David got in contact and asked me if I'd like to be involved and race in it. I was pretty excited about it as I love that area of the Peaks, and it was about perfect timing for a last long hard effort before the ever-closer Lakeland 50.
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| Photo: David Riley |
So as race day approached I was in the pretty strange position of wondering how on earth I was going to pace it, as it was (relatively) flat, and I have zero experience with long flat races! As luck would have it, I noticed team-mate Dan Page sneaked in a late entry. He's a 2:40 marathoner, and a running coach, so I figured I could get a bit of pacing advice off him before he left me in a cloud of dust.
My nutrition plan was pretty simple. Mountain Fuel Night Fuel the night before, a bottle of Xtreme Energy before the race, then throw down some water and jelly babies at the checkpoints as I wanted to travel as light as possible. I had no idea if this was a good idea, but it seemed to work for my 3 hour pickup runs, so worth a shot I thought.
On the drive up, I decided that I would run at about 145-150bpm, which is around 6:30/mile (on the flat!) and just below my threshold HR (155ish) which should leave me in a position to push on if I could later in the race, rather than crash and burn (for once!).
I arrive, park up and get registered. Everything is wonderfully low key and very friendly, with a really nice atmosphere to it. I spot Dan, say a quick hello, then spot Tony Holland (of The Ultra Runner Store fame and leader of the Ultra Runner Trail Team) and Shelli Gordon (outstanding long distance trail runner and Ultra Runner team mate) and have a catch up.
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| Tony showing off his new gels. |
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| Comparing our different Scott shoes |
Race start time. Dan and I head off at the front, and pretty soon trotting along solo. Have an interesting chat about heart-rate, trying to find out if my strategy is a good one. Turns out I can't actually run at his heart rate. My max is 179, his threshold pace is 175. Not going to try matching that anytime soon!
Our pace, to my surprise, turned out to be near identical. Both running just 5-10 bpm below threshold, and both similar pace. I'd pull away on the climbs, he'd pull me back on the flats. The first CP arrived, I stopped to grab 2 cups of water and 5 jelly babies. Dan grabbed some water and blasted through. Luckily there was a short climb after so I could catch him back up.
The race carried on like this until the second checkpoint, about mile 10. Chatting whist we were running together, but no pressure to run at each others pace. If we were together, fine. If he was just in front, fine, he'd come back on a climb. If I was in front, fine, he'd catch back up on the flat. Fantastic to be running near someone but with no pressure to match their pace, just to keep on at your own.
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| Spot the dodgy leg action |
Checkpoint 2, I stopped for some water and to grab 5 more jelly babies. Dan blasted through again, and I spent the next mile or so catching up the 20 metres of distance between us. I caught him on a climb, then moved a bit in front, putting the biggest gap between us so far. We reached the bridge on the A57, where the terrain suited Dan and he caught back up. At half marathon distance now, in 1:27ish.
We start heading back up on the lake. There's a nice trail, and it's wooded. There's something about running along wooded paths that just relaxes me and I pull away from Dan a little bit. All too soon it's over, Checkpoint 3 arrives, with salted nuts! I grab some water, 7 jelly babies (next CP is 6 miles away!) and suck the salt off a handful of nuts before spitting them back out (steady!).
It's a 400 ft climb from here, in the space of half a mile. Head down, keep the heart rate steady. Seems to work ok - I get up the hill alright, Dan just behind me and I can pick up the pace straight away along the top. There's an amazing view off to the left of the Kinder Plateau, and up towards Snake Pass. Awesome. A tiny descent, then another climb of 100ft or so, where we run past a couple of mountain bikers. One of them is a bit sad about it (What's going on here? This aint right! I'll get you on the down!) as I trot by, followed by Dan. Then my favourite bit - a nice, technical downhill. I let myself relax, and cruise down the hill.
