Monks and Marathons

I travelled to Rosemary's mum's yesterday for the holiday weekend. We were doing a trail race today....Well R n I, not her mum. I was quite stressed as previous preparation had been good but my knee seized up after my morning run and I was limping badly. For anyone who races, such afflictions are common...... Real pain but, 9 times out of 10....everything will be fine as soon as the race starts.

We awoke early, facing a morning of torrential rain, not unexpected but sun would have been preferable. We jumped in the car, heading east to Sutton Bank in the North York Moors. I was very quiet as is usual before a race but got a little bit more chatty when I was confident my knee was ok. On arrival, there was a sign saying "Best view in England".....it should have had a caveat saying " unless it's pissing down and visibility is crap". I later commented that a sign also saying "Scotland has hundreds that are better" would have been good too. We signed on, did our final prep and then headed off to the start line.

I could see Rosemary ahead for about 3km until she disappeared into the mist. There was a strong headwind and the rain was lashing....... "Relative my dear Kirkland" I thought.....remembering being knocked off my feet a few times and seeing the Kinder Downfall waterfall flowing backwards in 80km.h winds a few weeks earlier. I was having fun and was running well.

The 1st bit of negativity came when around 5 runners passed me on a steep, slippery banking. "Grrr.... Why do I struggle so much on technical terrain!". I got out an oat cookie and the world was good again. On the next big descent, one big toe started to hurt. I had smartwool socks on which are a bit thicker than normal, combined with being waterlogged meant that my trainers were feeling too small! Hey hum..... The descent steepened precipitously and became very slidey! Ohhh no....it was even more precipitous and slidey getting out the valley.

Fortunately the trail evened, I lifted the pace and passed a few people. On to a road section towards the village of Rievaulx and its fine 12th Century Cistercian Abbey. I found myself leading a small group of runners but I soon dropped them due to superior fitness married with the non- technical nature of this section. The course was primarily uphill for the final 9km and my legs were starting to feel it. On one particularly steep section I saw a squashed dead rat and empathised with how it was feeling. "Keep pushing Andy" I said to myself, chasing the shadows of two runners ahead in the cloudy hill top.

Getting close to the finish, I saw some yellow tape and followed it....until realising I had started another lap......woops. Fortunately, it only lost me 30 seconds and no one managed to pass me in that time. "Come on Andy" I heard Rosemary scream.....I crossed the line in 2hrs 44 mins, pretty sore and tired! Rosemary had smashed me, gaining loads of time on the technical sections, being a wee bit faster on the easy bits and not dying in the final few km. She finished 2nd lady, only 5 mins behind a very fast (sub 1:20 for 1/2 marathon) runner which is awesome! The race organisers had put on post race cake which was amazing.....I was, however, feeling a little sorry for myself as my toe was agony and my brain was glycogen depleted.

After prize-giving we headed off to Ampleforth Abbey where they have a nice cafe. Lunch was not too bad.....not amazing but good enough. Fortunately, the cider made by the monks which was bought as an accompaniment for dinner was extremely good.