Leicester Marathon

A several months back I was hoping I might do a PB here but due to various niggles and feeling really tired over the summer I ditched the speed work in favour of steady miles since tooting 24 hour race was my A race.



Skechers Gorun2

I like my marathons to have a purpose rather than for them to be just another number. The purpose of this had now moved to running hard (for some or all the race depending on how I was feeling) for some much needed speed training for a PB attempt later this year.  A second purpose was to test out my Gorun2 shoes.  I have been running in them for a while and really like them, they are light (170g size 6.5) yet very comfy.


Earlier in the week I picked up a cold which had developed into a nasty cough at night so I hadn't had a great deal of sleep and the terrible forecast of rain all day meant that I went to bed not feeling up for it.

Got parked at 8am about 10 min from the start and opted to wait in the car for a while as there is nowhere warm to wait at the start and it was raining. Eventually went to the start as I needed the toilet for a no2 needed to allow time to queue.  I have never seen a queue like it. Half an hour later it was 8 min to race start and I was nowhere near the front. I was still dressed in tracky bottoms and several tops and needed to hand my bag so had to have a quick wee behind a tent, take some Imodium then hope for the best.

Ran to the pen and ended up around people who didn't look very fast so edged my way forward as much as I could. Before I knew it we were off. I was muttering and swearing under my breath for the first mile at the people going at 10 +mm who started too far forward - why do people do that, it causes congestion and is just selfish.  I was just getting into a decent pace without having to dodge the slow people  when my shoelace came undone in the second mile grrrrrrrr. My hands were quite cold so it took ages to do up properly.  Now I had to get back past people.

After about 10 miles I was nicely settled into a rhythm, pace varying depending on the undulations but averaging 7.20s. Legs feeling good, breathing quite hard but that is usually the case.  A few spectators were shouting ' ...... Lady' ;unfortunately I couldn't hear the .... because  it was quite windy but figured I must be fairly high up for them to still be counting. Eventually someone shouted loud enough 3rd lady. I could see 2nd ahead, I had seen her a while and was v slowly closing in. So although a PB was off the race now became for the podium .

I soon caught and passed 2nd lady. then had to stop for a train at12.5 miles - I might have sworn 😲 although they write down your  number and adjust the time that is no good if I am wanting a position as that will be based on 123 over the line.  Whilst waiting 3rd was catching up and 1st getting away so I was not happy.  Took the opportunity to take my first gel.  ( caffeine)

Got to halfway with an average pace of 7.23mm, think my average was 7.33 last year. I was feeling strong and fairly confident that I could hold the pace a while longer before fading so hoped I could beat last year. A few miles later there was another train stop. I saw the barrier coming down so slowed down which meant I ended up only stopping for a matter of seconds as the barrier came up quickly. 

The support on the course from Marshall's and spectators was great, lots telling me I was 2nd and making it look easy, looking strong etc. No one was telling me how far ahead 1 was which was what I really wanted to know.  At 19 miles someone from running club had a bottle of water for me, he told me 1 was about 5 min ahead. I thought there was no way I was going to catch unless she hit a massive wall.

Took a 2nd gel at 21 miles, still feeling good, wondering if this could possibly last until the end??? Was regularly passing men ( only one passed me in the last hour or so) and continued to get lots of crowd support but no one saying - 1st lady is flagging you can catch her or anything like that so I continued to run strong but didn't push myself. I had another gear I could use if 3rd caught me up but since a PB was not going to happen and a course best was more or less guaranteed there was no real need.


With a couple of miles to go I took half a gel as I knew the last mile was a nasty uphill and thought a bit of a boost would help. Didn't want a whole one as it hadn't been long since the last one and was a bit worried about my bowels. The last couple of miles involve a lot of twisting and turning and uphill through the shopping centre. I found underfoot was quite slippy with the wet so eased off a bit for fear of falling over. I remember the last mile being a horrid uphill all the way but it didn't seen too bad this time, maybe because I wasn't as spent as in previous years??

Managed to finish with a sprint, not just in my mind but my Garmin tells me it was too!
 

3.15.46 2nd lady.  Made if it into the Leicester mercury (above). Got a bottle of something which I am sure Phil will enjoy, a trophy and a cheque is in the post 😃


Am very happy with the way I ran the race, I felt fairly comfortable throughout. Pacing was quite good -At halfway average was 7.23mm at the end 7.25mm so just a 1 min positive split which is OK considering the first few miles are down and the last few up.

The shoes were great, despite starting with damp feet and finishing soaked I had no blisters.  I think these will continue to be my marathon shoe although for ultras I will need more cushioning.  May stretch these to 50km.

I suppose I am a little disappointed that I didn't get a PB as many months ago that was my goal although it was probably a bit much to ask considering my lack of speed work.

