In Vino Veritas

The Bacchus Marathon takes place at Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking, it features wine at all of the frequent aid stations and is followed by a hog roast.  As a teetotal vegan this seemed a perfect match!  The course is a 13.1 mile loop over the hilly terrain around the vineyards and the emphasis is on fun rather than racing.  A half-marathon commences an hour after the full marathon and entrants to the shorter event outnumber marathoners by a factor of 10:1, many of them in fancy dress.  Lingering at the aid stations is the order of the day for most runners and a party atmosphere develops throughout.  There are a few serious runners blazing round at the front of the pack, a few more like myself, not so speedy but there mainly for the running and then the majority there to enjoy the wine with a pleasant jog around Surrey hills thrown in.

I was slightly distracted at the start due to a friend arriving with seconds to spare and as a consequence forgot to start my watch, I realised this whilst chatting to another friend who mentioned that she was having trouble getting hers to pick up the satellite signal so missed recording the first half mile or so, but this wasn't a problem as I wasn't going for any particular time.  My legs didn't feel great from the start and the uphills really seemed to be taking toll immediately so I decided to walk any hills which felt like they needed walking.  Strength seemed to wax and wane without reason; a straightforward flat piece of trail would seem like it was sapping energy from my legs at an alarming rate and ten minutes later I would be happily trotting up a hill without thinking about it.

During the second circuit there was a small drama with a frantic bull loose on the trail and various marshals with land rovers trying to block its access to the runners, I later saw it charging about in a field and was very glad I didn't have to cope with it running towards me at any point!  The aid stations were becoming increasingly busy as I caught more of the half-marathoners but this didn't impede me in grabbing water and heading on through.  By mile 20 I was really feeling fatigued and was getting the 'ears full of water' feeling which I've experienced a few times previously; everything becomes muffled and a bit distant and tends to occur in conjunction with energy levels getting very low.  From that point to the finish was a real grind but nothing out of the ordinary.  The final aid station was a bit strange given my slightly spaced-out condition; there were about 25 people stood in a circle, holding lyric sheets and singing along to Mr Blue Sky by ELO.  At least I think that really happened!

The last mile is a lovely gentle slope and so you can switch off and let gravity do its stuff, it's always nice to be overtaking people at the end of a race even if most of them had probably been drinking wine all day!  I finished a couple of minutes after Mandy completed the half, had I known she was so close I might have put in an effort to catch her which probably wouldn't have been sensible as I felt tired enough having taken it relatively easily. In any case it was nice to recover from our efforts together without having to wait for the other to finish.

On reflection I think I was getting some hints from my body during this run.  I've been stepping up training intensity over the previous few weeks; 13 miles at 5am on Tuesdays, track intervals on Wednesdays, a marathon most weekends and averaging over 50 miles per week, which is the toughest sustained training I've ever survived without injury, all with a target of some decent efforts in my upcoming road marathons.  I think this was the point at which my body started to tell me to rest and I intend to listen, a couple of weeks with more days off are planned.  I'll see whether the approach has worked in October!

14th September 2014  Bacchus Marathon  4:44:54  #46