Endurance Life Devon Ultra Marathon - Feb 2012

Preparation

Most people prepare for their first Ultra marathon by building a base of long distance runs - 15, 20 miles over a couple of months.

I on the other hand hadn’t managed to fit in much of the right training.  In fact since christmas my training has been pretty rubbish.  With the disruption of a strained hamstring and few other things, family stuff happening at weekends, it just hasn’t happened.

So after only running 30k in the last 3 weeks I tried to set myself up for a 55k run along a course with 1200m of ascent.

Devon Ultra Marathon Route - image provided by Endurance Life

Race Day

It was an early start, so I had to set my alarm for 4:15 (I know, it’s a silly time to get up) then spent 15 mins getting dressed and faffing about.

I’d packed the car the night before and made breakfast, so was able to set off at 4.30.  I ate my sensible, but uninteresting breakfast during the 2.5hr journey down to Devon.  I arrived in Devon craving bacon rolls and coffee.

Race HQ was at Beesands, just south of Totnes.  A nice little place, but difficult to get to.  Getting to South Brent on the A38 was fine, but then I put my faith in the SatNag, which took me on a very direct, but ‘rural‘ route to Beesands.

I arrived at 7am and then faffed about with kit before going into the EL HQ tent and chatting to a few of the EL team, Stephan (Mark Pooles mate from Warminster running club) and had a cup of tea.

Weather forecast was bright spells in the morning followed by heavy rain and strong winds from mid-day  I decided to buy myself a waterproof jacket at the EL shop, figuring if I was going to be out there for 7hrs I wanted to keep my core warm and dry.

Race start Beesands 8.15am

Not really knowing how I would cope I kept telling myself to just enjoy it and run my own race.  So what did I do, dash off at the start, put in a strong first 10k (I was 1st to the 10k marker at Prawle Point) and strain my right calf.  Bugger.

Ultra Marathon 55k and 1200m of elevation

The path out towards Start Point lighthouse climbs to about 80m on the way out of Beesands before dropping down to a pebble beach at Hallsands, then climbs steadily up to 100m at Start Point.  The views towards the lighthouse were and back towards Dartmout were lovely.

Trail from Hallsands to Start Point

Turning south at the lighthouse the path become very rocky and we had to pay much more attention to where are feet were going.  I enjoy these technical bits and can somehow move much faster than others.  Some of the lads I was running with reckoned it was a confidence thing, but I do’t know.  It takes concentration and reasonable core strength to skip through rocks and uneven ground.  I don’t watch where my feet are falling, but look 1-2 paces ahead to where my feet will fall.  Don’t know if this is usual.

I was in the lead at this point and feeling very good.  I wasn’t going to last though.  My pace was too high.

Trail from Start Point towards Prawle

Passing Great Sleadon Rock the path turned west, past the 10k turn (my homeward leg) and on towards Langerstone and Prawle Point.  The trail was a mix of grass with small areas of rocks and tricky descents.

Along this stretch I felt the unmistakable ache of a slight calf strain.  I’d pushed too hard over the first 5k.  I wanted to finish this, so I’d be very disappointed if I had to pull out or just stop at the marathon finish line.  I slowed down, and knew I couldn’t push too hard on my right leg.

At Prawle Point (10k) the 5 lads behind me caught up.  We ran as a group along the coastal path to Salcombe.  This 10k section round to Mill Bay was quite dramatic and had to be, for me anyway, the prettiest part of the whole route.  The coastline took on a jagged and dangerous look, but was interspersed with deep yellow sandy beaches.  It was lovely to run along.

CP1 Mill Bay 5m 18k.  6th 1:43

We all stopped and had a cup of water.

The trail then went inland and climbed about 100m while following footpaths and minor roads to East Prawle village.

Running along some flat sections of road (Rickam, Newhouse cottages and the high point of 134m) I found a good rhythm and actually started to feel quite comfortable.  However, back on undulating trail sections I couldn’t push too hard and finally ended up falling a bit behind the leading group :(

CP2 East Prawle 122m, 25k.  8th 2:23

I reached East Prawle village within 1 minute of the leading pack, but decided to take a few minutes to take stock.  I put about 500ml of water and a couple of nuun tablets in my hydration pack, considerd the distance I still had to cover and what sort of race I’d run.  

