply. And I did. Easing off for the last mile but still returning home in time to steal a kiss from my beautiful lady wife before she headed out for her day of adventure. Yup. Winning this morning.

Check out the run on STRAVA

So our weekend is looking lovely and full, we’ve both put our names down to volunteer at Parkrun on Saturday morning. Then at tea time on Saturday we’re off to have a crack at the Pennywell Pursuit 10k. Hoping for a longish trail run on Sunday and I also need to try and mend the NEW faults for my jalopy’s latest attempt at getting an M. O. feckin’ T.

Oh, and I’ll tell you what else Nicky and I did this week. We went to a running group. I know!! With other people and everything! We’re becoming quite the gregarious social animals…..

There’s a new 24 hour gym opening soon, literally down the road from us. Whilst we’re not really ‘gym’ people, they have started a running group. So we jogged down there on Monday after work and enjoyed a really good session incorporating a warm up, some drills and core work, some short fast efforts, some easy running and longer efforts. A bit of stretching too. Trainer, Lewis, has gathered a lovely friendly and varied group together and made the hour work for everyone and it felt lovely and inclusive. If anyone is local to us and wants to try it out it’s free – check out their Facebook stuff HERE.

We’re planning an epic Bank Holiday walk on Monday so will probably miss next week’s running group and will try and hobble there the following week. We’re doing the RACE THE TIDE the previous day (Nicky doing the 16 mile ‘half’ whilst I attempt the 29 mile ‘marathon’). We did the half last year and had a fabulous time – read all about it HERE.

Anyway, I’m rambling……………..

Show, don’t tell

Published on August 9, 2017October 12, 2017 by Kevin Bonfield2 Comments

Tell you what, those mandatory kit lists for trail and ultra events….. have a listen to the interview with Adam Campbell on Talk Ultra….. I’ll be carrying the essential items EVERY time I go off the beaten track.

Both interviews with Adam are on the podcast including the latest, after completing the Hardrock 100 .

Anyway.

To the soundtrack of my own paddles breaking the smooth surface of the dark, becalmed water, I, almost blindly, forged into the darkness.

That sensation when you’ve set a ridiculously early alarm. Suddenly sitting bolt upright “I’VE OVERSLEPT!!!! Oh no, it’s only 11.30…” Repeated at regular intervals until the alarm actually chimes at….. THREE THIRTY A.M.!!! Yup 3.30A.M.

Hence the dark on the river. I know the river fairly well and the banks and massed trees loomed with sinister shadows to either side, even in the almost complete darkness. I stuck to the very middle and daylight gradually improved my navigation as I approached our rendezvous.

Chilly? Looks it from the warmth of the kayak!

Another weekend of adventure was well and truly under way….

I humbled am blessed to be sharing these precious weekends with my incredible, inspiring and, I don’t mind saying, HOT lady wife.

Our friend in adventure, Martin, was driving himself and Nicky to Totnes. From there they would swim back to Stoke Gabriel from where I had just paddled (having left the car there).

I love it when a plan comes together!

“I say old chap, the water really is rather nippy” (or words to that effect) Nicky exclaimed as they entered the river at 5.45AM. Martin concurred.

Just a couple of false starts as they acclimatised then off. Approaching the first set of bends, the sun introduced itself through the trees. To describe the scene as idyllic would be under selling it rather.

Over the next 2 hours we all agreed we had shared a magical and quite priveledged experience.

Martin & Nicky, as majestic as the river itself

Being Martin’s first river swim this year, he wasn’t quite as confident as Nicky who was really powering on. At one point I had to signal her to slow down as I was uncomfortable with the gap between them.

It might seem overly risk averse but, perhaps especially because of the early hour, any other river traffic we might be unlucky enough to encounter would be unlikely to be expecting to see two swimmers. Keeping both of them close to the kayak gives others more chance to spot us.

As they climbed from the water, with most of the world yet to start their weekend, we were all smiles and back slaps.

Leaving them to retrieve vehicles, I set out on the next instalment of the weekend. With The East Farm Frolic looming, I felt my fatigue from the weeks work and a rather short sleep, plus this morning’s hard kayak to Totnes would help me replicate running tired in the later stages of the 12 hour event.

I was right. I felt very tired. Having waxed lyrical about last week’s long run, I won’t dribble on…..

Suffice to say I stuck mainly to trails, some of them completely new to me and managed a satisfactory 30 miles. Loads of great routes to check out here.

I arrived back home, into the garden, to the wonderfully chaotic scene of grandchildren, step daughter, father-in-law and a refreshed and beautiful Nicky. All seem pleased to see me and enjoyed a “MAN DOWN!” moment as I slumped onto the garden bench!

My recovery was accelerated by the invitation to join the imminent mob march to the beach for ice cream.

Raberry pavlova. Mmm mmmmm.

Too tired to join our neighbours barbeque gathering, an early night beckoned. They are a musical crowd and it was quite mellow drifting off to the distant strum of a ukulele…….. I’m sure I dreamed of cleaning windows……..

Phew! So rest day Sunday…… naahhh…..

It’s a family affair….

Totnes 10k.

Love this race.

The year Nicky and I got together, we were both at this event. We didn’t spot each other but less than a month later we were embarking in this incredible adventure that is our life together.

So it’s always a special day. But this year topped them all. After 30 miles the previous day I was fairly confident I wouldn’t be troubling my PB list!!

So, with my parents supporting, step daughter, Lou supporting too, it was a true family affair.

“Go get ’em Mum” yelled my other step daughter, Alisa as the two of them tore across the field towards the finish line. Three ladies from the incredible Plymouth based club, Storm, vied with them to cross the line first.

