A Long Run (and a Long Blog Post)

Messing around at Hangman Ultra

I don't often run more than 20 miles unless it's in a race but today decided I needed to do something that vaguely mimics race conditions. It gave me a chance to test kit as well as my legs. They all survived although a few issues with both!

Preparations
Last night I filled bottles with electrolytes and water and placed them, along with a variety of my usual running snacks, by the front door. The plan was to run three 8.7 mile loops using the chest of drawers by the front door as a mini CP. The loops would be mentally challenging and I would alternate direction to make it bit more like the out and back nature of A100. Although I really need to reacquaint myself with running in the dark I didn't set an alarm. I've been having dreadful issues with insomnia recently and wanted to give myself the chance of sleeping in if by some miracle I wasn't awake at 2am. Luckily although it was a broken night's sleep it was way better than I've slept in a while so in the end I didn't head out on my run until after 8am.
I should also mention that although 25 miles is really not far I still ate all the food last night.

Kit
It's been a right pain trying to find a race vest or pack that's right for me and to be honest I'm still not completely happy. I tired the UD Race Vesta 4.0 which is mostly great but mine developed a tear in the 'burrito pocket' within a mile of its first use and also the plastic strips where the waist and chest straps attach finish right under the collar bone and REALLY rub and dig in. I absolutely love the cinch technology as you can get the vest to fit really nicely (ideal for me as I'm short in the torso) but the issues mentioned meant I had to send it back.
I love my Decathlon race vest-pack thing (no idea what it's called) but it has no zipped pockets and it's quite easy to lose things out of the rear storage pocket when the pack is really full. I still might use that for A100 though as so far it's got the hydration option that works the best for me- soft flasks with straws.
I do have one of those fancy Salomon S Lab Sense Ultra vests now. It's very comfortable, very light, I can just about get all my kit stashed in it without worrying about stuff falling out BUT as I have a rather shorter than average torso the vest sits quite low on me which means it's hard to drink from the soft flasks as they don't have straws. I've tried using my Aonijie soft flasks and they do fit but it's extremely hard to get them in and out and that's not a load of faffing I want to be dealing with.
Anyway, today I went with the Salomon option as I wanted to try a different way of stashing my sticks. I can actually shove them across my back in between the vest and me and that's quite comfortable, secure and leaves them both easy to get to and easy to put away again.

Clothes
I'm really not fussy when it comes to what I wear for running. I have a few items from an American company called InkNBurn and I just love them. Beautiful designs, very comfortable, hard wearing, and the skirts have 2 large-ish pockets. But today I went with a Decathlon skirt as it has FOUR pockets so a really good option with the rather minimalist Salomon vest. Injinji socks all the way though! They don't stop my getting mashed up toes (nothing does!) but they are very comfortable.
Underwear- seamfree knickers are a great invention; I have no chest endowments of any significance so a crop top does fine.

Shoes
Foot wear has been a nightmare similar to the race vest situation. Inov8 have tinkered with their width fittings so designs that once were perfect now really don't work for me. I can't wear the new Roclites as they come up quite narrow which is a huge shame as they are great trail shoes and can handle most terrain. I've ended up with the Trail Talons which are comfortable but I'm not convinced how well they'll to handle more than a smidge of soft mud.

The Run
Not a huge deal to report. I didn't stick strictly to a 10/5 run-walk strategy but I did endeavour to ensure I had regular walk breaks to give muscles a break and to allow for eating. In fact I ate far more than I would normally on a training run- probably took in around 500-600 calories- but didn't have any stomach issues and felt good on it.
Snacks comprised: Mini Cheddars, a small Wild Trail bar, a Cadbury's Brunch bar (that one was a bad idea), couple of ginger oatcakes, 1 Marmite and PNB roll, half a cheese roll.
Usually I turn to little tubes of nut butter on a long run but just didn't fancy that today.
Not sure I drank enough although I did have two wee stops, but I liked having one flask of electrolytes and one of water because sometimes you just want plain water.
Physically and mentally the first loop was strangely hard going. I got home and got sorted and out the door again within 5 minutes feeling a bit better.  Five miles into loop 2 I really didn't know how I was going to get round, but even on a relatively short run like this there were lows then highs just like in an ultra. Getting through each low and then feeling a bit better again does give you a boost. My legs  got a bit tight by loop 3 and I now have a very small niggle in one knee and a slightly gribbly hamstring. Nothing to fret about, I think it's just tight quads making themselves known and also a reminder to pick up my heels more.

