Written by Neil Bryant - http://ultrarunninglife.com

The problem with racing so frequently is that I have to blog more just so I keep it up-to-date!
Last weekend was my last race before JOGLE so I really felt like pushing a bit harder. That combined with the fact it was the Thames Trot which is 50 miles, and I really felt motivated to beat 8 hours.
My first ultra was the Thames Ultra which no longer exists, and was 50 miles. It was a very painful day due to a very sore knee at around the 8 mile point that got worse and worse as the day continued. I finished, walking in 8hrs 16mins. Happy just to finish my first ultra.
My only other 50 miler was last year. Again it was the Thames Ultra and I really wanted to beat the 8hr mark. I typically went a little wrong at the end and came in in an annoying 8hrs 1min! Good to beat my previous time time by 15 mins, but to not drop below 8hrs by such a small margin was frustrating.
So, the days mission was to go for it from the start. No messing up my pacing and definitely no getting lost!
The start of the Thames Trot was at Oxford at 0830 which meant another 0530 train meaning the alarm was set for 0430! A long day was beginning! I had my porridge and walked to the Train station. After a few hours I arrived at Oxford and waited around for a little while for our pick up with a few other runners. One of the guys was running his first ultra. I knew the nervousness he’d be feeling. I was also nervous as I was a bit concerned about my Anterior Tibialis playing up. I really need it to stop flaring up so much if I am going to have any chance of finishing the JOGLE. I knew it’d play up today, as It wasn’t 100% from the previous race. The important questions for me were how long it’d take to start hurting and how fast it’d recover in the following week.
We finally arrived at the start point with over an hour to spare which in itself was unusual for me! It was a little chilly out, so it was very nice to go and sit inside the pub and relax and chat to some of the other guys. It’s quiet nice the fact that I know a few of the people at these races now.
Just after 0830, we were all outside waiting for the start. This was a big field. There were some fast runners here too. Will be interesting to see if the course record will be beaten and if so, by how much!
Finally we were off! I immediately started running by myself so I could try to stay in control at the usual frantic beginning. The field broke up fast, which is good as you pretty much have the trail to yourself. The trail itself was pretty muddy, which isn’t a concern usually, but this was the thick, sticky mud that collects on your trainers in heavy, great lumps of the stufff. If you’re wearing lightweight shoes at the start, then the advantage this gives is instantly wiped out as the extra weight of the mud, gives you a weight closer to a pair of steel toe-cap boots!
Same disadvantage applies to everyone though so it doesn’t matter. It will slow the pace a little though, so breaking 8hrs could be tighter.
After around 20 minutes I heard a couple of voices behind that I recognised. I looked behind as I negotiated one of the many kissing gates we passed through to see that, sure enough it was Mark Cockbain and David Miles. We ran along together for quite a while chatting a little about JOGLE holding a good pace. Soon we reached the first cp at 10 miles. I hadn’t checked my pace at all and was just going by feel, so when I noticed that we were pretty much bang on my planned pace I was quite suprised! I had a quick drink and ran off with three bits of fruit cake in my hand. We ran along for quite a while further together.
By around the second cp at 19 miles, my shin was hurting a little. This was a definite improvement on the last few weeks!
Between the second and third cp, I started pulling away from Mark and David. The weather was beautiful for running and I was feeling pretty good, so I pushed on.
When I got to the third cp at the half way point, there were around 5-6 other runners there eating and drinking. I was as quick as possible, taking on as much fluid and food as possible before rushing off.

I was starting to feel quite sore, but it was nothing unusual. As I approached cp 4, I caught up with Alain, a Swiss guy I’d met the year before. He said he he’d gone off way too fast as he was running with his mate Harry, who he informed me was quite a way in the lead! A fine performance from Harry as he’s pretty young for an ultra runner.

More water at the cp as I was feeling a little dry as it was pretty warm now, then straight back to it whilst eating a 9-bar.

I was now running with a couple of guys. One of them had quite laboured breathing so I thought he might drop off the pace. He eventually did. The other guy, I thought was struggling mentally, as when we passed through gates he’d walk and say ‘the end can’t come quick enough’ then push to run again. He stopped to walk briefly for 30 seconds or so and would tell me to go on ahead as I was much fresher than he. The thing is, that I don’t believe he was as finished physically as he was mentally as the pace he could hold was strong. I was happy to stay with him. We went through the final cp in 10 and 11 place. Only 10k left. Time to push on if possible. We stayed together all the way to the end where, I managed to pip the chap on the line, taking 6th place with a time of 7:20! Very chuffed to have beaten my target and feeling more confident that my shin was getting stronger.

Harry was at the finish looking far to fresh considering he’d won the thing, setting a course record of 6:26! Astonishing time. I congratulated him on his achievement then needed to get some clothes on as I was cooling down fast.

I had about 3hrs of hanging around to do before my train departed, so after waiting around at the end clapping people in for a while, I wandered into Henley and found a coffee shop and sat in there with a cup of tea and warmed up. Finally it was time to catch my train. It was only a two hour journey, but had three changes! Not exactly what I needed, but it all went smoothly and I was back home at 2130. A long but good day indeed.
Recovery seems to be very good. I’ll be running to Bath (17 miles) later, and I’m really looking forward to it.

I have at last sorted out what charities to collect for for the JOGLE. They are the Stroke Association and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society. I have posted a link here to my page so please, if you haven’t already, give generously. Very much appreciated.