I've bought a pair of Hokas. I know the title of the blog is 'St Peter's Way 2016' and I'll get to that in a minute but I just needed to get that out in the open - I've bought a pair of Hokas.
Now some of you have no idea what I'm talking about, some of you may have realised it's yet another pair of running shoes and the rest may understand why it's such a controversial move for me to have bought Hokas. Possibly the only shoes that divide the running community as much as Hokas are Vibram five-finger running shoes - which do look a bit like you've put gardening gloves on your feet. Hokas are super-cushioned, thick-soled, platform running shoes - except when you look closer they're not - in my opinion anyway. They are well cushioned - mine are 'responsive' which means they are firmer than some in the range but still quite plush. No it's the 'platform soles' description which is often applied that I feel is unfair. Incidentally if you are completely uninterested in the geometry of running shoes feel free to skip this bit... OK as you are still reading (why?) I will continue...
For the last MDS I wore 'traditional' shoes from Brooks with a heel 31mm thick and a forefoot 19mm, giving a 12mm 'drop'. 'Minimalist' shoes tends to have a drop of 0 to 8mm, usually achieved by reducing the thickness of the heel and to some extent the forefoot as they tend to be less padded. Hokas have cushioning but are also very low drop, 2mm in the case of the ones I have. In order to achieve this they have a 5mm lower heel than the Brooks and a 5mm higher forefoot, so if they are 'platforms' the correct epithet for the Brooks is surely 'high heels'...
Anyway I'll see how they work out next week, on with the race report...
My decision to enter the St Peter's Way ultra was slightly last minute as I still have some slight niggles after my recent sciatica, however as it didn't seem to mind long runs off-road I thought it would be a good final race before a certain sandy ramble I have coming up soon. I did it as my last event last time too and things went OK then so why change a winning formula? Except of course I have been and the latest change is my pack. For some reason I no longer seem to get on so well with the waist belt and side pockets on my pack - a certain amount of chafing has ensued. One answer would be to have no side pockets and that's where the Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 comes in. Ultimate Direction make excellent hydration vests and, although it's a 20l pack, the Fastpack is styled on those and has two adjustable chest straps to hold it in place. It worked well in the shop (thanks Myracekit - that's where I bought the Hokas too...) so the obvious thing to do would be to take it for a few miles of gentle running before using it on a big event. However I bought it on Saturday and the race was Sunday so on my back it went.
Shoes would be the favourite Xtalons (too muddy for the Hokas and I'm not completely stupid when it comes to first runs with new kit) and Sealskinz waterproof socks, a combination which had worked well for the Pilgrims Challenge.
I knew a few people taking part, Ian, the original 'tent man' in my early blogs; Rob, a fellow parkrunner who also has a wife called Sharon; and Perry, one of my future tent mates. Sharon (mine not Rob's) took Ian and myself to the start. The start was at Chipping Ongar library, the car park of which was dominated by an orange and purple glow. On closer inspection the 'glow' was found to be an extremely bright bobble hat with Rob underneath it.
After kit check and registration Perry came over and we chatted about things MDS until it was time for the race briefing - when a man with a beard as large as Lindley's talks to you, you listen quietly. At 7:59 the hooter was sounded and we were off.
I started running with Perry and after a while we were joined by Rob. I introduced Perry to Rob and explained how Rob had been told he wouldn't be able to run again a year ago as he has a heart problem. However after many visits to various specialists he was given the all clear to run as long as he kept his heart rate at a sensible level. Perry:'What is the maximum your heart should go to?', Rob:'163', Perry:'What is it now?', Rob:'159...' at this point Rob quite sensibly slowed a little and Perry and myself continued to checkpoint 1.
The second leg was along the section of St Peters Way that I know quite well so I was able to run quite confidently and amazingly not get lost - however this was due to change...
After CP2 I was running a little faster than Perry and met up with the person who would be the first female home, Naomi. I passed her and continued on - in the wrong direction... I'd missed a gap in a hedge and gone too far round a field - I think I may have done something similar last time I did the event as well. Anyway myself, Naomi and a third runner found our way back to the course, even if we did surprise some spectators by coming up behind them! I hoped we hadn't lost too much time and I was reasonably happy when I saw Perry's bright white backpack only a few hundred yards ahead. I caught him up and ran into CP3 where I saw Ian. He had arrived at CP2 just as I left it but apparently quite a few runners had made errors similar to mine and he had taken advantage and had arrived at the checkpoint in sixth position overall. Unfortunately he had expended quite a bit of energy to do so and so although he followed Naomi and me out of the checkpoint he dropped back fairly quickly.
Over the course of the next leg I attempted to twist my ankle. Fortunately since I've been running in less supportive shoes my ankles have got much, much stronger. As a result what would have put an end to my race a couple of years ago was run off in a mile or so. Naomi shared her home-made energy balls with me which was nice and we got to the fourth and final checkpoint together.
CP4 had chocolate frogs! I had heard of the remarkable rejuvenating powers of these particular confectionery products and was keen to try one. The effect was instantaneous and I raced through the next four miles on my own. The next two miles were much harder and I was concentrating on not collapsing/vomiting/having a sleep in a ditch. However once I got onto the sea wall and the need to navigate was over I just dug in and headed for the finish. Even though I could see the finish I was still questioning whether I was going the right way. Why was this? Well I'm no plant expert so I've no idea what it was when it was alive but there was a large amount of dry, grey, dead, plant-type stuff along the seawall, far more than I felt there should have been after a dozen runners had been along there before me. However I was going the right way and finished in 7 hours 21 minutes and 11 seconds and eleventh place, almost an hour and a half quicker than 2014. Naomi was close behind me and Ian finished around 20 minutes later. Perry finished in just over 8 hours but unfortunately Rob had overexerted himself somewhat and sensibly withdrew at 35 miles (and found a pub to wait in).
The pack worked very well, it wasn't heavily loaded but it didn't move at all and hence left no marks on my back. On reflection I should have possibly worn slightly more cushioned shoes as it wasn't really muddy enough to make the most of the Xtalon grip and they are a bit 'firm' on the roads and surfaced tracks on the route. However I got through with no injuries or blisters and in a decent time so all in all a very successful race. Huge thanks to the organisers and all the volunteers for making it such an enjoyable event.
Its important not to become complacent but I have to admit that things seem to be going well in the build-up to the MDS. As I hinted earlier next week is the time for me to make the final shoe decision and check out my kit as I'm off to Fuerteventura for the last 'big' training week. I'll let you know how it all goes and what the final choice of kit is going to be, maybe...