To sum up: I have a kit solution that more or less works. I can run 25 miles in 5 hours and feel like I could probably go straight back out and do another 25 without too much misery. I can eat more than I thought on a run and that seems to help energy levels. I can be efficient at an aid station. I can deal with feeling physically and mentally a bit crap in the beginning stages of a run and get through it. My walking has improved hugely.

All in all it's been a productive day: lots learned and a bit of reassurance gained.

'Rutherford Steps' or a stairway to heaven at mile 25 of today's run

PS. Yes, I know 3 x 8.7 is actually 26.1 miles. And that's what I ran in total, it's just that each leg of A100 is 25 miles.

A Poem on UTMB week

UTMB. Everywhere is full of it. I will never run even the baby race of it now. Physical limitations mean I cannot safely attempt mountains. Crippling financial limitations mean travel is out of the question.

Rocky, snow-clad peaks Pierce two hearts. Dangerous footing Shatters one to pieces More tiny than scree. Free of adulthood's travails, The other dances over boulders.

A quick update

Maybe yesterday's moan about how useless Royal Mail has been sent shock waves through the ether as the faulty UD pack I posted THREE WEEKS ago just turned up today! So finally I get my refund and an exchange for a Salomon race vest after all. Phew!

They say it's good to change things up from time to time in training so I thought I'd swap this morning's run for a session on the elliptical cross-training device of doom. Bad idea. I could only cope with 4 miles in 50 minutes before the sheer monotony of it (and I was doing an intervals program) got the better of me. I think I'll have a proper run later!

Postcard from Limbo

It's not been the greatest of summers. Pretty much everything (much of which isn't for blogging about) seems to have taken a nosedive all at once and it's been an endless string of bad luck although at least as far as training goes thankfully I've managed to avoid anything worse than a few niggles.

I'm in a strange place with running. It's just two months until the Autumn 100 which is both still a long time yet really not long at all. At the moment there are days when I want to run for hours but just as many when I don't want to get out of bed let alone run at all. If I was a proper runner I'd have at least 1 more block of structured training but because of other demands I can't do anything much in terms of structure or volume over the holidays and I don't want to ramp things up once I'm back to work in September as that seems like too much too late. But as it is it feels like it's too long a time to just be waiting.

Kit preparation has been a nightmare. Ended up paying a small fortune to replace my worn out trail shoes (the misery that it is being a very wide-footed runner!). The UD race vest I bought had a fault so I sent it back only to have Royal Mail lose it so no refund or replacement. Think I'll be sewing on bits of elastic to my Decathlon vest so I can be sure all the mandatory kit doesn't fall out! I don't have a watch that will last the duration of the race- the Garmin 230 doesn't charge on the go- but no way can I fork out for a new watch with better battery life/charging.

Right now it's very hard to feel positive about it all but I really don't need anyone else to tell me that success in a 100 miler is down to mindset. Given the disaster this year has been, I think I've done more or less the best I can with training. The complete lack of longer ultras for race practise is definitely a worry as I've done nothing significant since June last year, but that's been out of my control. Diet is something I can control and I've been doing my best to eat well despite mostly swinging between comfort eating and not wanting to eat all. Sleep is another matter. But maybe being used to functioning in a sleep-deprived state will be enough to get me through 27 hours of being on my feet and rather longer with no sleep at all.

To be perfectly honest, I'm scared of what will happen and scared of failing. People say as long as you've got to the start having done the best you can that's all that matters. But how do you know if you've done your best both in terms of preparation and on the day?

Answers on a postcard.

A Training Roller Coaster

So much for good intentions to write regular blog updates as my training for the Autumn 100 progresses. To be honest I've been too busy training and dealing with a variety of crappy things life has thrown at me along the way.

It's been an interesting journey so far. Some of the strength work has been quite challenging but I've also found some new exercises that I really enjoy, in particular kettle bell swings and squats with an overhead press. A lot of muscles worked in a short space of time! Running has been a rocky ride with some hip flexor issues in February/March, and out of 6 races entered I've only been able to start 2 due to either niggles or childcare issues. It's proved more or less impossible to follow a training plan and because it's going to be hard to get any regular training done this coming month, I'm a little concerned that I've overcooked things and peaked too soon. Mileage has been fairly consistent since March however, so although I'm really not race-sharp, I've been able to hit 200 miles most months. Hopefully that consistency will be enough.

