On Tuesday I did a 10.5 mile trail run with 1000ft of ascent. Instead of going to the Gym on Tuesday I put it back to Wednesday as I was due to work away from home and stay in a hotel.
So on Wednesday got up at the crack of dawn and did another 10.5 miles run, again with 1000ft if ascent. In the afternoon I set off for Newcastle-upon-Tyne and was 150 miles up the motorway (about 5:30pm at this point) when I got a call to say the following days meeting was cancelled. Needless to say I wasn't amused. I just turned the car around and drove back home getting back at 8pm, so no gym session.
On Thursday I did yet another 10.5 mile run, this time with 1300ft of ascent and working in some intervals in the last 5 miles. 10 miles is too far for an interval session, but just the last 5 miles is workable but still very tiring.
I felt strong on each of the runs and 10 miles doesn't really register as being a long run at all. I don't carry any water on these runs either, as it's not quite far enough and I'm not dehydrating as much, running in the cool of the night (not that I dehydrate much faster in the day in winter!).
On Friday I did my usual gym session, which went well as usual.
On Saturday I planned a 15 mile run, incorporating a local forest, then over fields, some greens lanes and finally a 4 mile section of road. The route had 1500ft of ascent. I carried at 8kg pack, including the front pack loaded with a half full 1.5l bottle of mineral water (for weight), plus an 800ml bottle of electrolyte. I've found that as long as I extend the straw on the Raidlight bottle it is comfortable to carry this in the side netting of the front pack. It is held securely in place because it rests against the bottom of the 1.5l mineral water bottle that is secured horizontally in the Raidlight front pack. This has worked so well, I might well ditch the shoulder strap holster for the bottle.
The first 1.5 miles of the route are on the road leading up to Swynnerton old forest. The path through the forest was muddy because of all the rain, coupled with the ascent in the first few miles meant that I only averaged 5.1mph. After mile 6 the rest of the routes ascents are less severe and I clawed back the time. The final few miles I planned on road deliberately to make my joints hurt, to simulate the hard rock and dried lakes I will face on the MDS. I am working more roads into these longer runs over the next few weeks, now I have build up a lot of ankle stability on the trails. I was surprised at just how strong I felt with the 8kg pack on, and pulled the average right back to 5.7mph for the distance (2:39). I was very happy with the time when I considered the elevation, terrain and stile-hopping involved.
On Sunday I repeated the route exactly but added some extended sections to include at extra 5 miles and more ascent (2000ft total). To make both days just that little bot harder, and more realistic I wore a medium weight waterproof jacket all the way round. I sweated buckets, and even got a rash under one arm, but anything to make the runs more torturous!
I don't think I was completely refuelled from the previous days effort but I still felt good. I ran the first 5 miles faster; a little too fast I think because my pace suffered later on. I used 1 litre of water during the course and 100g of salted cashews, but by the end was fairly tired. My average speed was slower at just over 5mph but I was still pleased with that.
66.5 miles covered with lots of ascent and tough terrain.
The other change I made at the beginning of the week was to move up to a larger size training shoe; the same size that I will use in the MDS to ensure a little more room for growth in the (almost inevitable) event of my feet swelling. They are only 1/2 size larger than I normally wear, but my normal size are probably 1/4 size too large anyway. Also, because I wear orthotics this increases the size of the shoe I must buy. So at the MDS, if I find that by day 4 or 5 my feet have swelled beyond the 1/2 size extra I could take out my orthotics for more room. Now, this would not be ideal and would certainly cause me some aches and pains, but I could suffer it for a day or two if necessary. I don't like the idea of taking shoes one or two sizes too big because at the beginning of the race this would cause me more problems that it would solve later in the week. The last thing I want are my feet sliding around a pair of shoes that are much too large. Blisters due to heat, and wear and tear from the distances are fair enough, but blisters caused by your own shoes being too big are your own silly fault!
I've got a busy few weeks with work coming up with some trips over to Northern Ireland. I may end up having to run on hotel gym treadmills, which I am not looking forward too. 3 miles on a treadmill is like torture to me, but 10 or 11?!
I'm off to the Lake District on Sunday morning for That's Lyth. I did this event last year in about 6:10. I probably won't make much of a dent in the time because I will be carrying 9kg this time, versus the 4kg or so I carried last time. However last time I did stop for a few tea breaks at checkpoints (I breeze straight through these days), so you never know!
Enjoy your week.
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