Firstly I’d like to thank Nick for organising and inviting us. There were a number of interesting points which certainly gave you “food for thought” not least of which being, don’t let a niggle become a problem, seek advice.

The Solent Hotel was our venue for the evenings Running Foundation (RF) talk. The RF are a combination of Nick Knight’s four podiatry clinics,  Pinnacle personal training and the Lowford Clinic. So with one group you are covering Chiropractic, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, sports massage and personal training all under one umbrella ( ella, ella !!) The evening’s talk also included Alton Sports from a running shop point of view and a fifth contributor that was Vanessa from England Athletics, giving a runners perspective.

Second Wind running’s Phil and Teresa had joined me for the evening and I recognised fellow Crusader Kate Robinson once we sat down with our drinks.

We started with Sean from Alton Sports who talked through the service that their four shops will offer you, when you buy the correct trainers and socks. “Socks” I hear you say but it does make sense that you get the best combination for your feet. Look after your feet and they will look after you !! I asked about toed socks but this came down to personal choice.

Nick, the podiatrist talked about choosing the right footwear and his number one point was comfort. He advised that the fit was more important than being a slave to shoe size. Running up and down the street will give you a more natural test than a treadmill but clearly being in one spot does help analysis. The power of the lace was an interesting concept. Too tight and you suffer from numbness, a slipping heel can be corrected by using those final shoe holes and to stop the infamous black toe nails thread one lace from the first eye to the last eye diagonally and then lace up from there for a better fit. Nick said Plantar Fascia was the most common issue he came across. The remedy is different for each individual but sandals first thing in the morning as well as self massage and toe curl stretches with ice bottle rolling under your foot in the evening will all help, combined with medical advice.

Kristina the Chiropractor from Norway & the Lowford clinic talked to us about neck, back, shoulder and hip pains. Her demonstrations made me think that I really ought to help myself by including exercises into my week for strength, stability and mobility. I particularly liked the video she showed us about awkward runners to get across her point … Don’t be that guy 🙂 Both Kristina & Andy showed us a number of exercises.

Andy from Pinnacle PT  was both ex army and a sandal runner with endless enthusiasm and energy. The gym he works from concentrates on strength and conditioning. From a runners point of view he made the very good point that exercises done with your right and left legs will point to one side being weaker than the other which can then be addressed so as to give a balanced running motion. He recommended mixing easy paced, threshold, interval and reps running which we may be aware of but don’t actually do enough of.

Finally Vanessa Lowe gave an insight on 10 mile training from an England Athletics viewpoint. Join a club, have a plan and stick to it, warm up and practice what you’ll do in the race, in training. A great tip for uphill running was to concentrate on positive  backward arm drives which I will be using tomorrow. Finally, again, another comment that I could relate to and don’t do enough is that a warm down is preparation for your next run.

All in all an interesting and very useful night.

Today was taper time so I thought I’d take a trip around our local fields and video just why I enjoy running off road. I could describe the nine miles that included fields on the outskirts of Fareham, up towards Stubbington and then back towards Ranvilles Lane but seeing as a picture paints a 1,000 words then sit back for 73 seconds and enjoy the run.

I was pondering on which music to use as I ran but in the end it was an easy choice. Mother Nature ….. she’s so lovely 🙂  This has to be my shortest Blog ever but with next weeks long race on the horizon that blog will more than make up for it !!

One final thought, if you find the perfect location for a selfie, make sure you take 2 photos, just in case this happens !!

After last weeks 21 flat miles today was a complete contrast as we tackled a section of the the South Downs Way (SDW) that has Exton at the bottom of the valley then Beacon hill and Old Winchester hill (OWH) either side, “twice”. Parking a mile or so away from were the Meon Valley Trail crosses the SDW fellow Fareham Crusader and regular Thomasson Tours runner Paul Coates and I set off at 8am so as to avoid the heat. With temperatures of 21 degrees forecast for later in the day this meant the first 2016 appearance of suntan lotion !! There would be about 2,000 feet of elevation in the four hills so you could say we’d be on a countryside rollercoaster. I always remember someone telling me that if you wanted to master the Geordie (Newcastle) accent, Kawasaki and rollercoaster are two really good words to practise, …. try it  🙂

The 100 miles (160 Km) long South Downs Way National Trail follows the old routes and droveways along the chalk escarpment and ridges of the South Downs from Winchester to Eastbourne. The undulating route gives you wonderful views while running.

After the first flat mile we left the old railway line and started the twisting and turning trail that weaves its way up towards OWH. The trail’s mud has been subject to horses and mountain bikes so with the recent dryer weather the going underfoot was quite rutted but not as slippy as usual. The hedge initially hides your view of the hill but there’s no mistaking that you are climbing. Paul is a stronger runner than me but it was only a week ago he ran the 3 Forts Challenge so we chatted about his experience there.

As the track levelled out around the base of OWH you could see down to where we’d started and the countryside that surrounded us. The steepest climb was approaching us with a sharp 90 degree turn straight up the side of the hill. Onwards and upwards !!

