Some race write ups....
Friday 26.07.2024 Phoenix Fridays - Athletics Friday, Marathon8 laps of the Blue Bridge route at Walton-on-Thames with Sarah, James, Gavin and Craig. A classic chat-athon, and the miles ticked along nicely in the sunshine! The first day of the Paris 2024 Olympics - a lovely medal as a momento! Thank you Rik and Team Phoenix! It was my 340th official marathon/ultra.
Saturday 03.08.2024 The Bannister Series with Rasslebock Running, 100 miles
I ran the Bannister Series last year on the Iffley Road track in Oxford (where Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 minute mile), and that was my first event with Rasslebock Running - it was fun and friendly, and I said at the time that I would like to do another.
This year, the event had to be moved, as the Iffley Road track is getting an upgrade, so it was held on another track in Oxford, the Horspath Road Athletics Track. This was a bit further out from the city centre, but still easy enough to reach on public transport.
I went up to Oxford on the train with Andrew on Friday, and we sat by the River Cherwell in Christchurch Meadow for a while in the late afternoon, watching the punting. I do like Oxford very much. Then it was on to Trattorio Mario's for pre-race pizza (just like last year - and just as good)!
On Saturday morning, after a (eventually - after an exciting detour through a neighbouring industrial park) successful trip to the M+S in the retail park by the hotel (to stock up on luxury race snacks), I headed over to the track.
The Bannister Series is made up of a few different events on the track; a 6 hour and 12 hour day event, the 24 hour event (which I had entered), and a 6 and 12 hour night event.
I arrived at the track about 09:20, registered, and ran into Kerry, which was a nice surprise! We set up our things track side, and I immediately became worried about my luxury snacks, which were quickly going to seem less appealing once melted in the sun, which was already beating down.
The 6 and 12 hour day time events had already started off at 9:00, so there was plenty going on already. I had a walk around and got to know the set up. I decided I liked the Horspath Road track. It was quite "old school" with it's track side portacabin, old buildings and grandstand. It reminded me of doing track sessions back in Southampton. Being a bit further out from the city, it was also surrounded by trees, and there seemed to be lots of sports going in the fields around, and even a festival.
The 24 hour people set off at 10:00 after a race briefing from Eric, Race Director. We started off going anticlockwise, and the direction changed every 2 hours. It was quite busy, and although I didn't really know many people there, it was a really friendly event and an excellent atmosphere.
I don't mind to say that I have been struggling more lately with my mental health not being as good as I like to try and keep it. Lots of uncertainty and changes happening, and although these are all positive things, and I realise that I am very blessed in my life to have the opportunity of choice, change and uncertainty are things I struggle with. I hadn't really planned on running a track event at this point in the year, but a few weeks ago, the idea of going somewhere different and just running round and round in circles and trying to forget about everything for a bit seemed appealing. So that is how I ended up there!
In reality, trying to run away from problems is never a great idea, and actually meant I wasn't really in the right headspace to be running for 24 hours, but, you know, I'd entered, so I thought I might as well go and give it a go! I figured I would just go along and see how it went. I did really want to try and do the full 24 hours, but I reminded myself that 1) this was actually what I had chosen to do for fun, 2) I had paid for it, so I was going to try to enjoy it, and 3) actually, it really didn't matter at all what I did, did it?
The whole event was really quite a challenge for me, it was my 4th time doing 24 hours on a track, and I found this one the hardest - although I definitely also remember saying that in March when Sarah (who I missed lots!) and I did Track Wars, and had to get changed every 5 minutes as it was so dreadful and cold and wet. I collected what, in hindsight, is actually a very satisfyingly complete selection of "common problems encountered on ultra runs". Almost the full house! Everything that could have gone wrong did, really, which I suppose is some sort of achievement in itself.
To begin with, I had bad period pains. I won't go on about it (too much), but really, I do think that females have a lot to deal with; generally, and in terms of running. Periods, having babies, looking after them, menopause, managing boobs and sports bars, etc etc. I suppose I've been lucky so far that periods haven't messed up too badly any of my very long runs, and it was only a matter of time, really, that it would happen. So, that was that, not much you can do, just keep on keeping on, as best you can.
Weather report: It was too hot. I will never again moan about doing a track event in March when it is too cold and wet (until next time, anyway, when I'm sure I'll have a good old moan like usual). It being so hot and sunny, I quickly got a bad headache, which refused to go away. I was counting down the minutes until I could take my next dose of tablets, and then they barely did anything!
Digestive report (exciting!): By the time the sun went down and my head did feel a bit better, I started feeling sick, and that lasted for the rest of the run. I didn't want any of my luxury snacks (even if they hadn't been melted). All I wanted was Kendal Mint Cake, and I'd obliterated my stock of that quite early on. I didn't feel like eating anything that I usually like and that I had, and obviously, that made it all worse, and I just couldn't get out of that cycle. I got so frustrated with myself, as I know what I needed to do! But I just couldn't do it. I was almost sick a few times, but nothing came up. I had to keep laying down, which made absolutely no difference to how I felt, but being horizontal at least made things look different. I also had an upset stomach. I did have a new ginger electrolyte drink, which I'm really glad I had, as at least I was able to drink that throughout with no problem.
Hydration report: I did well for peeing for the first six hours or so, then I stopped peeing at all for the next several hours and worried I had damaged my kidneys. Then in reaction to that, I overdid it on the fluids, and needed non-stop pees for hours on end.
Skin report: I got sunburn AND chaffage AND 7 blisters.
Kit report: Despite feeling hotter than a hot thing at the University Of Hot at mid-day in mid-summer, I managed to get cold overnight and didn't have enough warm clothes. So I put on all of the clothes that I did have, resulting in a look of someone who'd got dressed at a jumble sale, in rush, with their eyes closed. Reminder - always take at least 2 extra layers!
Sleep report: I kept drifting off overnight and couldn't keep my eyes open. I found that doing short bursts of yoga every 4 laps (every mile) when I was really struggling overnight helped to break things up and helped me feel a bit better. Laying on the cool ground in funny positions really jolts you back into being awake. And helped stretch out the muscles.
Favourite things report: Eric and Team had a portable water spray that they walked around the track with spraying all the runners during the day! It felt like (I imagaine) being a plant! Lovely and cool. There were also fairy lights strung up all around the aid station and track in the dark - Rasslebock really made it all look great. And the floodlights were on all night, which was very cool indeed. Pizza delivery arrived in the evening!
Music report: The festival (Paradice in the Park) in the field next to the track really got going in the evening. A real and truely unexpected highlight was a dance version of "Mary Had A Little Lamb", which I must remember to add to my running playlist, for those moments when things are going so badly that you need something really terrible to listen to, just to put things in perspective. To make up for that, I listened to the Hades Town soundtrack a lot, which I love, and is actually quite good to run to.
I got to 100 miles in 22:24, and decided to stop, as I was feeling so rough. I was disappointed that I didn't do the full 24 hours, but you can't hit your targets all of the time, I guess. I was happy to have made it to 100 miles, so that made it my 20th run of 100 miles or more.
A big shout out and thank you to Rasslebock Running for a really excellent event. It was so well organised, welcoming and friendly, and the team took such good care of everyone! Also, to Kiernan from Timing Monkey for keeping track of our laps and 24 hours of encouragement! It was also great to meet some new runners - and the camaraderie was so nice. So, all in all, it was really challenging, but I did enjoy it.
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