On a positive note I feel fairly confident of a PB next month on the track - it will be totally flat; I will not have shoe lace or train problems and will be a bit more tapered ( taper for Leicester was one rest day but extra miles on Tuesday accidentally).

Tooting Bec 24 hour race

At my last 24 hour race in Basel in May I did 132.5 miles (213km) so my goal was 135 miles but really anything more than last time I would be pleased with. Since May my training has been a bit messed up with little niggles. I had a few weeks totally off in May/ June but my main concern was lack of speed training which I had cut out when I had the hamstring problem.  I wasn't sure if this would matter for a 24 hour race so was hopeful of having a decent race.

This time I wanted to have a more even paced first half, still getting to 12 hours with about the same distance but hopefully less tired due to not setting off as fast.  After that I had hoped that a more conservative start would mean less of a fade in the second 12 hours along with not walking and wasting as much time in the last 4 hours - last time when I knew I was going to hit my target I dilly dallied, walking when I didn't need to and just generally being a bit lazy.  Since May I have lost 5 pounds so hoped that might help too.

The run plan was pretty much the same as last time - run an hour walk 5 mins ( 1 lap) for 4 hours then drop to 40 min run as by then I am needing to eat more. I would eat in the walk break. This time I had packed more power bars, Jaffa cakes and chocolate soya milk as last time I ran out of these.

The race started at 12 noon, temperature seemed ideal. Although I had my pace plan I was going to run to effort and use it more as a guideline. The Garmin always goes a bit mad on the track so it was hard to know exactly where I was however, each hour the leader board was updated to the nearest mile.

I set off at a pace which felt comfortable, perhaps a little fast but it felt comfortable so I stuck with it, it was a similar pace to Basel yet at Basel it felt a little harder than it should.  I find it hard to run at a slower pace than feels natural so just went with it. 

My first official distance was when I was told marathon in 3.53.  Some time around here I was knocked down into 3rd overall and 2nd lady. This did not bother me at all as I was on target, feeling good and was not racing other people but running my own race with myself.

A few more official splits were 50km in 4.38 and 50 miles in 7.37. Still a little ahead but not alarmingly so and probably a similar place to at Basel. The main thing was that I was feeling comfortable.

I was eating each walk break but was getting stitch which lasted quite some time.  At around 9pm I did my usual of pluging Mr G into the portable charger so that the whole run would be on one Garmin. This took about 1.5 hours to get to full charge and is not too annoying running with it on charge, its certainly worth the 30s stop to get hooked up!

Next official split was 100km in 9.45, still a little ahead of plan but feeling good. 

At around 11pm Phil went to bed (we had a long drive home after and he needed to be awake for that)  Richard ( GB 24 hour team manager) crewed for me overnight.  At 12 hours I was on 74.6 miles, target had been 74.5 so although pretty much bang on had lost my 1 mile lead in the last couple of hours so alarm bells started ringing.

Although I was feeling OK,  I was starting to feel a bit sick from eating.  This feeling gradually got worse - I was feeling bloated like my stomach was full of food; the fluid was sloshing about so instead of walking 1 lap when I ate I stretched this to 2 laps to try and give the food chance to digest.  My pace started to slow to a crawl, I felt I had no energy yet I was taking on the calories well.  The energy was just not getting into my system so I was running through the thickest treacle ever.

By 4am I was on 94.2 miles, goal was 97.5 so as well as feeling sick and running slowly I was now feeling down about being so behind and not achieving my goal. 100 miles in 17.15  - 30 mins slower than Basel. I felt that my race was over but looking back now it was not as bad as I had thought as 
at Basel I wasted a lot of time after 100 miles so I could possibly have caught back up had things not got worse but I didn't see it like that.

Phil got up at about 6am,  shortly after this that I totally lost it.  I had had enough, I felt I had no energy, I felt sick, I felt a failure and couldn't stop crying. Spencer caught up me up and tried to talk sense into me as we were walking.  All I wanted to do now was walk to the end as I felt fine walking. I wasn't going to get my target so what was the point? Running was such hard work and I was going to get a rubbish distance so why slog myself??

Richard walked with me for a while trying to encourage me, saying it was good mental training and if I can pick myself up I can look back if it happens again.  I was quite happy walking with Spencer and not interested in running any more but Richard said 'get round to the other side then start running'. Spencer said he would run with me when I was ready so I eeeeked it out to 3/4 lap before I started running again - very slowly.

Richard found out my official distance in km and miles and suggested making a new target but I wasn't interested I was just feeling too negative. My run pace was now so slow, I just felt like I had nothing left.   I was taking on food still but it wasn't helping, just making me feel sick so although I knew I needed the calories I decided to stop eating for a while to try and ease the sickness.
After a while I actually started feeling hungry for the first time, that was a really nice feeling after feeling so bloated and full. I managed to eat one coconut mushroom, it took a while but I got it down ok , after eating 4 on alternate laps then went Jaffa cake! I was now feeling a bit better in the stomach department but my pace was still painfully slow.

