A day with Mr Coleman

The alarm went off, I’d slept like a baby; a baby with a very painful knee. It was time to get up, get to the airport and get my plane. Yesterday had seen me run the snow marathon and today would see me run another with my coach Rory and Tom Aikens who is training for the MdS. Fi very kindly got up and drove me to the airport where I waited for my flight, and waited and waited. Eventually the plane arrived and I managed to board it. I had taken some ibuprofen last night and early this morning to reduce the inflammation in my legs and to a degree it had worked, but the pain was still there nagging away, I’d just have to deal with it as it was bound to get worse later on.
Rory had text me and would be picking me up from the airport, I was flying to East Midlands and as the plane came through the cloud I looked out of the window to see the ground covered in snow and as the plane landed it began to snow heavily outside.
I came through security and after a few minutes saw through the window Rory coming across from the car park. I walked out to meet him, my North Face jacket done up and my hat pushed down on my head. As I walked out from the terminal building the cold air slapped my face and large snow flakes brushed against my cheek and eye lashes. “Turned out nice again” I greeted Rory who laughed and shook my hand. We chatted as we walked to his car and I was grateful for the car’s good heating system in it as we turned out of the airport and headed to Rory’s place.
Due to the fact that the flight had been delayed it was now doubtful that we’d be able to do the Marathon we’d planned as Tom had to get back to London ready for work that evening. But run we would and Rory had something just as tough in mind.
We got back to Rory’s place and I met Tom, I was wondering what to expect as Rory had told me that he was phenomenally physically fit. He had beasted Tom in the gym the day before and was impressed with his level of fitness. So was I when I found out that he could run 3040 meters in 12 minutes and his VO2Max gave him a potential Marathon time of 2:30Hrs! Tom turned out to be a nice guy, quietly well spoken and as fit as a butcher’s dog as my friend Nick would say. Before taking up endurance running he had been a cyclist having completed some serious mountain races in France. Now he had set his sights on the Marathon Des Sables a six day endurance race of 151 miles across the Sahara desert.
After a coffee we got our kit ready and headed outside, Rory had a surprise for us as he came around from the back of the house with a shovel in either hand, “There you go” he said as he handed one to me and the other to Tom. The ground near to Rory’s place was icy but it was better than it had been by the airport and the snow had stopped falling. “You’ll need those to clear the bridge” Rory gave by way of an explanation. I’d heard about Rory’s bridge work out and as we started running with our shovels in our hands I wondered just how much this would hurt.
After a couple of miles we got to a desolate area by some railway lines, over which was a large pedestrian bridge. “Ok, warm up time, clear the ice from the ground” Rory instructed as Tom and I began to shovel the dirt and Ice away from the bottom steps of the bridge. When we had finished Rory took us up the three flights of steps, across the long bridge and down the three flights of steps to the other side of the bridge, “ok we need to clear this side too”. Duly Tom and I started shovelling again, throwing shovel loads of ice and mud off the area at the bottom of the steps to expose the concrete beneath. Eventually Rory was satisfied with our labours and took the shovels from us both.
“Right, we’ll start with one ups!” Rory said. “Climb one step at a time to the top, then turn around and come back down again and repeat until I say” Tom and I began climbing to the top of the steps, turning around and coming down again. After a few sets of ‘one ups’ came ‘two ups’ Yep, you guest it, two steps at a time. This of course was followed after several sets by ‘three ups’ the pace escalated as we advanced through the reps. After the three ups came bunny hops, which involves jumping up the steps one at a time with both feet together. When Rory deemed that we had had enough of the bunny hops Tom and I were introduced to the ‘one up ‘sprints. Climbing the steps in multiples of one followed by a sprint across the bridge and down to the other side repeatedly. This was naturally followed by ‘two ups’ sprints and… Well you get the picture.
We were rested by giving us dynamic rest periods which meant that instead of running down the steps we were allowed to walk down followed by running up. Eventually Rory gave us some close handed push ups from the hand railings to do, followed by some more sprints this time with him standing on the bridge and us running to him and back down, as we ran down he would move back across the bridge a bit further away.
