Abbey Road Studios, John Paul Jones, Robyn Hitchcock, Bruce Foxton, Al Murray twice , Radio 5 Live, Ukejam and 18 miles on the Greensand Way

As our weekend merged into one big event I thought I'd start this blog on the Friday night before the latest Greensand Way training run we just did on Sunday.

But before I start please please visit our charity giving website and donate

www.charitygiving.co.uk/greensandway2012

Abbey Road Studios in London

We started our evening on Friday at Abbey Road Studios for the annual Sound and Vision evening to raise awareness for Cancer Research UK. We were very lucky to get tickets as our friend Penny performed that evening with Al Murray's band The T-34s.

Also on the evenings line up was Chris Difford who we sang 'Cool For Cats' along with him from the crowd and 'Biscotti' which comprised John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin and Robyn Hitchcock.

Dr G (my wife) with me, Robyn Hitchcock, John Paul Jones, Claire and Penny at Abbey Road Studios

We were lucky enough to get to meet John Paul Jones and Robyn Hitchcock afterwards in Studio 2 of Abbey Rd and we talked a bit without me cracking up into a gibbering mess ( I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan).

The evening was a great success and various one off pieces including a 'doodled' Damien Hurst print were auctioned off raising over a quarter of a million pounds for Cancer Research UK. Al Murray did a fantastic job auctioning off the pieces and co-compere Bob Harris from Radio 2 resided an air of cool calm over the night.

Claire and I discovered a new way of 'carb loading' for long distance running as we had 'more than 3 but less than 11' glasses of champagne and felt very little ill effects the next day. At the end of the evening we got to say thanks to 'Whispering Bob' Harris and sped off into the night to get home.

Dr G, Claire and Penny crossing the famous Abbey Rd crossing made famous by the Beatles

On the way back to the car we took the advantage of a lull in busy London Traffic to take the obligatory 'Abbey Rd ' photo as per the famous Beatles Album cover.

After a Saturday evening spent 'carb loading' with Real Ale in a pub in Guildford (where we bumped into Bruce Foxton of The Jam) we got up early Sunday morning and, instead of getting started on our Greensand Way run as soon as possible, jumped in the car with ukuleles and headed for London.

Claire and I outside the BBC TV Centre

We arrived at BBC TV Centre at 10am. I am lucky enough to be in a ukulele band called Ukejam (along with Claire, Penny and Dr G ). Ukejam meet up every other Monday night at the Royal Oak Pub in Guildford and cheat sheets and songbooks and ukes are provided for any newcomers. Find out more at http://www.ukejam.co.uk/ We had been invited to perform a Monkees tribute song on Al Murray's 7 Day Sunday show on Radio 5 Live.

Me at Radio 5 Live - beneath my cool exterior was a shiny layer of Lycra

As we were going straight on to a run after the show I opted to wear full compression running top and leggings under my jeans and shirt. I felt like a super hero who could burst out of his clothes at any moment and fight crime.....I also felt like a berk.

Shhhhhhhhhhh

We also met Jenny Eclair, Andy Zaltzman and Mark Steel on the show as well as the host Al Murray (who has played drums with Ukejam). You can listen to our performance towards the end here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cz3b4/7_Day_Sunday_04_03_2012/

Ukejam on Radio 5 Live

We sped off from the BBC very quickly after 12 and got some 'carb loading' done in Burger King to prepare us for our long run. We were racing the setting sun at 6pm.

'Carb 'Loading' at Westfield Shopping Centre

We got dropped off at the Windmill at Reigate Heath Golf Course with a planned run to take us back to my house if the weather and daylight allowed.

Lee and Claire at Reigate Heath Golf Course on the Greensand Way in Freezing conditions and snow

By the time we started running it was well after 2pm and it was snowing. The wind was blowing and we both started the run freezing cold. We were smart enough to save weight on our heavy packs by only bringing one pair of gloves and hat between us.

A wet crossing on the Greensand Way near Dorking

The rain was very heavy and we got absolutely soaked through the 4 or five layers we were wearing. I had on every piece of clothing I had brought with me and was still a bit cold, particularly on my hands. Everywhere was waterlogged and this was the one time I didn't wear my thick waterproof socks because of what I wore to the BEEB. We both had soaking wet feet.

Officially an 'Anorak' on the Greensand Way in Dorking

As we ran into Dorking at the 6 mile mark, I was pleased to find a new Greensand Way sign to get a photo of, it was only a few minutes later that I realised my religious zeal for new Greensand Way signs and my literal attire meant I was officially a Greensand Way Anorak.

