An extremely belated NDW50 Race Report!
I wrote this shortly after the North Downs Way 50 in May but never got round to posting so here it is rather belatedly!
After a 4am alarm, a 4.30 taxi and a 5am train from Clapham Junction I arrived bright and early at Farnham and used the facilities so I didn't have to queue at race HQ! Right from the start I felt good apart from a bad back which I'd had for a few weeks and knew I would just have to put up with. I rolled through aid stations one and two, moving well and feeling pretty good as the back eased up a little. There were a couple of times when I had to reign it in a little as I found myself running alongside other runners a bit quicker than I'd have liked during the early stages. One guy in particular had a very Rob Krar-esque beard going on and I thought it best to let him go in case the beard was the secret to speed. I want able to resist running the upholds even when others were walking. I've definitely Become better running uphill since I've been doing hill reps the last couple of months since I moved to Streatham. Streatham Common isn't hilly by any stretch of the imagination but it does slope uphill and it is making a difference! I've always seen upholds as a weakness so it was a huge boost to feel good running them. I think I walked all of about 20 feet in the first 24 miles which isn't that hilly but still has hills I know I would have walked in the past.
With everything going to plan, i was a bit concerned when I began to feel unwell on the descent down to the box hill aid station and had stomach cramps from the long down hill. I stuck with the plan at Box Hill and Ed Catmur refilled my liquids as speedily as he runs ultras whilst I restocked the front of my vest with bars and gels (not knowing I wouldn't touch them again for the rest of the race!). At the time I thought it was just a minor bad patch and I was actually looking forward to some more varied terrain after the relatively flat first half of the race.
I hiked up the steep section to the to the top of box hill feeling rather nauseous and struggling with the heat. I felt like I was dehydrated but I had been drinking plenty so I was not sure if its possible but maybe too much other stuff in my gut stopped water getting through? The climb up Box Hill also seemed to cause some cramping in my legs but I stopped to stretch this out and it calmed down. I knew the section from Box Hill to Reigate like the back of my hand and wanted to push but whenever I upped the effort the nauseousness and stomach cramps got worse so I mixed walking with some running, hoping it would clear up soon. Unfortunately I felt worse and worse but eventually made it to Reigate wondering what I should do from here, not a position I had been in before!
I'd not eaten for about 9 miles and I didn't feel like eating still but needed something savoury and salty so I stood there clumsily shoveling crisps into my mouth. Midway through an ultra you can look a complete mess and shove food in and nobody looks at you any differently! I sat down with some coke and sulked for a bit pondering whether I should carry on or not. I've always thought a DNF is a bit weak unless you physically can't continue. I was perfectly capable of moving in the right direction so I told my self to stop being a pansy and get on with it! About 15 minutes after arriving, I left Reigate having decided to just walk as fast as I could without feeling too nauseous and just hoped I would get through this rough patch.
To make things worse, I was constantly getting passed by other runners at this stage as I was moving so slow and the competitive part of me didn't like this but I stuck with the walking plan and later got the headphones out and stuck my playlist on which really helped to get me going. Roughly 5 miles later I started to feel a bit better and as I came to a section of gradual incline through a couple of fields I tried power hiking and still felt good at the top. Finally I could start trying to run again and found a second wind which brought be into Caterham with a skip in my step.
This was definitely the turn around point, helped by the ice cream on offer at the aid station which was amazing! Topped up with peanuts, coke and ice cream I embarked on the penultimate leg of the run and although I still didn't feel great, I was able to run and I knew I would make it to the end! I began to claw back some of the places I had lost during the rough patch which definitely helped and I had to reign in my enthusiasm a little at one point so I didn't run out of steam given if had little to eat in the recent miles.
At the last aid station, I filled up and forced some food in. I had one more 7 mile leg to get through and although I still didn't have much of an appetite I needed to get some fuel on board to get me through.
As I left I asked one of the volunteers how far ahead the next runners were and he said there were 3 about 5 mins ahead. I thought I might be able to catch them and did so quicker than I expected,then passed a fourth shortly after. With only a few miles to go I missed the route markers going through a field and continued across the field towards some parts in a hedge thinking the past continued through. Unfortunately I soon discovered this was want the case and I should have turned off onto a path which led along the edge of the field in between hedgerows. Luckily there was a gap in the hedge I could get through onto that path and after a few seconds of awkwardly climbing over barbed wire whilst cramping I was back on track. At the time my only thought was to get back on the trail, it wasn't until after I wondered what the rules were, should I have backtracked to where I left the path and rejoined? I'd continued pretty much parallel to the patht through the field and then turned onto it so I figured if anything I'd done further and it was only a little off the path so I think it was fine!
