The Long Run

[Apologies for not posting for a while, I've been doing fairly boring training over the winter and only just now coming onto my big races]

Only partly true...

I have my first "proper" ultra coming up in less than two weeks, the South Downs Way (SDW) 50 mile run. I say "proper" because I technically did an ultra a few weeks ago at the 45km long Six Foot Track Marathon.  But that was barely longer than a marathon and doesn't count. To me anyway.

To prepare for the SDW50, my coach gave me a challenge for last weekend of running 5 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday.

Eek!

Well, as you have likely already worked out, I survived.

The past two days were a great learning experience for me.  I gained insight into the value of mental focus, nutrition, recovery and correct pacing.

Saturday - ran at roughly 5:30-5:50/km for 2.5 hours along the canals and then turned around to come back. In this time I covered a little over 26km and was feeling great at the turnaround.  I passed the marathon mark at 3:59:04 - which is not bad for a training run! At about 44km the wheels started to come off though. I was hurting (nothing specific, just normal body stuff) and I lost my focus.  At 48km I gave up running and walked for about 1.5 kms. However as I was starting to get cold I managed to put my head down and run in the remaining 3km.

I was also feeling a bit sick of the gels - I don't think they work for me past about 4 hours. 

Afterwards, my feet had a few small blisters, but nothing exciting. I guess my pre-taping was successful on the whole.  My legs were really tired and I was hobbling around the house somewhat on the Saturday evening. I made sure to get lots of high quality food into me and to avoid sitting (I'd seize up and standing up straight took me 5 minutes).  Following some sage advice, I went to bed at 9pm to heal up.

Sunday - woke up feeling pretty decent all said. Still quite creaky, especially in my left hip socket and lower back. Maybe 1.5 or 2/10 on the pain scale though, not too bad all said.  After a morning slothing around the house I made it out for a 18km run at 5:15/km pace.  Started off at 5:45/km, but by the time I warmed up again I was down to 5:00/km flat for the last few kms.  I forgot I was supposed to do the fast finish (how convenient!) for the run.  Not sure I would have had a 4:20/km 5k in me though.  Not without someone yelling at me anyway :)

So this weekend I learnt that:

1. If your mind gives up you are screwed.  But don't worry, just walk it off and things can come good.
2. I should try more real food on longer runs. I could pack sandwiches or bagels without too much hassle.
3. 5:30/km is my "ultra cruise" pace on flat.  Takes a long time to get anywhere at that speed though!
4. Lots of sleep and healthy food makes for a good recovery.  Especially the sleep.

All said and done, the weekend wasn't 100% successful as I didn't do the fast finish run.  But I certainly learnt quite a bit about myself!