Thanks Weedy - I think all of them at the moment are feeling a little tough! I went out for a recovery jog this morning and it felt OK.
FF - if you're around - can you please help me work out my training plan for March so that i'm ready for Paris? An idea for which runs I should focus on/length/duration - that kinda thing. I know that I wont have a lot of time - but i'm hoping that the miles in my legs will put me in good stead for March and the focus on Paris.
Here's the race report from Sunday.
London 50km – 17/02/13. A.K.A “I’m sure there’s a downhill somewhere” or “The Railway ultra”
I’m taking it as a good sign that if I sleep badly the night before race day – it’s a good sign. So I got up eventually at 6am and got everything read and checked again my race pack. Having to be self sufficient and navigate was something new for me – but it was a good experience. Using a map and being forced to read where we were going meant that it took your mind off the miles that you were running and the day passed relatively quickly. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day to be out running. It’s such a difference that the sun makes!
I was going out to enjoy the day and from the first few miles I knew that today would not be breaking any records. Instead for the first few miles – it seemed that everything I was doing involved some sort of hill! The entire route followed the capital ring which although seems easy to follow – at some points it was a tad difficult to find the signs – especially when around Richmond (mile 23/24) the colour changed from green to black!
The checkpoints were well stocked and we managed to navigate with little to no errors. This was one of the great things about running with other people and the girls I ran with (plodding hippo and speedy mel) were great. We double checked each other and when one of us was unsure – there was always someone there to explain/clarify.
We saw a lot of walkers/other runners out and they were really friendly and supportive. The only negative part was running by the canals where some young lads decided to try and insult us.... and I took the bait and scared them off a little. I don’t think they expected a runner to come out with some many expletives in one sentence!
My favourite checkpoint was #3 as we were clapped as we crossed into the checkpoint! I tried to have 1 gel an hour supplemented by the aid station (sausage rolls, haribo, coke etc). This seemed to work until the final few miles when I started ‘to feel weird’. I wasn’t physically shot – just mentally broken. I was telling Mel, Ruth and our additional friend we found to run on but they wouldn’t leave me (and I’m very grateful for that now). The last few miles I just lost the focus and the mental struggle was a lot harder than I could have imagined. I honestly felt like I was letting them down – they were trying to push forward to get a quicker time but I was just there slowing them down. It was a hard day in that respect.
I cried a lot, stopped myself having an asthma attack, kept running and made it with Mel to cross over the line together. I can’t thank her enough for putting up with me in the last few days. She was so strong (I often commented: she’s got a rocket up her ass today!) and showed what a strong ultra-runner she is. We weren’t the last to cross the line (even though we thought for 10 miles that we were!... Thanks Joe).
We crossed the line at 53km. 3km longer than planned and we’re still not sure why. Was it the detour in Richmond Park? Or was it a tad bit longer than expected? Who’s to know!
Edited: 19/02/2013 at 13:18