As I got nearer to the finish at knockholt pound I could see a couple of guys ahead of me across the fields and I didn't really think I'd catch them but I pushed on and as we left the trails for the final tarmac stretch to the finish I gave it everything and whilst fighting off cramp gained another couple of places!
 |
| Relief at the finish! |
In the end the job was done in 9:35 and I finished in 32nd (results here). The results show that I was 19th at the box hill aid station 24 miles in. They then show me being 59th at Derivate but I think that's a mistake as I seem to remember the majority of people passed me whilst I sat in aid station at Reigate and then between there and Caterham. Never the less, another runner suggested he thought we were about sixtieth as he passed me shortly after Reigate so I was pleased to be able to regain nearly 30 places after my rough patch and I'm pleased I didn't drop out. This will give me great confidence in the future that I can ride out bad patches and still perform well.
My target coming into the race was to race and push myself. When I ran my first race longer than a 50k last year in the Ultimate Trails 100k I had purposefully taken it easy to begin with and run within myself. This time I wanted to push from the start whilst making sure I want pushing so much that I couldn't keep pushing to the end and with my limited experience of running this distance I reckoned a target of 9 hours would be attainable but not easy and I think I have meet that target without the stomach issues.
Its difficult to say how much walking for 5 miles or so allowed me to recover a little and run well later but I definitely feel I could improve on my time and I have unfinished business with the NDW50! Generally I would not repeat races as there are so many of there to do I figure you might as well try as many as possible, but the north downs is so close I expect I'll be back!
So what did I learn?
- as much as I have a sweet tooth, when I'm running for his on end, I need to mix sweet and savoury.
- whilst starting to take fuel on early is important, i think I ate too much stuff early on. Need to figure out how much I can digest whilst maintaining a decent effort.
- cramps possibly suggest i didn't have enough electrolytes/salts so I might try some s-caps in training.
- forest fruits TORQ gel is quite horrendous! The golden rule of try nothing new on race day includes gel flavours!
- you can work through stomach issues, never DNF if you can keep moving.
- hill training is worth it!
I also learnt that one of the things I love about this sport is how much you learn about yourself on every run! I learnt a lot about discipline, character and perseverance and I think that's one of the most incredible things about ultra running. Whilst you can practice things in training you're never going to run 50+ miles at race pace, with race strategy so some things you'll only find out in a race and that's part of the experience.
I took a good few days off after the race before cycling a couple of days to work, then ran little on Saturday. On Monday I started to get some pain at the base of my spine and woke Tuesday morning unable to walk easily let alone sit down/get up. A trip to A&E latter and I apparently had sciatica! Glad it wasn't anything worse, got a massage from Mark Beaton (recommended!) that evening and things started improving. Should be able to get twinning back on track next week with the NDW100 up next and only 10 weeks away! I'll be hoping to take my lessons from training and the race and not repeating the same mistakes at the 100!
An extremely belated NDW50 Race Report!
I wrote this shortly after the North Downs Way 50 in May but never got round to posting so here it is rather belatedly!
After a 4am alarm, a 4.30 taxi and a 5am train from Clapham Junction I arrived bright and early at Farnham and used the facilities so I didn't have to queue at race HQ! Right from the start I felt good apart from a bad back which I'd had for a few weeks and knew I would just have to put up with. I rolled through aid stations one and two, moving well and feeling pretty good as the back eased up a little. There were a couple of times when I had to reign it in a little as I found myself running alongside other runners a bit quicker than I'd have liked during the early stages. One guy in particular had a very Rob Krar-esque beard going on and I thought it best to let him go in case the beard was the secret to speed. I want able to resist running the upholds even when others were walking. I've definitely Become better running uphill since I've been doing hill reps the last couple of months since I moved to Streatham. Streatham Common isn't hilly by any stretch of the imagination but it does slope uphill and it is making a difference! I've always seen upholds as a weakness so it was a huge boost to feel good running them. I think I walked all of about 20 feet in the first 24 miles which isn't that hilly but still has hills I know I would have walked in the past.
With everything going to plan, i was a bit concerned when I began to feel unwell on the descent down to the box hill aid station and had stomach cramps from the long down hill. I stuck with the plan at Box Hill and Ed Catmur refilled my liquids as speedily as he runs ultras whilst I restocked the front of my vest with bars and gels (not knowing I wouldn't touch them again for the rest of the race!). At the time I thought it was just a minor bad patch and I was actually looking forward to some more varied terrain after the relatively flat first half of the race.
I hiked up the steep section to the to the top of box hill feeling rather nauseous and struggling with the heat. I felt like I was dehydrated but I had been drinking plenty so I was not sure if its possible but maybe too much other stuff in my gut stopped water getting through? The climb up Box Hill also seemed to cause some cramping in my legs but I stopped to stretch this out and it calmed down. I knew the section from Box Hill to Reigate like the back of my hand and wanted to push but whenever I upped the effort the nauseousness and stomach cramps got worse so I mixed walking with some running, hoping it would clear up soon. Unfortunately I felt worse and worse but eventually made it to Reigate wondering what I should do from here, not a position I had been in before!
