Friday 22 August 2014

Conquering 100 miles in under 24 hours!

I got into trail running about 4 years ago and it wasn't long before I wanted to do 100 mile race.  I didn't want to rush into it and gradually built distances but had a regular reoccurring issue with ITB related knee trouble.  This was the first race I started without some itb trouble in the build up and so I was confident but also apprehensive - 100 miles is quite a long way!  I'm sure there could be a separate write up about training but the main changes I made were joining a cross fit gym and training there twice a week, focusing on quality rather than quantity in terms of running training and working on stretching and mobility.

The North Downs Way 100 is a 102.6 mile race from Farnham in Surrey to Wye in Kent organised by Centurion Running.  The route has some road sections but is mostly off road along National Trail and has a total climb of 9,930 feet with an overall elevation change of 20,000 feet.  On Saturday 9th August 2014 I started the race at 0600 along with around 180 others.




I knew I wanted to start easy and try to keep my pace quite consistent through the race so I just went with the flow during the first few miles as we concertinaed from time to time leading through narrow paths and gates. There was no rush!

Despite feeling confident in terms of not having niggling injuries in the lead up the to race, my back goes through cycles of being good and then being uncomfortable.  Unfortunately it hadn't been good in the days leading up to the race so it was already giving me some discomfort but i just had to hope it would ease up or at least not get worse!




Somewhere after Puttenhan I found myself running alongside twitter acquaintance and fellow Essex boy, Marc Hills and we chatted all the way to Newlands Corner where I lost him in the flurry of activity but we hooked up again for a bit leaving Box Hill aid station.  The Box Hill volunteers had a beach theme going on and were having a great time but I didn't want to hang out at the beach too long so I grabbed a couple of handfulls and are whilst walking the short flat section before the hike up Box Hill.

The section from Box Hill to Reigate is where I really started to fell terrible during the NDW50 so to feel good at this stage this time around was a real boost.  This section is also the section I know the best so despite the rising heat of the day, I made good progress to Reigate.

I took a few more minutes at Reigate where I saw my crew for the first time, cleared my shoes of debri and fuelled up.  I got my bro to get me a Callipo ice lolly and left Reigate with that in hand. The weather was really warming up and the Callipo was the best thing - I wanted a never ending one!




Reigate to Caterham was pretty uneventful, just passing the time chatting to a few folk and arrived at Caterham very pleased to see I had got there before the ice cream had melted.  A bowl of jelly and ice cream and I was on my way again.

I knew the next stretch reasonably well too, however missed a well marked turning as i was day dreaming about something or other!  Luckily I realised pretty quickly when i got to the bottom of a hill and popped out onto a road I didnt recognise.  Unfortunately i'd gone in the wrong direction downhill so added an extra uphill to my day to get back on track.  No big deal at this stage but could have been rather demoralising later on in the race!  Concentrate Thomas!

Botley Hill signalled the last aid station before half way and we were greeted by pirates and a hug!

All I remember thinking during the last few miles to the 50 mile mark was that my quads were 
beginning to get a little sore.  This took my mind off my back a little bit and as it turned out through the rest of the race, a pattern emerged where every now and again a different part of my body would start hurting and take my mind of the last bit that hurt!

At Knockholt Pound I met my crew, the aid station had some pasta going so I had some of that along with a recovery  milkshake and stopped a few minutes to empty debris from my shoes again.  I seemed to spend quite a lot of time doing this throughout the race and am definitely going to try some form of gaiter in the future. I think it was a stone which got into my shock and down to my toes later in the day which gave me my only blister of the day.  Injinji socks are amazing!

I had a bit of a rough patch shortly after, possibly just had a bit much to eat or rather drink at Knockholt but soon felt better and when Stuart Mills joined me as an unofficial pacer for the last few miles to Wrotham (he was out for a training run and had not covered the Knockholt to Wrotham stretch before - potential plan to run in 2015???!), I kept a decent pace and he just about kept up! ;-). I met Stuart at the Trail Team London day earlier this year and it's always interesting to chat with him so the last few miles to Wrotham passed easily.

I was still smiling after 60 miles at Wrotham, and this was another station where crew were permitted and I delved into the hugely over prepared civic I'd knocked up for them to very around and enjoyed some cold pizza.  The next time I'd see the crew it would be dark and I'd be picking up Katie to pace me for a section.




