Pembrokeshire Coastal Challenge - Events

23/10/2012 at 20:10

Hi everyone,

I am taking part in the Pembrokeshire Coastal Challenge on November 2nd , its a 3 day event, a marathon a day totalling in 78.6 miles along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Is anyone else mad enough to have entered??

Ivy Mike

30/10/2012 at 09:42

Hi EH. Yes, am doing this one too. Completed the ACC a few weeks ago which was fantastic. If this is anything like that then it's going to be another amazing 3 days. Roll on Friday!

30/10/2012 at 18:49

Well im glad to hear you say it was fantastic, I will admit I'm a little nervous but I have had the luxury of living near the coast path so have had plenty of training runs on it, just hope its not too muddy! How was ACC and do you have any tips on recovery for the legs after each day?

Ivy Mike

30/10/2012 at 19:09

Do you live near the Pembrokeshire coast path itself? Or a different one with similar terrain? I think mud is going to be a given

The ACC really was fun, lots of camerrderie, laughs and new friends. Plus some amazing running. I sense this will be more of the same. A massage helped at the end of each day, as did a swim. Plenty of fluids (not all beer!) plus lots to eat also helps. Was a revelation to me to realise you can go out the next day and do this sort of mileage again. Walking up the steepest hills helps to save the legs too! As does not hammering down the descents too fast

Hoping to see some of the same faces from the Cornwall event. Have you entered in a team? Chris.

30/10/2012 at 19:20

Yea I live just outside of Tenby which is right on the coast path, so Ive practiced along that stretch and have been up to Dale and done 14 miles up there, it was so muddy it was more wading than running though!! I was thinking that a couple of beers would help recovery and I have got eating lots down to a fine art!! I have to agree that after being on your feet for hours at a time I find downhill far worse than uphill, my poor knees have taken a real hammering lately. Well I use the word "team" loosely, there are 3 of us taking part but we haven't decided to run /stay together once we get going. Two of us are staying in a b and b in St davids and the other is driving back home every day.Are you coming from far? Elly

Ivy Mike

30/10/2012 at 19:35

Know what you mean about the hills Elly. Somehow the uphills come as a relief! I recall an awful lot of steps along the Cornish route too! There was also a lot of mud on day three. Remember seeing a lady called Clare disappear up to her waist in a bog at one point. We tried not to laugh, but failed...

14 miles along some of the actual route sounds like great prep. The free beer was good! Hoping votwo come up trumps again. The cheese sarnies were also fab, but think I may have had one too many of those lol This is a 260 odd mile drive for me, about as far as the Cornwall one was too as I live in Chichester, West Sussex. Have a room in a cottage with a random and as yet unknown set of people. Could be a bit big brother! Have signed up for the Brecon Ultra too. Thinking I might becoming hooked on these 'alternative' events! Nice to run as a sort of team. Good fun. Last run of the week completed.. Just loading up on carbs now

Have you done any other marathons/ultras before? Chris.

30/10/2012 at 19:48

There are a few steps along the way on the first day but nothing too ridiculous! Poor woman (I would have laughed aswell), I went out on the coast path a few weeks back and my once blue running leggings were mud brown up to the knee and my trainers were unrecognisable Free beer!!!!! my two favourite words. That is a very long drive, im only an hour away and im not driving there or back thank god. You can guarantee the people your staying with are all mad as theyve entered this race!!!I did have a look at the Brecon Ultra , So many races I want to do its hard to decide which ones to enter, after the PCC I have a 10 mile race in Pembrey, then nothing until the Born to Run Ultra 40mile in Llanelli, which will be the farthest ive run in one go. Its my first ultra but all my long runs have been 20+ and done a few back to back runs of 20 miles each, im not too worried about the distance its the weather thats worrying me! What are you eating to carb load, I seem to have lost my appetite completely ... think its because of the nerves creeping in

Ivy Mike

30/10/2012 at 20:08

Ahem, pizza, ice cream and those chocolate covered rice crispie cakes today! Will return to pasta, spinach and whole grains tomorrow

Am hoping that there will be more free beer and perhaps Brains this time rather than Skinners

Ah yes, guaranteed bonkers house mates for four nights lol Born to Run, for a moment there I thought it was going to be a race in Mexico - have you read the book of the same title? A great read. Sounds like this event will be a breeze to you having done that sort of training! You'll probably go thinking of just getting round and then get sucked into racing

Day 3 weather at the ACC was a pain, horizontal rain etc! Key seemed to be to get the layering right, I was too warm three miles in so ditched the coat, guess this will be different being Nov

Ivy Mike

30/10/2012 at 21:05

Meant to ask, are you part of a running club in Tenby?

30/10/2012 at 22:23

No I just run with a few others or by myself. Ha ha I wish it was the Copper canyon Ultra, the book is amazing and I didnt want to put it down once I started reading it, the best book I have read in a long long time!! Ive already started thinking about times I want to finish in , im too competitive! Yea im layering up and keeping my jacket in my bag, im boiling within minutes of running!Ive forced down noodles and a sandwich and now feel so full its uncomfortable! What sort of times were you finishing each day in for the ACC?

