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Showing posts from 2018

On Islands

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For reference before I start, the general point of this blog is one particular race trip, and this is a rambling personal missive, not a race report as such. Consider yourself forewarned. I've had a hectic few weeks, between the 9-to-5 and travelling to races, though that's not unusual. In amongst all of that was a long weekend out in the Western Isles, and I guess this is vaguely a short story about that trip. It's always hard to know where to start these kind of blogs: okay, this is just a blog about a specific event, but the history of that event and my relationship with that event go back a lot further than just the weekend itself. Anyway, I'll add lots of pics to make this a nice photo story and hopefully draw your eyes away from some of the drivel for a second or two... So, once again, I was honoured to head out to the Outer Hebrides to shoot for organisers Durty Events at The Heb, a two day, 200km Adventure Race up in the Uists and Benbecula. The quick s

The Dirty Reiver

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The Dirty Reiver is an event that's been on my radar since its first edition a couple of years ago. A big gravelly day out around Kielder Forest, it's had the kind of reviews that kind of appealed, in a slightly masochistic way, to my sense of humour. That said, I wasn't sure of whether I'd be capable of the 200km it entails - finishing was uncertain, and the weather turned out to be rubbish that year. I held off the first year, and vowed to enter the second. Cotic X: Ready to roll 2017 came up and in went my entry to the newly announced 'Dirty 130', a two-thirds(ish) version of the Reiver, for those like myself who didn't want to commit to the 200. All well and good, with the late '16/early '17 riding going well until the  Kielder Cross , my shakedown and fitness check event: that itself went well enough, but the weeks after were plagued with hip and lower back problems that despite stretching, physio, exercises etc, stopped me getting in any

Misadventure Racing - Open5 Grassington

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So, for once in the whole ‘Misadventure Racing’ topic, I’m going to start with a massive bunch of positives about how the latest Open5 race went, as barring a couple of things I’m fairly happy with my performance. Firstly, I felt way better than I have in any of the races so far. Obviously conditions help, it was a really pleasant day and stayed dry, but evidently my fitness is also bit closer to where it should be as well. Secondly, my score was my 3rd highest ever at 385, behind a 430 at Broughton way back in 2006 and a 415 in the snow at Blanchland in 2016. Thirdly, I nailed my second longest bike leg on an Open5 - 44km behind the 50km I did at Todmorden in 2016 - and my 3rd longest run. The latter is maybe more significant, because in both of the higher distances (Muker and Slaidburn, 15/16 series) I ran first rather than biked first. All really good stuff. Unfortunately, those positives are tempered by a few issues: Firstly, my CPs score was 445, but I ended up with -60

Misadventure Racing - Open5 Edale

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I might have to go with a Friends-esque episode subtitle for this particular blog entry. Unfortunately, that subtitle would have to be " The one with loads of Rookie Errors." There are some races you relish and reminisce about, and there are some you just have to chalk up to experience and try and learn from: Edale was one of the latter. Some good bits, don't get me wrong, and no issues that weren't entirely of my own making. Not the worst score I've ever had on an Open5 event either, I think. But too many little things wrong.. I hadn't had the best of preparations for this one, not that that's an excuse. Not enough time on my bike over winter, and while I'd tried to do a bit more running after the December race, tearing my left calf just before New Year put paid to that. The weather's been awful, the motivation has been low, the pizza shop is oh-so-handy, all the usual cobblers. I'm carrying a few extra pounds, I know. I'm working on i