Thames Valley Cross Country 2011/12

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  • Yeah, my garmin showed last year 5.8 miles and this year 5.9.
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    ironically, for how it felt longer and harder this year, i read 5.70 as opposed to slightly longer last year.

    All depends on the racing line I guess.

    My legs show that I take a tight line...only problem is 30mins after the race your legs BURN

    The beauty of XC versus road racing, is that it's not so black and white, it's always a slightly different course, distance, conditions, and you can race in peace without thinking i did xx.xx for 10k or so last week..

  • /members/images/614617/Gallery/christmas_fairies.jpg

    Hi guys - what a beautiful course - they seem to keep on getting better and better! We timed it well for the weather.  Ben's just gone out for another hour and it's hail-stoning - ha ha!

    Lovely to meet you Richard - we came to look for you once we'd gotten a cup of tea but you'd vanished - Ben says hi anyway!  Likewise Ian - vamoushed!

    I managed my hat-trick today - 3rd race of being 3rd lady counter!  Woner if I can hold onto my spot next year! That drag at the end was cruel as pre-warned - I didn't have the legs for it today but my heels remained taped and were made no worse so happy days. Plus, they had Bakewell tarts left by the time I got there - absolute heaven!

    Happy Christmas from all of us - we'll see you in the new year! 

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    whoops sorry...i did hang about a bit, but I guess when you've had a great race you have to be force removed, whereas today i wasn't worried about scuttling away image Also doesn't help that my lot had their camp below the main level, at the foot  of the steps.

    ps pass my apologies to Ben for saying it was a left at the bottom of the starting hill...i always forget that tiny little lap that takes a tight hand turn. seems a pointless loop!

    ps who is that in between Debra/identical sister, and Sue Bell? Can't make the face out.

    If you're not quite in top form, this one can be a hell of a drag...those fields take so long, and then you know you're doing them twice!

    I for one am glad that the next one is 3 weeks away!

  • LOL - that'll be me! image Note the matching hat and tutu!

    No worries! We know what it's like at the end of a race - you're all so warm and then suddenly you're frozen!  Don't worry about the little loop either - I don't think Ben even realised it wasn't where you meant! Beautiful venue eh!

    Not doing Clivedon? 

    Any tips for the Tadley course? image

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    whoops, of course it's you, I feel a right clown!!

    Never done Cliveden to be honest, is a race that has cult following sells out really early, but has been cancelled the last 2 years due to the weather. Outside chance of doing the Aylesbury 5k on Boxing day, that's a race of such standard that Ben might be pushed out of the top 2 or 3. Low 15s have won it before... I did it once in about 2008, and came 25th in 17.57 or so i think.

    I'll try and make it to the club a couple of times, definitely for the next social and the predictor event.

    Tadley is the most varied course...a few years ago on a particularly cold day they took the decision to switch the course around, so now it runs a lot better as there's no bottlenecks.

    Basically first half, lush forest, mildly undulating
    2nd half, tough, 2 or 3 ( i can never remember) stream crosses, with the do you leap it, or do you step in and wade through condundrum, then a mile or so of hilly boggy muddy ploughed fields. The hills are nothing compared to handy cross or even today, but the sheer boggy nature makes it a right faff.

    Then a half mile to end on the path you start on, where you keep thinking the next turn will be the finish. It's probably one of the biggest "hallucinating" points of the series, as you're so sure someone is right on your shoulder!

    reading all that...can't wait!!

  • Tadley:

    1. Take waterwings

    2. Tape shoes on to feet/legs. Do anything to keep them on your feet in the deep mud.

    Shame I missed today. I really enjoyed it last year.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    having lost my shoes just in a training run yesterday cat....i'll take heed of number 2!!

    I'm in a situation of base training thus keeping the mileage reasonably up, yet wanting to maintain good performance in these races...how greedy of me image

  • Really enjoyed the run today although found it tough going, but managed to knock 5 minutes off of last years time so happy with that image my garmin showed distance to be just over 6 Miles!  Hope everyone enjoyed the Cakes! image
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    5mins! You smashed it Claire.

     Also you ran 0.3miles further than me! I have certainly created a penchant for taking the short way through courses, even if it leaves me cut to billyo afterwards!

  • Cuts are fun to find post race, almost like a little surprise !
  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    what seems like nothing in a race, suddenly BURNS half an hour after image
  • My first XC run *ever* today. I run for Metros and managed to score points in my first race - that makes it a successful day in my mind. Great fun and great organisation image
  • Oh and I definitely saw a few people out on the course with cameras, anyone know where the pictures might be posted?
  • Depends what club they were affiliated with (photos)
  • Sadly I don't have a clue, but I'd probably guess Reading Roadrunners is the most likely. I'll have a poke around the club sites over the next week or so and see if I find any image
  • I know we had a person on a camera, but they were only taking photos of our team (Bracknell)

    Just seen we were beaten to 4th place by TVT, the shame...
  • Morning!

    Hope you're feeling better today Cat5.  I'll get the gaffer tape ready!

    Hi Claire - oh yeah - most definitely - it was a great spread! Glad you had such a good run! 

    SG - Entered Cliveden ages ago cos the Striders told me to - only found out about "the steps "last week - bad, bad clubmates LOL (There were some nasty snaggy brambly bits - I noticed them too - hope you heal quick). We're at home (in Yorkshire) on boxing day so we'll have to give that one a miss - we'll be back sometime before New Year.

    Sam - we only took ones of the Marlow fairies but I'll have another look through and check if there are any Metros runners in the background.  A link to them should appear on the Marlow Striders website sometime in the near future.

