Distance: 42.2 miles
Time: 6:44:49
Position: 3rd, 1st MV40
If you have been following the random rambles on here you would know I was coming up for a race. But in any good story there is usually some drama that makes the denouement expected to be under threat.
My drama was the onset of a real gnarly case of ankleitis. This was – as diagnosed by the physio last week – a case of slight ligament knack. A few weeks back I pulled up lame in Dublin early into a long run. Since then I have been nursing my way to the race.
The race in question was the Sidlaw Ultra. A bit about the race. It is a 70k/42.5 mile point-to-point race across terrain so varied that one minute you are being accosted by gorse and the next you have a long tarmac drag, before bogs, tussocks, trail, gravel paths and muddy downhills take you home. It goes from Glamis Castle to Scone Palace. And they are as grandiose as they sound!
The point is, it is a proper ultra in that it tests the body and mind.
In the week leading up the race I’d committed to not trying to race it. I had written this in last week’s blog: “It will be hard to not get to drawn into pushing early on but if you offered me a strong feeling at the finish, no ankle issues and a continued lighting of the ultra fire at 4pm on Saturday, I would buy that twice.”
This is exactly what I did. I also said, “… I won’t be racing folks or worrying about time. It is about fuelling, fighting, finishing and feeling fulfilled…”
The context here is important. Bigger picture was about the effort being strong and true, but the ability to recover and spring off of the event with no concerns. Early on in the race I found myself in a lead group of 4 runners. We came into CP1 as a group and I made a conscious decision to not get sucked into a race. The runners around me looked strong and that was demonstrated by the first two runners coming in at 6:20 and 6:25 respectively. I doubt I would have gotten close to them at present, and would have burnt myself and the experience I was after if I’d tried.
That meant I ran from 12 miles to the end, 30 miles+ all on my ownsome. And it was delightful.
A couple of times I felt myself get nauseous and I was able to back off stress free, take on some food and get moving again. There are a few really significant climbs and rather than feeling I had to push up these I was able to fast hike them, using the time to fuel and recover.
Whilst I wasn’t thinking about time, last year’s CR was 6:52. With my relaxed plan in mind, 7:15-7:30 was a soft target. And frankly, as I navigated Gorse Alley at 30 miles I was ready to jack the race. But I gave myself a shake, and then I started to calculate times. It was then I realised I could do under 7 hours. I basically calculated the pace I need to do 7 hours in and then just managed it a mile at a time.
I created a race within the race, a push in my mind to the end. Making each mile a milestone. I started to try and beat the average mile time I needed to in order to beat 7 hours. Each mile I came under that was a fillip and a win.
By the time I crested Kinnoul Hill and was into the last, mainly downhill, five miles, I realised I could beat 6:50, and then 6:45. It’s funny, I wasn’t racing the field, I was racing my brain.
Long story short is that I had the exact day I wanted. Time was irrelevant in many ways, except as a motivator when I was feeling meh. Position was even more irrelevant. All that mattered was how I felt, how my ankle held up and getting through with decent fuelling, having fought off some negative thoughts, and feeling fulfilled.
I’d hoped to run 7:15-7:30, so 6:44 was 8 mins inside CR and that was me managing the ankle. I felt strong throughout. Pretty much all I could have asked for.
Fulfilment was added to by meeting a lot of old friends before and after the event. I haven’t run many ultras in Scotland recently. And it is only 9 weeks till my next one.
Stage 1 of the build to the 24 hour race in Crawley is complete. And it went well.
James Stewart 