GMU Reccy #2

[SkiMonday]

This was one of those runs! Felt tired as soon as I set off; for me, that often means it’s going to be a good run but not today, I just felt tired all the way round. I suspect that yesterday’s high cadence 5k took more out of me than I’d realised. There again, running on tired legs is probably good practice for the GMU.

Plan was to take it easy, pick up the GMU course for a bit and cover an overall distance of around 27k.

The last time that I did any of this it was really muddy so I’ve been waiting to get trail shoes before trying it again. Turns out that it’s dried out a lot to the extent that road shoes would have handled it easily.

Anyhow, I’d done 7k when I joined the course, followed it for 16k then ran another 7k towards home. Decided that, at 30k, I’d had enough so walked the final 2k home. At an average pace of 7:12/km, it took me 3hours 40 to run that. When I last ran that distance (back at the beginning of March), I did it in 3 hours 17 so I was somewhat off the pace today.

Still, it’s all “time on the legs” and I'll complete the course comfortably if I can maintain that pace for all of it. Hopefully it'll be good training.

[Sortofrunning]

I’m impressed most with your discipline to stop and walk 2k home. Smart!

[Katnap Marathon]

Another great training run!

🐱 Katnap 🐱

[Tasha99 Marathon]

Wow that’s amazing! What is GMU? How were the Hokas?

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Tasha99]

Hi Tasha. The Speedgoats did OK but, due to the lack of mud, I don't feel that I've really tested them. They felt a bit loose when traversing steeper slopes and I've developed a blister on one of my toes; maybe it was a mistake going for the wide fitting (thats one of the down sides of having to buy online). Other than that, they're nicely padded for the on road sections and seem up to the job.

I've added a reply describing the GMU.

[Decker Ultramarathon]

That is a great run SM. You may have mentioned it already, but what is HMU? Sounds like a big one you are training for.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Hi Decker. I've added a separate reply covering the GMU.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon]

The GMU is the Green Man Ultra. It's a 45 mile route along the Bristol Community Forest path which is a mix of on and off road (hence the Speedgoats). I've signed up to attempt the summer one which takes place in August.

It has a 12 hour cutoff time which means that, at a push, I could power walk it. My plan is to walk up the hills and run / walk the rest of it aiming to complete in 11 hours to leave me some contingency.

I reckon I'm in with a reasonable chance of achieving it. There's a fair bit of time to prepare but I'm conscious of the need to press on with my training. I'm hoping to have trained enough so that I'm not completely shattered after the event. Still see it as a big challenge though (and I couldn't resist this as my first non-virtual event).

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to SkiMonday]

Wow sounds like a really serious challenge but your plan is a good one, and you’ve set it up to be doable. Daunting but doable. All the best with your training towards it.

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Cheers Decker.