Are you a twitcher?

Spoiler alert.  This entry is for nature lovers. My cousin Hayley might like it.  Feel free to skip if you don't like the big outdoors.

A lot of triathlon training is done alone.  We all have different individual goals and training plans.  I also prefer to do swims and cycling early in the morning. It has less disruption on family life, so I don't do as many of the evening or daytime sessions with our tri club.  I live out in the sticks and most people in my club live and train closer to civilisation.

I would benefit from cycling with a group to improve speed and technique and sometimes look wistfully at online posts of friends enjoying long Saturday rides at sociable times of the day with cafe stops.  I like training with people and am partial to a slice of cake.  I might come back to that later.

January's key weekend sessions have been about long early morning runs.  A time of closed doors, drawn curtains and central heating.  Most people sensibly asleep.

Hat, gloves, headtorch, water, phone, map.  Check. GPS watch to measure speed, distance and time.  Check.

Forcing myself outside from a cosy slumber into the half light.  Cold, damp, windy.  I live in a village on the edge of Dartmoor known for its wet micro climate.  Come on Garmin, find the satellites, I need to move.

Nods and hushed good mornings exchanged with a small fraternity of paper boys and dog walkers.  Mind the odd car with dazzling headlights going too fast or a keen cyclist braving the chill.

Almost every route starts with a climb which gets my heart pumping.  At least you warm up quickly.  Up, up, up and out of the village.  Over a stile or through a squeaky kissing gate on to trails and fields.  Freedom.  This time of day I have it all to myself, the paths, the stones, the streams and the woods.  It's just brilliant.  Even the bird chatter is muted.

A while back, I saw 2 deer together on a quiet road really close up.  Poor deer got freaked out.  I must've looked like a lumbering ox to them and they scrabbled around before bolting. Rarely, I spot a fox presumably hunting for breakfast.  In a month or so, I expect I will see buzzards and I know they won't be fazed by my presence.

Were my boss Gareth ever to read this blog, it's at this point he'd call across the corridor to me:

"Are you one of those, Dilley?"
"What?" I'd ask, struggling to suppress a smile.  Gareth is a born entertainer and I know exactly where he's going.
"One of those."
"What?"
"A twitcher."
"I just said there'd be buzzards."
"There's no need to be embarrassed."
"I'm not."
"But you might want to rethink it if you are a twitcher."
"I'm not."

I might get a job working with Chris Packham.  I love Springwatch.

I may see the odd walker or runner an hour into the run and we'd stop and exchange pleasantries in the wilderness and ask where the other had been or was headed.  We might share a warning about the state of the path.

I practice the route of my next event, the Wild Night Run, twice before the race, once in reverse.  I've lived in South Brent for 9 years and have done a fair amount of running, but not on a significant section of this route.  I enjoy exploring.

There's a section on Dartmoor where the path seems to vanish (so typical of Dartmoor paths) and I end up in a half leap/stumble between grassy hillocks hoping that I am headed in the right direction.  Between each tuft is the mushy peat of the moor, but the grass is overgrown and I can't always be sure where my foot will land.  It's sodden and easy to sink.  Hope there's no grass snakes about.

A few years ago I learned the hard way that you really need to concentrate where you're treading off road.  I came a cropper somewhere on the 2 Moors Way.  I'd been admiring the stunning bleakness of the hills and was in a world of my own.  I should of course have been focussing on the present, where I put my next step and missing a rock. There's probably a wider life lesson in that.

I pause to check a map and take two photos. The sun has risen fully and there's an icy blue winter sky.  There's no snow on this part of the moor, but later someone posts pictures online of snow near Princetown.  I half wish I had stopped to take more photos earlier of a waterfall or at least something more distinctive, but I hadn't thought to do a blog then and I am trying to get round reasonably quickly so that Rachel can go swimming.

I get a bit lost.  Dartmoor is rolling terrain and doesn't have as many easily identifiable hills as the Peaks in Derbyshire or the Lake District.  I am worried I might inadvertently blunder into farmland, or leave the moor in the wrong place which could add miles on to the route.  More likely, I'll come across gorse which grows in places like a minefield.  Best to skirt round those entirely unless you're sure of the line through.  In the back of my mind lurks the fear of twisting an ankle.  It would take ages to find someone up here.  It is remote.  For this reason, I run with a phone and at some point I'll get round to buying a small backpack so I can travel with a coat and other essentials.

I run past sheep who glance at me curiously, probably rightly wondering what I'm doing here.  Once I see Dartmoor ponies, manes flapping in the wind.  They're cute, but no Rob Mackie, I wouldn't pick one up.

