Wall Run Learning Points - Part 2

Recovery

One thing I was particularly unsure about, and wanted to get some experience of was my recovery overnight for the following day’s stage, and how I would fare over the second day. During training I had got into a routine of having a recovery shake* within 15 or 20 minutes of finishing and wearing some Compressport calf compression sleeves for two or three hours after. This seemed to work as my legs weren’t too bad at all the next morning despite having been confined to my sleeping bag and small tent. I think the massage and slowly walking about did their bit as well.

* I’ve found I get on well with the ‘For Goodness Shakes’ but they are a touch on the expensive side so after normal training sessions I’ve been using skimmed milk with a bit of Bourneville cocoa powder and a little sugar which seems to work pretty well.

Nutrition

I didn't end up really using any of the food I had with me, other than a few Clif shot blocs (about 4 each day). I’ll know for another time what the pit stops are like and lighten my pack a bit (not that the extra weight did me any harm from a practice point of view). Each day I had a few handfuls of chocolate covered raisins from the check points, and some peanuts, flapjack and bananas from the more substantial pit stops.

I am surprised by how little I took on, and it probably wouldn't be sustainable for a longer stage race, but I did help me practice eating more ‘real’ food on the go, rather than just swallowing sickly gels all the time. Real food is definitely the answer over these longer distances and timescales.

Training

My training broadly followed the suggested training plan, topping out at about 60 miles per week, with a longest run of 30 miles with a pack. I was surprised how well my body coped in the race, running two days back to back further than I have gone before. I did do two back-to-back sessions in the couple of months before the race, but only short (12+12 and 15+12). I think the combination of the back-to-backs and longer singles runs did work together even though I got nowhere near the actual race conditions. I practiced walking during longer runs (fast walking, not slow ambling, which was tempting at times!) which I think helped me keep the pace up when I did walk.

I could probably have done with a little more trail training, though – I really need to find myself some slippery slopes to run up to practice for those dunes! A little more down hill practice might have been good as - the down hills started to become a bit of a challenge towards the end!

Wall Run - Learning points (Kit)

I haven’t been running too much over the last 3 weeks or so, so there’s not much to report on that front. I have found since I’ve started running marathons, spending 3 or 4 months training for a specific event, that I tend to have a down period afterwards, loosing concentration a bit. While that hasn’t mattered too much in the past, it is going to matter more now, with the goal further away with many practice events in the meantime.

So, while it is still (sort of!) fresh in my mind it thought it would be a good idea to jot down some thoughts on what I learnt from my first ultra and multiday race and get my mind back on track. One of the main reasons for wanting to do The Wall was to learn something about ultra-distance events with enough time to use it to help shape my training and kit choices.

What it has also done is given me confidence. It has shown that I can cover distances that I previously thought were almost beyond comprehension, and get up the next morning feeling (though tired) that I could go out and do another stage. Definitely positive stuff!

So what exactly did I learn? Probably easiest to split this up…

Kit

I tried using some of the kit I’m hoping to use in the MdS. The main bit of kit I was texting were my compression shorts of the 2XU variety. Reading around I had seen these recommended for use in the desert so and they seemed to be pretty popular so I thought I’d give them a try. I’m pleased to say they were very comfortable (no sign of any unwanted friction). I don’t really know how much the compression helped as I have no experience to compare it to, but the support on my quads did definitely help over the miles.

On my top half I used a Helly Hansen Dry top – I have been running in these on fells for a long time and have always been very comfy and it did its job well here as well. I’m not sure about their SPF however – an important factor in the Sahara, so this might need some investigation.

The socks were hilly twinskins. My feet generally stayed in good condition and I only changed socks at the overnight stop. The only issue was a big blister on the inside of my big toe which I only discovered when I took my shoes off after I’d finished. Unfortunately while the twinskins do seem to work week, they are probably a bit thick and warm for the desert – they’re pretty toasty in the UK! I think the way forward is probably some thin toe socks which will minimise friction between my toes which will be a particularly good thing with sand about.