I really wanted to have a sit down but Phil wouldn't let me, I did consider just going and sitting on the chair and having a fight with him but then thought a better plan would be to go to the toilet and have a nice sit down there. The problem with the toilet was it was quite warm and I ended up getting a bit dizzy. I have to confess that most of my toilet visits in the second half were not necessary I went before I needed to go just to have a break

With a few hours to go I was still in 3rd (2nd lady). Next person was a few miles behind me which gave me a bit of motivation to keep going as best I could.

With 1 hour 45 min to go I was on 193km I think so I decided I could easily do 200km.   With just under an hour to go I got Phil to find out my distance as I was now wondering if I could make it to 205km and also if I had time for a little sit down on the toilet again!

Final distance was 128 miles 206km
Overall position was 2nd lady , 3rd overall. The race was the English ultra running championships and since 1st lady was Scottish I won that    

http://www.englandathletics.org/news.asp?itemid=12118&itemTitle=Thomas+and+James+take+England+Athletics+Ultra+Distance+titles&section=42&sectionTitle=England+Athletics+News

This is a great race, well organised and the 400m laps means lot of support/chat with other runners.  The volunteers look after us really well supplying us with lots of nice food/drinks and even hot chocolate to order as well as offering lots of encouragement.  Biggest thanks have to go to my great crew - Phil and Richard who I would shout my food/drink request to and they would have it ready next lap so I didn't have to stop.  They also had to put up with my moods in the early hours when I was struggling and did their best to cheer me up and keep me going.

So what went wrong.? Initially I thought there were two problems 1. Feeling sick so not wanting to run and 2. Couldn't run at any sort of decent pace from too early on. Having done lots of research and spoken to several people I think that the two are linked and think I have sorted it so feeling better about things.

This is the warmest 24 hour race I have done. I thought I was drinking enough as fluids were sloshing in my stomach but toilet visits were less frequent than normal. I have never run the whole 24 hours in just a T shirt so this was certainly my warmest. I was sweating a lot even in the early hours when I was moving slowly and it was cooler.

I didn't get cramp or anything but think my problem was not enough electrolytes . I didn't know this but in order for your body to absorb food sodium is needed. That would make sense. It's as if the food and drink were just stuck in my stomach, like the door was closed to get the calories into my system but until I read this about the sodium  I didn't know what was going on or why, that now explains it. http://www.succeedscaps.com/articles/fighting_nausea_demons_in_an_ultra/

I have now done 4 of these and each one has been a learning experience.  Although I didn't achieve the distance I was aiming for, 6 months ago I would have been very happy with this result.  At least I have learnt something from the experience 1. Electrolytes and 2. I can pick myself up from the deepest darkest places.

Testing on last long run

I picked up a bit of a hamstring niggle after HOTH 3 weeks ago, it eased off in the week so was fine for 'Run to the Castle' (40 miles) the following week but then was aggravated from running in the sand on the castle run.  The following week (last weekend) Wolverhampton marathon was meant to be my last long before Tooting at a fairly hard effort.  My physio said that if I took it easy before then I would be fine doing Wolverhampton at a steady pace.  However, my sensible head said its not worth the effort and cost of hotel, petrol, race entry to run 26.2 miles at a steady pace and risk aggravating the hamstring again; a better plan would be to have another week of easy running then do a long run this weekend.

Ideally I had wanted it out the way last week with a 3 week taper.  The castle run of 40 miles was 4 weeks out and had I ran all of that I might have been happy to count that as my last long run but I walked more than I ran so needed to do another long run. A long run would also be useful to test a few things for race day.

I really wasn't in the mood so dilly dallied getting out there meaning I didn't have time to do a full 26 miles (that had been my aim as 2 weeks before my last 24 hour race I ran a marathon PB and had a great 24 hour race).  Ended up doing 24 miles so was happy with that. 

Items tested...

Hilly twin skin socks - have used these before but this was a brand new pair so wanted to make sure they were OK.
Mueller lube stick - an alternative to Vaseline, less greasy.
Koko chocolate rice milk - last 24 hour race I used chocolate soya milk, it went down really well when I was struggling to get in food, I wished I had more.  Thought that if I am going to get down a lot it might be nice to have a bit of variety.  The soya milk is better as it had protein but it might be worth slipping in a rice milk every so often to avoid soya overload if that is possible and for a slightly different taste.
Proplex all stars protein bar - I love these but never had them when running.  They are a bit harder to eat (more chewing) that my usual powerbar coconut bar but they have more protein and are more coconutty.   At my last 24 hour race I had wished I packed more powerbars as they go down well, so again just thinking about a bit of variety of the things I like so I don't get bored.