I pause and check the map.  Over time, I have come to realise its better to take a few minutes to stop and think than to carry on.  I think I am headed vaguely in the right direction, but its ages since there has been any kind of path.  Keep the faith.  Over a knoll, a trail emerges.  I am homeward bound, guided by the distinctive angular lines of Brent Hill on the horizon.  This still doesn't stop me getting navigationally challenged again and I have to ask a couple who are out walking where I am.  (I have no shame about asking for directions).  Actually its good news and I'm right where I thought I was.  Should've been more confident.

25 minutes later, home.  Stop outside and stretch.  Strip off muddy shoes and socks.  Door open.  Tom loudly exclaims "Dad!" and "Run!" as I go inside.  Great life affirming feeling.  Wish I could bottle it.

Must eat soon to replace energy whilst my pulse is raised - I'll recover quicker if I do.  Tom will want some of my breakfast too.  He has a huge appetite in the morning.  "Big bit Dad."  "More."

Next stop, spinning on Monday and the hover.

Oh my Obelisk 11.4mile trail run, 1,448 ft of ascent, 1st event

11 January 2015

First event.  Winter morning dawned cool but dry.  Good running weather.  Fuelled up on porridge and honey, some of which was donated to my 2 and a half year after he’d woofed down his 2 weetabix, then pointed to my bowl and demanded “Dad’s”.  

This race is essentially a 5.5 mile undulating climb, a vaguely flat half mile at the top section around an Obelisk in Haldon Woods followed by a 5 mile undulating descent.  The vast majority is on footpaths or fields, which I find more interesting than road running.

We were a little later arriving at Dawlish Leisure Centre than I was expecting which meant that we couldn't park close to the start.  My son Tom was excited by the atmosphere and I ended up carrying him to the playing field at a trotting pace, as the runners lined up, my wife Rachel calling for me to wait for her to catch up so that I could hand Tom over.  We started quickly and the little fella was genuinely gutted not to be taking part.  Still, he did have fun on the park nearby.  One day...

After a lap of the playing field, we descended a sharp bank after which my friend Harvey pulled up for a time with an injury.  I learned later that he'd made it round slowly which was a feat in itself.

There was 218ft of climb between miles 1 and 2 after which I got a little boxed in on the overgrown bridleways.  Later on the course opened out on to a road and a relentless 411 ft climb over a half mile road section.  This is where I found cycling helps.  This is partly in terms of mental strength - a hill on a bike could last for miles and take a long time.  You can achieve a lot by holding a regular rhythm.  Cycling also helps though in terms of developing climbing muscles.  I managed to overtake a few people on this second hill and have enough breath to encourage them upwards.

Into Haldon Woods and zig zagging along until you reach the Obelisk and panoramic views toward the Dawlish coast.  Shame you can't stop to admire them or take a photo, but this isn't a walk and you're soon past that stage.  Thanks to those who cheered runners on at the top.

Then on to the downhill where I can leg it if running on a road (my running club nickname is Downhill Dilley), but am a bit tentative off road and could hear others crashing through the undergrowth and getting closer.

Towards the finish it was a joy to hear Tom yell "Dad!" and it spurred me on to overtake a lady in the run up to the finishing line.  I felt a bit mean as I don't think she heard me coming and it was too late when she did.  Only a bit mean mind.  Did I say I was competitive?

Event finished.  26th out of 115.  Not bad.  We get a goodie bag which includes a bright orange t-shirt.  I put it on Tom and he feels part of the scene - men ask what time he did.  It does look a bit silly as it comes down to his knees.  Poor guy.

On to the Mount Pleasant for a Sunday roast.  Tasted superb after all that exercise.

January training plan

2 of my running events are in January, so my plan was to weight my training toward those.  I’ve been aiming for 5 training sessions a week if possible to include a minimum of 2 runs plus either 2 swims and a cycle or 2 cycles and a swim.  I daren’t run much more than that as I have arthritis and the impact isn’t great for me (hence the reason I run off road).  My weakest discipline is cycling which is ironic in triathlon as being good at it can make a significant improvement to your overall position.

My first swim this year wasn’t great.  I always think you lose swimming fitness the quickest and my arms felt like they had lead weights attached.  The sensible swimmers who had trained more in December cruised passed me.

