L100 2015 - The road to DNF - Part 1. Did I train enough?

I never intended to do the L100, having run the L50 a couple of times and marshaled at various places on the 100 route I was fairly sure I was way too wimpy to make it round, but a set of random circumstances - my 2015 new years resolution of - turn down no opportunity and friend Liz deciding she wanted a bash for her 40th meant that in September 2014 freshly back from a tough OCC race I was in!

Training had got off to a terrible start, I DNF'd Lakes in a Day 50 miler after getting lost in the clag on Blencathra and giving myself a fright, I then came down with an awful chest infection leaving me on a steroid inhaler for 6 weeks where walking the kids to school never mind running was challenge enough.

In November I struggled round Silverdale Circuit 23 miler in a worrying 5.5 hours but  was at least mobile again, with my fitness on the floor I decided to focus on getting my confidence back in the run up to Christmas at managed to bring my 10k time down to an almost respectable 51 minutes.

Races/ Memorable Training Runs - February to July

February - Grizedale 26 

Early in February I developed shin splints, it was another inauspicious sign on my journey, I visited a sports therapist and was given some strengthening exercises (which I did sporadically) and the day prior to Grizedale I marshaled at the night runner finding that I could hardly bear any weight on my left leg. The following morning with the help of half a role of K-tape (I should have shares in the stuff) I trotted off on to the course. The weather was amazing, cold and crispy I had recced the course a couple of weeks earlier in a few inches of snow so it was brilliant to be able to move faster. My shin oddly was fine through the whole event and finished in 6:03 feeling like I could have carried on for hours. I put the strange injury to the back of my mind and carried on training.

February - Week away in the alps skiing with daily 5km uphill runs

We headed off skiing during half term, which brought with it an opportunity to do some hill runs, we stay almost exactly 5km downhill from the lift station so I challenged my self to be able to run the whole way by the end of the week - and to smash my 5km PB (albeit by cheating and running down the hill). My sore shin was a forgotten memory and flying down the mountain road after a days skiing was brilliant, both goals smashed - if I ever tell you I have a 21 minute 5k time i'm not exactly lying but certainly bending reality.

March    - Hawswater Half Marathon

I'm not really much of a half-marathoner my times stick resolutely to the 1:56 - 2:02 almost whatever the course profile. Hawswater is pretty and fairly hilly for a road race. It was the 2nd March, and officially spring in my mind - sadly no one told the weather so running in the snow and hail made for a challenging time keeping warm. Usual time 1:59, but for the first time in a while nothing was niggling!

March    - Trimpell 20 

One of the worst races in my training, its finally stopped snowing and the sun is out making it baking hot. This is a flat 20 miles on road - my worst nightmare. After getting a decent start I just grind to a stop at 9 miles and from then on its a battle ground between my head and my body. Things are slightly improved when I find an ancient baby bell in my shorts pocket and eat that - you can take the girl out of ultras ...

I limp over the line in a disappointing 3:30  and drive home feeling miserably that if I can't run a flat road 20 I'm screwed on a 105 mile mountain trail race. My husband points out that the two are hardly comparable.

March    - L100 course recce Braithwaite - Blencathra with Liz

Its great to be back out on the course I ran from Braithwaite - Dockray on Boxing day and I love the section round Glendaterra. The Buttermere section is new to me. We arrive in Buttermere in hammering rain ... winter is back! we head out through the woods and on to Sail Pass, I fall totally in love with this section of the course - this is a very helpful state of mind on the race - its freezing, blowing a gale but its stunning, topped off with a brilliant run in to Braithwaite.

April       - Lakes Mountain 42 with Liz 

This was a highlight,a circular route from Askham taking in High-Street, Helvellyn and Place Fell this was a great point to test kit and see how we were coming along with our training.

May       - Keswick to Barrow 40 miler 

The K2B is a annual fixture on the Lakes Charity event list - 40 miles of road raising around £300k a year for local charities. Mainly its a walking event with the average time at around 11 - 12 hours, what people don't always know is that each year around 100 people enter the K2B race this would be my 6th K2B and my second in the race having run 7:22 in 2014. This year I had pulled together a team of runners with the aim of winning the ladies team challenge (time worked out on the final runners time) and hopefully in the process setting a new ladies team course record.

