Chasing the Yeti - The toughest challenge yet(i)

When we arrived at our destination on Saturday morning it was extremely cold and very, very windy. Just to make the event even more fun, as I stepped out of the car it started to hail. I knew it wasn't going to be a great day at that moment but my heart sank when we reached the registration desk - it had been moved from it's usual place due to flooding in the nearby fields!

I had been told that registration opened at 9 am and that we needed to be there as close to 9 am as possible. Needless to say, after registering at 9.30, we then had to stand around in gale force winds and hail for almost two hours. I wasn't impressed at all and with every minute that passed, I dreaded the start of the run even more. What didn't help was that everyone else there seemed to be thinking exactly the same as me!

Waiting for the race to begin - start line behind me!!

As we all walked miserably to the start line, we saw the Yeti skip across the field and then quickly run back to his van to hide from the elements.....it's alright for some people!!! 

The run itself was the muddiest 10k that I have ever experienced. The mud was, at it's lowest points, ankle-deep. The start of the run consisted of running through "The Quarry" which was very hilly and extremely muddy. Shortly after that was the first main water obstacle which was knee deep and absolutely freezing. So, from about 1.5-2km in everybody was soaking wet and freezing. 

There were then a few obstacles including a few climbing fences, at which point, there was a bit of queue of people and apparently I thought it was a good time to do a thumbs up lunge pose for Sean

For anyone who has ever run in an organised obstacle course/mud run, you will know that one of the best things about these events is the team spirit. I've always been very aware of and involved in this team spirit however, I certainly could not have completed this race without the support of the strangers I met on Saturday, in particular, a couple I met on the cargo nets. 

Those of you who know me will know that I'm not great with heights. This hasn't been a problem on any of my events to date however, on this occasion I managed to get myself to the top of the cargo net at which point I froze with fear. I literally could not move and was physically shaking with one leg on each side of the wooden beam at the top with my arms wrapped around the tree that the net was suspended from. Luckily for me there was couple who were running just behind me who literally saved my life (ok, well I probably wasn't going to die up there but I certainly felt like it)

To those who then ran past us, the following scene must have looked strange but what happened did result in me being able to complete the run and for that I am grateful. The lady (and I apologise for being so vague but we didn't exchange names) climbed up one side and the man climbed up the side that I was trying to get down. Between them they managed to get me over the beam and down the net, still a quivering wreck. 

A few deep breaths and a good old laugh at how stupid I was fixed the problem and I was able to continue running......for about 500m when I came across another cargo net obstacle. Luckily for me, the couple were still right next to me and between the three of us (yes I am going to take some credit for the second net) we managed to overcome the obstacle. 

Following those few obstacles there was then a long run across a number of fields, up and down some hills and through a forest, through a few rivers, lots of deep puddles and plenty of mud. 

It became very difficult at around 7km when, after carrying a tyre up and down a long hill, came the lake wade which is exactly what it sounds like. I've done this a few times on other runs that I have been on but nothing compares to how icy cold this water was - it was actually painful, it was that cold. The last few kilometres were then hell as, no matter what I did, I could not warm up at all. 

The final few obstacles consisted of crawling under a cargo net under water and crawling through a very small, muddy tunnel. Luckily for me Sean was there to capture the magic and take some very flattering pictures of me.

The end of the run consisted of running through the quarry again, climbing over some hay bales and being covered in more icy cold water by some bloke in a high-vis jacket with a hose pipe. Shortly after the finish line we were ushered into a tent where we received our goody bag - the best goody bag I've received from any of these events - which consisted of a t-shirt, a bottle of water, a sports bottle and 5 sports drink mixes, as many cereal bars and bananas as you wanted and a beer. 

The run had been a huge challenge but the drama didn't end there with possibly the biggest challenge of the day still ahead of me........

As we slowly made our way back to the car which was parked in a field about a mile away, my fingers began to swell up and became increasingly painful. My body temperature fell very quickly as well. By the time we got back to the car, I couldn't feel any part of my body except for my fingers which were absolute agony. Sean then had the role of carer and had to take off my soaking wet, muddy running gear whilst I stood in the middle of a muddy field full of people in my underwear crying in pain - on the scale of embarrassing moments this came in just above being stuck on the top of a cargo net! But I was too cold to care.

