Hope all your HUM/ half’s and 10ks went well this weekend!
For all those that shed some interest in my first post, I thought I’d update everyone on how it went.
Official running time of 11hrs and 11minutes with a stop/fuelling time of 1hr over 5 stops, with a distance of 104.8km i averaged just under 6’30 a km throughout the day.
Now that I have had time to digest and process the event, I have definitely come away with a lot of learning curves, my pacing was great and my overall plan was executed extremely well, had a nice routine running up hills so walked 20 steps ran 10 this gave me a good energy return for the back end of the run. My stops was planned between 20-25k between each other which helped more with the mental factor seeing a family member or friend just gave me such a huge lift going into the next section.
I hit the first 1.5 marathons (65k) in Nike alpha fly next% but due to the road surface and extended distance the carbon plate just back fired and destroyed my soles of the feet and resulted in me having to switch to ASICS which I now wished I started and finished with as my feet/ankles was a big issue for the last 10/15km.
Fuelling on the whole went well but with the high calorie burn trying to regain that started to make me feel sick near the end so if I could do it again I’d look at higher calorie intake Gels or something similar.
A year ago I’d never ran beyond 30k and been out of running for a few years, so achieving this is a huge deal for myself and for my family that’s had to deal with all the mad training programmes that come into play 😂
Overall I’m over the moon to complete this goal and achievement and in doing so I raised over £900 for MIND charity but I’ve definitely come away with a lot more knowledge of ultra running 🏃🏻♂️
FG 😊
Written by
Forest_grump93
Ultramarathon
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Glad you like my photos, a lot of people do judging by the amount of replies I get, volcanoes, Northern Lights, hairy cows, 🦆 ducks and swans to mention a few, the last post I had regarding my runs was about 4 months ago when I posted about a 8K PB, once the warmer weather starts I hope to run longer than just 5Ks.
I am just so much in awe! 🤩🤩 I don’t normally post here, as I am still on the Bridge working towards my 10k next week, but reading about your ultramarathon just leaves me speechless!
Wowee! I don't think I'd read about this amazing challenge! What an achievement!!! Absolutely in awe! I'm intrigued by the hill pacing strategy too - I'm going to try that! I have just given you a very well deserved, hard earned Ultramarathon badge ... buttons compare to how you must feel, but a pretty exclusive badge all the same. Whatever do you do next after that? ....
I have an ultra booked for September- not even quite half your distance I might add!!! - but it's much hillier than I'm used to. I had been planning to walk the hills, but this has to be worth trying. It's great that your response is to look for another one so soon after this one. Truly inspirational!!! Good luck.
Congratulations on this epic achievement. Truly! Your pace management was just fantastic over this whole distance. And to not have gone beyond 30k last year is absolutely astounding. You should be so very proud of what you’ve done. 👏👏👏👏🏆
That is nothing short of amazing ! I can’t even imagine the fitness levels strength and sheer determination required. I know a couple of Ultra runners. One of them seems to spend weeks on the IC undergoing lots of physio post run; I note the shredded feet ! Hope your recovery is swift; I need to stop whining about niggles ! 👏👏👏👏👏👏🥇🥂
What’s pace apart from a few numbers on a screen, we all have our limit whatever that may be as long as you’re happy and enjoying every step what else matters! Keep up the great work curlygurly2
That’s incredible. Seriously fabulous and awe inspiring. Well done. Interesting that the Alphaflys gave you problems. I think you pushed them into unknown territory after 42k. Superb run and really well executed plan. 👊👏👏👏👍💪
I think that’s it BrianUK, I have used them a lot recently in long runs and the return of them has been worth the investment but beyond a marathon I think they hit their limits
Amazing work!!! And a slightly belated welcome to the community!
Were you using only gels for the run? I wonder how much of the difficulties later in a very long run like that are down to just being tired of sweet stuff! I have read about potato being a really good energy source, which is easy to eat on the run, although I can't quite get with the idea of mashed potato in a tube 🤐 I do usually take some Hula Hoops with me though.
