Complacent

Endurance running has a way of keeping you honest.  You get out what you put in.  Train diligently and you run well.  Take short cuts and you will be found out.  Having completed two 50 mile events and three of around 50K so far this year I had lost the fear of shortish ultras but, it seems, also the respect for the distance.  Mistakes made at this one were that I failed to fuel properly, set off too quickly and approached it thinking I knew it all having completed both the marathon and ultra distances in previous years.  It well and truly gave me the mauling I deserved. 

Mistake one; fueling.  I had a larger breakfast than normal prior to this sort of event.  This laid heavily on my stomach and resulted in reasonably severe stomach ache about two hours after the start.  I didn't take any food or gels to eat during the event.  I always eat regularly in the early hours of an ultra and it pays dividends for me in the second half.  During this one I relied on the sugar-rush effect of a sports drink, an attempt to replicate what happened in my previous event.  It failed to have any effect on this occasion.

Mistake two; pace.  I start ultras at the back and slowly.  I am happy to let the vast majority disappear over the hills and far away.  I then gradually increase effort and my sensible start rewards me with relatively fresh legs which enable me to finish strongly.  Here I started mid pack with a series of ten minute miles on a hot day and hilly course.  I am just not good enough to do that at the moment.

Mistake three; arrogance.  I knew the course quite well.  I knew how to approach it, when to run, when to ease off, which sections I would enjoy and those I would not. I also knew I would finish in under six hours as I knew everything.  I deserved to be taught a lesson. 

With ten miles left, my legs had well and truly 'gone', even fast walking was more than they could achieve and I was reduced to regularly sitting on benches to recover sufficiently for a further half mile shuffle.  Any attempt to actually run resulted in a light-headed, swimmy feeling and I had to stop, stooped with hands on knees in order to recover.

So completely was I put in my place that an oddly positioned '2 km to go' sign within 400 metres of the finish, whether placed there as a joke or mischievously I don't know, completely flummoxed me and I once again slumped onto a bench.  A friendly passer-by asked if I was okay and pointed out that the end was almost, literally, in sight.  I staggered through the final few metres completely unable to muster anything resembling a run.  A sobering end to several hours of misery and, hopefully, some important lessons learned.


9th August 2015   Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 50k    7:10:34  #88