I've been out and recce'd most of the race route although as it's been so dry underfoot it probably bears little resemblance to what conditions will be like in October. At least I have a good idea of places where it's easy for me to miss turnings and also am now prepared for all those damn steps on leg 4! My biggest concern other than the sheer enormity of covering 100 miles on foot in one go is the running through the night bit. I've managed one overnight hike but that was in June with a mere 5 hours of proper dark. It was mostly quite fun except for the falling asleep on my feet, and actually the decision to hike rather than run at all turned out to be a good learning experience. Fast hiking 50-odd km is a darn sight harder than running! The DOMS over the next couple of days were shocking. Actually I'm also worried about the cows on leg 4. There's a field on the edge of Purley-on-Thames where on one recce the way through was completely blocked by some rather unfriendly cows. I don't want to get timed out just because of bolshie bovines.

The only other thing really is that I have had to retire from karate. Mostly it was a financial decision- I simply can't afford the training now- but also the fear of the contact side of it was becoming a problem and I'm not sure I could progress much further when I'm so scared of getting hurt (breaking another vertebra or a hip) and potentially never running again. I really miss the training although I don't miss the frustration of my body refusing to co-operate, or the brain melt-downs when I can't learn as quick as all the young ones do.

Stitching? Not an awful lot of that but I've knitted a few kittens and a uterus that looks a bit like Boris Johnson:

https://twitter.com/herbalbug/status/950480178471473152

Week 5 is almost done

The last couple of weeks have been something akin to mogul skiing- certainly it's been as bumpy and stressful. Sometimes I've been so tired and stressed that doing anything has been a huge challenge, but other days training has felt great- I've been able to increase the weight and reps and get some quality miles run. Even though it has been hard going, I can now see and feel improvements in my strength and general fitness. I've even gained some weight!

Tomorrow is all about just getting round the Marriotts Way trail marathon. I've spent the week doing battle with a sore throat lurgy thinking I could push through it, but spent yesterday in bed, and actually sleeping. That's a rare occurrence so I guess it's what was really needed. Today I'm much better but not 100% so I've ditched the plan to run the marathon as part of a back to back weekend. It's so frustrating that for the first few days of spring-like weather I've not been out making the most of it, but it's important to think of the long-term goal. The revised plan is to run as much as I feel I want to and walk the rest accumulating time on feet rather than fretting about running to a set pace. It's also a good chance to practice nutrition- I still struggle to get enough calories in on long runs.  It should be a lovely race and hopefully I can catch up with a few friends I've made at other Positive Steps events.

Looking ahead, my first ultra of the year is in a couple of weeks. It wasn't in the plan to run one this early but thanks to UTMB changing the rules (as I just knew they would), I now need extra points if I'm to keep my increased co-efficient for next year's ballot. I don't want to rely on the points from A100 in October as I don't know what to expect from my first 100 miler- obviously my intention is to finish within the cutoff but anything could happen and I don't want the additional pressure of absolutely having to get the points. Right now I'm not sure how comfortable I'll find 39 miles across Yorkshire moors, but it's a small event and judging by the contact I've had with the RD it seems very friendly and low key. It'll be fun running somewhere new and having fun is just as important as anything else!


https://positivestepspt.co.uk/

http://punkpanther.co.uk/

Friday night thoughts

It's not been the best of weeks so far. I took the hip niggle to my masseur who did some very unpleasant things to it and told me to ease off the mileage/ time on feet to a point where I can complete a run with neither pain nor discomfort. I've known Gareth for a good few years now and trust his judgement on such matters, so advice duly heeded resulting in 3 runs of about 5 miles each since my treatment on Monday. That makes just 20 miles for the week so far and rather less than 4 hours on my feet which is a lot less than I'd like, but for the long-term success of this year's training it's crucial to allow enough adaptation time. Running quicker is already feeling easier but it's still a shock to a body that's only plodded for the last couple of years!

Strength work isn't happening as often as I'd like either, but at least it is happening and I'm getting through all the exercises. The biggest enemy isn't time but sleep, or rather the lack of it. I'm just not sleeping well and so may days I simply can't get up and function at 5am or summon the effort needed to do anything constructive. I don't have a bedroom or a bed so all the stuff about creating a peaceful sleeping environment isn't helpful- I do the best I can with what I have.

And that's the thing when you have big goals. I'm not a pro, I'm not charged with getting good results, no one cares whether I stick to a training plan or not. I have a stressful job, stressful enough that I went part-time (and am now broke) because it was making me ill with unhappiness; and I have two children who need me very much at the moment. This stuff about being 'the best that you can be' is all very well but it can be at the risk of losing balance in life.

I love running. It has brought me much joy and it keeps me on a relatively even keel. But it also makes me exhausted and ache all over, and sometimes it has made me very unhappy. There are other things that I love doing and I think it's important to give them time too.