I'd not eaten for about 9 miles and I didn't feel like eating still but needed something savoury and salty so I stood there clumsily shoveling crisps into my mouth. Midway through an ultra you can look a complete mess and shove food in and nobody looks at you any differently! I sat down with some coke and sulked for a bit pondering whether I should carry on or not. I've always thought a DNF is a bit weak unless you physically can't continue. I was perfectly capable of moving in the right direction so I told my self to stop being a pansy and get on with it! About 15 minutes after arriving, I left Reigate having decided to just walk as fast as I could without feeling too nauseous and just hoped I would get through this rough patch.
To make things worse, I was constantly getting passed by other runners at this stage as I was moving so slow and the competitive part of me didn't like this but I stuck with the walking plan and later got the headphones out and stuck my playlist on which really helped to get me going. Roughly 5 miles later I started to feel a bit better and as I came to a section of gradual incline through a couple of fields I tried power hiking and still felt good at the top. Finally I could start trying to run again and found a second wind which brought be into Caterham with a skip in my step.
This was definitely the turn around point, helped by the ice cream on offer at the aid station which was amazing! Topped up with peanuts, coke and ice cream I embarked on the penultimate leg of the run and although I still didn't feel great, I was able to run and I knew I would make it to the end! I began to claw back some of the places I had lost during the rough patch which definitely helped and I had to reign in my enthusiasm a little at one point so I didn't run out of steam given if had little to eat in the recent miles.
At the last aid station, I filled up and forced some food in. I had one more 7 mile leg to get through and although I still didn't have much of an appetite I needed to get some fuel on board to get me through.
As I left I asked one of the volunteers how far ahead the next runners were and he said there were 3 about 5 mins ahead. I thought I might be able to catch them and did so quicker than I expected,then passed a fourth shortly after. With only a few miles to go I missed the route markers going through a field and continued across the field towards some parts in a hedge thinking the past continued through. Unfortunately I soon discovered this was want the case and I should have turned off onto a path which led along the edge of the field in between hedgerows. Luckily there was a gap in the hedge I could get through onto that path and after a few seconds of awkwardly climbing over barbed wire whilst cramping I was back on track. At the time my only thought was to get back on the trail, it wasn't until after I wondered what the rules were, should I have backtracked to where I left the path and rejoined? I'd continued pretty much parallel to the patht through the field and then turned onto it so I figured if anything I'd done further and it was only a little off the path so I think it was fine!
As I got nearer to the finish at knockholt pound I could see a couple of guys ahead of me across the fields and I didn't really think I'd catch them but I pushed on and as we left the trails for the final tarmac stretch to the finish I gave it everything and whilst fighting off cramp gained another couple of places!
|
| Relief at the finish! |
In the end the job was done in 9:35 and I finished in 32nd (results here). The results show that I was 19th at the box hill aid station 24 miles in. They then show me being 59th at Derivate but I think that's a mistake as I seem to remember the majority of people passed me whilst I sat in aid station at Reigate and then between there and Caterham. Never the less, another runner suggested he thought we were about sixtieth as he passed me shortly after Reigate so I was pleased to be able to regain nearly 30 places after my rough patch and I'm pleased I didn't drop out. This will give me great confidence in the future that I can ride out bad patches and still perform well.
My target coming into the race was to race and push myself. When I ran my first race longer than a 50k last year in the Ultimate Trails 100k I had purposefully taken it easy to begin with and run within myself. This time I wanted to push from the start whilst making sure I want pushing so much that I couldn't keep pushing to the end and with my limited experience of running this distance I reckoned a target of 9 hours would be attainable but not easy and I think I have meet that target without the stomach issues.
Its difficult to say how much walking for 5 miles or so allowed me to recover a little and run well later but I definitely feel I could improve on my time and I have unfinished business with the NDW50! Generally I would not repeat races as there are so many of there to do I figure you might as well try as many as possible, but the north downs is so close I expect I'll be back!
So what did I learn?
- as much as I have a sweet tooth, when I'm running for his on end, I need to mix sweet and savoury.
- whilst starting to take fuel on early is important, i think I ate too much stuff early on. Need to figure out how much I can digest whilst maintaining a decent effort.
- cramps possibly suggest i didn't have enough electrolytes/salts so I might try some s-caps in training.
- forest fruits TORQ gel is quite horrendous! The golden rule of try nothing new on race day includes gel flavours!
- you can work through stomach issues, never DNF if you can keep moving.
- hill training is worth it!
I also learnt that one of the things I love about this sport is how much you learn about yourself on every run! I learnt a lot about discipline, character and perseverance and I think that's one of the most incredible things about ultra running. Whilst you can practice things in training you're never going to run 50+ miles at race pace, with race strategy so some things you'll only find out in a race and that's part of the experience.
I took a good few days off after the race before cycling a couple of days to work, then ran little on Saturday. On Monday I started to get some pain at the base of my spine and woke Tuesday morning unable to walk easily let alone sit down/get up. A trip to A&E latter and I apparently had sciatica! Glad it wasn't anything worse, got a massage from Mark Beaton (recommended!) that evening and things started improving. Should be able to get twinning back on track next week with the NDW100 up next and only 10 weeks away! I'll be hoping to take my lessons from training and the race and not repeating the same mistakes at the 100!
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