 

Peanut M&M - I have had these a few times on recent ultras as they have been supplied but have been wary of having too many. They have gone down really well so wanted to see if I was OK having more - ended up eating nearly a whole big bag!
Gorun2 shoes - I will not be wearing them for my 24 hour race as they are too light (170g size 6.5) but I wanted to test them for a longer run with a view to wearing them for marathons.


I am happy to report no blisters/foot/chaffing/bowel issues! All tests were successful and I had a pretty decent run despite not being in the mood!  Now I can relax and taper.

Skechers Gobionic Trail Shoes Review

 

Skechers are fairly new to the running shoe market but have been having great success.  I have been running in various road models for the last year and really like the light weight flexibility of the shoe a well as the amazing colours they come in.  I have run marathon PBs and 24 hour races wearing the Gorun range so am defiantly a convert.  I was very excited to receive a pair of their new Gobionic trail shoe which has been on the UK market for about a month now.

My trail running shoe/ experience background

I don't do a lot of off road running because I am not very good at technical terrain but do like canal/ woods. Most of my trail running also involves tarmac so I need shoes which are suitable for mixed terrain.  My current trail shoes are inov8 320 for when there is a lot of tarmac as they are more cushioned or inov8 295 when I need a bit more grip and when there is less tarmac as these are hard work on the roads.

First impressions 

 

I have never been excited by trail shoes - they tend to look a bit boring but when I took these out the box I couldn't wait to go out and try them - those who know me will know it must have been a special shoe to get me excited about off road running! They were:

Very light (UK size 6.5 227g compared to 325g for my inov8 320 on my kitchen scales)

Flexible

The material of the upper is very soft

A pretty pink and purple which look much nicer and more interesting than other trail shoes (other colours available)

Felt comfortable walking about the house

Wide toe box so plenty of wiggle room for the toes 

The fit is probably marginally bigger than my Gorun ride.

Performance 

Over the last few weeks I have been wearing the shoes for short runs which are a mix of tarmac, woods and trail.  At the weekend they had a proper test on a 40 mile race which was mixed terrain and even included about 6 miles on the beach.  

Although the shoes are light they have a decent amount of cushioning so felt fine running on the long stretches of tarmac, often trail shoes feel quite clompy but these didn't, whilst they were not as nice as road shoes they are the best trail shoes I have had for the tarmac sections.  

On the trails the shoes performed well, they have good grip; felt stable; responsive and were very comfortable.  Although light they offered sufficient protection on the trails both underfoot and   upper-  I didn't feel every stone like my Gobionic ride ( more minimal road shoes) on a similar route.  They were good running on the hard sand but when it got to the large pebbles I did feel them through the shoes but I think only Hokas would have protected me from those!  

The shoes have a 4mm drop so you feel close to the ground - you can take out the insole to make a 0mm drop but I haven't tried that.

The grip was good on the sticky parts.  I ran through a lot of damp areas where road shoes might have slipped and didn't have a problem.  Due to the dry weather there wasn't any proper mud to test them on but I did deliberately run through some short mud sections and found they had good grip. 

At the end of my 40 mile run I had no blisters or rubbing and was not despite to take my shoes off like I often am at the end of long runs as these were so comfortable.  

I have done around 70 miles (picture below taken after 70 miles) so too early to comment on durability but so far no signs of wear and tear.  Looking at the sole I don't think these would be very good for hard core trail running with steep muddy slopes but they are perfect for what I want which is a light shoe with good grip on easier trail, enough cushioning to protect the feet from brances/  good on the tarmac sections.  I really love these shoes, they have encouraged me to go on trails more because I want to be wearing them, that has to be a good thing.

 

 Below is the men's version (see website for other colours)

 

 

Spec from the website

http://www.skechers.co.uk/style/13610/go-bionic-trail/cchp

Women's Go Bionic Trail Running Shoes

Our nature-inspired design is now built for the great outdoors. The Skechers GObionic Trail features a new Resagrip outsole with multi-directional traction for superior control over uneven surfaces.

Details:

• GObionic engineering uses nature and organic inspired design for a more natural movement
• Watershed Mesh drains moisture quickly in wet conditions
• Lightweight Rock Diffusion Plate disperses pressure to protect against rough terrain
• Resagrip outsole is a proprietary durable, lightweight and flexible compound with traction control
• Engineered to promote a midfoot strike
• Decoupled geometric lugs on outsole elevate flexibility and grip
• Breathable stretch mesh supports in extreme environments
• 2 in 1 custom fit - wear with insole for a 4mm heel drop plus enhanced cushioning and protection, or remove the insole for a zero-drop barefoot-like experience
• Ortholite integrated anti-microbial sockliner helps inhibit odor

Construction:

• Ultra lightweight mesh and synthetic upper
• Lace up front
• Smooth comfortable interior for barefoot wear
• Weight: 6.1 oz. per shoe in a women's size 4

Team 9bar weekend

This weekend was a get together for all of team 9bar and partners.  On Saturday the ultra runners on the team took part in the 9bar run to the castle race which was 40 miles.  The other members of the team ( cyclists; triathletes; injured ultra runners and the GB white water raft team) did a shorter run in the morning, had a nice lunch then socialised / sunbathed / cheered in the ultra runners.