The views from the trig point (650 ft above sea level) meant you could see to Southampton. We descended down the hill and on route to hill number two we passed through the sleepy village of Exton. The ever helpful SDW signposts directed us across a field of cows as well as two electrified fence styles !! The cows were largely uninterested in us, it was more the fact that there must have been over a hundred of them. It was funny trying to avoid both the “cow traffic jam” and their “mess” (watch the video). We left the flatter fields and pressed on up the gradient to the millennium beacon and reached our second trig point of the day after a short chat with a group of mountain bikers.

A steady descent was needed, what with the hills camber and then it was a case of dodging the cow pats as we retraced our steps back to Exton. I was pleased to keep my Saucony’s “cow pat free” as we headed back through the “still” sleepy Exton (not that it gets busy you understand) and that was rollercoaster number 1 done.

Ready for the next hill said Paul ?, I replied “why aye man” (Geordie for saying yes, enthusiastically). As we ran along the narrow track that takes you back to OWH we passed 4 runners coming towards us, one commenting that Eastbourne was very busy (84 miles away) I replied, give our regards to Winchester (16 miles away), all good banter. We approached OWH from a different track for variety and had to take it steady with the number of tree roots, one of which Paul almost came a cropper on !!

We were met with sheep at the trig point this time and added it to the video. The sun was noticeably hotter now and I stopped by a stream for some refreshing cold water over my head. With the temperature around 20 degrees I was glad of another walk past the cows and to be honest struggled to half way up our last hill. Paul carried on and I settled for 3 & 1/2 hills. I covered just under 1,800 feet of elevation in 16.5 miles and Paul about 2,000 in 17 but the overriding memory from today was just how much enjoyment we’d had running through the countryside in full bloom, as the month of May started summer in Hampshire.

On returning to the Meon Hall I drank two 500ml bottles of cold water in 5 minutes !! No sun burn and plenty of laughs with Paul #goodtimes. Thanks to Paul for the videos too.

Today I thought I’d try something different, a 3.5 mile, multi lap, timed event with a maximum time limit of six hours. The newly created On the Whistle Ltd (OTW) team had come up with this concept and seeing as the Meon Valley Trail (MVT) is quite close to me I was keen to support it by entering. With today being OTW’s first event they must have been really pleased to have sold out a few weeks ago with 150 runners.

The MVT was origionally the railway line from Fareham to East Meon and today was the anniversary of the last passenger train to operate on the line some 55 years ago !!

The Wickham Whistler is in reference to the guards whistle so lets get all the puns out of the way now. Yes everyone had been “training” and it was “full steam ahead” for the 9.30am start until the end of the tracks at 3.30pm. Race HQ was aptly named the Aid “Station” and it was near this tent that you collected your coloured wrist band after each lap. When you no longer wanted to head out for another lap there was a bell to ring to “signal” you had finished. I was aiming for a steady 21 miles or 3 1/2 hours.

Before collecting my number I’d talked with Kiernan E. from OTW who I know from being a director at the QE parkrun and it wasn’t long before I bumped into some familiar faces near the start line. Crusader runners Paul Coates, Joy Rich Smith, Sharon & Paul Gwyn as well as twitter runners Hannah & Graham and Phil Hobby from Stubbington Green runners. Phil Hoy & Teresa from Second Wind Running were there (well done Phil on your London marathon 2.59.47). I also spotted fellow blogger shewhodaresruns Tina. However, the surprise of the day was to see Steve Cousins from Film My Run who takes his gopro to numerous races and his films are really worth a look at. You can read Steve’s report and watch his film of the Whistler here. Uplifting music, creative camera angles and a real sense of why we run the trails.

So the stage was set as we stood on the “platform”, sorry, start line. The one factor that came across immediately was how friendly everyone was, local club runners, unattached runners and the quick boys all had time for words of encouragement as Kiernan gave his pre race talk. I think the nature of the six hour time slot had relaxed everyone so the concept really did work.

The laps ticked away with the sun shining and thankfully the tree cover did mean we were sheltered from the direct sun but I still came away with a bit of a glow on my face as well as a great big smile.

Now, an out and back distance of 1.75 miles could be seen as a bit boring, however, this meant frequent encouragement, banter, high five’s and either a smile or a nod to our fellow runners, something that just isn’t possible in the pressured atmosphere of a 5 or 10K. The nature of the route also meant we ran under four different railway bridges too !

There was a slight gradient on the outward leg but this naturally gave you a slightly easier return trip. My first 4 laps passed without any incident and, as well as chatting with people, I did enjoy that for once there weren’t any big hills to tackle. I love a hill but it does make a change to run a largely flat but still beautiful countryside route. Laps 5 & 6 were harder but still enjoyable. I left taking any video until the last lap, then I rung the bell and that meant the end of a great day. Hopefully the film sums up the route and the people.

Considering this was On The Whistle’s first race it went without a hitch as far as I could see, so it’s a big vote of confidence to Kiernan, Claire & Del. As our American friends say the medal was “awesome”. Race Results I came 48th out of the 143. Finally a date for my diary July 17th and OWT’s World Emoji day run with the same 6 hour format.