Race minus 10.5 hours - Reflections on the training

Looking back over the last 16 weeks, I was initially half-heartedly training for the Black Dog Marathon, before I signed up to do the Race to the Stones race, picked up the 5 times a week ultra-running training schedule, and pretty much stuck to it, something I have not done in a couple of years.   Over the last 12 weeks I have lost a stone in weight, and am now at my lowest weight in about 20 years.  All of this is despite losing 10 days of training at the peak schedule stage, due to a chest infection.

There have been a number of learning experiences, from coping with carrying half a stone in weight rucksack on my back, to getting lost in the Halvergate Marshes in the cold wet rain, to confusing the local pub-dwellers of a bobbing head torch light out in the fields when I did my night-run session, to achieving a personal aim to run from Cantley to Great Yarmouth along the Wherryman’s Way river route.

All of my running has been done without headphones and I did it fasted, in order to train my body to rely on what it has at least for the first 10 miles, and again I have nailed the timing of when I need to refuel on the longer runs, so apart from the one time I intentionally bonked, I did not run out of energy.

To be blunt, Spring is the optimum training season if like me your training needed to be fitted in as early as 5am.  It does mean you sacrifice any evening TV as effectively I needed to go to bed by 10pm to get enough recovery, especially you have the triple back to back mid-week runs that made the third 6mile day as tough as the Sunday long-run.

Growing a beard to be a stereotypical male ultra runner is something I do not plan to repeat, and it will bite the dust sometime on Sunday - far too itchy and I found myself picking at it resulting in bald patches but fortunately not too visible.

I have loved discovering all the local fields and where seemingly hidden footpaths led.

I will definitely want to maintain an element of trail running, and look for other off-road challenges in the future, as well as some road running.

Eating more sensibly, particularly using MyFitnessPal, has showed you can be disciplined 90% of the time, so you can fall of the wagon the other 10% of the time.

This is my final blog until Sunday, when I hope to write several (with photos) blogs about the day itself.

Race minus 17 hours - Even with the best of planning stuff / sh*t / life happens

As I write this bog I am half way to the hotel where I am staying this weekend, three hours later than planned but at least I am enjoying a coffee and a granola slice.

Last night my black 19yr old cat passed away in her sleep, having deteriorated quickly the 24 hours beforehand. With me not being about this weekend, I spent the morning taking her to the pet crematorium then doing my packing, that I intended to do last night.

To add to the fun, I had bought some last bits and pieces yesterday lunchtime before meeting friends for coffee, promptly leaving said items at the coffee shop when we left - I did realise until the coffee shop had closed, and so I needed to make a quick visit into the centre of Norwich to collect it.

Tonight I will do a second blog which will reflect on the training since I signed up for this mad adventure three months ago.

Just seen the forecast for tomorrow - starting area at 8am is meant to be 15 degrees Celsius, rising to about 20-21 degrees mid-day but I have noticed that near the end in Avebury it is forecasting heavy rain at about 10pm.  Good job I packed a waterproof.

Race minus 3 and a half days - Trying to stick to the plan in the last few days, Paperwork, Weather, Fruit & Nuts!, and Fundraising Video

With fairly minimal running this week, sticking to my calories is become a challenge.
Today my appetite was fired up, and I just needed to eat and eat this morning, plus I was tempted by peanuts this evening.....
It does feel a little like the lull before the storm at the moment - once I am driving from Norfolk to Oxfordshire on Friday, it will feel a lot more real - packing starts tomorrow night.

I now have received by email my car parking pass, and shuttle transfer form, as I will be parking at the start point of the race, and will then need a shuttle bus back at the finish back to the start.
It is the booked shuttle that in effect set my maximum time to complete the race - 23 hours (7am Sunday) as if I missed it, the next shuttle would not be until 4pm!

Looking on the Met Office app, the current forecast for Saturday is 19 to 21 degrees, dropping down to about 14 to 15 degrees by midnight (when I aim to finish).
These temperatures are very do'able for me, and I am very thankful that we do not have last weekend's stonking high-20s weather.

I have decided to take a 150g bag of dried fruits and nuts (indulgent because some are covered in yogurt and chocolate) - 700 calories in the whole bag, and will be used to top up where I want something different to what is on offer at the aid stations.

A fellow runner posted up a VirginMoney Giving video with Stephen Fry, where you add your details and it feels like it been done personally for you - absolutely brilliant, and here is mine;

https://www.myfundraisingfilm.com/view/4600a7ab-a1b3-49bd-b3dd-7e8946e1580d?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_campaign=myfundraisingfilm

Be curious, Be bonkers! (Change of plan)

This morning as planned, I drove to Whitlingham Broad and did my run before going to work and making use of the Executive showers (with power shower!).

Photos of Whitlingham are below but what I wanted to mention is I have realised my "need" to know where a path leads, revealed some areas of Whitlingham that I never knew had existed, and I've run this route many a time before, so if you have the time when you are running, and it is safe to do so, be curious as it may unlock a new route or an extension to an existing route.

As previously mentioned, this Sunday I am meant to be doing a marathon distance training session, which I had planned to involve fully covering the Reedham to Great Yarmouth Wherryman's Way route.

However, Thursday evening I found out this would not be possible as the wife is out both Saturday and Sunday during the day - solution........do the marathon Saturday evening through to the early hours of Sunday - yep,  my first night time run, to test out my head torch and my ability to cope with the dark.

I do not plan to bring more than two to three miles from the house with an aim to run from 7pm to 10pm when it will turn dark, and then brisk walking to complete the outstanding mileage - expectation is to complete it between 1am and 2am - I will let you know on Sunday how it went, after I have had a decent sleep of course.

