2024, pneumonia and living with RA

 First blog in a long while. Felt the need to write this down.

The year got off to a nice start. I had returned from New Zealand just before Christmas and it took a little time to readjust. Especially the weather! The trip was amazing, and I was able to see everything that I had planned to. I didn’t keep to any kind of itinerary, so it was pretty chilled. I’d been doing some training while I was away and took in the obligatory park runs but nothing too intense. Fitness was a bit of unknown really.

I had entered the Brass Monkey half marathon via the ballot which was the third week in January. The previous year’s attempt was one to forget having stomach issues the night before and stupidly still went. A few trips to the bushes en-route was not my finest hour. This year was different, I had no pressure on myself and felt relaxed throughout. Managed a PB by a decent chunk so that was a nice boost.

Things started to deteriorate mid-April. I had travelled to Hawkshead with Lindsey for the Lakeland Trails 16k race. I wasn’t feeling myself, especially after the event. Fever, chills, loss of appetite. I put it down to a bug which I thought would be in its way after a few days. This wasn’t the case. I had subsequently lost my voice and picked up a chest infection bringing up copious amounts of green/yellow mucus. I went to the doctor’s and got checked out, they advised an x-ray of the chest.  I was given antibiotics early May which did nothing to improve the symptoms. I was in a bit of a state. No energy, constantly coughing, fever, sinusitis, sore ribs and each day I was hoping to see some sort of improvement. But no. At the end of May I revisited the GP and they took a sputum sample which revealed pneumonia. New antibiotics were dispensed which worked this time.

Over the next few months, I still wasn’t feeling like my old self. Lindsey and I had a lovely trip to Chamonix for some mountain air, a really great holiday in a special place.

I still had a cough, sore ribs, sinusitis and no interest in doing anything. The palpitations were getting worse too. Blood tests showed inflammatory markers were sky high and I was  also becoming anaemic. This was not ideal.

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis back in 2013 which I never talk about (not sure why) and I’ve been managing the condition quite well over the years. The weekly dose of medication isn’t great, leaving me feeling sick for 24 hours afterwards. I had the occasional flare up in the hands and wrists making some tasks quite difficult. In September I went back to the GP and expressed my concerns over the symptoms I still had and the fact that this had been going on for months. It was decided to stop all my medication, including the medication I take for RA. This was with a view to allow my immune system to build back up and fight the remaining infection(s). I had a chest CT scan which revealed I still had fluid in my right lung.

Within 2 weeks I had the biggest flare up since I was diagnosed and each day it was getting worse. Fingers, wrists were really swollen and painful. My neck was stiff, I couldn’t look right and left without ache, my elbows were sore, and shoulders were stiff. I had another blood test.  I visited the RA nurse and was given a booster to calm everything down. Medication recommenced. Mid-October I was beginning to feel better; sinusitis had calmed down and my breathing was improving during exercise so this in turn improved my perspective.

During all this time, I had no interest in doing anything. I ran and increased the strength work, but I felt I was in a spiral of deteriorating physical and mental health. I was in  a very dark place. The darkest I’ve been. I had some really dark thoughts. I’m hoping to put all this behind me and look forward in a positive way. Hugely grateful for Lindsey dragging me out of a big hole and my folks for always being supportive. I've never been as ill and it's a kick up the arse to look after myself.

I'm looking forward to 2025 but going to make the most of the rest of this year. Still 20% of the year left!  It's the big 50 next year and I hope to be bagging a few category prizes ;o) Feeling like i'm back on track.

Brough Law fell race, 15th March 2020

Sunday 15th March 2020 brought high winds to the fells of the Breamish Valley.  A tremendous turnout of 120 runners took on the Brough law fell race covering 5 miles and 1300ft of ascent.  Marking out the course was a task in itself trying to ensure secure taping at strategic points.  The start is an immediate leg burning and lung busting climb, spreading out the field from the off.  Registration was like a well oiled machine with the help of Mike, Jane, Mike and Gary.  We had Mr Wilson and Kevin out on the hills to direct runners where previously some have gone astray.  

