Start of the Pennine 100

Saturday, 26 November 2011

Unbroken by Brecon


Last weekend was the Brecons Ultra. Billed as a 45 miler, it always ends up being at least 46 miles with some change over (depending upon how much you wobble off the most direct route as the crow flies), so you need to prepare yourself for the Garmin clicking over to 45 miles despite the final two bridges still being out of sight.
We stayed at an Outward Bound Centre the night before, courtesy of one of Kevin’s contacts, which was SO much better than getting up at 3.15 am to drive to Talybont. It also meant that we could register and collect our race numbers the night before. On the morning of the race, we had a good breakfast, made the final tweaks to our gear and put our numbers on our shorts before leaving for race HQ.
We set of along the canal at around a 7.30 pace for the first three miles to the start of the hill, walking up the first hill at a brisk pace so as not to overcook it right at the start. We then made a rapid descent to Checkpoint 1 to refill our bottles and push on along the old railway line. At this point I could see that even though I was feeling good, Justin had much more to give so both Kev and I told him to push on and that we would see him at the end. Kevin and I continued to run together for a number of miles albeit that he pushed up the hills and I then caught him on the downs – all good fun. We stayed together until the beginning of the hill on the second lap when Kev pulled away and I didn’t see him again until the end. It was at this point that I became VERY tired and had to give myself a good talking to not to give up. I think I was feeling a bit fed up at not feeling as strong as last year. Having told myself in no uncertain terms that this wasn’t surprising given that eight weeks ago I thought that I may not be able to run an ultra again and that just being able to complete the two laps was a HUGE achievement – I carried on with a slow steady chug. This worked well as it enabled me to take on food and water and to maintain a forward momentum. Having got to the top of the hill, I knew then that I was going to finish this race and more importantly that I would be happy with what I had achieved.
The lads both ran VERY well. From a position of around 18 when he left us Justin pushed himself to a 7.01 finish and 7th place and Kevin kept his running strong and came in, in a great time of 8.17. I finished in a time of 8.44 and even managed to out sprint a runner at the end. I’d been tracking him all along the canal without having a thought about catching him let alone overtaking, but I think I took less ‘walk breaks’ in the last section and in the end we were so close I had to have a go at passing him.
Overall, I am VERY happy with how my body performed on the day and I feel that I can move forward confidently with a winter work programme to carry on building my fitness so that I can begin next year both stronger and quicker and more able to be competitive in the ultra races I love. Bring on 2012!!!
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Training Plan

Week M T W TH F S SU
1 Rest 6-10 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run (or about 18 miles)
2 Rest 6-10 Miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run
3 Rest 6-10 miles, including 2x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP (5:00) Rest 2-hour run 3.5-hour run (or about 20 miles)
4 Rest 5-8 miles, including 3x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 6 miles, middle 2 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run 2-hour run
5 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run (or about 20-24 miles) 3-hour run
6 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run
7 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run, last hour at MP
8 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2.5-hour run
9 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
10 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
11 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2.5-hour run 3-hour run
12 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run (or about 27-29 miles)
13 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run
14 Rest 9 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2-hour run
15 Rest 7 miles, including 3x1 mile at MP Easy 5-mile jog 7 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run Easy 1-hour jog
16 Rest 6 miles, middle 3 at HMP Easy 5-mile jog Easy 3-mile jog Rest: Stay off your feet 50-mile race Rest. (Duh.)

Key:(MP) Marathon Pace: the pace/effort you can hold in a marathon
(HMP) Half-Marathon Pace: the per-mile average of your best half-marathon
(TMP) 10-Mile Pace: the per-mile pace of your fastest 10-miler
Recovery for HMP/TMP: Jog slowly until you feel fresh enough to start the next repetition.