Herrington Park, Cyclo Cross (16th Oct)

Its been a busy few weeks back here in allymac towers. Speedy Joe has gone over to the dark side and got married and so folk have been a bit pre-occupied with all the arrangements and what not. As Anton the groom pointed out, the criteria for being selected as a bridesmaid was a sub 20min 5k! What with her new surname, I imagine that she'll have to re-invent herself! In the meantime, I have clocked up 40 running miles last week and also managed to shoe-horn in another full-on cardio session cyclo-cross a fortnight ago.  I inadvertently described the cardio workout at Herrington near Sunderland to my running companion earlier this week as a 'cardiac' session, and that's probably nearer the truth. There's two leagues in the north east here for cyclo-cross and this time it was the larger, moderately more expensive CXNE league event  that I signed up for.  

The start was seeded, and if you haven't paid the extra forty quid for a full licence, you don't get points and so are always destined to start at the back of the pack. Pathetic in a small minded way, really. There were around 50 over-50 men in the field, with the women setting off about a minute behind us. I had come down in the warm up and it took a good few laps before I began to become more confident with the various twists, turns and adverse cambers. I managed to stay upright throughout finishing around 38th or thereabouts. One of my shoes plates had got stuck in the pedals with a screw working loose, so I was pleased I hadn't crashed otherwise I would have struggled to get back up without taking off the shoe. Mrs Mac took a pile of photos so that was something. I have now stuck my name down for the Scottish Champs in Dundee in mid November. Its really just an excuse to get back up to Tayside to see the geese and enjoy the banter.  Its the local cross country this weekend and I wouldn't mind improving on my previous performance. I haven't done Lambton before, so it should be a good workout. 

Druridge Cross Country 2022: All Aboard..

 I managed to remain dry and relatively unsullied during Sundays Cross Country race. There was a big field at Druridge Bay Country Park near Amble, hosting the second of the NE harrier league xc events. It was 2015 the last time I did this, and I recall I had a hacky cough even back then, before coughs were invented and inflation was a thing of the past and a lingering spectre of the future. The women were off first in this handicapped affair and I jogged around some of the course with the Nikon looking for a few good locations to take a few pictures, snapping as some of our lot came past. Soon it was the men and I snuck into a pack of around 450 who together made up the slow pack (the 100 others joining the medium and fast packs). I didn't bring the camera! The ground was firm with just a little yield and it was a fairly straightforward, if breezy, 3 laps. Starting near the back, I worked my way through plenty of folk before my progress stuttered a little in the 3rd lap, where I still pulled a few in, but more bodies from the medium and fast packs came blustering by. I was happy to avoid the ditch as the marshall helpfully stood and shouted exhaustively about the one main feature of the race. 'Watch the ditch'....Finished 218th out of 550 and at the line I managed to remain upright and walked with feign composure to the tent. This must have translated into a steady run, so I need to coax a little more of the old competitive spirit out of the carcass on the next one if I'm going to get near Hemy, Merrison and the likes.

I nearly drove to Manor Water for the hill race the day before, but I read only 30-odd ran; I think the rest were all doing the Skyline on Sunday, a true leg-bender. My next foray north might be the Scottish short course cross country in November. This year its in Kirkcaldy, and I hope I'm in better shape than I was at Lanark last year when I was nursing a hip injury and slacked my way round (http://runnerwanderings.blogspot.com/2021/11/lanark-short-course-xc.html ). I'm back at the weights, but only squatting with 20kg, which is the weight of the bar alone. No weights. Reminds me of how truly puny I am (as if I needed reminding). 

After my self-styled 'awesome' performance at the 3 peaks, I've entered a cyclo-cross at Sunderland on Sunday. I'll try not to be last, but there may be some perverse glory in it If I do finish with da wooden spoon. I also tried to enter a national league event at South Shields, but apparently you need a 'proper' licence, which begs the question 'what have I paid British Cycling fifty quid for'? and should  a question mark go before an apostrophe or afterwards? and does anyone care about grammar anymore. On the reading front I picked up Ali Smiths 'Autumn' yesterday after finishing George Martin's early novella 'Nightflyers', but soon realised that I'd read it earlier this year, and a good, evocative read it was too.  On the same theme, I read 'Midshipman Bolitho' earlier, my first tentative step into the maritime historical fiction genre of Alexander Kent. It was light and enjoyable, slightly more easily digestible than Falkners 'Moonfleet'.   Bought two more of his efforts at the charity book fair last week. What am I like!   Still working on which  next epic event I should grace with my presence....    

