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.