The less said about my run the better!  I am rubbish at navigation ( we had 4 pages of instructions and 6 maps to help us) and am not so good off road - I love canals and non technical trial but worry about falling over when there are rocks / uneven ground so have to walk a lot.



Skechers GObionic trail

The run was a nice route - good views, a mix of terrain ( some road, quite a lot of beach, trail, tricky bits, hills).  I thought it would be a good opportunity to test out some new trail shoes as Phil was meeting me at a few places so I could easily change them - no need they were great.

The route was on the Welsh coastal path so marked in places ( just not enough places).  Needless to say I got very lost the worse being about 14 miles where I seemed to be going round in circles in a field with sheep, I just couldn't work out where I was going and got so confused I couldn't even retrace my footsteps as I couldn't work out where I had come from!  After a phonecall to the RD I got back on track by climbing a stone wall then I saw ahead Rosemary so gave her a shout.  She waited for me to get to her but that involved climbing a barbed wire fence! At least I was back on track!

We stayed together for the rest of the race, getting lost several more times.  I am really not sure I would have finished if I had been on my own as I was getting so fed up being lost.  With company everything is so much more bearable and we had a great time putting the world to rights! 

We ended up taking so long that I was late for the team evening meal which I was really disappointed about.  Had I realised then I would probably have dropped out at the last checkpoint as Phil was meeting me on the course so could have picked me up.  I wasn't really looking at the time so hadn't realised quite how long we were taking until it was too late.  

As is always the case with Denzils races we got a great medal and a pint glass.
There were 4 checkpoints which were well stocked with 9bars and other goodies.  We went to all 4 which is the idea, quite a few people seemed to miss some out due to being lost.  Needless to say I won't be doing the race next year ( I will do laps of the car park instead!) I would recommend it if you like off road and navigation, it was just not for me.

After the quickest post race shower we had a nice meal - changing seats between courses so we got to meet different people. After the food there were a few thank-yous followed by various humorous awards with home made trophies which looked fab.  Then drinks in the lounge area.  

We had a group breakfast the next morning.  I got to chat to Mr 9bar, the man behind the recent new flavours ( fruity as well as the savoury bars)  he hinted that there are some more new ones on the way 😃.  

During the week Alan had been teasing us about the contents of the goody bags they were giving us! I had been hoping for fruity 9bars whilst Richard was hoping for an iPad or Rolex! During breakfast Alan ( with his cheecky grin) gave me my goody bag, he said it had a box of fruity in it, it certainly felt hopeful as he was handing it over.  But no, it was pumpkin ( my least fav flavour ) - he thinks he is so funny 😛.



Goody bag with wholebake flapjacks

After breakfast we were all given the proper goody bag full of wholebake flapjacks - wholebake make 9bars as well as these flapjacks in loads of different flavours, today I tried the caramel which was rather yummy, think it will be the coconut and cashew one next 🐷. What made me very happy was that Phil also got a goody bag so I don't need to share!  It was great the way they included partners during the whole weekend.
 

It was a really good weekend and I am proud to be part of such a friendly and supportive team.  Many thanks to Mr 9bar for supplying us with 9bars and supporting us throughout the year; Alan and Liz for organising the weekend as well as their kindness and continued support and Kendra for her great checkpoint debut and for the little treats she pops in the post every so often 😃

Hell on the Humber

This is a 12 hour run back and forth across the Humber Bridge starting at 7pm Saturday evening.  The idea is to cover as many 4 mile laps as possible in 12 hours.  I love lapped races as you get to see other runners a lot, which is great for support/camaraderie.  The other good thing about laps is you don't need to carry much and can just have a pile of food/drink/clothes/shoes in the check point area to pick up at the end of your lap.  I was using this opportunity to test some new shoes for my 24 hour race.  I am pleased to say that I had no blisters so will be wearing my Skechers Gorun ride ultra at Tooting Bec in September.

The event is quite different from the Sri Chimnoy 24 hour races I have done which has encouraging signs around the course, below are a sample of the signs!

My goal was to do better than last year (64 miles in 11.25 - you can stop any time after 11 hours).  Although I have had lots of PBs since last year I have been feeling tired and its only 2 weeks since a 70 mile race.  This was not an A race but a training run for my 24 hour race in September so at no point was I planning on pushing hard.  I had not tapered, normal training then a rest day on Friday meaning I was going into it with slightly tired legs which is good training for how I will feel later in the 24 hour race.  I didn't carbo load either.