I got to the bottom of the hill about 30 seconds before the mountain bikers (Ha!) and headed off back around the lake. I put just under a minute on Dan down there, and tried to capitalise on that by picking up the pace a little. Which worked well until mile 19, where stitch happened. I jammed my fist under my ribs (sometimes works), slowed down a little (sometimes works), grunted a lot (never works but it hurt like hell). Stopped. Walked. Saw Dan. Ran a bit. Got passed by Dan. Started up some sort of weird, short-stepped fast shuffle and ran along with him.
Really not a fan of this, and right on the edge of too much pain to run, but I wasn't letting Dan get away! Thankfully a checkpoint was coming up. No idea what they were going to be able to do to help, but one was coming all the same.
We arrive at the same time, and they have bottles of water. Bonus! I grab a drink (stitch immediately relaxes!), 5 jelly babies, a bottle of water and head on out, feeling great that the stitch had gone. I'm out before Dan too, so he has to push a bit harder on the climb to tag back on. I encourage him to push on if he wants, as I didn't want to hold hands across the line. He doesn't.
We get to the top of the lake again, then Dan cramps up in his left calf. I'm just behind him, so I see his gait go a bit funny. Well, this could be it! I think to myself, and get a move on out of there. Even though it's a steady climb, I push up to 153bpm, maintaining 6:40ish pace. We've got 4 miles to go, it's on!
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| Focused! |
Little did I know that Dan had only slowed a little, and briefly, and a mile later I hear footsteps. Time to push harder! And hello, stitch. I back off a little, and it feels like some sort of weird, slow motion race, I feel like I'm moving through treacle but Dan isn't pulling away. I start to get hopeful. I spot the dam just by the finish. I'm still feeling good, and the stitch eases a little with the adrenaline.
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| Heading in to the finish, Dan Page just behind! |
I push harder, then with about half a mile to go hit the gas. Feels good. Nearly there. Push harder. Finish should be just around here...although we are still up a little high... Yes! The road down to the finish! Massive adrenaline hit, and a little emotion, and I'm near sprinting, fatigue forgotten. I cross the line 1st, in 3:03:37, with Dan Page 2nd, 24 seconds later. 3rd place Warren Watts comes in 5 minutes later to round off the men's podium.
First Lady (6th overall) is Elly Woodhead in an impressive 3:31, followed by Katey Foster (8th overall) then Shelli Gordon (9th overall).
Ben Brindley finished 46th, in 4:43 which is pretty epic, as it was his 7th in 7 days. All Peak District based, all very hilly, and all in aid of Buxton Mountain Rescue (donate here)
A very informal prize giving, and I get the surprisingly heavy (9.3kg!) trophy.
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| 1st and 2nd, Team Mountain Fuel |
An awesome end to a really enjoyable run.
Things I learnt from the run.
1) Running to a set heart rate is pretty cool, and worked really well for me here. I was about 5bpm under threshold, and it felt nice.
2) I can run faster than I though I can. See above.
3) I need to make sure I drink enough for that I don't get smashed by stitch again. Or get some sort of really light drink carrier thing,
4) Jelly babies + Mountain Fuel = nice, smooth energy delivery (for me, anyway).
5) TrainAsONE really works. I've been following it, it's adaptive training plan is brilliant. (website here)
Stuff I need to change for next time:
1) Push my pace to threshold from the off. I felt too good at the end.
2) I need to take some fluid around with me. Need to find myself a 500ml bottle carrier thing. Not in pack or bumbag/belt form though. Some kind of handheld. Suggestions?
Stuff I wore:
x-bionic The Trick top. Coped with the temperature changes really well.
Tight Shorts. No chafe :)
x-bionic energiser boxers. No chafe :)
injinji trail socks.
Scott Kinabalu shoes. These things are comfy, grippy and just work well.
Thanks to Mountain Fuel for fuelling my run.
Thanks to David Riley for the race entry.
I'm going back next year, such a fantastic event. Also, need my first sub-3 marathon!
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