One month to go...

It is  nearly 4 months since my accident in Tamadaba and it has been a long struggle to recover and get back into training fitness. At the end of January I was given the all clear to start jogging again. This extremely difficult at first as I had lost so much form and to add to the difficulty I also had to wear a figure of 8 supporting brace to stop my shoulders from moving too much which pressed tightly on my chest restricting my breathing. However I managed to run for about 30minutes per day and it felt great to be moving again.

My first training regime fell off its tracks a little at the start of February because of G-COM, I had so much work to do that my running had to take a back seat for about 10days. When I was able to run again it felt like I was starting from scratch. But after putting a few good days behind me I felt like I was back in the game. In February I had the pleasure of training with some of the World's best orienteers who were in Gran Canaria for winter training camps.

By March I felt like I was in a proper training regime again, and was doing all of my 'key' weekly sessions. For the last 2 weeks I have been running for approximately 14hours per week plus gym, cycling and swimming sessions. As I have built up my volume I have been feeling stronger and stronger.

In exactly four weeks time I will be in Granada to run the 1st Spanish Cup race of the year, which will be not only my first major test since the accident in December but also my first real test against serious competition.

Video G-COM 2011

Boström and Volynska win G-COM 2011

Olle Boström from Sweden and Nadiya Volynska from Ukraine are the winners of first ever Gran Canaria Orienteering Meeting.

On the weekend of the 11^th to 13^th of February the sport of orienteering reached a new level on Gran Canaria. Three of the major players in Canarian orienteering (O-riéntate, Limonium Canarias and Active Canaria) teamed together to organise the Canary Islands’ first multi-day international orienteering race, G-com (Gran Canaria Orienteering Meeting).

The main goal was to show the world of orienteering what Gran Canaria has to offer and to help develop the sport in the Canary Islands.

With over 100 entrants from 15 different countries and many locals trying orienteering for the first time, it can be said that the organising team were successful in fulfilling their goals. “We are extremely pleased with the turn out we have had” said Allan Bogle “and to have so many of the world’s best orienteers taking put has been an absolute pleasure”.

Even though the entry list included current World Champion, Matthias Muller from Switzerland it was the young Swede Olle Boström who dominated the weekend’s races. Boström won all 3 days in spectacular fashion. Hhis overall time was 4minutes faster than 2^nd placed Oleksandr Kratov from Ukraine and 10minutes faster than 3^rd placed Aleksandr  Bernarciak from Poland. World Champion Muller who was only able to run on the last day due to national team commitments said after the race “I wish I was able to take part in all three races! I will definitely try to return for next year’s G-COM”.

In the ladies’ race it was Ukraine Nadiaya Volynska who showed her dominance throughout the weekend also pulling off a hat trick of wins. Volynska, who’s overall time was over 20minutes faster than 2^nd place Marie-Lousie Axenborg from Sweden, managed to leave the other ladies trailing behind on Sunday’s mass start event coming home with a 7minute lead.

Both Bostrom and Volynska won sports equipment that was donated by Zonaboxes sports shop in Las Palmas.

It was not only at the top end that the races were contested, there was also a strong battle to be the best place Canarian between local runners Gaston Mora and Fran Hernandez, with Mora coming out on top with 10minutes to spare over Hernandez. Mora, who was 8^th placed in the overall rankings, won a weekend in a Rural Hotel which was kindly provided by Gran Canaria Natural.

It has to be remembered that orienteering is a sport for all ages, and G-COM had a category for some of the older competitors which was won by Roald Kleppe from Norway who is in his 70’s. Kleppe won prizes which included gifts from Gran Canaria Tourism.

G-COM 2011 would have been impossible to put on without the help of many collaborators, which includedGran Canaria Tourism, Gran Canaria Natural, Vivac Aventura, Faro 2 shopping centre, Zona Boxes, Coca Cola, Arista - Transgrancanaria, La Isleña Pasta and Buen Lugar Gofio.

All Photos from: Alison Hill Photography

Tamadaba Trail Tour (T3)

I have been putting off writing this post for a while now...but here goes...

The first edition of the Tamadaba Trail Tour holds mixed emotions for me! The race covered a 20km course around my favourite part of Gran Canaria, Tamadaba. It is always a pleasure to run in such spectacular scenery, however unfortunately this race did not end well for me!

The week before the race was my 30th birthday which I have to admit I may have over indulged a little in my alcohol intake, leaving me very run down for a couple of days and making me miss 4 days of training. I was in two minds about whether I would run the race or not! the evening before the race I managed to run for 15minutes and felt 'OK'. So I decided that I would be on the starting line!

