Hello readers!
Sorry for the lack of blogging lately! At the end of my last blog I had been wearing the Brooks Pure Grit 2's for a week and loved them. On returning them I was informed that I might receive a voucher from Brooks towards a new pair, as I had loaned and returned the shoes a day before I was supposed to, the staff at Pete Blands weren't sure what the outcome would be. Unfortunately I never received a voucher, and still needed to replace the MT110's, I did a bit more research online, and despite my cravings for the PG2's, I argued with myself that for the running and routes I wanted to do over summer would require something with a bit more grip. Sticking to the trails the PG2's would have been perfect, but a lot of routes I run are on muddy trail or simply a line across the tops!
I decided on the INOV8 Trailroc 245 as my next shoe. Having ran on the fells purely in New Balance since i started fell running i was a bit apprehensive, and the price tag was a little (read: a lot) higher than i was used to paying! Having received a tax rebate and compensation from a car crash and selling my kayak, i was a little flush with money for a change and decided to bite the bullet!
A few people on Twitter have raved about the 245's and after researching them i decided they were probably best for me. With a 3mm drop they are lower than both the MT110's and the PG2's and perfect for me as a now converted minimalist runner, and with enough cushion in the stack to handle the rocks to which i clamber over!
The first run out in them was a bimble up Latrigg. The plan was simple, i would run my normal route to the summit, my friend from work would run home, get changed and then run up the race route and meet me at the summit, all in all we would be mere minutes apart. I had a good run up, setting a new PB from the road. At the summit it started to snow and as usual i was in tiny shorts and a base layer, so i ran back to the bench and looked down the race route to see if G's head torch was visible. It wasn't there, so i ran from the bench to the summit again, just to keep warm! On return to the bench there was still no sign of a headtorch or G. I had been up there for 15 minutes, and it had been nearly 55 minutes since we had left work, more than enough time for G to have got home, changed and reached the summit, something must be wrong. I hammered down the race route, vaulting the now locked gate into the forest in one swift movement, and down the steep, muddy 'path' that makes up the race's ascent. The 245's were awesome on the descent, the route is wet and muddy all the time, and generally fall inducing, but bar a few tiny slips the 245's held their own brilliantly, but where the hell was my friend?? I hit Spooney Green with a leap from the banking and took off toward the road, reaching the car, from the summit (900ft+ descent) in 8 minutes. There was no sign of G anywhere, i opened the car and grabbed my phone to find a text from him saying 'Sorry dude, parents have booked a meal out, won't be running' argh!!!! Glad that he hadn't infact fallen and broken his leg or neck, i went home, quite happy with the 245's performance!
Another full Latrigg round followed a few days later, and again the 245's were brilliant, and again, i set another PB on the ascent. I also ran the Derwentwater loop on the trail with an ex-colleague, who for reasons unknown prefers roads to trail and fell! We met just after lunch and headed out towards Portinscale to get the boring bit done first. It was another good run for 9 miles, conversation pace the whole way with a couple of walking stints for gates etc. In my previous blog i ran this route in the 2nd fastest time i ever had, and i had bested that again this time. Still not a PB, but not far off at conversation pace means i can definitely better my PB with a concentrated effort.
I had started my 8 days off now, as my sister was getting married on the 7th. Unbeknown to most people at the wedding, my sister and her fiance had discovered the week before that she was 5 weeks pregnant, and unable to drink at the wedding it would soon become apparent, and they were to announce it during the speeches. Heartbreakingly she lost the baby on the Monday before the wedding. With both families being quite close knit, we closed ranks and rallied around them, focusing on the wedding and the future.
My sister had asked me to giver her away at the wedding, and i was honoured to do so.
The ceremony was simple, close family and friends, and my sister looked beautiful. I on the other hand looked immensely uncomfortable in a suit with a pink shirt and tie!
After the ceremony we returned to a local venue for the reception, where i gave an impromptu 'father of the bride' speech, which was unwritten, unrehearsed and unplanned! It was harder than i expected, the other speeches had been and the groom had just finished speaking, where he made comments about losing the baby, which got me a little upset, so i struggled to get going!
I poked fun at the groom and welled up again talking about my sister, and gave him a friendly warning that he should look after her well, as on the Stag Do i had beaten him quite conclusively in a clay pigeon shoot :-D
Cue 4 hours of dancing and drinking soft drinks and eating questionable buffet food!
The next day, Myself and AgentA had planned on another Ennerdale round. Family friends that were staying tagged along to walk around the lake whilst we ran.
We had aimed to go for sub 3hours for the route, meaning a pretty feasible 11/2 minute mile, and we knew certain sections would be quicker. At mile 6 we were ahead of schedule, but i was struck with 'buffet revenge' and struggled with bad guts for 2 miles. At 12 miles i calculated we were behind by 3 minutes, and we both agreed that we were feeling pretty strong. The return leg along the lake shore is quite simply 'gnarly' a mess of roots, boulders and a bit of easy scrambling. Fatigued, the rocks and roots took their toll and our pace dropped horrendously, my calves were cramping with constant change in gait and each step being different height and angle than the previous. Up over Anglers crag we settled back into a decent rhythm, but still came in 26 minutes slower than we wanted, but on the bright side, a 3 minute PB for the route :)
At 5am the next morning (saturday) i woke up and launched myself at the bin and began a 5 hour stint of violent vomiting. By noon i was a complete mess, i had literally nothing left in me, i was super dehydrated, and my temperature was through the rough. Unable to keep liquid down at this point, i couldnt take my transplant meds or paracetamol to try and control the fever. I was shivering uncontrollably and went back to the old school cooling method of stripping off to underwear and sitting next to an open window. We decided to call the out of hours dr, who told us to come to the hospital clinic, which simply wasn;t going to happen, i couldnt even stand up without help, i certainly couldnt face a 20 minute drive to see a dr.
During the morning it had come to light that around 8 others from the wedding had gone down with sickness through the night, and we had initially put it down to food poisoning, but the high temperature pointed towards a virus. By the time the dr did turn up (4 hours later) i was keeping liquid down and had managed to take tablets. My temperature was still high, but as the dr never examined me, she wasn't bothered.
The next morning i felt vaguely better, though by lunch time again my temperature had sky rocketed and i was laying on the sofa shivering.
It's Tuesday now, and i'm stable on my feet and food is staying down. I've not returned to work yet though. Having a suppressed immune system means that if i get an illness, i get the worst version. Those who have suffered this illness along side me were fine again yesterday and back to normal, but i don't have the ability to bounce back like that. It will be another 7-10 days before i feel 'normal' again, and probably 14 before an easy run. Which really sucks as the fells are covered in snow right now and the sky is crystal clear!
I'm at the transplant clinic on the 14th for a check up anyway, so will get a full health check, i think they'll be concerned about the 8lb weight loss in 4 days though!!
Happy Trails all!
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