At the Temple at Nower on the Greensand Way doing some Trig Planking

We noticed a trig point we hadn't seen before on the Nower so took the opportunity to get some obligatory photos.

Face down, Arms straight, Legs out - Planking on the Greensand Way near Dorking

After the 'Pork Scratching Dust' incident of the last run we were pleased (but wet and freezing cold) when we found out (huddled under a bush) on our 5 minute food stop that doritos pass the 'running travel damage' test. These will now be a welcome savoury addition to our running supplies.

Cold hands but unbroken Doritos on the Greensand Way near Dorking (sheltering in a bush)

A Claire Silhouette at sunset at Leith Hill Tower on the Greensand Way

At the 'halfway mark' for a marathon 13.2 miles exactly we reached Leith Hill Tower just as the sun set (and the rain/snow stopped for an hour). It was eerie to be there at that time of day, after it being so busy the last time we were there we found it empty, with the food hatch closed and no one around.

Sawdust Hash Trail on Holmbury Hill on the Greensand Way

As the sun set and it got VERY DARK the snow returned. We cleverly saved weight on our running packs by only bringing 1 torch so at the 16 mile stage of the run we were not tired at all but very cold and wet, and worse, running in the dark was proving a challenge at best and a risk of injury at worse.

As we ran Claire noticed small piles of sawdust at various points on the run. When we got to Holmbury Hill we noticed a kicked through sawdust circle so we knew a Hash had been here recently.

We called it a day at the 18 mile mark at the Duke of Kent School. The plan was to run back to my house and do a full 26.2 miles but the darkness and conditions forced us to make a sensible decision and get a pick up via Dr G and her car full of warm coats and hats.

'Little Pecker' having a warm bath and a recovery shake

As I laid shivering in the bath warming up I thought about how great the encouraging tweets we got from our friends were in spurring us on today. Also Ive got a mental list of a few items we need by this weekend coming when we are doing our first 2 day running training with a camping stayover on the Greensand Way. We kick off the training weekend with another Ukejam gig at the Royal Oak with our band Genevieve and the Zut Alors on the Friday night.

It still hasn't totally sunk in that I met John Paul Jones..........The last thing he shouted back to us as his wife dragged him away was 'Zut Alors!'.

Maybe we can get him to join the band?

Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and For Goodness Shakes

Not every run is some epic Greensand Way trail. Behind the scenes our group put away some serious weekday miles to build up our stamina and strength for the long runs to come. I know a lot of paths through the Busbridge woods and beyond, but any chance to mix up my weekly morning training routes is always a bonus.

It was on the Happy Monday this week that Claire suggested I run home back to Godalming with her from her workplace in Guildford so I said yes and looked forward to it all day.

To get into the mood for the day this Happy Mondays Song sprung to mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnBi-LNM0Og. From a classic album called Thrills n Pills and Bellyaches

 I set off at around 4.15pm from where I live near Winkworth Arboretum and ran the 2 miles down Brighton Rd past the Godalming Sign

running into Godalming from the Hascombe side of town

I had added my very powerful umbilical dive torch to my running kit so that the dark portion of our run was well lit off road. As I ran into Godalming I couldnt understand what kept swinging round to bash me until I realised my dive compass was inadvertantly attached to it as well. I put this on my wrist for safe keeping, looking like a runner with serious kit overkill.

My Dive compass always points towards Ras Mohammed in the Red Sea in Egypt

I settled into the run and crossed the canal at Farncombe Boat House intending to run to Guildford by road.

The Weyside Canal by Farncombe Boat House

It was then just a case of cruising up the A3100 on the pavement until I got to Guildford. At a pace of about 10 mins 30 seconds per mile the run quickly took me to the outskirts of Guildford.

The Outskirts of Guildford

Its funny what you notice when you are running that you dont see when you are driving at 30 mph. As I ran past the ruins of the Abbey I noticed part of the hill leading down to the road had some great tree and cave formations in it.

The Hill under the Abbey Ruins in Guildford

I arrived at Claires Office after 1 hour and 15 minutes of running about 7 miles and waited while she got changed. We set off again as the sun started to set at around 5.45pm and picked up the Weyside Canal by the ODEON Cinema.

Claire running along the Weyside Canal near the ODEON Cinema Guildford

As we got out of the city the light dropped away and I got a last chance to take an ambient light photo of the Canal at a point on the path that Claire thinks is one of the prettiest ( I agree) .