Not very much of the bridge is flat. Basically you do about a mile up a mile down turn around and go back. When we started it was raining and very windy - gales, the rain was hurting as it was blowing in my face. The first two miles was into a very strong headwind, I couldn't get up and sort of pace, even on the downhill part where previously I had been able to pick up the pace I couldn't . Turning around was such a relief although the first mile back was uphill so still not that easy! The last mile of the lap was downhill with a back wind - I liked that, that was the only mile out of the 4 I liked!

I decided to opt for the same strategy as last year which was to run the first 8 miles as I didn't need any food to that point then I would walk out the check point area eating whatever I had picked up for a couple of minutes to the second bin.  At the turnaround point I would run the first part of the uphill then walk to the pillar which was about 6 mins.  So 8 mins walking per 4 miles which is more than in my 24 hour races but they are flat, this is not and it is a training run so I was taking it fairly easy.

I was very very grumpy; it was such a battle running into the wind.  Ipods were not allowed so instead of listening to podcasts I was focusing on how miserable I was and feeling sorry for myself.  I was having battles in my head about stopping early - I couldn't really justify the expense of the Premier Inn and petrol by stopping after a few hours so I worked out the minimum I had to do to still get the T shirt! You have to do one lap per 3 hour period so I figured I could keep going until 8.xx on the clock which would be a decent length training run then go back to the Premier Inn (next door) get showered, have a lie down go back to walk one lap finishing it at 11.xx and get my T shirt. 

After a couple of hours I was able to take my jacket off which had been annoying me getting blown about in the wind, it felt good to think that I was 1/4 done if I stopped!

Normally for long races my food is split into 2 categories:
Healthy/has some useful nutritional value - 9bars; powerbar coconut protein bars; bananas
Junk for energy/to make me happy - crisps; mini cheddars; crunchie; bounty; Jaffa cakes; sweets etc.

I will tend to start off with the healthy then start mixing it up using the unhealthy as treats to keep me going.  I was having to start on the unhealthy pretty much from the off as bribes to keep myself moving, was also eating too much as my stomach kept feeling a bit full but the treats were helping me through - each lap thinking about what treat I could have next lap!

After 3 hours I was 7th lady with the first 2 being about 2 miles ahead; I was slower than last year and people were passing me so my mood was not good but I was nearly half way to my stopping early time which felt good.  

After 6 hours I had covered 34 miles - last year I did 36 miles. I was now thinking that I would probably manage about 60 miles due to inevitable fade, I had somehow forgotten about stopping early!

At some point things gradually started to turn around. Someone said it was 3am (8 hours in) that the wind dropped, it was still windy but not gales. I think the combination of less wind and being in the second half I started to mentally feel better and the countdown to sunrise had started! In addition I had worked my way up the field and think that after 6 hours I was 3rd lady; passing people always feels good (although not good for them).

With about 4 hours to go I timed how long a lap took and worked out that depending in fade I might manage to do 64 miles.  I was now on a mission! I was in a better mood and made a bit more effort pace wise on the downhills.

Remarkably my time for each lap didn't seem to be slowing much and as time went on I started to think that maybe I might beable to squeeze out a half lap. I felt quite strong and was finally starting to enjoy it as I was feeling good and running well after so long of battling with the wind,

Got to 64 miles in 11.28 - 3 mins slower than last year which considering the wind and how far behind I was at halfway I was very pleased. I didn't need the last half lap but felt I ought to do it then at least I could come away feeling like I had done more than last year! So 66 miles in 11.50 and 1st lady

Taking away some positives....

I think this has to be the best pacing ever for me for a long ultra
1st 6 hours 34 miles
2nd 5.50 32 miles if I were to round that up I could say 33 miles in the 2nd 6 hours so just a 1 mile fade over 12 hours, very happy with that,
This was not because I had judged things right and did it deliberately but the wind had forced me to hold back my pace early on which meant my legs were less trashed so I could do more in the 2nd 6 hours. Had the wind stayed really strong throughout then I wouldn't have done as much so you could say conditions helped me with the pacing but still it goes to show how holding back the legs a bit saves them to smash it later.
As always the race organisation; support from others' support crew (I had no crew); and other runners was great and is what really makes this event.
DOMs the next day was just a pain at the back of my knee/hamstring which had bothered me a bit in the race, no problems with stairs etc. probably because I ran fairly conservatively until the last few hours when I made a bit more effort but still didn't hammer it as much as I could.

Grim Reaper 70

This race is at Grimesthorpe Castle.  There is the choice of 40, 70 or 100 miles on a 10 mile loop.  The plan was to use it as a steady training run for my 24 hour race in September.  I don't do off road very much nor hills and this had both (although some people would call them inclines rather than hills).  In the 2 weeks leading up to the race I was regretting entering as we were having boiling hot weather and also rain.  Reports on face book were that there was going to be mud which I hate so I was not feeling the love.

