Saturday I awoke at 330am had some breakfast and got a taxi at 4am heading to Tenbury Wells, UK. It was raining out and the temps were in the low 40's. I hopped in the cab and was hoping for your standard driver who spoke little English so I could just relax or even get a little more sleep and avoid conversation.
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| Click here for Google Maps page |
After a little idle chit chat about where I needed to go I find out the driver's day time job is a police officer! So, as the conversation went on I mentioned I used to be a Park Ranger before moving to the UK. To my surprise he replied "so you were armed law enforcement"! I think this was the first person to call me on being law enforcement myself when I said I used to be a Park Ranger. Pretty cool. Anyway we ended up chatting the entire 45 minute ride about the usual police stuff; firearms, use of force, drugs, etc and then the usual; immigration, accents, travel, visas.
In Tenbury Wells I met my friend at about 445am at his parent's house and then we headed out to Wales. We wound our way on narrow country lanes for about a hour fifteen until we arrived in Talybont-on-Usk in the dark. The town is small and not very well lit so all I seemed to see were headlamps and their reflection off of high viz clothing. It was drizzling and off and on raining. Damp, wet, cold. The last weather you want for a running race in the Welsh mountains in November.
We found our way to the main street in town past a couple pubs and wandered over to where registration was and signed in. The community center was buzzing with people chatting and getting their gear ready, old friends talking of their summer racing and people who had met online meeting face to face. All in all a very positive environment. We organized our required gear and made any last adjustments. I ended up changing into shorts versus my knickers due to temps, although still cold, being a bit warmer than I thought. I figured I could always work harder to warm up!
I had no idea of where I was or any sense of direction due to the darkness. As the morning light arrived the sun stayed away and the drizzle slowed down and we lined up along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal with everyone else competing. Some guy asked if I was one of the UK's top ultrarunners, Jez Bragg's, brother and spoke something of my beard and then me shooting off the front. I think when I opened my mouth he realized that I wasn't from the UK! Funny none the less, I hope the brother is fast!
I should have started the "tracking satellites" process on my watch earlier as it didn't kick in until we are about a mile into the race! No big deal really just something else to worry about though!
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| race map |
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| climbing Tor y Foel, photo credit: Andrew Boxhall via Facebook |
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| up Tor y Foel, photo credit: Andrew Boxhall via Facebook |
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| looking up the descent from Tor y Foel, photo credit Andrew Boxhall via Facebook |
Over The Gap the trail went down a medium steepness, very rocky, wet, slippery descent. This could be bad the next time around! I get passed by one guy hauling ass downhill, I'd rather be conservative at this point. It reminded me of the descents in Moab, Utah. Small ledges everywhere loose sheets of rock, little solid footing. There were a few stream crossings and as I got further down I was able to find a softer section of grass that was easier running. Down, down, down I went until I got to some gates entering farmland. Down a horrible baby head rocky section of road to the 2nd water station. It was a relief to be done with the rocks, my feet were feeling it but as soon as I left the aid station the route dumps me in a "trail" that was seemingly an old overgrown stream bed. Carefully watching my footing, the leaf covered baby head rocks were treacherous, and dodging the over grown nettles and thorny branches fortunately this section was short.
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| Top of The Gap, photo taken from some random forum and obviously not on race day! |
Into the countryside. Through fences and gates, ankle deep mud and sheep shit, to a nice trail along once again beautiful orange fall colors. I stop to take a leak and I'm doing the "no hands piss" talking to myself and I look up to see a photographer, camouflaged by her orange down jacket, taking race photos! We both laugh and I trudge on.
On and off of country lanes, the paved roads are a nice break from the trail, through farmyards, over fences and through gates once again. Into the village of Pencelli and I can see the treeline of the canal again. Rolling country lanes bring me to the canal and near the end of the first lap. The canal is lined with orange and yellow leaved trees and the soils in the canal match up well with the color scheme being a rusty haze. This segment of the course lasts forever mentally. A flat smooth 2 miles with the occasional mud puddle, the final water station of lap 1 awaiting. I'm in fifth at this point and catch up to the guy in fourth. After a brief stop to refill my bottle we run together and talk for the next few miles. He's gunning for a little bit faster than me, under 6 hours 50 minutes (his previous year's time) and could care less about his placing. We hit the beginning of the Tor y Foel climb again and the pain begins. Fourth place pulls off in the distance as I begin to walk up the climb, legs in too much pain to run, I try to run the less steep sections as the climb seems to have a few steps in it. I take two ibuprofen at the top to ease the impending leg revolt.
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| elevation profile, just shy of 6000 vertical feet according to my Garmin |
I'm only at about 28 miles into the race by now, sore legs are a sign that I didn't train enough which I was expecting. I knew I hadn't done enough long runs but figured I could pull it off. The key to these races is time on your feet previous. My longest run had been a Saturday 17 miler followed by a Sunday 26 miler. I should have had three weekends like that if not longer but with the nagging odd knee injury (bursitis maybe?) I've had I was hesitant to run a lot. The funny thing is that during the race my knee didn't bother me at all and as of now I haven't even noticed if it got worse!