It was a close contest between the first two runners on the long descent to the finish.  Chris Larkin of Newcastle University came through for the win with some impressive downhill running, closely followed by last year’s winner Callum Hanson from Pudsey and Bramley. Sean Leckey from Ambleside AC was third.

In the women’s race, Gemma Bradley from Saltwell harriers was first, Molly Pace from Jesmond Joggers was second with Lauren Davies-Beckett from Newcastle University in third.

Category winners were: W40 Helen Heaney (NSP), W50 Katherine Davis (NFR), M40 Roger Sillito (NFR), M50 Gary Robson (NFR), M60 Ken Maynard (Sunderland Strollers), M70 James Tomlin.

Many thanks to Jane and Michael Briggs, Mike Steven, Gary Mason, Kevin Bray and Mr Wilson for permission to use the course.  Also thanks to Phil Green for sweeping. Over £600 was raised which will be split between Northumberland Mountain rescue and the Northern English Springer Spaniel rescue charity.

Hope to see you again next year.

JB 

results below:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=12vBQ6cF78nfs4k14nksgSRiIy828nhif

The Cumbria Way Ultra, 73 miles 10,000ft of ascent

The Cumbria Way starts in Ulverston and finishes in Carlisle passing through the valleys of the Lake District National Park.  I became interested in this event as it seemed a low key and friendly day out on the trails through the glorious Cumbrian Mountains.  It was an event to enjoy and have a good day out doing what I love.

The weather was pretty much perfect with a southerly tailwind.  It was wet underfoot from the previous week’s downpours but it didn’t rain during the race.  I felt pretty relaxed leading up to it as I tried to remove all stress from it by having the sole priority of finishing, no matter how long it took or what state I’d be in at the end.  I made that clear to friends and family, I usually stress out before a race as I’m sure lots of others do.  The cut-off times were generous so I was quite confident that if I paced it right then I would complete it. 

I scribbled the distances between checkpoints on my hand to mentally help to break down the overall distance.  The race started at 6am and I began at a nice and easy pace through the first section to Coniston (16 miles).  This is a really runnable part of the route, so very easy to overcook it and get carried away.

It was a beautiful morning with a great sunrise.

I reached the checkpoint in good spirits, refilled my soft flasks and grabbed a few snacks to eat on the go.  The sun was quite warm during the next section from Coniston to Sticklebarn (11 miles) in the beautiful Langdales.  I made sure I kept drinking and cooling down at the streams which were abundant after the amount of rain during the week.

The next section to Keswick (16.7miles) took us over Stakes Pass, a nice steady climb and technical descent towards Borrowdale.  Then along the shoreline of Derwentwater which is again, really runnable.  I met up with my support crew (Emma and Tony Holt) who were a welcome sight. I wasn’t sure where I was position-wise at this point but I was feeling good.  A quick change of top and socks and I was off on the next section to Caldbeck(15 miles) up a familiar route to Latrrigg (Bob Graham Round :o))  Another runner had latched onto me at this stage and I didn’t really want to run with anyone else nor chat to them so I was pleased when he ran ahead.

There was a really boggy section heading to High Pike which was a bit of a chore, or death march!  There were four of us together on this climb, once we summited I gained an advantage on the descent and I was on my own again to the Caldbeck checkpoint.  The volunteers filled my bottles and I was off again after a short rest.  From Caldbeck onwards the route was flat going through farmers fields all the way to Carlisle (15 miles).  By this point I was run/walking, constantly drinking and trying to eat what I could.  The sun had set so I got my headtorch out for the last 5 miles or so.  I passed a few 30 mile racers with 3-4 miles to go and they told me I was third male.  This gave me quite a boost so cracked on (after switching my headtorch off – tactics!) and pretty much ran the rest of the way to Carlisle Castle.  I was glad to see the finish line!  Overall, a fantastic event with amazing support and volunteers.  The course is really well marked and it would be very hard to go wrong.  If you want to give an ultra a try, I would definitely recommend this one!