For hydration I used my Camelbak bladder which was good (very convenient to drink from) but maybe a bit fragile and unhygienic for the desert – it would be a bit of a disaster if it started leaking. It is also more difficult to know how much you have left and it takes longer to refill. I think I’ll stick with bottles.

More to follow on recovery, training and nutrition…

The Wall - Part 2

Day 2

I woke up early and listened to the rain hitting my tent, trying to work out how stiff my legs were. Despite having a warm comfy bed less than 20 miles away I had decided to spend the night camping out with everyone else in order to gain some experience of sleeping cocooned in a sleeping bag with limited space to move. Other than wanting to continue to feel part of the event and not disappear off and come back when it was convenient, I thought it would be a good learning experience, managing recovery with more limited means than back at home.

Having waited for the rain to stop crawled out of my tent I went about sorting myself for the day ahead, getting fluids and food down me and the obligatory visit to the little boys room. I was ready at the start well before 8 am, the earliest start time, with several other eager runners, several of whom I had met during the previous day. We were all ready to get under way and start up the rather steep and scary looking hill we had heard about from the previous year, and seen people going up the previous day.

I was pleasantly surprised at the state of my legs – there seemed to be no obvious niggles, and while stiff, they weren't excessively so and certainly felt like they could keep going another day, though 37 miles gives plenty of time for things to go wrong! I was especially pleased as I was a little worried that I had gone a little fast the first day, and the fact that I didn't feel anywhere near broken helped buoy my confidence. The first climb certainly woke the kegs up but it gave a good excuse to walk early in and gave us something to bond over as we struggled up the heather covered slope. Once at the top it was a nice gentle bimble down the path onto the road towards Newborough with little ascent and I found a comfortable rhythm that felt maintainable with my tired legs, having a nice chat with a lady I had got talking to after the first pit stop at Lanercost the previous day. Curiously, the fact that they felt tired from the outset didn’t really bother me too much – it was expected and didn’t get any worse over the first few miles and so I sort of forgot about it and kept going.

The next stage of the trail took us over Whinnie Hill and down the path behind the house that I grew up in – it was quite a nostalgic experience running down through fields I used to go sledging in and then along the route by the Tyne to Hexham where we used to go on cycle rides when I was small. For me it added a nice personal touch to the experience, which certainly helped. 

I made it into the Hexham pit stop by the rowing club at the end of the third stage (13 miles) in about 2 hrs 8 mins , a bit faster than expected, but then there had been a lot of downhill to help things along. My mum and dad and their friend Sue were waiting to give me a cheer on which gave a bit of a boost, along with the other people at the pit stop clapping people in.

I quickly got my fluid and food down me and then carried on, over the Tyne and on towards Corbridge along a road I have been down countless times in a car and which was surprisingly flatter and shorter than I had remembered it to be. Just before Corbridge the markers directed us down onto the side of the Tyne, a nice change from pounding the roads. We then went up through Corbridge and proceeded to climb a long hill, longer than I remember it being which was quite mentally exhausting but I was pleased with my efforts, running a significant proportion. It was about this time that I started to regularly find myself around a very friendly pair called Dave and Norman, who I would end up running right to the end with. As there weren't many people around us at this point in the race, and sometimes fair distances between marshals it was nice to have people in sight. There was also another nice bloke running close by (who for some reason I never actually introduced myself to) who I had been running with on and off from half way through the third stage on the way to Hexham.

When the route took us back down by the Tyne I had a few miles where the others were behind me along a quite flat road. Although there had been no obvious alternative routes I could take I began to become paranoid after a little while that I had gone the wrong way – there had been a couple of instances earlier in the day where I had managed to miss signs through lack of concentration and Dave and Norman had had to correct me. Fortunately however I came across some course arrows directing me down on to the river bank and I was thoroughly relieved – I knew I couldn't have been far off (I knew the course followed the river at this point) but with those few miles to myself I had had far too much time to over think things! The section along the river involved some nice slidy mud and tall undergrowth which provided a nice change, with a particularly interesting bit with a steep slippery downhill to cross a rocky shallow bit of river. In retrospect that was fun, but with my tired legs I was fairly sure I was going to flying down the slippery slope into a crumpled heap onto the stones below. Fortunately I managed to maintain a little bit of dignity!