I agreed to be team sweeper and if I could keep up with them, stay with the last runner. This meant on the day I got to run with the lovely Clare Shannon - I learnt a couple of slightly worrying things (a) I find it hard to re-adjust my plans (b) I don't find it easy to motivate someone else to run to a schedule! Clare and I came pretty close to a major fallout, saved by support crew extraordinaire Gaynor. I let my time plan go, and focused on enjoying things and both the running and enjoyment for both of us improved significantly. I'm learning that I am a team player, but i'm a solo runner.

Crossing the line with Clare was brilliant and despite the stress we managed to be first ladies team, set a new course record and the icing on the cake was team member Charlotte had not only won the individual ladies prize but also set a new record.

May       - Maxi-ultra Annecy (DNF due to calf injury) 

John and I were due to fly out to Annecy in late May as I had managed to get a place in the Tour Du Lac Annecy 89km ultra. The Saturday before I decided to have one last run in Langdale and around a mile from the campsite coming down off Side Pike my calf gave way, leading to a limp back to the van and the rest of the weekend spent alternating between standing in an ice cold river and sobbing.

A desperate call to the sports therapist gave me a booking for the Tuesday and we decided that no matter what we would still fly out on Thursday partly for a child free break but also Annecy was acting as the World Champs this year so even if out of racing I could cheer on Team GB.

I decided on Friday to register, I asked if I could change my entry to the Marathon distance but was unsurprisingly told no so I picked up my race bib and decided to start and see how things went.

The race starts with a 3km run through Annecy, the pain was instant but I told myself that once I started with climbs and could slow the pace it would improve?! I reached the first CP after 1400m ascent dead on my split time and although still in pain things were not getting worse. I grabbed some soup and coke and headed downhill. This was where my problems really started I couldn't descend with any confidence and competitors were just streaming past. I made the decision to keep going until Doussard around 48km and 3000m ascent and with my hoppety run I made it there in just over 9.5 hours.

I had been banking on this race as a confidence boost for the L100 and afterwards for the first time wondered about withdrawing from the 100 as I felt my training really wasn't going well enough.

June       - Ultimate Trails 55k - PB over the distance.

I came back from Annecy and finally called a physio, it was clear that there wasn't a tear in my calf as I had managed to run 48km without making anything worse and oddly the day after the race there was a significant improvement. I'd had some myofascial release a couple of years ago and felt that this might help unlock my calf and enable me to run again. I had 4 weeks until the UT 55 and if I couldn't run that I would withdraw from the L100 - it also had occurred to me that I had had niggles since January in my left leg - starting with the shin, for a while my ankle and now my calf. These injuries were at their peak leading up to a race and then often dissipated during or after the event. Physio confirmed that I has an injury somewhere in my leg (probably in my ankle) but that anxiety was making things seem much worse and probably causing my leg to lock before Annecy. Waiting on the start line for UT my calf looked like there were creatures living in there as the muscle flexed and twinged! Still once I had got the first climb under my belt and my calf had relaxed I had the best day running. The day should have been everything I hate ... hot, sunny, they ran out of coke ... but the hills just kept on rolling under my feet and the only bad patch was for a few minutes as I slopped about in a bog at Blea Tarn finishing the 59km 1763m A+ in 9:18 and in the top third of finishers. I then sat on the finish line wrapped in a blanket until 12:30am riding on the adrenaline cheering other runners home.

July        - 2 Recce days on the first 26 miles of the L100 route with Liz

The Thursday after UT Liz and I had arranged two days of reccing on the L100 course, after UT I was feeling much more positive my leg had held out and I was feeling strong for the recce days.

These two days were some of my favorite days of training, on the Friday we parked at Buttermere and worked our way backwards along the route to Wasdale before eating our evening meal and then returning in the dark. Watching the moon rise from Scarth Gap was something very special.

This is really a list of the significant runs, during this period I managed to average between 50km - 60km per week with some peak weeks of 70 miles.

From May I focused on my diet cutting out all sugar and refined carbs managing to loose just over 3kg prior to race day. With hindsight I left this late and should have had a better focus earlier on as initially as I upped my miles I gained weight never a good idea when you have to carry yourself such a long distance!!!

Did I train enough?

I probably did manage enough  miles to complete the L100 but I suspect they were not fast enough - LM42 was great training but we probably didn't really push ourselves enough on the day instead focusing on having a good day.

Annecy would have been a brilliant boost and any time running in the Alps help massively with the ascents on the L100 - Sail Pass feels like a merry hill after slogging upwards for several hours.

I didn't respond well to injuries, going for an ignore and it will go away approach - this stopped me from upping my training further and damaged my confidence in the days leading to the L100 start.