    SFTL - oooh are the results up....

    image

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    37.44 yesterday, compared to 36.05 last year...but 4th was 36.00 this year, so clearly it was a tougher course yesterday.

    Sleepy, must be disappointed with Marlow in 9th even fielding the winner! That was always my frustration, we did have a run of 7ths a few years ago, when i was say 20s, and had a couple more 40-50s. However, last year when i was 8th-12ths, and we were coming 8/9ths I'd had enough image

    Hope Cliveden is on for you this year...although they do have a reserve date if postponed! However, this time last year we'd had at least one set of snow already, so let's hope we see none this year

  • Hey Sleepy Bear - thanks for that, I'll take a look at the Striders website over the next few weeks image
  • SG - nah we don't care - we're off the bottom of the table (just) and that's all that matters!  We have another good (ish) runner to bring along too in January (he's been away on a course) so it'll be interesting to see how he gets on.  You know what the Marlow guys are like - they're not really all that competitive by nature.  If Ben's contribution attracts a few faster guys to the club then it'll be all good otherwise it'll just be a case of getting them as high up the table as possible. They only just had enough guys for a team on Sunday which was a shame but probably brought about by being so close to Christmas.  Hopefully there'll be more at Tadley.

    Sam - you're welcome. image

  • SB - just looked at the results from yesterday and your Ben won by about 2 mins again so is really doing well

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Oscar, i think it's safe to say Ben is on a different level to anyone in this whole series.

    Our top man Graham is a bit underpar with injury this series, and is thus 4th or 5th each race, but even if he was top notch he'd be a couple of mins behind Ben. It's certainly a race for 2nd!

    I think Reading always gets a big attendance, Tadley i think usually sees a bit of a drop off, as will the others after that. Hopefully it's the people above me who drop out image

  • What a lovely venue and course Bearwood is, and an excellent turnout as well. Unfortunately I pushed way too hard on the first lap, particularly when we hit the playing fields, and really paid for it on the 2nd lap, especially up the hill at the end. That's several races now where Lesley Whiley has passed me on the 2nd lap - I should just follow her from the start to run a more even pace and a better time. Ended up 75th in 42:50, but that's 5:20 better than the last time I ran this course.

    On the team front we had 3 potential top 15 male runners missing yesterday, and a couple of others who could have scored, and one of our fastest runners had run 26 miles the day before as he's ultra training so wasn't exactly at his sharpest. We did have a very promising first run from a new member however who finished 9th - not bad considering he's only been running for 8 weeks after a couple of years off! The ladies on the other hand had a much better day than last week, so it was a pity that the men didn't quite match it.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    BOTF, i find Reading is a lovely course when i'm on the top of my game, but on days like yesterday it can quickly become a right old drag. 2 lap courses can be a bit like that, I'm not convinced I've ever raced Bracknell that well for instance.

    Looking forward to Tadley, pretty challenging, but only one go round! And one of the shorter ones too!

    Re going out too fast, it depends what kind of runner you are I suppose. I've always been from the start fast school, as I've found if i start cautiously, I'll still drop off...whereas if i start as usual and fast, the drop off is less.

    To be honest though, in running you tend to finish where your fitness on the day deserves...that's what I like best over asport like football where you'd often come away knowing you could have done more.

  • Oscarr - thank you!

    Can't decide whether I prefer one lap or two.  I've hardly run any xc that didn't involve laps so I guess I've just accepted them as inevitable.

    I do know however, that I'm definitely not at my best if I start too quick. It's only this year that I've adopted a policy where I start conservatively and then build up as I get going (and enjoy the whole run instead of suffering painfully after the first mile or two). Seems to work for me - that's what I love about running - there is no right or wrong - it's just about what's right for each individual.

    BOTF  - exactly my strategy with a DD girl I seem to play leapfrog with a lot - she beat me again this week so I'm just gonna stay behind her next time I see her then try to keep up!

    SG - Yip I'm hoping there'll be fewer FVs ahead of me at Tadley too! 

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Without trying to sound all "charmer", if you're a FV, you must be only just....so basically these few years are your time to really cash in!

  • SG - I'll take the charm..... any day! LOL.  I wish only just - Ben's a bit younger than me! I just have young-genes (hurrah).

    It's great being a vet - the number of ladies suddenly dwindles and all of a sudden I'm happily creeping up the placings - happy days! Even made it onto the power of 10 this year and I reckon that's the only reason cos I've been faster in the past (can't be bothered to try linking all my results though - it's a real pain on their site!)

    (ps the DD lassie was very pretty - I reckon she deserves a  place on your "hottie" list! Trust me we passed each other 5 or 6 times at Reading so I got a good look)image

  • So what's the Tadley course like? I hear that waders are the most sensible footwear image
  • Stevie G . wrote (see

    Basically first half, lush forest, mildly undulating
    2nd half, tough, 2 or 3 ( i can never remember) stream crosses, with the do you leap it, or do you step in and wade through condundrum, then a mile or so of hilly boggy muddy ploughed fields. The hills are nothing compared to handy cross or even today, but the sheer boggy nature makes it a right faff.

    Then a half mile to end on the path you start on, where you keep thinking the next turn will be the finish. It's probably one of the biggest "hallucinating" points of the series, as you're so sure someone is right on your shoulder!

    reading all that...can't wait!!

    Sam - certainly sounds like it - think I'll definitely be bringing spare socks and a towel! Did you manage to find a picture of yourself yet? I ran some of the second lap with one of your ladies who was having great fun in the mud and laughing at my wings! The "straight through the middle of it" approach  worked well for me - how do you tackle the mud?
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