Almost all my cycling in January has been high intensity spinning at the portacabin we affectionately call the Hut at the back of Plymstock School.  A shameless plug here: the bikes have been painstakingly cleaned and serviced by our coach, Dawn Turner and there is always good banter to be had at one of her classes.  For anyone who hasn’t done spinning, it’s cycling on a stationary bike to music.  You control the resistance on the bike to imitate climbing a hill or doing a sprint or a mixture.  We stand up and sit down to train different muscles and, Dawn’s favourite, do something called a “hover” ie hovering (over the saddle) to work your core.  At least that’s the theory.  I don’t really want to know what my hover looks like. 

Pre-training

By my normal standards, December 2014 was a quieter month for training, especially for swimming and cycling.   Lot of marketing activity at work and the holidays, plus I lost some focus as I hadn’t entered any events.  I managed a few trail runs near Ledbury, Herefordshire when we stayed with my parents in law over Christmas, but I was sluggish.  I wasn’t concerned; a lot of getting into shape is about consistency and you have to start somewhere.  The Frith Wood is beautiful throughout the year, but on a frosty winters morning there is a perfect stillness about it that makes me feel privileged to be able to run there.  May be it’s the endorphins talking.

On 1 January, I unexpectedly found myself in a 2 point something mile fun run in Makeney, Derbyshire with my brother in law Matty, who is a mad fell racer.  The race finished when you knock on the door of one of my favourite pubs, the Holly Bush.  (Sells great beer).  Superglue mud along the top fields had me imitating the running style of Shaggy in Scooby Doo, although Matty had long been a distant speck on the horizon by then.  (Next time, would it be socially acceptable to hide one of his trainers or his race number before the start)?  Still, I came 26th.  New Year’s Day runs are always good fun though, with a great atmosphere amongst runners and spectators.  Someone ran in a top hat and tails.  Not convinced his suit was going to be the same again afterwards.

The challenge

The challenge

In 2015, I have entered a series of 8 tough sporting challenges, in 3 different disciplines.  They include amongst others, hilly off road runs (1 of which is at night), a 2.2 mile sea swim from the breakwater in Plymouth back to land, a bike ride across Dartmoor with 6,300 ft of ascent and an Olympic Distance Triathlon.

I am doing this because I love exercise, getting outdoors and competing.  But I also want to give something back, by raising money for 2 amazing charities.  Jeremiah’s Journey is a charity supporting children who have experienced or who are anticipating the death of someone special.  They are a small charity and manage to do a lot with a little, so they really would benefit from our support.

I work at Bond Dickinson, a national law firm.  I lead a team in Plymouth and we are a close knit office.  Last year 2 of our colleagues sadly died from cancer, taken before their time.  This brings me on to my other charity, St Luke’s Hospice. St Luke’s have been caring for thousands of terminally ill patients for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the past 30 years.

If you would like to sponsor me, here is my page.  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StephenDilley

Perhaps by writing this blog, I can raise a little more money or inspire others to do their own challenge.

The events

I estimate that with all the training, I will cycle and run about 1,060 miles, ascending over 88,000 ft and spend many hours swimming.  Barring injury, these are the events:

1. Oh My Obelisk, 11/1/2015. An 11.4 mile trail race in Dawlish with 1,448 ft of climbing.  (Completed 1hour 29 mins, 35 secs).

2. Wild Night Run, 31/1/2015, A 10 mile night run on Dartmoor with nearly 1,300 ft of climbing.  (Completed 1 hour 29 minutes, 32 secs).

3. Dartington Duathlon 29/3/2015. 5k run/20k bike/2.5k trail run.  (Completed 1 hour 10 mins).

4. Hammer Sportive 12/4/2015.  A 65.2 mile bike ride in the South Hams with 5,905 ft of ascent, finishing in Salcombe with a mean Alp d'Huez style climb involving 5 hairpin bends.  (Completed 4 hours 42 mins)

5. Dartmoor Classic Sportive 21/6/2015.  A 67 mile bike ride on Dartmoor with 6,300 ft of climbing.  Let's hope that the weather stays fine this year.  I have cycled on Dartmoor in apocalyptic rain before - it's really exposed up there.  (Completed 4 hours 32 minutes).

6. Plymouth breakwater Swim 16/8/2015.  A 2.2 mile sea swim from Plymouth breakwater back to Tinside at the Hoe.  The furthest I have swum so far (in January) in one go is about 2,000m in training.  I need to double my distance.  It's the equivalent of 160 laps of a 25m pool (if you manage to go in a straight line).

7. Dawlish Triathlon 20/9/2015.  Standard distance: 1,500m sea swim, 40k cycle, 10k run.

8. Drogo 10, 15 November 2015 .  A tough but beautiful trail race on Dartmoor at Castle Drogo with about 1,900 ft of ascent.