I started the race at my usual fast pace wanting to make my competitors work from the gun. Two runners came with me, Jose Salom and Matias Ojeda. I kept pushing but felt in my body that things weren't going exactly how they should be. Jose and I started to pull away from Matias, I didn't know much about Jose's ability apart from that he was a road specialist and a former Ironman. His road speed became apparent during a road section of about 2km, he quickly pulled away from me, however I didn't worry too much as I knew I would be a lot stronger on the descent.

Hitting the top of Tamadaba (1400m) I was told that Jose had a lead of about 2mins which I thought I would catch easily. Coming off the top off the mountain I quickly increased my speed on the easy descent as I wanted to catch Jose before the technical descent section. Things seemed to be going well and I was feeling confident. However things suddenly took a turn for the worse!! I lost my footing and fell forward landing heavily on my right shoulder and left hand. Straight away I knew something was wrong....but something inside me told me to get up and run!! my shoulder and hand were in agony  but I kept running. At the next drinks station I told the organisers that something was wrong, but I decided to keep going. I managed to keep my speed up quite well  and I was able to minimise the pain by clasping onto my t-shirt keeping my arm across my body.

At the begining of the technical descent, which was about 5km from the finish I stopped with some of the organisers who tied a few t-shirts and jackets around me to stabilise my shoulder. I decided that I would not be able to run any more as the adrenaline had worn off and the pain had become too much. Two spectators very kindly escorted me down the mountain giving me water and painkillers...

It was not a very enjoyable descent firstly watching Matias go by and then the other runners. Everyone offered me words of encouragement as they passed by. For some reason I decided I wanted to finish the race running and as you can see from my face this was very painful.

I was whisked straight off to the local clinic where they re-located my dislocated shoulder and bandaged up my hand. I went back to the competition centre to thank the organisers and the other runners for looking after me so well.

Later that day I got x-rayed and found out that I had broken my collar bone and my thumb... and that I might be out off training for up to 8 weeks...

More to follow...

Ruta de Doramas 2010

Ruta de Doramas 2010

2010 has been probably my least successful year in running that I can remember, plagued with illness and injury I have only won one race, Maraton del Norte (a 60km trail race) in June. At times during this year my motivation has dropped and I have gone long periods with very little structured training. However in September I decided to do something about how bad 2010 has been and I left my job to concentrate on my running. For the past 10 weeks I have trained more (and better) than I have ever trained, with my main goal this autumn being Gran Canaria Challenger, an 85km Trail race. The week before the race I felt like I was in the shape of my life, however this would be first experience of Ultra distance running so there were lots of unknowns! during the first quarter if the race I felt brilliant, I had built up a significant lead and was running a pace which I felt I could keep going all day. This feeling didn't last long after about 20km the plastic tapes which were marking the course suddenly stopped! I didn't have a clue where to go, and I was all by myself! I decided the logical way was up and over the hill in front of me..so I started climb the rocky hill, on the other side I found a small path which seemed to go in the correct direction! after about 5minutes of running a long this path it stopped and I was lost again, with another 10minutes of running around like a headless chicken I suddenly saw the red and white tapes of the route ahead! this sight filled my with anger more than joy as I knew I had lost a large proportion of my lead and the more experienced runners behind will have made significant gains. To cut a long story short, this anger and frustration with the race organisers lasted the race of the race. I was caught by the chasing group soon after 35km and they did not have much difficulty going straight past me! It is impossible to guess how I would have done in this race if the organisers had managed to tape the route fully, I may have still finished in the position I did! however at least I would have enjoy the race instead of been infuriated the whole time.

Challenger was supposed to be my last race of the season! I had billed it in my head as "the last race of my 20s" (as I turn 30 at the end of November). Following the disappointment of the race I immediately started to look for another race to run before I turned 30, with only 5 weeks I was unsure if my body would have recovered from the experience of Challenger in time to full fill this goal!

I decided upon Ruta Doramas, a 27km trail race around the mountains of northern part of Gran Canaria. Last year I was a spectator at this year and was impressed with the level of organisation. So I filled out my entry form and sent it away and started to pray my legs would feel better soon.

The 3 weeks between the 2 races was very busy, with my parents coming to visit and various other commitments. I managed to do about 10 days decent training, including only one long run (Tamadaba Trail Tour). The Tuesday before the race I decided to run a reduced interval session at the athletics track to see how much speed I had in my legs, during my 3 interval my right leg seemed to disappear from under me, it had no power what so ever! I could see all the disappointments of 2010 flash in front of me! Should I write-off this year completely and focus on 2011?? I hobbled home after been forced to cut short this training session and started to re-evaluate my plans to run Ruta Doramas. I gave myself until Thursday night to decide what to do. On Thursday night my hamstring was still extremely tight I spent most of that day stretching, icing and heating the affected area. Going to bed that night I was still unsure whether I would be at the start line. On Friday morning I got up and felt like a new man, the pain and tightness and lessened significantly, and I decided that I would run!