Thanks again to everyone who supported and the organisers. Particularly Emma and Tony, Gaynor and Amanda who gave me a lift to my car on the Sunday morning 😄

http://www.pureoutdoorsevents.co.uk/index.php/the-cumbria-way-ultra

Bob Graham Round, 18th May 2019 00:01hrs

Leg 4…… Jonny: potatoes?

Me: No thanks.

An hour later…Jonny: Potatoes?

Me: No thanks.

Another hour later….Jonny: Potatoes?

Me: Yes please.

Jonny: Really? (the look of joy and happiness in Jonny’s face)

Me: No. (the sudden disappointment, sorry Jonny!).

Over the years I’ve supported several Bob Graham Rounds, all of them successful and all of them I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of.  I have been asked numerous times if I was going to attempt one. My answer has always been no, as I thought the challenge would be too great both physically, mentally and logistically. Having done some ultra trail races, this challenge seemed quite daunting because of the 27,000ft of climbing over the 66 miles. The distance wasn’t an issue, it was the relentless up and down. In truth, I wasn’t confident that I could do it. But there was still a part of me that really wanted to try!

I was bimbling along in 2018 doing lots of road races, all short and fast.  Although I was doing quite well and achieving “PB’s”, I wasn’t fulfilled. It became monotonous, aiming for an improvement of a few seconds here and there and putting in too many miles for such a small gain. What did it matter, I wasn’t achieving anything that would give me satisfaction. I was also carrying a groin problem which wouldn’t go away (over 12 months). I needed a challenge to aim for. I said to myself, if I aim to try a Bob Graham then I need to do it the right way. Train hard, recce the route, and become as conditioned as I could to give myself the best possible chance of succeeding.

Six months prior to my attempt I radically changed my training and hooked up with Tony Holt (runningrevival.com). I set out my goals, number one was the Bob Graham round. He set me up with a specific training plan to stick to. I committed to the process. Very few people knew I was planning an attempt, and that’s how I wanted it to be.  It’s a personal thing so I asked if it could be kept between the support crew.

I drew up a list of people I wanted to be involved and went about recruiting their services. They were:

Mike Steven (road crew)

Jane Briggs (road crew)

Rob Brooks and Michael Butters (leg 1)

Katherine Davis and Tony Holt (leg 2, Katherine also did leg 5)

Mark Clarkson and Lee Bennett (leg 3)

Jonny Malley and Andy Higgins (leg 4)

Emma Holt (leg 5)

Kevin Bray (broad stand)

Tony and Emma also provided road support.

I was pleased the response was positive so the planning began.  We had some good times on recce’s of legs 2 and 3. Not so good on leg 2 when Mr Clarkson decided to go back up Sticks pass for some extra mileage on the return to Threlkeld in the pouring rain…….with my car key! I’m sure his ears were burning. I took a look at Broad stand on the leg 3 recce and decided I’d give it a go if conditions were dry.  Kevin Bray offered a rope on the day for which I am very grateful and it was reassuring that I had it as backup. Broad stand isn’t something to take lightly, especially if you aren’t a fan of heights.

There were plenty training days in the Cheviots, some grim memories of the Cheviot Pendulum route with a 10kg backpack in the snow and wind with sleet sand blasting the legs. All good training though, eh?

The attempt was drawing close. I had informed some close friends (and family of course) of my attempt if they wanted to follow my tracker, still keeping it low profile until after it was done. The week leading up to it I arranged my food, clothes etc so I wasn’t rushing around at the last minute, using up valuable energy.

On the day before the big day we arrived at Thornthwaite campsite early afternoon. The plan was to chill, stay off feet, eat and try and sleep. I certainly didn’t sleep. At around 11:15pm we set off for Moot Hall. Conditions were dry, breezy and cloudy. Midnight came, then the countdown began. We were off at a steady pace on a clockwise round. It was here, all the months of planning geared toward the next 24hrs. The climb up Skiddaw felt good. The visibility became very poor, so much so that headtorches weren’t beneficial. Rob has a hand torch which helped. We did miss the summit, however, so had to backtrack a little. The wind was quite strong at this point.  We claimed the first peak and headed to Calva. I was feeling good, trying to enjoy the experience. We descended from Calva through the heather as it’s much more of a direct line to the river and Mungrisdale common. I had no idea of time and made it clear that I didn’t want to know whether I was up or down at any point. It’s a slog up to Blencathra, more so when you can’t see anything, but we finally reached the top and descended Doddick. We arrived at the cricket ground at Threlkeld where I was greeted with a coffee and some cold beans. A sock change later and we were off on leg 2, munching a rice pudding on the way.