As it was a training run my taper consisted of a rest day the day before and just one run the day before that, there was no carbo loading apart from an extra packet of crisps before bed as I was hungry!  Going into the race like this would make it harder but would be better training for the back end of a 24 hour race than going in fresh and carbo loaded.

I arrived at the start around 8.30am and met up with my good friend Nick who was kindly sharing his tent and cool box with me! We had to keep all our food/kit in our tents as no communal area was provided.  Nick had a massive cool box and 5 bags of ice so I put my coke, water and some food in it and left the rest in the tent.  I never quite know what I want to eat so had packed rather a lot🐷

I was wearing my raid light waist pack which holds 2 x500ml water and has a big pocket for waterproof, first aid, phone and some food.  There was also space for a 300ml bottle of water if I needed it.  I decided to go start with my Skechers Gorun ride which are road shoes but had 3 others pairs of trail/road incase they were not suitable - they were the right choice 😃 even though muddy by the end.

The race started at 9.30am, the first half mile was tarmac so I liked that but after half a mile we went off road  up a long hill. After the first lap I would walk it whilst eating food I had picked up at the tent.  I quite liked the route - a mix of tarmac and trail, some hills and some good views.  There was one really nasty muddy bit of about half a mile.  On the first lap I was passed by loads of people on this section as I was tip toeing around trying to keep my feet dry - they got a bit damp the first time but after that stayed dry. 

I was finding the run harder than expected - I have become soft doing tarmac and flat all the time! My pace was rubbish and it was just quite a slog yet still a long way to go so I was feeling grumpy. I was seriously thinking of stopping early - I thought that maybe 50 miles would be a good distance to do; stopping at 40 would just be too soon and would have been a total waste of money as I could have done a 40 mile training run without all the faff of hotels.  So on that first lap I told myself that I could stop at 50 if I wanted to.  I think the problem with ultras is when you look at the full distance it can be very daunting, you really need to just take it a lap at a time.  So at 5 miles when I was fed up 70 miles seemed too far but 50 was almost bearable!

At the end of the first lap I had not quite finished my 1L of fluid (one bottle high5 zero 1 bottle water) so I just filled both bottles, grabbed a 9bar from the food tent (as it saved me going to my tent) and was off again. As I walked up the hill I added a high5 tablet to one bottle and ate the 9bar.  I had packed enough snacks in to get me through the first 20 so I didn't need to go to the tent after the first lap.

Still feeling negative on the next lap but at least now I knew what to expect and if I was stopping at 50 then I would soon be 1/4 done!  I think another reason for being negative was that I was getting passed quite a lot by other runners which never feels good especially early on.  I was now walking all the inclines and any parts where there was a risk of turning an ankle. 

It was a warm day but not as hot as we have had lately, however, I was getting through a lot of my water now and had to stop myself from drinking otherwise I would run out.  I had my last few mouthfuls when I saw the castle at the end of that lap.  This time I went to the tent as 1L was clearly not enough.  I had some 250ml bottles of Tescos diet coke (they only had diet in the small bottles) so at the end of all laps from now on I would drink one of those, they were lovely and cold - thanks Nick for cool box.  I would then pick up some food and a 300ml bottle of water (which was small enough to go in my pack when I had finished with it, that gave me 1.5L per lap which I still found I had to ration out on all but the last lap.

At 25 miles on the tarmac bit I checked my phone for the fist time and had a text telling me I was 6th lady and half an hour behind 1st.  I had seen the start list and there cant have been many more than 10 ladies so I wasn't feeling very happy about that and thought oh well I'm only doing 50 anyway so at least I'm halfway!   Shortly after this I started passing people.  As there were 3 races going on I had no idea if I was moving up in positions.  Passing people feels good so I finally started to feel more positive.

End of lap 3 felt good as I might now be past halfway! I was still thinking of stopping at 50 miles or possibly 60.  If I didn't slow too much then I could do 60 and still be done in daylight but 70 would mean most of a lap in the dark which I was not keen on.  Phone check at 35 miles and I had moved up to 3rd lady so that felt good and combined with being halfway if I did it all improved my mood.  The running wasn't getting any harder, legs felt fine, I was occasionally looking at pace and was slowing but not too much.

At the end of lap 4 I found that Nick had dropped out, he was struggling with dehydration and swelling fingers.  He said he would stop to the end so on the next lap I was thinking maybe after a few hours recovery he would be able to do the last lap with me, I would finish it if I was going to have someone to help me in the dark.  So over the course of that lap I went from stopping at 50 or 60 to finishing the event!! I was continuing to have 1.5L per lap and only had my first wee after 41 miles.

At the 45 mile phone check I was in 2nd, my phone battery was almost dead despite hardly using it.  Was feeling very positive now - I might finish; I might have company for the last lap; I was gradually passing people and I wasn't feeling tired.  At the end of lap 5 I asked Nick about running with me but he was not going to play.  This threw me a bit but since I had told myself I was finishing it because Nick was going to run with me I just thought oh well will just have to suffer on my own somehow.

