September 2019 – understand pain

Snowdonia ultra

September 17, 2019Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

Next UP for #upandrun is the Snowdonia Maverick ultra

On Saturday I’ll take on my first mountain ultra. 64k of trails around Snowdonia.

The main challenge for me will be heights. I ain’t got a head for them. Running along Beachy Head and around the Isle of Wight we stepped quite close to the cliff edge. I get edgy. I’ve been assured that it is ok, nothing to worry about.

The other consideration are the cut off times along the way and the need to complete by 7pm. We start at 8. That sounds ok, but there is the small detail of the 3000m elevation.

My kit is prepared, lodgings are booked for Friday night and now it is an easy week to build energy. The weather looks agreeable but we still have to carry waterproofs with taped seams, a foil blanket and a head torch (with ‘spare batteries’). Things can change quickly on a mountain. I remember a stroll up Pen y Fan last February that started with light drizzle and a mild breeze. By the time we were at the top, you could only see about five metres beyond your hand.

UPdate

Behind the scenes we are having a shuffle around to build momentum. Jo will be taking the lead for the day to day running of Understand Pain (UP), promoting and managing the UP workshops so we can reach more people, running the social media campaign to share the right messages about pain and connecting with partners who want to support our work.

The UP workshops are monthly at the moment. We are looking at running these every two weeks and then weekly in different locations as a next step alongside an online programme.

If you would like to support our work, you can sponsor an event and a workshop (see here) or you can give a donation (see here).

Today I am heading south to spend time in a unit that is doing great work with children. Statistics suggest that 20% of our children are suffering chronic pain. I see a number of kids who are in this situation with their families. Often they do not know what to do, have no understanding of pain and certainly have no ideas about how to move forward. This is where we can step in and help to make a difference. More on this soon.

Hitting the hills!

September 5, 2019Richmond Stace | The Pain CoachLeave a comment

Maverick inov-8 ultra series ~ Snowdonia 2019

For the 7th ultra I am hitting the hills, or rather mounting the mountains….

Most of the races so far have included some steep hills. Over the South Downs near Ditchling Beacon on my way to Brighton from London, traversing the Seven Sisters from Eastbourne towards Brighton and along The Ridgeway on Race to the Stones, have all challenged my thighs. Running and walking uphill is one thing, coming down is another. There’s an art to the latter. A balance between controlling one’s descent so you don’t fall and saving your quads! The Maverick inov-8 ultra has an elevation of 3020 over 60-odd k.

Traditionally I am not great with heights. So this ultra presents an additional element and feature for me to cope with whilst climbing, descending, walking trotting, hopping, shuffling and running. Don’t look down! Having said that, I have been on mountains plenty of times before and usually enjoyed the views, fresh air and freedom.

Recently I was thinking that #upandrun would continue for 12 months, #12in12. But then I thought about afterwards and what I would do. I can’t see that I will stop, so this will continue indefinitely with a blend of races and solos that accompany the monthly UP workshops (next one on 18th Sept >> tickets here).

You can support Understand Pain here, helping us to run the workshops each month so that they are free for those most in need, to increase the number of workshops and the reach. Meanwhile, I’ll keep running to raise awareness and bring the tools to people so that they can improve their lives.