Country to Capital Ultra

Billed as the Premier Single Day Ultra Event, the Country to Capital is a 45ish mile jaunt from the sleepy village of Wendover in Buckinghamshire to Little Venice (nr Paddington Train Station) in London. The timing of the event is great for preparation for the MdS as its mid January and a few weeks before the 2 day Pilgrim Challenge.

I managed to arrive early for this event, keen not to miss the start as I have managed to do on my last two marathons. The start was from the Shoulder of Mutton Pub which meant a nice warm area to get changed, collect race details and meet feelow runners. A word of advice for future runners, get there before the bus comes from the train station as its manic from then on. Baggage trucks were outsdie and it was straight to the race briefing, there I met new friends and companions for the run.

One guy who stood out was Alfie Pearce-Higgins, he is in his mid twenties and looked like he had just thrown on any old running clothing lying buy the front door. He wore a hooded top (which I'm sure wasn't technical) and only had a bottle of lucozade on a belt. Well the gun went off and so did Alfie, sprinting down the street, amazing to watch, even more amazing was his finish time of 5hrs 43 mins, 5th place overall !! Its clearly not all about the kit, gels and backpacks !!

Fortunately I had downloaded the GPS route to my garmin which was essential in places and loads of people got lost. The first 22 miles was pretty quick, 90% off road and muddy as hell. Through fields, farms, woods and water logged gravel paths, I'm sure I wasted loads of energy slip sliding around but it was all great fun. Once we hit the towpath I was pretty tired, I was still running with Marcus Escott and Tom Parry but both seemed like they had loads left in the tank I decided to hang on as long as I could but I knew that I was fading fast and I didn't want to hold them back. The guys graciously offered to wait but when we saw the 13.1 miles to go sign I waved them on.

It was at this stage that I ran for a while by myself. Now running along a canal is pretty magical but when you are exhausted and there seems to be no end its draining with monotonous scenery. I realised that I had pushed too hard for the first half trying to keep up with the other guys and running their race, now I slowed down, took some walking breaks and ensured I took on some water which I had been neglecting to do.

Around 6 miles from the finish I hooked up with Simon Allchin (I think), believe it or not he was wearing 5 fingers and doing pretty well. Simon seemed to be in the same place as me so we ran together for the rest of the race taking walking breaks here and there. A couple of miles from the finish people started to overtake us at a good old place, I couldn't believe it, where was their energy coming from !! 15 + people must have ran past us. With only 100 metres ago I was overtaken again and I couldn't believe it, this time I pushed on and ended up in a sprint finish with Simon and Sarah El-Kadhimi. We crossed the finish line and I was so relieved, a medal, a hot cup of tea and a post race massage well deserved. My finish time was 7hrs 13 mins and I was pretty pleased with that.

What have I learnt from this race? My Ultimate Direction race pack was well suited to the day, although because my water bottles needed to be removed to drink from them I didn't take on enough fluid. I ran too hard for the first half trying to keep with the other guys. Maybe a heart rate monitor for longer distance would force more discipline. 20 miles along a towpath is tough. The event was well organised with plenty of well stocked rest stops and overall I finished with a big smile on my face :-)

Lightweight Sleeping

Well I do feel the cold but ultimately I've got to think about the weight to warmth ratio. I've chosen the Raidlight Combi sleeping bag, its down filled and can convert from a bag into a jacket for extra warmth before bed. Billed as 580g, it actually comes in closer to 650g. It packs away quite nicely but the stuff sac is almost round meaning that I will have to acquire a more rectangle shaped sac for the adventure so it can easily attach to my WAA ruck sac. (I've borrowed one from a friend).

The sleeping bag is suited to 5 degrees, I have considered a silk liner and a thermarest but this all adds weight so I'm thinking of sticking with just the bag and lumping the stones !!!