I've now got over being cold (although I think I actually had hypothermia and it did take me several hours to even start warming up) and I'm fully recovered, apart from some very bruised knees. Whilst yesterday was absolute hell, I feel very proud of myself for not just getting back in the car and driving away the moment we arrived at the event. Chasing the Yeti (or not, as he buggered off back into his van at the very start of the event!) has definitely stepped up my motivation for marathon training and also showed me that my determination can overcome physical pain. 

A New Year with less alcohol, less caffeine and less toenails

With January being a month where no-one has any money, Sean and I decided that rather than doing a physical challenge, we would both give up alcohol and caffeine.

It's been a long, long month but with only 5 hours left of January it looks like we're going to complete the challenge! It really hasn't been easy. Work has been extra busy, we've both stepped up the training in preparation for the marathon and caffeine has been greatly missed.

Before Christmas I'd definitely become quite dependant on coffee. With dark mornings, early starts and dark evenings finding the motivation to work out, do a long day in the office and then work out again was difficult and only possible with lots of coffee. I had been drinking about 5-6 cups of coffee each day. The first few days were difficult and i had a constant headache but after that, things became much easier and I feel much better now. I'm sleeping much better which actually means I'm more awake than when I was drinking coffee.

A month without alcohol hasn't been as bad as I had initially anticipated as we haven't been out other than for a dinner a couple of times and when neither of you orders wine with dinner, it doesn't seem as difficult. Having said this, I'm currently sat looking longingly at my sister's glass of wine!

January has been a good month for training and we've both signed up to a new gym. We're both trying to put in as many miles as we can every week but the weeks seem to be flying by and the marathon is getting ever closer.

Our next event is only 2 weeks away so for now it's back to training and we'll update you all again once we've completed the Avalanche Run in February.

Oh and in case you were wondering about the name of the blog, I lost a toenail after doing the Brutal 10 in December.

HellRunner and Brutal 10

Since I wrote my last blog entry the above challenges have been completed. So far, so good.

Tackling HellRunner first, it was just as bad as it sounded. The terrain was tough, the water deep and the mud like quicksand, however, it was my worst fear, the bottlenecking of people, that caused the most problems. Unfortunately, as I've seen with events like this before, there are certain segments of the course that necessitate a single file policy and there's nothing you can do but (at least appear to be) patient and wait for your turn to enter whatever it is that's awaiting, usually a muddy pool. The major downside with this, other than the negative impact it has on your time, is that all this waiting around in cold and wet clothes doesn't really help you to get and/or keep warm. In serious cases, experienced by one of our crew, is that this can lead to mild hypothermia setting in. I don't think this was helped by this particular runner's choice of attire...not mentioning any names.

              You wouldn't have been able to tell who's trainer was who's after the race!

It didn't help that we didn't know the actual distance of the race (the official line was that the course would be 10-12 miles but no actual distance could be confirmed. Lucky us, it turned out to be closer to 12 miles). Importantly, all 4 of us that took this one on completed it and money was brought into the coffers for RHF. Job done.

Training for HellRunner had gone pretty well, even if it was only started a couple of weeks before the event. Sadly, the same can't be said for Brutal10. Although i did get an initial urge after HellRunner to really take my training seriously, this lasted all of one week before I reverted to type, type being not a lot. The timing of Brutal10 didn't help either, with this event taking place a mere 3 days after Christmas. With all the traditional food and drink flying around, I was never going to be in tip top shape no matter how well I trained (or so I kept telling myself) and therefore the lazy side of my brain got the better of me. I can safely say Danni was much the same.

Nevertheless, Danni and myself rocked up to Brutal10 armed with not a lot of fitness but a lot of determination. While we all ran separately for HellRunner to allow each of us to get the best time possible for the individual, with only 2 of us running this one we agreed to run the course together to keep each other company and motivation high, much needed it turned out.

While the Brutal10 course itself was not as difficult or as long as HellRunner, the lack of training made it feel not far off it. Still, we made it as fun as we could and both crossed the line together at around 2 hours 15 minutes, despite Danni trying to cheekily outsprint me (evidenced below) at the end for personal glory. I wasn't having any of that!

So all in all, the events I've done so far have been challenging like I wanted but achievable. There is bigger and tougher stuff ahead but that's 2 down for me now and God knows how many for Danni (I think 6. Actually I know 6, she's just confirmed). 