There was a very strong field expected in the race, ironically my main rival would be one of my oldest friends, Ewan McCarthy who is in Gran Canaria for a training camp. The race started with the usual fast pace with everyone fighting to be first to the start of the first decent along a very narrow trail that is nearly impossible to pass people on. I was 3rd starting down the valley's very steep side and put my knowledge of this path to good use. I have trained many times in Firgas and knew every twist and turn of the path ahead. I reached the bottom in 3rd position and quickly took over the 2 runners in front as I didn't want to be behind any one when we reached the technical rocky sections. It wasn't long before I realised that my friend Ewan was with me closely followed by last year's winner Matías Ojeda Montesdeoca. Together the 3 of us pulled away from the rest of the field easily. Going into the first big climb Ewan took on the lead and I was able to draft of him and recover from my early pace. At the top of the climb we had started to pull away from Matias, however of the flatter section at the top he quickly reeled us back in and all three of us went through the first drinks station together.

I build up a small lead on the steep downhill section, quickly to loss it again on the steep up-hill section! Ewan and I kept together the whole way to about 20km constantly changing the lead and working together to try to distance ourselves from Mattias. When we hit the road section of the race I put my road running experience into action and stepped it up a gear trying to get away from Ewan as I knew he would be very strong on the final ascent into Firgas. Going into the last big climb (750m in about 2km) there was a small crowd at the bottom cheering me on, after about 15seconds I heard another cheer telling me that Ewan was close behind. Usual on this type of ascent I climb with my hands on my knees crunched over, however I knew I would need as much oxygen in my lungs as possible if I was going to beat Ewan, who is known to be a very stronger climb. So up-right I made my way out off the valley floor, with my legs burning and my lungs crying out for air. I hit the top with nothing left, knowing that I had about 200m along a flat road to go. I was hoping Ewan was in a similar state to me when he hit the top! with the finish line in sight I realised I had won! normally I am quite 'cool and collected' when I win a race, however this feeling of victory felt a lot sweeter as I have had such a bad year! I crossed the finish line with my arms raised in delight! I am won my last race in my 20s!

www.alisonhillphotography.com

Ewan finished 1min 30 after and it was great to share the feeling with my great friend! who's 2nd place was even more impressive considering that he has spent much of the last year living on an oil rig in the middle of the north sea. Matias, who has not ran very much in the mountains this year arrived home 7 minutes after me.

www.alisonhillphotography.com

I would like to thank Club de Montaña de Firgas for a fabulous race and a great party afterwards! I definately plan to return to Firgas next year.

Allan's top 5 Running Books

I have decided to do a feature where I 'review' (well review is maybe a bit of an over statement) my favourite running books, all of which can easily be bought on Amazon Books:

1. In Quest of Gold: The Jim Ryun Story

This book about running legend Jim Ryun is the most inspirational running book you will ever read. Ryun's story is maybe not as well known as Prefontaine's (for example) however in my eyes it is equally, if not more impressive. Along with his coach, Bob Timmons, Ryun re-wrote what could be expected of a teenager in terms of training, endurance and in competition. 

2. Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-country Team

In this documentary style book Chris Lear follows the cross-country season of the University of Colorado’s cross-country team. You get to experience their epic training regimes and the trials and tribulations of their races.  The twists and turns you come across in this book sometimes make you doubt that it is fact not fiction. A must read for any runner!

3. The Greatest: The Haile Gebrselassie Story

Jim Denison’s book The Greatest is the story of undoubtedly one of the greatest human beings ever to have lived, Haile Gebrselassie. The book charts Haile life from his routes in rural Africa to his repeated World domination over every distance from 5,000m to the Marathon. Call yourself a runner? Then read this book!

4. Pre: Story of America's Greatest Running Legend Steve Prefontaine

Known as the ‘running Beatle’ Steve Prefontaine was the first (and maybe the only) long distance runner to cross the line from well know runner into international celebrity. Allow not the greatest runner of all time, Pre was certainly one of the most interesting athletes ever to have lived, and if his life had not been cut short so tragically who knows what he may have achieved. 

5. The Perfect Distance: Ovett and Coe: The Record Breaking Rivalry

Athletics has never seen (and is unlikely to see again) a rivilary to match that of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. Together Coe and Ovett re-wrote the middle distance record books in the 1980s. Their different family backgrounds and clashing personalities makes for one of athletics story greatest ever stories ever told.