Trainers

Trainers - Brooks Adrenaline GTX 13

This is no way an add for Brooks but its my choice of footwear for the Mds and here are the following reasons:

1) Rory Coleman said so (if anything is good enough for him its got to be worth serious consideration)
2) They are much lighter than their previous models
3) Stability - I prefer minimalist trainers and even race in 5 fingers but I figure a week on my feet in the dessert and they will be battered. Best to give them a little helping hand when my form becomes sloppy
4) I have used Brooks many times before, right across their range and never had any problems
5) They come in a wide fitting, feet will swell so giving them a little room to grow should help.
6) My trainers are usually a 9-9.5, I've gone for the 9.5 in a wide and I'm thinking this will be sufficient
7) I am planning on running in 2 pairs of socks, this hopefully will prevent blisters and allow me to remove a pair if foot swell is significant 
8) Ive been running my long runs and ultras in Brooks Adrenaline ASR, the off road versions. This was to get myself used to running in this type of trainer again. I got a size 10. No blisters have been caused but even after a full ultra there was masses of room in the end

Well the trainers are decided .... now for the gaiters

The Brecon Beacons Ultra

Marcus Escott said something interesting after he completed the Druid Challenge last week ...

Just remember, all it is is a run. It's just a long one :)

It's only 3 weeks after Amsterdam so there isn't time to train specific, instead I decided to crack
out the trail trainers, don the head torch and simply get out on the trail. I ran 3-4 times per week
covering 6 to 16 miles, I took it really steady, left my watch at home and started to enjoy
running again ;-).

The 15th November came around in no time at all so headed off to wales all on my lonesome. It
was a strange feeling heading so far away from home and not knowing anyone at the other end, I
didn't even have anywhere to stay as I was cost saving so my car was loaded with food duvets
and sleeping bags.

The guys who organise the 46 mile Brecon ultra also own 'Likeys.com'. A great place to buy all
your running kit, they have been so successful that they are one of the few online retailers who
have been able to expand to a high street store which is situated in Brecon. I headed to the very
helpful and friendly store on Friday and collected my race number plus a few goodies. I found
somewhere to keep out of everyone's way and I crashed for the night. The race starts at 0730 so
it's an early start for breakfast which was a porridge pot and a banana. Having never run an ultra
before I'm a bit unsure of my eating /fuelling strategy and particularly my pacing strategy.

I was wearing my WAA pack which I will have for the MdS, one bottle held water, the other gels
and I had 2 energy bars in my rain cover pouch. As the Weather in the Beacons can be very
unpredictable there is a strict kit requirement, including torch, batteries, waterproof top and
bottoms, hat, gloves, first aid kit and map. My bag held this with masses of extra space, what I
wanted to do however was to keep the weight manageable for my first really long outing. A few guys
had bum bags and I struggled to see how their kit would fit but I presume it did as a spot check
could be disqualification if any items are missing.

I set myself the goal of completing this crazy task before I would need to break out the head torch. Realistic? I had no idea but what they hey. Mustering at the start was very different to one of my usual races, lots of
banter, meeting new people but no stress that usually gets me going. This was refreshing and I
liked it. We were off in a matter of minutes heading almost single file down the tow path. After a mile or
so I checked my pace at 9:30/m and this freaked me out. It was slow very slow, should I speed
up? Should I push on? Then I thought to myself, treat the 2 lap race like 2 halves. Get round the
first then assess the second later. So I did. I pushed up my pace and passed quite a few
runners. The tow path ended after 3 miles or so and the hill of hills began. I had been warned
about false summits so I started to walk as did the others. It was a hell of a climb and even on a
great day running it would have been tough. As it was I chatted to fellow runners and took in the
amazing scenery that was on offer. As we reached the final summit we were above the clouds
and it was magical. Someone from likeys has made the journey and was taking photos, there
was even a guy camped out on top with his son, amazing.

Apart from this first hill I tried to run as much of the first lap as possible. I even left behind guys
who were happy to chat as I didn't feel they were going quick enough. I felt bad about that but
wanted to stick to my goal of assessing myself after the first lap. We saw a bunch of military
guys coming down from one of the peaks, they looked like they had been to hell and back, It
reminded me of the pre selection Bear Grylls went through for the SAS reserves and I wondered
if they had been doing the same.