Finally with our quads straining and the breath burning in and out of our lungs Rory announced that we were ready to run a half Marathon “with some obstacles”. Thankfully we stashed the shovels and ran on, the ground was like an ice rink and staying upright was no mean feat as I slipped and slided all over the place. We ran across an area which used to be a silver birch copse which some environmental terrorist had taken a bulldozer to and cleared. This also meant that we had to climb over a substantial amount of timber that had been placed in unsightly piles at the edge of the cleared area. Then we were off climbing a long ice covered hill, Rory got us doing shuttle runs much like he had on the bridge. This hill work was tough going, I’d run for twenty seconds up the hill in front of Rory then turn around and run down, around him and back up the hill as he walked slowly up the hill, Tom was doing the same and we were working hard. My legs were burning from the exertion, more so than usual after yesterday’s snow marathon. By the time we reached the top of the hill I’d run it several times over, but no rest for us, we pushed onwards towards our next obstacle without stopping. We hadn’t far to go; just over the other side of the hill we came to a steep embankment about five metres high. Rory ordered us both down the embankment I made it about two metres down before slipping and falling down the embankment on my backside and got to the bottom covered in mud. Up on my feet right away I had to attack the hill and get back to the top as quickly as possible Tom was already at the top of it and running across preparing to hurl himself back down again. I ran as fast as I could up the hill my Camelbak smacking around on my back, my arms swinging hard forcing my body upwards with their momentum while digging my feet in to the hill side. I crested and sprinted across to my right, looking down I tried to figure out a better route down, picked one and went for it. Half way down I slipped and fell again, this time sliding down to the bottom of the hill in a mudslide of icy mud. Up I got and went for it again sprinting up the hill, my lungs bursting and my heart banging hard against the inside of my ribcage as it worked hard to supply my muscles with oxygen. Tom was whippet-like on the assent and I dug deep and was determined not to let myself fall behind. By the time I’d completed five reps I was ready for a break but it wasn’t to be and we began to run again. The area is very hilly and Rory cheerfully mentioned that he thought the route was much harder this way around. I had to agree with him, I’d run this route with Rory before over a marathon distance and we were defiantly hitting the steep sides of the hills this way around. We settled into a rhythm as we ran on, I was aware that my Skins leggings and running shoes were soaked through with freezing mud; I’d landed badly on my left hip and it was quite sore. Tom was also feeling the pain as his knees were giving him reminders that they had taken a battering the day before in the gym. We pushed on over hill after hill, across fields’ coloured grey and white with snow and ice, some of them were ploughed and were quite hard going. The slippery frozen ground felt more like running on polished metal than earth, it was so hard under foot. Eventually we came to a grave yard on a hill side and Rory decided that it would be rude not to do some hill work, so once again Tom and I began our shuttle runs up and down the steep hill before once again continuing our run. As we ran we talked, I asked Tom about his life as a Chef and his restaurants in Chelsea, I asked him about the type of cuisine that they make and how he comes up with new recipes I was please to find that he is interesting to talk to. Rory was also talking about food, beans on toast to be exact. I must admit that the thought of eating beans on toast when we got back put a smile on my face and I eagerly anticipated tucking into a plate of hot beans on toast, washed down with a nice cup of tea… But we still had several miles to go. As we ran back the lead runner alternated naturally and we found ourselves making good time. The strength had returned to my legs and my heart had had a chance to recover dynamically over time. When I decided to do the Namibia 24 Hr UltraMarathon last June my resting heart rate had been 110 BPM. A fit adult should be between 60-80BPM, today my resting heart rate is 52 BPM. Since June I have also lost 21Kg (about 3.5 Stone) and today as I ran I felt stronger than I have ever done before.
We eventually got back to where we had stashed the shovels, and then ran back to Rory’s place, and I have to tell you, Tom may be a Michelin Star Chef, but Rory makes beans on toast to die for!
The day was rounded off nicely as Rory had a client to train in the evening so I went along with him to the gym and went for a good swim to shake out the running. Over the last three days I have run 50 miles; including a Marathon, just over a half Marathon and a ten miler.
As I sat back in the plane seat that evening I contemplated the fact that in just over two weeks I will be running my first Ultramarathon, a ninety mile race over two days from Derbyshire down to Hertfordshire and back, 45 miles a day for two days. Tom has entered too, and I look forward to seeing him again. We have decided that we will celebrate completing our respective desert Ultras by going Skydiving this summer, I look out of the window of the plane as we climb into the sky, I close my eyes sit back and smile, its been a good day.