Next up is Chase the Yeti (how fun does that sound?!) followed by a night race. The Paris Marathon and a 20 mile assault course will follow hard on the heels of these so training really will need to be stepped up in the near future.

We are both extremely grateful for the generous support shown so far and extend our thanks to those of you who have sponsored all of us, some multiple times, who have contributed to the cause. I know Christmas has gone but keep the generosity up!

Sean

A long overdue update (and an apology to Ash!)

Firstly, we need to say a huge "sorry" to our friend Ash who has recently pointed out that we haven't blogged for a long, long time!! Sorry Ash, we will try much, much harder to keep these posts up to date from now on!

Since the last time we blogged, I have completed a half marathon in Birmingham and we have both completed HellRunner: Hell up North and Brutal 10 at Longmoor.

I think the last time I blogged, I was training for the half marathon and moaning about the epic cold I had. Needless to say the half marathon was a massive challenge. In the week leading up to the run my cold moved onto my chest and by race day I sounded like a 70 year old smoker. 13.1 miles is the furthest I had run and running it alone was not easy but the atmosphere was brilliant. I had tactfully worn my Raising Hope Foundation T-Shirt which has my name on the back so I got lots of people shouting encouragement to me personally which was much needed at certain points.

At around 4 miles, the course sort of looped round so as I was running between miles 4 and 5 I could see people on the other side of the road heading in the opposite direction running between miles 8 and 9. I'm not going to lie, this was very demoralising however, I felt hugely proud of myself when I was eventually running back down the other side of the road heading for mile marker 9 (at which point I was running along side a man in just a pair of shorts - no T-Shirt, no shoes and no socks!!!!)

With the chest infection and cough, I did have to walk at a few points throughout the course but I was determined not to stop completely at any point. Despite this, I managed to find some energy to "sprint" over the finish line and completed the run in 2 hours 29 minutes. The feeling of crossing the line was amazing but the next few days were quite painful.

(Unfortunately, my usual photographer was on strike on the day of the race so the only photo I have is from the official website and very unflattering even for an action shot!)

And so it begins...

I've been put to shame. Danni has undertaken 4 challenges now to raise money for The Raising Hope Foundation and I've completed exactly 0. However, although I have no defence for my laziness so far, the events will be coming thick and fast herein with a couple lined up over the next 2 months and with the intent of doing 1 every month thereafter until Kili in October next year. Danni had the idea of undertaking 1 physical challenge per month a while back as a good way to accumulatively raise money for the charity and has put her running trainers on to back that up. Wanting to help in some minor way, I've now jumped on the bandwagon. You can see the challenges we've signed up for at the link I've pasted near the bottom. We have a few months still to fill so any challenge ideas are welcomed.

With Danni having led the way it's now my turn to step up to the plate. It felt like ages ago I signed up but my first event is finally here. Enter Hell Up North, one of the Hell Runner events which are seemingly designed for people who want to spend a couple of hours of their weekend in mud and water with a side dish of prolonged dull, aching pain. So I thought it'd be a good idea to put my name down. Still, it's for a top cause so my welfare comes a distant second. See what I've let myself in for below.

Despite the run only being under 2 weeks away I have decided that now is the time to start training, and it hurts. I did intend to start earlier but illness struck me down in my prime. Danni had said to me shortly before my penciled in training start date that in the 4 years we've been together she'd never seen me ill. Famous last words. 

I've probably made wiser decisions than going from lifting weights on the odd occasion to cardio training twice a day. While my body can now hack throwing pieces of metal around with little or no technique like a meathead, me and cardio don't get along all that well. Not only do I find it boring and repetitive, I'm just not very good at it. With a predominantly cardio based event each month for 12 months, I'm in for a treat. Still, the only way to get good at something is to practice and it's the only way I'm going to be in reasonable enough shape to complete the course in a half decent time. So I'll roll with it given I've only got to put up with it for 2 weeks until I can have a breather anyway. I should probably mention at this point that I'm extremely competitive.

My brief training thus far has essentially consisted of circuit training with weights before work in the morning (man it's hard to get up at 5:30 now it's a lot colder outside (I would say and wetter at this time of year but I live in Manchester so the difference between this and other times of year is marginal in that respect)) and running in the evenings, with the latter split between long distance and interval training. As I've only got 2 weeks to prepare I've basically just lifted the relevant workouts off the internet and gone straight to the business end, with most of them designed to be 10-12 week programmes. Hence the pain. 