I'd eaten a bit much at Wrotham and had the feeling there was lots of stuff just sitting in my stomach so I held back on the food and water a bit until that improved and I felt better.  By now I had pretty much forgotten about my back trouble, my quads didn't seem to be getting worse and the discomfort going downhill had just become normal!

I knew where the Holly Hill aid station was positioned from my recce's and when I turned into the car park I couldn't help but smile at their Christmas theme complete with a sparkling tree!

Holly Hill to Bluebell Hill is probably the least enjoyable section due to the Medway river crossing which is a right alongside the M20. Centurion put on a great event but if James Elson could do anything to improve the race a Centurion Running alternative bridge nowhere near the M20 would be great!

Not long after the Medway crossing I ended up turning my torch on but I left it as long as possible since I think it definitely takes more effort for your eyes to run with a headtorch on, shifting your gaze from for placement to further up the track.  It became even more tricky later when the rain came.  

Soon I was up the final climb to Bluebell Hill and it was just a pretty straight track and road which seemed much longer than I remembered from my recce runs but I eventually made it to the aid station.

I got my bottles refilled and received a ticking off from one of the volunteers when he noticed I'd not drunk much over the last section.  I think this was a result of feeling like I had lots in my stomach since Wrotham.  I was having a bit of a wobbly patch at the time and actually felt better if I kept moving.  Katie was going to join me here and I hurried her up so we could get moving.  I remember standing there in a daze just staring at Matt and then putting on a brave faced grin as I realised. I don't think it was convincing but he didn't say anything!

It was nice to run with Katie for a bit and this section is probably one of my favourites.  A nice downhill (it was nice on the recce's anyway, now it was just damn uncomfortable!), followed by a short steep climb and then a nice undulating section through the woods to Detling.  With Katie for company, the section passed quickly - apparently I was talking some right shit, I don't think it was due to the knock to the head I had taken through the wood when my torchlight didn't quite alert me to a low hanging branch!

I'd always planned to stop a little longer at Detling, have some soup I'd packed with my crew and if necessary deal with any other issues. All day I'd been removing my shoes to clear out debris and now it felt like it was all in my socks so cleaned my feet up and changed socks, fuelled up and was on my way.

I had always thought in my head that if I made it to Detling I knew I could get to the end so felt good leaving and in my head thought the next bit was reasonably flat to the end.  Well I was wrong!  The next five miles or so was a series of quite short climbs and decents that just seemed to go on and on. And on.

Eventually they came to an end but we had a mile or so more through the woods descending to Hollingbourne before joining the pilgrims way for most of the remaining stretch.  It started raining at this point and became very hard, very quickly. Despite legging it under the nearest tree up the trail, by the time I got my jacket on I was soaked. The temperature had dropped and I began to get quite cold.  As we passed through Hollingbourne the rain ran like a river down the roads and much of the path was under water.

In an attempt to warm up and just get to the next aid station asap, I upped the effort and ran almost all of the remaining 4 miles or so to Lenham.  It didn't seem to help me warm up and this was the only part of the race i didn't particularly enjoy.    Just coming down the road to the aid station a few of us had a bit of a hairy moment when some twat came driving down the road and barely slowed, whizzing part within a few inches of us at about 40.  We ask pretty much done into the bushes, shouted a few choice words (I did anyway!), checked we were all still alive and kept moving.

All I had in the way of extra clothing were some arm sleeves and a buff so I got these on under my jacket at the Lenham aid station, had a cuppa and a bite to eat but was feeling a bit ropey and slightly nauseous, not to mention cold, so I decided to sit and had some hot water.  I realised it was going to be hard to warm up and the rain wasn't likely to stop so I called my crew and got them to come meet me at the bottom of the lane.  They were about 25 minutes away so I sat and waited for them to call before heading off to meet them down the road.  The volunteers at Lenham were great, one of the ladies even lent me a hat and jacket to try and warm up.

I got in the car with my crew. Changed my tops, including an extra base layer and warmed up with the heaters on full blast! I left fully togged up with buff, hat and gloves.  After not moving much for about 50 minutes between sitting at Lenham and then in the car it was tough to get the legs going again but they soon loosened up, I managed to keep warm and started ticking the final miles off knowing that I could still make sub 24 without too many more stoppages.