A Guid Dookin' at the Yetholm Shepherds Race

 

I’m a week behind the times. Looking around at most of the blog sites written by my peers, I find that very few have had the stamina to continue to keep their blogs up to date. I’m not sure what that says about me. Saddo. Anyway, I digress. Me and Speedy Joe travelled up to the Yetholm Show last weekend for the Shepherds Show Race. It's just over an hour's drive and just over the border. It was a Scottish Championship race this year, so we expected the field for the hill race to be swollen, a little like the burn crossing that had filled with the previous days rain. Around 80 turned out including Wild, Douglas, Marwick, Marshall, Mudge as well as the local Norham, Gala, Wooler and Teviotdales that frequent the annual races held in the Cheviots. We paid our 10 quid for entry and returned briefly to the car to change. After a good heavy shower, it began to dry, and the temperature rose. I was happy that we were going to stay dry and discarded my t-shirt, going for the vest-only look. I had dug out my old Canon sureshot which is light enough to run with and still had a good lense. I had decided that I wasn’t going to flog myself mercilessly up 'yon big hills', but, instead, take the arty photos during the race that no other photographer could possibly manage. As the course leaves the show ground it takes you up one hill to a turn, returning the way you came, back through the show ground, across the burn, then up Staerhough with a wee loop at the top before returning. If I played my cards right, I could photograph the whole field, or at least most of them, at some point.  A woman arrived with two dogs just before we were about to go and she hurriedly pinned her number on her pink t-shirt. I wondered who she was. But soon we were off with me click, clicking to my left and right, then running on. 

The first hill was short and not too steep, and I got a few decent shots, as Wild and Douglas hoofed past me on their first return leg. I put the camera away on the way down, but on reaching the stream crossing, I stopped and dug it out again and let a couple of lads go past so that I could get the ‘shot’ of them splashing across. After the second guy crossed I thought I’d better get on with it, and began to cross, while at the same time stowing away the camera. However, I was not concentrating and tripped, falling headlong into the gushing rapids. There was a hoot of glee from the onlookers, one or two who had their camera phones out. I got up, got to the opposite side and shook the camera. It never stood a chance. I battled on and passed a couple as I ascended Staerhough. It was super windy at the top, but we were not there long enough to get cold, and an Edinburgh Uni girl passed me, before I re-passed her on the way down. At the second crossing of the stream I took it canny and Edinburgh Uni waded past me with confidence and at the finish line she had taken a couple of seconds out of me. Les, the organiser said he would have liked to have witnessed my dooking, and I guessed I was going to be able, at some point, to see the photo taken by one of the on-lookers. What if one had video footage…would my fall from grace go viral. No matter: dispensing with the warm down I got back to the car and changed and poured myself a hot coffee. What a plonker. It was fifty something placing and forty something minutes for the race. 

Surf n' Turf

Speedy was second to the pink shirted runner from down south who goes by the name of Emily Cowper Cowles…look her up. Holds the solo record for the ascent of the UK 3 peaks, including cycling in between them. Crackers.

Getting home, at least the memory card hadn’t been ruined and I stuck the photos on google.

 (link  https://photos.app.goo.gl/p2eSa8GSewasDzp9A )

 The photo of my 'baptism' was found on the Norham facebook site.  The next morning I was off early to Dundee to ride with the Thistle. It was a fine day out for the 7 intrepid riders as we contrived a 55 mile ride that included 3 climbs around Kinnaird and Abernyte. It was the Taybridge and Speedwell bars and a house special chow mein in the evening and an earlyish night before a 25 miler to Errol in the morning gloom. Not a bad weekend all told.