The remainder of my race was predominantly solitary, which makes things harder and requires more discipline to maintain a target pace.  I didn’t manage to do this.

The section from East Prawle to Hallsand, where the 10k route joins, was all trail constantly undulating (25m to 130m) and very pretty.  From Hallsands the trail followed droves through some small and tight valleys before climbing up to the water stop at Huckham Barn Cross.

Huckham Barn Cross 109m, 33k.  8th

The next section was about 7k long, again very undulating (32m to 110m) and took us to Slapton Sands.  

There were some very interesting and quite technical downhill bits from Beeson to Stokenham combined with small isolated valleys and stunning views.  Wish I’d had more time to look around.

Oliver, who finished 7th, caught up with me somewhere along this section.  We ran together for a while before he pulled away on an ascent.

There was a reasonably long descent along a minor road into Stokenham, where an EL marshals stopped traffic as I staggered across the A379.  There was a equally long ascent out of the village taking us from 32m to 109m - I did walk a bit of this.

From the top of the hill above Stokenham there was a long descent down towards Deer Bridge and the edge of Slapton Nature Reserve.  This was fast, but difficult.  Running fast with tired legs on hard tarmac wasn’t much fun, so I as glad to get onto the nature trail.

The path through the nature reserve was a mix of elevated footways over wetland, trail and shingle beach along the banks of Slapton Ley.

CP3 Slapton Bridge 40k.  9th 4:03.

I stopped at CP 3 to take on about 500ml of water and a couple of nuun tablets.  I also took a bit of time to change my kit.  The weather was changing from bright sunny spells to constant drizzle and strong gusts and with the forecast being heavy rain and stronger winds, I decided to put my waterproot jacket on.

This was extra time out, but with another 16k to go there was plenty of opportunity to get soaked through, my core to get cold and to start feeling generally miserable.  This was my first ultra and I wanted to enjoy the whole thing, even if it was physically tough.

   

Toby (5th place) passed me as I was faffing about at Slapton Bridge.  

The next goal for me was to get back to Beesands and completion of the marathon distance.  The 2.5k along Slapton sands is flat, but then there was a 65m climb up to Dun Point before dropping down to Beesands.  At Dun Point and looking down to Beesands and EL HQ I did think for a moment “I’ve finished a marathon already.  That seemed to pass quite quickly”  

Beesands EL HQ - 46k.  10th 4:36

There wasn’t a checkpoint at the marathon finish (46k) so no official time, but I did check my watch - 4:36hrs.

It was difficult to run past the crowds massing around the finish point, welcoming home the 10k and half marathon runners, drinking hot tea and tucking into pasties - oh, they looked lush.  There was a small bit of me that felt like stopping, but not a big enough bit.

I seemed to slip through EL HQ unnoticed and plodded on towards Start Point passing hoards to 10k and half marathon runners going in the opposite direction.  I’d certainly lost the zip, pace and strength that was in my legs 4hrs earlier.  Many of the hills I’d run up earlier now reduced me to a walk.

Though I’d lost physical strength, I seemed to have gained determination.  I also knew the route very well, so was able to set and quickly achieve small goals - Tinsley Head, Hallsands, Start Point car park etc.

By the time I got the the south turn at the lighthouse the wind was really blowing.  I mean really blowing.  At times it was difficult to stand, which made the task of running over rocks virtually impossible.  The Start Point coastal section was quite extreme.  With fatigue setting in, the rain now pouring down and the wind stopping me in my tracks, I had to dig deep to keep going.

At the 10k junction my spirits lifted though with the sight of two runners ahead of me - Daniel and Darren, who I hadn’t seen since East Prawle, nearly 3hrs ago.

Start Point car park 50.5k. 9th place

I stopped for a few minutes at the Start Point car park with Daniel, had a cup of water and talked about what the last 5k might have in store.  

On the way up to Hollycombe Head at 125m there was nowhere to hide from the wind and the rain was bucketing down.  This was pretty extreme and I was glad my had a peak to keep the driving rain out of my eyes.  

Darren appeared again and asked if we were going the right way, but a quick look at the small laminated map I was carrying confirmed we were.  I ran with Darren for the remainder of the route, down a drove to Lamacraft Farm, through Bickerton and up a small valley to Higher Middlecombe Farm.  