The 6 or so miles from Lenham to Dunn street seemed to go on forever but were pretty straightforward and by the time I got to Dunn Street I didn't need my head torch anymore.  This was great but also meant that it was going to be tight to make the 24 hour deadline.  I got a ticking off again at Dunn Street because my bottles were still quite full, another example of how great the volunteers were, but I felt well hydrated.  It was just past 0500 so I had just under an hour to do 4 miles.  Entirely possible but no time to lose, so a quick refuel and I was on my way!

The route was now pretty simple but that didn't help a lack of concentration almost putting me right off course, luckily I clocked the error quickly and only had to backtrack 20 metres.  Coming through the final field was tricky as it had got rather muddy and I ploughed through the shoulder high nettle field before joining the road at Wye, praying that the railway crossing was open, which it was!  Phew, no stairs to tackle!  

With the finish in sight I 'put the hammer down' and sprinted to the finish (it felt like a sprint anyway, but I'm sure it really wasn't!) in 33rd place after 23 hours 52 minutes and 21 seconds.  There were hugs all round with my ace crew, some wet eyes and I was so pleased to have done it under 24 hours, receiving the coveted '100 miles in one day' belt buckle.  I was so tired I don't think it really sank in and it seemed to gradually sunk in over the following week.


Me and my lovely crew!


Overall I was really pleased with how it went, I managed to react early to any uneasiness in my stomach and kept myself well fuelled and watered all day.  The biggest lesson was to make sure I have better clothing options with me especially when bad whether is expected and get it on at the first sign of any bad weather.  Having said that, in a sudden downpour it's tricky to get layers on without getting wet, just how it goes.  
On the < 24h board!

The biggest lesson of they say was that it is possible to run 100 miles in a day and that my training plan has prepared me well enough to do so on this occasion. My actual running pace wasn't bad, overall my pace probably would have been very even but I stopped for longer at aid stations at 50, 82 and x miles, plus time spent in the car warning up, so the second half was slower. That was the plan on the day and apart from weather interruption went well so I was very pleased with that!  It was also encouraging to find that on the uphills, my hiking was strong most of the day and I made time on others on the uphill sections.

I've had over a week to recover and reflect now and the recovery seems to be going OK, obviously I'm thinking about what to do next year and how to approach training.  More on that another time, the next few months leading up to Christmas will involve the hockey season and a focus on speed work with some Sunday 10k's.
My fat feet Sunday night!

Friday 22 August 2014

Conquering 100 miles in under 24 hours!

I got into trail running about 4 years ago and it wasn't long before I wanted to do 100 mile race.  I didn't want to rush into it and gradually built distances but had a regular reoccurring issue with ITB related knee trouble.  This was the first race I started without some itb trouble in the build up and so I was confident but also apprehensive - 100 miles is quite a long way!  I'm sure there could be a separate write up about training but the main changes I made were joining a cross fit gym and training there twice a week, focusing on quality rather than quantity in terms of running training and working on stretching and mobility.

The North Downs Way 100 is a 102.6 mile race from Farnham in Surrey to Wye in Kent organised by Centurion Running.  The route has some road sections but is mostly off road along National Trail and has a total climb of 9,930 feet with an overall elevation change of 20,000 feet.  On Saturday 9th August 2014 I started the race at 0600 along with around 180 others.




I knew I wanted to start easy and try to keep my pace quite consistent through the race so I just went with the flow during the first few miles as we concertinaed from time to time leading through narrow paths and gates. There was no rush!

Despite feeling confident in terms of not having niggling injuries in the lead up the to race, my back goes through cycles of being good and then being uncomfortable.  Unfortunately it hadn't been good in the days leading up to the race so it was already giving me some discomfort but i just had to hope it would ease up or at least not get worse!




Somewhere after Puttenhan I found myself running alongside twitter acquaintance and fellow Essex boy, Marc Hills and we chatted all the way to Newlands Corner where I lost him in the flurry of activity but we hooked up again for a bit leaving Box Hill aid station.  The Box Hill volunteers had a beach theme going on and were having a great time but I didn't want to hang out at the beach too long so I grabbed a couple of handfulls and are whilst walking the short flat section before the hike up Box Hill.

The section from Box Hill to Reigate is where I really started to fell terrible during the NDW50 so to feel good at this stage this time around was a real boost.  This section is also the section I know the best so despite the rising heat of the day, I made good progress to Reigate.

I took a few more minutes at Reigate where I saw my crew for the first time, cleared my shoes of debri and fuelled up.  I got my bro to get me a Callipo ice lolly and left Reigate with that in hand. The weather was really warming up and the Callipo was the best thing - I wanted a never ending one!