The next 5 miles or so hurt real bad, not that the Tor y Foel climb went well. My legs were destroyed and the emotional highs and lows from my body adapting to the length of exertion begin to start. I see downhill the other runners slowly creeping towards me, 4 or so slowly getting closer. My pace has halved to what it was descending the first time around. Once back on the flattish road section between Tor y Foel and The Gap I get caught by a few guys behind me. I'm swapping a quasi-run-shuffle with walking even on the flats. I pull out my iPod in hope that the music will mask some pain and ignite the fires a bit. And what do you know! Either the ibuprofen kicked in, the music helped , something happened and the "low" I had been in is replaced by a "high".
Bam. I'm off running full speed (well as "full" as one can go!) up the rocky rutty trail to The Gap. Feeling great. I get to The Gap and see a few mountain bikers enjoying the now sunny view. My senses seem sharpened, my foot placements are solid, and the surrounding scenery is as vivid as ever. I'm going full bore downhill and am gaining on the guy in front of me even though he's about a quarter mile up. I move off the rocky trail to the soft grass to ease the wear on the burning soles of my feet. Soaking wet I'm sure they look like a white dried apricot just waiting for a shearing force to form some monster blister. As soon as I begin to open it up even more the wet grass throws me to the ground. My foot gives out and I slide a good 10 feet. Luckily it was soft, I recover easy and get back at it.
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| The Gap descent, photo credit some Welsh fishing site, and not from race day! |
I hit the final water station, fill my bottle, and tackle the baby head gully. The following fields I'm half way up my calf in mud and sheep manure in some sections due to the entire race field mixing the pot. Wet muddy feet are nothing to worry about now, we're seemingly too close to the finish. The orange and yellow leaves are on fire, my eyes picking up odd tracers of light now. Feeling even better going through Pencelli the second time. I catch a glimpse of the guy in front of me finally, he's about 200 meters ahead but we've got maybe 3 miles to go!
I finally catch him where we start the agonizing canal path portion. I'm feeling alright and hang with him for a bit but end up letting him go. I'm way ahead of whomever is behind me and figure it's not for a top 3 spot, not even a top 5 so I'll let him go and drag my sorry self in the final 2 miles. Why is it that this portion seemed the longest and hardest stretch? It took forever!
Finally getting to the main bridge that leaves the canal and goes into town was a relief. I pick up the pace and head into the finish. Done!
Overall I was pleased with my race. Here's some thoughts on the entire thing pertaining to concerns I had. Some where mentioned above already but this is mainly for my reference.
Thoughts on my race:
Ibuprofen - at about mile 30 took 2, this seemed to help my legs recover a bit, never done this before
Food - less sugary foods next time maybe, these seemed to give a feeling of gut rot. Otherwise I felt good food-wise the whole race so the calories must have been right. I ate everything I had (7 GU Roctane, 7 (x5) Jelly Babies, 2 Snickers. Total of about 2000 calories. Not that the gut rot was a problem but if something that is uncomfortable can be changed why not? On the other hand why change what works? Pre-race I had a bowl of muesli with milk, a banana, peanut butter sandwich, and of course coffee.
Water - had one full 750ml bottle between every aid station (total 6?)
Endurolytes - salt tablets, took two every 45 minutes after half way (took 6 total). Not too sure if this is placebo or not but supposedly can mitigate cramping. Seeing as how I had minor signs of calf cramps in my previous race I figure it was worth it to take some just in case. This time I had a couple tiny signs of calf cramping but better than before.
Footwear - The Salomon Speedcross CS shoes I wore are waterproof in the front portion and didn't drain well enough, and the insoles held water like sponges, also my feet could have had more protection from rocks. I got these shoes for a winter running shoe. The waterproof material makes them less breathable and much warmer, also they are very aggressive which is great for mud and snow. However once there is water in the toe box it won't go away! I feel that if I would have had non-waterproof versions my socks and shoes would have dried out from body heat lessening the "foot rot"/burning sensation I got from all the wetness. I was initially worried about the narrow toe box too but I finished with a couple blisters that did not cause me problems racing.
Clothes - I changed into shorts, versus my knickers, at the last minute which was a good choice as I would have been way too hot. I also started with my Patagonia Nine Trails jacket on which was nice but as soon I started climbing Tor y Foel it was too hot. I considered putting it on during the exposed ridges because I was getting chilled from the wind but never did. Spare socks? Depending on the conditions and if I already have a race vest or backpack this may be an option. As mentioned, the soles of my feet were trashed from the wet and there were times a fresh pair of socks would have been great. However, is it necessary or just dead weight? I finished just fine without this time. Just had to deal with that odd burning sensation and also the worry of blisters. I ended up with two big blisters on one of my toes but they didn't cause any problems fortunately.
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| wet feet and minor blisters on my second toe |
Music - started up the iPod shuffle when I began to hurt around mile 30, this helped GREATLY as it did before, music has been scientifically proven to mask pain. I prefer to know what is going on around me so I only wear one ear bud in my ears.
Backpack - UltrAspire Surge race vest was perfect. I even was able to get food out of the top pocket without taking the vest off. One thing to consider is if I ever need 2 bottles. I had one UltrAspire handheld which was great but a second bottle could be nice. I may look into the new Ultimate Direction race vests for 2013 that hold bottles on the shoulder straps.
Fitness - I felt pretty good actually. My ongoing knee issue never presented itself which was great! I know I didn't do enough long runs
We're still waiting for the official results to be posted, I'll post when they are available! If you want to see my Garmin info click HERE.
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