For the second half of the first lap I ran with a lady called Emily Canvin. A superfit cookie who
gave me lots of great advice and kept me going right through to the halfway checkpoint. I never
got to say thanks Emily but I really did appreciate it. Following a short stop at halfway I was off again and this time the tow path was tougher. I was overtaken by Diane Roy but that was ok as I tried to keep her within sight for as long as I could. This I managed pretty much until the halfway climb on lap 2. Here I hooked up with Mr cheese sandwich and Richard Lendon. Richard is an ultra veteran and an MdS finisher so we chatted the whole way home and crossed the line arm in arm (in the daylight I might add).

What a great day out, an amazing sense of achievement. I joined others at the pub afterwards
for the obligatory pub quiz and was warmed at the feeling of family this lot had. Special thanks go
the the girls from check point 1 who gave me some much needed motivation on lap 2 when they
said I was in 20th place. It wasn't quite right but I didn't know that and it gave me the boost I
needed.

What did I learn from my first ultra ...

* My pack rubbed, I didn't realise until in the shower but zinc oxide tape for the MdS me thinks,

overall the pack was great and very comfortable

* My trainers worked well, Brooks Adrenaline (off road)

* Injinji toe socks worked

* Food 1 x gel per hour and energy bar at halfway worked but I won't be able to carry this much

for the MdS

2 days later while sitting on the sofa I'm off work ill. The cold that I was holding away last week
managed to get through and it'knocked me for four. Need to make sure I don't overdo it in future
in training and maybe my body will be more resilient.

Amsterdam Marathon - nothing according to plan

Back in the summer I decided to step my training up a notch and do the more advanced
marathon training programme from Pete Pfitzinger. In preparation for Brighton I had completed
the 55-75 mile per week, 18 week schedule. Speed was replaced with distance and my expectations
were exceeded. This time around I wanted to complete the 70-85 miles per week plan over 18 weeks. Quickly I realised that the 18 weeks was a no go so I moderated it to the 12 week plan. Fitting in the
training became very difficult, I had a new job and was attending a residential courses. Long runs
of 10-15 were being split into 2 due to time restrictions and I wasn't getting time to recover, we also had a family holiday and I all but gave up running for a week. The schedule was becoming only a guideline now.

I wasn't feeling great and after seeing how others were coping much better on the training
sessions at the club I decided to incorporate the new Insanity Asylum. As usual not doing
anything by halves I went properly over board, I became exhausted and really struggled when I
met up with the others for the long Sunday run. It took a telling off from the coach and a few of
the guys for me to lay off the extra cross training.

Still I was very tired and ultimately I got an injury. Diagnosed as a hamstring strain I was getting pain behind the left knee and my lower left glute. A number of physio sessions seemed to help but in the end I felt like I was relying on these sessions to get to the start line. Bottom line I messed up my prep for this one and I fell out of love with running big time :(

At least going to Amsterdam and getting involved felt like a holiday with the guys. A bunch of
from the running club went, stayed in hotels and had a really nice time. Even on race morning
we were up early and to the stadium all cheery, I had rock tape in places the sun don't shine and
painkillers on the ready. Ideally 3 of us wanted to go sub 3 but I felt this one had passed me by
even before we started. To cut a long story short it did but for a very different reason.

Amsterdam marathon starts from inside the stadium, you run 200m on the track and out onto the
road, complete the marathon and finish again on the last 200m of the track. We were allocated
the yellow start pen (3hr) but we never found it. We got stuck outside the stadium behind about
10000 people when the gun went off, not a good start. It took us 15 minutes to cross the start line
and when we did we were pretty much at the back of the fun runners. We were hopping up and
down kerbs and zig zagging inbetween people. Put it this way it took 7 miles before I overtook a
guy dressed like Elvis and 18 miles before the road opened up ahead of us. This was all really
unfortunate as Amsterdam is a beautiful city with some great architecture and the very pretty
canal which you run up and down.

The three of us stayed pretty much together throughout the race and unbelievably I finished in
3:03. Considering the effort required, the pre training, my injury and everything else I was very
happy indeed. Sub 3 will have to wait, I need to remember why it is I love running first ..

On a side note ... there was a guys having CPR only 1/2 a mile from the finish line, he died in his shorts laid in the road. He would of finished ahead of me and reminded me just how precious life is and how fortunate I am to be able to do the things I love.