A Good Plodder On-er

Maybe I should have borne in mind the good old quote “prior planning prevents piss poor performance” but the gap between knowing I should prepare for a race and actually preparing for it is very wide.

I was off work on the Thursday before and had plenty of time to pack but it just didn’t seem that urgent. I had also written a list of things I should do to prepare like downloading the route on my watch and buying supplies. Fortunately I do now have a kit list on my computer which I did print and I threw most of the stuff I needed in my bag and in the car Friday morning before work.

My manager had put me on an early shift so I could get to the campsite at a reasonable time but despite my colleagues encouraging me to go on time I got caught up in something and ended up leaving nearly an hour late. It didn’t help doing my normal leaving three times. Forgot to change my shoes, forgot to empty my pockets, forgot to grab a drink. I set off in rush hour traffic and ended up getting to the campsite just as it was getting dark. I managed to get my tent up, get changed out of my work clothes and walk down to a local shop to get a roll and snacks for dinner. Normally after work I do very little. I am usually pretty wiped by all the social contact especially when I have a day working with the public. It feels a bit ridiculous to say but hiding under a weighted blanket is my usual recovery from a work day. I just couldn’t find any enthusiasm for sorting out my stuff for the morning. I couldn’t be bothered to pre hydrate with an electrolyte drink as I usually do. Fortunately I did have my medication with me including medication to help me sleep and I did sleep most of the night.

After my last pre race camping disaster when I forgot to set an alarm I had set three and as I had slept I got up ok at the first one. I wandered over to the race start area where you can get breakfast and noted I was the only one in pyjamas. I wanted to put my race kit on as late as possible as I would be wearing it for a long time so I thought it was reasonable. My cloud pyjamas got some stares but that sort of thing really does not bother me.

I managed to get my tent packed up in time and got to the race start pen in time for my 8.30am start. I have done several of these Action Challenge 100k events before and it is a bit of an unusual set up. You can enter as a runner, jogger or walker and there are start times every half hour from about 7am to about 9.30am. I used to enter as a runner but now I am slower so enter as a jogger although I hate the term “jogger”. My toes are curling just writing it!

The start was in Eastbourne and after the start we went first up to Beachy Head. Here I made use of the public toilets. I always try to use public toilets on an ultra, many races have no toilets but although these ones were well supplied with toilet paper and stayed cleaner than most, a proper toilet and a sink with running water to wash your hands is such a luxury I can’t pass it up.

The next bit was the Seven Sisters a series of steep ascents and descents and of course this is when it started to get really hot. I had not planned my hydration and nutrition as I would normally do and I was just winging it. I had my little timer to vibrate every 10 mins to remind me to hydrate but had not bothered to set it or turn it on. This resulted in me getting very hot, very dehydrated and generally feeling vomity and rubbish. After this was a long flat bit but as I was not in great shape at that point I was much slower there than I would normally be which was frustrating, I also fell over twice tripping over little metal bits sticking out of the ground. This where there there were the first group of cattle congregating around a stile. They were, understandably, not over impressed with a load of people going through their land and were not going to move for anyone. I reached the first aid station, felt a bit better and then carried on.

Unfortunately it did not take long for me to start feeling rubbish again. I had only gone about 15k and I was not enjoying the experience at all. I was frustrated with myself for not enjoying the thing that I loved. I have been fairly overwhelmed recently anyway and this just felt too much. I was struggling with this for quite a while and eventually phoned my poor husband and told him I was hating this run and I wanted to stop and curl up into a ball. He was very patient and pointed out that this would actually make everything worse as people would try to see what was wrong and try to talk to me. He did not push me to do the race just to get to the next aid station and decide then if I wanted to pull out. I think just the reassurance that he didn’t care whether I did the race or not just wanted what was best for me was what really helped. I put some music on tried to concentrate on the lovely surroundings and just keep moving forwards. Somehow I managed to get out of this mindset and a few miles later was coping much better and by the time I got to the checkpoint totally determined to carry on. The checkpoints are always well stocked and I did stop at almost all of them for a while, mainly to rehydrate and cool down.

In time I got to 50k which was a major mental boost and there was a lovely long easy runnable section down to Brighton beach. The sun was setting as I ran along the promenade. It got a bit noisy and busy but then as if by magic Muppets’ Rainbow Connection came on on my playlist. I put my phone on repeat song mode and disappeared into my muppity world. I did have to pause it for a bit as I saw one of the entrants kneeling on the grassy verge and vomiting. Someone ahead of me offered help but he wanted to be left alone. There were plenty of people passing and I assume that he didn’t want a crowd of people watching him vomit so I moved on. The main “half way” aid station was at 57k. Many people were doing the first half only or doing the event over two days so there was a big aid station and finish area there. I was approaching this and walking up a hill when a man cheerfully said “nearly there”. I hate confrontation, I knew this man was just trying to be kind and encouraging but I couldn’t help myself saying, “No I’m not nearly there I’ve got over 40k to go”. He reassured me that no I was nearly there. I then repeated I had over 40k to go. He then asked me where I was running to. Any normal person running a race like this would know where the finish was, not me, I had no idea, I was just following the arrows. He saw my blank face and then reassured me again I was nearly there. He was (hurriedly) walking on with his daughter when I heard myself shouting back at him. No I have over 40k to go! I don’t think he will every try to be encouraging to a stranger again. Meanwhile I had been walking next to another general member of the public and was so embarrassed about my behaviour I said to her “I don’t know why I didn’t just say thanks and move on”. There were a few more “nearly there”s over the next few k. I had learned my lesson, I just mumbled thanks and moved on.

The 57k rest stop was quite a long one. I was struggling to eat. I had to throw away the bowl of pasta I had got but did manage a bread roll. I was encouraged by the fact that now it was dark so it was rapidly cooling down. We had to wait to go off in groups at this point and have a safety briefing. I was worried we were expected to stay as a group but there was no pressure to do so. Being forced to run in a group is my idea of hell.

One of the following stops I had some chafing in intimate areas so grabbed some vaseline from the medical area. I was just about to ask if I could go into their tent area to apply it in privacy when the man whose feet they were treating went white, passed out and started to slide off his chair. As they were calling his name, lowering him to the floor and raising his legs I and a man next to me waiting to have his blisters seen to felt that maybe our problems weren’t that urgent and we could sort them out ourselves.

The night section was far better for me. I learned that outdoor pigs can be very noisy at night. I got some time all alone and peaceful. It was very misty for a few segments which made running harder as I couldn’t really see the ground very well. I rolled over on my ankle at 85k although it was not too sore I lost my confidence with running downhill for a while. The last aid station was at 96k and I didn’t stop at all, just grabbed a snack and went. By the 99k sign it was light again. I looked at my watch which was counting in miles and was counting down the last k. It was not 1k it was much closer to a mile which was a bit dispiriting but when I saw the finish I managed a little “sprint” to the end.

There was an area to change and after a couple hours I got the transfer bus back to the start. I fell asleep and then woke up to find the person next to me was asleep with her head on my shoulder. Normally I would have found this very uncomfortable, I didn’t care and went right back to sleep and probably ended up snuggling up to her. Back at my car I slept in my car for a while and then later I slept on the grass next to the car and made sure I was properly rested before driving home.

I am very glad I did it. I took just under 22hrs so it was not my best performance by a long shot but I am pretty sure it was mentally the toughest spot I have been in during a race and knowing I got through it is a good thing to remember.