On the way up to the final right turn towards the finish Darren pulled ahead.

Huckham Barn Cross - 54.7k. 9th place

The smiling EL marshal told me I’d got about 2k to go and it was all downhill.  Really! I’d obviously lost my bearings slightly, so was genuinely hen was surprised.

I though I might catch Darren on the final steep descent into Beesands, but I didn’t.  He told me on the finish line he was determined I wasn’t going to catch him on the descent, so presumably through caution to the wind.

After skipping down the steep descent in to Beesands village I picked up a steady pace along the final flat section to the finish line.  It was good to finish.

Beesands EL HQ 56k.  6:02hrs 9th. 

Devon Ultra results

A week ago when asked what my goal was I said I’d be happy to finish and ‘over the moon’ with a time of 5:59.  I still felt over the moon.

For me this was more about the mental application and determination to finish a tough long distance event.  It went some way to banish the demons that had been hanging around since my Norseman DNF back in August 2011.  If I can get though that I’m sure I can get up Gaustentoppen.

HR - far too high during the first 10k

Things I would have done differently

1. Done more of the right type of training before the event - more long distance runs.  I only managed a few 10k runs in the weeks leading up to the event.

2. Not run so fast during the first 10k.  I’m sure this led to the slight calf strain.

Speed, or lack of it!

Happy with

1. Kit. Although I was quite warm at Mill Bay, by 46k I was glad of everything I was wearing and had packet.  

2. Amount of water and mix of electrolytes - didn’t get big headaches afterwards.

Shoes.  Only been running with 6mm diff shoes for a while and wondered if, over a very long distance, things might happen.

Pre race nutrition

Usual mix of low Glycemic Index carbohydrates on the day leading up to the race.  I’ve convinced myself this works for me, so am happy to continue until persuaded otherwise.

Kept well hydrated the day before and ensured my salt intake increased.

Breakfast

Porridge (cold) and honey, malt loaf, left over pasta-bean mush, peanuts and a Zipvit energy bar 30mins before the race.  All washed down with lots of tasty water-electrolyte solution. 

Race nutrition

Started with 500ml of water, which got me through to 25k

4 ZipVit gels.  I’d start to take these after about 20k and 1 every 10k-ish. 

500ml + 2 nuun tablets 25k

500ml + 2 nuun tablets 40k

Kit

inov-8 Roclite 233 trail shoes

inov-8 Mudsoc

ronhill compression shorts

ronhill thermal full length running tights

helly hansen full length base layer

tech t-shirt

ronhill windproof jacket

Salamon hyrdation pack

running hat

Packed in Salamon hydration pack

A5 laminated OS maps

maratone waterproof jacket

running gloves

mandatory kit

Norseman Extreme Triathlon was just a step too far for my first Ironman Tri, but what a  wonderful experience.

This event is fantastic, definitely has the wow factor, but is brutal in nearly every way. Registration starts at 2.30am, the 3.8k swim is in a tidal fjord, the 180k bike route (200k this year because of a change in weather conditions affecting the swim) climbs 2400m, the 42k run ends in a 1800m climb and requires the carrying of a mountain/survival bag. Every athlete must have a support crew.

A few words about support and travel to event.

My wife Fuss and children Liz and James were my support crew 

. We drove a motorhome from Somerset to Norway over 48hrs, which incorporated a continuous 24hr stretch from Beckington to Hirtshals in northern Denmark 

. After leaving Somerset on Tuesday evening we arrived in Eidfjord on Thursday evening.

Friday 5th August

At the pre race registration we were told a cruise liner had stirred up the water in Eidfjord, which had reduced the temperature to 8 deg!  As a result our swim would be moved 20k down the fjord to a warmer 15 deg patch of water. Great! But what about the extra 20k to Eidfjord?  Well, we’d just have to cope with that and the cut-off time wouldn’t be changed!

I should have fitted in an afternoon sleep, but making arrangements for the new T1 meant this ‘went out of the window’.

Saturday 6th August

After getting what felt like 1hrs sleep we dropped the bike at T1 at 2.30am and made our way to the 3am registration at Brimnes ferry port. Breakfast consisted of flapjack, banana and water with nuun tablets - mmmmm.

