Pembrokeshire Coastal Challenge – Day 1
I have to say I think that when I decided to run in my vibrams I really didn’t think about the terrain! They were great fun when it was grassy but when I was descending on the mud, it was chaos, and I had more than my fair share of falls. A lot of people were having problems, but my shoes have no tread in them what so ever so I didn’t have a hope. I would have been much better off in the trek versions, or even some proper off-road shoes(!) but it was an interesting experiment to try and my body has held up well, despite all the questions I was asking myself whilst sliding over in the mud a metre away from the cliff edge…
After a long journey through a storm and some dodgy, single track a roads, I arrived yesterday evening to a rather empty HQ! But there was still food being served so I had some tea and got shown to my accommodation, a lovely little cottage, just a short walk away from the HQ.
A usual restless pre-race night ensued where it felt like I hardly slept. I got up about 6 and started sorting my stuff before I remembered I didn’t need to be up til 8! Another couple of hours snoozing and it was time to grab the kit and get breakfast. We had a long transfer to the start and didn’t get going until 11, but it was nice to finally start.
The first hour was pretty much a procession as it was a narrow track and too many runners to pass, but it eventually filled out. I had the first sign of things to come just before the first checkpoint with a questionable downhill, some mud and my first fall f the day. I arrived at checkpoint 1 in around 1hr9, which was just after 10k so a fairly good pace considering. I refilled my bottles, grabbed some food and left.
The next hour was great, the terrain was good, my legs felt great and I was flying in the Vibrams, despite the rain. However, after about 2 hours (coincidentally my longest run since July!) I started to tire and the mass of people treading the ground and turned it into mudbath. I lost count of the number of times I slipped, including one where I landed on some rocks and knocked my knee, forcing me to walk it lose for a bit. It was a long slog to the next checkpoint and I didn’t arrive until just before 3 hours on the clock.
After some food, and setting off again, I was feeling a bit better and the ground seemed a bit grippier and then next hour and a half passed quite quickly despite some tough terrain and not seeing anyone else in sight. I had a couple of moments where I had to stop and check the map, but I think I managed to navigate pretty well, all in all! I arrived at check point 2 with 4hr30 on the clock and 32k done with just 9 to go. Excellent, should be done within an hour.
However the terrain got worse and worse and I fell more and more. I hit a low patch at 5 hours 30 when I looked at the map to see how far I had left and realised I hadn’t covered nearly as much as I thought. But I was catching people so I can’t have been doing too badly, despite losing lots of time as people flew past me on the downhills and I might as well have sat down and slid to the bottom.
After another 15 mins of a ridiculous descent which I did far too slowly, we hit a little village and had 3k to go. ‘just over than rock there and it’s on the other side’ apparently. ‘That rock’ however was a massive up and a massive down. I caught some of the walkers going up just as it got dark so I just followed them down, praying for some stones in the mud to provide a bit of grip. Finally we hit the road and I left them for a shuffle to the finish to come home with an official time of 6 hours 30.
I appear to be feeling ok! My knee is a little sore from a fall, and my feet just feel tired, but my legs certainly don’t feel like I’ve been running for 6 and a half hours! I had a massage to work out some of the tight spots, but looked in better shape than most at dinner, at least I can walk! Tomorrow will be interesting. Hopefully after a decent sleep I won’t be feeling too bad, but if today was the flat day then tomorrow will be brutal! I will be wearing my Newtons I’ve decided as apparently it is very rocky and I would like to try to run it rather than tentatively walk it in the vibrams! Hopefully my fee will have recovered in time.
Total time so far: 6:30
Total distance: 41.9km
Pembrokeshire Coastal Challenge – The Plan
So, 3 marathons in 3 days…. I must be nuts! Especially after my run training of late, which has been severely hampered by a foot injury. First things first, I am going to finish. I don’t have any goals other than that, no time goals and certainly no plans of breaking any records.
I am feeling very underprepared at the moment, partly due to training, partly due to the fact I have just been running around the house looking for bits of kit, hours before I need to leave, I partly because I don’t have any experience of this kind of thing, what so ever! I am going to be the 22 year old triathlete, rocking up to an ultra event, standing out from a mile away, with the shaved legs, looking completely lost, and silly shoes (see below). As crazy as it sounds, I am looking forward to it, I want to see how far my body and mind can go, and how I survive. I know I am young and recover quickly, so hopefully I should be able to put together 3 solid runs. I also know however, that I have not run more than 2 hours since July, and if I am out for 6 hours, I may well fall apart… only one way to find out.
I have had lots of discussions about kit with people. I will be running in a base layer with a thermal vest on top and gillet, and normal running shorts. If the weather is worse, I have plenty of tights, knee warmers, jerseys and fleeces to keep me warm, or even a running vest if it gets really nice (ha!). After a little experiment earlier in the week, I found that my IM Switzerland rucksack makes a great running sack, so will use that to carry my kit. I am going to wear my fuel belt, with 2 bottles in, and carry a normal sized water bottle in my back. (Did plan on using an old camelback I had lying around, but just discovered I would probably be arrested by the Environment Agency for the new species of mould growing in it!). As per the rules, I will have waterproof tops, warm kit and spare food/emergency supplies and a compass and whistle dangling off a strap to whack me round the chest every time I stop running smoothly.
My shoes have caused the biggest amount of contention! After listening to a lot of advice, I am listening to it carefully, then ignoring it! I plan to run in my Vibram FiveFingers, and reactions have ranged, from complete horror and outrage, to intrigue. From the running I have done in them off-road, I love it! They are a lot more comfortable then my other option, my Newtons. Unfortunately I am not in a position to be able to get some proper off-road shoes, due to time and money, but although I may be slipping around in the mud a bit, they perform a lot better in than normal shoes, and aggravate my injury a lot less than my Newtons, something that will be important after 120k! The only problem I am going to have is if it gets extremely rocky, and lots of little sharp rocks, which hurt due to the lack of protection. So I will be carrying my Newtons with me for that reason, and in case my feet pack in! I would be interested to hear if anyone has any experience of running extremely long in minimalist shoes or Vibrams. I do anticapate that if my form goes out of the window, then I could run into problems. Hopefully, running in Vibrams will stop this, but if I run into trouble then it will be Newton time. I have been told it is impossible, and there is no way I will be able to do it in the silly shoes, but there’s only one way to find out!
Hopefully if I can find some internet (or signal, it is the middle of Wales after all…) I will get a daily blog up after each stage. For now, it is time for the long drive down to Pembrokeshire. It should be a nice drive, lovely scenery etc, better than driving back in the dark on Sunday night after 3 marathons!
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