Weyside Canal Sunset near Guildford

Having run this path a few times during the day its always a surprise at how unfamiliar everything can be in dark. On the last post when we were running the Greensand Way between Dorking and Reigate we came across some WWII GHQ Pill Boxes and we knew there were also 2 examples on this run so we stopped to have a look at one of them about halfway between Guildford and Godalming.

WWII Type 22 GHQ Pill Box Sign

Claire with a Type 22 Pill Box that made up part of the GHQ Defence line

Around this part of the run I had a major 'Shaun Ryder' moment in true Happy Mondays style. I started feeling very sweaty and wobbly and a little unwell. I put it down to low blood sugar but later that evening I got a rather brutal cold (about halfway through a Ukejam night when I was going to stand up and sing one of the songs).

The rest of the run was a bit of a slog for me as I didnt feel at my best .This is when running with someone else really helps and Claire gave me lots of verbal and physical abuse to keep me running.

When we finally burst out into the bright lights of Godalming by the Bell and Dragon I was quite relieved the run was nearing its end. A final burst of energy was needed to get up all the steps leading back into Busbridge and I was back at Claires house with a Chocolate For Goodness Shakes bottle in my hand and a posh continental biscuit . The total run for me was 13.4 miles (just over a half marathon) and about 6 miles for Claire. I then wobbled off home like Bez.

The Bell and Dragon in Godalming at night.

I enjoyed the run for lots of reasons, I usually run in the morning and on my own during the week and usually off road in the woods so everything about this run was a nice change. I dont normally run this far during the week either so I was pleased with the mileage. Hopefully there will be other chances to run home from work with Claire and I may take some time to find some other off road paths we can run instead in the future.

Hash, Flour Power, Bunny Costumes and My Little Pecker

Monday night this week was the first time I got to lead the Hash with the Guildford Hash House Harriers. As the 'Hare' I got to pick my own route for the run. I chose the woods nearest to me because I know them so well.

I set off at 5pm from my house with 6kgs of flour in my rucksack and ran from my house to Hydons Ball where the route i was planning would run.

laying a circle in flour means runners must seek out the correct path from this point

I ran up Hydons Ball with flour in hand getting funny looks from people as I laid small piles of flour at convenient spaces all along my intended route.

As well as laying marks for the route you lay circles at various crossings of paths with multiple options. In doing this the front running bastards (fast runners) have to run down all of the possible routes for a distance until they find the next flour marker and shout 'On On' ! This also gives the knitting circle (slow runners) the chance to catch up so the group as a whole stays fairly close together during the run.

X marks the spot where youve been stitched up

You can also be a sadistic Hare and run people up a very steep hill only to find and X at the top denoting a false trail. This means they have to run all the way back and try again.....and yes....I did this.




Smearsing (smiling with my ears)


The sun set while I laid the trail which totalled 4.5 miles which is the recommended distance for a hash. I had my headphones in and had a great time running out the trail. When I finished back where I started at the car park at Hydons Ball I ran down to the Merry Harriers Pub in Hambledon where all the hashers would be meeting at 7.30 pm. I had 45 minutes spare when I got there so in true hashing spirit I relaxed with a nice Pint of Pilgrim and chatted to the locals with a pink bunny tail pinned on my bum and bunny ears on my head.

The Merry Harriers is a really lovely, friendly country pub in Hambledon and well worth a visit. Its a rare gem that balances good beer and great food but avoids the 'Surrey prices' . Its also got its portrait in the Tate Gallery in London! They are quiet on a Monday and usually take the chance for a well earned rest and shut early but they were willing to stay open just for us.

The Hash went well and I couldnt resist making part of the route along the Greensand Way . Scrum Muffin (Claire) and I got a great pic of us at one of the Greensand Way Markers .

Greensand Way Night Hashing

As the run came to the end and we got back near the pub the traditional 'On Inn' mark I had left near the pub had been butchered by Popeye. This seems to happen on a lot on hashes. Although the hash went well and no one got killed/lost/injured I learnt that I needed to leave longer gaps from the circles so that it took more time for the front running bastards to find stuff so that the group stayed together more. In total I had run 11 miles setting the trail , running the hash and running from my house.

As I had my suspicions about a potential naming ceremony I made sure I dumped ALL of my flour before I finished.