The clag hadn’t lifted at all until Dollywagon. My mood was low up until that point and I wasn’t feeling too good after the food at Threlkeld followed by a big cimb up Calva.  All of a sudden there was a break in the clouds. It was like a shot in the arm, my mood lifted and it gave me a massive boost. So much so, I was hammering it down Seat Sandal down to Dunmail. Lee and Mark were there ready and waiting. I ate some beef and veg stew and set off up Steel Fell.  Shortly after I had my second bad patch. I was nauseous for about an hour and was struggling to eat or drink anything. I knew it would pass eventually so ploughed on, slowly. Emma and Tony met us at Esk Hause with the offer of coke etc but I couldn’t face it. Mark offered me some haribo jelly men, they were good! A tangy taste which seemed to help. Thanks Mark! We were nearing Broad stand when Mark sprinted ahead to assess the rope situation. By the time I got there, he was already up and the rope had been lowered. I tied it around my waist and started to climb up, knowing I was secure if anything happened. Before I knew it we were heading to the top. The descent on the scree was fun and we reached Wasdale to a cheer from the support crew.

Top change, sock change, talc, some food and a coffee did the job.  Another quick turnaround and off up Yewbarrow. There was some good, entertaining chat from these guys. I wasn’t eating much and Jonny had brought along some boiled potatoes. I couldn’t face any. Andy had small pieces of chorizo and cheese. They were delicious!!! A different taste to all the sweet stuff I had eaten was refreshing. Jonny was persistent with his potatoes. I felt bad for saying no each time.  I eventually said yes, his face lit up with a beaming smile. Then I said I was only joking… he looked crushed.

Leg 4 weather was great, really warm and sunny. It didn’t seem to last that long and soon it was over. We descended to Honister knowing there was only one leg to go. Almost there. Katherine and Emma joined me for the last leg. Three more peaks and a run along the road to Keswick. The three peaks ticked by nicely, stopping for a few photos on Robinson. As soon as we reached the bottom track before the road, I put on my road shoes. They felt amazing. I was off, probably too fast. After about two miles I was done. I had to walk/jog. A few of the others met us at Portinscale and I just couldn’t get going until the Main Street.  Seeing the finish gave me the energy to run. I still didn’t know the time, I misread the clock on the hall as 19:40. Which I would have been amazed by. It was actually 19:11. Unbelievable. We had done it. I celebrated with a beer, only two sips though. It lasted me all night. We arranged to meet for breakfast the following morning. It was a nice way to say thanks to everyone for their support and time they put in to help. I will be forever in your debt!

Looking back, I have great memories.  Not only of the day, but of the journey getting there.  I didn’t want the day to end, spending so much time in the hills with your friends makes such a difference.  I couldn’t have asked for better support.

Thank you everyone! You know who you are.

Tony Holt's amazing film really gives you a feel for the experience https://youtu.be/C2LWgqdFSR8

Brough Law fell race 10th March 2019

Brough Law Fell race, 10th March 2019

145 hardy souls competed in the 2019 Brough Law fell race in the beautiful Breamish Valley. The weather forecast leading up to the race looked dreadful with wind, sleet and freezing temperatures.  Fortunately the bad weather skipped the event, almost! Great to see so many familiar faces as well as first timers.  This was a Northumberland fell runners, North East Counties and North East Masters championship race so it was highly competitive.