Reigate to Caterham was pretty uneventful, just passing the time chatting to a few folk and arrived at Caterham very pleased to see I had got there before the ice cream had melted.  A bowl of jelly and ice cream and I was on my way again.

I knew the next stretch reasonably well too, however missed a well marked turning as i was day dreaming about something or other!  Luckily I realised pretty quickly when i got to the bottom of a hill and popped out onto a road I didnt recognise.  Unfortunately i'd gone in the wrong direction downhill so added an extra uphill to my day to get back on track.  No big deal at this stage but could have been rather demoralising later on in the race!  Concentrate Thomas!

Botley Hill signalled the last aid station before half way and we were greeted by pirates and a hug!

All I remember thinking during the last few miles to the 50 mile mark was that my quads were 
beginning to get a little sore.  This took my mind off my back a little bit and as it turned out through the rest of the race, a pattern emerged where every now and again a different part of my body would start hurting and take my mind of the last bit that hurt!

At Knockholt Pound I met my crew, the aid station had some pasta going so I had some of that along with a recovery  milkshake and stopped a few minutes to empty debris from my shoes again.  I seemed to spend quite a lot of time doing this throughout the race and am definitely going to try some form of gaiter in the future. I think it was a stone which got into my shock and down to my toes later in the day which gave me my only blister of the day.  Injinji socks are amazing!

I had a bit of a rough patch shortly after, possibly just had a bit much to eat or rather drink at Knockholt but soon felt better and when Stuart Mills joined me as an unofficial pacer for the last few miles to Wrotham (he was out for a training run and had not covered the Knockholt to Wrotham stretch before - potential plan to run in 2015???!), I kept a decent pace and he just about kept up! ;-). I met Stuart at the Trail Team London day earlier this year and it's always interesting to chat with him so the last few miles to Wrotham passed easily.

I was still smiling after 60 miles at Wrotham, and this was another station where crew were permitted and I delved into the hugely over prepared civic I'd knocked up for them to very around and enjoyed some cold pizza.  The next time I'd see the crew it would be dark and I'd be picking up Katie to pace me for a section.




I'd eaten a bit much at Wrotham and had the feeling there was lots of stuff just sitting in my stomach so I held back on the food and water a bit until that improved and I felt better.  By now I had pretty much forgotten about my back trouble, my quads didn't seem to be getting worse and the discomfort going downhill had just become normal!

I knew where the Holly Hill aid station was positioned from my recce's and when I turned into the car park I couldn't help but smile at their Christmas theme complete with a sparkling tree!

Holly Hill to Bluebell Hill is probably the least enjoyable section due to the Medway river crossing which is a right alongside the M20. Centurion put on a great event but if James Elson could do anything to improve the race a Centurion Running alternative bridge nowhere near the M20 would be great!

Not long after the Medway crossing I ended up turning my torch on but I left it as long as possible since I think it definitely takes more effort for your eyes to run with a headtorch on, shifting your gaze from for placement to further up the track.  It became even more tricky later when the rain came.  

Soon I was up the final climb to Bluebell Hill and it was just a pretty straight track and road which seemed much longer than I remembered from my recce runs but I eventually made it to the aid station.

I got my bottles refilled and received a ticking off from one of the volunteers when he noticed I'd not drunk much over the last section.  I think this was a result of feeling like I had lots in my stomach since Wrotham.  I was having a bit of a wobbly patch at the time and actually felt better if I kept moving.  Katie was going to join me here and I hurried her up so we could get moving.  I remember standing there in a daze just staring at Matt and then putting on a brave faced grin as I realised. I don't think it was convincing but he didn't say anything!

It was nice to run with Katie for a bit and this section is probably one of my favourites.  A nice downhill (it was nice on the recce's anyway, now it was just damn uncomfortable!), followed by a short steep climb and then a nice undulating section through the woods to Detling.  With Katie for company, the section passed quickly - apparently I was talking some right shit, I don't think it was due to the knock to the head I had taken through the wood when my torchlight didn't quite alert me to a low hanging branch!

I'd always planned to stop a little longer at Detling, have some soup I'd packed with my crew and if necessary deal with any other issues. All day I'd been removing my shoes to clear out debris and now it felt like it was all in my socks so cleaned my feet up and changed socks, fuelled up and was on my way.