Also, what did your training plan look like? How many Kms did you put in per week?
So I used gels every hour on the hour just SIS gels, I had protein brownies for snacks every couple of hours and ate a couple of sandwiches/bananas at different points in the run, I also drank 2 isotonic drinks at the second and fourth stop for some sugar more than anything!
You can get GU gels which is a meal in effect so I may look into them for the next big run.
So training as I said in a previous post was a digested 6 week plan - I’d done a lot of running last year but never beyond 30k in a single run, so up to and throughout the 6 week mark I built my distance up to 80/90k for the week then just maintained it - I did 1 long run a week (35-50k) couple of 90min sessions or quick 60minute session could usually put in 15-20k during these, hill session or speed session and then a relaxed run at some point, for the last couple of week I had double session days 45min run in am 60minute run pm or along those lines, in theory it worked because I enjoyed the run for the whole, but of course a longer training plan with bigger intensity would’ve gave me a bit more edge in the latter stages 100%.
Would I do it again? Absolutely running is my haven and if my legs allowed it I’d run all day, the main reason behind the MIND charity is because it’s something I’ve struggled with, but when running, be it for an quick 20minute or 2 hours, everything is forgotten 🏃🏻♂️
I have used Gu - I prefer Clif gels which have a similar thick consistency but taste nicer I think 😊😊😊 Protein brownies sound great!!
Sorry, must have missed your other post! Thank you, that is really interesting. I am always trying to keep my total distances down for the old work-life balance, but I'm really thinking about upping my game...
Just unbelievable distance!!! Many congratulations to you and very well done.
I’m interested in how you managed mentally on a distance like this. What did you think about? Did you have wandering thoughts or a podcast,music? I’m just curious about what went through your head in all that time.
Anyway, huge well done again and thanks for the report, it’s hugely inspirational.
So as I said above one of the main reasons behind MIND was because it’s something I’ve really struggled with in the past, so that was something that helped me mentally finish this run, beating my mind and breaking down those walls again!
I tend to listen to BPM playlists I try find one that would suit a certain run (fast session I’d find a 180-190bpm playlist and so on) although if it’s my relaxed run I always opt for some acoustic session which is relaxing.
I had a huge cheat day on the Sunday but coming back to my diet tomorrow and hopefully getting a recovery run in this weekend 👏🏻
Wow, that is just an incredible distance and to keep going with painful feet too. My half marathon last year resulted in blistered feet and I could hardly walk for 2 days, so I just can’t imagine over 100k. Awesome!
I funnily enough haven’t suffered with blisters at all during my running career I put a thin sock on first (ankle socks etc) then a thick pair on top it usually stops the friction 🙏🏼
I've signed up for the Bristol Green Man in August but that's a relatively poxy 75k and I'm aiming to do it in about the time it took you to do your 104k.
My current max run is 30k and I'm planning to do plenty of walking on the day. My target is to finish within the 12 hour cutoff and I want to leave some leeway.
You’ve got a lot of time so build the weekly distance up 10% each week or every other, then maintain around 70-80k a week.
If you haven’t already I’d suggest running a 45-52k ultra in one of your easy long training runs just so you can get a feel of the longer distance, have an understanding of the management of it (fuelling/hydration etc), look at double sessions/hill sessions and easy long runs, but most importantly just make sure you enjoy the preparation there’s no point killing yourself for an event, build a training plan execute it in the coming months and then fulfil that goal of sub 12 with leave way!
Recon that, if I just stick to the 10% rule, I'd be up to around 200k by August so, as you say, there's plenty of time. However, it's a big challenge for me so I'm concious of the need to use the time well.
That’s it, you’ve got a good chunk of time to utilise.Put a few rest weeks in there, your body needs time to adjust to the distance as well, and just gradually build the distance it doesn’t have to be every other week you’ve got time for it to be every 3, this will allow you to be more comfortable every week
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My favourite place to run!
Feeling flat!!
My Welsh wet Wednesday run
Help, absolute agony with my feet 😒
Virtual New Forest Half.....done!! 😁