Burnsall - not a classic for me!

I lost this race in the days leading up to it. Not that I would have beaten Rob Hope, Ian Holmes or the other good runners who turned up. But I was 15 seconds slower than last year and 3 places lower down the field. I even got sprint finished on the road section, which is not something that normally happens.

The problem was that I had convinced myself that it's so hard to overtake down the bit just after the summit, that I'd be better getting a good place at the summit and then trying to stay there. I'm a better climber than a descender so I figured that this race strategy played to my strengths.

So like an idiot, I went off like a train and was then too knackered to run downhill quickly. It was a schoolboy error really, and one that I'll try not to make again. Hopefully, publishing this will remind me in future races (and the days before them) that if I'm going to race well, I need to be running quickly at the end of the race.

Mrs Noel continued her steady improvement to finish 2nd lady and 1st LV40. She was also about 30 seconds faster than last year.

After Burnsall we went to the Lakes for a week which ended in Mrs Noel doing well at the Grasmere guides race. Unfortunately I was ill, so will have to wait another year to do this one - it looks fantastic. I won't write a report yet as I'm waiting for the times to be published. I'm also hopeful of finding some photos so I can make it a bit more interesting.

Meanwhile, it's a big race weekend for us. Mrs Noel has another race in the Gritstone series tomorrow, and I'm doing Shelf Moor on Sunday. This is an English championship counter, so it'll be a chance for me to marvel at how many minutes per miles I am behind the elite of the sport.

Eccles Pike and jam

I've mainly been training this week. Mrs Noel did well at Ecces Pike on Wednesday night, but was initially disappointed to be 4th lady. Fortunately, she was only one place behind British Championship LV40 hopeful Judith Jepson, so this put it into context somewhat.

We've both been gearing up our training to Burnsall Classic which is tomorrow. It will probably be quite wet and slippy so I'm not sure whether to aim to beat last year's time or last year's placing (I was 10th). I'll let you what once I've completed the race.

In jam news, the summer stockpiling is going well. So far I've made about 8 jars (each)of :
raspberry and bilberry
raspberry, pear and blackcurrant
blackberry, apple and pineapple (I've called this 'Hawaiian bramble')

I also notice it's nearly pear and plum season, so that should allow me to add another 20 jars to this. I plan to hand jars out as part of the prizes in a fell race I'm planning to organise next year. For those fans of jam - watch this space. For those who don't like jam - don't worry, I'm planning on giving out other prizes too.

An eventful race - Ricky's race

I've not done this one before but the usual suspects were talking me through the route before the event. It's fast and pretty short with no let-up.

I got a good start and was hoping to finish in the top 5. Stuart Bond set off like a steam train as always and behind him there were two runners who were well ahead of me. I also knew my old teammate Jonny was behind me and he always beats me on the final descent. So I was hoping for a top 5 finish.

The first 'event' was when I nipped through a narrow stile and managed to tear my quite new shorts down one side. They are bit baggier than my other shorts but I didn't think it would be an issue. Then in the final stages of the race, I jumped through another stile only to rip my shorts on the other side. They are obviously a poor design!!

I was pleased to stay ahead of Jonny until the final field when he nipped past me and beat me in a sprint finish to the line. I was very happy to finish 5th, but then was told that I'd actually finished 3rd. Apparently the two who were ahead of me had gone the wrong way.

This is the only time I've won a prize in a race that didn't relate to me being a local, (or there only being 12 in the race). So I'm very proud, even though it was due to someone getting lost.

Mrs Noel was first lady, again. And Daz from Pennine was first Vet40.

Sheep - Teggs Nose fell race

We got there early to this race so the kids could have some lunch at the sheepdog trials and we could take in some of the stalls. I've always been pretty impressed by rounding up sheep with sheepdogs, and this year my respect for these guys (and dogs) has been increased further.

Local lad and former One man and his dog TV star, James Gilman (pictured), was doing the two dogs round where he had to collect his sheep, take them through a few gates, then split the pack into two lots of three sheep. This looked like the hard bit and none of the other competitors managed it. He then had to pen three in a three-sided pen and leave one dog guarding the sheep. Then he had to also pen the other three using the remaining dog. All this while the stopwatch is going. Apparently, he had also won the championship trials the day before.

Next to all that, my race sounds pretty tame.

We had the usual race round the fields before being on the course proper. As usual, most people seemed to be running too quickly towards the start of the race, and for once I wasn't with them. I was wondering whether Cracken Edge was still in my legs, so I took it steady, hoping to make up places as the race went on.

