Impending Grizzly

Well, tomorrow it's time for Grizzly. 20miles of coastal paths, cliffs, bogs and pebble beaches. This year, just to spice it up, it comes with a weather warning. Looks like fun!

Grizzly weather for the Grizzly!
Please be aware that the forecast for Sunday is not the nicest. Rain and perhaps snow, hail and/or sleet flurries, a strong WNW breeze and not that warm (6-8 degrees which with wind chill and rain is going to feel rather cold).
SO DRESS FOR THE CONDITIONS!

I've only missed this race once this century (2007) when the MSC Napoli was grounded and the race was postponed, the replacement date turned out to be just about the only weekend of the year I couldn't get down to Seaton.

Quite often this has been an 'A' race for me, although that doesn't mean I've trained specifically for it (people who know me would laugh at the thought), it just means that I've hoped to have a good race there and maybe justified having a Saturday rest day before it. I've done well here in the past and finished inside the top 10 and I've also had my fair share of shockers in the past.

Tomorrow though I'm going down for fun. If the weather looks as if it might hold I'll take a camera and other electronic goodies round with me , don't hold your breath for spectacular photos though, I took the camera last year and it all went a bit pear shaped.

To go fast at Grizzly you NEED good solid fell running shoes but I'm going round in a pair of off road trainers. They're going out in a blaze of glory because they'll be in a bin after the race. In 2006 I was having one of my best ever races but had to drop out when 'BOTH' of my Walsh PB's fell apart in a bog, since that time I just haven't run off road enough to justify 'proper' off road shoes. My footwear for the day will be perfectly competent on 80% of the course, but it's on those 50% descents/ascents on muddy fields and in the bogs where the real footwear comes into it's own. Just being able to let your legs go on a steep descent can make up masses of time compared to watching your footing and constantly slowing yourself.

The other slight concern for tomorrow is the toes that I ploughed into a wall racing at Taunton 2 weeks ago. They are still quite swollen and causing a bit of grief, but little more than mildly annoying when running normally. Tomorrow's not a 'normal' run though and it'll be interesting to see how they fare with the constant changes of terrain and gradient, any running uphill on my toes could prove to be a painful experience. Nurofen will be at the ready.

That's about it really for a preview. I'll take a bag full of clothes so hopefully I'll be set for any weather. Nutrition??? I'll decide in the morning. I think I've got a gel lying around and I might mix up a bit of Torq energy drink which I'll take with me if I use my camera and need the pockets on my bottle belt to carry it, other than that it'll be fine.

Other bits'n'bobs............... I've done stuff all training on foot or on the bike in the last 2 weeks. I've had a massive (for me) week of swimming though and managed 2 pb's during training. On Sunday I swam a bonus 400m TT after the Tri Club swim session and pb's with 5m13s then at last nights squad session we did an 800m TT and I pb'd with 10m36s which is only 5secs off Sundays 400m pb swum twice...... Nice!!!

Congrats to the Red Nose Day Climbers

who've just made it to the top of Mount Killimanjaro and raised over £1.3million. Yeeeaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! Go find them and check them out.

Until next time.