I had always thought in my head that if I made it to Detling I knew I could get to the end so felt good leaving and in my head thought the next bit was reasonably flat to the end.  Well I was wrong!  The next five miles or so was a series of quite short climbs and decents that just seemed to go on and on. And on.

Eventually they came to an end but we had a mile or so more through the woods descending to Hollingbourne before joining the pilgrims way for most of the remaining stretch.  It started raining at this point and became very hard, very quickly. Despite legging it under the nearest tree up the trail, by the time I got my jacket on I was soaked. The temperature had dropped and I began to get quite cold.  As we passed through Hollingbourne the rain ran like a river down the roads and much of the path was under water.

In an attempt to warm up and just get to the next aid station asap, I upped the effort and ran almost all of the remaining 4 miles or so to Lenham.  It didn't seem to help me warm up and this was the only part of the race i didn't particularly enjoy.    Just coming down the road to the aid station a few of us had a bit of a hairy moment when some twat came driving down the road and barely slowed, whizzing part within a few inches of us at about 40.  We ask pretty much done into the bushes, shouted a few choice words (I did anyway!), checked we were all still alive and kept moving.

All I had in the way of extra clothing were some arm sleeves and a buff so I got these on under my jacket at the Lenham aid station, had a cuppa and a bite to eat but was feeling a bit ropey and slightly nauseous, not to mention cold, so I decided to sit and had some hot water.  I realised it was going to be hard to warm up and the rain wasn't likely to stop so I called my crew and got them to come meet me at the bottom of the lane.  They were about 25 minutes away so I sat and waited for them to call before heading off to meet them down the road.  The volunteers at Lenham were great, one of the ladies even lent me a hat and jacket to try and warm up.

I got in the car with my crew. Changed my tops, including an extra base layer and warmed up with the heaters on full blast! I left fully togged up with buff, hat and gloves.  After not moving much for about 50 minutes between sitting at Lenham and then in the car it was tough to get the legs going again but they soon loosened up, I managed to keep warm and started ticking the final miles off knowing that I could still make sub 24 without too many more stoppages.

The 6 or so miles from Lenham to Dunn street seemed to go on forever but were pretty straightforward and by the time I got to Dunn Street I didn't need my head torch anymore.  This was great but also meant that it was going to be tight to make the 24 hour deadline.  I got a ticking off again at Dunn Street because my bottles were still quite full, another example of how great the volunteers were, but I felt well hydrated.  It was just past 0500 so I had just under an hour to do 4 miles.  Entirely possible but no time to lose, so a quick refuel and I was on my way!

The route was now pretty simple but that didn't help a lack of concentration almost putting me right off course, luckily I clocked the error quickly and only had to backtrack 20 metres.  Coming through the final field was tricky as it had got rather muddy and I ploughed through the shoulder high nettle field before joining the road at Wye, praying that the railway crossing was open, which it was!  Phew, no stairs to tackle!  

With the finish in sight I 'put the hammer down' and sprinted to the finish (it felt like a sprint anyway, but I'm sure it really wasn't!) in 33rd place after 23 hours 52 minutes and 21 seconds.  There were hugs all round with my ace crew, some wet eyes and I was so pleased to have done it under 24 hours, receiving the coveted '100 miles in one day' belt buckle.  I was so tired I don't think it really sank in and it seemed to gradually sunk in over the following week.


Me and my lovely crew!


Overall I was really pleased with how it went, I managed to react early to any uneasiness in my stomach and kept myself well fuelled and watered all day.  The biggest lesson was to make sure I have better clothing options with me especially when bad whether is expected and get it on at the first sign of any bad weather.  Having said that, in a sudden downpour it's tricky to get layers on without getting wet, just how it goes.  
On the < 24h board!

The biggest lesson of they say was that it is possible to run 100 miles in a day and that my training plan has prepared me well enough to do so on this occasion. My actual running pace wasn't bad, overall my pace probably would have been very even but I stopped for longer at aid stations at 50, 82 and x miles, plus time spent in the car warning up, so the second half was slower. That was the plan on the day and apart from weather interruption went well so I was very pleased with that!  It was also encouraging to find that on the uphills, my hiking was strong most of the day and I made time on others on the uphill sections.

I've had over a week to recover and reflect now and the recovery seems to be going OK, obviously I'm thinking about what to do next year and how to approach training.  More on that another time, the next few months leading up to Christmas will involve the hockey season and a focus on speed work with some Sunday 10k's.
My fat feet Sunday night!