Week 9 completed, looking good, time pressured 20 miler, the backpack, and a look ahead to the dreaded Week 10

Week 9 I did five runs that added up to 41 miles (20 done today), and it is becoming clear that whilst I have no scope to do much more, particularly mid week, it is actually (surprisingly) very manageable.

There is a another benefit to all this running in that in the last eight weeks, I have lost 10lbs in weight and now need to lose another 3.5 lbs to set a new lowest weight - I have been recording my weight on and off for the last four and half years when at that point I had hit a whopping 16st (224lbs).  My present weight is 12st 10.25lbs (178.25lbs) and the current lowest record is 13st 7lbs (175lbs).
Anyhow, I am getting a lot of comment about I look slimmer these days - my missus reckons I am vanishing up my own backside..... - and to finish this section I have two "aspirational" shirts ironed and hanging up, waiting for me to fit into them, and I hope after Race to the Stones, I will fit into them for work.

Now today's 20 mile run became a little more time pressured than I had originally planned when I overslept by one hour and I had a deadline to be home by.  As a result today's run was more like a training session for a marathon rather than a run-but-take-time-to-enjoy-the-views-ultra.
As with all runs to date, it is a fasted run and I comfortably did the first ten miles around various farm fields, and facing the quarter-mile nettles of doom along the river like last week's long run, before then taking on water and to start with jelly babies.  At mile 12, another batch of jelly babies and water, then at mile 14 a large banana and water, mile 16 was a breakfast bar, mile 18 more jelly babies.  At no point was I feeling like I was out of energy, so nutritionally I had nailed it.
One thing I did do to help with breaking down the 20 miles was I noticed I was doing just about 48 minutes after four miles and quickly calculated that if I could keep to an overall rate of four miles every 50 minutes (12.5 minutes per mile) I would get the run done on time.   This was useful as I could add up batches of 50 minutes in my head and along with your subconscious being in full flow it kept the brain active working out if I was meeting this target. In the end I did it with a few minutes to spare at a rate of 12 minutes 20 seconds per mile.
Apologies, no photos due to this - will try to take some mid-week as I found a nice area that has a lot of environmentally friendly areas for wildlife just outside of Reedham.

That 20 miler was with a full backpack (with two full bottles of water as well), and out of interest I thought I should weigh the bag to work out how much weight I was carrying for the whole run - total weight was 7.5lbs, or just over half a stone.
I do need to start packing it with the stuff I will have on race day rather just stuffing it with lots of clothing - time to look at what I need on race day (will blog another time).

Finally a look ahead to the dreaded Week 10 - 3x6 miles (Tuesday to Thursday) and my only day off on a Saturday but Sunday is 26.2 miles, yes a full marathon.  Total mileage will be 44 miles.

Week 9 - the start of the six week onslaught

With the Week 8 recovery week completed, I have looked ahead to what the training schedule is for the final eight weeks, and if we ignore the final two weeks, there is a lot of consistency to the the schedule except for the long run....

In short, Tuesday to Thursday will consist of two to consecutive three runs of five to six miles each, mainly easy effort but some medium as well.

Saturday is six to eight miles easy effort except for Week 10 where I get the day off.

Sunday is the long run, and the distances will be 20, 26, 15, 20, 26, and 15 miles.

This week is 3x5 (today was easy effort but next two are medium effort), 1x6, and 1x20.

I have yet to decide on my 20 mile route as I do not want it to be the completion of Reedham to Great Yarmouth Wherryman's route - I will save that for the marathon run the weekend after - so instead the route may well end up being an amalgam of all the neighbouring fields I have been using for the mid week runs.

The long run could be kicking off early on Sunday to allow enough time to do it before the wife has to leave the house - possibly a 4.30am start.....

Muddy soggy socks = Re-doing the washing......oops, Week 8, and achievements

At the weekend, the two lots of washing when washed came out with greyish marks on them, and inspection of the washing machine drum, these marks could also be found on the inside of the drum.

My theory is that my very muddy socks must be the cause, so from now on I am going to need to hand-wash them first to get rid of any excess mud, before the missus works out what cause of the marks was....

I am half way through Week 8, and this morning was the second consecutive medium effort five run.  Medium effort for me seems to be in the 10 minute to 10.20 per mile range, whereas easy effort is more 11 to 11.30 range.

Today's was slower than yesterday as the legs were not as fresh, it was colder, and the route was more gnarlier.

Given Week 8 is a recovery week, I have just a six-miler on Saturday, and a nine-miler on Sunday.

I am thinking that for the Sunday I shall do the route along river from Reedham to Cantley and back - pub to pub - it is a route I have run in past years, and is a favourite of mine but it will be the first time this year.

Following the training schedule with no missed runs so far is a major achievement for me, especially as the midweek runs require a 5.30am start, and whilst I have done three marathons in the past, I only ever properly trained for the first one.

Apart from the obvious payoff on race day, my weight has dropped below 13st for the first time in 18 months, and I would not be surprised if it goes below 12 and a half stone by July, which would be a first in a very very long time.

The Backpack and the Long Run

On six day I had a few challenges with backpack for the first few miles, where it would not keep still and as a result one of the straps was rubbing my right shoulder.

I tried to adjust the straps as I was running but any tightening would loosen due to the movement of the backpack, so in the end I stopped and took the backpack off to investigate.

The problem was that all the clothing (triple bagged) I had stuffed in there and it had created a lump at the bottom of the backpack - the solution, and for me to remember for July is to smooth everything down so it maximises to be vertically flat with my back.

The getting lost event the week before, and backpack issues this time are all part of learning so I am ready for the 100km race.