Tag: rat race dirty weekend

One week on…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

One week later and all is forgotten: the bruises have faded and are barely visible; the aches and pains have gone; and even the smell of whatever was at the bottom of the lake is no longer clinging to the skin.

The 20 miles. The 200 obstacles. It all seems like a dream.

It was a great experience. If you are considering taking part in one of the ever increasing selection of alternative runs about, I would recommend the Rat Race Dirty Weekend. It is 'the world's largest assault course', and if you're going to do something stupid you may as well just go for it. There was plenty of crawling, wadding, climbing, jumping, pulling, swimming, pushing, balancing, falling, swinging, as well as quite a bit of running. You can sign up for 2015 now.

Next up: Men's Health Survival of the Fittest at Nottingham in October. But more importantly, it's only a couple of weeks until Juneathon. Oh. My. God.

 

Saturday run…complete with obstacles…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 6 Comments

Yesterday's run, with next Saturday's Rat Race in mind, was a leisurely jog around the woods. Although I was very aware of the impending 200 obstacles that are approaching very fast. In fact, they are approaching faster than the need to get out of the front room when the new episode of A Game of Thrones is on when you are still plowing through the first season. 200 obstacles!? I feel I need to say that again: 200 obstacles. All in the space of 20 miles. Yes, 20 miles. Let me just recap: 200 obstacles, 20 miles. So with that in mind I attempted to throw in a few obstacles into my 'leisurely jog'.

First up, a fallen tree across the path, not exactly an 'obstacle' in the whole Rat Race sense of an obstacle, but an obstacle all the same….

My second obstacle was unplanned. Picking up speed downhill through a particularly overgrown path I got snagged on some rather aggressive brambles. Resulting in me performing a 360 deg pirouette whilst trying to avoid getting pulled into said brambles.

Third obstacle: a run of fallen trees. Please note the dangerous looking spikes, making this a life or death obstacle…

Next up was the biggest test to date: a log stack. You could argue that it actually isn't a 'stack', although the forestry commission sign located close by stated: 'Do not climb on the log stacks'. Suffice to say I did climb on the log stack, nearly breaking both ankles in the process. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS.

The final obstacle of the run was a dangerous over hanging branch that required me to slightly duck under. Done.

So, five 'massive' obstacles completed during the 5 mile run. I'm ready!

 

One month to go….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

That can't be right! Can it? This time next month I will be going to bed safe in the knowledge that in the morning I will be participating in the Rat Race Dirty Weekend in Stamford. Just to confirm it is not some sort of mass sordid swingers weekend or a weekend trapping rats or even a sensible run in the country. It is in fact the “largest assault course on Earth”. 20 miles. 200 obstacles.

 

I'll be the first to admit that the training is not going amazingly well. I ran a half-marathon a few weeks ago, and done plenty of 30 min runs around the woods. I even joined a gym in an attempt to shake up the training a bit. But 200 obstacles!? So on the run home from the gym today I took the opportunity to attempt the mother of all obstacles….

As I approached the pipe that spanned the treacherous fast flowing dyke I was feeling somewhat apprehensive, I was sweating more than the 15min hill reps I'd just completed at the gym and even more than Ted Striker….

I was getting closer and closer. My heartbeat was increasing. In my head I was trying to work out what to do if I fell in. The walk home covered from head to foot in scummy, manky dyke water was not worth thinking about. I'd decided that if I did loss my balance I would dive to safety into the nettles, the idea of being covered in nettle rash must outweigh the risk of botulism. So, a plan was in place, if it came to it I would dive to safety…

I went for it…..

Suffice to say: I survived. I'm ready!

 

Only 68 days….

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 4 Comments

….until the Rat Race Dirty Weekend at Burghley House in Stamford. Just to remind you, actually it may be just to remind myself: 20 miles. 200 obstacles. You did indeed read that right. 20 miles. 200 obstacles. Apparently, “It's bigger, bolder and badder than ever!” I think the time has come to put in a bit extra work.