I faffed around a bit to find my phone charger and whist I was at it got my headtorch ready for the last lap.  On this 6th lap I took careful note of which side to go on the muddy section as that was the bit that worried me most and to avoid the mud you had to keep swapping sides!  At the 55 mile phone check I was still 2nd so that was good, I was also still passing people and lapping others, no one was passing or lapping me until a few miles later when the lead man of the 70 caught me on my walk so I ran with him for a while.  

Tried to quick when I picked up my headtorch for the last lap as I wanted to make the most of the daylight.  I thought it got dark at about 9.30 and if I didn't dilly dally I might mange to get through the muddy bit before it was proper dark.  Ran some of the hills I had been walking but going into the woods after a couple of miles I needed to put on my headtorch as the light was fading.  I still pushed on as best I could because any small amount of light was going to be helpful in the mud.  By the time I got there it was dark but was not as bad as I expected.

Phone check on the Tarmac at 65 miles and I was now 1st and 4th overall so that gave me a boost and I ran more of this than in previous laps - it was undulating so on previous laps I had walked the ups but in the dark it was hard to see the little ups so I ended up running them! I was occasionally passing other runners but most the time was totally on my own which wasn't very nice as I was never quite sure if I was going the right way.  There were occasional yellow arrows to show us where to go but not enough for my liking in the dark, I needed to see more to be confident I was going the right way.

The last section of a couple of miles after the dibber was horrible as I couldn't see any yellow arrows or other runners.  My sense of directions is terrible so having done the route 6 times was not enough to remember it.  I was convinced I was going the wrong way and thought about going back but then thought I would get lost going back!  Everything seems to look the same in the dark.  Eventually I saw the castle which was such a relief and just headed for it. 

Finished in 13.27,  1st lady (an hour ahead of 2nd) and 4th overall.   Not a particularly good time for the distance ( in my last 24 hour race I did 70 miles in just over 11 hours) but for me that was a hard course.

Night Fever Marathon

This was 17 laps around a lake in Milton Keynes starting at 4pm.  As I am doing Grim Reaper 70 next Friday the plan was for a steady jog around so it was an ideal opportunity to test out my GObionic rides as time was not important and it would be easy to change them if I needed to.

I have done a few hot marathons in the last weeks and what I wanted more than anything was cold coke and ice cold water so I had several bottles of ice and cold coke in a cool bag which I could pick up at the end of laps.  I also had my 9bars and bounty bars in the cool bag as they go manky in the heat.  It did mean time wasted faffing between laps but at least I always had cold water/coke to drink and didn't have melted chocolate to deal with.

The less said about the run the better.  It was very hot for the first couple of hours then cooled down but not enough.  The route was quite nice, more undulating than I expected but that was good as I need to do more hill work so it was a useful training run. 

For some reason the run was quite a slog after about an hour.  Not sure why, possibly a combination of things
1. Too hot
2. Time of day - felt I had no energy, just had a light lunch, probably should have had more
3. Just back from a weeks All Inclusive holiday so feeling  a bit sluggish (I did run on holiday but not as much as normal)
4. Got some new trail shoes a few days ago which made me want to run off road. I don't go off road very often and the routes were hilly so the two days before I had done 2 quite hilly hard runs.

5. I have had a knee issue for the last few years which is fine for long stuff when I tape it.  I have done some long training runs without and it has been fine so I didn't tape it ( vanity - it was hot, I didn't want silly tan lines).  After halfway my knee started niggling, probably due to being aggrevated going off road without tape ( the tape helps the kneecap track properly)

Its all miles in the bank though, i was 1st lady and I was able to test the shoes.   I really like the GObionic ride, they are very light (190g size 6.5), flexible and have a roomy toe box.  They are a good transition shoe for barefoot running as you get a good feel of the pavement.  They have taken quite some time to get used to.  For the first few months my calves ached if I wore them for a few days on the trot for short runs.   Eventually I got to the stage where I could wear them most days so tried 14 miles a few weeks ago - no calf ache.  Yesterday no calf ache and no blisters so I was very pleased with that.   I did notice that afterwards my feet ached but not during, I expect that is because of the lack of cushioning.  I will defiantly use these for marathons I am racing as the low weight will help with speed but I think when speed is not important I will stick with more cushioning.  

Skechers GObioinic ride

It was a small race - I think about 40 starters; with it being laps it is quite friendly as you are constantly lapping or being lapped so there is always someone to exchange a few words with.  As is always the case with 'Foxys' races it was a great medal.  One of the new double spinning medals in my second favourite colour - turquoise !

Help please

I don't want my blog to be called test blog anymore, how can I change it??
Thanks - sorted now - I was trying to do it on my ipad, needed to be on PC

Testing adding a photo on our recent holiday