The LDWA Winter Tanners, 30 miles, 16.01.2022

So good the LDWA events are back on! Have missed them a lot during Covid times.

Have done the Winter Tanners 30 before. Each year they make a new route, and I have run a few of the routes with Tara and Andrew during lockdowns too.

Early start at 05.00, a bus, a tube and a train, where we met fellow Tanners runners Eamon and Andrew. The start was in Leatherhead, from the Mole Business Park, which I always find very intriguing - it feels like the type of place which is so unassuming, yet filled with very random business (Applied Photophysics, ES Pipelones, Magnet Trade) so that it could quite easily be the headquarters of MI5. Met Sarah and Tara, and following a swift shot of toffee vodka courtesy of Coach Tara, we set off. I should mention, I don't normally (or even, don't often) start runs with vodka, but this was Christmas, a reunion, and the welcoming back of the LDWA all at once, so it was a time of celebration. 

Loved the route, the scenery was stunning, and the weather perfect!

 

Set off with Sarah, Andrew, Tara, and Neil, and we ran the first half marathon all together and it was so good to have very very long overdue catch ups. During this time, half of the party fell over at different points (including me, obviously, perhaps due to the vodka chocolates supplied by Coach Tara?)

About half way, I fell over again, doing an impressive (or that's how I imagine it looked) face forwards mudslide down a steep hill. Thank you Sarah and Andrew for picking me up and for your skilful first aid, I'm sorry I caused us a delay, and thanks Andrew for your knee support which managed to keep everything in my knee area stuck together until the end. I must get one (or two!) of these, so useful! My scars from the Halloween 100 were starting to fade, so it's good I'll have some new ones now, to match my other knee. But then, I might get them tattooed, to hide all the scars.

Checkpoints were fabulous, giant buffets, hot drinks, and friendly marshals.

The Bog Factor was scored as a 7.5/10.

Brilliant to see so many familiar faces on the way round, and to see the event so well attended.

Thank you Surrey LDWA for an excellent event! 

Great to catch up with lots of people at the end, and even though Covid means no indoor stuff, having hot drinks and cake (thanks, Tara!) with everyone, milling around in the carpark afterwards, felt just like old LDWA times again. Here's to more adventures....

Phoenix Double: SG-100 (08.01.2022) & The Gin Run (09.01.2022)

Saturday 08.01.2022: SG-100 Marathon

After the week from hell (surpassing all previous weeks from hell by quite some margin), all I really wanted to do on Saturday morning at 05:00 was curl up in a very small ball, shut my eyes tightly and go back to sleep, and then magically wake up 12 hours later, refreshed and on a tropical island very very very far away. Perhaps with a cocktail served in a coconut shell and a paper umbrella within reach, and a beach bar close by. But I wouldn't push my luck, I'd be happy just to be on a tropical island far away.

At 05:01 I told myself to shut up and stop being such a drama queen, get up, pack a bag, and be ready to leave in 59 minutes. The advantage of being completely knackered is that you don't have the energy to argue, even with yourself, and so at 06:00 I reported to the front door, and headed out into the early morning darkness with Andrew.

After getting a bus, the wrong train, then the right train, and then an Uber (because of rail replacement shenanigans) we arrived at The Weir at about 07:45 for the SG-100 run. I know nothing about Star Gate, but the medal is very cool! 

I was so tired today, but I'm so glad I went, and felt 100% better by the end of the marathon. The weather was awful (rain, rain, rain), and it was super muddy on the Blue Bridge route, but it was so good to be outside, running and with friends (excellent to see so many, thank you all for the chats on the way round!). There was also a dead swan, which was quite traumatic, especially as you had to run past it 16 times on the marathon, which wasn't quite such a highlight, and I don't know why I'm writing about it really. There were also lots of living swans. And ducks and seagulls. Lots of muddy dogs. Dogs always look so happy in the mud. Made full use of the aid station, as only had watermelon for breakfast #1 and due to the less than smooth journey to the start, missed breakfast #2. Freddos saved the day! Thank you Andrew for running with me, and cheering me up, and only getting a little bit mad each time I ran through a puddle and splashed you and your new trainers. Sorry. Lunch in the Weir, then to the Holiday Inn, where I have stayed so often lately for races, that the reception people know me, but that's OK right? The Holiday Inn has heated bathroom floors, which is such a treat when your feet are freezing, and is also handy for drying wet trainers and things on. 

Sunday 09.01.2022: The Gin Run

I was still knackered this morning at 06:00, but my Garmin told me that my Body Battery was 60%, and if my phone has 60% battery in the morning I would think that was fine to get through the day, so I got up, and off we went again. Another breakfast mishap (I forgot to bring any), but managed to hunt and gather some porridge pots from the bar. All good bars have porridge. Andrew and me met Sarah at 08:00 at the start, and off we went for the Gin Run. I have to say, I do like running, and I do like gin, so really, do days get any better than this?

It was the other route today (the 5km Hampton Court direction). Like everything, there were advantages and disadvantages to this - the advantage was there were no dead swans, and the disadvantage was there was more mud. But actually, although I like to complain about it and I hate cleaning trainers, I actually do like running in mud, sliding around in it, jumping from side to side like you've had too much gin, and having a good old laugh. 

A full chat-athon with Sarah and Andrew, with additions from plenty of others on the way round, made for an excellent day out. A real tonic, in fact. Thank you to you all!

Had a wobble, but had an emergency chocolate cup cake at 10 miles (thanks Rik for sharing your birthday cakes!), and there's not much a cup cake won't help with. 

Special G+T "recovery drinks" were provided at the bar/aid-station upon completing your chosen distance. Cheers!

Lunch again in the Weir with Sarah and Andrew, then conquered the rail replacements to make it home.

Thanks Rik and Phoenix Team for another excellent weekend on the towpath! Thanks Andrew, Sarah and all my friends for your smiles, laughs, waves, and general good cheer - you have lifted my spirits (and that has nothing at all to do with the gin)!