I ran the vast majority of that 4^th stage mentally ticking off the familiar railways stops into Newcastle as I went (Stocksfield, Prudhoe, Wylam… etc.) in a rhythm that didn't seem too hard to maintain until we were a mile or two from the final pit stop. At this point (crossing the impressive disused railway bridge at Wylam) the couple of miles I knew were left to the pit stop began to seem never ending, though I did have Dave and Norman in the distance up front to help drag me a long.

Eventually that slog into Newburn was over, and I made it into the pit stop tent just in time to avoid being drenched in a heavy downpour. I was greeted by a comforting sweet smell of toasting waffles – some of the marshals had put a couple of waffles in front of the jet heater in the tent which I thought was a great idea, unfortunately I couldn't stomach one at that point and I grabbed a banana and headed off munching as I went.

At this point my nameless friend I had been running near all day gained a second wind and disappeared, with what must have been an impressive surge of energy. I wasn't in any state to be doing anything remotely similar! I did at least know that as a minimum I could walk the last 7 miles to the end, achieving my aim of completing the race. What I didn't know was how much I could persuade myself to run!

Dave and Norman had set off a couple of minutes before me and they quickly came into view around a corner up ahead. I caught them up and we set off into Newcastle together. Strangely it wasn't much more painful to run than it was to walk, and although I knew I would get to the end significantly quicker if I carried on running it was very very tempting to walk. I am hugely grateful to Dave and Norman for keeping me running over those last 7 miles, it would have been so much more difficult to manage the same pace without them.

We got down onto the quayside and kept expectantly looking out for a first glimpse of the bridges as we rounded the curve in the river. There were the odd small turns we had to make round obstacles on the quay which under normal circumstances would have been easy, however by this point rather being able to dart round them it was more like maneuvering a small oil tanker… The legs were very tired by this stage! 

Eventually the first bridge came into sight and the thrill I had been waiting for started to build. As we approached the first bridge we passed a couple walking down the quay and the gentleman asked where we had run from. At the reply ‘Carlisle’ he responded ‘Bloody Idiots!’. It was a great comic moment, and as he had uttered it in a strong Geordie accent it felt entirely in keeping with the location and experience.

I have loved the view the bridges over the Tyne between Gateshead and Newcastle for as long as I can remember. Running under them, counting down to the Millennium Bridge and the finish, absolutely exhausted and emotional was an amazing experience. There were no crowds or spectators apart from a few at the very finish, but that didn't matter, the rush was better even than the end of the Great North Run where there are thousands of people lining the seafront. Despite being more knackered than I can remember, I ran under the Tyne Bridge and found some energy to pick up the pace which, helped by the man in front, turned into a (sort of) sprint over the Millennium Bridge and into the finish. 69 miles, 12 hours 25 minutes and 23 miles over two days, and my first ultramarathon over!

A thoroughly knackered and pretty red Tom! 

The Wall - Part 1

On Sunday 23^rd of June I completed my first Ultra distance event, The Wall ultramarathon, a 69 mile race across the north of England, from Carlisle Castle to the Baltic Quay in Gateshead. There was the option to do this in one (Expert class) or two days (Challenger class), and I am very glad I decided to go with the latter. The rationale behind choosing this option (other than me being a wimp) was that it would be good practice running along way (32 miles) one day, sleeping in a tent stuck in the shape of a sleeping bag overnight, and getting up and running another long way (37 miles) the next morning.

