Jim at ASSIST creative resources [the people who have been kindly supplying me with Shotz since June] phoned me a few days ago to congratulate me on my performance at the recent Commonwealth Championships.
I had previously sent a copy of my race report to Steve Raven - the man at ASSIST who I had been in regular contact with - who forwarded it to Jim.
Jim then wrote a good article about me, Shotz and ultrarunning in general which he posted on two websites here and here.
Also today, Wendy Lynas (Team Manager for the Commonwealth Championships) emailed her Official Report of the event. It makes very good reading indeed and there's lots for me to learn from and take with me to any future championship race I may be selected for.
Wendy also forwarded an excel spreadsheet from the lap recorders on which are all the lap times for all the runners in the event. Fantastic reading for 24 hour runners who need to know exactly where things worked, where they didn't, where they slowed down, speeded up, toilet breaks, walking breaks, etc, etc.
All in all this is a fantastic resource to help planning future race and understand how I could have improved.
Showing posts with label Wendy Lynas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wendy Lynas. Show all posts
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
random thoughts from Keswick
I'm just starting to get a report together about the race but in the meantime here are a few random thoughts, in no particular order:
The camaraderie was absolutely fantastic, not just amongst English 24 hr runners, but amongst runners in all races from all participating countries.
Thanks to Wendy Lynas for making sure I didn't collapse/faint/pass out at the end of the race.
The staff at the youth hostel were amazing, particularly those in the restaurant who kept us fed and watered ... and laughed at the size of my appetite the evening before the race.
Learnt a lot from Chris Finill, at about 16 hours it became obvious that he was struggling and was having a bad time. He still continued though and kept plugging away right to the end for the sake of the team.
An amazing new pb from Sharon Gayter - 226k
And from John Pares - 244k
A Commonwealth Record for Martin Fryer - 255k
The temperature dropped to about 7 degrees C overnight and the sight of Arun Kumar Bhardwaj (from India) in multiple layers of hats, gloves, tops, etc was a sight to behold. At this time of year the night time temperature in India is about 24 degrees C.
Andy Eccles was a magnificent cheerleader.
Alan Young must have some stunning and amazing photos from all four days of competition and from the medal presentations too.
It was a pleasure to meet people whose careers I've followed in magazines for years, eg Bashir Hussain, Carolyn Hunter-Rowe.
Meeting an old friend in Keswick on Sunday afternoon. I hadn't seen Sharon since 1986 and to see her again was great.
Lots of local people stayed awake all night to watch and cheer the runners.
The smell from the portaloos at the end of the race ...
The weather was fantastic during the race and good for the other races too. Hardly any rain for four days in the Lake District - miraculous.
The Canadian mountain runner who, on Monday morning at 8.30am, realised he needed to be at Heathrow airport for a 12.05pm flight home. He had no transport arranged and no money either.
The speed of the 100km runners - sprinters !!!
The thought of Pat Robbins and Andy Eccles carrying Don Ritchie back to his hotel from the pub at 1.00am on Monday morning [this is true - it actually happened].
My fifth position in my first championship race - with a pb too (231k). Also my team silver medal.
Wow ... all those memories. Enough to last a lifetime - or until next time.
The camaraderie was absolutely fantastic, not just amongst English 24 hr runners, but amongst runners in all races from all participating countries.
Thanks to Wendy Lynas for making sure I didn't collapse/faint/pass out at the end of the race.
The staff at the youth hostel were amazing, particularly those in the restaurant who kept us fed and watered ... and laughed at the size of my appetite the evening before the race.
Learnt a lot from Chris Finill, at about 16 hours it became obvious that he was struggling and was having a bad time. He still continued though and kept plugging away right to the end for the sake of the team.
An amazing new pb from Sharon Gayter - 226k
And from John Pares - 244k
A Commonwealth Record for Martin Fryer - 255k
The temperature dropped to about 7 degrees C overnight and the sight of Arun Kumar Bhardwaj (from India) in multiple layers of hats, gloves, tops, etc was a sight to behold. At this time of year the night time temperature in India is about 24 degrees C.
Andy Eccles was a magnificent cheerleader.
Alan Young must have some stunning and amazing photos from all four days of competition and from the medal presentations too.
It was a pleasure to meet people whose careers I've followed in magazines for years, eg Bashir Hussain, Carolyn Hunter-Rowe.
Meeting an old friend in Keswick on Sunday afternoon. I hadn't seen Sharon since 1986 and to see her again was great.
Lots of local people stayed awake all night to watch and cheer the runners.
The smell from the portaloos at the end of the race ...
The weather was fantastic during the race and good for the other races too. Hardly any rain for four days in the Lake District - miraculous.
The Canadian mountain runner who, on Monday morning at 8.30am, realised he needed to be at Heathrow airport for a 12.05pm flight home. He had no transport arranged and no money either.
The speed of the 100km runners - sprinters !!!
The thought of Pat Robbins and Andy Eccles carrying Don Ritchie back to his hotel from the pub at 1.00am on Monday morning [this is true - it actually happened].
My fifth position in my first championship race - with a pb too (231k). Also my team silver medal.
Wow ... all those memories. Enough to last a lifetime - or until next time.
Monday, 14 September 2009
nearly there now ...
I've got a few minutes spare here so I thought I'd post something. At the moment I'm making sure everything is in good working order and that I have all the food/drink I need - as well as all the other stuff.
food and drink ... check
racing kit ... check
other clothes ... check
first aid stuff ... check
toiletries ... check
maps, books, mp3 player, mobile, etc ... check
For the past few days (and the next few days) I'm not doing much at all. Carbo loading, relaxing, resting, visualising, banishing negative thoughts, carbo loading, reading, packing, trying to keep calm, last minute planning, eating.
Things I'm not doing: caffeine, alcohol, running (much), loud music, wasting nervous energy.
Over the past six weeks I've had numerous emails from Wendy Lynas (England team manager - 24 hr) and from what I know I would say she's done a very good job so far keeping everyone informed and no doubt answering lots of questions and queries from those new to international competition (like me ...).
Richie Cunningham has a good piece on his blog about the 1978 Football World Cup and the brilliant goal scored by Archie Gemmell against the Dutch team. Richie seems to use this to psyche himself up for his own attempt at 'beating the English' in Keswick at the Commonwealth Championships.
Does Richie also remember the Home Championship football competition from the same year when England beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park with a goal by Steve Coppell ?
food and drink ... check
racing kit ... check
other clothes ... check
first aid stuff ... check
toiletries ... check
maps, books, mp3 player, mobile, etc ... check
For the past few days (and the next few days) I'm not doing much at all. Carbo loading, relaxing, resting, visualising, banishing negative thoughts, carbo loading, reading, packing, trying to keep calm, last minute planning, eating.
Things I'm not doing: caffeine, alcohol, running (much), loud music, wasting nervous energy.
Over the past six weeks I've had numerous emails from Wendy Lynas (England team manager - 24 hr) and from what I know I would say she's done a very good job so far keeping everyone informed and no doubt answering lots of questions and queries from those new to international competition (like me ...).
Richie Cunningham has a good piece on his blog about the 1978 Football World Cup and the brilliant goal scored by Archie Gemmell against the Dutch team. Richie seems to use this to psyche himself up for his own attempt at 'beating the English' in Keswick at the Commonwealth Championships.
Does Richie also remember the Home Championship football competition from the same year when England beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park with a goal by Steve Coppell ?
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