It's a Long Way from Home!

Just under two weeks to go - and beginning to get nervous. Not just about the run but about the whole expedition. Chatting in the office the other day someone said "where is it then?" and we proceeded to Google map it. And when you look at it, it is just such a long long way away in such a remote part of the earth. (click on it to get a full size version)

That's it circled on the top right. And you may be able to see a little line I've drawn across the bottom left part of the lake. That's the run from shore to shore - and that's 26.2 miles. If you reckon that Winderemere is 13 miles long - so would be half that almost invisible little line - that gives you some idea of the absolute vastness of Lake Baikal.

It also explains why I'm not running  the length of it - or doing a lap of it! Here's the run route. The start is at Tankhoy (not marked), the finish and where we are staying at Listvyanka, about 60kms south of Irkutsk.

Training - mainly a gym week. I keep mentioning the gym. Here it is - the best gym in the world. Great people, great support, great equipment - nothing fancy, no frills, all you need - www.quirkesgym.co.uk . Putting a bit back into the legs after last week's marathons with 3 short mid week runs and then longer ones yesterday and today. Not feeling too bad -  a bit of sciatica affecting my right leg. Something I get from time to time, but stretching and just being a bit careful seems to get it to go away again. Another one along with my right knee that I was told should be operated on years ago - but a structured gym programme to develop core and protection specific muscles seems to have held the knife at bay for a good few years so far.

Unfortunately my battery ran out (camera battery that is - my own one ran out years ago!) so have only captured the beginning of today's run in the most glorious weather, setting out from Hathersage. But I will return to film the rest of it over the coming weeks. At least you can see what a nice day it is!

So a couple of weeks to go. Light gym work and keep running. No great distances, and not pushing. Just keeping everything flexible and working. And you may have noticed I'm nearing my target for Target Ovarian Cancer - thank you so much.

2 in 2 in Milton Keynes

Friday and Saturday found me in Milton Keynes running days 2 and 3 of the Enigma Quadzilla - that's four marathons in four days to you and me.

David Bayley (Foxy) could not have sorted the weather better - snow on Friday, minus 8 or so and ice on Saturday. And it couldn't really have gone much better with quite a speedy 4:07 on Friday followed by a 4:16 on Saturday. Each day is 7 and a bit laps of Caldecotte lake - which sounds dreadful but really isn't. It's quite an interesting lap with lots of wildlife (fantastic flights of geese very low over head on Friday) and of course you're always lapping people or being lapped and only ever 40 minutes or so away from drink and food.

So many friends old and new as well - the Enigma events are always fun and enjoy a really supportive, happy atmosphere. A reflection of the organiser of course.

Under three weeks to go now - I'm happy with my fitness almost whatever happens now, although I shall keep ticking over in both gym and on the road. My biggest worry is actually getting there. The journey is so long that there's not a lot of scope for delay - and of course there aren't loads of flights going to Irkutsk. As long as I can get to Moscow on time and clear immigration quickly enough I should be all right. I have been compiling a list of alternative flights just in case but they are few, and mightily expensive.

Thanks again for all your interest and support. I'm very appreciative as are the team at Target Ovarian Cancer who emailed me last week to say how much they value everything we've managed to do to date.

Here's a photo from yesterday - 1 lap to go!

Transition Week

Not the best of weeks. A couple of decent runs with a 14 miler on Friday, but generally found everything difficult and everything hurt a bit.
I often find that when I scale back a bit prior to an event. I seem to notice every niggle and the bits that always give me trouble - right foot mainly - are just that bit worse. I also find it difficult to either not go to the gym, or to go and not do as much as usual.
Anyhow with a bit of self massage and manipulation my foot seems to be back to normal - which is pretty bad by most standards, but strapped into my running shoes I don't really notice it. And concentrating a bit more on stretching and moderate core work seems to have loosened everything off a bit.
Then the snow came down and I thought I'd get a real chance to test my shoes out. But it got so warm so quickly that there's no ice at all - just snow and underneath it either normal wet road surface or muddy tracks.
So a lovely looking run today in the snow - and a test of my neoprene socks/boots which went well. They don't stop your feet getting wet, but they keep them nice and warm which is my sole (ha!) objective. And if you watch the video you will be standing with me on a point so high that there will be nobody above us going east until you get to the Ural mountains!
And so to next week - last serious training effort with a marathon on both Friday and Saturday down in Milton Kenes. Each one 7 laps of Caldecotte lake. Really looking forward to seeing lots of old friends down there - many of them doing the full Quadzilla! No filmage there though - one lap okay, 7 - pretty boring and can't be bothered to carry my camera for a whole marathon just to film bits of one lap.
Thank you again to everyone who sponsored me last week - much appreciated and helps keep me going in the final phases of training when motivation, peculiarly, flags a little.

  

Winter strikes at last - a bit ...

