The Rebound

That’s what this week has been all about. Getting myself back on top of things. Mentally I took a pretty major blow at Kintyre as if I’d been in a boxing match for a full 12 rounds and the referee wasn’t stopping it. But as always, best thing to do is just get straight back up – look back – learn – move on. Thanks to Santababy for the comment on my last blog talking about her DNF and saying how its not always about finishing. It's so true in the world of ultras and you've just got to pick yourself up and look to the next challenge.

So that is what I've done; I’ve got back into my training this week and I have been building up my mental strength again . Due to the experience I felt the need to make some changes; the first one being pulling out of LAMM. This was obviously a decision I did not take lightly as I knew I would be letting my partner Stephen down. The reason for pulling out was because of the lows I have hit on the last 2 times I have been away, combined with the remoteness of LAMM and how we would be spending all weekend in each other’s pockets. It would be selfish of me to go as I just don’t know if I’ll hit another low. So I let Stephen know and who was really supportive and understanding and we pulled out. The other being Hardmoors 60 as well as I just don’t want to travel too far just now to a race and to do it justice I would need to go down to do recky runs too. I’m thinking River Ayr at the moment but I’ll leave it for a bit before making a final decision. 

So for the moment Kilpatricks hill race will probably be next. But my overall focus will be on Clyde Stride and hope to get under 7 hours 30 minutes or even closer to 7 hours and have the bronze goal of 9 hours. But have the approach which worked for me last year with all races up to half marathon and just take every ounce of pressure off myself and just see what I can do on the day. I'm also thinking of mixing up my training a bit by doing some cross training. Also getting back to the club for speed work which I definitely neglected in the run up to Kintyre as I was focusing on the longer runs at the weekend. Going to draw up a plan and try and get some balance.

It’s always good to read things too about people deal with the mental side of ultras. Like this from Geoff Roes’s current blog (well worth a read):

“For me I think I end up a little burnt out (mentally) before I even start a race when I focus on one specific event for too long. I operate a lot better when my most important run is my next run and not some run several months in the future.”

I'm going to go on a similar approach too. So for the rest of the year, although I have loads of ideas on what I want to do, I'm just going to focus on the next few races at the moment and decide on the rest later.

It's always nice to get a 'Win' which is what I got today at park run. I was the timer and out of 400 people running I didn't miss a click :-)

07/05/11 - Kintyre Way Ultra

There is only one race I can think of that I have struggled as much as I did yesterday and that was my first marathon in 2004 down in London. Although 2 completely different races - my experiences during them were quite similar.

It starts with the excitement and nervousness factor. I couldn't sleep the night before each, at all, because both became an obsession, taking up a lot of my thinking and I had a goal without really any back up goals. In London that was running a sub four hour marathon. In Kintyre it was the potential that I could get a podium finish and the back up was finishing within the time limit. Both those goals were realistic as yesterday there was 5 soloists and of course I didn't know what level any of them were at so why not?

I was keen to do things my way and really try and nail the first leg with a pre-planned strategy having done this leg last year. Last year my legs felt beaten up at the end of that leg. After the first 4 miles up mainly uphill the last 8 miles of the leg are down or flat mixed with paved roads or single track. This year I had altered the strategy so that even though I was going downhill or along flat bits I would have a walking break every 10 minutes. Also I had my Hokas on thinking that would also reduce the impact and I tried delibratley to keep my foot striking soft. What happened when I got to the first check point? My legs felt totally beaten up. I arrived in 2.20 which is down on any of the previous soloists from previous years. I decided to change into my road shoes but the 2km down the road to the turn across to Clachen it wasn't helping. Then my mind really get messed up and I really started to struggle around 14 miles - which is where things went wrong in the London Marathon. It felt like I had totally got my fueling wrong. I was eating shot blocs every 15 minutes. Then at checkpoints I would have muller rice with a wee bit of marmite. The reason I didn't have marmite sandwiches like my long distance runs last year was because I found that after 30 miles I just couldn't digest the bread. So I'll need to go back to the drawing board in terms of my nutrition. You just know in your head and your body when it is just not working.

But anyway the wheels were coming off and I looked at my watch and realised this wasn't going to be my day. I was 4 hours in with 4 miles to Clachen. I did the maths and 22 miles in 5 hours would mean I would have to continue to do that pace on beaten up legs, a run down body and mind which was now not in my control. As the cut off to finish is 66 miles in 15 hours.

I know I made the right the decision and have absolutely no regrets. Looking back the Kintyre Way is one tough ultra and should not be underestimated. I did have thoughts before hand of finishing even if its out with the time limits. But that to me would be a DNF(DID NOT FINISH) anyway.  To me ultras are all about finishing within time limits. If I wanted to complete the Kintyre Way, I can do that any time of the year.

This has also given me some perspective of why other ultra runners choose not to finish races. Especially the top guys and women who often get a lot of stick for not finishing. It really depends on what your goal is in the first place.

A lot of lessons to be learned for me here. But I did get a book delivered through the post the other day which I'll read: Relentless forward progress. This is from a guy who runs the www.irunfar.com website, and is a good ultrarunner in his own right and also knows a lot of the top ultra runners in the business. A lot of ultra books on the market are personal stories where this is more of a reference guide. He is arguably the reason why Jez Bragg won the UTMB last year too, as he gave him a lift to the start.

Thanks to Ken and Nic for their support throughout the weekend.

Onwards and Upwards.