In the end I steadily worked up to 7th, which is where I finished up. I normally aim for the lady's record, as it's a good indicator for me. Olivia's course record (of last year) was 59.23, and I managed to run it in 59.20. I was very pleased with this until Mrs Noel told me she had been talking to one of the organisers, who said the course was 100 metres shorter this year.

We also introduced Mrs Noel's sister, Sam, to fell racing. She has been nursing an injured back for a while, so well done to her on giving this one a go and still having a smile on her face at the end (or maybe a bit after the end). Well done Sam.

I know how the fox feels - Cracken Edge

Generally in fell races I aim to overtake the person in front. This is very good for my mental state during the race as I feel more like the 'predator'.

Last night at Cracken Edge, I was definitely the prey.

The night started well. I turned up early so sat in my car for a while and listened to the radio about a man who had won a £1000 bet from his local bookies about whether he could lose 5 stone in 6 months. Here's the story: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/08/03/fat-reward-for-groom-115875-22460074/

I was then chatting to fellow Pennine runner, Joe, who continued this theme by explaining to me how he's lost 8 stone by only eating on Thursdays and how this should make him faster. To be fair to Joe, I might have forgotten the actual details, but it was something like this.

Joe's slimming plan is partly driven by a competitive desire to beat me in fell races, and partly by the desire to stay ahead of Steve (another Pennine runner). Steve is going well and is getting better over the season. One of Steve's aims is to beat Joe in fell races.

Once the race started, it became apparent that there was no-one for me to chase down, as the gap was too big between me and the guy in front (Jonny, my old Fat Boy team-mate). However, whenever I glanced behind me, I saw the pack of panting, salivating beasts that included Joe and Steve.

With no obvious holes to hide in, I decided the only sensible option was to stay ahead of them. Thankfully, Joe swapped places with me with about a mile to go, so I could enjoy the feeling of biding my time before striking and regaining the lead. In the end I finished 1 second ahead of Joe, who was 10 seconds ahead of Steve.

With this fierce level of competition, I'll have to start putting more training in. Joe and Steve, if you're reading this, I'd like to recommend the new super training food: bacon, ham, mushroom, tomato and mashed potato pancakes, covered in cheese.

Shining Tor - hurray for short races

After the long slow torture that was Holme Moss, it was great to get back to some fast runnable stuff. Shining Tor is another one of those "this is one of my favourite races" races. It's got loads of hills but it's never too steep.

It was good to be back in the top 10% of the race field, and to yet again beat my time from the last time I ran this race (2 years ago).

I was also very pleased to have the new experience of being in a winning team. I guess this is more likely now I'm part of a proper club, and one that has good runners like Simon Coldrick in it. Simon was 3rd, and because us Pennine boys were also 14th, 18th and 19th, we had a higher average over our top 4 than anyone else. I'm currently sipping from a bottle of Stella that was my share of the multipack prize.

Mrs Noel was also first, ahead of her Pennine teammate, Lucy. They also won the lady's team prize along with Mary.

Bring on more short races. I love 'em.

Holme Moss - it went to plan

In my last blog entry I was planning out how my Holme Moss race would go. Obviously, this was partly tongue-in-cheek. Let's revisit that plan and see how much of it came true.

1. Set off too quickly - No. I think I set off a bit too slowly.

2. Still feeling fresh after about 5 miles - Yes.

3. Get cocky and overdo it - Yes.

4. Lose the person in front - No. But there were a lot of them.

5. Head towards Scotland by mistake - No, but only because there were lots of flags showing me the way.

6. Finish in a crumpled heap - Yes, definitely.

I said I'd probably finish about 150th, but I was hoping for top 100 and I finished in 97th.

I was aiming for 3 hours 15 minutes and I beat that to finish in 3:11:34 (here are the results).

So on the face of it, I should be pleased with my performance. But I am not. I think it was the style of my race that leads me to not be pleased. Relative to previous years, when I've trained for long races, I have done:
- more long, slow runs
- a greater run-in period of long, slow runs
- more overall mileage.

But the last 3 miles of this race were like the last 45 minutes of every endurance event I've ever tried: my muscles saying "that's your lot" and me having to jog back while streams of people overtake me.

I don't like to turn my back on things that I haven't got the hang of, but I'm erring towards Mrs Noel's advice on the subject of long races - "what's the point?"

However, these pained musings are demonstrating to me what the point is. It's a challenge. And despite the fact that I would like to turn my back on long races, the more I do of them, the more I want to do them well.

So, whenever I pluck up the courage to enter another long race, here are the main points I've learnt from doing this race:

1. Train more, in terms of overall mileage per week and distance per outing.
2. Train up to the race distance. I need to know I can do the distance, and not mis-pace it because I'm used to running 2 miles shorter.
3. Do a few long races during the run-up to my target race.