Since Janathon I've been taking it a bit easy. Completed about a dozen runs, the longest around 10 miles. So with the spectre of the Rat Race Dirty Weekend on the horizon, plus the Newton's Fraction Half-Marathon just round the corner, tonight's run was to include obstacles. When I say obstacles, I actually mean just one obstacle. It may not look like much, but it's an obstacle all the same…

You may look at it and say: call that an obstacle? Granted, it is only 2 feet high, and when I approached it for the first time I sailed over it like a salmon swimming upstream on it's impossibly long migration to its spawning grounds. However, after 4 miles of trail running through the woods at a pretty brisk pace, when I reached it for the second time, it looked more like this….

Suffice to say I cleared it. I'm ready.

 

It is my destiny…

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 8 Comments

Day 27 of Janathon and I'm actually still enjoying it. Over the past couple of years I have been taking part in both Janathon and Juneathon and by this stage I'm normally beginning to flag a bit. This time it feels different. I think this is due to the fact that I'm not chasing a final mileage figure; I've definitely been a bit more relaxed about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I still feel the pressure to get the run in, but once the trainers are on I just run until I feel I've had enough. Sometimes it's short and fast, sometimes it's long and slow, sometimes it's somewhere in between. Whatever.

As we enter the final stretch I've started thinking about putting all this running to good use. Over the last six months I have eased up on the number of races I've been doing. A couple of reasons for that I suppose. Firstly, I'm not particularly chasing PBs, I generally head into races looking for a decent time. I'm not putting in enough time training to be breaking records and I'm cool with that. Secondly, I think I've just got a bit bored with the whole road running scene. I've thought about triathlons, but I'm pretty crap at swimming and can't be bothered with all the rigmarole that getting and maintaining a bike involves – I hate repairing punctures!

Therefore, time to join the obstacle race bandwagon.

I've read plenty of blogs lately, as well as first hand accounts, of how great they are. Plus, in Runner's World magazine there was an article about them.

It was meant to be. It is my destiny.

About a year or so ago I was part of a select band of men who took part in Zombie Evacuation, you can read more about it here, and it was great fun. At the time we were up for doing something similar but we never quite got round to sorting it out. That is about to change.

So here is my provisional list:

  • Newton's Fraction – March – a great half-marathon with two massive hills – good for a challenge.
  • Rat Race Dirty Weekend – May – 20 miles, 200 obstacles – enough said.
  • Tough Mudder – July – I really fancy this! I love running in mud!
  • Men's Health Survival of the Fittest – October – 10k urban assault course.

As for day 27 of Janathon….3.27 miles around the woods…after the list above it looks a bit pathetic…..although it was in the dark!

Total Janathon mileage = 89.01 (the .01 is important)

 

I think I need to plan…..

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 6 Comments

No this is not me dicing with the edges of educational blogging, as much as I'm tempted, I'm merely thinking about entering a few races for the coming year.

What's brought this on? Well, an email arrived yesterday from some crazy woman at school. She was following up on an email sent about 4 million years ago* that was inquiring whether there were enough people that fancied doing the Rat Race, and that maybe we could enter a team. I don't actually remember replying to the initial email, although as it was 4 million years ago that's not surprising, but apparently I was interested. This crazy woman is now looking for definite numbers and is on the verge of entering a team! And…..I'm in!

So….10th May…..20 miles….200 obstacles….yowza!

20 miles? That's quite a way! So I've been thinking about entering a few races before May. I've got a couple in mind that I've done before:

  • Spalding Half Marathon
  • Newton's Fraction Half Marathon

Although, taking part in Janathon is a good start for getting a bit of mileage in. Today is the eleventh day of Janathon which means, especially with all the rain, it is beginning to get a bit crowded at the back door…

Today was a 5-miler around the woods with the dog. Lots of people about this morning: runners, dog walkers and cyclists, including some particularly ignorant people about who refused to acknowledge my 'good mornings'. Sod 'em!

Total Janathon mileage = 39.36

* this may be a slight exaggeration