Stickless, thanks, and glad it inspired you to run your 12ml today, and thank for all the good wishes beforehand.
I've just got back from Cardiff. Actually I don't think I did start too fast,! But sad to say， I DNFed too, just after halfway. Even if the first few laps I was feeling uncomfortable, and falling behind my intended pace, which should be been really easy, at least for the first half, as it was slower than Draycote 35, on an easier course, and I've done lots more miles, and long runs since then. If it had unravelled after that I would have been less surprised, and maybe thought I'd gone off too fast, or not maintain the high mileage for long enough, or not enough really long runs.
After about 10mls it felt as though I'd one 20ml+, and I was taking little unintended walk breaks. When Gobi and Matt the Brum, running together, passed me on my 3rd lap, when I had calculated that they should pass me on the 4th lap, my first thought was that I had aready slowed, but that was not actually the case (ask Gobi!). But thereafter I really did slow, and it quickly got worse and worse, and by about 26ml I knew I wouldn't even make the 12hr cut off, let alone the 10-10:30, worst case target. I struggled on till 50k, but by then I knew it was more than just a bad patch I was going through, and would have to run the second half considerably quicker than the first half - a very unlikely scenario at the best of times. At the end of that lap I sat on the grass and ponder a bit, but I realised that trying to start up again with so far to go was really not an option, so I sat on the grass some more, mithering to myself....
Maybe it was that I had tried to squeeze too many long runs and miles into too short a space of time, and that I hadn't recovered from the Neolithic marathon 2 weeks ago, despite the very aggressive taper since then. More. I think it was probably a gut issue - no, not as Paula's, but the other way round. OK , too much info, but usually I go the loo very soon and easily after breakfast, but neither then nor just before the race was I able to. There were portaloos on the 2ml loop, so I was confident that once I started running, and although it would waste a bit of time, the urge would come. I must have gone into the loos about 6 times in an effort to relieve discomfort in my gut, but to no avail. I was eating my planned nibbles at regular intervals, though this was making the gut more uncomfortable. When I cut back on eating I felt better, but am sure it would have had other repercussions later.
Does anyone know what affect this would have on diverting blood to the gut, or on HR and therefore percieved effort (perhaps these are the same things) ?. Anyhow, its not a problem I can ever remember having - usually its the quite the reverse, but its the only thing, with perhaps the psychological effect of percieving it to be a problem, that I can think that accounts for the dismal performance. Very fed up, as I had really enjoyed, and felt I'd done well in my other ultras. And one of the Scottish women who was only 10 mins ahead of me at Draycote did 9:18, so adding say 20-30mins on for being twice as far (not even quite that) would have given me the sort of time that I would have been very happy with, and makes me think that my target wasn't too unrealistic.
Edited: 18/05/2008 at 22:55