As promised a hard graft training week. Gym every day with some serious leg work - 110kg single leg presses, 50 repetitions thereof. And a run everyday - 14 miles on Wednesday, then a 4 hour training run along the Trans Pennine Trail today being the longer efforts.
The second in the Chris Runs series of videos is being prepared and will be appended to this posting shortly. Unfortunately I didn't edit each video before stitching them together, and then it was too late - so video is a little long and lacking special transition effects. Sorry about that!
I tried the camera in a different position - still on the back of my hand, but with the lense through 90 degrees so that I could talk into the top of the microphone. You still need volume turned  up but it's definitely better.
First highlight of this week - in the gym, Richard Towers (aka "the Inferno") comes in and tells me I look to be in great shape. I didn't argue! www.richardtowersboxing.com
Second highlight of the week - a splendid evening with my old 10in10 friend Jim Meta and his lovely wife Anji. Jim, the old fool(!), is having another go at the 10in10 this year.
So - what does next week bring? Well with two weeks to go to 2 marathons in 2 days the heavy gym training is over - so ease off on the legs but still do some all round body work. And runs every day if possible but shorter with perhaps a 13 to 15 miler on one of the weekend days.
I'll also have to try to whip up a bit more sponsorship - some very generous donations this last week thank you. But from now on if you're enjoying my blog - and even if you're not - it will be illegal to do so without having made a donation!! See widget thingy on the right to get through to my just giving page. Every little bit helps - every donation be it a fiver or five hundred is so much appreciated and makes a huge difference. Thank you thank you.

So here is the video - enjoy running with me.

Finally - please cascade this blog onto anyone else you know. I do understand that "Chris Heaton Runs" is not exactly Julia Bradbury Walks. But at least I don't inflict any shots of me upon you. And even Julia hasn't walked across Lake Baikal ....

Kit Testing

I've tested everything out today including camera, shoes, gloves, socks, balaclava etc.
I have also gained myself a YouTube channel - where I think I have successfully edited various bits of video together from my round Wortley test run this morning.
So how did it go? Well the shoes (only short test as I have no ice!) were fine - I could get them on over my triple sock layer, and I couldn't feel the ice spikes through the sole. So they are good to go.
I tried a two layer neoprene glove solution - hands certainly got very warm and yet I could still use them. I'll take ski gloves as well and do a final test out there - problem with ski gloves is it's like having sausage fingers - you can't do anything with them.
Balaclava certainly kept me hot - but also discovered that breathing is more difficult through the face fabric. This will slow me a bit out there - but I think other things will slow me more.
And finally the camera - well now I've got my own POV camera and YouTube channel .... No suggestions are either required or welcome thank you!!
Wearing it on my hand is certainly the answer - too heavy and too much movement whilst running for on my head. Also too difficult to turn off and on to preserve battery life. First filming not too bad - will need to rotate the lense a bit next time to compensate for angle of my hand. Also can't always hear my expert commentary if the wind is too strong - so may need to hold it closer if I want to talk into it.
I never really noticed it on the back of my hand - and have just ordered an extra velcro strap to use as a tether to my wrist so if it falls off, or if I need to take it off, then I won't loose it.
So everything but the running is in fine shape - need to do more long runs!

Here's the video:

And here's some kit photos:

Ice Spikes

Camera

Waterproof socks and snow goggles

Underwear Testing

A gorgeous still sunny clear and most importantly cold day dawned over Windermere yesterday. So once more round the 26.2 mile lakeside course, this time in the company of the 2012 Brathay 10 marathons in 10 days cohort on their sighting lap.
For me a long distance training run and a chance to trial what will be my Siberian underwear. It's marketed as "base" layer these days - but of course it is underwear. Did you ever think of your "y" fronts as a base layer?? At least not in that sense of the word "base"!
Before any truly horrendous images spring to mind let me set your minds and imaginations at rest - I did not run round Windermere in my "y"fronts!
Although the thought voiced that I should really be running naked to acclimatise myself to the cold resulted in running companions Stuart dropping out, and Jeff speeding off into the distance at world record pace.
I am delighted with my choice of underwear and will certainly grace Siberia with it. Warm, comfortable, no chaffing - perfect.
And the run - fuelled with 3 cups of coffee and a cup of tea on course I was surprised to last until about mile 20 before the wheels fell off - and then not too drastically. Very happy with a year opening 4:15 but frankly I'm going to have to put in a few more long hard graft training runs.
To cope with the extreme cold, awkward terrain and respiration difficulties, the running has to be a given.
So 4 weeks to my next event (2 marathons in 2 days) and in the meantime some long hard training runs. 

An Introduction to Siberia

Well - here we go again! I rashly made a promise to an old University friend of mine that I would do a run for her newly founded charity. She set up Target Ovarian Cancer following the deaths of her Mother and Sister within months of each other.
And then one day I found this little beauty - full marathon across a frozen lake in Siberia in winter!
The Lake is Lake Baikal - the oldest and deepest lake in the world. It is so large it contains 22% of all the world's fresh water. It's situated about 200 miles north of the Mongolian border near Irkutsk - 9 time zones away and 11 hours of flying to get there.
Its a comforting -26 in Irkutsk at the moment and will be around -20 at the start. It can then go either way - on a good day being sunny and clear and warming to around -5, but on a bad day ......!!

