Workington to Keswick 2015!

Workington to Keswick 2015 - 22/03/15

The first event of the year arrived on 22nd March 2015 - Workington to Keswick, which is a 32 mile charity "walk". It was a cold, frosty morning however with clear skies. The weather had been brilliant all week, so I was a little nervous that I may have to change my apparel, which I had trained in, at last minute, risking chafing but it was just cold enough to get away with it since, I was hoping to be finished before dinner!



The course record for this one was 3hour 29, which from my training run, I knew was in reach, since rumours were the run was actually only 30 mile on gps. This therefore equates to just under 7 min/mile. The plan for this one then, was to run it very similar to my training run several weeks before, allowing for some time lost on Fangs Brow and Honnister Pass (the 2 largest climbs on route). This meant holding a pace of around 6:30 per mile, hoping some would be left in reserve for the said undulating 8 mile after Honnister. I have been feeling really strong lately, so I was convinced this was achievable, however was slightly nervous about the difficult route, having not ran on it before!



Me and Dave set off running together, behind the majority of the runners and walkers, so we didn't get to the check points too early and have to wait about to get our card stamped. Daves plan was just to stick with me for as long as he could bare the pace and hopefully hit 3hr 45! Unfortunately though, he backed off after a couple of miles as he didn't think the pace was sustainable. I felt really guilty leaving him behind but as we both said, "we both need to run our own race". It would have been great to stick together for a bit longer though.

Me and Dave after the Race

The route was fantastic, and having set off behind everyone else, it was great to scurry past all of the walkers and draw each of the runners in one at a time, encouraging each one of them to keep digging deep, whilst taking in the scenery. After the initial couple of mile of climbing it was relatively flat with a few undulations until the climb up Fangs Brow at 7 mile, which certainly got the blood pumping through the legs but didn't seem to tax me too much, slowing me down by 1 minute, to a 7.29 minute mile. The time was quickly made up with the next mile down towards Loweswater of 5.35. One kind fella, as I past him, congratulated me and shouted "keep it going..I hope you win!", which made me chuckle but spurred me on to keep the pace up. 

The course continued to be fairly undulating as it progressed towards Crummock Water and Buttermere. The views were spectacular and the sun was beginning to shine through, warming the place up! I ran past the support car just before Crummock Water to find both my mother and Daves wife, Michelle to be engrossed to social media on their phones. A quick and hard bang on the window soon got their attention! ;) Good job I was OK for fluids and gels at this point..eh?!..Luckily, I could at least get to Honnister Pass without aid (more on this later!). After this I didn't see them drive past until after the Buttermere checkpoint...in the wrong direction! Navigational skills clearly aren't their strong point!

After the Buttermere checkpoint, the climbing started to begin. Around the lake, were a few short climbs, where I took over some more of the front runners, going strong. A few cattle grids, more short climbs and 3 miles later (20 mile point), I passed the sign "Honnister Pass". 

I didn't know what to expect so much with Honnister. I knew the climb wasn't too bad until the final third, however I wasn't quite sure how far I could get up without having to walk. I wasn't going to try run the full thing, as that could have cost me a lot more time later on in the race. I decided to just keep the pace as it was and see how things worked out. As the flat section finished and I started to climb the steeper sections, my support car pulled up, asking if I needed anything. To not waste any energy, I replied with a brisk "I'll get something at the top!". By this point, my water bottles were about empty, and I needed an additional gel since one fell out my waist belt around Buttermere. I was approx 0.75-1 mile from the top.  

In the distance, I could see the very front runner, wearing a bright yellow t-shirt. I fixated on him, trying to catch him before the steepest section of the climb. Maintaining cadence, I managed to catch him within around 1/2 mile well before the steeper section. A quick "well done - keep going mate"and I went past, focusing on the climb. I managed to hold on for the first steep climb, despite greatly reducing the speed but then it was a "fell-runners walk-jog-walk-jog" to the top. Not a chance was that runnable after 20 mile in the legs!!

At the top, I scurried around, looking for my support vehicle.....nowhere in sight! I wont say much but the pictures below describe what they were doing perfectly, in-between getting a coffee from the cafe!

Michelle (left) and my mother (right) taking selfies from the top of Honnister!

To cut a long story short, they both came out of the cafe expecting me to be along in a couple of mins, when in fact I was 2 mile down the other side. I saw them 4 mile later...with cramp!

Coming down from Honnister was a killer! Despite trying my hardest to slow myself down, due to the shear pounding on my legs, the next mile was still 5.37. My legs felt as though they could snap off any minute. I still felt ok otherwise, just as planned, to hopefully have a good go at the last undulating 8 mile. The pounding from coming down Honnister and lack of fluids however brought on the first symptoms of the dreaded cramp at roughly 22 mile. To this date, I have not had cramp once in training, even on the 28 miler several weeks before, despite using the same fuelling strategy!

I managed to get to the Rosthwaite checkpoint without much trouble, just ticking around at a fairly decent pace considering. The volunteers were very kind at the stupidly placed checkpoint, but got a bit of a shock that I was there so early, however I tried hurrying them along to stamp my card as quickly as possible, by letting them know I was going for the CR! :) Pulling out of the checkpoint was where my support car came around the corner. Throwing my bottle into the car, I angrily asked them to fill it up and pass me a gel while I was running, but I needed to focus on the run and not get annoyed. 

With a gulp of water an energy gel, I dug back in. The cramp was starting to get more frequent but there was no-way I was stopping for a walk/stretch! The next checkpoint was only roughly 3 mile away so this came rather quickly. The roads didn't seem too undulating to me and I managed to keep going. A quick stop at the Grange bridge checkpoint and then it was full steam ahead for the last 4 mile to the finish...minus the steam! 

The last 4 mile were undulating but I have certainly ran worse on tired and cramped legs! (thinking back to the k2b-2014!). A few very short climbs one after the other but then predominately a straight road alongside Derwent water to the finish. The weather had remained brilliant, which made the views over Derwent water make the increasing cramped legs much easier to run on. The roads were getting much busier with cars and pedestrians as I got closer to Keswick which also gave a needed boost. 

Running past the "Welcome the Keswick" was a great sight! Just a little stretch through the centre and I would be at the finish! The cobbled town centre wasn't great on the tired legs, making me go over on my bad ankle approx 400m away from the finish with a rather loud "F@#k!" to go with it, but luckily it didn't affect me and I charged down the main street to the finish in 1st place and a record time by 11 minutes of 3hr 18!. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

                                   

I was over the moon with myself and having my girlfriend, her dad, dog and my Nana and grandad there at the finish topped it all off! The support car arrived shortly after and more congratulations came from the mother and Michelle. I must say a massive "thank-you" to them for their support on the day - despite the mishap at Honnister! haha! 

Me and the Fam at the finish!

Me and Amy! :)

Dave ended up finishing in a very respectable 3hr 45 (3.38 minus the checkpoint stops!), so exactly on his goal time and looking really strong for a PB at K2B in May! A massive well-done goes to him! 

All in all, it turned out the be a great day! The weather was brilliant, the route was superb and my run went fantastic! To this day my total raised for Kidney research is £1300 since Jan 1st, so me and Amy are over the moon! Plus there is always plenty of time left for more sponsorships yet! 

Next stop...MANCHESTER MARATHON! :) 

Sponsor site: JustGiving

Results: Provisional 2015

Strava Activity: W2K