That's enough about me and my training. A big hand must go to Danni for completing the events she has so far. Although I've popped along to a couple to provide some moral support (you can do it!), I can only imagine how tough it must've been to do the majority of challenges on her own. Before this week I could barely run a few miles on my lonesome without going insane with boredom, even with my tunes for company. Kudos where kudos is due.

It probably goes without saying that Danni is doing this event as well. We're also being joined by Danni's sister, Amy, and a friend of mine from uni, Tony, who's equally competitive. I feel a sprint finish coming on! At least Danni will have some company for this one.

Importantly, we're doing these challenges to raise money for a charity that is extremely close to Danni's heart and one which I am happy to do what I can for having seen the amazing work they do for the kids in Ghana when visiting in the summer of 2011 and been inspired myself by some of the things people have done to raise money for this deserving charity. A special mention here has to go to the Arctic to Africa cycle team. 

We would therefore both be extremely grateful for any donations that are made for this and future events, all of which go 100% to the charity. Donations can be made here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=danielleandsean&isTeam=true.

As the fundraising bar goes up so does our motivation!

Unless I get told by people never to blog again I'll be occasionally posting my/our event experiences on here as we work our way through them. Until then, thanks for reading and thanks in advance for those who kindly donate their hard earned pounds.

See you on the other side.

Sean Chaffe - blog imposter.

What a Difference a Day Makes

It's a saying everyone has heard but it's entirely true - so much can change in one day.

At the start of this week I felt pretty down - I've been ill for almost two weeks now which has meant no training and with the half marathon only one week away I felt very worried about how things were looking.

Today was a turning point as a quick email around the office meant that my sponsorship to date has almost doubled in one afternoon. Usually, it's not all about money but this has reminded me why I am doing these challenges and renewed my enthusiasm. Whilst I'm still wheezing and sniffling just typing this, I'm no longer worried about the impending weekend - as long as I cross the line at the 13.1 mile mark I will know I've done all I can for a great cause!

A massive thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, your words of encouragement as well as the sponsorship mean the world to me and the children.

Challenge Three - X-Runner Wild Thing

The confirmation email for this event stated that it was a 5km course with 32 obstacles - runners had a choice of whether to do one or two laps of the course on the day. This being my first ever obstacle course, I was both excited and nervous. I had trained in a fairly generic manner, building on my basic stamina and running outdoors.

About a week before the event I had a very exciting shopping trip on my lunch break and got myself some Trail Shoes after being convinced by the guy in the shop that pink and expensive were the two main features I needed in the shoes!

Race day came round pretty quickly and feeling quite under prepared, Sean and I drove to the event. I was in the first wave, starting at 9am. We were given a warm up and told that there were actually at total of 68 obstacles on the 10km course!

The run itself was great fun - at first I thought I might struggle as I was one of the very few people who wasn't running in  a team but as soon as the race started everyone was very supportive towards each other and very chatty whether they were part of a team or not.

There were various small(ish) obstacles at the start, mainly consisting of walls made from hay bales, commando crawls under netting and tyres. These were following by running through a small stream, a fire jump and the monkey bars.....then came the really fun obstacles.....lots and lots and lots and lots of mud! Although the mud was tough, it was actually quite a nice break from running. 

The course then moved on to the water obstacles - a swim in icy cold water followed by a water slide/short swim then another water slide a little further on. Getting into the cold water was the hardest part of the course, especially the second time around when I knew just how cold it was. 

Next along the course was some muddy climbing, a very uneven run through the woods which included my least favourite obstacle, the cargo nets (for some reason, I freaked out at the top of the net every time!) and a rope climb up a very steep hill.

The final stretch of the course was fairly dry and consisted of lots of small obstacles very close together - more tyres, commando crawls, balance beams and jacob's ladders. 

Just as I was about the reach the finish line, I took a left turn and ran the whole thing all over again! As I was in the first wave, the second and third waves were on their first lap of the course as I ran the 5km again which meant that the obstacles were busier and there was more standing round/waiting. Despite this, I managed to complete the 10km and 68 obstacles in 1 hour 44 minutes which was a great time for me! 

The sense of achievement in crossing the finish line was amazing and I'm very much looking forward to my next event already. 

Photos by Sean Carl Chaffe