Day 1

I am fortunate enough to have grown up in Northumberland and I was able to persuade my parents to drive me over to Carlisle the morning of the race. I arrived in time to drop my bag to be taken to the half way point at Vindolanda and make my way into the castle with half an hour to spare before the start at 8 am. The crazy people taking on the whole distance in the Expert class started an hour earlier and by the time I made my way into the castle there were plenty of people milling around. I felt a moment of intimidation as I looked around at all these very fit and experienced looking people, but I soon got chatting to some people nearby as I debated if I should pin my number to the front of my top or onto by rucksack, and if my timing chip needed to go around my neck or could go in my bag.

It turned out that they were newbies as well which was comforting, and we got chatting about the challenge ahead. I also got chatting to a friendly gentleman call John who, I noticed had a Raidlight bag that looked very much like the ‘standard’ MdS bag, with a Union Jack sewn on to it. It turned out he had done the MdS four years previously and was very patient with my sudden barrage of questions. I also bumped into a pair of fellow (but infinitely more experienced) Challengers I met in the registration queue the previous day. I started to realise that there was no need to be intimidated; the atmosphere was so much more friendly and relaxed than at all the road races I have done previously. Some people new to this scale of challenge and others old hands but all in it together for the long journey over to Newcastle.

After a short introduction and brief we were sent on our way, moving slowly together out of the castle gates (and despite a warning about trip hazards on the way out I managed to almost go flying 10 metres over the start line!). The route took us onto the banks of the River Eden and out of Carlisle into the country side. I found it difficult to know if I was going at the right pace, my fresh legs wanting to speed my forward past people, and my head trying to rein them in. After 5 miles or so I fell into step behind pair of very amiable gentlemen and got into a comfortable rhythm. We continued to see each other passing each other every now and again for the most of the remainder of the day. I loved meeting people, albeit briefly sometimes, as I went along. 

 

After 15 miles we reached the first pit stop at Lanercost Priory where there was great support from the spectators that had gathered to meet runners they knew. I had not expected it at all, and it really gave me a boost. I quickly got a couple of cups of fluid, a banana and some peanuts (which have never tasted so good) down me and carried on… just 17 miles and few hills to go before the camp at Vindolanda. The elevation profile of the route is such that the first day has a net height gain and the second a net height loss, with the majority of the first day’s height being gained over a couple of long steep hills in the second stage. To my surprise I didn’t really mind the hills, in fact they presented a very good excuse to walk and use some different muscles.

At the top of the first hill soon after the first pit stop we got our first sight of the Wall, the remains of a turret and a short section of wall. Despite having visited more eastern bits of the wall many times over the years as I was growing up I don’t remember ever having seen this part of the wall, and the next few miles along the road past sections of wall to Birdoswald Fort and Greenhead. It was great to be discovering new areas so close to home.

I kept going, feeling remarkably energetic and in a comfortable rhythm all the way to Greenhead wondering if my energy was causing me to overdo it a bit, knowing very well that that energy could evaporate in a second. I knew from experience of the area that there was a long and very steep hill up out of Greenhead, and it turned out to be even longer than I remember it being! I got to the top of it maintaining a reasonable walking pace, though I was not pleased to discover at the check point at Walltown Quarry a short while after that there were another 8 miles to go which for some reason suddenly seemed like a long way away! I was starting to flag a little at this point, but set off again after the usual couple of mouthfuls of fluid and a handful of jelly beans. In retrospect these last 8 miles were the nicest of the day, up in proper Wall country with great views and a break from pounding the tarmac, though I wasn't really thinking along these lines at the time. The last 4 or 5 miles I just wanted it to finish and I was very glad when we started to see supporters by the side of the track leading into Vindolanda.

I was absolutely knackered with I finished and couldn't have contemplated going any further. I have a huge amount of respect for all those people carrying on to Newcastle. I got my soup and sat down to rest for a little before going to find my bag and put up my tent, drinking it slowly to let my stomach adjust (it had been feeling a little churned up for the last few miles). It was just before 2 pm and I had until 8 am to wander about, get a massage, relax and do my best to recover for the next 37 miles.

Tents at the overnight camp - that dark hill in the background on the right is the first challenge of the second day - we had plenty of time to admire it!