This was Alisa’s first ever race as she continues smashing down the barriers on her incredible journey of weight loss, healthy living and fitness drive.

Proud.

Lou and myself both seemed to have something in our eyes as Nicky and Alisa crosses the line.

Proud too as I lined up with grandson, Callum for the fun run prior to the main race. He blitzed around his mile in under 9 minutes and it definitely loosened my creaking legs!

The scene at the front prior to the race, old training partners Rob & Jerry raring to go

One of the best family says on the local race calender, the 10k itself winds it’s way to Dartington via the trails alongside the river. There’s a lumpy section with one proper climb about 2/3 of the way and the going is sapping, but after the Snowdonia Trail Marathon the other week, it’s pretty much flat!

Setting off with the afore mentioned Martin, we ran toe to toe for about 4 miles until he goaded me in to running harder. I was really pleased to clock a couple of swift miles towards the end and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

A fabulous event, thoroughly recommended, great to meet up with so many familiar faces from the running community.

wp-image-689863473 — STORM – setting up camp at a race near you!

Two clubs in attendance on mass were Teignbridge Trotters and the afore mentioned Storm. Storm are quite a success story, in only their second year and have well over 1000 members. Over 100 of them toed the line in Totnes today, a fine blaze of purple.

The Teignbridge Trotters, meanwhile, our hosts for the day, provide (as with all of their events) a fabulous atmosphere, family friendly environment and set up barbeques, hot drinks, a bar, a constant running commentary which is quite legendary, photographers (piccies are free!) and a fantastic, well marked, brilliantly marshalled course.

Next up for us….. the RAT 32, miles on the Cornish coast…….

Meanwhile some more piccies from the weekend….

Sprint finish from friend Jan too

Event photgraphers giving their time (and their photos)

Another sprint finish – Callum smiling as he hurtles in

Nicky & Alisa and some of the many Storm runners

All smiles on the start line

Something resembling a sprint from this lanky fella too

And all called home and congratulated by this relentless chap

Dog Running

Published on May 26, 2017May 26, 2017 by Kevin BonfieldLeave a comment

Inspired by those funny chaps on the Running Commentary podcast, Paul Tonkinson and Rob Deering, I went on a ‘dog run’ last night. Now, regular ~~stalkers~~ sorry, readers will know I am regularly to be seen on a ‘jog the dog’. We musn’t, no we REALLY musn’t, confuse a ‘jog the dog’ with a ‘dog run’. A dog run, you see, is carried out without the help of a dog. See, very different beasts.

By the way, aside from the podcast, Paul & Rob are proper hardworking comedians and I was rather chuffed to discover that Rob is coming to Dartmouth in August. Nicky was keen to pick seats in where her chances of being singled out were slim….. I should think sitting next to me should be sufficient, I do, er, stand out when we’re in close proximity!!

2015-03-08 12.41.39 — One of these two could easily hide behind the other!

2017-05-16 13.09.19 — Charlie and I on a recent ‘jog the dog’, notice the presence of a dog!

Anyway, the ‘dog run’. Simple, really, the route, pace and distance are only determined in the moment…. “er, I’ll go left here, hang on, no right”, “up the hill, ah no, back down it, oh go on then, up I go”, “oooo, what’s that smell…. hang on SQUIRREL OVER THERE” etc etc. So this dog run was 11 or so miles and started out heading for Torquay before diverting to the coast path, over some beaches, a golf course, some hilly bits, some flat bits and a bit of a blast in the last few miles on the roads again. Lovely. Hot, sure, sweaty, hell yeah, but lovely!

Running on a Thursday evening? I hear nobody say! Well, you see, my amazing and, quite frankly awesome (not to mention sexy, inspiring, funny, clever and beautiful) wife, Nicky went out. OUT I tell you. I know, on a school night. In fact, on ANY day…. we don’t do ‘out’ much. To be fair, she was back by 8.30pm so we were still snuggled up reading well before it got dark!

So that’s twice this week I’ve laced up in the evening. Nicky and I went to the Brixham Harriers again on Tuesday and had a lovely sunny evening run up and around Berry Head. Check it out on Strava if you’re interested in such things.

I’m really quite enjoying the club nights, it’s challenging to fit it into our chosen lifestyle, as the hour after we get in from work, before we set off for the cub is sort of ‘dead’ time, but we’re determined to make this work. They’re a cracking, friendly, welcoming bunch and we enjoy having a bit of a night ‘out’. Sort of! We did sit by the harbour and shared (SHARED!) fish’n’chips in the gorgeous twilight, which was lovely.

Lots of events this weekend, we’re not there, but White Star Running are making a foray into the road running scene with the Dorchester Marathon and we wish them, and all the runners, well with that. Maybe next year for us.

Meanwhile, it’ll be an emotional run for our good friend (and Brixham Harrier) Jan at the half marathon in Manchester this weekend. Again, we wish her and all the runners and spectators and safe, sunny, enjoyable and peaceful weekend there.

We’re off to the South Hams to RACE THE TIDE (the 16 mile version) and are really looking forward to some beautiful trails and the stunning coast path.

After our recent experience of running under pressure, it’ll be lovely to know that, in the words of the organisers, Pure Trail, “It is not an elitist race and we hope to cater for all speeds of runner, however, if you do miss the cutoff you can turn around and run the same route back to start but you will still have run 12.8 miles. Aid stations stocked with a combination of peanuts, biscuits, jellied sweets, fruit, water and coke will be at approximate 6.4, 9.4 and 12.8 miles.”

Aaaaaand relax………