Swim - 3.8k in 1hr 35mins (position: 115-ish out of 250)

At 4.45am we jumped off the back of the ferry, which is a great way to start a swim and at 5am the horn went to start the race - by the way, there was nearly 500m from the ferry to start line. The conditions were good for the first half of the swim and I felt comfortable swimming in the top 1/2 of the group. After that, though, conditions took a turn for the worse with the wind picking up and the tide growing stronger. The lead swimmers exited the water in 59 mins and I exited in 1hr 35mins. Conditions continued to deteriorate, support kayaks capsized and 23 swimmers had to be plucked from the water after 3hrs!

Transition 1

In Norwegian triathlons full nudity is allowed in transitions. When I heard about this ‘opportunity’ I thought OMG no way, but the thought of doing a 200k bike leg in my trisuit was enough for me to do the Full Monty. Kids weren’t happy, but there wasn’t much to see! 

Bike - 200k in 7:40hrs

I used my carbon road bike with clip on aero bars and a 53-38 28-12 gearing. Even Tim DeBoom (IM 2001-02 World Champ and NXTRI 2011 winner) used a Felt road bike with clip-ons.

Fuelling the bike is always a challenge. I drank 0.75 litres of water with 1.5 nuun tablets 

 every hour and consumed 400 Cal every hour - 2 Torq gels plus bars 

. Water was in a Speedfill container on the frame and a bottle behind the seat. Gels were taped to the frame and food in bag behind the stem.

The scenery on the bike route is just stunning and the road surface much better than our local roads.

The first 20k of the bike leg up to Eidfjord was fairly flat, but then started to climb to 1200m. The route to the 60k checkpoint at Dyranut took us through a beautiful valley and followed a old road, which meant there wasn’t any traffic for about 20k. However, the weather was wet and cold, which I didn’t dress properly for.

At Dyranut my support gave me some warm clothing and water. The next leg to Geilo took us through the Hardangervidda national park and past the Hardanger glacier. This 60k section also had lots of amazing scenery, was much flatter and the weather started to improve. A bonus was a 10k descent into the ski resort at Geilo and Checkpoint 2 (120k).

More water and a banana (the appeal of energy bars was wearing off) and I was off on the next 40k section. This smaller section had three small 200m climbs each up to a ski resort. The descent down to checkpoint 3 (160k) was 10k, but much faster. 

Fuss found a shop at checkpoint 3 and cleared them out of melon, bananas and tomatoes - at this point I was craving something natural and juicy.

From Checkpoint 3 I was straight into a 600m climb up to Imingfjell and the final 40k. Coming off the top of the climb and into the final 30k descent through a most beautiful valley I had to be careful not to spend too long gazing at the scenery. This final stretch to T2 (200k) gave my legs a rest and a chance to take on a bit more food. However at this point my gut was complaining and I really couldn’t eat much other than bananas or very small amounts of other stuff.

Transition 2

My time from T1 to T2 was roughly 7:40hrs which put me in the top 120 

. I couldn’t quite believe my position, so took 5 mins in T2 to apply a bit of cream (200k in the saddle takes its toll) and set myself up for the run.

Something else that I couldn’t quite believe was the change in weather. The sky was now clear and the sun was really quite hot. I needed to take some water with me so opted for my Inov-8 bum bag with hydration system. This was great, but I’d chosen this as my mountain bag, so had to empty the rest of the contents.

Run - 2.5hrs to 25k

The run route consisted of a flat 24k run around a fjord and then a 1800m climb over the final 18k. My strategy for the run was a steady 12kph over the first 24k, then walk the majority of the last 18k. I’d eat bananas, a gel if I could stomach it and sips of water (with nuun tablets). This worked well for the first 6k and I moved past a few athletes, although time running in direct sunlight was hard. At 6k my gut started to really complain and I had to do a Paula Radcliffe. Luckily Fuss was nearby and threw me some toilet paper. I sprinted for cover at the side of the road and ...... enough said.

At 10k I took a banana and ate it very slowly over the next 8k. The heat was getting to me and by 16k I needed to throw a bowl of water over my head.

The stretch from 16k to 24k was very difficult and ultimately contributed to the DNF. Fuss stopped more frequently, probably every 2k to hand me water, which I threw over my head. Gradually my gut was hurting more and more and at 24k I had to walk for a few 100m’s.

