Hardmoors 30 report

Well, it's a good job I run faster than I blog!

As reported previously, my focus for this year is the Hardmoors Grand Slam series. This should give me a season long focus with the H30 on New Years Day, the H55 in mid March, the H110 in early May and the H60 in September. I'm also trying out a radically different training programme this year which I've managed to periodise around the Hardmoors series and the TDS revenge mission in August. I'll put together a review of the training later in the year when I've had the chance to see if it works - watch this space.

What I can report is that the initial period of training, which involved lots of short interval training sessions (3 minute reps) worked a treat for the Hardmoors 30 on New Years Day.

Now, this was the first time I have raced on NYD since I used to go to the Lyme Park orienteering score event near Manchester 35 years ago.... blimey, that sentence alone makes me feel old! This time, we were staying with friends near Yarm and enjoyed a lovely meal and get together with family and friends, including some seriously competitive Scalextric racing. After seeing in the new year, I bailed on the party and tried to get as much sleep as possible before an early start to cover the hour drive to Robin Hood's Bay.

Once registered, I went for a proper warm up as I knew it was a fast start along the old railway to Whitby. After my recces of the course in October, I felt I needed to be careful on this initial section as it would be easy to hammer along on the flat and then struggle on the coastal path. I know I'm better on the rougher/muddier trails and wanted to make the most of this, so I set myself a pace limit on the railway of 7:30 minute miles. I did find my self bettering this at times and just took the foot off the gas, letting those around me push on, trusting that I would make time after the first checkpoint. After my initial block of speed work training, I felt pretty comfortable on this first 6 miles but was pleased that I kept my discipline and stuck to the race plan, arriving at the Whitby checkpoint in about 6th or 7th place, about 3 minutes down on the leaders. A quick refill of the drinks bottle to top up with Mountain Fuel and I was away.

As soon as I left the checkpoint and ran down into Whitby, my race focus changed. This next section, back towards Robin Hood's Bay along the coastal path was where I wanted to push the pace. I had made a late decision to race in shoes with a more aggressive tread pattern (Merrell All Out Crush) which would be less comfortable on the stoney railway path but much more stable on the mud. My racing mind-set, grippy shoes and strong tail wind combined and I flew along, constantly making progress on the leaders, eventually catching David Smithers, Ross Bibby and Jerome McCulla about two thirds of the way back.

It was now decision time. At that moment of the race, I was running quicker than the others, due mainly to the extra grip I had in the mud and, as I saw it, I had two choices; I could push on and try to build a couple of minutes lead before we headed back onto the railway path again or I could sit in and take a mile or two to regroup after a fast section. I knew that the others, particularly David, would be faster along the railway and I just didn't fancy being the hare, putting that extra pressure on myself. Instead I felt I should wait, see how well I could hold on along the next long flat section before the turn at the south end of the course when we would once again be back on the muddy terrain. If I could stay in touch, I felt I had a chance.

In the last mile before the checkpoint, back at the start again, David used his considerable flat speed to open up a gap, but I was happy to take it steady into the checkpoint where I took Tracey by surprise, being at least 10 minutes quicker than I thought I'd be. A quick bottle swap and resupply of nutrition and I was away in no time. During the race I was trying out a new product from Mountain Fuel, the first time it has been used in anger and, while it is still in development, I can report that it was so easy to use and kept me topped up, even at the relatively high intensity of this 30 miler.

After the checkpoint, the dynamics had changed slightly with David bombing off into the distance and Ross and myself setting off in pursuit. It's a long, fast drag all the way down the railway, past Ravenscar and on to the turn at Hayburn Wyke and I slowly started to pull away from Ross a little but to give some idea as to how fast and strong David was, three hours into the race I was running at 6:45 minutes/mile and David was running out of sight, building up a lead of 4 or 5 minutes - seriously impressive.

At the turn, I still hoped to mount a challenge and drew on the memory of how I managed to catch up on the section from Whitby, setting off with purpose. I kept looking ahead to try and catch sight of David but his speed and the nature of the course meant that I never saw him. Looking back, one thing I am really pleased about is that my mind stayed set on trying to catch first place and never settled on trying to stay ahead of third; I like that positive attitude.

It was lovely to run back through the checkpoint at Ravenscar, to be able to shout encouragement to those who were setting off on the loop I had finished and to get that same buzz back from them. One last push over the last 4 or 5 miles to the finish, still with the thought that I might be able to catch David. I knew we had just two more of those leg sapping steep drops and climbs along this section and I tried to run as much of the climbs as I could but I finally felt I was slowing down a little.

When I dropped down into Robin Hood's Bay, I was surprised at the number of people milling around which had it's positives and negatives. It meant that the runners had to weave around quite a lot avoiding children and dogs, but on the plus side I felt that I had to save face and run all the way up the hill to the finish. Job done.

In the end, David had a comfortable win, 4 minutes ahead, an superbly strong runner and an amazing turn of pace along the second section on railway path; chapeau! I finished a couple of minutes ahead of Ross.

Prize giving, with race director Jon Steele

I have taken so many positives from this race. Racing at that kind of pace at the head of a race suggests that the first block of training has served it's purpose, more of which at a later date. My hydration and nutrition were spot on, even at that relatively high intensity where more and more blood is diverted away from the digestive system to supply the demand from the muscles. I managed to be the first finisher in the Grand Slam, so I have a narrow lead in that competition after the race that, I feel, suits me least.

There is that small niggling doubt that I may have taken the easy option mid race when I could have pushed on and taken the race by the scruff of the neck as David did; he got the rewards and I got second. Seeing how the race panned out, I don't think it would have made any difference, David was the fastest runner in the race, but you never know.

As ever, the organisers and marshals were amazing all day long, everyone was feeling the Hardmoors love :-)