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 08:25

Hi Elly. Noodles are good! Loved Born to Run too, experimented with minimal shoes having read that, but ended up with a stress fracture, which may have been unrelated to the shoes, too much volume perhaps? Getting the result of the scan two days before the London marathon and having to skip that was a mare. As was the 12 weeks not running until August. Did not give me much time to train for the ACC, but in some ways the rest seems to have been a good thing. Just read Chrissie Wellington's book, also an amazing read. Plus Rosie Swale Popes

I think I may have over eaten last night too, going to be a bit more sensible today! Umm, 4:15, 4:20 and 5:40 I think for the ACC, 6th overall, would have been 4th but for some horrid cramp on day one... day 3 was 28 very rocky miles, more rock climbing than running! But I'm not competitive either

The thing I recall from the ACC was seeing people with ultra trick compression gear on day one who actually turned out to be quite slow, was quite funny

Got to know the people in the top 10 quite well, you sort of end up runnning in a group at times, think a couple of them are going to be at St Davids too. Are you delibeating over which shoes to use? I've settled on the Inov8s, which drain quickly when wet

. Chris

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 08:39

A few photos from the ACC, has me excited for the next event just looking at these again..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/christucker/sets/72157631611953800/

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 08:49

Sorry, you've got me talking about running, as you might guess it's a bit of a passion!

This also brings back great memories of Cornwall, hard to believe it all starts again on Friday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md3nIFcqKUA

31/10/2012 at 20:03

Dont apologise, I tend to go on when im talking about running and you can see peoples eyes glazing over!! Wow those times are amazing and 6th overall is an acheivement, considering the terrain those times are good!! Rosie Swales from tenby, shes crazy doing all that running around!!!! This is weird but I had to pull out of London Marathon in 2007 due to shin splints and I had to pull out of Edinburgh aswell, I was so upset, I couldnt walk for weeks!! If you like the book "Born to Run" you should get the dvd " Running the sahara" it is amazing, I think these 3 guys end up running for 120 days, its incredible!! I am running in my Asics Fuji, they are the most comfortable lightweight off road shoes i have ever run in and they were half price when i bought them so even better! Talking of people in compression gear, one of the guys im running with ( hopefully I will lose him!!) has got so much kit youd think he was running the Marathon de Sable!! God he is definately all the gear and no idea, hes bought a kit bag that takes a degree to get on and there sme with my £10 quid hydration backpack from Tesco, I like to run on a budget. Elly

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 20:24

LoL Three days of talking running with fellow addicts looms

My ACC place was not normal

, is all about who shows up on the day eh! Will look out for the dvd, it's one I've not seen as yet. Ouch, shin splints sound very painful. Watched the dvd with James Cracknell where he competes in the MdS, that was pretty amazing. I should admit now to owning some compression socks! Started wearing em after the injury this year and they do seem to work, well that's my excuse anyway

Cue jokes about where is the game of hockey.. Rats, if only I'd known you could get a bladder for ??10! Watching the series about Brazil (soo warm there) this eve and looking out at the howling wind and hoping it's a bit warmer and less windy come Fri! Off to look up Asics Fuji now

31/10/2012 at 20:32

That sounds like three days of heaven for me, i normally bore the hell out of everyone blabbing on about this race and this book and these trainers! If we are admitting stuff I own 3 pairs of compression socks which I wear after my long runs but they cost no more than £5 a pair. My backpack is brill considering how cheap it was, I do have a camlebak but it was too small for all the kit we have to carry.

I havent seen that dvd but im going to have a look for it on amazon, ive ordered Scott Jureks "eat and run" The weather down here has been atrocious today, howling winds and lashing down rain.....its gonna get very very messy

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 20:43

This might have been why I loved the ACC so much, the ability to talk with fellow nutters without any glazed expressions

Ok, I can do messy, well mud that is! On the South Downs here the mud is fine, but it makes the chalk lethal, so am looking forward to some granite? The Asics Fuji Racer looks like a super light weight pair of shoes, you're gonna fly along those cliff paths! Ok, more kit amnesty - I have a Salomon back pack, but it was fab during the last event, the excessive hours spent googling seems to have paid off in that instance! lol That's the new Scott Jurek book isn't it? The Dean Karnazes one is also good, have to laugh at how he orders pizza whilst on the run and takes delivery / eats it without stopping.. an urban myth perhaps

31/10/2012 at 20:51

I read that about Dean Karnazes, I read an interview with him in a health food mag and he mentioned the pizza in that. I love Scott Jurek , I just think he's amazing cant wait to read the book. A brilliant website that I go on is www.nomeatathlete.com its based on vegetarian and vegan running but the majority of articles and blogs are for all runners, as an ex-vegan I do try and be as meat free as possible but sometimes its hard to pass up a bacon sarnie,. My downfall was getting drunk and eating a scotch egg and then mid chomp remembering I was vegan...it was all down hill from there! I will own up to having a pair of orca compression shorts, they are possible the tightest most uncomfortable bit of clothing I own, also one pair of compression socks are illuminous pink!!

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 21:10

It's a small world, was on that website a while ago after reading born to run, think I found it whilst looking partly for injury advice and partly when reading more about Chia seeds

Was that a 3am scotch egg by chance?! There was a guy in Cornwall from Vegan Runners, but I forget his name now. Excited, not quite sunk in that I set off tomorrow. Ah yes, i too have some Orca Tri gear, I dabble in that sport about once a year, but no more! So, will you be wearing the pink socks on day one? Or reserving those for the post race pub sess at the end of day three?

. Chris

Ivy Mike

31/10/2012 at 21:15

Thinking of doing the Oner next April, but that would mean missing London (again). Seems like a pretty amazing experience tho..