Written by Giles Thurston - http://ultrarun.in
Well that didn’t go according to plan!
I’ll get into the detail shortly but for those that can’t wait here is a summary of my participation in the Kings Forest 50km last weekend:
- Our household was ravaged with coughs and colds in the week running up to the race and by the Friday I was feeling quite unwell
- I knew within 100 metres of the start that this wasn’t going to be the race I’d hoped for
- I seriously considering dropping out at the end of lap 2
- Rallied slightly in the later stages of lap 3 and through to the end
- Despite everything still managed to finish 8th out of 61 starters, in a time of 04:39:52
- Completed the Positive Steps Grand Slam, receiving my tankard at the finish line from Race Director Kevin Marshall
Ok there’s the race summary, let’s get into the detail.
Build-up to the race
As I wrote early last week, the majority of my buildup to this race had focused on recovering from The Cumbria Way Ultra, with a bit of intensity thrown in, in a vain attempt to get some sort of speed back into my legs.
I was confident in my fitness and ability to get around the course but wasn’t sure if I’d shifted the fatigue from my legs. As this was likely to be my last ultra of 2015, I decided to go out guns blazing and set myself some challenging time goals.
With a decent 12 week structured training block I genuinely believe a time of around 4 hours is definitely achievable for me. However with my current state of fitness, my realistic expectations at the start of the week was somewhere around the 4:15-4:20 mark.
And then the wheels came off!
With two young boys I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before but early in the week both boys developed colds which as the days passed became hacking coughs. Our lads don’t get ill that often but this week they were proper poorly!
By the Wednesday evening I could feel it in my throat and despite throwing as much fruit and veg down my neck as I could lay my hands on, I headed to bed on Friday evening feeling under the weather and with all indications of it heading south towards my chest.
Race day
I woke at 5am on the Saturday morning and groaned. Boy I felt rough! Any other race and I’d have turned the alarm off, rolled over and gone back to sleep. This however was the third ultra put on by Positive Steps in 2015, alongside Peddars Way Ultra and Norfolk 100. Having completed the other two this year I was up for their grand slam tankard if I completed Kings Forest 50km!
I hauled my sorry backside out of bed and headed downstairs to eat. 4 shots of espresso later with another double on its way I was feeling a little better but far from race fit. Maybe the fresh air would make me feel better? So I packed the car and headed for West Stow Country Park and race registration.
Race Registration
I arrived at 7am and a few people were already there. I got the car sorted, made use of the facilities and went to get myself registered. Kevin Marshall (Race Director) was at registration and we had a quick chat before I headed back to the car to get my kit together and start my pre-race routine.
The fresh air hasn’t done much to lift my mood and my chest felt heavy. I knew that racing was a calculated risk. I’ve run before when suffering from colds etc and have been fine, however with this one now below the neck I was breaking the golden rule for training when ill, plus this wasn’t training it was racing!
I talked in my pre race thoughts about using the first lap as a sighter but rather than this being focused on my pace it now shifted to whether I should continue or not. My time aspirations were now well and truly out of the window and it was all about completing and picking up my tankard.
So a new plan was drawn. Take it easy from the start, run by feel and don’t over extend myself. If in doubt pull out! The beauty of this race was that with a lapped course it was pretty easy to stop at any point as you were never further than 3 or 4km from your car.
I finished getting ready and chatted to fellow competitors, including a couple of club mates across to have a go at their first ultra. John Reynolds, who I’d run Norfolk 100 and Cumbria Way ultra with, was also running and we had a quick catchup before the start. Simon was also supposed to be joining us but it turns out that a heavy Friday night drinking does not act as the best prep for an ultra, even a 50km one and he was no where to be seen. Lightweight! 