I've got most of my cold weather kit and ice spikes for my shoes.
I got an email form my old friend Howard Stableford the other day who has camped out on Baikal. He says the cracking of the ice sounds like a freight train coming towards you and going straight underneath you; and that great mounds of ice up to 10m tall are pushed up from the surface - so it isn't all flat by any means. Although I gather they finalise the route on the day having taken satellite images so they know where there are any obstacles or indeed hot spots where the ice melts due to geothermic activity.
And of course we sprinkle vodka on the lake before the start to appease the gods of the lake - so no danger then as long as we have done that!
I'm trialling a helmet/head cam so will put up some test footage from that before I go. I then hope to video quite a lot of the run itself so you can get a feel for what it's like.
Just a bit more training to go before March. I'm running the Windermere course on Saturday with friends old and new from Brathay, then I've got 2 in 2 days courtesy of the great Foxy who has kindly let me enter 2 out of his Quadzilla in February.
I'll let you know how these go and update on preparations for Baikal. Thanks as always for reading!

Just another day in paradise

And the day dawned - frankly who gives a damn?
As good a day as any NOT to run a marathon!

"Begin at the beginning and go on until you come to the end; then stop" Lewis Carroll

I've thought long and hard about what to write today - and decided not to write much.
The 10 in 10 in 2010 Brathay Challenge has been the experience of a life time. It's taken me to places both physically and mentally that I've never been to before, raised challenges which I knew I would face but didn't know whether I'd rise to meet them.

I've watched others face the same and different challenges, some meeting them successfully others less so or taking longer.

I've learned so much about the difference between positive thinking and realistic thinking and how it affects performance and results - all gurus and psychologists need to go to the places we've been to in the last 10 days before they spout about this.

But most of all for 10 days I, an ordinary 51 year old bloke, have led a quite extraordinary life and I have had the absolute immense privilege to do so in the company of 11 other extraordinary legendary people. Simply the best ultra endurance ahtletes in the world - "fact" as Foxy would say. I thank you all so much. The final day will stay with me for ever.

I also want to thank all of you who followed me on the course and on this blog. I have been overwhelmed by how many of you have been there for me. Great fun, great comments, hugely motivational and I hope you all enjoyed the ride.

Some facts - I finished with an average time of 4.29, my best run was my last by over 8 minutes with a 4.08, I finished 7th out of the 12 who started day 1, I was best in my age category, I have raised over £6000 for Brathay, I am member 30 out of 32 in the world who have completed the 10 in 10 challenge.
All of this vastly exceeds my expectations which were an average of between 5 and 5 1/2 hours and to keep a 6 off the card.

If anyone at all wants a more in depth run through please call me and we'll meet up - don't want to bore you all to death on here but of course there is so much to say and talk about!!

Over and out. Love to you all - Chris

Home Run

And the day dawned dull, rainy and overcast.
As good a day as any to run a marathon.

I've made it - YES YES YES!!!!

Not much left in the tank today - so finished with a 4.08 - yes that is 4.08!!!!
Fastest of the 10 by over 8 minutes.
I reckon if I carried on running one a day until Christmas I'd beat the world record!

Adam broke the record again with a 2.56, Anna is the new women's world record holder and everyone completed. A very very emotional day from start to finish, followed by prize giving etc etc.

Thanks also to Stewart Taylor who not only followed my blog throughout all the training phase, but who unexpectedly turned up on the course today and set my pace for me for a couple of miles.

I will do a final blog tomorrow evening when I get home - but for now so many many thanks to all my followers and for all the messages and all the money you have donated to what is a great cause as anyone who has been here will tell you.

And now for a small beer - or two!

Phil's magic tea

And the day dawned sunny
As good a day as any to run a marathon.
So here we are at day 9. Registration for the Windermere marathon opened this morning so a lot of runners around. Lots of hushed whispers - "he's a ten in tenner" etc - really amazing and a much bigger number of supporters both at the start and all round the course.
Fantastic to not only see Gina but also Ross and Anne Oldham and (seeking redemption for Wednesday!!) Rod Vann. You all really kept me going today on another every step hurt type of day.
The biggest boost was a stop at Phil Love's mobile cafeteria just going out of Bowness - I'd almost given in to walk/run to get home, but stopped for a cup of Phil's magic tea which gave me wings for the run in and another sub 4.30 with 4.25 on the line.
So just a lap of honour left and 5 of us will become new members of the most exclusive endurance running club in the world - there will be 32 of us. I don't care if it takes 10 hours now - I'll still have exceeded my expectations and targets by miles. So I must now go for my last evening massage and I've already completed the hardest part of the week - my last ice bath, shared with Anna.
Hope to be able to do a quick blog tomorrow before a final one on Monday evening. Thanks again for all your many inspirational messages.