Yesterday I talked myself back into doing a race. It was one I'd been talked into by a friend who decided I needed cheering up and the best thing was to join them running the Maverick Frontier North Downs 54km. A few weeks ago though I decided I'd pull out as I'm exhausted from the weekly commute to Devon and have found the start of the new term very stressful; running my first race in over a year really felt that it would be one thing too many. Then my friend fell over and got injured so there seemed little point in driving down to Surrey for a race I wasn't fit for.
However on Thursday night I packed my kit and Saturday morning I got up early to make the journey. As you'll know from this blog, I always get heeby-jeebies before a race no matter whether I'm in good shape, well-prepared or not, and this was no exception. Waiting for the race to start I met a pair of lovely dogs and their grown-up and that helped settle my nerves a little. - The Maverick races often allow cani-cross runners and there were quite a few people running the shorter distances with their dogs -
I was uncomfortable with the mass start. It wasn't a huge field but I didn't much like being so close around other people. The first little while of the race was like that too as all the routes shared the same first few miles and the trails were quite narrow in places. In fact I don't think I spent all that much time running completely out of sight of people which is unusual- generally once the field spreads out after the start I end up on my own for the whole time!
It took me a long time to settle into running. It was already feeling warm by the time we started, a little after 9am, and I had a lot of difficulty regulating my body temperature and heart rate. Some of that I put down to nerves but probably mostly it's down to the loopy hormones. I started HRT during the summer, and although it's helped with some symptoms, it isn't a cure-all and I think this is something I am going to need to develop strategies to deal with if I decide to keep racing. I just tried to keep to an even level of effort and told myself to walk if that was what I needed to keep myself safe.
Eating wasn't great during the race. I ate a few things from my pack but mostly had pineapple and water melon from the aid stations. I did drink a lot but only had two tiny wees during the race and not much better once home and drinking chamomile tea. Reflecting on that now I suspect I was dehydrated in the days before the race and that would have had a significant impact on both temperature regulation and heart rate.
Despite the difficulty settling into things I did mostly run and smile. It felt good to be out and it was also good to have to do nothing but move forward and take care of myself. The terrain was quite runnable on the whole with a few sharp climbs. The worst of the descents were all in the last third- not what you want when you're tired, not concentrating so well, and when your legs are sore! It seemed that I was the only person out there with sticks and I was very grateful for them- as much for when I got tired and fed up and bored as for the hills. Using them kept me walking purposefully when I couldn't face running.
One of my best memories from yesterday was running through a field of maize. It was really tall- much taller than me (but then I am vertically-challenged!) and lots of wild carrot was growing around the base of the maize. There was a group of teenagers headed towards me, shambling along in a tired and chaotic manner with rucksacks and singing 'He's Got the Whole World In His Hands'. I joined in because it's a joyful song and you can't beat a bit of a sing-along mid-ultra. They smiled and sang a bit louder and I wished them luck on their trek. I have a feeling that group have never had the opportunity to get out on the trails before- I hope they had a great day out. I think the hill in the photo above was just after this.
I did get a bit miserable in the last third or so. I'd forgotten how hard running ultras is and my right hip flexor (the one that went wrong at A100 in 2019) had really started to bother me. But earlier on I'd chatted with couple of guys who were running their first ultra and I remembered the advice I'd given them and thought I should really follow it too! Just the usual stuff- things will hurt but ignore it because they'll stop hurting and something else will hurt instead; don't quit just because you're tired and feel miserable; you'll get a 2nd and 3rd wind... And I reminded myself that I'd run enough so that I could literally walk it out and still finished inside the cut-off. In fact I managed a reasonable amount of running in the last 15km and I'm proud that I didn't let the couple of horrid descents near the end get to me. Previously I've let things like that get to me and I've wasted precious minutes standing being cross and miserable and sweary rather than accepting it and cracking on.
Anyway, top 10 finish and all but one of the women ahead of me are considerably younger so I've still got a bit of something in my legs!
I do have a couple of races booked before the end of the year. Not sure if I will run them- apart from anything else I'm doing a 500 mile round trip most weekends to look after a family member who's terminally ill and this could mean running will have to take a back seat. But at least I know I can still run, and I can still be focussed and stubborn and determined.
Hopefully there will be more miles and smiles before the year is out.
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