So, when the subject of doing the Ox Ultra (36 miles) came up between myself and Neil, we were just thinking about completing the Ox medal set before the designs changed. It was also mentioned that, you know, it was 'only' 5 or 6 miles longer than our first Ultra, the RTTS 50k, so not a huge leap.....
I'm sure we made that mistake before RTTS, not realising the effect that the previous 26 miles would have before those last few!
I'm sure we made that mistake before RTTS, not realising the effect that the previous 26 miles would have before those last few!
Still the month of May 2016 started out with 4 of us Rebel Scum trying out the mainly trail section of a round the harbour run route which I hoped would one day be turned into an event. It turned out to be a tad longer than Jenny thought at 16 miles but she battled on towards the end, going into 'dont stop me' mode as we approached the Studland Ferry. The concensus was that it was a very nice route.
I got back to a bit more cycling and also managed a kind of parkrun PB, well a course PB anyway, the fastest I had ever run the Moors Valley event.
The week before the Ox Ultra me and Jenny decided to cycle the entire round the harbour route and we had a lovely sunny day to do so in. This would be the longest cycle I had ever done at 28 miles!
Now Jenny can do this sort of cycle mileage in her sleep, but I could really feel it towards the end :-)
I had decided to film the route so as to make a little video but unfortunately when I looked at the footage I realised there had been a little problem. Unbeknown to me the Ricoh camera I was using which was Kev's only filmed around 20 minutes at a time, after which it stopped recording and you would have to re-start it for another 20 mins. As i didnt know this, we had a little problem. I think that I managed to record a fair bit just by the fact that I happened to turn it off and on again in less than 20 mins segments for a while, but then of course after a longer section it turned off and then when we stopped for a short rest and I thought I had stopped the camera, I had actually turned it on, and when I thought I had restarted it, I had actually turned it off! So after about an hour the only footage I got of the 3.5 hour ride was recordings of our rest stops!
Now Jenny can do this sort of cycle mileage in her sleep, but I could really feel it towards the end :-)
I had decided to film the route so as to make a little video but unfortunately when I looked at the footage I realised there had been a little problem. Unbeknown to me the Ricoh camera I was using which was Kev's only filmed around 20 minutes at a time, after which it stopped recording and you would have to re-start it for another 20 mins. As i didnt know this, we had a little problem. I think that I managed to record a fair bit just by the fact that I happened to turn it off and on again in less than 20 mins segments for a while, but then of course after a longer section it turned off and then when we stopped for a short rest and I thought I had stopped the camera, I had actually turned it on, and when I thought I had restarted it, I had actually turned it off! So after about an hour the only footage I got of the 3.5 hour ride was recordings of our rest stops!
Bit annoying as it meant I'd have to go back and do it again to record all the missing bits. :-(
anyway, couple of short runs later and Me, Neil and also Dave who joined us in signing up, are at the start of the Ox, wondering if we have done the right thing and whats the worst that can happen..
anyway, couple of short runs later and Me, Neil and also Dave who joined us in signing up, are at the start of the Ox, wondering if we have done the right thing and whats the worst that can happen..
The weather is dodgy and there has been a bit of rain, so mud is likely.
We start before the Marathon but on the same course to start with for the first 15-16 miles and then approx the last 7 or 8 so we expected to see some of the marathon runners especially the faster ones! We had already agreed to only run the flats and downs and anything vaguely up was to be walked.
The course did a 10 mile loop before coming back near the start and then setting off towards the Ox Drove for the remaining 26-ish
It rained, it was muddy, we did a lot of either slipping about or wading through puddles, putting waterproofs on, taking them off....
In fact it was so muddy that towards the end it was impossible to even run DOWN some of the hills for fear of going arse over tip, thus meaning that we were getting precariously close to the cut off time of 9 hours.
My mate Chris was sweeping the Ultra with his two collies and we were expecting to see him behind us at any moment but he didnt appear until after we had eventually finished in just over the cut off at 9 hours and 9 mins making us almost the last in!
Dave had dropped behind me and Neil with a few miles to go so we waited to cheer him in followed by a few other stragglers. Eventually Chris appeared accompanied by his collies (for which 36 miles was just a stroll!) and a nice lady by the name of Kim who had been struggling but kept going and had been allowed to carry on to finish.
We start before the Marathon but on the same course to start with for the first 15-16 miles and then approx the last 7 or 8 so we expected to see some of the marathon runners especially the faster ones! We had already agreed to only run the flats and downs and anything vaguely up was to be walked.
The course did a 10 mile loop before coming back near the start and then setting off towards the Ox Drove for the remaining 26-ish
It rained, it was muddy, we did a lot of either slipping about or wading through puddles, putting waterproofs on, taking them off....
In fact it was so muddy that towards the end it was impossible to even run DOWN some of the hills for fear of going arse over tip, thus meaning that we were getting precariously close to the cut off time of 9 hours.
My mate Chris was sweeping the Ultra with his two collies and we were expecting to see him behind us at any moment but he didnt appear until after we had eventually finished in just over the cut off at 9 hours and 9 mins making us almost the last in!
Dave had dropped behind me and Neil with a few miles to go so we waited to cheer him in followed by a few other stragglers. Eventually Chris appeared accompanied by his collies (for which 36 miles was just a stroll!) and a nice lady by the name of Kim who had been struggling but kept going and had been allowed to carry on to finish.
And so we had completed our medal set, and our second ultra!
the rest of the months runs were few and short. However I did manage a 26.2 cycle ride on the last sunday of the month, on the road this time. The reason I knew it was 26.2? well myself and Gemma from WSR were checking out the route for the inaugeral Dorchester Marathon
the rest of the months runs were few and short. However I did manage a 26.2 cycle ride on the last sunday of the month, on the road this time. The reason I knew it was 26.2? well myself and Gemma from WSR were checking out the route for the inaugeral Dorchester Marathon
The route was pleasant but hilly in places, going up through Dorchester town, and then out through surrounding villages. Although nowhere near the hills you would encounter on some trail marathons, i could imagine it would make the legs ache! It certainly worked my cycling muscles :-)
And so after my longest run, and my longest ride, and a month which turned out have my longest mileage so far (359km if you are interested), we look forward to June and the very first of something......sadly it was my first DNF......
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