An anchor means 'Popeye Woz Ere'

In the Car Park at the end of the run we had the usual end of run 'huddle' . As various people started asking me if I had any flour left I wisely put my phone and camera in my bag and prepared myself for a 'naming'




Pancake day comes one day early

I was deeply touched that the hashers had spent so many weeks thinking about my potential name. It shows in what high regard they must hold me. Unfortunately for me they had brought plently of extra flour. Most hashing names are rude and loosely relevant to the person, for example a lady that works in customer services is called Satisfaction Guaranteed or Claires dad is a lawyer and called Loose Article.
The options considered included 'turned out nice again' because I play the banjolele and am a window cleaner, 'cock' because I keep chickens, ' Oh Bee - Have' because I keep Honeybees but based on my 'microbiology' degree (actually I am a molecular biologist!) and the fact that I keep chickens and found a parrot on a hash once they decided on my hash name as.....

LITTLE PECKER

Arise 'Little Pecker' (complete with pink bunny tail)

When naming all the women hashers get to pour beer and flour over the named persons head. I can tell you that once this 'batter' sets it takes A LOT of washes to get it out. I also had to down beer for being the Hare AND for being named. By the time I got home I was very drunk.

Battered

It was great to get named. I really feel like part of the club now, especially as I have now led a hash too. I got named at the place where I did my first ever hash run and also got to do it on a night when we ran part of the Greensand Way.

I hear Dave is joining The Hash House Harriers near him in Portsmouth soon.... Cant wait to see what name he gets !



On On !


Little Pecker

:)

Windmilling

As a 'Rock Music Fan' I used to love watching clips of Pete Townshend of The Who 'windmilling' with his arms in front of his guitar. I went to Kent Uni which was also attended by Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies (whos character lived in a windmill) . My Univeristy Lecturer Frank Burnett also lived in a Windmill, As did Windy Miller who was in Trumpton which has a great episode about Window Cleaners . I also 'hung out' with a band called the Amazing Windmills when I was at college. The chance to add another windmill encounter in my life was about to occur......

The next stage of our training exploration of the greensand way was to get to the end of 'map 4' on the surrey website. I was very pleased to learn this would include a 'run by' of the Windmill in Ewhurst. It sits atop Pitch Hill and is the highest Windmill in Surrey and was built in 1840.

Claire and I set off on Saturday morning where temps overnight had been minus 9. We had sensibly taken it easy the night before by staying out until 2.30 am and going to the 10th anniversary of the rock club night 'Schism' in Woking. We had loaded up on energy drinks (with cute little shots in them) and the odd lager so we had plenty of calories avaiable the next day for our run.

Dave texted whilst doing a training run in Portsmouth where the minus 9 temp had frozen his camelback drink solid and made his hair crunchy and solid. I avoid freezing in my camelback by using 'human friendly'  antifreeze in my water.......ribena.

Greensand Way view just east of the White Horse Pub

The very low temperatures and 'slight hangovers' took their toll on this run, as did me forgetting to take my running jacket and being forced to opt for an additional fleece instead. As we started from the White Horse pub I had estimated the distance to the windmill at about 7 or 8 miles. It turned out to be closer to 10. It is becoming a trait of mine to massively underestimate distance and fail to notice 'steep terrain'. I would probably call Everest a slight uphill 4 mile jog.

As usual the route was easy to follow with all the Greensand Way signs and we soon crossed a disused part of the Wey Navigation Canal.

crossing the disused Wey Navigation on the Greensand Way

As we began the steady climb into the Winterfold Heath towards the top of pitch hill the run felt very similar to the first time we slogged up towards Gibbet Hill. The views from this area are amazing and the Heath is owned by the Bray family who have had it since it was gifted to them by King Henry VII 500 years ago. The scenery was so epic and distracting that Claire was a 'tumbling tosser' (a hash house harriers term) and fell over without hurting herself.

Climbing into Winterfold Heath on the Greensand Way

Getting to the top of Pitch Hill involved running along the ridge and eventually after zig zagging through the paths near the top we reached the Ewhurst Windmill. It is privately owned so we couldnt look round it. Instead we sat in the freezing cold and drank some coffee and stuffed ourselves with food and having taken 2 hours to run 10 miles set off again 15 minutes later to try to get home before 4pm.

The only angle I could photograph the Ewhurst Windmill on the Greensand Way

Despite a few miles of the journey back being downhill it was obvious to both of us on the way back that the conditions, temperatures and physical state was making progress very hard. We were running along with ALL the clothes we brought with us on including the extra clothes to wear just when we were standing around having lunch.  Running in these temperatures is very, very draining on your energy levels.

