Sunday 5 July 2009

hot dog!


so we entered the peakers stroll rather than taking a trip up to osmotherley with one of the reasons (amongst others) being how i thought the heat might be too much for chasbie.
anyway we got there , peak forest, nice and early to register..still not sure why we arrived 1.5 hours ahead of the start but we did. this race is LOW KEY. the walkers had gone off at 9am and when we arrived there was all of 3 other runners there. but hey it filled out to all of around 40 runners by the time the bell rang...yes the bell, the starter standing on a street bench ringing the old school bell. a choice of 9,13,17 or 25miles was on the menu and we had naturally selected to opt for the full monty.
we'd met up with safety pin (aka simon moorhouse) whom we'd planned to run with and without further ado we were off, the bell still ringing in our ears.
from the sound of the bell it was all uphill right over and up to mam tor. and it was hot! but we had a fair bit to catch up on and time seemed to tick by quite easily.
once up on the ridge it seemed to feel even hotter with the heat of the sun bouncing back up from the limestone track and stone slabs.
it wasn't long before i noticed that chasbie was panting quite heavily. not only that, he kept trying to lie down in sheltered spots or roll in what were now totally dried up mudbaths and puddles.
the going was slow and trying and wanting to keep my boy from any harm i decided we'd abort the full monty and simply do the 13. handing over a bottle of coke and some jellies to simon, we bid each other farewell and he was left to continue with someone far bonnier than ourselves.
for the rest of the run i teamed up with 2 other nice blokes as i didn't have the 13mile route map. one of them had forgotten to wear his running shoes so had to contend with running in his merriel sandals, but being an experienced hardy fellrunner it didn't seem to matter to him in the slightest.
from hereonin there wasn't really much to report apart from the fact that once chasbie got into the river between hope and castleford, he emerged a changed dog. on fire. his usual self. but it was too late. i was mentally resigned to plodding back to the finish and was doing a splendid job of plodding physically. the climb up cavedale was tortuous, as ever thus and the site of the finish was more than welcome as chasbie dragged me along the final mile. no sprint finish today.
i dont know what to make of today really. its an odd one. i dont feel at all tired but neither do i think i would have done the 25miles justice had we carried on...but then at the time that didn't seem like a sensible option anyway.
and so another race that has lead to a degree of dissapointment. next up is lowther trail race in august..the question is..do i do it?

13 comments:

Andrew said...

It's good to see you looking out for charlie. When i am out with jasper i worry more about him than myself. Ive been having lots of enjoyment reading about your adventures.

Donkarlo said...

It was a scorcher this weekend at times. All this sun is great but do they ever think of us runners. My BG weekend was another hot un, well done. Karl

kate said...

everyone has some off days, even pooches. it sounds like you made the right choice.

you have to race in august, you're both due a cracking run :)

ultra collie said...

andrew - i think youre enjoying the reading more than i am the running of them right now :(

karl - thanks. i have a lot of your bgr to catch up on

kate - im going to run it again soon. this time the 25 if you're interested. its a belting route but not in the heat

Sarah Ridgway said...

Ours have been struggling recently, ran both up on the Glyders the other week and ended up sat waiting half way up Y Garn as two collies lay in a shaded ditch cooling down, aborted the run and came back. The other night Sarah was doing hill reps in snowdon and turned around to see Bella walking back to the car, clearly indicating enough was enough. Black dogs do struggle in the heat.

You often see 'exhausted dog' featuring in MRT reports too.

Cheers

Iain

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed the run, and you spent time running with our sandal wearing legend. A very sensible decision to cut back on the original 25M - it could have been purgatory! Hope to bump into the two of you soon.
Krish

Runningbear said...

Hi UC. Sounds like Charlie shares my allergy to the heat! Don't be down hearted and be glad that you kept your boy safe.
Running is a funny thing, just trust that good form and that crackin' run will arrive very soon, there's no question of it. Enjoy the views for now and believe the rest will follow. RB

Unknown said...

Running in hot weather is torture! Glad Charlie found a river to cool himself off in - did he shake the water off near you in proper "friendly" dog fashion?
Fingers crossed for a (few) cool day(s) in August! Third time lucky right?

Runningbear said...

Hi UC, you old romantic. The monk in the mountains idea is very appealing though not sure how I'd cope without my apps! Would they allow my laptop in do you think!? Not sure playing with widgets is very Zen =]

I do think that I love running because of its simple escape. I've often compared the experience to meditation. The loss of self in is the purest experience I can think of and the closest I've ever come to being 'in the moment'.

kate said...

when are you planning to get out?

ultra collie said...

ian - id say your two dogs get even more of a workout than charlie so it must be bad if they're not up for it either

krish - that would be allan i take it. i think i saw you come in as first in the 17m. nice one!

RB - thanks. i'm starting again (again ) this weekend. kenyan hills are my meditation . love 'em!

mialena - as you know i haven't really had a good race at all this year but i enjoy the training so maybe should just do that eh!

kate - hi. either sunday (early doors) or monday. sunday most probable. you'd be too fast for me but i could lend you the pooch ;)

Unknown said...

It'll change, not to worry. You'll have a great race and OMG will it feel good! In the meantime just enjoy spending time outdoors with Charlie!

kate said...

working this weekend :(