Callum Hanson from Pudsey & Bramley won in a fast time of 37:08 closely followed by Matthew Briggs of Morpeth Harriers. Will Robson of North Shields Poly was third.  In the ladies race, Robyn Bennett of Morpeth Harriers was first in 44:40, Molly Pace of Jesmond joggers was second and Fiona Brannen of Elvet Striders was third. First Mv40 was Roger Sillito of NFR, Mv50 was Lee Bennett of NFR, Mv60 was Les Turnbull of Norham, Mv70 was Steve Clough of Norham.  Ladies vets winners were Wv40 Dawn Metcalfe of Derwent Valley, Wv50 Katherine Davis of NFR, Wv60 Bridget Peberdy of Alnwick.

Many thanks to Jane and Michael Briggs for their amazing support in preparation, registration and results. Also to Ross Wilson for his help and permission to use the course and to the  Northumberland National Park. Approximately £450 was raised which will be donated to Northumberland Mountain rescue and the Northern English Springer Spaniel rescue charity.

Hope to see you again next year.

JB 

Resurrection

2018 was a canny year.  I qualified as a level 3 mat Pilates instructor in May and began teaching a class in July.  Then another class in August. I really enjoy teaching. It is something I didn’t expect to get into but it has helped my confidence and I like to share my love for Pilates and the benefits it gives to others.  It may lead to other things…..

On the running front, I began to develop some adductor/groin pain in the January and it didn’t seem to get any better throughout the year.  Some days were better than others.  I put it down to tendinitis, so I eased back a little and increased the stretching/strengthening.  I saw a sports therapist and physio for several months and they gave a similar diagnosis.  Eventually I was referred to the local IMATS physio service and sent for an ultrasound/MRI.  I have osteoarthritis in my left hip which the specialist doesn’t think is attributing to the soreness but obviously long term it will become an issue.  The MRI showed osteitis pubis.  Overloading/overtraining and an accumulation of inflammation over a period of time.  This affects the adductors and abdominal muscles.  My training had radically changed in November, gearing towards a different target in 2019 which thankfully meant less running and more strength work with some swimming and yoga thrown in.  This helped the symptoms as I wasn’t pounding the road and trails as much.  I was advised that it would be either 3 months rest or to have an injection into the joint.  The injection will hopefully knock it on the head.  If not, then I need to be sensible and take time out.  We will see.  It’s taken a long time to get a definitive diagnosis.

Most of my 2018 races were short and fast.  PB’s in 3k, 5k, 10k and 5 miles.  Performances weren’t being affected by the groin issue, but very uncomfortable afterwards. A mix of road/fell and even a track 10k (mental challenge) kept the interest going.

Off to the Lakes on Saturday.  Weather looks dreadful.  Typical after the last week of fine weather.  Character building.

Brough Law fell race, 25th March 2018

The official opening of the Northumberland Fell running season began yesterday in the beautiful Breamish valley for the annual Brough Law Fell race.  Given the extreme weather conditions over the past few weeks, the gods were smiling on us all and brought us a fantastic clear and sunny day.  There was a little frost on the route early doors while flagging the course but this thawed in time for he race itself.

A total of 154 runners turned up and paid their £3 with the news that no kit was required other than an advisory windproof as it was quite breezy up top.

Young Matthew Briggs of NFR stormed home in first place closely followed by Will Robson (North Shields poly) with Conor Carson from Kenilworth Runners in third. Kurt Heron was leading up to the top of Cochrane Pike but unfortunately went the wrong way and ended up in 12^th overall.

The women were led Home by Emma Holt of Morpeth harriers with Robyn Bennett (NFR) and Georgia Campbell from Jarrow and Hebburn in third.

Lee Bennett was claimed first M40 prize, Colin Donnelly first M50, Gary Owens first M60 and Bill Milborn first M70.  Freda Summerfield won W40, Katherine Davis first W50 and Jessica Anderson first W60.

Massive thanks to the volunteers especially Mike Steven, Jane Briggs, Jane’s daughter, Paul Steven, Barry Kemp and Ross Wilson. Great to see Joe Garbarino in good spirits. Thanks to Northumberland National park for the use of the facilities.

£470 raised, great work everyone!

A grand day out. See you next year

JB

Into the blue