As we got to within a few miles of the White Horse we decided sensibly to end the run early as Claire had picked up a painful foot injury which was making running very difficult. We had already run 15 miles at that stage which was further than I had planned anyway. Risking making an injury far worse for the sake of a few more miles just wasnt worth it. Fortunately Claire was fine by the evening.

We stood like cold school kids by the A281 in Grafham and got picked up by my wife who brought a warm car and biscuits!

Greensand Way near Rooks Hill Farm in Grafham

This run has allowed us to map out and get familiar with another stretch of the Greensand Way. It was also the first time I used my android app Backcountry Navigator which is an excellent GPS app that superimposes your location on an Ordnance Survey Map so you can see real time exactly where on the footpaths you are.

We are beginning to get a bit tired of the large sugar intake required for these distance runs so I'm going to spend this week looking for savoury snacks that are calorie rich we can maybe try instead of the endless jelly babies.

 I also learnt that if you use 'tiger balm' as a deep heat remedy on tired muscles and then dont wash your hands then jelly babies taste 'odd'.

Our First Threesome

Yesterday was the first training run we did with all three of us running together.

Pushing ourselves further and longer than last week we decided to combine the Map 2 we ran last week with Map 1 which meant we got to run from Hambledon Church all the way to the end of the Greensand Way on Haslemere High St and then back again. A total of 21 miles.

We set off at a very punctual 8.30am and quickly found we settled into a much faster pace than the week before. The ascent up towards Gibbet Hill Viewpoint was easier this time and we even took the time out to get a picture of ourselves standing on what used to be the busy A3 (now defunct due to the tunnel) It was very eerie to stand somewhere that we have all driven along so many times, with no cars or tarmac!

Standing on the old A3 as it swept up to the hindhead trafiic lights just below the Greensand Way

We got to the viewpoint at Gibbet Hill in under 2 hours and fond that running as three means whilst one of you may be a bit tired at any given stage there is always two others to spur you on.

An excellent Plank on Gibbet Hill on the Greensand Way

Dave took the opportunity to enjoy the obligtory Plank at the navigation marker and we also left an offering to the running gods in the form of a jelly baby to mark our respect.

Our offering left facing towards Godalming at Gibbet Hill on the Greensand Way

The 'downhill' and 'short' 30 minute run down to Haslemere I promised was not 'downhill' and not 'short'. It proved to be up and down and took us over 45 minutes to run. I was berated all the way for promising optimistically that we were ' only about 8 minutes away' when we were not.....at all.

Our halfway mark...and Bruch

The Greensand Way spits you out in Haslemere into a car park. Its a very big anticlimax. You go from peaceful scenic hills and epic views to so many people and cars and noise its like being in Cairo by comparison. We all felt very out of place running up the HIgh St and were pleased to go hide in The Swan Pub for 'brunch'.

Whilst Dave and Claire ignored my recommendation for a suitable light runners lunch by having a bacon, sausage and egg bloomer I opted for the much more sensible large full cooked breakfast.

We ate, drank coffee and water and rested for just under an hour before setting off again at about 12.30pm.

running down the quiet lane off gibbet hill on the Greensand Way

The return journey was run at a furious pace with Dave up front for most of it as he had promised his girlfriend he would finish the run by around 1pm. This was slightly optimistic.

I did not suffer any ill effects from my light sensible brunch on the return run, I did not burp black pudding every few minutes for three hours, didnt feel the beans slopping around for most of the run, didnt find the waistband unusually tight round my waist.  I didnt feel hash browns dancing a merry jig.

A few ailments with cramp and chaffing made us realise that we need to add a few items to our medical pack when running.  I also brought 2 packs of jelly babies and a litre of water and a bottle of red bull this time but i still need a bit more water on these long runs. I carried drink in my camelback stuffed inside my new larger more comfy rucksack and this worked really well. I obviously got the balance of calories and water nearly right because this week I returned weighing the same as I did when I left (last week I was 5 lbs lighter after my run)

my favourite photo of the day taken in a road mirror on the Greensand Way in Hambledon

We got back to Hambledon for about 3.20pm which was really good. Dave had to shoot off fairly quickly as he was 'a few minutes behind schedule' and Claire and I stayed at the Merry Harriers pub in Hambledon and had an 'Ice Cold in Alex' moment with the best pint Ive drunk in ages.

sports drink in the Merry Harriers Hambledon on the Greensand Way

We were all really pleased with our pace and are already getting ready for the next large run together which will be exploring the Greensand Way westwards from The White Horse at Hascombe towards the Windmill at Ewhurst.