By this time I was at the bottom of locally named Zombie Hill and the start of the 1800m climb up to Gaustatoppen.  Although in 140-ish place (first 170 got a Black T-Shirt) my gut was cold and I felt terrible. 

Fuss was parked at the side of the road and talking to another athletes wife. Understandably she didn’t feel comfortable driving the motorhome 

 up the very steep and narrow switchbacks, which made up Z Hill. This meant I had to think of a way of getting me, food, water, mountain bag and a support crew member up to the top. Another athletes wife offered to carry my stuff, but her priority was her husband and I couldn’t rely on this.

Just to explain a few more of the NXTRI rules - all athletes must enter the mountain (37.5km to 42km) with a bag containing a mandatory list of things - warm clothing etc. Also, every athlete must be escorted up the mountain by a member of their support crew.

After what was probably 5 mins of going through options Fuss agreed to give it a go, but probably wouldn’t be able to stop on route. I ran on for 300m, but quickly came to the conclusion that I couldn’t continue. The following things were racing through my head and all pointed to it being too risky and painful:

• My gut very cold and complaining and I couldn’t eat without feeling very sick
• I emptied my mountain bag at T2 and wasn’t sure that I had everything or that it could be put back together later?
• The prospect of no support on Z Hill worried me
• I wasn’t sure I was going to have a mountain bag and support from 37.5k to the top.
• Carrying all my mountain stuff the full 1800m wasn’t appealing especially if I couldn’t guarantee support being at 37.5k

Even though a member of the NXTRI team pulled up in a car a little later and offered to escort me up, I declined as I had made the decision to pull out and it seemed all too difficult to start again.

I became very cold and had to take my wet clothes off and climb into bed. It took me over 2 hours to warm up and to even contemplate eating something.

BUT...........I’ll be back next year for the NXTRI 10th anniversary.

Lessons Learnt

So, when attempting the Norseman Extreme Triathlon I’d do these things differently

1. Your support crew are very important and you can’t complete the NXTRI without them. They should understand the needs of a long distance triathlete together with the emotional peaks and troughs the athlete goes through. If you take family members make sure they understand what’s going to happen, what you’ll need and when and ideally take someone who’s ‘been there before’.

2. Driving for 48 hrs and losing a full nights sleep 3 days before NXTRI isn’t a good idea. How much this contributed to me feeling terrible at 24k I don’t know, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Next time we’ll fly into Oslo, hire a car and drive to Eidfjord. The homeward journey to Oslo is also much shorter.  The time taken to prepare for the journey and the journey itself was also training time lost.  My only significant race week training was the 3.8k swim at Vobster on Saturday 30th July.

3. Not sure if just drinking water and nuun tablets was a good idea. Probably should use a carb drink in the Speedfill bottle next time, with a small bottle of water in the seat cage. 

4. My choice of energy bars wasn’t great and I should find something that isn’t so sweet as I’m sure this contributed to me feeling sick. I also didn’t have any suitable caffeine stuff to give me a lift at the low points in the run.

5. Over the first 60k I pressed on in the cold wet weather and should have stopped to put on the waterproof jacket I was carrying in one of my seat bottle cages. How much energy I used keeping my core warm I’ll never know, but it didn’t help later in the day. 

6. Did I push too hard on the bike? I probably did over the first 60k, which is why I didn’t think to stop to put on my waterproof. Why didn’t I take on board the stuff I’d been reading over the last six months??

7. Shouldn’t have emptied my mountain bag to provide something to carry water in. This contributed to my confused state of mind at 24k and worries about how I was going to get onto the mountain. Next time I’ll take a separate hydration bag and a dedicated mountain bag, which won’t be opened until 37.5k

8. I didn’t take anything to settle my stomach, which was a big mistake. Next time I’ll take some stuff that calms complaining stomachs effectively and quickly.

9. Throwing cold water over my body and stomach between 16k and 24k contributed to the pain, cramps and general feeling of sickness. Next time I’ll maybe sponge some cold water onto my head, but that’s about it.

10. Don’t use a motorhome as your support vehicle unless your driver is confident with driving on steep mountain roads in a big vehicle. Some of the roads are very small and there’s very little opportunity to turn on the road at Gaustatoppen.