My previous blog entry left me, at the end of day two, safely tucked up in bed. What I hadn't mentioned was that I was also safely tucked up with a very sore right foot. I wasn't sure if it was my trainers, my calf guards or maybe the fact I'd run 56 miles over the previous two days, but for some reason the top of my right foot was quite painful and causing me some concern...
Anyway Day Three started in much the same fashion as Day Two except that muesli replaced porridge. today would also start with a minibus ride, although at least we weren't going to then be asked to walk up a hill just so we could run back down again. Today, we were assured, was definitely less muddy. It would also see the end of the rain and allow us to finish with glorious blue skies and sunshine, which always helps.
My plan right from the start was simply to get through Day Three. Day Three was as step into the unknown. I'd done two day ultras - ok I'd done a two day ultra - but three days was definitely new territory and I was expecting it to be tough. My foot had recovered a bit overnight but I still decided that the sensible move would be to start near the back and see how things unfolded - following Rory's suggestion from the previous night was definitely not going to happen, run all 28 miles? Not a hope.
As today was Remembrance Sunday we held a minutes silence before setting off - another one of the details of the weekend that XNRG got absolutely right. As I started to shuffle forwards my quads hurt, my knees hurt - to save time just assume that every muscle, joint and tendon from and including my hips downwards, hurt. However after the first mile or two things started to loosen up and actually running didn't feel too bad - or possibly my body had realised pain signals were going to be ignored and had given up. Someone once said the secret to ultra-running is to listen to your body - and ignore it.
After a couple of miles not only were my legs moving, I was overtaking people! What many people don't realise is that the brain and the muscles both rely on the same energy source, i.e. glucose. As a result brain function can be significantly impaired by excessive exercise - at least that's my excuse. I was running with only quite a lot of pain and I was overtaking people, so why not try and keep running? No walking, not even up hills, until the first checkpoint. A combination of blue skies and a lack of glucose to my brain got me to said checkpoint and even after refuelling with some of the excellent goodies available there my brain still decided we were going to continue to run, at least until half way. Half way wasn't far before checkpoint 2 so I decided to keep running at least until there. I had also by this point had my first (and only) 'proper' encounter with Ridgeway mud and was a uniform light brown colour from the knees downwards...
Checkpoint 2 was followed by the least pleasant part of the whole event in terms of a location to run. This was in no way the fault of XNRG but unfortunately the next mile of the Ridgeway followed a fairly main road, however excellent instructions and marshalling allowed us to negotiate it in safety and be rewarded by a return to proper cross country running - up a slope of not insignificant gradient and duration. By now I had 20 miles in my mind as the next point to keep running until, so run up it I did. A pattern was starting to develop, on each uphill stretch my dogged insistence on running meant I overtook three or four runners that chose to walk up - all of whom then instantly overtook me as soon as we started to descend again as my legs wouldn't allow me to run downhill any quicker than I was running up.
By checkpoint 3 I had run over 22 miles and was going to run at least to 26.2 miles, marathon distance. This was only made possible by the fact that, as on previous days, checkpoint 3 had cocktail sausages. I suspect I could run the MdS perfectly happily on a diet of freeze dried apple pie and cocktail sausages.
The next section was predominantly up but undulated enough that the 'overtake on the ups/get overtaken on the downs' pattern continued. At one point one of the elite runners congratulated me on my efforts in running up the hills whilst politely refraining from pointing out that he was actually going faster than me whilst walking. This might be a good point to mention just how encouraging the elite runners had been every day. On day 2 one of them, unfortunately I'm not sure who, even took the trouble to read my name off my number on my back and shout an encouraging 'Good work Colin!' as he passed me. Ultra runners may be a bit strange to the rest of the world but they are strange in a good way.
As I left the Ridgeway at about marathon distance the sting in the tail of this event revealed itself. Contrary to what non-runners may believe, downhill can be much harder than up, especially a 1 in 3 downhill, on tarmac after some 82 miles of running. not surprisingly the usual suspects overtook me as I staggered down the hill. Eventually, well after only about half a mile but it felt much longer, the slope flattened out a little and I decided as this was it, the last couple of miles, I would give it all I had to the finish, it wasn't a lot if I'm honest but its the thought that counts, right?
As I came into the last half mile the road climbed again, not much nor for very long but it was enough for me to overtake those that I'd been swapping places with. This, along with my decision to completely ignore my body and run as fast as I could to the end, gave me the impetus to finish actually quite quickly and strongly. OK, it probably wasn't very quick or strong but I'd just run the full 28 miles of day 3, finished my second ultra and I felt great. Neil shook my hand and gave me my medal - fortunately he doesn't model himself on Patrick Bauer (the MdS race director) and so didn't feel the need to kiss me as well.
Very close behind me were the guys I'd been battling with up and down hill, and soon after those finished Sarah, my running partner for the end of day one and the start of day two.
So what had I learned from my second ultra? Well I'm pretty sure I'm a lot fitter than I was before the start of my first ultra, probably due in no small part to my Fuerteventura training trip. I learned that I can run a lot harder than I ever suspected, I would never have believed I would run all of day 3 before I did it. I should have pushed harder on day 2, on reflection I walked far more than I ever needed to that day. Overall I've gained more confidence and learned more in preparation for the MdS 2014.
However the final words are for XRNG. On the MdS, calorie deficit is going to be a fact of life. Unless I take a rucksack the size of a shopping trolley I won't have enough food to replace all the calories I'll consume. On an XNRG event there is no need for calorie deficit, in fact it is probably possible to put on weight during an event. XRNG really do live up to their promise to look after you from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. if you enter one of their events all you have to do is run. That's all you have to do but if you don't find yourself smiling as well I'd be very surprised. Thanks to Neil and all the XNRG team, volunteers and support crew - see you at the Pilgrims' Challenge!
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