My year has got off to a pretty good start. In January I travelled to Lanzarote to take park in the Ian Corless ultra training camp. The camp had a large mix of people attemp the MDS in April. We even got four to sign up to do G2G. There were a good mix of those who had completed it and were back to start their training year with some winter sun. I’d been injured in the month leading up to Lanza, probably due to overwork; 30 days after G2G I did a course record for me on the XNRG Druid’s Challenge, completing the 3 days in 16th place and 3rd in my age. The previous two years I finished mid-pack, although this time Mike had to really drag my ass around day 2 as I was struggling.
That pretty much finished 2018, racing was done and I was pleased with how it had gone. I’d done well in all the races that I had entered. I took the correct decision to drop the CCC, so there is unfinished business there.
So to recap: Brighton Marathon, an actual road PB, and a warm-up to the Fox ultra the next weekend. The Fox taught me that I need to use decent salts, so I now use Precision Hydration. It was a good first ultra of the year: 63km in 6 hours 23, just over 10k per hour. That was the goal!
Then it was a step up to the North Downs 50, my first Centurion running race. It was amazing and I managed to finish in 9 hours 9, 31st overall and 13th in my age. Again another race I was happy with,
Next up though was my nemesis, my first ultra that I had unfinished, major unfinished business with from 2010. My last encounter saw me crawl, almost carried over the line in excess of 18 hours. This time however, after two very very painful ankle stingers that I thought both times had ruined my race, I crossed the line in 10 hours and 14 mins, finishing 63rd out of a field of 756 finishers, with another 100 or so who DNF’d.
Next up was Grand 2 Grand, my A race. One that had taken all of my attention for months. All my money and time for a year or so!
275km from the edge of the Grand Canyon to the top of the Grand Staircase, taking a mazey run north from Arizona through to Utah and crossing some of the largest sand dunes I’ve ever seen - the Coral Pink sand dunes not far from Kanab. Incidentally I was informed that we passed within a few hundred metres of a vending machine. It was alluded to in the race briefing, but not specifically mentioned, although the race rules explicitly forbid its use.
The G2G to date is the race that I’m most proud of. Of course MDS2017 was special. I ran it with two friends: Gaz my lifelong friend, boss and best friend, and Mike, my current running wife. MDS has its place, my first self-supported desert race and possibly the most iconic of all ultra marathons, certainly from a European perspective. The hardest foot race on the planet. It may have been when it was given that title by the Discovery channel, but since then more races are known about - Badwater100, the Barkley, UTMB, Yukon, Beyond the Ultimate Jungle and Arctic ultras, to name a few. Yes, MDS is tough - very tough - but there are harder races. Grand2Grand, I would put on the list of harder ultras - not because I have done it and want to show progression, but look at the times: Elisabet Barnes was 10% slower on G2G than MDS. There is way more elevation - you actually start at an altitude that is higher than any UK mountain. There is a lot of vert on the G2G and the gear you are carrying is there for colder weather too. It’s hot in places, but freezing in others, all of which adds to the complexity of the race. I raced harder on G2G, finishing in the top 25 and 3rd Brit, again very happy with the result. I’d set a goal of top 20, but I wasn't in the slightest bit disappointed. My build up was less than perfect and the field was very strong. 25th was fantastic.
Then to Druid’s.
I finished the year through November and December with sporadic training, so when I hit Lanza in January I knew I needed to be sensible. I left covering 100km or so in the week and also benefiting from some movement coaching from Shane Benzie from Running Reborn. The week and the session was just what I needed to start my year.
Through the rest of February my training picked up well. I’d hoped to run Manchester Marathon and to be very candid I’m still not sure if I’ll do it. I’m not where I wanted to be in terms of road marathon fit. I’m not sure I ever will be. There is a reason I’ve only done 3 of them: London2010, 2012 and Brighton in 2018. I don’t like them!
The trails are beautiful. They can be brutal, but they are mainly beautiful. I love trail running. Disconnecting for a few hours and just getting out with Nature. I work in London 5 days a week. I commute for 3 hours a day at least - South West Railway do their best to make that number nearer to 5. I hate trains, I hate train operators. I hate that they have a monopoly over their fares. I digress - but this is time I could be spending with my family or training or doing something more productive (I’m sat on one now as I write this).
So road marathons. Yes, just the 3. My PB stands today if you look online at 4:09:09. I ran Brighton as someone else, so I do have something to prove to myself, which is the only reason that I have Manchester in my mind. I won’t get a time that I am happy with - my goal was a good for age position. That’s not even on the cards at the moment. I may be able to get 3:30, but that depends on my drive as I’m not really paced for that either... So to go and be disappointed, or just be happy with whatever I get, because in all honesty, I don’t think I will ever sign up for another. Never say never, but they don’t interest me (with the caveat of me signing up for London every year since 2010 and never getting a ballot place, only 2 charity places; so I may keep doing that, just to see if I can gain a record of most rejections).
On to lessons learnt.
Last Saturday was just like any other. I couldn’t be bothered to get up for a parkrun. It was Lee on the Solents 200th. I thought about getting up for it, but during the week I get up at 04:50. The weekends are hard to get up! We sat and had breakfast about 10. Sam, my wife, asked if I had plans and suggested that I probably needed to long run. Yes I did, so I loaded Garmin Connect and planned a 20 mile run while drinking my 3rd coffee of the morning. About 2pm we left home, I was to be dropped off at QE Park on the South Downs Way. I’d follow the South Downs until it met the Meon Valley trail. I’d then head south to Wickham, through Wickham, pick up the deviation line into Fareham. Textbook. I put a litre and a half (3x500mls) bottles into my bag, a few nuts, a banana, and off I went.
I think you can see where this going.
About 2 hours into my run, I started to feel massively dehydrated. I wee’d and yes, it proved it, dark yellow. I hadn’t been drinking too much, but pretty much now I was beyond recovering the situation. By the time I met Sam in Costa Coffee in Fareham I was dizzy and confused. Classic signs. I was slightly nauseous, but managed to force the food down me. I drank another coffee and 1.5ltrs of coconut water. I spent the next few hours drinking. When I did use the toilets I was deeply shocked.
My wee looked like Coca Cola. I’ve never seen anything like it... not yellow or brown. I’d have taken brown, but it was a translucent black colour. My next urine passing was back to normal and has been since, but to say it shocked me is an understatement.
My conclusions about this event are that I was blasé, I was over-confident, like a striker walking to the penalty spot, taking far too much time, strutting. It wasn’t me. I needed the reality check: yes, you’ve done some big races, good results, but if you don’t prep during your training, it will soon transfer to a race. You’ll DNF or worse, end up in hospital. There is no need for it. I’m far from a pro, but I’m also far from an amateur, and make no bones about it, that was an amateur mistake.
One not to be repeated.
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